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Sleep is an important ingredient in our daily lives, essential for renewing our mental and physical health each day. Yet over 75 sleep disorders have been identified which interrupt or disturb our sleep and can have substantial effects on our waking life. Common sleep disorders are listed below.
The first step in treating any sleep disorder is diagnosis—determining what type of problem is affecting an individual’s sleep. An overnight sleep study is often necessary to record and evaluate the brain’s activity and body systems during sleep in order to develop an accurate diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
Common symptoms of sleep disorders are excessive daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, repeated awakening during sleep, or excessive movement before or during sleep.
The Epworth Sleepiness Scale is a common first step in evaluating whether you may have a sleep disorder.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a pattern of obstructed breathing that can disturb sleep dozens to hundreds of times each night. Often these disturbances are not remembered. If you have OSAS, the oxygen levels in your body may drop during sleep and you probably don’t sleep soundly, resulting in daytime sleepiness. OSAS can also put you at risk for high blood pressure, heart failure, heart attack or stroke. OSAS can be life threatening.
The most common symptoms are snoring, snorting or gasping during sleep, waking up repeatedly at night, excessive daytime sleepiness, and morning headaches.
Sleep apnea is commonly treated with a therapy called CPAP.
Narcolepsy is overwhelming sleepiness at inappropriate times. The most common symptoms are daytime sleepiness, cataplexy (a sudden loss of muscle strength), sleep paralysis, or hypnagogic hallucinations (vivid dreamlike experiences that occur when a person is drowsy).
Leg Movement Disorders
There are two common leg movement disorders that interrupt a person’s ability to sleep at night, which then can affect daytime function.
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Individuals with RLS report unpleasant sensations in their legs when sitting or lying still, especially at bedtime, which are relieved by stretching or moving the legs. The need to move to eliminate the RLS sensations can prevent a person from falling asleep.
Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) also known as nocturnal myoclonus. While RLS movements are voluntary, PLMD is involuntary periodic movement which most often occurs when a person is asleep.
Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep. Those who suffer from insomnia often experience daytime symptoms of sleepiness and have trouble concentrating. Insomnia can range from short-term to chronic, and there are many causes and a wide variety of treatment approaches.
The term parasomnia refers to a broad range of disruptive sleep-related events such as sleep walking, sleep terrors, and confusional arousals. Most occur when a person is between sleep and awake states—awake enough to act out complex behaviors, but still asleep enough to fail to control or remember these acts.
Shift Work Sleep Challenges
Many people who work at times other than standard daytime hours have trouble falling asleep during the day and being alert on the job at night. This is primarily because the body’s circadian rhythm is tuned to nighttime sleeping. A variety of strategies are available to help a person adjust to non-standard sleep patterns. | <urn:uuid:62c63fee-735a-4715-b91c-cef4e4854067> | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | https://somnossleepcenter.com/disorders/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575541288287.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20191214174719-20191214202719-00525.warc.gz | en | 0.942827 | 692 | 3.5 | 4 |
In late 2012 and early 2013, tainted steroid shots from the New England Compounding Center ("NECC") caused fifty-five deaths and 745 cases of fungal meningitis in twenty states.' On October 1, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") inspected NECC and found vials of steroids filled with enough floating contamination to be visible to the human eye. These NECC steroid shots were distributed primarily to treat back pain, but the patients who received them were injected with foreign matter containing the deadly fungi Exserohilum rostratum or Aspergillus fumigatus. The earliest reported death from fungal meningitis caused by NECC was seventy-eight-year-old Kentucky Circuit Judge Eddie C. Lovelace. Judge Lovelace received three tainted steroid shots in July and August of 2012. In September, after experiencing confusion and dizziness, Judge Lovelace collapsed in his driveway on his way to pick up the morning paper. Fungal meningitis from the shots had spread to Judge Lovelace's brain and caused a stroke. He passed away on September 17, 2012, just five days after the collapse. When such incidents of fungal meningitis became more widespread, the public and Congress demanded answers from the FDA regarding its oversight of compounding pharmacies. How could such a devastating outbreak occur on the FDA's watch?
Seeing Through the Murky Vial: Does the FDA Have the Authority to Stop Compounding Pharmacies from Pirate Manufacturing?,
66 Vanderbilt Law Review
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol66/iss5/6 | <urn:uuid:fe1c3390-ca97-4a04-977b-0879b0ae09fa> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol66/iss5/6/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662517018.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20220517063528-20220517093528-00651.warc.gz | en | 0.946853 | 365 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Alarmist predictions that the long-term health effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan will be worse than those following Chernobyl in 1986 are likely to aggravate harmful psychological effects of the incident. That was the warning heard at an international conference on radiation research in Warsaw, Poland, this week.
One report, in UK newspaper The Independent, quoted a scientist who predicted more than a million would die, and that the prolonged release of radioactivity from Fukushima would make health effects worse than those from the sudden release experienced at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine.
“We’ve got to stop these sorts of reports coming out, because they are really upsetting the Japanese population,” says Gerry Thomas at Imperial College London, who is attending the meeting. “The media has a hell of a lot of responsibility here, because the worst post-Chernobyl effects were the psychological consequences and this shouldn’t happen again.”
This article was posted: Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 2:22 am | <urn:uuid:fbd1879c-dec1-428b-854d-60f40fdbd287> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | https://www.prisonplanet.com/fukushima-media-coverage-more-harmful-than-radiation-claims-professor.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917123048.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031203-00096-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952423 | 217 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Because dense forests made overland travel in North America very difficult, Indians and Europeans used waterways whenever possible. Between the St. Lawrence River (Montreal) and the Hudson River (Albany), several smaller rivers and lakes enabled fur traders, missionaries, and soldiers to travel by canoes and bateaus. Lake Champlain, the longest of these waterways, provided a link between the two major rivers. Although the French dominated the northern end of the lake, the southern sector and Lake George remained in contention. In 1755, the governor of Canada ordered the construction of Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) at the place where travelers had to move overland between Lake Champlain and Lake George. Sir William Johnson responded by erecting Fort William Henry at the southern tip of Lake George.
|Click on a section of the map to enlarge.|
A Survey of Lake Champlain including Lake George, Crown Point, and St. John. Surveyed by Order of His Excellency Major-General Sr. Jeffery Amherst, Knight of the most Honble. Order of the Bath. Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Forces in North America (now Lord Amherst) by William Brassier, Draughtsman. 1762.
Title of inset map:
Drawing by William | <urn:uuid:b2faada9-57e1-4108-a0d8-b9a01096a655> | CC-MAIN-2016-07 | http://masshist.org/maps/2732_Atlas_35/2732_Atlas_35noborder.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-07/segments/1454701146550.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160205193906-00344-ip-10-236-182-209.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919317 | 267 | 3.953125 | 4 |
Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I
St. Martin's, 2013 (2013)
Reviewed by Tim Davis
irst things first: Peter Ackroyd's latest offering is the only book you need to read if you want to understand one of the most fascinating periods in English history - the 16th century.
eginning with an extended focus upon the ruthless Henry VIII (for 40% of the book), touching briefly upon the youthful Edward VI (for barely 10% of the book), looking only momentarily at the abbreviated reign of Lady Jane Grey (the usurper remembered by nearly no one), and focusing far too quickly upon
Mary (another 10% of the book), Ackroyd finishes his presentation with an examination of the powerful Elizabeth's reign (the final 40% of the book).
t must be noted that Ackroyd's overarching theme throughout this book is the political and cultural transformation of the English Church. If you want to know how the Tudor monarchs were responsible for this transformation, one sentence says it all: '
Power may be glorious but it can quickly become fierce.
' And two words in that sentence say it even more succinctly:
(with an added emphasis on fierce).
could write a dozen paragraphs, heaping effusive praise upon Ackroyd's book, the second in his magisterial English history series, especially by telling you of the engaging style, the richly abundant (sometimes horrifying) details, and the accessible scholarship, but I will say it all instead in an abbreviated way: I have read dozens of books that focus on this historical era, and
is absolutely the best. This is the one you must read!
Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.
Find more NonFiction books on our
or in our book | <urn:uuid:71b3a7ee-a970-4435-b752-f65fda545eb9> | CC-MAIN-2019-22 | http://bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.ASP?bookid=16575 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232257481.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20190524004222-20190524030222-00343.warc.gz | en | 0.938564 | 393 | 3.09375 | 3 |
On this day, July 31st, a great military tradition attached to our regiment was born... and the heritage of a great many pubs founded. The Battle of Warburg, July 31st 1760: Fighting in the Seven Years War rages on between an allied coalition of British and Hanoverian forces against a French army.
The Battle of Warburg, July 31st 1760:
Whilst leading the Blues in battle, the regiment's beloved Colonel John Manners, Marquis of Granby, loses his hat and wig in a gallant charge and carries on until the battle is won. As the dust settles the hero is forced to salute his commanding officer bareheaded...
Though unheard of at the time, this moment gave birth to a tradition that continues to this day: still now, non-commissioned officers and troopers of the Blues and Royals are the only soldiers in the British Army allowed to salute without headdress.
John Manners, Marquis of Granby
One of the many notable figures in the Household Cavalry's history, John Manners, Marquis of Granby was a prominent figure, known not just in the regiment, but throughout the whole British Army.
Born 2nd January 1721, eldest son of the 3rd Duke of Rutland, by the tender age of 20 he was serving as an MP for the borough of Grantham, and aged just 25 received a military commission as Colonel of a regiment raised by his father to fight the Jacobite uprising under Bonnie Prince Charlie. Whilst the regiment remained at Newcastle, Granby volunteered to accompany the Duke of Cumberland on the final stages of a campaign into Scotland and was present at the Battle of Culloden, 16th April 1746.
When Manners’s regiment mutinied due to lack of payment, he paid them out of his own pocket before they were disbanded. He retained his rank and campaigned in Flanders in 1747, serving as an Intelligence Officer for Cumberland and gaining an even greater reputation as a soldier and a leader of men.
By 1752, Manners was suggested for the position of Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues) but it took a further 6 years of parliamentary advancement before he gained the Royal support required for such a position. On 18th March 1755 he was promoted to Major-General and finally appointed Colonel of the Blues on 27th May 1758.
Granby was one of the first officers to not only recognise the importance of welfare and morale amongst troops, but to address the issue. The impact of his leadership changed the character of British soldiering and thus so improved, the properly led army proved unbeatable in war. As a sign of respect, nearly all portraits of Granby depict him mounting a horse, or helping the wounded.
To this day, Granby is particularly remembered in the military for his custom of helping old soldiers from his regiment retire into sustainable work, ensuring they were able to support both themselves and their families. Subsequently, and perhaps more widely appreciated, he is believed to have more public houses in Britain named after him than any other person!
There are no upcoming events at this time.
Open to the public 7 days a week, there’s always something to see at the museum. | <urn:uuid:b866d230-3e1d-41f9-b5d7-98c59960d6b5> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | http://www.householdcavalrymuseum.co.uk/the-marquis-of-granby/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590348504341.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20200605205507-20200605235507-00527.warc.gz | en | 0.985606 | 669 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Though most parents know the basics of children’s dental care, Ann Arbor dentists continue to see cavities in young children.
Caring for your infant’s teeth should begin even before they erupt. To prevent bacteria growth, parents can wash their baby’s gums with a wet washcloth after feedings.
Babies should never be put to bed with a bottle, no matter how tempting it is for tired parents. The sugars in milk or juice that stay in contact with teeth for hours can damage the enamel. When your child gets his first tooth, it is time to brush. Parents should use non-fluoride toothpaste until the child is two years old. Then, use only a tiny dab. Young children often swallow toothpaste while brushing. If a child ingests too much fluoride, teeth can become stained.
When a child is old enough to brush his own teeth, an adult should go over them after the child finishes to make sure they are clean. Most children thoroughly clean the chewing surfaces, but often fail to clean the backsides and gumline. Consult the child-friendly staff at Gary Sasaki DDS, MS about dental sealants.
Monitor your child’s meals and snacks. We all know that sugary snacks are not only bad for growing bodies; they are also bad for teeth. Scheduling set times to drink anything other than water during the day can also help prevent cavities.
To schedule a dental pediatric consultation, call Dr. Gary Sasaki at 734-482-7466. I provide Ann Arbor area dental care for children and families.
- Dr. Gary Sasaki
- Visit our Home Page | <urn:uuid:a499398f-d60d-43b8-be95-e1f919d4bb2e> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://www.midentalspa.com/dental_blog/2009/04/infant-and-toddler-teeth-care/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187827853.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20171024014937-20171024034937-00578.warc.gz | en | 0.941976 | 344 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Darts Maths is an interactive educational software, which helps children to acquire basic mathematical knowledge and develop their abilities, through a digital dartboard.
The aim of this programme is to encourage interactive learning in a practical and (stress-) free educational environment. Applicable to use with children in different stages of development. It does not differentiate, provides equal opportunities, focuses on unique and individual improvement.
Students do not experience failure, as the programme does not include any kind of evaluation. Problems and tasks can be re-done, difficulty levels are variable, which provides new challenges consecutively for students.
Problems with traditional lessons:
- Results in resistance
- Inattention appears
- Model of adequacy/ inadequacy
Resolutions provided by Darts Maths:
- Playful and simple
- Entirely interactive, involves the children
- Channels attention and focus
- Does not evaluate | <urn:uuid:35390bc8-e7fb-4a4b-9014-6a8f74358464> | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | http://dartsmatek.hu/en/the-programme/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496668716.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20191116005339-20191116033339-00206.warc.gz | en | 0.925862 | 185 | 3.34375 | 3 |
1, the fruiting body stage: wood or herbs, commonly known as Ganoderma lucidum, polysaccharide content of 1%.
2, sporophyte stage: spore is the seed of Ganoderma lucidum, is extremely subtle sequence of the organism, a single spore extremely small, only a few microns to ten microns, the naked eye can not see, people usually see by the numerous Spores concentrated, was powder, commonly known as Ganoderma lucidum spore powder. Polysaccharide content of 3%.
3, mycelium stage: spore germination, the resulting yellow-white filamentous material is called mycelia, which is the most vigorous stage of Ganoderma lucidum, like the growth of all the biological laws of nature, the embryo stage is the most dynamic life stage. Polysaccharide content of 15%.
What is Ganoderma lucidum powder?
Ganoderma lucidum spore powder is the late development of Ganoderma lucidum release of the seeds, biologically called the costume, gathered up after the powder, known as Ganoderma lucidum spore powder, its use and research is newly discovered in recent years, Ganoderma lucidum spore powder in the natural The environment is very difficult to collect, about 1000 kilograms of raw wood Ganoderma lucidum to collect 1 kg of spore powder, each spore diameter of only 5-8 microns, spores contain more rich than Ganoderma polysaccharide peptide, adenine nucleoside, protein, Selenium and other special ingredients, Ganoderma lucidum spore powder in the increase in immunity, inhibition of tumor efficacy far more than its parent Ganoderma lucidum. | <urn:uuid:c33a4c5d-381c-4a26-a79e-3f9669f7bbc7> | CC-MAIN-2018-39 | http://m.ganodermabuy.com/news/three-stages-of-ganoderma-lucidum-life-9280437.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-39/segments/1537267162809.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20180926002255-20180926022655-00069.warc.gz | en | 0.915114 | 362 | 2.703125 | 3 |
in the UK
Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) the famous Victorian explorer, began his career in the Indian army in 1842. While in India he developed his linguistic talent, mastering more than forty different languages and dialects. He turned to writing books in the 1850s and, over the remaining forty years of his life, published dozens of works and more than one hundred articles. He spent part of his career as British consul in Fernando Po (present-day Equatorial Guinea) in West Africa, and used this as an opportunity to explore the region. In 1861, he was sent on a mission, recounted in this two-volume work of 1864, to Dahomey (present-day Benin) to urge the king to put a stop to the local slave trade. In Volume 2 Burton discusses the human sacrifices that were taking place while he was there, and the negotiations with the king about slavery.
Cambridge University Press
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The prices displayed are for website purchases only, and may differ to the prices in Waterstones shops. | <urn:uuid:58488ed8-57d2-48b2-8b17-f8485b35c10c> | CC-MAIN-2015-06 | http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/sir+richard+francis+burton/a+mission+to+gelele2c+king+of+dahome/8476646/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-06/segments/1422115857200.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150124161057-00147-ip-10-180-212-252.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962206 | 231 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Stargazing 11th November 2019
Thankyou to everyone that came to the year 3 stargazing event last night! It was a lot of fun and the children will hopefully remember it for years to come. It felt truly magical to see the children in the dark with their torches making shadows and spotting star constellations. Thankyou again as it wouldn't be possible to have events like this without parents support.
Mrs O'Leary and Mrs Laws
Term 2 2019-20
During term 2 we are learning about the Roman Empire. We are starting with Queen Boudica and her uprising.
Writing: We are writing tragedy stories in the first half of term and non chronological reports in the second half.
Reading: To start the term we are reading 'Stig Of The Dump' in whole class reading. At the end of the day we are reading 'The Secret Seven' for pleasure.
Maths: In maths we will contiue to develop our strategies for addition and subtraction, looking at the column method.
Cooking: In cooking this term will begin by making a tomato sauce which we will freeze. Weekly we will use it to create lots of varied dishes.
RE: This term we will be looking at Hindu symbols and look forward to delving further into stories about the gods.
Science: We will be investigating light and dark, ultimately creating shadow puppet shows of our tragedy stories.
Mrs O'Leary and Mrs Laws
Term 1 2019-20
Welcome to the Red Kites web page!
During term 1 we learnt about the Space Race and wrote sci-fi stories and balanced arguments around the moon landings.
We had a great trip indoor ski-diving and started weekly forest school and cooking sessions.
Mrs O'Leary and Mrs Laws
Term Six – Sir David Attenborough
For our final term this academic year we will be focusing our learning on, arguably, one of the most prestigious English broadcasters of the 21st Century – Sir David Attenborough.
We will begin our term by looking back at his many achievements, from his early days on TV as curator of Zoo Quest, right up until his more recent Life Collection documentaries. We will be thinking about why he is often referred to as a ‘national treasure’ in Britain and reasons for his knighthood in 1985. Be prepared to learn about some of the species that are named after him too!
Sitting rather nicely with this topic, is the classification and identification of living things, so this will form much of our Science for the term. Alongside this we will also look in more detail at plants and their life-cycle.
Our class trips to Sutton Courtenay Nature Reserve on Tuesday 11th June and our whole school trip to Hill End on Friday 7th June will allow for hands-on exploration and discovery of local wildlife. We also plan to use our Forest School and partake in 30 Days Wild which will challenge us to do something wild every day! For more information about this click on the link below:
Our writing focus is writing to inform – we hope children will enjoy learning all about mammals and teaching you about these through their non-chronological reports!
After a long stretch on fractions, in Maths, we are moving on to time. We hope that the time packs that we sent home at the end of term 5 have been useful, please feel free to return any completed sheets or ask for more, if children are super keen!
Our whole class reading book this term is ‘When the Mountains Roared’, by Jess Butterworth. Carrying with it an all-important message of preservation, this novel promises to be another exciting read whilst raising many important questions.
As always, please refer to our Curriculum Map for additional information or come and find us if you need to talk to us.
We are hoping for a fun final term, filled with lots of sunshine and hands on learning!
The Red Kites Team.
BRITAIN IN THE 1960's
Welcome back to Term 5 …We trust you’ve all had a fantastic Easter break and are well rested and ready for a short but exciting term ahead!
This term is all about the sixties, a decade which was dominated by the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Protests, the assassinations of US President John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the Cuban Missile Crisis-but finally ending on a good note when the first man landed on the moon!
Whist this era is undoubtedly one of the most historic for many reasons; our focus will primarily be on Britain. We will look at why the sixties became known as the swinging sixties due to the youth movement emphasising the new and modern. One of the biggest and defining aspects of the 1960s was music so this and fashion will be a focus.
Additionally, we will be looking at the recovery of the British economy after the Second World War and how this changed life for Britons at the time. We will learn about housing and the rise of the tower block, and developments in technology and transport.
In Maths we will continue to develop our knowledge and understanding of fractions including tenths as decimals, fractions on a number line, equivalent fractions and adding and subtracting simple fractions.
Our writing focus is writing to entertain – our stories will be inspired by England’s world cup victory in 1966 and the events surrounding the missing trophy. If you don’t know the story, or indeed who Pickles is, we hope the children will enlighten you…who knows, perhaps their stories will change history as we know it!
Our class book is Clive King’s 1963 classic, Stig of the Dump. As in previous terms we will undertake whole class reading which will be followed with discussion and questions that will challenge children to explain, retrieve and interpret information.
For more information on this term's work and for key dates please take a look at our curriculum map.
The Red Kites Team!
Welcome back to Term 3 in Red Kites…We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Spring like half term break. We are very excited to be looking at Extreme Survival over this half term!
We will be considering which regions of our world are extreme and what makes them so. From Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench - what are these environments like? Who or what can adapt to life in these regions? Prepare to be wowed with plenty of facts over the next 6 weeks!
Our writing focus for the term starts with descriptive poetry – we will be paying particular attention to the use of powerful adjectives and adverbs for describing extreme regions of Earth. We will move onto letter writing for the remainder of term, with a focus on using persuasive language. These letters will link with our topic work on the Marathon de Sabes, as we will be undertaking our own survival walk around Drayton! If we are persuasive enough, perhaps we will see your sponsorship…
Throughout the term we'll be looking at various non-fiction texts based around the subject of survival. Our whole class guided reading book is Philip Pullmans “The Firework Maker’s Daughter”. In this tale, Lila dreams of being a firework maker, but first she must make a nightmarish journey to battle the evil Fire-Fiend. Will she survive his blazing wrath?
In Science we will identify the main parts of a human body, associated with the muscles and skeleton. We will look at how different parts of the human body have special functions with a particular focus on how the heart and lungs operate and how the health of these organs helps our fitness levels and ultimately our survival. This topic also lends itself rather nicely to the study of adaptation, so there will be plenty of opportunity for us to look at this too.
This all links together with our trip later in the term to Youlbury for a survival day.
Our Maths focus for this half term is measurement, length and perimeter. As well as using metres, centimetres, and millimetres as our units of measure, we will be looking at equivalent measurements, comparing measurements and adding and subtracting measurements.
Take a look at the curriculum map to find out more detail of what we will be up to this term…
We look forward to lots of fun learning!
**The Space Race**
This term in Red Kites, we'll be learning about the Space Race.
The key players during the 1950s and 1960s were the United States of America (USA), and the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). We'll be finding out about the differences in their societies - Capitalist versus Socialist - and how that impacted their approaches to the challenge of space exploration. We'll find out about the 'space heroes', the main political leaders, and most importantly who won the race!
We'll be reading lots of short stories and longer tales with space exploration as a focus, but our whole class reading teaching will be using The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. This is a classic story, written using powerful vocabulary that the children will be able to learn and transfer into their own writing. Its themes also link with the general feeling of western society during the 1960s.
At the end of term we'll have a film afternoon to watch one of the film adaptations of the book so we can look for similarities and differences between the film and the book.
We've already read a whole book this term - a hilarious romp through time narrated by a dad on his way to get more milk. "Fortunately, the milk" by Neil Gaiman.
We read another book by Neil Gaiman last term, "The Wolves in the Walls". What we now know is that when the wolves come out the walls, it's all over...
Romans on the Rampage
During their first term in Key Stage 2, Red Kites will be learning about the history of the Roman Empire, the Roman occupation of Britain, and finding out how the occupiers changed life permanently on our island.
We start by finding out about the Celtic tribes who lived in Britain 3000 years ago, particularly their way of life. By doing this we can really see how different life became once the Romans arrived.
In English, children will study the legionaries so be prepared for plenty of facts as we research these elite soldiers. We’ll start this term by putting together a non-chronological report so don’t be surprised if you hear lots of information about these soldiers, including the most crucial stuff such as where these soldiers went to the loo and how they wiped their bottoms!
Later on in the term we'll be considering the rebellion side of Empire, writing radio scripts as if we had witnessed Boudicca's battle at St Albans.
Children will acquire and practise skills in Art, making Roman mosaics and busts, in D&T, we will be creating shields.
We will be going on a Roman themed trip on Monday 17th September.
This term's maths lessons will focus on place value, addition and subtraction.
In addition to our tables facts, we have another key skill to master during year 3; that of telling the time. Christmas is coming up, and a 'time teller' watch is a good gift to add to the list! It would help if you could have discussions at home about time telling, and working out time intervals.
Science this term is quite varied. We start looking at types of rocks and how soil is made, then discover Victorian fossil hunting and Roman volcano disasters.
We hope to run a museum trip to do some proper fossil fondling later in the term.
This term in Red Kites we will be finding out about Extreme Survivors.
Our writing focus for the term is about informing our readers, so we'll be writing reports, leaflets and explanations.
We'll start off finding out about polar bears and the polar environment, producing a page for an information book. We'll move on to learning about the Marathon de Sables, writing a 'desert survival guide' for runners. In the second half of the term we'll be finding out about the problem with plastic in our oceans, and the struggle to survive for sea creatures. We'll be focusing on deep sea creatures and explaining how they can survive in such an extreme environment.
We'll be relating that to our own impact on the planet, writing a newspaper report and reading a futuristic science fiction digitext called 'The Last Mission' in which humans and amphi-beings fight for survival.
This all links together with our trip later in the term to Youlbury for a survival day. We'll be doing archery, abseiling, shelter building and backwoods cooking on the fire.
Throughout the term we'll be looking at various non-fiction texts based around the subject of climate and survival in guided reading.
In science we'll be combining last term's work on healthy eating and healthy bodies with a focus on how humans adapt to different environments, and how to cook healthy balanced meals. We'll be designing menus and cooking various dishes.
In PE we'll be continuing with gymnastics and dance, since both of these terms are so short. Our dances will be around extreme weather and planetary events, gymnastics will be continuing our work on body shapes using apparatus.
Take a look at the curriculum map for the term to find out more detail of spelling, grammar, punctuation, art etc.
Mrs Hodder, Miss Pope and Mrs Gibbard
Welcome back everyone, we hope you had a good Christmas break and Father Christmas was generous!
Term Three in Red Kites welcomes ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’- yes, you guessed it, we are doing everything Circus!
We’ll be kicking off the term with Circus All-Stars coming into school; they will be running two circus skills workshop over the first few weeks. The workshops will teach children a range of talents such as plate spinning, juggling and tight rope walking. These will be incorporated into our gymnastic and dance sessions over the coming term.
In English, children will be reading the novel ‘Circus of Thieves’, by William Sutcliffe. This book will provide inspiration for children to write their own circus stories. A key focus will be on developing children’s language, particularly in relation to descriptions of both setting and characters. Poetry will also be an emphasis this term, where children will read, respond to, write and perform poetry.
In Maths we will be developing sophisticated methods for multiplication and division. Children will learn to use expanded and compact grid methods for multiplication and division. Later in the term, we will learn to tell time using analogue, digital and 24 hour clocks - estimating and recording time in minutes and seconds.
Science will offer children an opportunity to learn about the human form. Children will develop knowledge of the skeleton and its function, the muscles and breathing. There will be opportunities to complete lung capacity and muscle investigations.
In Art we will be looking at Marc Chagall, a Russian artist, who, as a child, had been fascinated by the travelling acrobats he saw at village fairs. He created dreamlike replications of what he saw and these will provide us a starting point to create our own pictures with pastels and paint.
This gives you a taster of things to come in Term 3 - do take a look at our curriculum map if you would like more information on what we’re covering
We look forward to a short but fun filled term!
Mrs Hodder, Miss Pope and Mrs Gibbard.
Welcome to Red Kites, we hope you’ve all enjoyed a relaxing break and are ready for what we hope will be a fantastic term!
We have already introduced children to our topic, ‘Rise of the Robots’ and are delighted that it has struck their interest immediately. Over the term we will be learning all about the rise of robots and hope to answer some key questions:
Where did it all begin?
What did the first computer look like?
Who is Tim Berners-Lee?
How have robots evolved and what will we see in the future?
Our class book will be The Iron Man by Ted Hughes; each child will have a copy of the book and will be able to read along with us in class. This will be the focus for much of our work throughout the term.
In English we'll be writing to inform and entertain. We'll start by writing diary entries and move on to retelling parts of the story of The Iron Man. Towards the second part of this term we’ll be learning all about features of newspapers and will produce our own reports.
In Maths we'll be focusing on place value, and addition and subtraction. This term we are excited about maths because we'll be using lots of equipment to help us visualise our calculations.
May the force be with us? Let’s hope so, as children will learn all about forces this term, starting off with getting to grips with what a force is. We hope to provide lots of hands on fun and plenty of practical experiments and investigations.
In art we'll be finding out about artists including Eric Joyner, a contemporary American artist whose body of work has focused on robots and donuts. Look out for our replica in the coming weeks.
In PE this term we'll be going swimming every Wednesday so please ensure children have their kit every week. You will have received a letter detailing everything you need to know but please ask if you have any questions. We will also have some time to do some dance this term and if we’re feeling brave may invite you in for a mini preview…
We'll be doing phonics or spelling every day, so the focus will change regularly.
To begin with we'll be making sure we know our 2, 5 and 10 times tables (including division facts), so follow the links below to get a head start with some online games.
In Spanish we'll be learning our vowel sounds, counting to 10, introducing ourselves and using vocabulary for items in the classroom. In addition we’ll be doing the register and lunches in Spanish too.
We have an idea for a great trip, so watch this space.
Mrs Hodder, Miss Pope and Mrs Gibbard.
If you want to be a successful employee of Atlas Adventures, study maps… study the globe… do you know enough about the world to sell a holiday to a client who just wants ‘somewhere hot but not too hot’? Could you sell a holiday to a client who wants ‘to do some walking up hills with nice views’? Could you sell a holiday to a client who ‘is a bit scared of flying, but wants to go to a desert island’?
This term we’re trying something different in Red Kites. The adults have thought about the general direction of the term’s topic, but the children are going to decide the detail as the term goes on.
We will be running a travel agency called Atlas Adventures. The children will be working for Atlas Adventures, and dealing with all situations that might affect the organisation.
We know that there will be some creative maths (which will require us to learn some new maths skills), there will be some persuasive, informative and entertaining writing, some musical composition, some history expertise and obviously a lot of geographical and language skills used throughout the seven weeks…. what we don’t know yet is the detail.
Check back here each week to see how Atlas Adventures fares in the competitive world of imaginative travel.
Curriculum map (so far) below.
We are now just a few days into term 5 and have already got stuck into our new topic based around The Arts! The children may have talked to you about our superb Shakespearean workshop in which they were introduced to ‘The Tempest’. We are all really excited about this play and looking forward to putting on our own performance later in the term.
For those of you who are not familiar with this play, it is tale of magic, deception, revenge, and marriage and is thought to be one of Shakespeare’s last plays, written around 1610. To read more about the plot and characters take a peek at https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-tempest/about-the-play.
Over the past few days children have been researching Shakespeare, learning about his life and how he came to be, arguably, one of the greatest writers of all time. Following on from our drama workshop we have been busy writing a diary extract from the point of view of Miranda, who watched ‘The Tempest’ unfold! After that, the children will learn how to write a synopsis of the play and then produce detailed character descriptions of their favourite dramatis personae. This will give children a great opportunity to produce some descriptive writing, scene setting using fronted adverbials, subordinate clauses, expanded noun phrases, and other parts of language taught this year.
Our focus in Maths is measure. We will start by looking at weight and mass and move on to capacity and length. Children will compare mixed units and simple equivalents. They will build on their understanding of place value and decimal notation to record metric units.
We will be sending times table homework home for terms 5 and 6. This will be sent out every Wednesday and will need to be returned by the following Tuesday. The first homework will be sent on Wednesday 3rd May.
We have lots of exciting topic work planned such as shadow puppets in Science, historical investigation and creative opportunities which will involve sewing and creations of Shakspeare's Globe theatre.
For more information on what we are up to this term please look at the uploaded curriculum map.
Mrs Hodder, Miss Pope and Mr Wooster.
A sneaky hint about next term's topic - we're not giving any more away until Tuesday 25th April when the Young Shakespeare Company will be coming in to work with Red Kites on a performance.
Term 4 - Week 1
Red Kites have been learning how to add fractions in Maths.
We have been adding fractions where the denominator remains the same, making fraction pairs that equal 1 and using a number line to help add larger fractions that equal 1. Some of us also learned how to add fractions that were greater than 1!
Superb Maths Red Kites.
First Flights to Future Flights
Term 4 in Red Kites will see us learning about the history of flight and the future of space flight. We'll be visiting @Bristol science centre to take part in a workshop about rocket flight, and carrying out our own investigations into aerodynamic design. We'll also be learning about other aspects of fantastic forces - magnets and friction.
We'll be writing instructions on how to build the most aerodynamic paper plane, explanations in science about how rockets leave our atmosphere, a non-chronological report about a planet of the solar system and a radio script reporting the news of the first man on the moon. Our extended assessed writing will be a biography of an astronaut following on from our work on biography during term 3.
In maths our main focus will be on fractions and decimals and we'll be continuing to learn our times tables. As with maths already this year, we'll be using lots of models and images to practice and 'play' with the maths before we look at the more abstract methods using number. We'll also be using lots of our decimal maths in science to help with accurate measurements.
Art will involve creating aerodynamic planes in different medium, Mothers Day cards and space art in the style of Peter Thorpe.
In RE we'll continue to compare creation stories from different religions and beliefs, including those from Egypt, Australian Aborigines, West Africa and the Polynesian islands.
Brass has finished for Red Kites this term (there will be an opportunity to continue with paid lessons next year if you want to), so we'll be focusing on singing in music for the rest of the year. We'll look at harmonising and learning rounds.
Another jam packed term, with some exciting trips and visitors included!
Mrs Hodder, Miss Pope and Mr Wooster
26th January 2017
Great trip to the Natural History Museum yesterday. Thank you to Mrs Orlando, Mrs Porter and Mrs Curran for coming along to help. It was a busy day, although we managed a whistle-stop tour of all the key areas that were relevant to our topic. We also spent some time in the basement of the museum being real paleontologists - uncovering a dinosaur skull fossil and working out which one it was using available evidence.
Our topic throughout school this term is 'Game Changers'. Red Kites have chosen Mary Anning (1799-1847), she was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for important finds she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in Dorset. It was only much later that Anning would be remembered as an important contributor to palaeontology, due to her being female!
Our English focus is writing to inform and writing to entertain.
To begin we will be writing a biography on Mary Anning and will be doing lots of research to discover more about her.
What happened to Mary when she was a young baby?
What are the names of some of the fossils Mary found?
What happened to Mary’s father?
Where are some of Mary’s fossil today?
Red Kites will have a go at creating a non-chronological report on dinosaurs so be prepared to hear lots of facts about these prehistoric creatures.
Towards the end of this term children will be writing stories based on ‘A Night at the Museum’ which we hope they will turn into animations using Movie Maker!
In Maths we will continue doing work on multiplication and division and will move on to fractions towards the end of the term.
In science children will do rock and soil investigations. They will learn how to categorise rocks, how to identify rocks and check hardiness and permeability of rocks. Children will have a chance to produce their own fossils from plaster of paris.
In history children will be learning about how Anning's significant geological discoveries impacted on new ideas about the history of the Earth.
Children will also be looking at creation stories in RE and comparing these stories across the globe.
Our school trip has been booked for Wednesday 25th January. We will be visiting The National History Museum in London. More information on this will follow shortly.
Red Kites will start swimming from Wednesday 11th January. You will have received a letter about this before Christmas. Please ensure your child has their swimming kit with them every Wednesday.
We look forward to a fun filled term!
Mrs Hodder, Miss Pope and Mr Wooster.
The Drayton to Delhi Express
In maths we will spend the first week consolidating our knowledge of written addition and subtraction through the use of bar models to help solve word problems. We'll then change focus and spend the rest of term on multiplication and division. It is really important that children learn their times tables facts (see link at the bottom of the page to some games that might help). There will be homework set for tables learning once a week, and a test on Thursdays. The test will focus on the use of facts in real life scenarios rather than just the straight forward 'facts'.
In Red Kites reading will be taught to the whole class, looking at myths, legends and traditional stories of the UK and India. We'll consider use of language, character development and similarities between 'word of mouth' stories in different cultures. We'll also have one guided reading session a week when children will have chance to examine texts in more detail with support from an adult. We're lucky in that the new Treetops series of books will be displayed in our classroom - many children in both years 3 and 4 will be using this scheme over the next year. We'll be letting you have more information about this during the first two weeks of term.
In science our focus shifts from electricity to states of matter. This links nicely with comparison of climate and weather, considering the change in state of water. Rain is a key weather phenomenon for both countries.
India is a country of many religions, as is the UK. We'll be finding out about how Hindu families worship, we'll compare symbols and religious figures of Hinduism and Christianity, and produce some art and written work related to the festival of Diwali. We'll also be making collaborative rangoli pieces in different media and finding out about henna patterns for hands and feet.
In PE this term Mr Mills will be teaching hockey and Mrs Hodder will be teaching gymnastics. Please have your PE kit in school every day (including something that is warm for being outdoors) to allow some flexibility in our timetable.
Brass lessons will continue, and we'll be learning songs for the KS2 Christmas performance.
It's a packed term!
Mrs Hodder, Miss Pope, Mr Wooster and Mrs Kirk
Red Kites' Robot Army!
This term the Red Kites will be finding out about the 'Rise of the Robots'. We'll be finding out about the history of the computer:
When was the Internet invented?
What did the first computer look like?
Who is Tim Berners-Lee?
How have robots evolved?
In English we'll be writing to inform. We'll be producing newspaper reports, pages from non-fiction books, diaries, radio scripts and presentations. In maths we'll be focusing on place value, and addition and subtraction. This term we are excited about maths because we'll be using lots of new equipment to help us visualise our calculations.
Our class book will be The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. We'll also be reading some of his other stories and poems.
In science we'll be finding out about electricity, how to use it safely, and discovering which are the best materials for conducting electrical currents. In art we'll be finding out about artists including Eric Joiner, who painted lots of robots. In PE this term we'll be doing dance and outdoor team games.
We'll be doing phonics or spelling every day, so the focus will change regularly. To begin with we'll be making sure we know our 2, 5 and 10 times tables (including division facts), so follow the links below to get a head start with some online games.
In French we'll be introducing ourselves and using vocabulary for items in the classroom, as well as learning to follow classroom instructions in French. In RE we'll be finding out whether Christians have to take communion.
We have an idea for a great trip, so watch this space. It looks like it's going to be a fun term!
Mrs Hodder, Miss Pope, Mr Wooster and Mrs Kirk
Wednesday 7th September
Representing numbers using Base 10 and Place Value counters.
Thursday 9th September
In our science lesson today, Samuel told me in great detail how electrical circuits only work if the electricity can flow through a conductor. A conductor is usually something made of metal, as he is demonstrating with this pair of scissors.
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COVID-19 Vaccine Media Hub open for service
Journalists and fact-checkers have a new weapon in the fight against COVID-19 vaccine misinformation with a dedicated global support service developed by a network of Science Media Centres (SMCs) and public health experts.
The COVID-19 Vaccine Media Hub (covidvaccinehub.org) is coordinated by the Australian Science Media Centre in South Australia in collaboration with global technology not-for-profit Meedan and with financial support from the Google News Initiative. The Hub will provide journalists and fact-checkers with a trusted source of evidence and experts they can turn to, as they report on the fast-evolving news around COVID-19 vaccines.
The Hub brings together information from multiple organisations including Science Media Centres in Australia, Germany, the UK, NZ, Africa and North America, and Meedan with nodes in multiple regions. It is the first time these organisations have been able to work together in a comprehensive way to provide a truly global resource.
“The pandemic is a global problem," said Dr Susannah Eliott, CEO of the Australian Science Media Centre.
"It makes a lot of sense for this international group of organisations to pool their knowledge and expertise to help journalists anywhere in the world."
While much of the science is still developing, the hub will help sort what we know from what we don't and won't shy away from areas where the science is still uncertain. Fiona Fox, Director of the UK Science Media Centre, said there has never been a more important time for the public to have access to measured and accurate evidence about vaccines.
"Public worries about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and tough questions about claims being made by vaccine producers are absolutely legitimate at a time when vaccines have been produced at such break-neck speed," she said.
"But millions of lives and our collective ability to return to anything like normal life depend on the quality of answers we can get from science.”
The hub will be continuously updated with expert commentary and explainers reacting to the latest research and developments, much of it translated into multiple languages. A 24-hour service will also soon be available to journalists and fact-checkers to help them with specific questions.
The Hub will be hosted by Meedan's Health Desk which already makes COVID-19 information accessible and deadline-friendly in a variety of languages. Award-winning journalist Megan Marrelli is Health Desk's News Lead:
“As a journalist myself it became clear when the pandemic hit that close collaboration with public health experts would be key to getting facts right in a way that’s both fast and responsible," she said.
"That collaboration is even more necessary when it comes to vaccines."
Support for the project comes from the Google News Initiative. Alexios Mantzarlis from their News Lab team said the COVID-19 vaccine media hub will be an invaluable tool to help journalists fulfill that crucial bridging role between the scientific community and the broader public.
"In turn, that should help combat misinformation about the immunisation process and promote an evidence-based public discourse globally," he said.
Reaction to the launch from other contributing organisations:
Nat Gyenes, Director, Digital Health Lab, Meedan:
“We’re at a moment in this pandemic where we’re reminded that a vaccine doesn’t save lives if it goes unused. Ensuring that eligible communities receive the vaccine involves addressing a variety of factors, ranging from availability of supplies to accessible, relevant, quality information. Pathways for public health experts and journalists, fact-checkers and community information leaders to collaborate closely, efficiently, and at the speed of newsroom deadlines is essential for addressing the health information inequity challenges that can impede vaccination efforts.”
Dacia Herbulock, Director, Science Media Centre of New Zealand:
"As COVID-19 vaccine rollouts ramp up around the world, there is an overwhelming need for accessible, high-quality and up-to-date information based on the latest scientific evidence. In New Zealand, we've seen first-hand how excellent science communication can transform society's response to a crisis. We are thrilled to contribute to this global collaboration that will make these resources available to journalists and fact checkers at the time when they need it most."
Volker Stollorz, Science Media Center Germany:
"Many countries are waiting for COVID-19 vaccines and the numbers of different vaccines are increasing rapidly, so that even in Europe it remains challenging to find reliable, evidence-based knowledge. The Science Media Center Germany is therefore pleased to participate in an international collaboration to help answer journalists' and fact-checkers' questions from around the globe, when they can be answered with scientific expertise available to us.”
Rick Weiss, Director, SciLine:
“We at SciLine look forward to leveraging the relationships we’ve developed with hundreds of US scientists working in COVID-19-related disciplines by making resources based on those experts’ knowledge and insights available to the global community of journalists and fact checkers.”
Jim Handman, Science Media Centre of Canada:
"In these times of fake news, misinformation, disinformation and social media rumours, journalists need access to accurate, reliable, evidence-based information relating to COVID-19 vaccines. The Science Media Centre of Canada is pleased to be part of this global effort to address those concerns and provide journalists and fact-checkers with data and materials they can easily access and rely on."
For more information regarding the Hub and SMC Germany's contribution to it, contact Volker Stollorz
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1590s, "to run off," probably from Middle Dutch (ont)lopen "run away," from ont- "away from" (from Proto-Germanic *und- which also gave the first element in until, from PIE root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before") + lopen "to run," from Proto-Germanic *hlaupan (source also of Old English hleapan; see leap (v.)). Sense of "run away in defiance of parental authority to marry secretly" is 19c.
In support of this OED compares Old English uðleapan, "the technical word for the 'escaping' of a thief." However there is an Anglo-French aloper "run away from a husband with one's lover" (mid-14c.) which complicates this etymology; perhaps it is a modification of the Middle Dutch word, with Old French es-, or it is a compound of that and Middle English lepen "run, leap" (see leap (v.)).
The oldest Germanic word for "wedding" is represented by Old English brydlop (source also of Old High German bruthlauft, Old Norse bruðhlaup), literally "bride run," the conducting of the woman to her new home. Related: Eloped; eloping. | <urn:uuid:048de401-c57c-4b65-ba37-e8bdccc2b83a> | CC-MAIN-2021-17 | https://www.etymonline.com/word/elope | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-17/segments/1618038507477.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20210418163541-20210418193541-00023.warc.gz | en | 0.959056 | 287 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Wild violets, while perhaps a thing of beauty, disrupt and even take over a lawn in just a few years. They are particularly fond of shady areas. Well cared for lawns do not often experience much trouble from wild violets. However those that have been neglected are fair game to this quick-spreading plant. Selecting the appropriate herbicide and providing diligent care may over time help remove this pesky plant from your lawn.
What Are Wild Violets
To some, the tiny purple, white or yellow flowers are among the first harbingers of spring and considered wild flowers. To others they are a nuisance that spreads easily and disrupts a lawn. This perennial is capable of lasting many years during which time it can multiply significantly. It grows to a height of between 2 and 5 inches with heart-shaped, hairless leaves. Wild violets are rhizomes that have underground, horizontal stems that send out roots and shoots along the stem, making it easy for the plant to spread.
The rhizomes can spread quickly underground making it difficult to remove the entire structure without disruption to other plant root structures. New shoots will pop up all over a lawn or pasture and the roots will crowd out the desired plants. Even leaving a small piece of the rhizome behind is enough to guarantee that the wild violets will return.
Wild violets are difficult to control. Several applications of herbicide are necessary. It may be necessary to use more than one type of herbicide to gain sufficient control of wild violets. The type of herbicide to use is that designated for use on broadleaf plants. Chemicals that are, to some degree, more or less effective in eradicating wild violets are metsulfuron, sulfosulfuron, dicamba and a mixture of 2,4-D and triclopyr. It may take several years before the complete removal of wild violets occurs.
Not all of these chemicals are available to homeowners. Only certified applicators may apply the 2,4-D and triclopyr solution. Metsulfuron when sold as Escort may not be used on residential lawns. Regrowth of the wild violets will occur, which is why it is necessary to reapply and use to use different herbicides in order to effect a more complete eradication of the wild violets. Check labels before purchasing herbicide to make sure the solution contains one of these chemicals. Also check on the chemicals effect on the type of grass in the area. Not all of these chemicals are compatible with all grass types.
As with most problems, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The best way to defend against wild violets is to take proper care of the lawn in the first place. Begin by selecting proper grass types for your area. Make sure to fertilize, water and mow the lawn regularly to stimulate dense growth. The denser the desired lawn is, the more difficult it is for weeds, including wild violets to take hold. | <urn:uuid:70b2106c-8791-4adb-92d5-321b00d3c6c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gardenguides.com/131885-wild-violet-herbicide.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707439012/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123039-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944546 | 628 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Damp affects all people who live under the same roof, and may cause respiratory diseases, allergies, asthma, pains and, eventually, lung diseases.
THE QUALITY OF THE AIR WE BREATH
Excessive environmental humidity increases your chance of getting respiratory diseases such as asthma, sinusitis, and respiratory tract infections as bronchitis.
Due to mites and humidity contained in the air, we could suffer from malaise, chills, tiredness, shortness of breath, cold feet, headache, musty odours, etc.
THE BONES, MUSCLES AND JOINTS
Cold and damp cause an increase in pain in some people suffering from rheumatic illnesses.
Moulds are microscopic organisms similar to those in plants, which reproduce by producing spores in the air, which may cause asthma.
A HOME WITH DAMP PROBLEMS, A SICK FAMILY
Scientific studies have found sufficient evidences that relate continuous exposure to mould in indoor environments and respiratory tract diseases, coughing and asthma in healthy people. Mould is also linked to hypersensitivity pneumonitis in susceptible individuals to this immunological condition.
La salud de una familia está seriamente amenazada viviendo en un hogar con humedades.
Source: Institute of Medicine (www.iom.edu)
START TO SOLVE YOUR DAMP PROBLEM NOW IN JUST 3 STEPS BY FINDING OUT THE CAUSE, HOW IT CAN BE SOLVED AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST:
PROLIFERATION OF MITES, FUNGI AND BACTERIA
Mites, fungi and bacteria, a threat on the damp walls of your home
Humidity on the walls creates an ideal breeding ground for mites, fungus and mould that may cause respiratory diseases and allergies. A large number of people develop allergies to fungi such as, for example, aspergillosis, caused by infection or allergy to a particular type of fungus which affects, especially, to babies and elder people, being serious in some cases.
Mites are one of the most common trigger of asthma in babies.
Pregnant women and babies health
Newborns are especially vulnerable to suffer from breathing problems. The chance of suffering these diseases increases considerably in humid environments in which mites and fungi spores multiply in breathing air. By solving damp problems in homes, health problems are prevented in babies and pregnant women.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DAMP AND RESPIRATORY TRACT DISEASES
Various studies demonstrate the existent relationship between these diseases and a humid environment: in a sample of 134 adolescents who suffered from asthma, asthmatic bronchitis and chronic bronchitis, a 78% live in very humid rooms, a 17% in dry rooms and 5% in very dry rooms.
Similar observations were made with 103 patients who suffered chronic rhinitis: a 78% lived in very humid rooms, a 17% in dry rooms and 5% in very dry rooms.
To illustrate this connection, it is important to know that the number of mites per gram of dust in soil is 3 in dry environments and 83 in damp environments (hygrometry up to 75%).
(Journal of Practice Medicine nº 18)
ANSWER A FEW EASY QUESTIONS AND CONFIRM THE ORIGIN OF THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION IN JUST ONE MINUTE:
Reasons to choose MURPROTEC
Leading group in Spain and Europe in anti-damp treatments since 1954: over 60 years guarantee us.
The technology and solutions we use have been developed in our own labs.
Our specialists will come to your place to carry out a free diagnosis without commitment.
We carry out strict quality controls at any stage of damp treatment processing.
CUSTOMERS WHO SOLVED THEIR HEALTH PROBLEMS RELATED TO DAMP
Our son suffered from asthma attacks and doctors told us it could be caused by humid environments. Indeed, we had damp problems at home. We called MURPROTEC and, in a very short time, damp disappeared and child’s asthma subsided.
Since we moved into our new house, my respiratory problems became worse. It didn’t take me long to realise that this was related to the excessive environmental humidity at home. Thanks to MURPROTEC we solved the problem.
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What kinds of thread have been used for pearl stringing since the art of adornment began? When could our ancestors have starting using pearls as adornment and how?
Much of the known history of spun fiber is relevant to pearls, whether the spun silk that is all the rage now, or the ropes that were used to aid in pearl diving, (of which we have a record going back to the 4th millenia BC in Bahrain).
The thread on 'cave pearls' mentions shells as the earliest ornament found-dating back to 95,000,years ago. Here is that link
Some younger shells dating from 75,000 years ago clearly show the marks from the thread used which were most likely 'drilled' with a sharp slice of flint.Now that we are on the topic, I would like to expand our studies a little to that of spun fibers, ie thread or cord. In a very quick google search, not looking past what shows up on the search page, I saw a claim that the oldest piece of fabric or textile found, was in Turkey and it is over 8,000 years old, yet it already showed "great skill".
'Great skill' means the warp and woof thread were very finely and evenly spun. Spinning fine thread is much harder technically than spinning coarse plant fibers, but it uses the exact same technique: you have a bundle of fibers lined up in the same direction and you pull some partially out of the bundle and twist it. Then you keep pulling the twisted part to draw out the parts of the bundle that got caught in the twist and keep on spinning.
One good question is how old is the use of a drop spindle?
I would bet, that the very fibers that made marks of wear on those ancient shell ornaments will also yeald up microscopic hints of twist. This would indicate a spun fiber was used. My bet is actually a testable hypothesis though we must wait for the experts to comment on it based on their findings re this discovery.
BTW I tend to get fuzzy on details, so please feel free to correct me and to add your own opinions....
Thanks to DFrey for pointing out the oldest shells did not have the thread marks, (though they were assumed to be worn as adornment) | <urn:uuid:eb7b70c4-5638-4142-a15f-81d69aced661> | CC-MAIN-2015-32 | http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1814&p=17526 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042981525.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002301-00033-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974776 | 473 | 2.65625 | 3 |
While the rest of the world shows excessive selfishness by craving for development, being least concerned about its after effects Germany is showing immense concern to the issue of environmental exploitation in the developmental processes. The German coalition government has recently disclosed its decision of putting an end to the use of Nuclear Power by the year 2022.
It has been decided by the ruling government that the country will rely on wind energy for all its needs instead! It is said that the recent Nuclear disaster in Japan has caused the Germans to take extreme precautions in this manner. They have already begun working on these decisions by cutting down five out of the nine Nuclear Energy suppliers.
Inside Story – The future of nuclear power:
Although it seems like it is an outstanding step taken to save Mother Earth this issue too has raised a number of questions like many other environment concerning ones still under discussion. Experts round the globe have divided into two groups regarding this issue. On one hand we have people demanding to know for how long is it possible for the country to survive on renewable resources where as the other group claims stability with gradual decrease. The question before Germany remains as to how the factories on one end of the country will manage to get to the other end if Mother Nature fails to cooperate! It is not practically possible to put production on a standstill just because there’s no wind……. Right?
While the world keeps shooting at Germany with its numerous quarries, it stands strong and unmoved by its decision providing continuous defense. We are yet to see what the fate of this country with an extraordinary thought will be by the year 2022! | <urn:uuid:46d14699-54ee-4968-a95d-21aa976e9e6a> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | https://wittysparks.com/no-more-nuclear-power-says-germany/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247493803.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20190219223509-20190220005509-00535.warc.gz | en | 0.962928 | 322 | 2.59375 | 3 |
On a humid February evening, we took the boat out to a sandbank in the middle of Roebuck Bay to photograph the tropical marine life that is only exposed on this vast expanse of fine, silty sand on a very low spring tide. Brightly coloured sponges, Comb stars, Brittle Stars, Feather Stars and crabs littered the sandbank, which covers an extensive area in the middle Roebuck Bay. Of particular interest were the multitude of tiny Feather Stars associated with the sponges and pieces of coral; we counted fifteen on one yellow sponge. We also found a sponge riddled with Five Lined Ribbon Worm, another new find.
As the tide receded, Broad-billed Sandpipers foraged in the soft silt towards the water’s edge. These Sandpipers are the only member of the genus Limicola. Breeding in wet taiga bogs in Europe and Siberia, these beautiful little birds spend the boreal (northern) winter around Roebuck Bay, feeding by sight on insects and small crustaceans. | <urn:uuid:98a21166-98b6-4031-ba92-5c7c8a7cab39> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | http://kimberleywhales.com.au/spring-tide-sandbank-walk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578655155.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20190424174425-20190424200425-00409.warc.gz | en | 0.934216 | 220 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The Indignant Generation is the first narrative history of the neglected but essential period of African American literature between the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights era. Writers such as Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ralph Ellison, Lorraine Hansberry, and James Baldwin rose to prominence during this period, but little attention has been paid to the political and artistic milieu in which they produced their greatest works.
Looking at the tumultuous decades surrounding World War II, Jackson restores the "indignant" quality to a generation of African American writers shaped by Jim Crow segregation, the great Depression, the growth of American communism, and an international wave of decolonization. He also reveals how artistic collectives in New York, Chicago, and Washington fostered a sense of destiny and belonging among diverse and disenchanted peoples.
Fully exploring the cadre of key African American writers who triumphed in spite of segregation, The Indignant Generation paints a vivid portrait of American intellectual and artistic life in the mid-twentieth century.
Lawrence P. Jackson is professor of English and African American studies at Emory University. He is the author of Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius and a forthcoming biography of Chester Himes. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and holds graduate degrees from Ohio State University and Stanford University.
Playing the audio on this page requires additional software: Get Adobe Flash Player | <urn:uuid:437a1aa3-0f34-4214-9380-cda42f15e1bc> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | http://www.prattlibrary.org/booksmedia/podcasts/index.aspx?id=2341 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084891546.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20180122232843-20180123012843-00119.warc.gz | en | 0.914184 | 280 | 3 | 3 |
We aim to nurture the students’ interest in Biology and to develop learners who are inquisitive to discover for themselves how life is sustained and how they can apply their knowledge to ensure sustainable living. Students will build a strong foundation in the understanding of life at cellular and molecular levels, and make connections between these micro-systems and the organism as a whole. This ability to draw links and see inter-connectedness will enable our students to relate to other systems they encounter in their daily lives, which is critical for problem solving.
The rapid progress in the field of life sciences demands the learner to have sound knowledge of the nature of science, acquire science inquiry skills, and be able to relate science to societal needs. Our curriculum prepares our students in these areas through inquiry-based learning and provides opportunities for collaboration with their peers and for them to communicate their ideas. Our teachers employ thinking routines and case-based learning to engage our students and develop their metacognition skills.
Exciting learning journeys to Pulau Semakau and Lee Kong Chian Natural Museum serve as experiential learning opportunities for our students. Students will learn beyond the classroom and laboratories, where we extend the teaching and learning to the field and higher institutions of learning and research. They will also take part in competitions that enrich their knowledge and expose them to higher order thinking. Students also engage with local and overseas university Professors and TJC Alumni, for discussions on their career prospects and to further enhance their scientific knowledge. | <urn:uuid:596d604b-05d1-470e-b462-7e864d49429c> | CC-MAIN-2019-35 | https://www.temasekjc.moe.edu.sg/academic/science/biology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027330968.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20190826042816-20190826064816-00282.warc.gz | en | 0.954015 | 303 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Write the messages
Each text message can contain up to 160 characters, make them count! To start, think about your audience and what information you want to share with them.
Suggestions for topics and types of messages are below. Scroll to resources to download a starter set of messages.
Common topics include nutrition, physical activity, stress management, sleep, drugs and alcohol and 5-2-1-0 messaging (5 fruits or vegetables a day, 2 hour limit on screen time, 1 hour of physical activity, and 0 sugar-sweetened beverages). If you have an audience with more specific needs, focus on those.
Lessons from Ballard
For our pilot, we offered four categories of messages: Eat Right, Get Active, Stress Less, and Dealing with Drugs and Alcohol.
Type of messages
Also, think about the type of messages you would like to send. Common types of messages include: facts and statistics, suggestions and recommendations, reminders, and announcements.
To send links in a message, use a free application like goo.gl, bit.ly, ow.ly, or tinyurl.com that shortens long links. This will save you characters. Links could be to recipes, instructions on how to do exercises, resources for quitting smoking, or information about local activities.
Lessons from Ballard
We sent facts and statistics, suggestions related to each topic, and announcements from the Teen Health Center, which included messages from student groups about meeting places and times.
What is targeting? Targeting is creating messages that are more relevant to your students than generic messages. For example:
- A generic message might be "Eating breakfast will improve your performance in school."
- A targeted message would be "Eating breakfast will improve your performance in school. Try grabbing a breakfast item from the lunch room this morning before heading to class."
Targeting your messages to your school population by making texts specific to your school and surrounding area by, for example, recommending a healthy entrée at a nearby lunch spot, reminding them to join a club at school, or suggesting that they go to a fitness class at a local community center, will make it easier for students to follow through on healthy activities.
Use your knowledge of your school and student population to your advantage when creating messages. You can also hold focus groups to ask students questions about what they want text messages on and if they have any suggestions.
Lessons from Ballard
We targeted messages to Ballard High School students. We recommended a local grocer as a place to get fruit and vegetables, told students where the weight room was located in the school, and encouraged students to visit local parks (including a link to parks nearby). This approach was popular with the students—they rated this type of message high.
Writing messages teens will like
Teen-centered text messages should be funny (when appropriate), non-authoritative, clear, provide interesting facts or statistics (not common knowledge), and be motivational, realistic, and relatable.
You can also think about getting student groups involved in writing text messages to ensure that they are relevant and in the appropriate tone.
Through your planning process, you identified topics that you will be sending students messages about (such as eating right or stressing less). Before you send out messages, you will need to determine if you will provide students with a choice of topics that they can select from or if you will just run one program with all topics combined. Consider limiting the choices you offer to either all topics or one topic.
*All topics combined means you send the same text message to each student every time.
*If you provide separate topics and allow students to choose only one topic, then you will have a small number of distinct groups that you send the same messages to (for example, students who choose the drugs and alcohol topic will get drugs and alcohol texts).
If you provide separate topics and allow students to choose more than one topic, you will have a larger number of distinct groups that you will send the same messages to (for example, students who choose eating right and stressing less will get messages on both subjects, and students who choose eating right, getting active, and drugs and alcohol will receive messages on all three subjects.) With a simple text-messaging program, this would require a more complex messaging schedule. More expensive programs may offer you enhanced capabilities in terms of text scheduling.
One way to find out which topics students want is to prompt them to select topics via text message, for example: My Way starts next week. It's time to choose your topics! Select from: A-eating right, B-staying active, C-stressing less, or D-dealing with alcohol & drugs. REPLY with A, B, C, or D.
Before you do this, however, you will need to ensure that your text-messaging application allows you to see responses from your recipients. If it doesn't, you may have to stick with the same messages for all or find another way to learn student preferences, such as on an enrollment form. In your text-messaging application, you will be able to group students based on what they selected. That will make it easy to send messages to, for example, the "Staying Active Group."
Lessons from Ballard
We allowed students to choose any combination of the four topics we provided. We sent a text message before the program started to allow students to select their topics from our list of four. Student contacts were then grouped by selected topic in our text-messaging application.
Students chose every combination of the four topics provided, meaning we ended up with 15 distinct topic groups. Our flexibility with topic choices made scheduling texts very cumbersome within our simple text-messaging application.
The table below shows the top six topic groups.
|Topic groups||# of students|
|Eat Right, Get Active, and Stress Less||12|
|Eat Right, Get Active||7|
|Deal with Drugs and Alcohol||5|
Don't know where to start? Download our text messages! (They include message templates for targeting.) For more on developing your own messages see, What 2 Put in a Txt: Creating text messages for teens to promote healthy eating & active living.
Have questions about what kinds of information you can send and receive? Some client communication via text could be protected under federal and state privacy laws. See Text Messaging to Communicate with Public Health Audiences: How the HIPAA Security Rule Affects Practice for an analysis of the legal implications of texting in public health settings. | <urn:uuid:b079ee88-db4c-452c-ad12-45c93e49d723> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/emergency-preparedness/text-messaging/toolkit/messaging.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187821017.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20171017091309-20171017111309-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.922144 | 1,342 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The basic dried bean is now a star on restaurant menus. You can feel good about ordering them or featuring them on your table because beans are a nutritional gold mine.
- High in fiber. One-half cup of cooked beans contains 4 grams or more of dietary fiber. Soluble fiber, the kind in beans, may help lower your blood cholesterol level.
- High in protein. One cup of cooked beans supplies about 15 grams of protein, the same amount of protein found in 2 ounces of cooked sirloin steak. But the incomplete protein in beans must be supplemented by serving with a grain, meat, eggs, cheese or nuts.
- High in vitamins and minerals. Beans are a good source of calcium, magnesium, zinc, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin and iron.
- Low in fat. Only about 4 percent of bean calories come from fat, very low compared with other protein sources.
- No cholesterol. Like all fruits and vegetables, beans have no cholesterol.
HOW TO USE BEANS
Beans vary more in appearance than in taste. You can use cooked or canned beans interchangeably in most recipes.
- Toss chilled cooked beans into pasta salads, tossed green salads or marinated vegetable salads.
- In casseroles, substitute an equal amount of beans for the rice, potatoes or pasta specified.
- Combine lima beans with a cheese sauce and bake for a meatless main dish.
- Stir red kidney beans into cooked rice seasoned with chili powder for a Tex-Mex side dish.
KNOW YOUR BEANS
- Two ways to soak beans: (1) In large kettle combine beans and enough water to cover, about 2 to 3 cups water per 1 cup beans. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour. (2) Soak beans in water overnight in a covered pan.
- One pound dry beans equals 2 1/2 cups. One pound dry beans equals 6 cups cooked beans. One 15-ounce can beans, drained, equals 1 3/4 cups.
- To reduce flatulence (gas), always discard the soaking liquid and cook the beans in fresh water.
- For convenience, cook up a big batch of beans, cover and chill up to 4 days or freeze up to 6 months.
- Simmer beans slowly. Too fast cooking causes the skins to break.
- Acid slows down the cooking process. Add acid foods such as tomatoes and vinegar at the end of the cooking period. - | <urn:uuid:59eec83b-8b91-41d0-930e-5875947b4c4e> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-12-08/entertainment/8802220974_1_beans-cooking-period-cups-water | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917122619.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031202-00099-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.85861 | 523 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The edifice was built as a theatre by architect Wilhelm Vernukken in the years 1603/1606. The commissioner was Landgraf Moritz, who named the Ottoneum after his son Otto. Today, a natural history museum is housed here. Well-known collection pieces are a Xylotheque and the Ratzenberger Herbarium. [German]
Fun detail seen in Kassel: A figure standing on top of a sphere inside a church tower. Its a sculpture created by the artist Stephan Balkenhol. The traffic lights are not art, I was just standing at a pedestrian crossing and there was no time for a better position.
After World War II a large part of Kassel was rebuilt in the style of the 50ties. So if you are interested in the architecture of this period a walk through Kassel is a good way to learn more about it. | <urn:uuid:c4c8a968-d99d-4d34-bb94-ca785bdbefd8> | CC-MAIN-2019-26 | http://www.travelwriticus.com/holidays/kassel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560628000613.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20190627035307-20190627061307-00106.warc.gz | en | 0.971996 | 181 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Whistleblower Awareness (NZ)
Making a protected disclosure – or “blowing the whistle” – can help uncover wrongdoing and serves the greater good. Yet, there is still uncertainty and stigma associated with whistleblowing. It’s essential for New Zealand organisations and their employees to understand key concepts related to whistleblowing, particularly the protections afforded to those who make a protected disclosure.
This course builds understanding of whistleblowing and protected disclosures. It covers the roles and responsibilities of workers and organisations, protections afforded to whistleblowers and the importance of implementing effective whistleblower policies and procedures.
This course will cover the following topics:
- Protected disclosures and who can make them
- Distinguishing legitimate business activities from improper conduct
- How to make a protected disclosure
- Protections afforded to whistleblowers
- Responsibilities in making protected disclosures | <urn:uuid:dd917b4d-bc2f-42ed-81d7-681ca3bb9de2> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://www.litmos.com/products/training-courses/whistleblower-awareness-nz | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500628.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20230207170138-20230207200138-00714.warc.gz | en | 0.920793 | 171 | 2.875 | 3 |
This post originally appeared on Scientific American
We have to assume it was a squirrel, but we know how it died. It died squirming and convulsing in the talons of an owl, locked in by the bone ratchets the owl shares with other raptors. Based on what was left behind, we also know that the attacker was likely a Great Horned Owl or a Northern Hawk Owl with a wingspan between 86 and 87 centimeters. All of this we can glean from a striking impression of a deadly strike.
There is perhaps no evidence of a kill more beautiful than these wing-prints left in the frigid Timiskaming, Ontario snow. Like throwing flour on the invisible man, the snow lets us see the tracks of an invisible predator—invisible at least to the squirrel.
With hearing good enough to sense rodents and other prey inches under the snow, owls feed by plunging their talons deeply through the drifts and into their prey. In the summer, the last thing many small mammals see is the owl. In the winter, strategies change, and many owls supplement their mammalian meat with that of small ground-dwelling birds like grouse. No matter the food, the killing itself isn’t pretty. Hawk owls in particular eviscerate small mammals before eating their heads and organs, thereafter caching the remains.
An owl can triangulate a scurrying vole better than you or I ever could, but the kill is not always so graceful. The hole at this kill site is likely enlarged by the repeated digging that is necessary to finally pierce a vole or grouse.
Often in science, we are unfortunately relegated to tangential, rather than direct, observation. To test the most obtuse “multiple universe” theories, for example, we might be able to look for boundaries where universes affect each other, but never the universes themselves. We have never seen a single electron, but stipulate its existence because of how atoms interact and how chemical reactions progress. Likewise, we never saw this owl swoop from the sky to puncture a helpless squirrel, but the wing-prints tell the story, a story about survival. The owl’s wingtips etched a testament to this unseen battle in the Canadian snow.
Sitting happily atop the food chain, we are oblivious to the intricacies of animal survival until our attention focuses on it. It takes something striking to raise the minutia of daily subsistence to conscious wonderment. Sometimes it takes an impression of feathers, frozen, somber. It was the last thing the squirrel ever saw.
Image: Gavin Murphy | <urn:uuid:17aec07f-ba8d-476f-8374-feaf74ae9861> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | https://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/the-last-thing-the-squirrel-saw/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128322320.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170628032529-20170628052529-00288.warc.gz | en | 0.950748 | 539 | 3.359375 | 3 |
April 25, 2007
Wind power is global, clean and environmentally safe, and should be part of our energy mix, says Pete du Pont, Chairman of the National Center for Policy Analysis and former governor of Delaware.
Nevertheless, wind turbine electrical generation faces a serious challenge, says du Pont -- inconsistent supply:
- Offshore wind turbines in Europe illustrate the problem -- they start generating electricity when the wind speed reaches nine miles per hour and have to shut down if it exceeds 55 mph.
- According to an analysis by Denmark's Incoteco energy consulting firm, in 2002 there were 54 days in western Denmark on which the wind power systems supplied less than 1 percent of demand.
In addition, wind power systems are less efficient than other power sources:
- For half the days in Germany in 2004, wind plant output was less than 11 percent of rated capacity; in California, at the time of peak demand in July 2006, turbines generated 10 percent of capacity, and Texas generates about 17 percent.
- In contrast, coal and natural gas plants generate at a little better than 70 percent of capacity and nuclear plants at more than 90 percent.
If our electricity was generated only by wind turbines, such inefficiencies and variability in the electrical power supply would be routine and entirely unacceptable, says du Pont. Yet using wind with other forms of energy can provide substantial benefits:
- First, they produce electricity with less pollutants than oil, coal and natural gas fired plants.
- According to the Alliance to Save Energy, a 600-megawatt offshore wind farm would annually save the emission of 2.5 billion pounds of CO2, 29 million pounds of sulfur dioxide and nine million pounds of nitrous oxide.
- Another reason is the cost advantage of wind -- turbine wind power is too variable to be the base supply of our energy system, but it does generate electricity, and wind is free.
Source: Pete du Pont, "Air Power," OpinionJournal.com, April 25, 2007.
Browse more articles on Environment Issues | <urn:uuid:cfe3acf1-1a2b-459e-a405-a6835db092c4> | CC-MAIN-2014-42 | http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14473 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1413507448896.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20141017005728-00004-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919678 | 413 | 3.03125 | 3 |
“Every 14 days a language dies. By 2100, more than half of the more than 7,000 languages spoken on Earth—many of them never yet recorded—will likely disappear, taking with them a wealth of knowledge about history, culture, the natural environment, and how the human brain works.”
The news is all base off of research conducted by the National Geographic Society and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. David Harrison and David Anderson lead the project. What they found are five hotspots where languages are vanishing faster than other regions.
- Northern Australia
- Central South America
- North America’s upper Pacific coastal zone
- Eastern Siberia
- Oklahoma and the southwestern United States
The map to below better documents the hotspots and you can explore the interactive map by clicking it to goto languagehotspots.org.
Here are some interesting facts:
- In the last 500 years, an estimated half of the world’s languages, from Etruscan to Tasmanian, have become extinct.
- More than 500 languages may be spoken by fewer than ten people.
- Of the 50 native languages remaining in California, none is taught to schoolchildren today.
Also there is an interesting video clip of Anderson and Harrison’s work, where they find the only known speaker of a language long thought to be extinct. The video will air in its entirity on PBS’ “Wild Chronicles.”
For linguistic anthropology, the study of human languages throughout time and place, this news is devastating. The quote above, the one which talks about the wealth of knowledge on human history and culture locked away in the languages around the world barely captures the severity of this situation. As the world becomes more globalized, and more cultures become assimilated and this seems like an inevitable consequence. | <urn:uuid:46e9ae96-81ca-43dc-a7a5-8a5fa4c79835> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://anthropology.net/2007/09/19/5-hotspots-where-languages-are-becoming-extinct/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00496-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926459 | 376 | 3.5625 | 4 |
View a selection of implementation strategies from educators who are successfully using ALEKS to achieve dramatic learning outcomes.
Travis Ranch School, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
Yorba Linda, CA
Grade(s): 6 - 8
Scenario: Computers in Classroom, Home Access
Purpose: Intervention, After-School, Special Education
ALEKS Portion of Curriculum: 20%
Time Spent in ALEKS: 2 hours per week, 26 hours per term
Suzanne Borgese, RSP Teacher
My overall experience has been very positive from basic inquiry to subscription purchase to student use and progress. ALEKS is a user-friendly, engaging, results oriented web-based interactive math tutorial. I am pleased with my students' progress, many whom are at-risk or have special needs. My students have been more engaged in math practice and have improved their math skills.
What challenges did the class or school face in math prior to using ALEKS?
The challenge that is always faced when trying to teach at-risk learners, is winning their buy in and engagement.
How many days per week is class time dedicated to ALEKS?
2 days per week.
What is the average length of a class period when ALEKS is used?
How do you implement ALEKS?
ALEKS is used as a reinforcement tool.
Do you cover ALEKS concepts in a particular order?
It varies. We follow the scope and sequence of the adopted textbook, but at the same time I let the students chose the area they need to work on based on their pie charts.
How do you structure your class period with ALEKS?
I am fortunate enough to have access to enough computers for students to access the program during a dedicated class period once a week and as appropriate when their classwork is complete. My students also access ALEKS from home.
How did you modify your regular teaching approach as a result of ALEKS?
As a class, we use the pie charts to identify strengths and weaknesses.
How often are students required or encouraged to work on ALEKS at home?
My students are required to access the program once a week and are encouraged to use it twice a week.
How do you cultivate parental involvement and support for ALEKS?
I send emails to parents weekly and post resources on my website.
Is ALEKS assigned to your students as all or part of their homework responsibilities? If so, what part of the total homework load is it?
ALEKS is 12 percent of homework assignments.
How do you incorporate ALEKS into your grading system?
The use of ALEKS on the weekends results in extra credit.
Do you require students to make regular amounts of progress in ALEKS?
I require students to participate on a regular basis.
Since using ALEKS, please describe the learning outcomes or progress you have seen.
I am pleased with my students' progress, many whom are at-risk or have special needs. Working with an interactive, web-based program provides the precise environment that many diverse learners require for engagement. My students have been more engaged in math practice and have improved their math skills.
Are there any best practices you would like to share with other teachers implementing ALEKS?
I reiterate that ALEKS is a privilege; I calibrate the students about expectations such as no talking during sessions and pursuing portions of the pies that are relative weaknesses. | <urn:uuid:8fd4f1b9-8a47-450a-8aa5-4bb351dba4e8> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://www.aleks.com/k12/implementations/index?_form_=true&parse_request=true&parse_list=m*193&cmscache=parse_list:parse_request | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655896374.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20200708031342-20200708061342-00340.warc.gz | en | 0.93749 | 706 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Washington, D.C. -- New York state is getting warmer faster than the rest of the United States, according to a new study relying on federal data.
New York is about 1.7 degrees warmer now than it was on the first Earth Day in 1970, said Climate Central, a collection of scientists and journalists working on climate change.
Climate Central's new report, based on data from the National Climatic Data Center, says the average annual temperature across the country has risen by 0.48 degrees per decade. New York's increase has been 0.64 degrees -- 33 percent faster than the United States as a whole and more than double the global rate.
"Average temperatures across most of the continental U.S. have been rising gradually for more than a century, at a rate of about 0.127 degrees Farenheit per decade between 1910-2012," the report says. "That trend parallels an overall increase in average global temperatures, which is largely the result of human greenhouse gas emissions."
Here are the 10 states with the strongest warming trends, and degrees per decade of increase:
1. Delaware: 0.67
1. Wisconsin: 0.67
3. Vermont 0.66
4. New Jersey 0.65
4. Michigan: 0.65
6. New York: 0.64
7. New Mexico: 0.63
8. Maine: 0.61
8. Massachusetts: 0.61
8. Minnesota: 0.61
Contact Glenn Coin at [email protected] or 315-470-3251. Follow him on Twitter @glenncoin | <urn:uuid:3ab055d8-a0f5-492e-b6e3-62193eb5f264> | CC-MAIN-2016-40 | http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/climate_change_group_new_york_warming_faster_than_rest_of_country_planet.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738660338.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173740-00199-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.893034 | 331 | 2.9375 | 3 |
One of the ethnic groups in Nigeria is the Igáláà. The Igala, the seventh-largest ethnic group in Nigeria, was chosen in the past to host Lokoja as the country’s capital, with Governor Lugard in charge. They were instrumental in the founding of Nigeria. Beyond the current border, the Igala Kingdom was larger.
Their language belongs to one of the Niger-Congo family’s Benue-Congo branches. In addition, the Bassa Nge and the Bass Nkome, who reside between the Igala and the Benue River, were two additional tribes that their traditional ruler, the “Ata,” oversaw.
Politically, traditional Igala society was structured as a kingdom. Kings conducted lavish courts attended by a large number of officials and attendants, many of whom were slaves and eunuchs; they were divine and surrounded by several taboos. Every heavenly kingdom in Africa had traditions that served as limits on the king’s authority. This included a tradition in which the queen-mother, who is known to the Igalas as the only person permitted to do so under the taboo system, could reprimand the king.
Because of its size, the Igala Kingdom reached the Benue and Niger rivers. In the modern Kogi state, the Igala can be found in the local governments of Dekina, Bassa, Ajaka, Ofu, Ibaji, Lokoja, Ajaokuta, Omaha, Ankpa, Olamaboro, and Idah. However, Igala’s capital city is Idah.
In this piece, Naijabiography explores the history of the Igala kingdom, as well as the culture, beliefs, and structure of the Igala people.
An Igáláà (Igala Land), often referred to as the Igala Kingdom or the Kingdom of Idah, was a pre-colonial West African state that was situated in the Middle Belt or north-central part of Nigeria, near the eastern region of the confluence of the Rivers Niger and Benue. The “Atá” serves as the Igala Emperor, national father, and spiritual head, and the capital of Igala country is “Idah.”
The Igala kingdom was established by the Igala people. History has it that the Yoruba, Idoma, Igbo, and Jukun inspired and impacted the Igala Kingdom, and it is most likely made up of these tribes’ ancestors who settled and intermarried with the original Igala populations.
The term “anẹ̀ Igala” refers to the region of Igalaland, where speakers of the Igala language can be found. Furthermore, the earliest settlements in the Igala kingdom were established by the progenitors of the current Igala-Mela, whose name derives from the phrase “the nine Igala.”
The “am’onofe -unyi,” or family heads, controlled two or more head-steads that made up the “efunyi” or “ofigbeli,” a sizable unit of settlement. Am’om’onobule, the “am’ana,” the in-laws, the “am’adu,” and the domestic slaves were integrated into the settlement on the condition that they acknowledged their social and political limits in specific areas. Membership in these basic settlements was firmly based on agnatic familial relationships.
In another research, it is said that some people believe that many antelopes were present when the Igala people first migrated into the area, which is why they attribute the title “Igala” to the Yoruba word for antelope. Their dialects, which include Ibaji, Idah, Dekina, Ogugu, Ankpa, and Ebu, are said to be somewhat related to Yoruba and Itsekiri.
However, it is still unclear where the Igala originally came from. Another group of people think that they are an extension of the Fulani from Yemen or Benin. Thus, one thing that can be inferred from all of these disagreements is that the Igala culture is probably a synthesis of a variety of languages and civilizations, and, as a result, can be linked to a wide range of other cultures.
The title “Attah of Igala,” which means “father” in Arabic, is used to refer to the Igala Kingdom’s historic king. The Igala Kingdom, which has historically had female rulers—including the first Attah to do so, Ebule-Jonu—recognizes the value of female leadership.
According to research, nine traditional councils, including the Idah capital, govern “Angala.” Therefore, the head of each of the nine councils—the tá gáláà in Idah—is known as the King (onu), who is chosen by religious ceremony through a convoluted system of traditional rites and proceedings. In addition, Ankpa, Ajaka, Ugwolawo, Egume, Dekina, Omalla, and Olamaboro Anyigba are the seven “gáláà councils.” Each council historically had a different level of traditional administration, which was based on taxation on landowners, fishers, and market vendors.
The Ata in the Igala Kingdom
The “Atá” in the Igala kingdom is the title given to the monarch of the realm. Thus, the first “Ata” was a woman named Ebulejonu. Her brother, Aganapoje, the father of Idoko, succeeded her. Atiyele, the first son of Idoko, moved eastward of the kingdom to build the Ankpa kingdom, while Ayegba, the second son of Idoko, succeeded his father as Ata’IGala.
History has it that Idoko would subsequently succeed him as Ata and have two children, Atiyele and Ayegba om’Idoko (Ayegba, son of Idoko). He oversaw a conflict with the Jukun that was successful. In December 2012, HRH Idakwo Micheal was chosen to serve as the new Ata of Igala.
However, four lineages of the royal clan alternate holding the position of Ata Igala. In the sixteenth century, Abutu-Eje established the Igala kingdom. Thus, the sacred earth shrine is guarded by nine elite officials known as the Igala Mela, who serves as the kingdom’s rulers. At the moment, the clans of Aju Akogwu, Aju Amch, Aju Akwu, and Aju Ocholi alternate holding the Throne of the Ata. As the clan’s ancestor’s name, “Aju” is meant to indicate where the clan originated.
Trades of the Igala People
The Igala have traditionally been agricultural people who cultivate a broad variety of regional crops, including yams, taro, pumpkins, squash, corn (maize), manioc, and peanuts (groundnuts). Both palm oil and kernels are becoming important cash crops among the Igala people.
According to legend, Oma Idoko sacrificed his beloved daughter by burying her alive in order for Igala to defeat Jukun rule in a war of liberation. While Atta Ameh Oboni is recognized for his fierce resistance to the British and fight to protect the ancient customs of Igala country, he is also considered to have been exceedingly brave and resolute. He killed himself in order to thwart the British government’s attempt to have him removed and banished.
After the passing of his predecessor, Attah Alhaji Aliyu Obaje, in 2012, Idakwo Micheal Ameh II took over as the 27th Attah. Most regions of the kingdom, like Ankpa, used three deeply cut horizontal recurves on each side of their faces next to their lips as a means of identification. The Igala people no longer engage in this practice, which was frequent during inter-tribal conflicts in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Igala people place a significant value on colour. Their clothing primarily consists of black and yellow, with some white, blue, or green stripes. They say that black represents wealth and prosperity, while yellow stands for cosiness. These colours are the ones that are most prominent on the bride and groom’s headwear, scarves, and caps during traditional weddings.
The Igala people eat a lot of native meals that are made from millet, corn, plantains, and bitter leaves. Igala is home to the well-known corn dish known as “ogidibo,” which is said to be a variation of the well-known “Moi-Moi.” Other delicious foods produced from corn and millet are “ijobu” and “omaidi.”
Religion/Belief of the Igala People
The Igala people serve the supreme being, known as “Ojo.” To them, the Ojo is the traditional notion of God among the Igala people. Because he is seen as being the almighty, who granted the gods and spirits control over the various aspects of human life. In their day-to-day interactions, these gods and spirits deal directly with people. However, the Igalas still practice Ifa, which is their traditional religion.
According to the Igalas, the form of worship is based on reverence for and faith in ancestor spirits. Shrine-keeping is a common practice among many groups of people, including families, communities, and individuals. The practice of traditional worship of the Igalas, is known as “Icheboeche,” and those who practice it are known as “Amachichebo.” Custodians are those who practice traditional worship and are knowledgeable about oral tradition, including the usage of herbs and plants to treat illnesses.
Igalas share the Abrahamic faiths’ vision of God as all-knowing and all-seeing, which has begun to supplant traditional religions. Abrahamic faiths originated in the Middle East. However, Ifa must be contacted in order to access this God and to determine what he is saying at any given time. Also, in Judaism, the Ifa is comparable to the Urim in Judaism. It allows the mind of God to be revealed on any subject. To do this, periodic sacrifices are made to all the demigods, especially the natural elements of water and land. To win their favour, this is done.
The Political Structure of the Igala
The Ogbede, or president of the court, is the name of the Atá’s court. Its leader is known as the Ogbe. The Amonoji are Atá’s eunuchs, and the Amedibo are the royal servants. The royal items, such as the oka (beads), okwu (necklace), robe (olawoni), red-cap (olumada), and otihi, serve as symbols of power (flywhisk). The Ejubejuailo (the Ata’s pectoral mask), Onunu-Ere (the royal crown), Unyiale Ata (the royal umbrella), Odechi/Okachi (the royal band), Oka kpai Okwu (the royal beads), and Akpa-Ayegba are further sacred items (the stool).
The main religious items, shrines, and festivals of the Igala people are under the control of the Atá. The chief executive is also the Ach’adu. Oko-Ata (Ata’s traditional husband) is another name for this position. Thus, the word “Ach’adu” means “prime minister.“
Onu (district officers) and Am’onu (provincial chiefs) were in charge of their respective shrines, grooves, sacred items, and festivals within their spheres of influence. District heads (Am’onu-ane), clan heads (Gago), village heads (Omadachi), and youth leaders made up the hierarchy (Achiokolobia).
However, only two Igalas can simultaneously hold the titles Ata and Achadu, but many people can simultaneously use the titles Onu, Achema, Akoji, Makoji, Eje, and Onoja. These names are also acceptable as titles. These titles frequently have a strong connection to professions. For instance, Gago, the clan chief, or Onoja, the market chief. Names that serve as titles, like Makoji and Akoji, are given in the hopes that the child may grow up to hold such a noble position. Therefore, when awarding such titles, a merit-based approach is used. | <urn:uuid:00330b64-5feb-49f0-b5b0-695a766b76ff> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://naijabiography.com/history-culture/the-history-and-culture-of-igala/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224656869.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20230609233952-20230610023952-00291.warc.gz | en | 0.96532 | 2,763 | 3.359375 | 3 |
TOOTH PLAQUE AND DENTAL TARTAR
- What is Tooth Plaque?
- What is Tartar?
- Prevent Tartar and Plaque Buildup on Teeth
- Tartar: The Hard Truth
Lots of people ask their dental professional if there’s a difference between plaque and tartar—and it’s a great question. Both plaque and tartar buildup are common dental problems. Significant plaque buildup can result in tooth decay and gum disease. Tartar is calcified plaque. Arming yourself with the facts can help you be smarter about how you care for your teeth.
What is Tooth Plaque?
Plaque is sticky, colorless film containing bacteria that builds up naturally on tooth surfaces, especially along the gum line within four to 12 hours after brushing.
When saliva, sugars in food, and fluids combine with plaque, it produces bacteria deposits that release acids, which collect where the teeth and gums meet.
Plaque contains bacteria, which produces acids that attack your tooth enamel and can damage your gums and create cavities. If not treated, the damage could become permanent. When plaque accumulates and is not removed, it can mineralize, trapping stains and turning into tartar. Plaque is the root cause of many oral health issues. Plaque bacteria can also contribute to gum disease, like gingivitis. Regular brushing and flossing are your most effective tools in the fight against plaque so we recommend using an electric toothbrush. If it’s not removed daily, plaque eventually accumulates and hardens into tartar.
What is Tartar?
Tartar is tough—it’s a hard, crusty deposit that can trap stains and leads to tooth discoloration. Tartar is formed when residual plaque on the surface of the tooth reacts with minerals in your saliva. Tartar is a yellow or brown colored deposit that forms when plaque mineralizes on your teeth. Susceptibility to tartar buildup varies greatly depending on the individual person. Generally, as you age, you become more prone to having tartar form on your teeth.
Prevent Tartar and Plaque Buildup on Teeth
Plaque buildup can lead to gingivitis and gum disease so it is important to take steps for treatment and prevention.
- Regular Cleanings: See your dental professional every 6 months for a thorough cleaning.
- Use Fluoride Toothpastes: Brush with an anti-bacterial fluoride toothpaste like Crest Pro-Health. All Crest Pro-Health toothpastes are specifically formulated to fight bacteria that develops in your mouth.
- Floss Daily: Floss at least once a day to remove food particles and plaque between teeth.
- Use an Electric Toothbrush: Use a high-quality electric toothbrush and remember to replace it every 3 months.
- Incorporate Mouthwash: Add a mouthwash to your routine, such as Crest Pro-Health Multi-Protection Rinse, to help protect against the buildup of plaque and prevent gingivitis.
- Eat Healthy: Eating well-balanced meals and brushing after snacks will help to reduce the formation of plaque.
Tartar: The Hard Truth
Only a dentist can remove tartar, but you can proactively prevent it with a good brushing regimen utilizing Oral-B® Electric Toothbrushes. | <urn:uuid:cccd8972-d66e-458b-92d6-dcadc43f368b> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://oralb.com/en-us/oral-health/conditions/tartar-plaque/tooth-plaque-dental-tartar | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400202007.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20200921175057-20200921205057-00147.warc.gz | en | 0.906058 | 693 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Dental Health and Endocarditis Prevention
Endocarditis is a rare, life-threatening inflammation of the lining of the heart muscle and its valves. It is caused by a bacterial infection. Although it can occur in anyone, it is much more common in people with certain heart conditions and in those who've had it before. If your risk is high, you can take steps to lower it.
How Have Endocarditis Prevention Guidelines Changed?
In 2007, the American Heart Association Endocarditis Committee -- together with other experts -- issued guidelines to help prevent endocarditis. These replaced guidelines issued in 1997. After reviewing published studies, the committee found that only a small number of cases of infective endocarditis might be prevented by antibiotics for dental procedures. In patients with heart conditions associated with the highest risk of serious complications from endocarditis, it says that antibiotic treatment before dental procedures involving manipulation of the gums seems reasonable.
In very rare cases, bacteria in the mouth may trigger endocarditis in people at higher risk. Here's what happens: Bacteria found in tooth plaque may multiply and cause gingivitis (gum disease). If not treated, this may become advanced. The gums become inflamed (red and swollen) and often bleed during tooth brushing, flossing, or certain dental procedures involving manipulation of the gums. When gums bleed, the bacteria can enter the bloodstream and can infect other parts of the body. In the case of endocarditis, this affects the inner lining of the heart and the surfaces of its valves. The bacteria stick to these surfaces and create growths or pockets of bacteria.
Because this is so rare, the new guidelines suggest antibiotics prior to dental procedures only for patients who are at highest risk for serious complications from endocarditis. In fact, in most cases, the risk of problems from antibiotics exceeds the benefits from preventive antibiotics. These attract blood products that may lead to clots.
Who Should Receive Antibiotics Before Having a Dental Treatment?
To prevent endocarditis, patients with certain heart conditions receive a single dose of an antibiotic. You receive it about one hour prior to certain dental treatments.
The American Heart Association and American Dental Association now suggest that you receive antibiotics prior to dental treatment only if you have:
- Had bacterial endocarditis before
- A prosthetic (artificial) cardiac valve or prosthetic material used in valve repair
- Cardiac valve disease and have had a cardiac transplant
- Congenital (present at birth) heart disease. This includes only people with the following:
- Unrepaired cyanotic congenital heart disease (including those with devices that relieve symptoms only)
- Completely repaired congenital heart defect with prosthetic material or device during the first six months after the procedure
- Repaired congenital heart disease with defects that remain at or near the site of a prosthetic patch or prosthetic device | <urn:uuid:56496f15-9ec5-43aa-8173-3db957e46f3c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/endocarditis-prevention | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921618 | 599 | 3.671875 | 4 |
The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks presented unprecedented challenges to our country.
Chief among the tasks facing the United States after the attacks: innovation to meet those challenges. In fields from textiles to foreign-language training, NC State has been at the forefront, yielding better fabrics for firefighters and technology for detecting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in combat zones.
Dr. Michael Steer, Lampe Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has worked to develop a portable detector that uses sound waves to detect IEDs. Steer’s research earned him the U.S. Army Commander’s Award for Public Service.
“This is a game-changer in modern warfare. It changed the way the enemy behaves,” Army Maj. Gen. Nick Justice said at the March 2010 ceremony where Steer received the award.
Led by Dr. Roger Barker, director of the Textile Protection and Comfort Center (T-PACC), researchers in the College of Textiles have launched several projects to improve the garments that firefighters and first responders wear into disaster zones.
Barker and his team have worked to develop uniforms that protect first responders from chemical and biological agents. Barker’s team has also sought to create a next-generation hazardous materials boot that marries comfort and protection.
T-PACC researchers have worked on developing more comfortable firefighters’ gloves and new systems for measuring the amount of heat stored by firefighters’ protective uniforms. Stored heat can cause burns, even when a firefighter’s skin isn’t directly exposed to flames.
With funding from the military, researchers at the Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center at NC State created a lighter, stronger, less expensive fabric for tents used by American soldiers.
“A lot of these projects would have never happened if it wasn’t for the events of that tragic day,” said Emily Parker, director of college relations for the College of Textiles. “The College of Textiles is working hard to protect our military and first responders.”
In 2004, J. Mark Scearce, composer and director of the NC State music department, premiered “This Thread,” a composition based on Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison’s poem, “The Dead of September 11.” Scearce intended for “This Thread” to be “a soothing balm, to heal our wounds in perhaps the only way they can be – through music.”
The North Carolina Symphony will perform Scearce’s piece on Sunday as part of its Sept. 11 memorial, “North Carolina Remembers 9/11.”
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, also influenced instruction at NC State. The College of Humanities and Social Sciences has launched a program to offer accelerated training in critical languages to the future military leaders in the university’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
To increase the number of trained first responders in North Carolina, the College of Veterinary Medicine now requires disaster training for all its graduates.
NC State has also maintained its place as a leading destination for international students. In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, admissions applications fell sharply as the federal government revamped student visa rules, according to Michael Bustle, director of the NC State Office of International Services.
After two years, international enrollment rebounded and has continued growing. More than 2,600 international students are enrolled at NC State. That growth is a sign of one of Sept. 11’s greatest lessons, Bustle said.
“Rather than allow a few deluded radical extremists to define who we are and what we will do as a nation, we need to focus again on what has made America great,” he said. “The hopes and desires of bright, enterprising youth from around the world are on us and our educational system.” | <urn:uuid:e7d4132e-33ba-4bdf-b10a-f2a63ba95f26> | CC-MAIN-2019-35 | https://news.ncsu.edu/2011/09/answering-the-call/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027317516.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20190822215308-20190823001308-00242.warc.gz | en | 0.952499 | 814 | 2.546875 | 3 |
To be up to date with the latest information in the beekeeping industry to can visit our apiculture latest news. On the other hand in case you’re new to beekeeping and would like to begin professional apiculture now download a copy of our beekeeping for beginners ebook.
Beekeeping can be a full time profession or a simple hobby. However, more often than not, what began as a hobby would turn into a profession. But you cannot only decide and tell yourself you will start to do beekeeping. You need to have comprehension and adequate knowledge on the subject that you’re going to enter before starting on any avocation or profession. If you have been putting off your curiosity about beekeeping for quite a while, then it’s about time to indulge yourself. Bee farming may look easy; by learning the fundamental beekeeping lessons, you can be got off to a good start.
What does a beekeeper must understand?
On beekeeping to begin at the right foot first, you should have total interest. You need to spend time taking care of your colonies of bees. You should also have consented to share your dwelling space. There are possible risks in beekeeping that can harm you but your family also. If you decide to let the bees inside your living space, then you certainly must understand the supplies and equipment you will use for beekeeping. Your focus is not only to build an income by selling honey; a great beekeeper should have passion and a keen interest in raising bees.
An apiarist should know the right location for the beehives. The place must have sufficient sources of nectar for the bees to get. You need certainly to make sure that beekeeping is allowed in your area, if you decide to place your beehives at your backyard. There are several areas confined to beekeeping; you need to get permission concerning this.
Beekeepers must understand whether beekeeping supplies are available in the place where the beehives are situated. When you should visit a local beekeeping store you may never understand; it is best that a nearby beekeeping shop is not inaccessible.
Equipment and protective gear will also be essential for beekeepers to understand. Beekeepers are prone to bee stings; the ideal outfit must be worn during beekeeping sessions. Know the right kind of suit to pick to keep you from any possible risk in beekeeping.
Last but definitely not the least, among the beekeeping lessons you must know is that: it is not unimportant for the beekeeper to know the appropriate way of picking honey. In case you are unable to harvest honey all the efforts that are beekeeping would be futile. The methods should be known by a beekeeper in gathering the honey in the comb; beeswax is also part of the yields in beekeeping. | <urn:uuid:4282585b-829c-44ed-a988-67191c2024db> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | http://honeybees.beekeeping-for-beginners.com/2017/04/02/backyard-beekeeping-part-18s2e4-bee-curtain/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247489282.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20190219000551-20190219022551-00411.warc.gz | en | 0.953997 | 574 | 2.625 | 3 |
The nation’s collective student loan balance has reached $1 trillion and it continues to rise, The New York Times reported Saturday in a feature about the increasing amount of students who work their way through school and still graduate with large debts.
It is well known that the price of a college education in the U.S., especially at a private university, is often unmanageably high. Many students must work two jobs to pay for it. This is less than ideal, noting how too much work takes away from what college should be about: studying. If students are forced to spend the majority of their time at work, their studies will suffer, and they will ultimately get less out of the education they toil to finance.
The problem with high college tuitions (which continue to rise) is that they marginalize middle class students. The majority of families in the United States cannot afford the full price of a private university tuition. At the same time, however, many of the same are too affluent to qualify for financial aid. High tuitions therefore rob middle class students of the opportunity to attend the university of their choice not on the basis of merit but because of a lack of funds.
True, there are other options. State and community schools in the country are good. There are a number of scholarships available to students willing to work and apply for them. Still, according to The Times, few students can actually work their way through college in a normal amount of time without debt and financial. Even state schools cost much more than the average student working a low-paying job can afford.
It appears “the college experience” is a myth experienced only by those privileged enough to pay for room and board, cafeteria costs, and leisure. For the rest, college is a financial burden.
The problem is the widespread belief that private (and thus more expensive) colleges are inherently better and more desirable, and give students a leg up in the job market. For this reason, students will work to pay for a more prestigious education.
Finances create an impediment to collegiate growth and success. They also inhibit creativity. The rising cost of college, and the inability to pay for it, could be the ironic reason for which universities are having to slash their humanities departments as more and more students opt to study business and finance instead of, say, Italian literature.
The issue obviously is not pressing enough for colleges to make significant changes to their tuition and financial aid policies. Indeed, there appears to be enough students willing to pay — or work to pay — for their education. But there are a number of things that universities could do to address the problem. First, the FAFSA system, which offers federal student aid, should take into account that while students can legally remain dependents on their parents for things such as taxes and health insurance, they might not receive financial assistance from their parents. Additionally, universities could work to make changes that might help to reduce costs. They could turn off more lights during off-hours; they could reduce the salaries of officials who claim to care about the student body but enjoy enormous financial benefits themselves. | <urn:uuid:2db468ee-1342-4cf7-9c2b-28da9e009c10> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://dailyfreepress.com/2013/02/10/edit-increased-tuition-increased-debt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657132883.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011212-00287-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97912 | 634 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Wrapped in this document is a typical story of colonial Tasmania, involving the appropriation of land, hardship and ‘making ends meet’. It is one of the earliest surviving original land deeds in the TMAG collection, for land granted to James Hannaway in 1813 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie.
Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales (which at that time included Van Diemen’s Land), implemented a system of land grants after visiting the colony in 1811. He had been appalled at the ramshackle arrangements of Hobart Town and surrounds; subsequently, grants of land were given to colonists who had relocated from Norfolk Island – land being the principal resource of the young colony and a major incentive for migrants.
James Hannaway had arrived in the colony in 1808 from Norfolk Island with his pardoned convict mother, Anne Hannaway, and her husband Robert Nash – also a pardoned convict and possibly James’ father. Nash built a flour mill, supplied with wheat grown in the rich grasslands of the Pittwater–Sorell area and, by 1817, he was one of the largest contractors supplying wheat to the Commissariat.
This 1813 grant to James Hannaway was for 70 acres of rich soil land in the Sorell area. It was one of 365 made that year. James is earlier listed as having been granted 50 acres of land in the Hobart to Browns River area (now Kingston), and was a small-scale farmer of wheat, sheep, and goats. By 1830, however, he had been convicted of stealing cattle and received a commuted life sentence. He received a conditional pardon in 1843. This was not unusual; a life in and out of penal servitude was a pathway that many early colonists trod. | <urn:uuid:0e5c110d-d27f-4e64-b4d1-a0d958029b76> | CC-MAIN-2014-49 | http://shapingtasmania.tmag.tas.gov.au/object.aspx?ID=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416400380638.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20141119123300-00240-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982649 | 365 | 3.234375 | 3 |
On the border that lies between Austria and Hungary is a unique and natural space, the Neusiedler See, that is located within a region that has much to offer. In 1954, the first biological station was established in the reed zone of the Neusiedler See. Today, its large variety of natural wonders not only fascinates scientists but also attracts visitors from all over the world.
A few kilometres southeast of the lake, on the Hungarian side, is the sleepy village of Fertöd whose name originated from the lake’s Hungarian name. Although Fertöd contains some beautiful architecture, its main attraction lies outside the village. The Rococo castle of the former Hungarian prince, Nikolaus Eszterházy, was first built as a modest hunting lodge. However, inspired by a visit to Versailles in 1764, Prince Nikolaus ordered that the complex be completely rebuilt and almost 50 years passed until construction work of the new residence was completed.
On the Austrian side of the lake, Mörbisch am See dates back to the 5th century B.C. Various archaeological finds show that both Celts and Romans settled in the area.
One of the region’s many fascinating villages, Oggau became known as Austria’s oldest red wine village, after drinking bowls from Roman times that contained traces of red wine were excavated.
The beauty of the landscape, the incredible variety of flora and fauna, and the fascinating history of its towns and villages, all these factors leave an indelible impression of Neusiedler See. | <urn:uuid:67ad2b8c-7760-49ac-a622-46c865a4f5e0> | CC-MAIN-2014-42 | http://www.travelvideostore.com/unesco/austria-world-heritage/nature-parks-neusiedler-see-hungary-austria/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414119654194.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20141024030054-00176-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96752 | 326 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Currently, the prototype intelligent spoon is made of clear plastic so that you can see an array of wires running through the inside. The smart spoon contains zinc, aluminum and gold sensors. When the spoon touches food, the sensors measure the concoction's temperature, acidity, salinity and viscosity. When you connect the spoon to a computer with a cord, the computer analyzes the information from the spoon and provides feedback. Although the intelligent spoon is still in development, we guess that it measures these factors and creates suggestions based on a database of recipes stored in the computer.
How might this play out in the kitchen? Say you're making salad dressing from scratch. You find a recipe on the computer and start following it. You accidentally add too much salt, and you're worried the entire dressing is too salty. Rather than tasting the dressing, figuring out how to adjust it and tasting it again, the computer would tell you to add a certain amount of sugar. The computer would tell you how much vinegar or lime juice to add so that you had just the right amount of acidity, as measured by the mix's pH level. Is the dressing not holding together? The viscosity sensor will alert the computer that you need more egg yolk. It would be like having a GPS system for each recipe -- a step-by-step instruction based on what's in the bowl.
Now, if you love to cook, this might seem a bit silly. Some cooks would argue that your intuition and personal preference are better guides for preparing food than any precise recipe. It's the joy of tasting and tinkering that creates magic in the kitchen, and mistakes are part of the process. You just may stumble onto something better than what's in the cookbook. Cooks may even point out that you can't always follow a recipe word for word. For example, baking at higher altitudes is much different than baking at sea level because altitude affects moisture content. It's too early to tell whether the intelligent spoon will provide this level of assistance.
While cooking may become intuitive, the intelligent spoon could really help new cooks or clumsy cooks get on the right foot in the kitchen. They may eventually learn from their intelligent spoon and feel more comfortable cooking on their own. However, the intelligent spoon is not for sale yet, and there are several unknowns, including cost and ease of use. Smart appliances in general are not widely available in the marketplace, in part because they're usually more expensive than traditional appliances and because they can be more complicated to use. Many people may not trust a smart appliance when the regular one works just fine. In the case of the smart spoon, not everyone will want to drag a laptop into the kitchen for cooking advice.
Still, we may see the smart spoon in stores one day -- there are already some sensor spoons for sale. These spoons, meant to be used in the microwave, change color as the meal heats. When you see that your spoon is a certain color, you'll know it's time to eat. One variation is specifically for babies, so that a caregiver will know if food is too hot for a baby's gums.
Want to learn more about smart technology and smart spoons? Dig into the links on the next page. | <urn:uuid:7e8725db-fc1b-4ba0-b0bb-8f02276fcdea> | CC-MAIN-2014-49 | http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/kitchen/spoon-taste-food1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416400373301.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20141119123253-00087-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955072 | 665 | 3.515625 | 4 |
But a disease need not be eradicated completely to ease the pressure on public-health budgets. For all but mild afflictions vaccinating large portions of a population is cheaper than letting an illness linger. That is because an endemic disease imposes a cost on society, directly in treating the sick, and indirectly through lost productivity.
The reason is that if the vaccination rate exceeds a certain critical level (higher for more infectious diseases) everyone, including the unvaccinated, enjoys what epidemiologists call herd immunity. In such a situation, a scourge is stopped in its tracks because an infected individual is much more likely to bump into a vaccinated fellow citizen than an unprotected one. He therefore recovers, gaining natural immunity, or dies, effectively removing himself from the equation, without having passed the disease on.
However, as people become more mobile, achieving herd immunity in any given country gets trickier. For example, young children are routinely vaccinated for chickenpox in America, but not in Britain. Of the 5.5m Britons to travel across the pond each year, many will be susceptible to the disease and some will be infected. This will change the equation for America's health department, which should compensate by increasing the vaccination rate so that it exceeds the critical level for a population encompassing both protected Americans and unprotected visitors.
Petra Klepac, from Princeton University, and her colleagues wanted to know more precisely how such intermingling affects the economic benefits of vaccination. She presented her findings to the meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America, held earlier this month in Boston.
Dr Klepac began with a well-established epidemiological tool called the susceptible-infected-removed (SIR) model. It is used to predict the increase in infections based on the average number of people a single sick individual infects, known as the disease's basic reproduction number, and the proportion of the population susceptible to it. A population's susceptibility in turn depends on how many vulnerable children are born and how many already susceptible citizens either die or become infected.
Next, the researchers assumed that that vaccination costs rise exponentially with vaccination rate, since once the initial queues of eager participants outside surgeries subside it becomes progressively more difficult for the health authorities to track down the remaining unvaccinated folk. The total social cost of infection, by contrast, was estimated to increase in direct proportion to the number of infections.
Combining this with the SIR model allowed Dr Klepac to calculate the vaccination rate for which the total cost to society—a mix of vaccination costs and infection costs—is lowest. This confirmed that striving for herd immunity makes economic sense for an isolated country. (To her surprise, though, she discovered that the optimal vaccination rate depends mostly on the relative costs of vaccination and infection, and not at all on the disease's basic reproduction number, as had been assumed.)
Finally, travellers were thrown in. Dr Klepac found that a small flow of unprotected immigrants can reduce the optimal vaccination rate for the host country markedly, especially for diseases whose infection costs are not too onerous. This happens because a trickle of such immigration is enough to scotch the host population's herd immunity. At the same time, the compensatory vaccinations needed to reinstate it are extremely pricey since they need to be administered to some of the few remaining unprotected individuals. As a consequence, the economic balance shifts towards tolerating a number of infections. Where immigration is considerable and infections costly, though, the added burden of the additional infection would outweigh the cost of ramping up the vaccination rate.
Another upshot is that the two intermingling neighbours are often best off pooling their resources. Often, it seems, the optimal vaccination-infection trade-off for each country separately, which takes into consideration the other's own optimal strategy, is not the best solution for the two of them taken together. In such a Nash equilibrium, named after John Forbes Nash, the mathematician who first probed it, acting in concert can often yield a superior outcome for both parties.
Most strikingly, when one country lacks the means to achieve herd immunity at home it might actually benefit by spending a small protion of its healthcare budget to help out a neighbour that is on the brink of success rather than pursuing a domestic vaccination that would fall short of the target. That would minimise the number of infected visitors, saving money in the long run. The idea may be counterintuitive, but makes perfect mathematical sense. Good luck selling it to national health authorities, though. | <urn:uuid:e8616a5a-d967-4ee1-9cfc-1bce7ba47fd1> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://www.economist.com/babbage/2012/01/23/neighbourly-advice | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655878519.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20200702045758-20200702075758-00264.warc.gz | en | 0.949776 | 919 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Electronic discovery (also called e-discovery or ediscovery) refers to any process in which electronic data is sought, located, secured, and searched with the intent of using it as evidence in a civil or criminal legal case. E-discovery can be carried out offline on a particular computer or it can be done in a network.
Electronic information is considered different from paper information because of its intangible form, volume, transience and persistence. Electronic information is usually accompanied by metadata that is not found in paper documents and that can play an important part as evidence (for example the date and time a document was written could be useful in a copyright case). The preservation of metadata from electronic documents creates special challenges to prevent spoliation. | <urn:uuid:7acea3c8-d8ae-44da-af96-3f0f4fdea818> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://www.secureindia.in/?page_id=29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243991252.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20210512035557-20210512065557-00451.warc.gz | en | 0.945507 | 150 | 3.125 | 3 |
Bullying is rampant these days. We live in an age of social media where constant scrutiny and the ability to taunt and hurt others on a very visible level is mainstream and easy to do. Bullying is something anyone can be affected by. The LGBTQIA+ community is no exception. This inclusive acronym covers people of all genders and sexualities, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer, intersex, asexual, pansexual, and allies. It’s a group that experiences bullying and harassment more than other groups do.
In fact, this group is almost 2 times more likely to be verbally harassed, called names, or physically assaulted when compared to straight, non-LGBT, or cisgender peers. This raises the concern that LGBTQIA+ bullying is a huge problem.
LGBTQIA+ affirmative therapy can help.
Looking for a LGBTQIA+ affirmative therapist? Find an experienced therapist
The LGBTQIA+ community is a particularly vulnerable group especially when we’re talking about teens and youth. They regularly have to deal with vicious verbal, mental, and physical attacks due to how they identify. And with all of the bullying and harassment, there is a heavy negative impact on LGBTQIA+ mental health.
The statistics are clear. The LGBTQIA+ community and individuals are in danger. How bullying treatment affects their mental health and education is something that we need to talk about. With the right acknowledgement, support, and guidance, those who identify within the LGBTQIA+ community can get the help they deserve and need and learn how to find a LGBTQIA+ therapist.
The Effect on Mental Health
The effects that LGBTQIA+ bullying can have on mental health are clear. Being mistreated on any level can have lifelong repercussions. While LGBTQ youth bullying often begins in the teen and adolescent years, it frequently happens even into adulthood. From discrimination to harassment, the resulting pain from being bullied isn’t easy for anyone to get over, regardless of age.
- An estimated 63% of LGBT teens say they’re unhappy, versus just 33% of non-LGBT youth who report the same.
- Youth who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth are.
- Every time someone who’s LGBTQIA+ experiences physical or verbal attacks or harassment, they’re 2 ½ times more likely to engage in self-harm.
“The effects of bullying are compounded for teens who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. They often don’t have the support system they need to have in place, to adequately support them. This may be due to the fact that they haven’t ‘come out’ to their parents or primary support system -out of fear or rejection, or because their support system has already rejected them. Teens in this community often feel alone and can be vulnerable to chronic bullying and don’t know where to turn.”
Bullying can cause serious mental health challenges like:
- Psychological distress
- Substance abuse
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Increased risk taking behavior (sexuality)
- Work and academic challenges
- Missed work and school
- Suicidal thoughts or actions
The Effect on Education
Bullying doesn’t only affect mental health. It can also have a significant, direct impact on education, too. Difficulty concentrating, fear of their environment, avoidance — all of this can ultimately affect how LGBTQIA+ youth learn and what type of education they receive. Overwhelmingly, LGBTQIA+ teens regularly experience sexual harassment, relational aggression, cyberbullying, theft, and physical assault more than their cisgender peers.
Studies consistently show that bullying can result in lower grades and missed school. And worse, sometimes it can feel like help is nowhere to be found. Just how much is bullying interfering in the education of a LGBTQIA+ student and the LGBTQIA+ community? The statistics are pretty staggering.
According to the 2019 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth in our nation’s schools, young people experience severe types of bullying regularly.
- One-third of respondents say they felt so unsafe at school, they missed at least an entire day within the last month.
- Almost one-fifth report that they actually even changed schools because they felt unsafe.
- 59% of LGBTQ students feel unsafe at school because of how they identify.
- Almost 60% of LGBTQ students were sexually harassed at school in the last year.
- A shocking 52% of students say they’ve experienced homophobic remarks from school staff or teachers.
- Over two-fifths of LGBTQ students have experienced cyberbullying (electronic harassment) in the last year.
Most students don’t report their experiences. They fear retaliation and have serious doubts about what, if any, effective responses would be given by school administration and faculty.
“So many of my teen clients who identify as LGBTQIA+ miss days and days of school. Bullying has left them feeling angry, ashamed and fearful. Often they complain about physical symptoms or find other excuses, but the pattern of chronic absenteeism is undeniable.”
How to Help Our LGBTQIA+ Youth
We must acknowledge that we can help speak out against LGBTQIA+ youth bullying. By ensuring that students have a safe environment that’s respectful and positive, emphasizing inclusivity, students can feel comfortable at school and in other places in their lives.
This may sound like a tall order, and it definitely begs the question: OK, but how do we do this? But the truth is, there are a number of ways we can offer productive, positive, inclusive environments for all students.
Stop LGBTQIA+ bullying
Together, we can stop LGBTQIA+ bullying. If you see someone being bullied, you can and should intervene to the extent you feel safe to do so. Don’t be afraid to get a parent, teacher, counselor, or another adult involved if you see someone being bullied or if you yourself are being harassed.
Speaking out is the only way we can come together and make it known that LGBTQIA+ youth bullying will not be accepted. Consistent and fast responses are important if we hope to curb bullying behavior and tendencies in the long run.
Make schools a safe space
Addressing LGBTQIA+ bullying in schools is our number one priority. We can make an effort towards making schools safe havens for all students, especially those who identify as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, by making it abundantly clear that bullying will not be accepted on any level. Two other ways to end bullying at schools include:
- School clubs: Provide school clubs that offer a safe space and a network for LGBTQIA+ students. Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) are clubs that can provide intervention, support, and connectedness for students. They can also offer awareness for faculty, staff, and other students.
- Educate educators: Supportive educators who are allies and openly “there” for LGBTQIA+ students can lead by example and foster an accepting environment that students feel safer in.
- Develop policies to prevent bullying: The best way to ensure a bully-free environment is to enforce it. Schools can work to develop policies that specifically prohibit bullying.
Mental health resources for LGBTQIA+ youth
There are many mental health resources that can help address LGBTQIA+ bullying and help deal with it if you’ve experienced it or someone you know is struggling. Finding a support group or a LGBTQIA+ friendly therapist can be your first step. You don’t have to suffer alone. There are people out there and resources available to help you navigate difficult situations like these.
If you or someone you care about is being bullied, being an advocate and standing up to bullying is one of the kindest, strongest things you can do. For more information on how to help, check out the following resources:
- Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) — PFLAG is the first and largest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQIA+) people, their parents and families, and allies.
- Advocates for Youth Toolkit: Creating Safe Space for LGBTQIA+ Youth — Advocates’ mission is driven by its vision of Rights. Respect. Responsibility.
- Human Rights Watch — Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in 90 countries around the world. They spotlight abuses and bring perpetrators to justice.
- The Trevor Project —The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) young people.
- LGBTQIA+ National Help Center — The LGBTQIA+ National Help Center offers three hotlines for adults, youths, and seniors 50 and over. There is also an online support chat where you can message a peer support volunteer, and they offer weekly moderated youth chat rooms.
- GLSEN — GLSEN’s mission is to ensure that every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
- American Psychological Association (APA) — The APA is dedicated to advancing psychology to benefit society and improve lives.
LGBTQIA+ bullying is a nationwide, serious problem that affects so many of our youth. But together, we can put an end to the abuses and mistreatment that are simply unacceptable in our world today. You don’t have to tolerate negative or abusive behavior or attitudes towards members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
- Human Rights Campaign. (2013). Growing Up LGBT in America: HRC Youth Survey Report Key Findings. https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/Growing-Up-LGBT-in-America_Report.pdf. Washington, D.C. Accessed September 12, 2021.
- BULLYING AND LGBT YOUTH. Mental Health America; 2014:1-2. https://www.mhanational.org/sites/default/files/BACK%20TO%20SCHOOL%202014%20-%20Bullying%20and%20LGBT%20Youth.pdf. Accessed September 12, 2021.
- CDC. (2011). Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/pdfs/ss6509.pdf. Accessed September 12, 2021.
- Roberts M. CDC Releases National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Results. HRC. https://www.hrc.org/news/new-cdc-data-shows-lgbtq-youth-are-more-likely-to-be-bullied-than-straight-cisgender-youth. Published 2020. Accessed September 12, 2021.
- Boroughs, Ph.D M. The Impact Of LGBT-Related Bullying On Emerging Adults – MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds. MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds. https://www.mghclaycenter.org/parenting-concerns/grade-school/impact-lgbt-related-bullying-emerging-adults/. Accessed September 12, 2021.
- The 2019 National School Climate Survey. New York: GLSEN; 2020. https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/NSCS19-FullReport-032421-Web_0.pdf. Accessed September 13, 2021.
- Get Help Now. StopBullying.gov. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/get-help-now. Published 2021. Accessed September 12, 2021. | <urn:uuid:900db468-ed7a-46a9-bc9a-b8e85f72a464> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.talkspace.com/blog/lgbtq-bullying/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337668.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20221005203530-20221005233530-00294.warc.gz | en | 0.931533 | 2,498 | 3.5 | 4 |
I've been programming in Haskell on and off for the past year and recently I've started looking into Scheme, Standard ML and Elm as well. I still consider myself as a Beginner/Intermediate functional programmer, But I would like to try and share my take on what Functional Programming is really all about.
So what is Functional Programming?
Functional Programming is a programming paradigm, a style for writing computer programs. In this style, computations are viewed as the evaluation of expressions rather then a series of steps that changes the state of the computer. When trying to tackle a problem using the functional programming paradigm, instead of thinking about how to make the computer work and how should we change its current state in order to compute things, we start with some data and slowly manipulate it (or creata new data from it) until we get the answer we were looking for. in order to manipulate the data or expression, we use functions, which serve as the main means of composition and abstraction.
Modularity and Higher-Order Functions
The thing I absolutely love about functional programming is composing functions in order to get other functions. We mix and match functions to create bigger, more complex functions. It is very logical to make many very small functions that does only one thing and then compose them. The result is high modularity. For me, functional programming is about combining little pieces of code (functions) that does something specific in order to make bigger pieces of code, until express a solution to the problem I'm trying to solve.
Higher Order-Functions are functions that takes other functions as input and returns a function as output.
map is a function that takes as an input a function that manipulates an element (or returns a new element based on it),
and returns a function that applies this function to every element in a "container" (a functor to be exact).
This is highly useful and helps in increasing modularity and seperating responsibilities since we seperate what we do to each element
and how we apply that to each element in a container.
This also encourages code reuse, it doesn't matter what you want to do to each element, you write the
map function once,
and use it for every function and any kind of elements you want, it doesn't change. It shouldn't change.
A Functional Programming Language is a programming language that encourages using functional style when writing programs. In these languages, writing in functional style is rewarded by being easier to write, being more concise and being better optimized. For example, higher order functions are possible and easy to write, tail call optimization is guaranteed, every computation is an expression and more.
The benefits of knowing how to write well in functional style is significant even for non-functional programmers. Functional style promotes building very small components and combining them to larger components, a programmer well-versed in functional style is able to identify and seperate responsibilities easily, it is the bread and butter of functional programming. Though, there are some setbacks. For example, when I run into a programming language that let's me combine functions easily (like Haskell's (.) function) I feel free and am able to plan how to structure my code more easily. But when I run into a language that doesn't let me combine functions so easily (for example PHP or Java), I feel like I'm struggling to express the same ideas and that I need to think much more carefully how to structure my code.
Functional progamming is looking at programming from a different prespective. It is not about how to tell the computer what to do in order to get a result, it is about describing what things are with expressions rather than statements that changes a state. For me, functional programming lets me describe my ideas in a way that is closer to how I think rather than how the computer thinks. It feel easier for me to write this kind of code, it is easier to reason about and it is easier to change and refactor.
In this post, I didn't touch many topics regarding functional programming, I didn't talk about the use of recursion instead of loops, about purely functional style - in which every function can only take an input and produce an output, nothing else. Which means it cannot affect anything in your program and how this is super useful and a great habit, I didn't talk about referential transparency nor on Currying, I didn't even list all the things I didn't talk about. There is simply a lot to learn!
I'd recommend learning functional programming to programmers which:
- Enjoy learning new things, especially programming languages.
- Are not satisfied with their current language of choice or practices.
- Want to learn about different approaches to building software.
Especially now, since you may find that most recent features mainstream languages adopts today such as: tail recursion, pattern matching, immutibility and lambda expressions, already existed long ago in many functional languages. So if you want to be one (or more) steps ahead of everyone else, learn a functional language.
I started learning about Functional Programming with Learn You A Haskell For Great Good but i do not recommend it anymore. Instead I recommend reading Haskell Programming From First Principles to anyone interested in functional programming and Haskell. Another book I think any programmer should read at some point (better early than late) is SICP. It's a wonderful classic about software developement and computer science and since it is taught in Scheme, you'll learn functional programming as well. Beyond that, the internet is full of functional programming articles, books, papers, blog posts and so on. If you got to this article, I'm sure you can get to other sources as well. And if you can't, mail me and I will try to help. | <urn:uuid:132cdd6c-81c4-4c57-a13e-a46fa7b0bcfe> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://gilmi.me/blog/post/2014/09/01/functional-programming | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178358203.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20210227054852-20210227084852-00260.warc.gz | en | 0.94581 | 1,179 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Slow Labor (Failure to Progress)
Why is a slow labor a challenge?
It is not dangerous to labor slowly. However the slow labor is a frequent reason woman are unable to achieve a natural birth. There are three different challenges to the mother experiencing a slow labor. Each will require different techniques and tools to handle.
The slow labor can cause concern among caregivers who may encourage the mother to use pitocin, artificial rupture of the membranes or other medical labor stimulation techniques to effect faster dilation. If dilation still does not conform to what the caregiver believes should happen, the mother may be considered "Failure to Progress" and a cesarean surgery would be recommended. There is very little you can do to negotiate with a caregiver who believes labor must follow the "normal" curve. To avoid this challenge it is necessary to interview caregivers well and choose a caregiver who does not feel that a labor being slow is a reason for intervention.
The slow labor may indicate a problem with the baby's position, such as an asynclyntic (head not pressing fully on the cervix) or posterior presentation. It may also indicate a problem with the mother's anxiety level or hydration levels. However, if this is the case there should be other signs than just slow progress. For example, the mother who is anxious or fearful may be acting or reacting fearfully. To overcome this challege it will be necessary to help her feel safe and comfortable again. A poorly hydrated mother will not have been taking sips of water or juice or sucking on ice chips between contractions. She will need to begin hydrating herself or request an IV.
Often a baby in a poor position will cause an irregular contraction pattern with short and painful contractions. If this is the case, it may be helpful to use positions and techniques that are believed to realign the baby in the pelvis. This will probably not be very comfortable for the mother but is necessary.
The slow labor can be exhausting to the mother, depleting her energy needed to handle the stress of labor. It is important for the mother experiencing a slow labor to take regular rest times, sleeping between contractions if the pattern allows. She should stay well hydrated and may do well with juice, broth or honey to help her stay energized.
Make sure you are in active labor before you move to a hospital or birth center. The modern hospital is as likely to start your labor for you as it is to send you home if you show up before actually being in active labor.
Of all the factors that have been studied as ways to shorten the length of labor, the only one that works by itself is to have continuous support such as the care given by a doula. In studies, moving around during labor such as walking was as effective at shortening labor as most medical treatments.
Stay positive. Remind her of the progress she has made.
Don't pay too much attention too soon. This makes even a normal length labor seem long. Make sure she is in real labor before you pay attention.
Remind her that there are reasons labors are long. Her body may need time to get the hormone levels right.
Does she feel safe? Change the environment or your attitude to help her prevent the Fear Tension Pain Cycle.
Is she hungry? Giver her something to eat and be sure she is drinking enough water.
Have her spend some time in the tub or a shower.
If necessary, get extra support to help her stay positive.
Things to discuss with your caregiver:
Caregivers handle slow labors differently. It would be beneficial to know what your caregiver considers to be a slow labor and how it would be treated.
You may want to discuss the possibility of using natural labor stimulation techniques, such as nipple stimulation, before trying medicated labor stimulation techniques.
If it becomes important to speed labor, discuss the possibility of trying an amniotomy (artificially breaking the bag of waters) first. It does start a clock by which you must give birth, but studies show it increases the chances you will give birth vaginally and may prevent the need for artificial oxytocin.
If you choose to use artificial oxytocin as a way to speed labor, understand that there is currently no evidence that high or rapidly escalating doses of oxytocin are any more effective at producing a baby than more moderate approaches. The moderate approaches may keep you more comfortable.
Moving to the hospital too soon can make even an average length labor seem long and slow because most women find the hospital to be boring in early labor. Your caregiver can help you decide when would be a good time to go to the hospital to prevent getting their too early.
For many women, cervical dilation does not happen according to the 1 cm per hour rule. If you feel that there is change and you are progressing according to the emotional markers for progress, you may want to discuss with your caregiver the possibility of putting off intervention for an hour or two. This may be the time your body needs to get over the hump and begin dilating.
References:Freidman, E. (1978). Labor: Clinical evaluation and management (2nd ed). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Enkin, Keirse, Nilson, Crowther, Duley, Hodnett and Hofmeyr. A guide to effective care in pregnancy and childbirth Third Edition. 2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
El halta, V. (1995). Posterior labor: A pain in the back. Midwifery Today, 36, 19-21. | <urn:uuid:11944ba1-b21f-49e9-b579-62ec426da8b7> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://www.birthingnaturally.net/birth/challenges/slow.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802770747.108/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075250-00110-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94595 | 1,162 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Heraldry is the word used to describe anything to do with coats of arms. A coat
of arms is a design on a shield-shaped motif that signifies a particular family.
Originally heraldry referred to the business of a herald. In the early Middle Ages
he was an officer of the king’s army whose job it was to manage the troops. To make
that management easier, important individuals, such as earls, made themselves more
easily identifiable by displaying their own emblems on their shields, banners and
helmets. Before being allowed to display such emblems, though, permission had first
to be granted by the king.
Individual emblems could be passed down from father to son. When there was no male
heir to inherit a coat of arms, it could be passed on to daughters instead. When
two armigers married (an armiger being a person entitled to a coat of arms), their
emblems were placed side by side on the same shield. When four coats of arms were
represented on one shield this was known as quartering. The faces of shields became
busier with successive generations, and their designs also grew in variety with the
number of families entitled to coats of arms constantly increasing. Even so, families
became very proud of them and were keen to retain them even after they ceased to
have any practical purpose. Such emblems, or coats of arms as they came to be called,
became symbols of family honour and the pride that is attached to them still survives
The first king to have his own emblem was Richard I in 1198.
As heraldry became more and more complex it developed a whole new language of its
own, not only with its own specialist vocabulary, but also with its own rules of
classification, and a wide range of symbols and pictures. It reached its maturity
in the fourteenth century, by which time coats of arms might be depicted almost anywhere.
Shields adorned the walls and windows of buildings, embroidered furnishings and
garments, and decorated a whole range of domestic objects.
There are thousands of examples of coats of arms in Norfolk and Suffolk, many depicted
on village signs and some associated with pub signs. The majority, however, are
to be seen on buildings, and in particular on and in churches, where the earliest
surviving examples date from the twelfth century. Shields carved in stone on the
base of towers often denote a wealthy benefactor, usually a member of the nobility.
Coats of arms are frequently seen in stained glass windows and on brasses and memorials.
The most striking examples, however, are often around tombs where the effigies of
an armiger and his wife lie on top, and shields of their own and related families
decorate the sides, as in the example pictured above.
The following are just a few more examples of the many in the region.
Coat of arms on a tomb in East Harling Church in Norfolk, showing twelve different
Above: Detail of a tomb in Framlingham Church in Suffolk showing the coats or arms
of the Howard family, the Dukes of Norfolk (top left quarter of shield), that of
Brotherton (top right quarter), that of the Warennes (bottom left) and of the Mowbrays
(bottom right). The tomb was erected in 1614 by order of Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton,
in memory of his parents. His father, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was executed
in 1547. His mother, Frances de Vere, daughter of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford,
died in 1577.
Left: Another side of the same tomb as in the picture above. This side has the
shield of the de Vere family with its star in the top left-hand corner.
Note the fine carvings of helmets, swords and drum.
This coat of arms (above) is on the Ancient House in Ipswich. The most famous old
house in the city, it was built in 1567 by George Copping. It is also known as Sparrowe’s
House after the Sparrowe family (who were ardent Royalists) lived in it for two hundred
years. A secret room was apparently discovered in the nineteenth century by a man
falling through the roof, and rumour has it that King Charles II was once hidden
inside. It is the Royal Coat of Arms of Charles II that we see here plastered above
the doorway. Pevsner makes the comment that the plasterwork and pargeting on the
outside, which dates from about 1670, is ‘more ornate and gayer than any other house
of its date in England’, and Arthur Mee describes it as an ‘architectural gem’, which
indeed it is.
The Royal Coat of Arms in Mundesley Church in Norfolk.
These two shields (above) at Long Melford Church in Suffolk decorate the sides of
a tomb belonging to Sir William Clopton, who died in 1446. His son, John Clopton,
was the church’s founder.
The above pictures show two uncoloured heraldic shields in Framlingham Church in
Top left is on the tomb of Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Henry was
the son of Henry VIII and Elizabeth Blount. He married Mary Howard, daughter of
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and of Elizabeth Stafford. The four quarterings
on the left half of the shield show the Richmond arms, and those on the right, show
the arms of Brotherton (top right), the Howards (top), the Warennes (bottom) and
the Mowbrays (the lion, bottom right).
The other shield (above right) commemorates the first two of the three wives of Thomas
Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk - Mary, daughter and heir of Henry FitzAlan, Earl of
Arundel, and Margaret, daughter and heir of Thomas, Lord Audley of Walden. The shield
is divided into eight quarters. Along the top from left to right are the coats of
arms of the Howards, Brotherton, the Albini FitzAlans and the FitzAlans. Along the
bottom half of the shield from left to right are the coats of arms of the Warennes,
the Mowbrays, the Woodvilles and the Maltravers.
Two more examples of signs associated with pubs. Above left shows a coat of arms
with a motto on the wall of a pub at Harleston in Norfolk. Above right shows a coat
of arms on a pub sign at Occold in Suffolk. Note the mug of beer in the middle.
The three coats of arms above and above left are painted on the walls of the north
walk in the cloisters of Norwich Cathedral. The walk was the scene of a famous banquet
held in 1578 when Queen Elizabeth I visited Norwich, and the arms are those of the
people who entertained her.
Above right: This coat of arms is displayed on a memorial at Thetford that celebrates
the centenary of the death of Maharajah Duleep Singh who lived nearby at Elvedon
Hall. He became a favourite of Queen Victoria, who granted him a coat of arms which
he never registered. Duleep Singh’s kingdom, the Punjab, was taken from him when
it became part of the British Raj of India in 1849. After he was escorted to England,
he settled at Elvedon Hall until his death in 1893.
The two post horns on the village sign at Scole in Norfolk (above left) represent
the Scole Inn (formerly known as the White Hart), which is a prominent building in
the village. Considered to be one of the finest coaching inns in the country it
was built in 1655. As the coaches approached the inn, the outriders blew on their
post horns to announce their arrival to the innkeepers. Above the two post horns
depicted on the sign there is an eagle, representing the Romans who were here centuries
earlier. Below the post horns there is the cross of St. Andrew who is the patron
saint of the local church. The two shields are those of the Cornwallis and Shelton
families. Ideas for the design came from parishioners, including the children. It
was made by Harry Carter of Swaffham, and was erected in 1976.
Above: Under the chancel arch in the church of St. Catherine, Ludham, in Norfolk,
is a parchment covered Tympanum. It was possibly painted during the reign of Queen
Mary (1553-1558). On the west side there are figures of Jesus on the cross, St.
Mary and St. John, and on the east side there is a canvas with the arms of Queen
Elizabeth I (1558-1603) with the inscriptions ‘non me pudet evangelii Christi’ (which
means ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ’) and ‘vivat Regina Elizabeta’. The
boards of the Tympanum and the canvas lay hidden in the blocked-up staircase that
led to the rood loft until it was discovered in 1879 by an archaeological society
on a day out.
Above: Coat of arms carved on a bench end inside Dennington Church in Suffolk.
The two lion supporters on this shield (above) on the village sign at Dersingham
in Norfolk is a reference to the royal estate nearby at Sandringham. Top left on
the shield are the three crowns of East Anglia, top right is a ship representing
Dersingham as an ancient fishing port, bottom left is a dragon rampant, denoting
strength, and bottom right shows three trout. The castellations on the top of the
shield represent the parish church. The sign was designed by S.T. Turner, and was
presented to the parish council by Dersingham Women’s Institute.
The wrought iron village sign at Kenninghall in Norfolk was a gift from the WI in
1972. It was designed by a former stage designer, a Mr. P. MacNamara of Quiddenham,
and made by Mr. Eric Stevenson of Wroxham. Historical research for the sign was
carried out by Mr and Mrs Michael Serpell of Keninghall. The shields were painted
by Mr. A. Thirtle of Norwich. On the apex of the sign is a representation of the
‘Kenninghall brooch’, a type of ornament like one found in the Anglo-Saxon burial
ground excavated at the Butts in 1869, near where the sign stands. Below the name
is depicted the legendary crown and coat of arms of King Edward ‘the Confessor’ to
whom Kenninghall belonged as a royal manor. The two shields below are, left, the
coat of arms of the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, who built Kenninghall House and, right,
the Earl of Mowbray. The fourth shield belongs to the Earl of Albemarle.
Another interesting village sign is at Kimberley in Norfolk. In the fifteenth century
John de Woodhouse distinguished himself at the Battle of Agincourt and this won him
armorial distinction. His coat of arms consisted of three ermine cinquefoils and
an ermine chevron. After Agincourt the chevron was gilded and scattered with drops
of blood. These four-hundred-year-old arms were once displayed on the gateway to
the park at Kimberley, which is part of an estate. When the owner of the estate,
Lord Kimberley, left in 1960, the coat of arms was re-erected on the village green
for all to see, and became the parishioners’ village sign. The original manor on
the estate was built by Sir John Wodehouse who acquired the estate by marrying the
heiress of Sir Thomas Fastolfe. Above the lettering is the shield, divided between
the Wodehouse arms, and those of the Fastolfes. The supporters are wild men of the
woods (Wodenhouse) and the words ‘the battle of Agincourt’ is on the crest. The
coat of arms is made of painted copper.
The late fifteenth century oak screen at Attleborough Church in Norfolk is fifty-two
feet long with twenty-four ‘bays’. On each bay of the loft (which is unique) there
appears a shield of an English or Welsh bishopric. These were painted on soon after
the Reformation. A text on the upper rail of the loft comes from the Bible book
of Proverbs and reads ‘Put thy trust in God with all thyne heart and leane not unto
thine owne wytt.’
Pevsner describes the south porch of St. Mary’s Church in Pulham St. Mary, Norfolk,
as ‘something phenomenal’. It is two-storeyed and stone-faced, and the frieze of
shields in cusped fields over the doorway includes those of the Passion and the Trinity.
Members of the Kemp family, who were lords of the manor at Gissing in Norfolk from
1324, were buried here up until 1936. In the chancel of the church and in the fourteenth
century north chapel there are memorials to the family, some with shields, one of
which is pictured above. The Latin phrase ‘Spero lucem’ means ‘I hope for light’.
Right: Shields adorn the outside walls of this modern block of offices in Norwich.
Left: The village sign at Needham in Norfolk.
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Left: Shield motifs above the doorway of the building which houses the offices of
Aviva (formerly the Norwich Union Insurance Group) in Norwich.
This tympanum, dated 1587, completely fills the chancel arch of St. Margaret’s Church
at Tivetshall in Norfolk. Located above the fourteenth century rood screen, it is
twenty feet wide and fifteen feet tall. H. Munro Cautley in his ‘Norfolk Churches’
describes it as ‘the most outstanding set of arms in the county...probably the finest
of the reign in the country’.
It displays the achievements of Queen Elizabeth I. At the top is the sun portrayed
to represent God over all. Then comes the Royal Arms with the words ‘O God Save
our Queen Elizabeth.’ The text underneath reads ‘Let every soul be subject unto
the highest powers for there is no power but God. The powers that be are ordained
by God.’ Painted in the shield in the middle of this text is a crowned falcon holding
a sceptre. Henry VIII granted this badge to Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn. At
the base are written the Ten Commandments. On one side are the names Richard Russell,
Jeffrey Neve and John Freeman, and on the other side are the words ‘In this time
they caused this to be done.’
Royal Coats of Arms
Several parish churches in East Anglia display Royal Coats of Arms. Apart from a
few that date from Victorian times (when there were some that were mass-produced)
they’re all different in their design. In some cases, for example, the animals are
portrayed as fierce wild beasts, and in other instances they are smiling comic creatures.
Materials used are also various: Royal Arms have been carved in stone and in wood,
have been painted in plaster, and have been crafted in cast iron.
The idea of a Royal Coat of Arms originates with king Richard I, who, at the end
of the twelfth century, chose three lions to be depicted on his shield in battle.
Other elements of medieval armoury have since been incorporated into the Royal Arms,
including the shield and the helmet. From 1340 to 1801 the Royal Arms included the
arms of France (consisting of three gold fleur-de-lis on a blue background.) The
accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603 brought together
the Royal Arms of England, Scotland and Ireland.
Royal Arms first appeared in English churches in the sixteenth century after Henry
VIII declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England.
Modern Royal Coats of Arms
Since 1837 Royal Coats of Arms have remained the same, apart from changes in the
initials of the sovereign.
The Royal Coat of Arms depicted in the photo below at Mundesley Church dates from
Victorian times and shows the modern elements. Richard I’s three lions, representing
England, appear in two of the four quarters (the first and the fourth) of the shield.
They are depicted in gold on a red background. In the second quarter there’s a
red lion rearing its hind legs that represents Scotland. In the third quarter there’s
a golden harp on a blue background that represents Ireland. The shield has two supporters:
a lion that, again, represents England, and a unicorn that represents Scotland. The
Latin words of a motto are written around the outside of the shield: Honi soit qui
mal y pense. This is the symbol of the Order of the Garter and translates into English
as ‘Evil to him who evil thinks.’
Another motto - Dieu et mon droit - which means ‘God and my right’ is that of the
Right: Mid-nineteenth-century tiles depicting heraldic shields in the chance floor
of Huntingfield Church in Suffolk.
Below: Royal Coat of Arms carved in stone and dating from 1898. It adorns the top
of the main roof of Colchester Town Hall in Essex.
The porch at St. Mary’s Church in Diss, Norfolk, has a frieze of shields set in quatrefoils.
A bequest for the thirty-four foot high, two-storeyed, stone-faced porch at St. Michael’s
Church in Beccles, Suffolk, was made in 1455. At the base is a frieze of shields
in barbed quatrefoil fields.
On the mid-fifteenth century tower of St. Peter Mancroft Church in Norwich there’s
a base frieze of flushwork with a stone frieze of shields above. On the arches of
the tower there are shields in cusped fields.
The village sign at Orford in Suffolk, erected to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth
II in 1953, has a shield motif.
The Ancient House’ at Clare in Suffolk which used to be the priest’s house and dates
from 1473 has a shield on an outside wall.
Above: Coats of arms on the village sign at Neatishead in Norfolk. The shield on
the left is that of the Preston family who own much of the land on which the village
is built. The shield in the centre is that of nearby St. Benet’s Abbey. Though
now a ruin, once a year a service is still held here, led by the Bishop of Norwich.
The shield on the right is the badge of the Royal Air Force, who have a radar station
nearby. The sign was designed by Roger Challinor and painted by Roger Challinor
and Alan Brown. The ironwork was done by Eric Stevenson.
The following descriptions are a few of the many other good examples around the region:
The village sign at Weston Longville in Norfolk was given to the village by the 566th
Bomber Group of the 8th American Air Force that was stationed at nearby Attlebridge.
A shield depicted on the top left of the sign belongs to New College, Oxford, which
held the gift of the ‘living’. Parson James Woodforde was appointed rector of the
parish in 1793 by his own college of St. John’s at Oxford. He is renowned for his
diary which spans forty-three years and gives a vivid picture of country life at
the time. Another shield on the sign is that of the Rokewood family who once owned
the estate here. A third shield is that of the Custance family who lived at the
old Hall here. | <urn:uuid:bfd11a56-0729-446e-a782-d89e2fde72cf> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | http://waysidearteastanglia.me.uk/heraldry.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934806310.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20171121021058-20171121041058-00146.warc.gz | en | 0.953553 | 4,399 | 3.96875 | 4 |
It could hardly be called a movement. It could hardly be called a philosophy. (Indeed, it doesn't even rate an entry in the Encyclopedia of Philosophy.) Oblomovism is more a way of life.
Oblomovism was a slang term that originated in pre-Soviet Russia. It was based on a character in a novel written by Ivan Goncharov. The novel was succinctly named "Oblomov". It is primarily about a Russian nobleman who cannot seem to find the ambition to accomplish anything.
Not that Oblomov lacks dreams. He dreams great things. He dares to love the beautiful and vivacious Olga. He plans the expansion of his estates and beneficent deeds for his dependents. Yet life since birth has been a pleasant ride in the country, and he cannot seem to rise above his self-indulgence to reach out and seize the possibilities of his day.
Ivan Goncharov (born in 1812 in Simbirsk) knew his subject well. He saw all around him the effects on a whole class of people of unearned wealth. Nobles without ambition slowly allowed their estates to decay and their country to drift towards class warfare. Although they could see that their efforts could be to their own advantage, they would not stir themselves from their creature comforts to act. This endemic lassitude came to be called Oblomovism. Though many struggled against it, it proved a significant force in Russian society and culture. Some even partly blamed it for the advent of the 1917 revolution.
Goncharov's book also had influence outside of Russia. Since its publication in 1859 observers have noted the effects of unqualified support of any particular class, whether it be nobility or the welfare poor - the tendency to become unproductive and a burden to the rest of society.
The book has also had deep meaning on a personal level for its readers. James Michener even included a reference to it in his coming of age novel, The Fires of Spring. In it, the major character, while attending college, devours the book in a single all-night read. It is a mere throw-away line in the book, but anyone who has read "Oblomov" understands the contrast between the vigor of the young American student and the sleepy ponderousness of the aristocrat Oblomov.
Goncharov himself had to struggle to overcome his own lethargy to complete this work. It took him more than ten years to write. "Oblomov" is in the grand tradition of the great Russian novel. It is truly a sprawling work that plays out over 500 pages.
Oblomovism itself is a phenomena that perhaps bears further investigation. Yet any serious attempt must begin with "Oblomov". | <urn:uuid:8b642b6a-85c9-4870-8027-fc2dfdee4f77> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://www.indepthinfo.com/articles/oblomovism.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823478.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20171019212946-20171019232946-00371.warc.gz | en | 0.984732 | 581 | 2.625 | 3 |
Sources and Component Parts of Marxism
We have said, while discussing Machiavelli, that communism does not discard the past, but grows out of it. This week the main item is Lenin’s “Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism” (download linked below). This piece of writing, though extremely short, manages to embrace the whole of philosophy, politics and economics. For these reasons it is highly popular with teachers and students.
Lenin’s purpose is to show how comprehensive Marxism is, and that Marxism is on the “highroad of development of world civilisation”.
He puts the matter like this:
“…there is nothing resembling "sectarianism" in Marxism, in the sense of its being a hidebound, petrified doctrine, a doctrine which arose away from the highroad of development of world civilisation. On the contrary, the genius of Marx consists precisely in the fact that he furnished answers to questions which had already engrossed the foremost minds of humanity. His teachings arose as a direct and immediate continuation of the teachings of the greatest representatives of philosophy, political economy and socialism.”
One may appreciate this point, without necessarily accepting every simplicity in this highly compressed account. It is a scheme of understanding, almost like a diagram. It raises many questions, for example:
- Is there any such thing as “Marxism”, in the sense described here by Lenin as “complete and harmonious” and “an integral world conception”? Karl Marx did not think so. From his own point of view, Marx had hardly completed a small part of what lay before him; and he refused the label “Marxist”.
- In what sense was Marx’s philosophy materialist? Did Marx see human beings first and foremost as arrangements of molecules – i.e. as an “extension” of material? Or is the actual point of Marx’s philosophy and politics to give the free human subject priority over the material, objective world in which it must toil for its development? Scholars still debate these questions.
- In what sense did Marx have an economic doctrine, or an economic theory? It is true that the question of surplus value is at the core of Marx’s Capital, Volume 1. But is that work therefore an economic text-book? Or is it really what Marx called it: A Critique of Political Economy? In other words, is it not anti-economics, rather than economics?
When it comes to politics, there is no doubt that “the struggle of classes as the basis and the motive force of the whole development”, as Lenin puts it. So there is a lot that is good in the “Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism”. But it is only a start and it does not absolve anyone from the necessity of further study.
It is pleasing that in this short, packed piece Lenin still has time to mention South Africa (in his last paragraph), and that news of proletarian organisation in our country had already reached Lenin in 1913.
Please download and read this very short text via the following link:
Socialism, Utopian and Scientific, Engels, 1880 (16229 words) | <urn:uuid:0a9eb3fb-69b1-4a04-9917-179d69e1d321> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://cuafrica.blogspot.com/2011/02/sources-and-component-parts-of-marxism.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187825147.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20171022060353-20171022080353-00571.warc.gz | en | 0.953303 | 672 | 3.25 | 3 |
Great Appalachian Valley
The Great Valley,
also known as the Great Appalachian Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough — a chain of valley lowlands — and the central feature
of the Appalachian Mountain system. The trough stretches about 700 miles from Canada
to Alabama and has been an important north-south route of
travel since prehistoric times.
|Great Valley Map
|Map of the Great Valley
Broadly defined, the Great
Valley marks the eastern edge of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province.
There are many regional names of the Great Valley,
such as the Shenandoah Valley. From a large perspective the Great Valley can be divided into a northern
section and a southern section.
In its northern section,
the Great Valley includes the Lake Champlain
lowlands and Champlain Valley, Hudson River Valley, Newburgh
Valley, Wallkill Valley,
Kittatinny Valley, Lehigh
Valley, Lebanon Valley, and Cumberland Valley.
A series of mountains bounds
the valley to the east, including, from north to south, the Green Mountains of Vermont, the Taconic Mountains, the Reading
Prong (which includes the Hudson Highlands, the New York and New Jersey Highlands, Schunemunk Mountain, and the Ramapo Mountains),
and South Mountain of Pennsylvania. There is a wide gap between Reading Prong and South
Mountain, connecting the Great Valley with the Piedmont region of southeast Pennsylvania.
Some sources cite this gap as the dividing point between the northern and southern sections of the Great Valley.
Another series of mountains
bounds the valley to the west. These are mainly the first major ridges of the Valley and Ridge Appalachians and the western
escarpments of the Allegheny Plateaus. They include, from north to south, the Adirondack Mountains, the Catskill Mountains
(specifically the Helderberg Escarpment), a long and nearly continuous mountain ridge with several names: Shawangunk Ridge,
Kittatinny Mountains, Blue
Mountain, stretching from New York through New Jersey to Pennsylvania. This long
mountain continues into Virginia with the name North
Mountain. These mountains on the west side of the Great
Valley are broken by the gap of Mohawk Valley in New York, which connects the Hudson
River Valley with the lowlands south of Lake Ontario. The long Kittatinny-Blue-North Mountain is broken by
a few narrow wind and water gaps, such as the Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania Wind Gap, Lehigh River Gap, Schuylkill River
Gap, Swatara Gap, the Susquehanna River Gap, Big Gap, and, farther south, the Potomac River Gap.
In its southern section,
the Great Valley is bounded to the east
by the Blue Ridge Mountains, which extend north into Pennsylvania as South Mountain. Regional names of the southern
Great Valley include Hagerstown
Valley in Maryland, Winchester
Valley and Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and West Virginia, the upper valley of the James River, Roanoke
Valley, and New River Valley
in Virginia, the Holston River
Valley in Virginia and Tennessee,
and the East Tennessee Valley
extending from Virginia through Tennessee to Alabama. Some sources describe the Coosa
River Valley as the southernmost part of
the Great Valley.
These southern portions of the Great Valley
are sometimes grouped into two parts, the Valley of Virginia
and the Tennessee Valley.
The southern Great Valley
is bounded on the east by the Blue Ridge physiographic province, which includes, from north to south, South Mountain in Pennsylvania,
Catoctin Mountain in Maryland and Virginia, the Blue Ridge of Virginia, the Black Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina,
Holston Mountain in Tennessee, the Unaka Range and the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. An important
gap in these mountains occurs near Roanoke, Virginia.
Other gaps of note in the Blue Ridge of Virginia, connecting the Piedmont region with the Great Valley include Thornton Gap, Swift Run
Gap, and Rockfish Gap.
Another series of mountains
bounds the southern Great Valley to the
west, including North Mountain and Great North Mountain,
the Allegheny Front, Powell Mountain, Cumberland
Mountains, Walden Ridge, and the Cumberland Plateau. The Cumberland Gap connects the Great Valley region with Kentucky
and Tennessee lands to the west. Massanutten Mountain
lies in the middle of the Valley of Virginia
portion of the Great Valley.
of Virginia is a region of karst, with many sinkholes and caverns.
Routes through the valley
were first used by Native Americans. In pre-colonial and early colonial times a major Indian pathway through the Great Valley was known
as the Great Indian Warpath, Seneca Trail, and various other names.
For white immigrants the
Great Valley was a major route for settlement
and commerce in the United States along the Great Wagon Road, which began in Philadelphia.
In the Shenandoah Valley the road was known as the Valley Pike. The Wilderness Road branched
off from the Great Wagon Road at present-day Roanoke, Virginia crossed the Cumberland Gap and led to Kentucky and Tennessee,
especially the fertile Bluegrass region and Nashville Basin. Another branch at Roanoke, called
the Carolina Road, led into the Piedmont regions of
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The various gaps connecting
the Great Valley
to lands to the east and west have played important roles in American history. On the east side, the wide gap in southeast
Pennsylvania became the main route for colonization of the Great Valley. By the 1730s the Pennsylvanian Great Valley
west of South Mountain
was open to settlement after treaty cessions and purchases from the Indians. The region drew a steady and growing stream of
immigrants and became known as "the best poor man's country". Before long immigrations had thoroughly settled the Great Valley in Pennsylvania
and were rapidly migrating and settling southwards into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The entire region between southeast
Pennsylvania and the Shenandoah Valley soon became famous as a "breadbasket", the most productive
mixed farming region in America (Meinig,
1986:134). The road from Philadelphia west to the valley and
then south through it became very heavily used and known variously as the Great
Wagon Road, the Philadelphia Wagon Road,
the Valley Road, etc. The conestoga wagon was developed
around 1725 in the area of the wide opening between Philadelphia and the Great Valley. The conestoga wagon became the
main vehicle for transportation through the Great Valley until the railroad era.
By the 1750s the Great Valley was well-settled to the southern end of Shenandoah Valley. Immigrants continued to travel from the Philadelphia
area south through the Great Valley beyond
Shenandoah, to the vicinity of the modern city of Roanoke, Virginia. There is a wide gap in the Blue Ridge near Roanoke.
A branch of the Great Wagon Road began there, crossing
through the gap east into the Piedmont region of North Carolina and South Carolina. This road became known as the Carolina
Road. During the 1750s the stream of migrants traveling south through the valley and into the Carolina
Piedmont grew into a flood. At the time, the Carolina Piedmont region offered some of the best land at the lowest prices.
Soon a string of towns appeared, including Salisbury, Salem,
and Charlotte in North Carolina.
In the decades before the American Revolution the Piedmont "upcountry" of the Carolinas was quickly settled, mostly by recent
immigrants who had migrated from the north to the south via the Great
Valley. Many of these immigrants were Scots-Irish, Germans from the Rhineland-Palatinate
area, and Moravians. This "upcountry" population soon surpassed the older and more established "lowcountry" population near
the Atlantic coast, causing serious geopolitical tensions in the Carolinas during the late
18th century (Meinig, 1986: 291-293).
On the west side, the Cumberland
Gap became the main route for migration west from the southern Great Valley to Kentucky and Tennessee.
In the north, the Mohawk Valley became a
major route for westward expansion, especially after the construction of the Erie Canal, which linked New
York City to the Great Lakes region via the Hudson River of the Great
Valley and the Mohawk
Valley played an important role during the American Civil War, especially the Shenandoah
Valley, its Blue Ridge gaps and nearby Piedmont area, and its northward extension to the vicinity of Gettysburg. Civil War era sites and events in this region include Harpers Ferry, Antietam,
Manassas, Virginia, Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania,Valley Campaign, Valley Campaigns of 1864, Battles of Chattanooga,
and Gettysburg Campaign.
(Sources and related reading below.)
Reading: The United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence,
Culture, and Enlightenment to America.
Description: Few places in the United States
confound and fascinate Americans like Appalachia, yet no other area has been so markedly
mischaracterized by the mass media. Stereotypes of hillbillies and rednecks repeatedly appear in representations of the region,
but few, if any, of its many heroes, visionaries, or innovators are ever referenced. Continued below…
Make no mistake,
they are legion: from Anne Royall, America's first female muckraker, to Sequoyah, a Cherokee mountaineer who invented the
first syllabary in modern times, and international divas Nina Simone and Bessie Smith, as well as writers Cormac McCarthy,
Edward Abbey, and Nobel Laureate Pearl S. Buck, Appalachia has contributed mightily to American culture — and politics.
Not only did eastern Tennessee boast the country's first antislavery
newspaper, Appalachians also established the first District of Washington as a bold counterpoint
to British rule. With humor, intelligence, and clarity, Jeff Biggers reminds us how Appalachians have defined and shaped the
United States we know today.
Reading: The Appalachians: America's First
and Last Frontier (Hardcover). From Publishers Weekly: Some 23 million people live in Appalachia,
a region covering 200,000 square miles through 13 states. Congress recently declared a "Year of Appalachia," highlighted by
the Folklore Festival, a two-week celebration on the Washington, D.C., Mall attended by 1.1 million visitors…Over 30
contributors cover all aspects of Appalachian life and culture, from "living-water baptism," coal mining, feuds, folktales,
Foxfire, moonshiners, mountain music and snake handlers to the stately grandeur of North Carolina's Joyce Kilmer Memorial
Forest, a 3,840-acre wilderness. Citing stereotypes and pop culture connections (Snuffy Smith, The Andy Griffith Show, The
Waltons, Deliverance), Santelli (The Big Book of the Blues) sets the scene with an overview of the real Appalachia's
origins, hardships and triumphs. Continued below…
film's executive producer, writes that book and film provide "a multifaceted glimpse [of] the history of Appalachia: who came to the land,
why they came, what they found, what they did, and why they stayed." Former Rolling Stone Press editor George-Warren presents
a "Hillbilly Timeline" from 1900 to 2000. Many of the contributors, among them scholars, writers and naturalists, offer nostalgic
childhood memories. [Includes] quotes, images, lyrics, poems, excerpts from 19th-century writing, more than 180 superb photos
and illustrations, Archie L. Musick's scratch-board art, song sheets, engravings and R. Crumb drawings. 16 full-pages of color
NEW! Highly Recommended Viewing: Hillbilly:
The Real Story (2008) (The History
Channel). Description: Join host Billy Ray Cyrus on a journey into the hollers and runs
of Appalachia to discover the proud legacy of the region's mountain folk. Learn how hillbillies, long
misunderstood and maligned as isolated and backward, actually have a 300-year history of achievement and success that has
contributed significantly to our national identity. In this two-hour special you'll meet outcast immigrants, war heroes, isolated
backwoodsmen, hard working miners, fast moving moon shiners, religious warriors, musicians and statesmen. Continued below...
of their contributions, which include establishing the first labor unions, battling the British, and spawning some of the
most popular aspects of American culture today, like NASCAR and country music. And you'll see them in a whole new light. “The numerous candid interviews highlight this outstanding addition.”
Recommended Reading: Hillbilly:
A Cultural History of an American Icon. Description: In this pioneering work of
cultural history, historian Anthony Harkins argues that the hillbilly-which has been portrayed in the various guises of "briar
hopper," "brush ape," "ridge runner," and "white trash"-has been viewed by mainstream Americans simultaneously as a violent
degenerate who threatens the modern order and as a keeper of traditional values of family, home, and physical production,
and thus symbolic of a nostalgic past free of the problems of contemporary life. "Hillbilly" signifies rugged individualism
and stubborn backwardness, strong family and kin networks but also inbreeding and bloody feuds. Continued below…
literature, and the entire expanse of American popular culture, from D. W. Griffith to hillbilly music to the Internet, Harkins
illustrates how the image of the hillbilly has consistently served as both a marker of social derision and regional pride.
He traces the corresponding changes in representations of the hillbilly from late-nineteenth century America, through
the great Depression, the mass migrations of Southern Appalachians in the 1940s and 1950s,
the War on Poverty in the mid 1960s, and to the present day. Harkins also argues that images of hillbillies have played a
critical role in the construction of whiteness and modernity in twentieth century America. Richly illustrated with dozens of photographs, drawings, and film and
television stills, this unique book stands as a testament to the enduring place of the hillbilly in the American imagination.
Pick: Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Hardcover: 1864 pages) (University
of Tennessee Press) (March 1, 2006). From Booklist: The University of Tennessee
Press received support from a number of companies, individuals, foundations, and organizations to fund the
production of this comprehensive source of a major region of the U.S.
The editors worked for almost 10 years on the project. Abramson is a journalist with the Los Angeles Times and a native of
Alabama. Haskell is former director of and professor in
the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University.
The encyclopedia adopts the 2005 definition used by the Appalachian Regional Commission, describing Appalachia as consisting
of 410 counties in 13 states from Mississippi to New
York. The organization of the encyclopedia is thematic. There are five broad subject areas: "The Landscape,"
"The People," "Work and the Economy," "Cultural Traditions," and "Institutions." Each section begins with a five- to six-page
introduction and is then subdivided into smaller subsections. "Work and the Economy" includes "Agriculture"; "Business, Industry
and Technology"; "Labor"; "Tourism"; and "Transportation." Each subsection is an A-Z of people, places, and things. Continued
has been tarnished with numerous social, environmental, and economic problems, and the editors confront these as well as covering
the positive aspects of the area. The 2,000 entries, written by more than 1,000 contributors from academia and journalism,
include stereotypical topics (Feuds and violence, Hillbilly) but also subjects such as urban Appalachia
and cultural institutions like the Pittsburgh Symphony. The entries are concise, well written, and readable both for the layperson
and the scholar. Although publicity for the encyclopedia advertises its ease of use, for a true reference source, a single
alphabetical sequence would have improved quick access. The major finding aid, the general index, is sandwiched between the
index of contributors and the photo credits. There are no color illustrations, and the black-and-white photographs do not
really enhance the text. This is an additional "area" encyclopedia but covers a larger section of the U.S. than other recent encyclopedias treating Chicago, New England,
and New York. The editors and publisher are to be commended
for completing a monumental work, and the reasonable price makes it a recommended purchase for all academic and large public
libraries and also for high-school libraries in Appalachia. Christine Bulson Copyright ©
American Library Association. All rights reserved
Appalachia: A History (496 pages) (The University of North Carolina Press). Description: Interweaving social,
political, environmental, economic, and popular history, John Alexander Williams chronicles four and a half centuries of the
Appalachian past. Along the way, he explores Appalachia's long-contested boundaries and the numerous, often contradictory
images that have shaped perceptions of the region as both the essence of America
and a place apart. Williams begins his story in the colonial era and describes the half-century of bloody warfare as migrants
from Europe and their American-born offspring fought and eventually displaced Appalachia's
Native American inhabitants. Continued below…
the evolution of a backwoods farm-and-forest society, its divided and unhappy fate during the Civil War, and the emergence
of a new industrial order as railroads, towns, and extractive industries penetrated deeper and deeper into the mountains.
Finally, he considers Appalachia's
fate in the twentieth century, when it became the first American region to suffer widespread deindustrialization, and examines
the partial renewal created by federal intervention and a small but significant wave of in-migration.
Throughout the book, a wide range of Appalachian voices enlivens
the analysis and reminds us of the importance of storytelling in the ways the people of Appalachia
define themselves and their region.
He or she
who cares deeply about this region needs this book.
(Blue Ridge Country)
interpretation of Appalachian history. Williams's explanations on many topics are the best presently available from any publication.
(Author/historian Gordon B. McKinney, Berea College)
Sources: Appalachian Topography - Paleontological Research Institution;
Appalachian Mountains - Columbia Gazetteer of North America; USGS - Valley and Ridge Province; Pennsylvania Geology Map; Geological
Structure of Pennsylvania; Drake, Richard B. (2001), A History of Appalachia. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky; Kercheval, Samuel (1850), A History
of the Valley of Virginia, Woodstock, Virginia -- History (much of it anecdotal) of the colonial Virginia northern frontier;
Meinig, D.W. (1986), The Shaping of America - A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume 1 - Atlantic America,
1492-1800. New Haven: Yale University
Press; Williams, John Alexander (2002), Appalachia - A History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. | <urn:uuid:85d31e25-8b6d-411f-bd76-c0233171a5e9> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://thomaslegion.net/greatappalachianvalleyhistoryandmap.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609538787.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005218-00567-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91655 | 4,165 | 3.890625 | 4 |
Male and female flowers grow on separate kiwifruit plants. Male flowers (top) produce pollen from the numerous stamens. Female flowers (bottom) have a well-developed ovary with long sticky stigmas in the centre. Although female flowers have stamens, they do not produce functional pollen.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Natural Sciences Image Library of New Zealand
Reference: Ho4760pRbt (top); Ho4575Rbt (bottom)
Photographs by Dick Roberts
This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder. | <urn:uuid:7ec5291e-5d5e-48be-8407-e99affcec44e> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/17716/male-and-female-flowers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623488536512.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20210623073050-20210623103050-00314.warc.gz | en | 0.890545 | 167 | 3.375 | 3 |
What is Dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty (SpLD) where a child has a significant difficulty in understanding mathematical concepts and comprehension of numbers.
This difficulty continues regardless of regular intervention, opportunity and intelligence. Those with Dyscalculia often feel that math is impossible to understand and that it is incomprehensible.
Although there is no single cause or reason for Dyscalculia, it is very likely that those with Dyscalculia may lack an innate ability to comprehend numbers and most mathematic methods. Most people (even babies) have been shown to have an innate ability to understand numbers and arithmetic on some level (Butterworth, 1999).
Symptoms and warning signs
Dyscalculia can present in some very different way, no two people with the condition present with exactly the same indicators! Here are some of the most common symptoms and warning signs that someone may experience Dyscalculia:
- Uses fingers to do addition and subtraction
- Unable to tell which number is bigger or smaller
- Struggling to count; both reciting the number words in the correct order and counting objects
- Struggle to read mathematical equations or numbers.
- Struggle with number magnitudes (ordering numbers by size)
- Unable to understand the meanings of operation symbols (+, -, x, ÷, =)
- Difficulty memorising number facts
- Struggle to comprehend principles, concepts and laws of arithmetic (for example, addition and subtraction)
If you are working with a child with Dyscalculia, be mindful of their difficulties and try to encourage them and make adjustments and accommodations as much as possible.
For dyscalculia and other numeracy related difficulties, there are many interventions and reasonable adjustments that can be made in the classroom and school setting. These include, but are not limited to:
- Very clear, short and simple instructions
- Visual representation of mathematical concepts (such as number lines)
- Reminders (visual or otherwise) of mathematical formulae and how to work them out
- Spend ten minutes practising mental math skills
- Use flash cards or other visual aides
- Using consistent praise and encouragement for all attempts at maths
- Multi-sensory approaches and interventions for maths support (using toys, sounds, etc.).
- Using drawings and sketching to work out maths problems.
- Allow extra time and the use of a calculator when it is possible
References and Further Reading
Butterworth, B (1999) The Mathematical Brain. London: Macmillan
National Numeracy Strategy (2001) Guidance to support pupils with dyslexia and dyscalculia.. DfES 0512/2001 | <urn:uuid:b5aa3523-6a81-405a-8634-b6e2df13ffee> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.theschoolpsychologyservice.com/how-can-i-recognise-dyscalculia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141486017.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20201130192020-20201130222020-00081.warc.gz | en | 0.910811 | 557 | 3.875 | 4 |
Managing Resources with Apache mod_alias
Updated by Linode
In many cases, all of the resources served by an Apache host are located in that host’s
DocumentRoot is a directory specified in the
<VirtualHost> configuration block. This directory is intended to represent the various files, directories, and resources that users access over HTTP on the file system. However, it is common for administrators to provide HTTP access to a resource on the file system which is not located in the
DocumentRoot. While Apache will follow symbolic links in some situations, this can be difficult to maintain. As a result Apache makes it possible to specify an
Alias that connects a location in the request to an alternate location.
This document explains how to use the
Alias directive to manage resources on the file system while still providing access via HTTP. Furthermore, this guide assumes you have a working installation of Apache and have access to modify configuration files. If you have not installed Apache, you might want to consider one of our Apache installation guides or LAMP stack installation guides. If you want a more thorough introduction to Apache configuration, consider our Apache configuration basics and Apache configuration structure documents.
Typically, Virtual Host configurations specify a
DocumentRoot which specifies a directory named, by convention,
public/. If the document root for the
example.com virtual host is
/srv/www/example.com/public_html/, then a request for
http://www.example.com/index.htm will return the file located at
If the administrator needed to maintain the
code/ resource on the file system at
/srv/git/public/ but have it be accessible at
http://example.com/code/, an alias would be required. This is accomplished in the following example:
- Apache Configuration
1 2 3 4 5 6
DocumentRoot /srv/www/example.com/public_html/ Alias /code /srv/git/public <Directory /srv/git/public> Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory>
Alias directive, a request for
http://example.com/code/ would return resources available in the folder
/srv/www/example.com/public_html/code/. However, the
Alias would direct Apache to serve content from the
/srv/git/public directory. The
<Directory> section permits remote users to access this directory.
There are a couple of important factors to consider when using
- Directory blocks need to be created after
Aliasdirectives are asserted for the destination of the
Alias. This makes it possible to permit access and otherwise control the behavior of those sections. In the example above that would be
- In general trailing slashes are to be avoided in
Aliasdirectives. If the above had read
Alias /code/ /srv/git/public/a request for
http://example.com/code, without a trailing slash, would be served from the
Aliasdirectives need to be created either in the root-level server config (e.g.
httpd.conf) or inside of a
In addition to
Alias, Apache provides an
AliasMatch directive that offers similar functionality.
AlaisMatch provides the additional ability to alias a class of requests for a given resource to a location outside of the
DocumentRoot. Let us consider another fictive
example.com virtual host configuration:
- Apache Configuration
1 2 3 4 5 6
DocumentRoot /srv/www/example.com/public_html/ AliasMatch /code/projects/(.+) /srv/git/projects/$1 <DirectoryMatch "^/srv/git/projects/.+$"> Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory>
In this example, requests for URLs such as
http://example.com/code/projects/my_app2 will be served resources in
/srv/git/projects/my_app2 respectively. However,
http://example.com/code/projects would be served from
/srv/www/example.com/public_html/code/projects/ rather than
/srv/git/projects/, because of the trailing slash in the alias to
Although the potential use case for
Alias is somewhat narrow, the functionality is very powerful for maintaining a secure and well organized web server.
You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.
- Apache Installation
- LAMP Stack Guides
- Guide for Redirecting URLs
- Guide for URL Rewriting with Apache
- Troubleshooting Apache
- Linode User Community
This guide is published under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license. | <urn:uuid:f5281cfa-7160-4565-9207-6ddd8a993cda> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | https://www.linode.com/docs/websites/apache-tips-and-tricks/managing-resources-with-apache-modalias | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501171078.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104611-00295-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.827382 | 1,015 | 3.25 | 3 |
ANIMASI INTERAKTIF PENGENALAN PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA KELAS EMPAT SD PADA SDN BENGLE II KARAWANG
Animation development at this time runs fast in various fields. Animation is so well known in the field of cinema, especially the world of children. However, now the animation is not only used in the world of entertainment such as film making and game, but also in making web design and education. Animation in education acts as a medium of learning interesting. Animations can be integrated in to other media such as video or presentation that is suitable to describe the learning materials are difficult delivered directly through the book. Animation in education provides many benefits for students and teachers. For students, the animation can improve the learning and understanding of a particular field of science. For the teachers, the animation can facilitate the learning and teaching process in the delivery of content to students. One animation maker software that is quite popular at the moment is Adobe Flash Professional CS8. Adobe Flash Professional CS8 offers a variety of features and ease of use. Display interface, function, and a diverse palette options, as well as a complete collection of tools that are very helpful in making the work interesting animation. Based on these problems, the authors are interested in creating animation in the field of education. Animations to be created by the author is an animation about math. Given Mathematics is a branch of science that is very important, but many students are less interested and believe that mathematics is difficult. Therefore, the authors sought to attract students to mathematics by offering attractive interface, so that students do not feel bored when learning mathematics. Math lessons to be made animated by the authors focused on the matter of multiplication and division, a number of factors, area and perimeter, and measurements for the fourth grade of elementary school. The results of the animation will be realized in the form of a thesis with the title "Introduction to Mathematics Learning Interactive Animation Four Class II SD At SDN bengle Karawang".
Abstract viewed = 34 times
PDF downloaded = 23 times | <urn:uuid:3bd49b82-d916-49f0-a01c-41c043f08538> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | http://konferensi.nusamandiri.ac.id/prosiding/index.php/sniptek/article/view/232 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247496080.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20190220190527-20190220212527-00578.warc.gz | en | 0.945388 | 427 | 3.1875 | 3 |
|Themes||Events||Features||Why Science Matters||Search||Year in Review|
In Your Area!
|Explore the theme|
Weather and Climate
Bringing Down the Bolt
Lightning is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the atmospheric sciences, researchers say. Scientists at the International Center for Lightning Research and Testing in Florida are inducing lightning to strike so they can understand it better.Video footage courtesy of Martin Uman, University of Florida and Tom A. Warner, ztresearch.com. Cover photo by Tom Warner. Produced by Flora Lichtman
Climate to Society
Some key points to consider:
- Over the 21st century, climate scientists expect Earth's temperature to continue increasing, very likely more than it did during the 20th century.
- Two anticipated results are: (1) rising global sea level and (2) increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves, droughts, and floods.
- These changes will affect almost every aspect of human society, including economic prosperity, human and environmental health, and national security.
- Scientific observations and climate model results indicate that human activities are now the primary cause of most of the ongoing increase in Earth's globally averaged surface temperature.
- Climate change will bring economic and environmental challenges as well as opportunities, and citizens who have an understanding of climate science will be better prepared to respond to both.
- Climate change will continue to be a significant element of public discourse. Understanding the essential principles of climate science will enable all people to assess news stories and contribute to their everyday conversations as informed citizens.
Visit the Encyclopedia of Earth's website to read more from Climate Science Literacy Handbook.
Polar VisionsPolar Visions is an exciting, visually stunning film by Ryan Vachon, about the causes and effects of climate change in polar regions. The film contains seven stand-alone segments appropriate for use in all kinds of science classrooms and informal settings from the middle level through college, and was developed to align with the National Science Education Standards across all science subjects.
Arctic Climate PerspectivesWatch the Iñupiaq people who live in Barrow present their observations about climate change based on their centuries-old knowledge of their environment, and describe how these changes are already affecting their lives. Scientists who have come to Barrow to study climate change also offer their perspective. Text and Image courtesty of Teachers' Domain, Arctic Climate Perspectives
Visit Teachers' Domain to see more resources about climate.
|The following organizations contributed content to this theme:|
To learn more about how your organization can contribute content to the Year of Science Web site, please contact us at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:43118bda-66e5-4d45-b387-d19b90df611f> | CC-MAIN-2016-07 | http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_weather_climate/society/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-07/segments/1454701166650.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160205193926-00136-ip-10-236-182-209.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909687 | 549 | 3.5 | 4 |
Breastfeeding could reduce the chances that children contract ADHD, a new Tel Aviv University study suggests. With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder now the most commonly diagnosed neurobehavioral disorder in children and adolescents and parents seeking alternatives to ritalin, the study could prompt parents to dispense with bottles and formula and feed their kids the old-fashioned way.
A study led by Dr. Aviva Mimouni-Bloch of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, who is also head of the Child Neurodevelopmental Center in Loewenstein Hospital, focused on the breastfeeding habits of parents of three groups of children: a group that had been diagnosed with ADHD; siblings of those diagnosed with ADHD; and a control group of children without ADHD and lacking any genetic ties to the disorder. The study established a clear connection between bottle-feeding and ADHD development; children who were bottle-fed at three months of age were found to be three times more likely to have ADHD than those who were breastfed during the same period.
The study compared the breastfeeding histories of children ages six to twelve who were admitted for other reasons to Schneider’s Children Medical Center in Petah Tikva. Parents of the children were asked to fill in detailed questionnaires on how they fed their infants, and asked about other factors that could have had an impact on the development of ADHD, such as marital status, parents’ education level, problems during pregnancy such as hypertension or diabetes, birth weight of the child, and genetic links to ADHD.
Taking all risk factors into account, researchers found that children with ADHD were far less likely to be breastfed in their first year of life than the children in the other groups. At three months, only 43% of children in the ADHD group were breastfed, compared to 69% of the sibling group and 73% of the control group. At six months, 29% of the ADHD group was breastfed, compared to 50% of the sibling group and 57% of the control group.
The TAU study joins others conducted by researchers at other institutions that indicate other breastfeeding health benefits. A recent study by Dr Agnes Sonnenschein-van der Voort of the Erasmus Medical Center in The Netherlands showed that breastfed babies had fewer chest and ear infections that required medical attention, lower rates of constipation, lower likelihood of developing asthma, eczema, and Type-II diabetes later in life, and less diarrhea and vomiting in infants.
Mimouni-Bloch said that her team has not yet figured out why breastfeeding has an impact on the future development of ADHD. Among the possibilities is a quality of the breast milk itself, or the bond formed between mother and baby during breastfeeding. Mimouni-Bloch hopes to conduct a further study on breastfeeding and ADHD, examining children who are at high risk for ADHD from birth and following up in six-month intervals until six years of age, to obtain more data on the phenomenon, she said. | <urn:uuid:86f02d35-d021-4f24-b7ad-ef5699710ea8> | CC-MAIN-2015-48 | http://www.timesofisrael.com/breastfeeding-could-help-kids-beat-adhd-study-shows/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398471436.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205431-00316-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969997 | 611 | 2.875 | 3 |
ISS Utilization: LIS (Lightning Imaging Sensor) on STP-H5's investigations of DoDLaunch Instrument Description Ground Segment References
Note: LIS is one of thirteen instruments on the DoD STP-H5 payload manifest. See also ISS: STP-H5 / ISEM and ISS: SAGE-III on the eoPortal.
LIS (Lightning Imager Sensor)
LIS, flown on the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) of NASA (launch Nov. 27, 1997), was designed and developed at NASA/MSFC, the UAH (University of Alabama in Huntsville), and their partners. Hugh Christian of UAH is the PI (Principal Investigator) of LIS. After more than 17 years on orbit, the instrument has demonstrated successfully space-based lightning observations as an effective remote sensing tool for Earth science research and applications.
In April 2013, a space-qualified LIS built as the flight spare for TRMM, was selected for flight as a science mission on the International Space Station. The ISS-LIS will be flown as a hosted payload on the DoD STP-H5's investigationsmission, which is scheduled for launch in 2017 aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle for a 2-4 year or longer mission. 1)
The LIS measures the amount, rate, and radiant energy of total lightning over the Earth. More specifically, it measures lightning during both day and night, with storm scale resolution (~4 km), millisecond timing, and high, uniform detection efficiency, without any land-ocean bias. Lightning is a direct and most impressive response to intense atmospheric convection. It has been found that lightning measured by LIS can be quantitatively related to thunderstorm and other geophysical processes. Therefore, the ISS -LIS lightning observations will continue to provide important gap-filling inputs to pressing Earth system science issues across a broad range of disciplines, including weather, climate, atmospheric chemistry, and lightning physics. 2)
NASA's first spaceborne lightning sensor, called OTD ( Optical Transient Detector), was launched aboard the MicroLab-1 satellite in 1995 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The primary mission of the OTD instrument was to improve the understanding of thunderstorm distributions, cloud processes, and storm variability by detecting lightning activity over large areas of the Earth's surface. The concept for this instrument was developed at MSFC in the 1980s, and was selected for development as part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS). 3)
Prior to 1995, spaceborne lightning observations had been severely limited by one or more problems, including low or unknown detection efficiency, poor spatial and temporal resolution, a limited number or brief periods of observations, and an inability to measure lightning during the daytime, leading to incomplete sampling over the diurnal cycle. The launch of OTD ushered in a new era of spaceborne lightning detection, being specifically designed to address the deficiencies of available ground-based, in situ, and space-based lightning measurements. In particular, it provided—for the first time—highly detailed and accurate statistics of the geographical distribution of lightning frequency, worldwide.
The OTD was positioned in a near-circular orbit at an altitude of 740 km , at a 70º inclination. This orbit provided observations of lightning activity over most regions of the world where lightning is generated (coverage between 75º N and S latitude). During OTD's five-year mission, the instrument optically detected lightning — both intracloud and cloud-to-ground discharges — that occurred within its 1300 x 1300 km footprint during both day and night. The instrument also had storm-scale (~10 km) spatial resolution, two-millisecond time resolution, and high, uniform detection efficiency (~50%).
With the launch of TRMM, LIS joined OTD at an altitude of 350 km and 35º inclination orbit. LIS on TRMM represented a significant advance upon OTD with its sensitivity improved by a factor of three. The increased sensitivity of LIS resulted in a detection efficiency approaching 90%, while its lower orbit altitude improved its spatial resolution to 4 km , but at the cost of a decreased surface footprint of 600 x 600 km (Figure 2).
Although LIS provided smaller global coverage than OTD, it still is thought to have detected 90% of of the world's lightning on an annual basis. An important science benefit of flying on TRMM was the acquisition of LIS lightning measurements simultaneous with TRMM visible, infrared, microwave, and radar observations, which provided the capability to directly test a number of hypotheses on the interrelationships between updrafts, ice formation, and lightning over a large number of global tropical cloud regimes from a spaceborne platform. LIS on TRMM operated for an impressive 17 years.
Figure 2: Since 1995, OTD and LIS on TRMM have provided 20 years of continuous combined lightning observations to create a robust global lightning climatology throughout the diurnal cycle (image credit: NASA and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH))
Figure 3: A timeline showing LIS on ISS, along with several closely-related space missions (image credit: NASA, Ref. 3)
A unique contribution from the ISS platform will be the availability of realtime lightning, especially valuable for operational applications over data sparse regions such as the oceans. The ISS platform will also uniquely enable LIS to provide simultaneous and complementary observations with other payloads such as ASIM (Atmosphere-Space Interaction Monitor) of ESA (European Space Agency) that will be exploring the connection between thunderstorms and lightning with terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). - Another important function of the ISS-LIS will be to provide cross-sensor calibration/validation with a number of other payloads, including the next generation geostationary lightning mappers, e.g., GLM ( Geostationary Lightning Mapper) on GOES-R of NOAA and LI (Lightning Imager) on MTG (Meteosat Third Generation) of EUMETSAT. This inter-calibration will improve the long term climate monitoring provided by all these systems. Finally, the ISS-LIS will extend the time-series climate record of LIS lightning observations and expand the latitudinal coverage of LIS lightning to the climate significant upper middle-latitudes.
Figure 4: This ISS (International Space Station) crew Earth image of storm clouds over California shows lightning as a white glow to the right of center. The yellow lit areas beneath the clouds are the night lights from the highly populated areas of Los Angeles and San Diego (image credit: NASA,ISS036-E-022863, 21 July 2013) 4)
LIS instrument preparation:
The legacy LIS instrument selected for this mission has been carefully maintained in environmentally controlled storage since 1998, effectively providing an available off-the-shelf instrument for this ISS opportunity. Although this instrument is nearly 20 years old, its controlled storage and solid TRMM operating heritage — e.g., as of early 2015, LIS still performing well after 17 years in space — give a high degree of confidence that this flight spare will perform without problems when it is launched in 2016 (Ref. 1).
Immediately after selection, an "aliveness" test verified that the hardware still functioned. Much more extensive functional tests and a full radiometric calibration will be completed prior to delivering the LIS in December 2014 for integration into STP-H5. The integrated package will then undergo additional testing in 2015 prior to its launch. Fortunately, many of the original scientists, engineers, and infrastructure involved with LIS development, calibration, operations and data handling, and science analysis are either still in place or still available to support pre-mission preparations and the post-launch mission and science operations. The primary mission risks faced by the project are obsolescent electronic components in the legacy LIS should a failure occur during its preparation, and the fast-track schedule that must be met.
LIS science goals and objectives:
Lightning can be quantitatively related to both thunderstorm and other geophysical processes across a broad range of disciplines, making it an effective and valuable remote sensing tool to address a variety of science and application problems facing the nation and the world. The core science goals and objectives for LIS were first defined in NASA Technical Memorandum-4350. 5) These research objectives have continued with various refinements and augmentations since the launch of OTD (Optical Transient Detector) in April 1995 and TRMM LIS in November 1997, and they remain fully applicable for the ISS-LIS mission. At the broadest level, the LIS science goals and objectives are to acquire and investigate the global distribution and variability of total lightning and to advance the understanding of underlying and interrelated processes.
Specific research topics of scientific importance identified in NASA TM-4350 include:
1) Provide information on the total rain volume and degree of convective activity in the core regions of tropical and extra-tropical storms and storm systems, particularly as relevant to severe weather occurrence.
2) Study the global distribution of lightning and its relationship to storm microphysics and dynamics, its dependence on regional climatic environments and their changes, its relationship to precipitation and cloud type, and the incorporation of these relationships into diagnostic and predictive models of global precipitation, the general circulation and the hydrological cycle.
3) Develop global lightning climatology in order to study the distribution and variability in lightning frequency as an indicator of the intensity of the Walker and Hadley circulations and assess the impact of sea surface and land surface temperature changes on the distribution and intensity of thunderstorms, including extreme weather events.
4) Study the production, distribution, and transport of trace gases attributed to lightning and determine the contribution (and the sources of variability) to the global amount of trace gases.
5) Conduct observational and modeling studies of the global electric circuit and the factors that cause it to change. This last topic also includes investigating the relationship of lightning with ionospheric/magnetospheric processes, as well as basic lightning physics.
Lightning measurements serve to increase knowledge of the amount, distribution, and variability of deep convection and natural sources and sinks of key trace gases on a global scale. The high temperatures attained within lightning channels provide the mechanism for the production of nitrous oxides and other trace gases. Lightning relationships are also being sought with atmospheric electrical processes such as the global electric circuit. The more recent discoveries of TLEs (Transient Luminous Events, - e.g., sprites, jets, elves) and TGFs (Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes) further motivates the desire for space-borne lightning measurements.
Unique science contributions for the ISS platform: Even though TRMM LIS has acquired a lightning climatology that now spans 17 years, there are several unique and highly valuable science benefits to be gained by also taking LIS to the International Space Station, and these represent key reasons why the LIS was selected to fly on ISS. These benefits trace to the ISS orbital characteristics – especially its higher 51.6º orbit inclination for greater global latitudinal coverage, the ISS communication advantages, and the opportunity to engage in important complementary science observations.
The first benefit is the higher latitude coverage that will be gained from the ISS as depicted in Figure 5. The TRMM LIS misses up to 30% of the lightning in the northern hemisphere in the warm season months. The ISS-LIS will detect nearly all of that lightning to enhance regional and global weather, climate, and chemistry models, studies and assessments. Also, the ISS-LIS will provide CONUS (CONtinental US) observations needed for the NASA sponsored National Climate Assessment program.
Another unique important benefit gained from the ISS platform will be the availability of real time lightning brought down via the station's low rate telemetry channel which LIS will use. This will provide realtime lightning for operational applications in data sparse regions, especial over the oceans. It would be used to support storm forecasts and warnings, nowcasts, and oceanic aviation warnings and SIGMETs (Significant Meteorological Information). The ISS-LIS mission has been strongly endorsed by several operational partners, including the NOAA Ocean Prediction Center, Aviation Weather Center, Joint Typhoon Warning Center, and the NWS (National Weather Service) Pacific Region. The best latency that TRMM provided was on the order of 90 minutes from its quick look orbit files – the project hopes to reduce this to a few minutes or better with ISS.
Next, the ISS platform will uniquely enable ISS-LIS to provide simultaneous and complementary observations with other ISS payloads such as the ESA sponsored ASIM (Atmosphere-Space Interaction Monitor) or the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) sponsored GLIMS (Global Lightning and sprIte MeasurementS) missions. The combination of LIS, ASIM, and GLIMS will enable simultaneous acquisition of optical (NASA), X-ray, gamma-ray (ESA), and very high frequency or VHF (JAXA) lightning measurements that represent a unique measurement capability providing great science value, heretofore not achieved before on a single satellite platform.
Figure 6: Timeline of ISS-LIS and related space missions (image credit: NASA)
Gaining a better understanding of TGFs (Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes) represents a prime focus of ASIM. Although a connection between TGFs and lightning/thunderstorms is apparent, a detailed understanding of the relationships remains elusive, primarily because of the lack of simultaneous TGF and lightning measurements. The LIS on ISS would be capable for the first time of observing the individual lightning strokes associated with TGF events and record this information on a millisecond time scale. The type of thunderstorm, the altitude of origin and the beaming angle of the hypothesized electron beam could then be determined, leading to a greatly improved understanding of the TGF process. The present ASIM instrument suite is incapable of detecting optical lightning events on the millisecond time scale that is required for one–to-one comparisons with TGFs. Furthermore, the conventional ASIM video cameras can only detect lightning at night, while as LIS detects lightning during both day and night. This capability alone results in an 80% increase in the probability of simultaneous observations. TGFs may pose at times significant radiation hazard to aircraft pilots and passengers. This joint LIS-ASIM observation capability will advance our understanding of this threat, and, if necessary, guide mitigation strategies.
Finally, a very important function of the ISS-LIS will be to provide cross-sensor calibration/validation observations with other satellites, including the low Earth orbit TRMM LIS (if it is still in orbit in early 2016, and the prospects for this remain promising) and TARANIS (Tool for the Analysis of Radiations for lightNings and Sprites) of CNES, the next generation geostationary lightning mappers (e.g., GOES-R Geostationary Lightning Mapper and Meteosat Third Generation Lightning Imager), and even with ground-based lightning detection systems. These inter-calibrations will improve the long term climate monitoring record provided by all these systems. The ISS-LIS will extend the time-series climate record of LIS observations and expand the latitudinal coverage of LIS lightning to the climate significant upper middle-latitudes.
Launch: The DoD STP-H5 payload package along with LIS was launched on February 19, 2017 on the SpaceX CRS-10 (Commercial Resupply Service-10) Dragon cargo flight to the ISS from Launch Complex 39 Pad A of Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL. 6) 7) 8)
Table 1: CRS-10 mission overview 9)
Orbit: Near-circular orbit, altitude of ~ 400 km, inclination = 51.6º.
LIS instrument description:
The legacy LIS instrument selected for this mission has been carefully maintained in environmentally controlled storage since 1998, effectively providing an available off-the-shelf instrument for this ISS opportunity. Although this instrument is nearly 20 years old, its controlled storage and solid TRMM operating heritage give a high degree of confidence that this flight spare will perform without problems once launched. A recalibration of the flight-spare LIS performed in preparation for this ISS mission showed its performance and calibration has remained unchanged. It is also worth noting that by monitoring the reflected sunlight from deep convective clouds, LIS on TRMM showed no degradation in its sensitivity during its many years in orbit.
The legacy LIS is a small, solid state optical imager that detects lightning from LEO (Low Earth Orbit) with high detection efficiency and location accuracy, marks the time of occurrence, and measures the radiant energy. An imaging system, a focal plane assembly, a realtime signal processor and background remover, an event processor and formatter, power supply and interface electronics comprise the major elements of the sensor.
The optical and electrical elements are combined into a cylindrical sensor assembly (20 x 37 cm) and an electronics assembly (31 x 22 x 27 cm), with a total mass of approximately 20 kg, less than 30 W of power, and a telemetry data rate of only 8 kbit/s. Table 2 summarizes the overall instrument parameters and performance criteria, while Figure 7a shows the legacy LIS hardware.
Figure 7: a) Legacy flight spare LIS the sensor assembly (left) and the electronics box (right). b)This is an advanced concept drawing showing how the Legacy LIS hardware will be mounted on the STP-H5 payload. The grey box behind the sensor assembly is the new interface unit (IFU) that will enable the legacy hardware to receive power and communications from the ISS (image credit: NASA/MSFC)
LIS operations: The LIS primarily operates as a transient event detector, although it also provides periodic background images that help with long-term navigation and calibration monitoring. The sensor design was driven by the requirement to detect weak lightning signals during the day when the sunlight reflecting from the tops of clouds is much brighter than the illumination produced by lightning. This requirement was met by implementing special filtering techniques in the instrument hardware to take advantage of the significant differences in the temporal, spatial, and spectral characteristics between the lightning signal and the background noise.
The design employs an expanded optics wide field-of-view lens, combined with a narrow-band interference filter, centered on the strong oxygen emission line [i.e., the oxygen multiplet at OI (Oxygen Iodine) line at 777.4 nm] in the lightning spectrum, that focuses the image on a small, high-speed 128 x 128 CCD focal plane. The final step in this process is to apply a frame-to-frame background subtraction to remove the slowly varying background signal from the raw data coming off the LIS focal plane. The signal is read out from the focal plane at 500 images per second into a real-time event processor for event detection and data compression. The resulting "lightning data only" signal is formatted, queued, and sent to the spacecraft for transmission to ground stations.
Figure 8: LIS integration as hosted payload on STP-H5 (image credit: NASA/MSFC)
Figure 9: Photo of the completed ISS-LIS instrument (image credit: UAH)
In February 2015, UAH (University of Alabama in Huntsville) researchers have passed the NASA qualifying inspections and shipped out a LIS (Lightning Imaging Sensor) in preparation for its planned March 2016 flight to the International Space Station (ISS). 10)
Funded by NASA, ISS-LIS is being shipped to JSC (Johnson Space Center) in Houston, Texas, where it will be integrated onto the Space Test Program H5 spacecraft as one of 10 instruments. The integrated H5 spacecraft will then undergo environmental testing at JSC through August of 2015. The H5 will then be shipped to NASA/KSC ( Kennedy Space Center) for integration onto the EXPRESS (EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station) Pallet Adapter (ExPA). The ExPA will in turn be attached to a SpaceX Dragon Capsule for the 2016 launch.
ISS accommodation of LIS:
There are no significant differences in how the legacy LIS hardware is used and operates on ISS versus how it is used and operates on the TRMM platform with the minor exception of the availability of realtime data delivery. However, it is necessary to provide an additional interface unit for the ISS implementation to translate the ISS power and communications into a form that makes the ISS platform appear like the TRMM satellite to the heritage LIS electronics assembly.
Functional testing early in the ISS-LIS mission development will establish that this interface unit performs properly to pass LIS commands and science data between the LIS instrument and the ground-based operations center. Figure 7 b shows the new interface unit and the mounting configuration expected on the STP-H5 payload.
The ISS-LIS will be located in a nadir viewing position. The ISS platform is presently operated at an altitude of about 425 km, which is close to that of the current TRMM mission. As such, the pixel resolution and FOV footprint on the Earth will be almost identical to that of TRMM – on the order of 4 km at nadir. On ISS, a small portion of the LIS FOV will experience obstruction as a solar panel and radiator translate through the instrument's FOV on a predictable time schedule. An analysis has shown that the maximum mean (peak) percent obscuration that would be experienced by LIS on an orbit would be 3.6% (12.3%). This will have no impact on meeting the LIS science objectives. The OTD (Optical Transient Detector) on OrbView-1 (launch on April 3, 1995) had a permanent obstruction of similar magnitude to this peak amplitude in its FOV from its gravity gradient boom with no detrimental impact on science.
A LIS pixel, obtained from laboratory measurement, is approximately 38.94 arcmin in one dimension. It was required by the LIS science team that accuracy in pointing be within one pixel and the uncertainty in pointing, sometimes called knowledge (about the nominal pointing direction), be within one half of a pixel, or about 19.47 arcmin. Similar requirements will be imposed for the ISS-LIS instrument on the STP-H5 payload. Fortunately, the STP-H5 payload will include a star tracker that will provide much better pointing knowledge than the minimum LIS requirement (the star tracker itself will be 0.66 arcmin at 3σ). If the star tracker should have problems, another instrument on the ISS has demonstrated that pointing close to the science team requirement is possible using ISS navigation data.
Another area of concern for the ISS-LIS is solar glare/glint. This concern traces to the fact that glint, the direct specular reflectance of sunlight into the instrument, could possibly produce an excessive amount of false detections that temporarily fill the FIFO (First-In First-Out) data buffer of LIS. Only if the real event rate plus the false event rate (from glint in this case) exceeds the maximum LIS sustained event rate of about 300 events/s would real science data be lost. Ground-based algorithms in the LIS processing software easily identify and remove glint signals in the case where data has not been lost due to a FIFO overflow. A detailed analysis was conducted that evaluated glare from the solar panels and radiator by simulating lighting for a complete range of ISS solar beta angles from ±75º increments with images generated at one minute intervals. This analysis, for nadir or 5º off-nadir viewing, found no glare areas or fast changing illumination for either the solar panels or the radiator. This model result is consistent with an examination of a series of photos from a current ISS instrument with a similar nadir position as planned for LIS. This result, along with other photographic and video examples from ISS, provide strong evidence that glint reflecting off the solar panels or the radiator will not impact ISS-LIS.
The overarching purpose of the US committee is to support scientific progress in space research in the biological, medical, and physical sciences and assist the federal government in integrating and planning programs in these fields. The scope for CBPSS spans plant and microbial biology, animal and human physiology, and basic and applied physical sciences, in the context of understanding the role of gravity in living and physical systems in order to develop capabilities required for space exploration, and using the space environment as a tool of science to advance knowledge. The CBPSS provides an independent, authoritative forum for identifying and discussing issues in space life and physical sciences between the research community, the federal government, and the interested public. The CBPSS will also monitor the progress in implementation of the recommendations of the RFSE (Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration): Life and Physical Sciences Research For a New Era decadal survey — building on the survey that was tasked with establishing priorities for an integrated portfolio of biological and physical sciences research in the decade of 2010-2020.
Orbital science operations will be managed from the newly established LIS POCC (Payload Operations Control Center), located at theNSSTC (National Space Science and Technology Center) in Huntsville, AL. Activities from the LIS POCC will be conducted during the work week at regular business hours, and will include monitoring the operation of the LIS and its science and housekeeping data, and commanding the instrument as necessary. More extensive 24/7 monitoring of the LIS will be provided by the POIC (Payload Operations Integration Center) at MSFC (Ref. 3).
The LIS data handling involves a close partnership between the LIS Science Team and the Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC), one of NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) that extends to the earlier OTD and LIS on TRMM missions. The well-established and robust processing, archival, and distribution infrastructure used for TRMM was easily adapted to the ISS mission. This assures that lightning data observations from LIS on ISS can be quickly delivered to science and application users soon after routine operations are established and underway.
Real-time data, available for the first time with this mission, will be provided to interested users in partnership with NASA's SPoRT (Short Term Prediction Research and Transition) Center, also located at the NSSTC. A full suite of space-based lightning observations is available from the GHRC DAAC (https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/home/). The LIS data products consist of geolocated and time-tagged lightning events, background images ("snapshots" of the LIS CCD acquired about every 30 seconds, depending on the flash rate), and orbit statistics and metadata. Visit the GHRC's lightning data portal (http://lightning.nsstc.nasa.gov/data/data_lis.html) to access these and other lightning datasets, related tools, and documentation.
Figure 11: This graphic shows the data flow from the LIS instrument to the LIS POCC and GHRC DAAC, where the data will be processed, archived, and distributed to the science community and operational users (image credit: NASA and UAH)
Research Areas and Applications:
Data from the LIS on ISS mission will be applied to several scientific studies including examining the relationship between lightning and severe weather; extending the global lightning climatology; estimating lightning nitrogen oxides (LNOx) for lightning chemistry applications; determining the interrelationships between lightning, cloud properties, and precipitation; and examining the detailed physics of lightning. All of these elements of investigation are intertwined to varying extents. For example, a better understanding of the interrelationships between lightning, precipitation, and severe weather, coupled with an extended lightning climatology record, provides a better understanding of extreme storm statistics and how hurricane intensity and lightning flash rate are related. Coincident observations of atmospheric aerosol content with lightning and precipitation structure will also provide information for examining the complex interplay between the background aerosol environment, cloud physics, and lightning. Similarly, an extended lightning climatology record, coupled with improved LNOx estimation (from an improved understanding of lightning channel physics), provide improved understanding of lightning/climate relationships. Many other examples can be obtained by combining the various science goals in different ways.
• Severe Weather: Total lightning is strongly coupled in a quantitative way to thunderstorm processes and responds to updraft velocity and cloud particles (concentration, phase, type, and flux).
- LIS acts like a radar in space: it reveals the heart of the cloud.
- Lightning can improve convective precipitation estimates.
- Lightning is strongly coupled to severe weather hazards (winds, floods, tornadoes, hail, wild fires) and can improve forecast models.
Weather data from OTD, LIS on TRMM, and ground-based regional lightning detection systems have been employed to better understand the relationship between variations in the total (i.e., intracloud plus cloud-to-ground) flash rate in a thunderstorm, and the thunderstorm's tendency to produce severe weather (e.g., high winds, damaging hail, tornadoes). Sudden increases in the total lightning flash rate, referred to as lightning jumps, are considered to be precursors to a severe weather outbreak, and these jumps provide improved severe-weather warning lead-time (i.e., between 10 and 20 minutes before the event). Consequently, it has been possible to build a baseline lightning jump severe weather warning algorithm for the GOES-R GLM. However, the interrelationships between lightning jumps and severe weather outbreaks are by no means clean cut, and additional studies are needed to take full advantage of the information content of lightning phenomenology. For example, not all flashes are equal in terms of energetics, and hence the lightning jump algorithm might be further improved by taking into consideration the energy of each lightning flash, as opposed to just counting flashes in a particular time interval to obtain flash rate. Hence, there is a desire to use ancillary LIS on ISS data (e.g., flash brightness, areal extent, duration) that help define overall flash energy, in order to further examine and optimize the baseline lightning jump algorithm.
In addition, LIS on ISS data will be used for air-traffic advisories, similar to how LIS data was used during the TRMM mission. The LIS data will be provided to national forecast offices and the NOAA/AWA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/ Aviation Weather Center) to identify convective weather hazards, particularly over the ocean where ground-radar coverage is limited. Forecasters will be able to overlay the LIS data with conventional visible and infrared satellite imagery to understand which convective cells have an increased chance of turbulence.
• Lightning Climatology: Lightning is an excellent variable for climate monitoring because it is sensitive to small changes in temperature and atmospheric forcing. ISS LIS will:
- Extend 16 year time series of TRMM LIS, expand to higher latitudes.
- Monitor the occurrence and changes in extreme storms.
- Provide much desired cross-sensor calibrations between platforms.
The OTD and TRMM LIS data have been applied to obtain robust maps of the worldwide geographical distribution of lightning frequency; it is very important that LIS on ISS continue this essential climatological data record. For example, the global diurnal variability of lightning flash rate is intimately connected to the climatological variation of many atmospheric processes including global temperature; storm frequency, intensity, and distribution; and the global electric circuit. An extended lightning climatology record also provides improved statistical information that allows for creating several useful products for the research community, such as higher spatial resolution lightning climatologies and new thunderstorm-scale databases that combine lightning information with other products (e.g., hydrometeor content, radar reflectivity information, and brightness temperature).
• Chemistry: ISS LIS will help improve estimates of lightning produced NOx for climate and air quality studies.
- Lightning NOx also impacts ozone, an important green house gas.
- Climate most sensitive to ozone in upper troposphere, exactly where lightning is the most important source of NOx.
Since LIS observes the diffuse cloud-top optical emissions from lightning discharges, it will provide important information about the energetics of each flash, which in turn can be related to the thermochemical yield of LNOx. The LNOx are important trace gases that impact the concentration of tropospheric ozone (O3; a greenhouse gas), and hydroxyl (OH) radicals that are highly reactive and affect the concentration of all other greenhouse gases. Therefore, LIS on ISS data will play a significant role in improving both coupled global climate–chemistry models and regional air quality models. First-time comparisons between LIS-inferred LNOx, and the O3 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) observations that will be provided by SAGE-III/ISS, which will launch concurrently with LIS, will provide new insights to lightning and atmospheric chemistry. The SAGE-III/ISS O3 profile measurements penetrate deeper into the atmosphere reaching down into the troposphere and can be compared with LIS lightning chemistry results. Since climate is most sensitive to O3 in the upper troposphere and since LNOx is the most important source of NOx in the upper troposphere at tropical and subtropical latitudes, lightning is a particularly good parameter to monitor for climate assessments.
• Precipitation: Lightning is primarily linked to ice-phase precipitation processes produced by strong updrafts in individual thunderstorm cells that have a mixed-phase distribution of hydrometeors (i.e., presence of supercooled water droplets, ice crystals, and graupel particles, important for cloud electrification). Hence, it is no surprise that the characteristics of lightning are coupled to the characteristics of cold-cloud precipitation, and vice versa. Cold precipitating clouds are usually associated with intense storms, which are predominantly found over continental landmasses during the summer (in both hemispheres), when they intrude deep into the middle and high latitudes of Earth's continents. Precipitating clouds of this type also occur over isolated ocean regions during winter, where the mid- and high-latitude storm tracks are most active.
Similar to LIS on TRMM, LIS on ISS will fly within the view of the GPM satellite constellation, enabling frequent coincident sampling between GPM precipitation remote sensing platforms and LIS on ISS across the Earth's tropical and higher latitudes. This will enable measurements from GPM — which is rapidly assembling one of the most complete collections of active and passive precipitation measurements ever assembled — to be combined with total lightning information over a large fraction of the globe.
Evolving from the TRMM era, it will also be important to use data from LIS on ISS to continue building and extending cloud and precipitation feature (CPF) databases that focus on thunderstorm-scale events, pairing individual convective cells with associated microphysical properties, brightness temperatures, and lightning-flash characteristics. From this perspective, the lightning information may well be useful for improving the algorithms developed to characterize and estimate precipitation from GPM. At a minimum, the CPF databases can be used to help evaluate and possibly improve passive microwave precipitation retrievals. Multiple CPF databases have now been used to analyze the regional, seasonal, and diurnal variations of precipitation and to document deep convection in the tropics. Because of the higher latitudinal coverage, the ISS data will also allow for new investigations on the effects of topography, more extreme changes of season, forcing by large mid-latitude cyclones, and even investigating lightning response to the transition of warm-core hurricanes to cold-core mid-latitude cyclones on both precipitation and lightning.
• Discharge Physics: LIS on ISS will continue to offer detailed insight into the physics of lightning discharges. For example, each LIS-detected lightning flash is composed of one or more diffuse cloud-top emissions called optical groups. The MGA (Maximum Group Area ) in a flash (i.e., the area of the largest optical emission in a flash) is a useful probabilistic indicator of whether or not the flash strikes the ground. Particularly good physical insight is obtained when the LIS optical products are compared with observations from VLF/LF (Very Low Frequency/Low Frequency) or VHF (Very High Frequency) ground-based lightning-detection system. Since the systems observe in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, they all see different physical processes — and it is usually through intercomparing these datasets that the most is learned about discharge physics. Also, as noted earlier, LIS — in conjunction with other observations — will be used to better understand the mechanisms leading to TGFs (Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes) and TLEs (Transient Luminous Events) associated with lightning and thunderstorms.
In summary, LIS on ISS will continue its cross-disciplinary support of the high-value science and applications established by the heritage OTD and LIS on TRMM missions. The project has leveraged the data-handling infrastructure (i.e., processing, archival, and distribution) from TRMM to quickly deliver high-quality LIS data to users once operations begin.
Figure 12: LIS data flow & processing overview (image credit: NASA/MSFC)
1) R. J. Blakeslee, H. J. Christian, M.F. Stewart, D.M. Mach, M. Bateman, T.D. Walker, D. Buechler, W.J. Koshak, S. O'Brien, T. Wilson, E.C. Colley, T. Abbott, J. Carter S. Pavelitz, C. Coker, "Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) for the International Space Station (ISS): Mission Description and Science Goals," XV International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity (ICAE 2014), Norman, Oklahoma, USA, June 15-20, 2014, URL: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/users/mansell/icae2014/preprints/Blakeslee_39.pdf , URL of Resentation: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20140011791.pdf
2) Richard J. Blakeslee, H. J. Christian Jr., D. Mach, D. E. Buechler, W. J. Koshak, T. D. Walker, M. Bateman, M. F. Stewart, S. O'Brien, T. Wilson, S. Pavelitz, C. Coker , "Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) for the International Space Station (ISS): Mission Desciption and Science Goals," Seventh Conference on the Meteorological Applications of Lightning Data, Phoenix, AZ, USA, Jan. 4-8, 12015, URL of abstract: https://ams.confex.com/ams/95Annual/webprogram/Paper266774.html
3) Richard Blakeslee, William Koshak, "LIS on ISS: Expanded Global Coverage and Enhanced Applications," The Earth Observer, Volume 28, Issue 3, May-June 2016, pp: 4-14, URL: http://eospso.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/eo_pdfs/May_June_2016_color%20508.pdf
4) Janet Anderson, Jessica Eagan, "Space Station Sensor To Capture ‘Striking' Lightning Data," NASA/MSFC, Sept. 9, 2014, URL:
5) H. J. Christian, R. J. Blakeslee, S. J. Goodman, "Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) for the Earth Observing System," NASA Technical Memorandum 4350, 1992, URL: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19920010794_1992010794.pdf
6) Tabatha Thompson, Dan Huot, Stephanie Martin, "NASA Cargo Headed to Space Station Includes Important Experiments, Equipment," NASA, Feb. 19, 2017, Release 17-021 , URL:
7) "SpaceX CRS-10 Mission Overview," NASA, URL: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spacex_crs-10_mission_overview.pdf
8) Ken Kremer, "NASA's Historic Pad 39A Back in Business with Maiden SpaceX Falcon 9 Blastoff to ISS and Booster Landing," Universe Today, Feb. 19, 2017, URL: http://www.universetoday.com/133508
9) "SpaceX CRS-10 Mission Overview," NASA, URL: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spacex_crs-10_mission_overview.pdf
10) "UAH scientists ship instrument that will expand view of global lightning," UAH, Feb. 15, 2015, URL: http://www.uah.edu/news/research
11) "International Space Station Research Integration and Capabilities," Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, Rod Jones Research Integration Office, October 2014, URL: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/ssbsite/documents/webpage/ssb_152362.pdf
The information compiled and edited in this article was provided by Herbert J. Kramer from his documentation of: "Observation of the Earth and Its Environment: Survey of Missions and Sensors" (Springer Verlag) as well as many other sources after the publication of the 4th edition in 2002. - Comments and corrections to this article are always welcome for further updates ([email protected]).Launch Instrument Description Ground Segment References Back to top | <urn:uuid:a1215003-afa2-40d3-adfd-dfd44132f40c> | CC-MAIN-2019-13 | https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/i/iss-lis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-13/segments/1552912202781.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20190323101107-20190323123107-00306.warc.gz | en | 0.897766 | 8,767 | 2.65625 | 3 |
[Haskell-cafe] Re: Stone age programming for space age hardware?
matthias.guedemann at ovgu.de
Wed Jun 9 04:07:04 EDT 2010
> Perhaps it's just my lack of imagination that was driving my original
> question. I'm just having a hard time imagining how to write reasonably
> interesting algorithms that way.
Very likely they have very specific functionality and hopefully a precise
specification about what to do if the memory bounds are reached (at least some
"failsafe" mode etc.) Many of these programs are very simple, but deliberately
> As I wrote, they might "cheat". It's entirely possible to implement
> dynamic memory on top of fixed-size arrays and use indexes instead of
> pointers. Of course, I have no idea if that's what they do.
I think it is very likely done that way. I know this kind of programming from
Java-smartcards. These support a subset of Java and allow the creation of objects
only when installing a program on the card. There is no garbage collection,
objects are persistent, i.e. creating new objects at runtime would fill up the
available (very low) memory. "Dynamic" creation is done by reusing one "freed"
object of the statically allocated ones or returning an error if no free object
Systems in high security or safety applications and those with properties like
very low memory, very slow CPUs etc. often have requirements that makes direct
usage of languages like Haskell very difficult or impossible. They are
programmed in a way that makes their behavior as deterministic as possible,
often also from the temporal view. If you have dynamic data structures with
non-O(1) access it is also not possible to guarantee RT bounds.
More information about the Haskell-Cafe | <urn:uuid:8e8c28ef-822f-46dc-90f5-ca97a7787085> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://mail.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/2010-June/078744.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296943589.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20230321002050-20230321032050-00541.warc.gz | en | 0.942349 | 413 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Does halakhah, the tradition of Jewish law, play a role in the religious life of Reform Judaism? I believe that halakhah is and always has been an essential part of Reform Jewish religious life and that its importance to us will only increase
Does halakhah, the tradition of Jewish law, play a role in the religious life of Reform Judaism?
Some say “no.” In their view, halakhah is alien to the spirit of Reform, a movement committed to the principle of personal autonomy, the freedom of every Jew to make his or her own religious choices. They speak of Reform as a “non-halakhic” or a “post-halakhic” Jewish movement. I want to argue against that view. I believe that halakhah is and always has been an essential part of Reform Jewish religious life and that its importance to us will only increase. In order to make that argument, though, I need to say a few things about what halakhah is and about the texts in which it expresses itself.
The word halakhah (הלכה) first appears in Jewish history during the period of the Sages (or “the Rabbis,” roughly 0-500 C.E.). The Rabbis were a community of scholars who believed in the idea of a “double Torah”: Moses received two Torahs at Sinai. One of these, the Written Torah, corresponds to the Five Books of Moses (Pentateuch; Chumash). The other, the Oral Torah, was (as the name implies) transmitted orally from teacher to student over many generations. Other Jewish sects rejected this doctrine. They held that the “Oral Torah” was nothing more than a collection of legal traditions that the Rabbis sought to endow with sanctity by calling them a form of “Torah.” Eventually, as the other sects either disappeared or separated themselves from the Jewish people, the Rabbinic understanding of Torah prevailed. Today, virtually all forms of Judaism – including, as I shall argue, Reform or Progressive Judaism – are the intellectual and spiritual descendants of the Rabbis and their religion. The Oral Torah (which, due to its sheer bulk, was ultimately committed to written form) contained many laws that supplemented, expanded, modified, or added to the mitzvot (commandments) of the Written Torah. Each of these laws was called a halakhah (plural: halakhot). These halakhot form the basis of the Mishnah, a book that presents itself as a code of the Oral Torah. The Mishnah, in turn, is the foundation document of the Talmud (or “Talmuds” – there are two of them, one that emerged in Babylonia and the other in Eretz Yisrael), a massive collection of discussion, debate, and close logical analysis of the subjects raised by the Mishnah and by other early Rabbinic texts. For a variety of literary, cultural, and political reasons the Babylonian Talmud, which was edited over a period of centuries from 500 to 700 (800? 900?) C.E., achieved predominance over the Palestinian version. For more than a thousand years, that Talmud has been recognized as the authoritative source of the halakhah. The study of Talmud is the principal subject matter of the traditional Jewish academy (yeshiva). And as a result of that study, Jewish scholars – who to this day carry the title of “rabbi” – have produced an even more massive body of halakhic literature. These texts can be divided into three main categories: commentaries that explain and interpret the Talmud and derive new ideas and legal principles in the process; “codes” or law books that set forth the authoritative halakhah (since the Talmud itself does not present its contents in much of a logical order and almost never explicitly states its opinion of the “right answer”); and responsa (t’shuvot), answers by rabbis to specific questions (she’elot) about Jewish practice submitted to them by Jews from their own communities or from around the world.
Today, when Orthodox or Conservative rabbis speak of halakhah as “authoritative,” they mean that this literature is the source of almost all their decisions concerning matters of Jewish religious life: is a particular thing permitted or forbidden? Kosher or t’reifa? Required or optional? And here is where Reform or Progressive Judaism differs. For us, halakhah does not automatically determine our religious practice. To put this another way, Reform Jews do act or recite or celebrate in a particular way simply because the Bible, the Talmud, or some other text tells us to do so. We reserve the right to examine that rule or practice, to test it against the progressive values and world-view by which we structure our lives. When traditional halakhic institutions or practices conflict with those values or no longer speak to us with the voice of sanctity, we are regard ourselves entitled to modify them or even reject them entirely. And that is why some observers, including not a few in our own movement, describe Reform Judaism as “non-halakhic.”
But they are wrong. Halakhah is woven into the very fabric of Reform Judaism; it constructs, colors, and shapes the patterns of all of our religious practice. The structure of our liturgy – from the names of our worship services (shacharit, mincha, ma`ariv/ar’vit) to the elements of that worship (the recitation of the Sh’ma, the t’fila, the reading of the Torah, the Kaddish, the benedictions [b’rakhot] we recite, etc.) – is halakhic in nature; these practices are rooted in the Talmud and the halakhic texts. Our Shabbat and festival observances – Kiddush and motzi at the festive meal; Havdalah at the conclusion of the day; the Pesach seder; the sounding of the shofar; the sukkah; the reading of the megillah; the kindling of the Hanukkah lights – are all halakhic. While some of them are mentioned already in the Bible, their structure and content are set forth and elaborated in the literature of the Rabbis and of Jewish law. It is the halakhah, the Talmud and the subsequent codes and responsa, that creates and structures our lifecycle rituals, the observances by which we mark birth, the entrance into the covenant, coming of age, marriage, divorce, and death. This is true not only of our ritual observance but of our ethical practice as well. To the extent that our Reform Jewish writings seek to apply particularly Jewish values to the realms of medical ethics, commerce, and political life, those values are to be located in the texts and literature of the halakhah.
It turns out, in other words, that halakhah is everywhere in Reform Judaism. Indeed, Reform Jewish religious life could hardly be conceived without it. Witness our extensive Reform halakhic literature, by which I mean the books we have published through the years on subjects of ritual or ethical observance. Take a look at the footnotes and references in those volumes; you’ll see that their material is drawn heavily from the Talmud and the so-called “Orthodox” halakhic literature. This is especially the case with our responsa, rabbinical answers to questions about Jewish practice, which Reform rabbis have been writing for two hundred years. In particular, the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis has issued over 1300 of these documents since its founding in 1906. They constitute by far the largest single body of Reform Jewish writing on questions of religious observance. Like traditional responsa, each one is an argument, an essay aimed at persuading its reader or readers that this particular answer is the best available interpretation of the sources of Torah as they relate to this question. And the argument is always supported by the citation and discussion of Talmudic and halakhic sources. Why is this the case in a presumably “non-halakhic” movement? Simply because the halakhah is the department of Jewish text and tradition that speaks directly to the subject of religious practice. If the question has to do with sacred action, with the deeds expected of Jews, with the Jewish answer(s) to the question “what does the Torah ask us to do?”, it is the halakhic literature that contains the material, the texts, and the arguments with which the Jews have traditionally worked out their answers. This means that any authentic Jewish answer to a question of observance must be developed with the aid of that literature, even if those answers happen to differ from the answers reached by Orthodox Jews.
All this explains why the Reform movement continues to produce its own halakhic literature. Note that this is a Reform halakhic literature. While we consult and study the traditional texts, we read them through the filter of the intellectual and ethical commitments of Progressive Judaism. These include our commitments to social justice, to openness to the world, to gender equality, and to the conviction that Jewish tradition welcomes innovation and creative responses to the challenges of modernity. It’s for this reason that our responsa, to quote our teacher R. Solomon B. Freehof, z”l, are “liberally affirmative”: we understand the halakhah to say “yes” to new ideas, even as we do not avoid saying “no” when the situation requires it. Progressive halakhah represents our belief that Jewish law welcomes the culture of the modern world and is not hostile to it. At the same time, by focusing our attention upon the halakhic sources of our own religious practice, our halakhic writing serves as an ever-present reminder of where we come from, that the tradition of the halakhah is the foundation of all that is authentically Jewish in Reform Jewish practice.
Halakhah is therefore a central fact of Reform Jewish religious life. And I would add that the study of halakhah and the production of Reform halakhic literature are in a very real sense a religious duty for us. What do I mean by this? Simply put, if we do not learn halakhah and engage in its interpretation, those tasks will be carried out exclusively by other Jews, Jews who approach the halakhic texts from perspectives that differ sharply from our own. They have every right to do this, of course. But if we Reform Jews do not engage in our own study of halakhah, then those other Jews will by default be the ones who determine what it means and says to us. Halakhah, remember, is the predominant form of Jewish literature and mode of Jewish expression on matters of observance and practice. Jews who do not share our own commitments to progressive values should not win the uncontested monopoly over the interpretation of the halakhah! Rather, let us make the study of halakhah a fixed practice in our own communities, so that alongside our fellow Jews we can continue the age-old Jewish argument over the interpretation of Torah, seeking to answer the question: just what is it that God requires of us?
Mark Washofsky is the Solomon B. Freehof Professor of Jewish Law and Practice at Hebre Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio | <urn:uuid:ac7b9778-7568-468e-b937-f907c919456a> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | http://ujr-amlat.org/art/en/halakhah-responsa-and-reform-judaism/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320304928.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20220126071320-20220126101320-00140.warc.gz | en | 0.9523 | 2,388 | 3.171875 | 3 |
In addition to an outstanding appearance Pomeranian also boasts a magnificent mind. He was well versed in a variety of situations, superbly trained different teams and a very good sense of what the owner wants from him.
History, as the origin of the breed rather vague. It is known that similar to the Spitz dog by the external signs were known to our ancestors many centuries ago. But that's their origin had still not got to determine. Many researchers on this subject put forward their own theories. According to some figures found a dog that looks very similar to the Pomeranian, was widely known in ancient Egypt. According to another version, they come from different Chinese species and we have got from the east. There is also a theory about the ancient origins of the breed.
But still, the greatest number of adherents had a theory that says that the Pomeranian appeared in Switzerland. Scientists have found skeletons of dogs here Neolithic, which they called "fossil Spitz". The remains in all respects similar to the modern dog, which gives the theory of the right to exist.
Of course, the ancestors of modern Spitz much different from today. This is particularly evident in their size. Nordic breeds of dogs, from which subsequently occurred Spitz, were big, strong and hardy. They are often used as a sled on the snow-covered areas. In more southern areas Spitz gained as a safe guard the house and property.
But along with a line of large dogs to develop other guards, a decorative line. The reason for this was the beautiful appearance Spitz breed. The thick fur and sweet muzzle of these dogs is even more impressive looking at small sizes. Therefore, this quality has been specially cultivated. Decorative line became particularly popular during the Middle Ages.
In this period of great interest in the breed Pomeranian showed German factory owners. In various parts of the country was active breeding shpitshundov, as they were called. Especially many of these breeders were in the cities of Wurttemberg and Pomerania. Scientists today are arguing about which of these centers put more effort into the development of the breed, but reliably solve the dispute to date is not possible. We only know that the efforts of the German breeders have focused on the most diminutive breed. Already in the XVIII century the breed almost fully formed. Its popularity is continuously growing.
The huge popularity of the breed has not left aside and England. Several excellent representatives of the breed of German breeders have acquired Queen Victoria. It attracted an extraordinary beauty and charm of these small dogs. After Spitz Her Majesty was presented at the exhibition, almost every woman in England was eager to acquire Spitz. By the second half of the XIX century already recognized breed English Kennel Club. In 1881, the club was formed Spitz lovers.
Among the variety of dogs, which contained the Queen Victoria, she emphasizes Mark Spitz. It was with him began breeding Pomeranian in England. Queen so much love your pet, that after the death of the Queen, Marco was buried beside her.
Breeding work of English breeders had two directions. The first trend is a continuation of the work on reducing the size of dogs. There was even a clear boundary is set at 7 pounds, which breed was divided into two separate species. As for the second direction, it is concerned directly coat color of dogs. One of the innovations of this time was the beige coloring.
After 1890 the first representatives of the breed Pomeranian crossed the ocean. Here, as in the previous countries immediately began to increase their popularity. The first exhibition, which was put Spitz in America took place 20 years after its appearance here. Pomeranian confidently walked the rest of the rock and beat out champions. Later, they gave offspring, from which began to develop the breed in America.
During this period, first began to decline work towards reducing the size of dogs. Several breeders have noticed that the smaller gains breed, the more problems with health and reproduction at the Spitz. Also, interesting is the fact that the color of white Spitz is always greater than their colored counterparts.
Tracing the history of the breed Pomeranian, we can say that these dogs have been incredible path from large, ferocious guards and sled dogs to small decorative dogs that are already two centuries to conquer the known exhibitions.
Also breed is unique in the fact that the majority of the breeders who developed the breed were women.
Pomeranian are dwarf varieties of Spitz. Russia has a standard adopted by the FCI FCI. In America there is a standard by which the upper limit of the growth at the withers at the Pomeranian is 26 cm. The FCI standard height at the withers of dogs of this breed - 18-22 cm.
Format practically square casing, i.e. height corresponds to a length of 1: 1.
Type Constitution oranges - dry and strong in physique decorative elegance combined with strong muscles.
The head is small with a round short muzzle that narrows reminding fox. The back of the skull is the most extensive, and it goes on smooth wedge-shaped narrowing towards the nose. Avoid abrupt narrowing of this transition is gradual and imperceptible. The muzzle is in proportion to the skull as a 2: 4.
Nose black to brown color - brown. The same color and lips that seal tightly to the jaws.
Jaws have a scissor bite, but let's say, and pincer bite.
Eyes are oblong, slightly sloping. Lively expression of the eyes gives Spitz jaunty look.
The ears are small, erect, triangular in shape with a sharp top, close to each other.
Neck strong medium length, covered with a thick collar of a mane.
Back short, strong and straight. Back line ends with fluffy tail, a capping back. With this rounded line creates a compact rounded silhouette Pomeranian.
Chest deep and well developed.
Belly moderately tucked up.
The tail is medium in length, covered with thick hair, set high and right at the bottom in the position rotated upward and forward. Thus, he seems to be lying on his back in the form of lush vane.
The front legs are straight. Long blades are directed backwards. Muscular shoulders firmly against your chest. Forearm chunky and straight, with the back side of a well-pubescent.
The feet are small and well-knit, round shape. All colors paw pads are black, in brown Spitz - brown.
The hindquarters are muscular thighs and lower legs in approximately the same length. Straight and parallel to the hock joint are covered with downy hair.
The coat consists of two kinds of hair: cover long hair and thick undercoat like cotton. Short coat is only on the head and ears, as well as on the front part of the limb. On the neck and shoulders of a lush fur collar, behind the limbs - voluminous trousers, the tail resembles a lush bush of thick wool.
Color at the Pomeranian can be varied. The most common are black, brown, white, various shades of red (from orange to peach), wolf, cream, black and tan, brindle. When spotted coloration main background is white, and all over the body are spots of brown, black, orange and gray.
The first Pomeranian weighed more than 15-17 kg.
Pomeranian - a recognized among the adorable dogs. The appearance of him in the street will always be spectacular. One gets the impression that this is a cute fluffy ball with which to cuddle all day. But no wonder they say that appearance is deceptive, this rule once again confirms the appearance of orange.
Gentle creature is just a lapdog mind, in my heart Spitz very brave and craves adventure and feats. Therefore, in the full sense of the sitting room it is not a dog. He is not ready to spend days lying on the couch, he was a joy to walk and study all new. Even at home, Spitz is active and playful. In fact, many owners of this breed is characterized her as a very playful. A special delight of the Pomeranian is the team "Oporto," he was ready at any moment to rush for a stick or a toy at the call of the host.
This cute pussy is not so good-natured, he is suspicious of outsiders, and is unlikely to allow them familiarly pat his beautiful shёrstku. Of course, this is not a service dog, but sometimes he behaves as if not aware of its small size and feels great and terrible dog.
Many owners notice a tendency to bark oranges may have manifested their genetic connection with modern huskies. In any case, the barking spitz not causeless, it makes sense, as in the cry of a small child, and the task of the owner to understand the language of your pet.
Everyone seems that small dogs - it is absolutely the ideal companion for any owner. But this is not the case, in particular, the Pomeranian need sufficient exercise in the form of games and walks. Even if you can not walk with him for a long time, then be prepared to exercise his activity at home. He was almost always ready to run, jump and frolic. By humorous, but not without the reliability of monitoring the behavior of their pets, owners of oranges so characterize their daily routine: they sleep, eat and play.
It has oranges and are not very flattering qualities of character as willfulness and stubbornness. Therefore, despite the smyshlёny mind, they can be difficult to train. Especially reluctant they perform static commands related to a state of rest, "Sit!", "Down!".
Another feature of their behavior - a tendency to dominate over other animals. Do not be surprised if your regal Spitz solve dominate the great shepherd dog, apparently a long interest in this breed of royals have played a role.
Spitz feel like the navel of the earth. This complexity in the behavior persists through early socialization, if the house is a little puppy other animals live, you will have no problems. But if you already have grown up a Pomeranian, and you decide to have another pet, then your baby will show you their displeasure violation of their legitimate rights. The same applies to the respect of the arm to the children that he loves them and is willing to play with them only in the event that from puppyhood accustomed to their society.
But all these minor behavioral difficulties and shortcomings are forgotten once compared to the ability of the arm to give love and joy to its owner. These little dogs are very attached to the man, and constantly strive to be close to him. They get upset when they are left at home alone, and compensate for their temporary loneliness increased attention to the returning master. Spitz will walk up to you how to bind: to sit at your feet when you are cooking food in the kitchen, watching TV with you and even sleep next to your bed or at all on it. Be prepared for the fact that the Pomeranian will become your true friend, who will seek to participate in all your affairs.
Pomeranian always conquered people in the arts. They were friends of Emile Zola and romantic poet Jean Paul, Mozart and the painter Ludwig Richter.
One look at this beautiful creature is enough to realize that grooming Pomeranian requires regular.
If you do not want your pet evoked sympathetic glances of passers-by their dirty matted hair, never miss the treatments for it. Some owners are engaged in combing Spitz every day, especially since the small size of the dog does not require a lot of time to create beautiful hairstyles. But you can do it less frequently - 2-3 times a week, especially if your Spitz does not make long walks.
Spitz skin is dry, bathing it poetomuchastye harmful, besides the appearance of the wool combing it affects, not water treatments. Through thick Upright undercoat hair this breed looks well-groomed, more intensive vychёsyvat rekomenduetsyatolko undercoat during shedding.
The rest of the time to do it carefully to guard hairs lost his footing, thanks to which Spitz and seem so fluffy. After bathing can dry the hair dryer special dogs. This will make your pet more beautiful and shorten the drying time.
An important procedure is the periodic grooming claws of a dog, who, growing up, deformed leg and changed for the worse gait. To do this, gently bite the edge of claw clippers, not to touch the soft tissue and not to hurt the dog, which she will remember for a long time.
All procedures better to teach a dog from puppyhood. In this case, an adult will not be afraid Spitz shower, hair dryer and other tools, and all the beauty treatments will tolerate if not with joy, then, at least, patiently.
Proper nutrition Pomeranian - the basis of proper maintenance and care of your dog
Hygiene measures are important, but of paramount importance for health is feeding the dog. Calculate the optimal dose for your pet is very simple: you have to rely on the data the average amount of food depending on the weight of the dog.
You also need to monitor the physical condition of the arm and its behavior. If it is active and willing, then he does not lack food, if he is still hungry after a meal, it is necessary to slightly increase the dosage. It is important not to overfeed your dog, but to keep her hungry is unacceptable.
Pomeranian as well as larger dogs need meat which can give a raw or lightly cooked. Useful:
You can pamper Spitz omelette or give a little bit of dried apricots and prunes. For the pet can be selected and ready to dry or canned food to which you want to teach your dog slowly. As a rule, a natural food for ready feed mixtures translate dog is easier than vice versa. Puppies who grow up on dry food, becoming adults, often boycotted natural products.
Pomeranian smart, easily trained, and they like to please their masters. They like to be bright, inquisitive mind is in operation and with a great desire to learn new commands. For this reason, they are very well in obedience training. Sometimes it seems that they understand every word you say. Thanks to these properties as a good capacity for training and the adoration of his master, Pomeranian ideal as a therapy dog for the elderly, disabled, etc.
Often small dogs bought as a gift for children. In principle there is nothing wrong, but you want to control, is engaged in whether young dog owner her upbringing. Despite its small size, Spitz can be aggressive, and when they grow up rebellious, it will bring a lot of trouble, rushing to your guests and passers-by on the street.
Rare owners seek to learn from the wisdom of all the spire of training, because its plant mainly as a friend and a pet. You just need to teach it to the most simple obedience commands, the dog comes to you when you need to, and stops the execution of adverse effects. Especially helpful train spitz stop barking at your command.
Trainers characterize Spitz as a clever dog, but very insightful. If they understand that you are not persistent, it will be stubborn, trying to ignore the command. Do not succumb to the charms of her Fluffy, and you will achieve from him obedience. Being the owner of a beautiful dog is certainly nice, but if it is headstrong and rebellious, it no longer seems so attractive.
We have Sylvester Stallone Dog nicknamed Fergie, Spitz became a friend of Oscar Mickey Rourke. | <urn:uuid:ba253182-d816-4011-9235-1d609b51c988> | CC-MAIN-2018-09 | http://barbos.me/en/breed_of_dog/pomeranian | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891814801.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20180223154626-20180223174626-00517.warc.gz | en | 0.969854 | 3,291 | 2.734375 | 3 |
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Statues in Dublin
Statues in Dublin are a significant feature of the cityscape of Dublin. The city's statues and other monuments have a long history of controversy about their subjects and designs, and a number of formerly prominent monuments have been removed or destroyed.
Dublin was once famed for its high quality equestrian statues, including the Lord Gough monument in the Phoenix Park, the William of Orange statue by Gibbons in College Green and the George II statue in St Stephen's Green.
The statue Queen Victoria by Irish sculptor John Hughes, was unveiled outside Leinster House, now the seat of the Oireachtas, by Edward VII in 1904. Noel Lemass, Jnr remarked of the statue in Dáil Éireann; "I think we all agree it is one of the most ugly statues of that royal lady...". It was removed in 1947 and transferred to storage at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. In the late 1980s, it was given to the city of Sydney, Australia, where it now stands outside the Queen Victoria Building in the city centre. A statue of Lord Gough, sculpted by Dubliner John Henry Foley, was moved to Chillingham Castle.
Dublin's most prominent monument, Nelson's Pillar, which stood near the General Post Office (GPO) in the centre of O'Connell Street, was blown up by a group of former Irish Republican Army (IRA) members in 1966.
Nelson was pre-dated by a 1759 statue of Lord Blakeney, the unsuccessful defender of the Siege of Fort St Philip on Minorca in 1756. This was said to be the first statue of an Irishman in Dublin, and was sculpted by John Nost.
On the site of Nelson's Pillar, a new monument was erected in January 2003. Officially named the Monument of Light but more commonly known as the Spire of Dublin. A 1980s monument to the personified river Liffey, Anna Livia was moved from O'Connell Street to make way for the Spire. It was a woman sitting on a slope with bubbling water running down past her represented the river. It was removed in 2001 and re-located to Croppies Memorial Park in 2011.
Other monuments on O'Connell Street include statues honouring Charles Stewart Parnell by Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the north end of the street; at the southern end stands a statue of Daniel O'Connell by John Henry Foley. Other statues on the street include one of trade union leader James Larkin.
At the junction North Earl Street and O'Connell Street is a statue of the novelist James Joyce walking with a cane in his hand.
A short distance away from O'Connell Street near the Liffey Quays was the site of the Millennium Clock, constructed in the mid-1990s to count down to the year 2000. The clock, with a green-illuminated digital face, was placed underneath the surface of the river by the bank so that the time shone up through the water. A postcard booth was placed on the bridge above the clock that printed postcards for 20p, each bearing the exact amount of time left at that moment until the dawn of the new millennium. However, in the months that followed, it had repeated problems with letting in water and failing to display the time correctly. It was removed after a brief period, but not before it had been nicknamed "The Time in the Slime".
Outside the Dublin Tourist Office on Suffolk Street, there is a statue representing Molly Malone, a fictitious fishmonger featured in Dublin's anthem, Molly Malone, who is shown wheeling a cart. The statue was erected to celebrate Dublin's millennium in 1988.
On the north-east corner of St Stephen's Green, there is a semicircle of rough stone pillars commemorating the Great Irish Famine and surrounding a statue of Wolfe Tone. In Merrion Square, inside the north west corner gateway, there is a statue of Oscar Wilde composed of different coloured stone, sitting on a large granite boulder.
James Connolly is the only leader of the 1916 Easter Rising to have a statue in Dublin. It is situated facing Liberty Hall, the headquarters of Ireland's largest trade union, SIPTU. Constance Markievicz has a statue on Tara Street and a bust in St Stephen's Green. There is also a bust of Michael Collins in Merrion Square. One of the few elected politicians commemorated with a statue is Henry Grattan, a leading politician in the Irish House of Commons in the late 18th century. There is a nearby statue of patriot Thomas Davis.
List of Dublin statues (people)
- Daniel O'Connell – O'Connell Street
- Charles Stewart Parnell – O'Connell Street
- Sir John Gray – O'Connell Street
- Jim Larkin – O'Connell Street
- Theobald Mathew – O'Connell Street
- William Smith O'Brien – O'Connell Street
- Cú Chulainn – inside the GPO, O'Connell Street
- Margaret Ball and Francis Taylor, the Dublin Martyrs – Cathedral Street
- Thomas Davis – College Green
- Henry Grattan – College Green
- Edmund Burke – College Green
- Thomas Moore – College Street
- Phil Lynott – Harry Street
- James Joyce – Statue in North Earl Street, Bust in St Stephen's Green
- James Connolly – Beresford Place
- Molly Malone – Grafton Street
- Oscar Wilde – Merrion Square Park
- William Plunket – Kildare Street
- Lord Ardilaun – St Stephen's Green
- Wolfe Tone – St Stephen's Green
- Robert Emmet – St Stephen's Green
- Tom Kettle – St Stephen's Green
- Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa – St Stephen's Green
- Patrick Kavanagh – Grand Canal
- Constance Markievicz – Statue in Tara Street, Bust in St Stephen's Green
- Oliver Goldsmith – Trinity College
- William Lecky – Trinity College
- George Salmon – Trinity College
- Benjamin Guinness – St Patrick's cathedral
- Daniel Murray – St Mary's Pro-Cathedral
- Seán Russell – Fairview Park
- Brendan Behan – Royal Canal, Upper Dorset Street
- Matt Talbot – Sir John Rogerson's Quay
- Prince Albert – Leinster Lawn
List of prominent Dublin monuments and sculptures
- Anna Livia – Croppy Acre Memorial Park, Dublin. Formerly in O'Connell Street.
- Joker's Chair – Memorial to Dermot Morgan – Merrion Square Park
- Wellington Monument – Phoenix Park
- Phoenix Monument – Phoenix Park
- Papal Cross – Phoenix Park
- Two Women – Lower Liffey Street
- An Cailín Bán – Sandymount Strand
- Spire of Dublin – O'Connell Street
- Queen Victoria Fountain – Dún Laoghaire
- O'Connell Tower – Prospect Cemetery, Glasnevin
- Battle of the Custom House – Memorial Road
- Liberty Scaling the Heights – Grand Canal Street
- Famine Monument – Custom House Quay
- Children of Lir – Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square
- Chariot of Life – Abbey Street
- Éire sculpture – Merrion Square Park
- Padraig Sheahan Memorial – Hawkins Street
- Dublin Yeomanry Memorial – St. Andrew Street
- Fusiliers' Arch – Memorial to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers – St Stephen's Green
- Lady Laura Grattan Font – St Stephen's Green North
- Three Fates – St Stephen's Green, inside the Leeson Street gate
- Merchant Seamen Memorial – Sir John Rogerson's Quay
- Dublin and Monaghan bombings Memorial – Talbot Street
- Dancing Couple – Stardust Memorial Park, Coolock
- The NCIris – Mayor Square, IFSC
- Misneach – Statue of a young girl on horseback – Main Street, Ballymun
Other notable Dublin statues
- Mr. Screen, a cinema usher – Screen Cinema, Hawkins Street.
- Strong Striking Bear – IFSC
- A Cow – Jervis Street
- Two Children – Portland Row
- A Hand – Marlborough Street
- Statue of a fiddler and three children dancing – Stillorgan Shopping Centre
- Father Pat Noise memorial – O'Connell Bridge. A hoax commemorative plaque placed in the gap left from the control box of the millennium clock in 1999.
- People's Island – traffic island at junction of D'Olier Street and Westmoreland Street. Various human and other footprints set into the concrete paving slabs.
- American Indian mounted on horseback – Stephen Street
List of past Dublin statues and monuments
- King George II – St Stephen's Green (blown up 1937)
- William of Orange – College Green (blown up 1946)
- Queen Victoria – Kildare Street, removed in 1947, put on display in Sydney, Australia in 1987.
- Bowl of Light – O'Connell Bridge. Thrown into the Liffey in 1953.
- Gough Monument – Phoenix Park (Badly damaged by a bomb in 1957).
- Nelson's Pillar – O'Connell Street (blown up 1966)
- Millennium Clock – River Liffey (removed 1999)
- Dáil Éireann - Volume 273 - 28 May 1974, Paragraph 132.
- Moore, Peter (2012). "Statue of Queen Victoria, Druitt Street". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
- Izzard, Tanya. Public Art Review: "The Auld Bitch"
- Craig Parshall. Retrieved 7 December 2006.
- Irish War Memorials
- "Ballymun gets a new local hero". The Irish Times. 10 September 2010.
- Mr. Screen in Google Street View. Retrieved: 10 January 2012.
- "Hoax Plaque on Bridge Will Now be Left In Place". The Irish Times. 24 May 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
- O'Dwyer, Frederick. Lost Dublin. (HarperCollins 1982).
- Photo: Flowerbed
- Bought by a member of the Guinness family from the Office of Public Works. It was loaned to Humphrey Wakefield of Chillingham Castle. | <urn:uuid:6f0f66d3-7680-469f-8f2c-c40379f554e4> | CC-MAIN-2014-49 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statues_in_Dublin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416931008919.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20141125155648-00125-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906759 | 2,163 | 3.109375 | 3 |
What you need to know about depression
When you say you feel depressed, on many occasions you mean that you feel blue or feel low because something is worrying you.
Most of us can feel sad sometimes, but this does not mean you have depression. Depression is feeling that way, but much more strongly and for a longer period of time in a way that interferes with your daily functioning and prevents you from enjoying the things you used to enjoy.
Depression is a mental health disorder. This means that depression is an illness. Both brain and body will be affected by this illness. However, it is important to keep in mind that depression is treatable.
Just think about it: do you feel different lately, more gloomy and anxious? Has something recently distressed you? If so, maybe the feeling of sadness is a reaction to your situation.
Or do you feel moody, worried, sad in a way that is stopping you from living the way you used to live? Has this been happening for a longer period than a fortnight now? If so, you should fill in the test on this website and maybe look for medical help to be sure you are not suffering from depression.
Depression is very common; in fact it is one of the most common mental health problems. One in four or five individuals will experience depression at some stage in their lives. Sometimes depression occurs for no apparent reason. When there is a clear-cut problem and people solve it, or when they come to terms with their situation, or find support, the symptoms associated with depression may ease but in most cases they do not disappear without treatment.
When depression is present, people have signs and symptoms but they might not be aware of this. They may only start to sense that they have a serious problem when they just cannot get rid of it, when it begins to have a negative effect on the person's ability to perform their daily activities, or when it becomes so severe that life seems pointless.
Depression is an illness
In contrast to mental distress in reaction to life events, mental disorders such as depression are less common and may occur with or without any obvious cause. Mental disorders may be severe and long lasting, and can affect a person's daily life. In such cases, it is likely that a person will need professional help. It is important that an accurate medical diagnosis is determined and that special interventions such as medication or psychological treatments are put in place.
Depression is a clinical term describing a medical condition that affects the way mood is controlled by the brain – a mood disorder. Depression affects feelings, thoughts and body functions. Experiencing depression involves intense negative emotions and feelings and loss of interest, fatigue, change in sleep, sexual activity and weight or appetite, negative ideas such as pessimism, low self-esteem, indecisiveness and suicidal ideation, and other specific symptoms. On the whole, these symptoms will produce an undesirable effect on people's lives, for example impacting on personal wellbeing, work and relationships. | <urn:uuid:cf55b768-b182-42cc-9419-5d6e9564651a> | CC-MAIN-2018-17 | https://ifightdepression.com/en/for-all/about-depression | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125947822.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20180425135246-20180425155246-00447.warc.gz | en | 0.963844 | 609 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Keeping the Boreal in Mint Condition
This week, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a $2 coin honoring the boreal – and it's clear that this forest's worth stacks up. Rivaling the Amazon in size and ecological importance, Canada's boreal provides an estimated $700 billion value annually (PDF) and serves as a buffer against climate change and food and water shortages. It has the world's most extensive network of pure lakes, rivers, and wetlands, and it captures and stores twice as much carbon as tropical forests. The boreal teems with wildlife, including billions of migratory songbirds, tens of millions of ducks and geese, and millions of caribou.
Unfortunately, Canada's boreal forest is increasingly affected by large-scale industrial activities. The rapidly expanding footprint of development already includes 180 million acres (728,000 square kilometers) affected by forestry, road building, mining, oil and gas extraction, and hydropower.
The Pew Environment Group has worked with First Nations, conservation groups, and federal, provincial, and territorial governments to protect the boreal, resulting in 185 million acres set aside from development, including key wetland and river areas. That total represents more than 12 percent of Canada's 1.2 billion acres (nearly 4.9 million km²) of boreal forest. | <urn:uuid:0b37eebc-4bb7-4871-9a11-fb4cd8f35aaa> | CC-MAIN-2016-40 | http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/analysis/2011/11/03/keeping-the-boreal-in-mint-condition | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738660342.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173740-00119-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938796 | 270 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Word of the Day, Website of the Day, Number to Know, This Day in History, Today’s Featured Birthday and Daily Quote.
Word of the Day
Tu quoque TOO-KWOH-kwee (noun) A retort charging an adversary with being or doing what he or she criticizes in others - www.merriam-webster.com
Website of the Day
Official NORAD Santa Tracker
The agency that traditionally tracks airplanes, missiles and space launches turns its attention to Santa Claus as he prepares to make his journey around the world, delivering toys to children. Visit this site on Christmas Eve and check on Santa’s progress.
Number to Know
12,965: The record amount of Santa Clauses gathered in one area, according to the Guinness World Records. It took place in Derry City, Northern Ireland, on Sept. 9, 2007.
This Day in History
Dec. 24, 1968: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.
Today’s Featured Birthday
“Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer (37)
“Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special! How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer. ... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment and spirituality would mix so harmoniously?” - Bill Watterson, “Calvin & Hobbes” | <urn:uuid:fa1b6b1f-1234-4907-9328-1a4097570cbd> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | http://www.sooeveningnews.com/x1922000330/Morning-Minutes-Dec-24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934803848.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20171117170336-20171117190336-00127.warc.gz | en | 0.916177 | 337 | 2.59375 | 3 |
This book was reviewed via Netgalley
Full of colourful pictures, Animal Planet: Sharks! by Lori Stein is a great teaching tool for young kids. Sharks are among the most mysterious, exciting, and oft misunderstood denizens of the deep. There are hundreds of shark species, and not all are what comes to mind when you hear the word ‘shark’. The beginning gives an overview of basic shark features, present in all species. Some of these features are a skeleton made of cartilage, rough skin lacking scales, and a mouth full of several rows of teeth.
I enjoyed reading this with my cubs. We are definitely going to snag hardcopies of this and the Dinosaurs! book. They enjoyed learning about sharks, and even I learned some fun new facts. I had no idea sharks used electroreception, and can sense the electric fields all creatures have. What would it be like if we humans had that sense?
This book was also very good for disabusing the notion that all sharks must be in constant motion. We learned why movement is necessary for survival, and how sharks have learnt, in different ways, to bypass this need, allowing them to settle to the ocean floor. There’s even a cave off the coast of Mexico where sharks can be found napping, making it easy to go near, or even touch them.
We were all disturbed by the leopard shark study. It says that the experiment didn’t hurt the sharks, and maybe that is so, but it still seemed unnecessary and cruel just to satisfy some curiosity. I’m very sensitive to perceived animal mistreatment, and several of the younglings inherited that. We understand about the necessity of tagging animals, but this experiment didn’t involve tagging the animals for naturally gathered data. No, it involved shoving cotton balls up their noses.. Nicky and Daily said someone should randomly kidnap the researchers and do the same to them and see how they like it. Heh. Cublings can be so blunt.
Learning about the sharks’ teeth, and how they are replaced was fascinating. We pulled out the collection of small shark teeth I had gathered with my grandmother many moons ago, and looked at the different types. I also brought out my other shark teeth- nurse, tiger, great white-, and my pride, a megalodon tooth as big as my hand. I also found a pic my sister took of me standing inside a replica of a megalodon’s jaws. Talk about terrifying!
Catsharks were another new thing for me. How did I not know there is a whole class of catsharks? They have neat cat-like eyes, and tend to range on the smaller end of the size scale, with the largest being about 5 ft in length. There’s a species of catshark called pajama shark. That’s too funny! There are many other species of shark, each as unique as the last.
I would have liked to have seen a section on the meg, and other ancient sharks. These beasties have survived in some form or another since the age of the day. Learning about ancient sharks such as megalodon, helicoprion, and edestus woild have been pretty neat. Overall, though, this was a good first look book, and a great addition to any kid’s library.
🎻🎻🎻🎻 Highly recommended, especially for kids who love sharks or sea life, and natural history. Also as an educational tool for middle-graders. | <urn:uuid:f2349b84-72d8-46fc-9272-caed4ba1d913> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://www.aislynndmerricksson.com/book-review-animal-planet-sharks-by-lori-stein/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886102307.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170816144701-20170816164701-00565.warc.gz | en | 0.974728 | 740 | 3.078125 | 3 |
How much influence could you have by becoming a politician? Common sense says that politicians have a lot of influence, and it’s a serious contender as a high impact path for someone who’s altruistically motivated. But aren’t the chances of success incredibly low? Our guess was that even though the chances are low, the potential impact is still very high. So, when we were asked about UK politics in a recent case study, we decided to make a more detailed estimate of the expected influence to feed into an overall analysis of politics as a career path.
We found that chances of success are low, but for some students they’re not low enough to offset the very large potential influence. The UK government budget is £720 billion, and even a small chance at influencing a budget that large could be highly significant (and the impact of politicians extends well beyond budgets).
We’ve extended our analysis of the chances of an Oxford PPE graduate succeeding as a politician, to make a rough estimate that such a student can expect to be able to direct £7.5 – 75 million to the causes they support from their chances of making it into elected office. For a student similar to an Oxford PPE graduate, this suggests the path is competitive with the most high potential earning to give careers – such as those in finance – in terms of financial influence, which when combined with politicians’ law-making powers and advocacy opportunities could put politics clearly ahead.
Aren’t politicians highly constrained by existing policy, what other politicians want, the desires of the electorate and other factors? Yes, but these factors have already been included in the estimate. Read on to see the full process.
Summary of the estimate
Our preliminary estimate is that an Oxford PPE graduate who aims to become a politician in the UK, could expect to influence £150 million of government spending, arising from their chances of making it into office. A number of factors decrease the impact of that money; giving a quality-adjusted estimate of £7.5 – 75 million, falling towards the lower end if you’re primarily interested in very specific interventions (e.g. supporting a certain organisation) rather than broader ones (e.g. promoting evidence-based policy). This is the amount of government spending the graduate might be able to direct towards the causes they support.
For students without the typical attributes of Oxford PPE students, chances are significantly reduced. For instance, repeating the calculation but considering students from Oxford and Cambridge as a whole suggests expected influence on the order of £1 – 10 million. More generally, the expected influence is highly sensitive to the individual’s degree of fit with politics i.e. it could be substantially higher for someone with strong success in student politics at Oxford, and near zero for many others.
Our proposed estimate is extremely coarse. We rely on a crude economic model of influence within government, assume that this influence in aggregate accounts for all public spending, and try to estimate the share of influence possessed by a number of relevant groups. We believe this model is much stronger than it appears casually, and do provide some justification for some of the simplifying assumptions at the end of the document. We also explain some important caveats, such as our uncertainty over the prominence of MPs and ministers, and focussing mainly on Oxford PPE. Nevertheless, it is certainly an extremely crude model. The error on this estimate is at least an order of magnitude or so, and if there are significant issues with the methodology they may actually be even larger.
To compensate for this we have made conservative estimates throughout, and still arrived at a remarkably high number. Since the conclusion of this calculation is also supported by the common sense position that going into politics is high potential for students with the right characteristics, we conclude that the expected influence of entering this path is indeed very large.
Overview of the calculation
We estimate the total money moved as a product of the following fractions, stating our source:
1) Fraction of influence of one capable, motivated PPE graduate amongst MPs and ministers: 1/300.
- Fraction of influence of PPE graduates amongst MPs and ministers: 1/6 (based on empirical analysis of ratios of PPE graduates in office)
- Fraction of influence of one capable, motivated PPE graduate amongst PPE graduates: 1/50 (based on empirical analysis of chances of success)
2) Fraction of total spending which is influenced by MPs and ministers: 1/16
- Fraction of influence of MPs and ministers on policy: 1/8 (an estimate informed by surveying political science literature)
- Fraction of spending determined by policy: 1/2 (an estimate informed by surveying political science literature)
3) Total public spending: £720 billion (in 2013)
Preliminary total: £150 million
4) Factors which significantly decrease the value of this influence: 1/20 to 1/2
- To the extent your interests are unique, your influence is diminished by the difficulty of realizing gains from trade, forming coalitions, coordinating, etc: ¼ to 1, depending on the idiosyncrasy of your interests. (a judgement call)
- Influence acts in a relatively complicated way over long periods, which makes it difficult to have any particular specific effect, or to implement any complex changes: 1/5 to ½, depending on the specificity of your goals. (a judgement call)
This suggests a quality-adjusted total ranging from £7.5 to 75 million. We explain our reasoning behind each of these factors in the rest of the document.
Table of Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Summary of the estimate
- 3 1. Influence of one PPE graduate amongst MPs and ministers
- 4 2. Influence of MPs and ministers on how the budget is spent
- 5 3. The budget
- 6 4. Quality-adjusting money moved
- 7 Caveats:
- 8 Modelling assumptions:
1. Influence of one PPE graduate amongst MPs and ministers
We want to estimate the expected influence of one PPE graduate. To do this we need to estimate the influence of PPE graduates (captured by how many MPs and ministers studied PPE). We then need to estimate the influence of one graduate amongst all PPE graduates.
a) Influence of PPE graduates amongst MPs and ministers
According to the BBC about 5% of MPs are graduates of Oxford PPE, and Wikipedia provides a list of PPE graduates which covers roughly this fraction of current and (living) former MPs. The same sources suggest that the cabinet and shadow cabinet are 20-25% Oxford PPE graduates, and the density amongst PM’s may be even higher.
It would be difficult to estimate the significance of PPE within party politics in the UK more broadly, but it seems reasonable to presume that these numbers are crudely comparable.
How we should weigh these different proportions—5% to 25%—depends on how we think the influence is distributed between different levels of government. If we thought the majority of influence was concentrated amongst MP’s we would use the 5% figure (or lower); if the majority of influence is concentrated amongst ministers we would use the 25% figure. In between we would extrapolate arithmetically between these extremes, e.g. if we thought that half of the influence was with MPs and half was with the cabinet, we would obtain an estimate of 15%.
Given a broad distribution over the behavior of the government, it seems sensible to assign significant influence to each category. Anecdotally, influence on UK spending appears to rest disproportionately with the highest-ranking politicians (although it can be hard to determine the true influence, since influence may be expressed through many channels). Combined with the concerns about regression to the mean expressed below, it seems sensible to take a middle-of-the-range – and likely conservative – estimate like 15%.
Regression to the mean
Oxford PPE appears to represent a larger fraction of political influence than we might expect, for example considerably more than almost any other group which can be easily identified. To the extent that this estimate is surprising, we should expect the outlier that is Oxford PPE to regress to the mean. That is to say,we should expect other estimates of PPE’s influence to be lower.
In particular, I expect the estimate to be lower at different times (the influence of PPE seems to have held up over recent history, but I don’t know how it holds up across decades and would expect it to decrease in the future). Moreover, I expect it would be lower if we were to take a more comprehensive inventory of influence in a political career, including more non-parliamentary roles.
It’s not quite clear what to make of this consideration; fortunately, however, the fraction of MPs and cabinet ministers seems to be a strong proxy for political influence, and even more promisingly the available evidence suggests that these fractions may understate the real influence of PPE graduates, given the trend towards increasing over representation of PPE graduates as we examine more influential positions. This would suggest that our 1/6 figure is a conservative, reasonable estimate. Overall, concern about regression to the mean seems to be a modest consideration. It would also be relatively easy to eliminate by obtaining more robust estimates of PPE influence.
b) Influence of one PPE graduate amongst her academic year
To get a first approximation of the influence of one student amongst their cohort of PPE graduates, we can simply estimate the size of their cohort. There are about 200 UK students in each year of PPE, suggesting a first estimate of 0.5%.
Beyond this, estimating the impact of any particular student clearly depends on the student. For the purpose of analysis, we can divide the relevant characteristics into intention and aptitude. Reasoning about these characteristics and their impact is hard, but fortunately a large part of this work has been done for us by the selection process for Oxford (interviews) and the self-selection process for PPE (choosing to apply).
The great majority of PPE students have an interest in politics, but a majority do not intend to pursue a career in politics. The group which is committed to pursuing a career in politics is even smaller, representing perhaps 1/5 to 1/3 of students (based on discussions with PPE students). It is hard to know exactly what to make of this number, without collecting more detailed information about the political intentions of UK politicians—how likely is it for a student interested in politics to ultimately find their way into a successful political career?
The majority of members of parliament (and a greater majority of cabinet members) follow explicitly political career tracks, especially working for a party, working as a special advisor or political researcher, working at a think tank, or working as a lobbyist. This suggests that students with explicit political aspirations are significantly more likely to end up with a successful career in politics.
It seems plausible that graduates with high intention and aptitude represent between 1/40th and 1/70th of the total political influence within their year of PPE. This best guess is based on multiplying the size of the PPE class by the fraction with comparable characteristics.
Getting in vs. having influence
The above discussion concerns an individual’s ability to obtain a role in the political process, but can also affect their influence within that role. So estimates of how much these characteristics observably affect an individual’s role in politics will tend to understate the real magnitude of the effects.
Beyond those characteristics, politicians with clear, well-thought-out, and ambitious objectives seem likely to wield a disproportionate share of influence. To the extent they are more interested in influence (as compared to e.g. social consequences of political involvement) they may be expected to make trade-offs that further their own influence. To the extent they have a clear policy agenda they may have more such opportunities available to them (and can always sideline such an agenda if appropriate, minimizing the possibility of negative effects). Anecdotally, such considerations can easily make more than a factor of 2 difference, merely by changing the nature of interactions within the core executive and leadership of individual departments.
2. Influence of MPs and ministers on how the budget is spent
In addition to MPs and ministers, there are other influences on government behaviour. When policy is being formulated the civil service, think tanks, and other party members will normally have influence. Typically unions, business interests, lobbyists, etc. will also contribute to the policy-making process. When policies are implemented, the civil service and other actors play a key role in determining how the budget is actually spent. All these different actors have an influence over how government pounds are ultimately spent.
It seems sensible to talk about the fraction of influence which each of these groups wields. Unfortunately, there seems to be little academic or elite consensus on the influence of MPs and ministers as opposed to other actors, or about the extent to which policy determines the actual implemented government behaviour. We have therefore made some fairly conservative estimates. These estimates could be sharpened by a more systematic investigation of historical policy decisions; but again it is worth pointing out (in our defence) that it is very difficult to trace the actual influence of individuals involved in the policy-making and policy-implementing process, because it is almost entirely mediated by informal mechanisms.
We approach this question by considering party politics’ share of influence as a product of two factors: the relative influence of party politics on high-level policy and policy directives, and the influence of such high-level directives on actual behaviour.
a) Influence of MPs and ministers on policy
Formally, most policy influence is given to the cabinet and the heads of the various departments. However many other actors seem to collectively have a good deal of influence as well. After brief searches I have not been able to find any credible work that sheds much light directly on this question; this estimate is informed loosely by reading a few political memoirs, the news, and a textbook on party politics. There seems to be no academic consensus on the proportion of influence to apportion to MPs and ministers as opposed to other actors.
We can nevertheless give a rough, conservative estimate of the influence of MPs and ministers on policy. I am inclined to give about ½ of all influence to the electorate, by casting votes and substantially constraining the range of acceptable behaviours. Within party politics, I am inclined to give about ½ of all influence to MPs (and others on the same career track as MPs) and to give the other influence to other players within party politics, financial interests, and so on. And finally, within policy-making I am inclined to give about ½ of all influence to party politics, and the remaining influence to bureaucrats, regulatory bodies, international bodies, and so on. Overall then, we estimate the influence of MPs and ministers on policy to be ?.
Note that as in our discussion of the representation of PPE amongst MPs and ministers (1.a), this figure seems likely to be a conservative estimate. This is because anecdotally, ministers are generally viewed as substantially more influential than all other actors in the policy-making process.
b) Influence of policy on how the budget is spent
Policy decisions have a large effect on how political pounds are spent, but they don’t have complete control. Even specifying a fairly narrow budget item often leaves much leeway to the civil servants who actually spend the budget, and typically there are many additional steps between the determination of policy and the implementation of the budgeted activities (the actual creation of the budget, the environment in which people engage in the budgeted activities, etc.)
Again there seems to be no academic consensus on this question, but we can give a rough, conservative estimate. I feel like ½ is an appropriate fraction of influence to allocate to policy, based on intuition guided by similar evidence. If one was more optimistic about how effectively policy is implemented one might give a more optimistic estimate, but it seems reasonable to adopt a conservative figure.
Comparison to other opportunities to move money
Whenever we spend or move money, we face some similar issues in implementation. For example, if I give money to a charity, I have direct influence over which charity I pick, but I still need to leave many important details to the charity. If I run a company, I can manage my employees but ultimately must leave them some slack, etc. In light of this it isn’t clear if we should count the second factor of ½ above, or whether we should treat money moved by politicians as the same as money moved in other ways.
We do tentatively think it is reasonable to count this factor as an extra cost, though: many of the steps between policy-makers and policy implementation really are unique to government spending, and many of these factors can be much attenuated when giving or running a company by employing like-minded people, by applying lots of selection power which isn’t available to politicians, etc.
3. The budget
The UK’s budget in 2013 was £720 billion. This figure is very likely to increase in subsequent years.
4. Quality-adjusting money moved
It seems intuitively clear that the influence of an MP or minister is more constrained than the influence of a philanthropist. ‘Spending’ one’s notional influence over the budget in the policy-making process is not the same as spending your own money. Some of this simply comes because influence is somewhat diffuse in politics. But this is not the only issue, and there seem to be other considerations that further reduce the value of political influence.
a) Coordination and unusual interests
Making anything happen politically typically requires a high degree of coordination, e.g. buy-in or at least acceptance from an entire party, cooperation between implementers and designers of policy, or other politicians refraining from making a stink about a pet issue. To the extent that you try to pursue unusual interests, achieving this coordination requires implicit or explicit bargaining, application of political capital, etc.
In principle such bargaining need not reduce the efficiency of pursuing unusual interests. But in practice bargaining or coordinating may be difficult, and making explicit trades may be significantly less efficient than coordinating by virtue of shared values and goals. There also may be norms against such bargaining (rather than focusing on collective interests), which force it to occur implicitly and may further reduce its efficiency. One case where such bargaining is likely to be particularly difficult is across time—if you pursue goals that future regulators don’t share, then you are less likely to coordinate successfully with future policy-makers and implementers.
This is more likely to be a problem the more diffuse influence is, both amongst contemporaries—if the PM holds much of the influence then such bargaining is less important—and across time—if current policy-makers unilaterally set current policy, then you should expect most of your influence to occur in the short term and you shouldn’t much care whether future policy-makers share your values or like your policies.
If your policy goals are as broad as any, so that you can achieve coordination as well as anyone, then this factor should be neglected—it’s not important whether coordination is perfect, just how well you can coordinate relative to other influencers (e.g., if coordination was very hard and things were very rarely changed, then whatever changes you were able to implement would stick around for a long time).
If your goals are quite unusual, such that few other political actors share them, then you may suffer a very large cost from the inefficiency of coordination (and we might expect an effectiveness-minded person to have unusual interests). I am inclined to model a separate cost for the effects of bad coordination across time and at the current time. Each of them seems reasonably likely to impose significant losses, say a factor of ½. It is easy to imagine much larger losses. It is also possible to imagine smaller losses, primarily because of uncertainty about the actual helpfulness of common goals—it seems quite plausible that almost all political activity must be achieved by more or less explicit bargaining anyway. This uncertainty, and the prospect of heterogeneity amongst different modes of influence, makes it hard for the expected fraction to fall far below ½.
Combining these two factors, we obtain a total factor of ¼.
Note that regardless of the considerations in this section, we should expect to see the political process preferentially furthering common goals, so we have to be careful when getting empirical evidence. We expect to see popular projects succeed much more frequently, but this is largely because they enjoy the support of many influencers (each of whom can only claim a small fraction of the credit). Similarly, we expect to see politicians focus on those of their interests which are broadly held and agreeable to others, but this would be true even if there was frictionless bargaining (as long as focusing on big common issues rather than a variety of unusual interests is actually socially efficient).
b) Influence over time and specific projects
Much of the influence that policy-makers wield seems to be somewhat indirect, via changing discourse, norms, precedent, and so on. This especially true to the extent that political influence extends over longer periods than an individual’s political involvement. Although this doesn’t change the total influence of politicians, it makes it harder to achieve any fixed goal with that influence.
For example, we might imagine that each minister can change their department’s policies only a short distance from the status quo. This doesn’t directly change the total influence available to ministers (though it might open a window for other actors to have more influence). But it does mean that much of a minister’s influence comes from their effect not on current policy but on future policies (since their successors will be operating under a similar constraint). So if your goal is a relatively immediate one you may have much less ability to achieve it; instead, we need to understand the long-term effect of the precedent you are setting.
Similarly, we might imagine that political actions are largely constrained by the expectations of political peers, maybe because policy-makers are unwilling or unable to risk disapproval or push against established norms. This doesn’t directly decrease the total influence of a politician, since the reduction in their direct influence is compensated by an influence over norms. But it does make it harder to understand the effects of actions, which may be mediated mostly by slightly shifting social expectations, and it also means that it is much easier to have broad effects than specific effects.
This pattern seems to be common to many simple models, and anecdotally to be true of policy-making in practice.
If you have a very general and broad goal, like increased reliance on quantitative estimates or a larger welfare state, then these may not be huge constraints. Simple changes can have a foreseeable impact at this broad level. You can predict that precedent will behave one way or the other, you can support people and groups that share your goal, you can push discourse in the appropriate direction, etc. Each of those things nevertheless is somewhat unpredictable and has some losses, and even in extreme cases I am inclined to recognize significant losses, perhaps a factor of ½ in efficiency.
For very specific goals the situation is worse, and it seems that much of the politician’s influence might be unavailable. E.g., influence extending significantly beyond one’s’ political tenure or social influences may be hard to apply to specific projects. I don’t know how to reason about the share of influence that will be inaccessible, and more empirical research could shed light on this issue, but a factor of 1/5 seems plausible (perhaps ½ – 2/3 of influence extending beyond political tenure, perhaps ½ of influence mediated by social effects that are too broad to accomplish specific goals).
Diverting funding from other projects
Overall, whether this impact is positive—and how positive it is—depends on how the money would have been spent. If you believe that that government spending is typically highly effective, then this may significantly reduce your impact. If government spending typically has a positive impact, but one which is significantly less positive than possible, then this effect is often quite small. For example, if your intervention increases the impact of the spending by a factor of 3 then the value of intervention is 2/3 what it would otherwise appear, which is quite large.
In practice, it seems that you can typically divert money towards projects which you consider significantly more valuable. This is not surprising, given that government spending serves a wide variety of interests.
Main sources of uncertainty
Our estimates of the amount of money a PPE graduate can be expected to be able to divert towards particular projects are quite uncertain – I would expect them to decrease rather than increase with further inquiry. The two largest sources of uncertainty in the analysis are points 2 and 4, that is to say:
the fraction of total government spending which is influenced by MPs and ministers, and
ad hoc adjustments for the difficulty of using politicians’ indirect and constrained influence to achieve a particular, potentially unusual, end.
The estimates used here are judgement calls informed primarily by secondary information about UK politics. The integrity of the analysis primarily rests on a modelling approach which aims to minimize the influence of these judgement calls on the final conclusion, hopefully limiting the impact of uncertainty.
Limited to Oxford PPE
In this article we are solely considering the outlook of an Oxford PPE graduate. We recognise that this is limited in scope. However we can offer three defences. First, this estimate was produced for an Oxford PPE student. Second, PPE is noticeably overrepresented, making this analysis far clearer – no other single degree at a single university is so well represented. Third, this analysis could be extended to other groups.
For example, we could estimate the influence of a randomly selected Oxbridge graduate. In a similar analysis to this article, Carl Shulman noted that “Oxbridge graduates formed 32% of Gordon Brown’s last Cabinet, and 69% of the recent coalition Cabinet”. Additionally, 24% of the 2010 cohort were from Oxbridge. Somewhere between these figures, let us assume that the fraction of influence of Oxbridge graduates is 1/3. There are around 4000 undergraduates in each academic year at both Oxford and Cambridge. We can therefore estimate:
1) Fraction of influence of one Oxbridge graduate amongst MPs and ministers: 1/24,000.
* Fraction of influence of Oxbridge graduates amongst MPs and ministers: 1/3
* Fraction of influence of one graduate amongst Oxbridge graduates: 1/8000
2) Fraction of total spending which is influenced by MPs and ministers: 1/16
* Fraction of influence of MPs and ministers on policy: 1/8
* Fraction of spending determined by policy: ½
3) Total public spending: £720 billion
Preliminary total: £1,875,000
4) Factors which significantly decrease the value of this influence: 1/20 to 1/2
This suggests a quality-adjusted total ranging from £93,750 to £937,500. Note that we have not taken into account the intention to go into politics, and we know that most Oxbridge students don’t try. We guess taking intention into account would boost the estimate by at least a factor of 10.
Money moved vs other kinds of influence
This analysis explicitly concerns money moved, largely because it is so much easier to treat quantitatively. Other kinds of influence seem likely to be subject to very similar considerations, and perhaps the same analysis can be applied almost verbatim.
The most important and fundamental change in the analysis would be obtaining a different estimate for the total impact of government activity of a different type. For example, we might look at how significantly regulation could distort private activity (e.g. how large an economic gradient can it compete against) and then do a similar analysis to estimate the total regulatory impact of an individual.
There will be additional complications in other cases (in addition to being more easily quantified, money moved is more fungible and generally easier to reason about), and overall I expect the analysis to be much more difficult.
Parliamentary terms and peer groups
In reality a single MP typically serves for many years, influencing a total budget much higher than £720 billion. Similarly, there are many cohorts of PPE students rather than just one.
However, by attributing one year of government spending to one year of PPE students in our model, it seems we can avoid either of these effects: the total influence of politics over N years is simply N times annual spending, while the total number of PPE students over that period is just N times the annual number of students, so the impact per student can be obtained by using the yearly versions of each figure.
This analysis suggests that we can safely reason about a single politician as representing (at least) a proportional share of political influence, even when that influence is mediated by complex processes which we don’t understand. However, it is worth keeping in mind that this influence might be exerted in the future, or in a more diffuse way than we anticipate. | <urn:uuid:23ee29f7-51fc-4981-97d5-484736955ff5> | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | https://80000hours.org/2014/02/an-estimate-of-the-expected-influence-of-becoming-a-politician/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496669809.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20191118154801-20191118182801-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.957976 | 6,000 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Twenty-Seven Ways to Die from Wetbulb 35 C (95 F) Temperatures on the Pakistan-India Border
Courtesy of PAUL BECKWITH
Since our average human core body temperature is 37 C (98.6 F) (with some variation) and our skin temperature is a few degrees C cooler than this, a wetbulb temperature of 35 C (95 F) is the limit for human shedding of heat and thus survival. This is true for other mammal species as well, dependent on their specific core body temperatures. How do we die with these conditions, even the very healthiest among us? It turns out there are 7 major organs that can crap out, each essentially by 5 different mechanisms. Luckily, some of these 7×5 combinations are not possible, so there are only 27 different ways to die; not 35:)
Analyzing data from the Meteologix website for India suggests that present extremely hot temperatures combined with high humidities exceed the 35 C (95F) wetbulb temperature threshold of human survivability (even sitting naked in the shade, in a gale, covered in sweat, your survive 6-8 hours at most). It doesn’t matter how healthy, fit, and strong you are; the physics is fatal. Luckily, the worst conditions seen on the Pakistan-India border (mostly in Pakistan) are for a few hours, and not the full day, but death rates in this region must be huge (and are currently unreported). | <urn:uuid:7d745bcc-3c21-4149-a915-5d85b74ac272> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://bluefeatherspirit.wordpress.com/2019/06/22/twenty-seven-ways-to-die-from-wetbulb-35-c-95-f-temperatures-on-the-pakistan-india-border/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370518622.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20200403190006-20200403220006-00451.warc.gz | en | 0.930369 | 306 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Malcolm Gladwell has a great essay in a recent New Yorker on the relationship between genius and age. It is popularly believed that genius is often tied up with precocity. There are two aspects to this. First, creativity requires the energy and brashness of youth. Think of Einstein publishing three key papers in 1905 at the age of 25, or Picasso, or Galois. Second, as a corollary to the first, once you cross a certain age there is no hope of a truly original idea.
Gladwell reports that there may be certain fundamental problems with this perceived connection between genius and age. He argues that there are two kinds of genius, the prodigies and the late bloomers, and that most of the attention has been paid to the former.
Here are some key quotes from the article — Late Bloomers: Why do we equate genius with precocity?
Prodigies like Picasso … rarely engage in that kind of open-ended exploration. They tend to be “conceptual,” Galenson says, in the sense that they start with a clear idea of where they want to go, and then they execute it. “I can hardly understand the importance given to the word ‘research,’ ” Picasso once said in an interview with the artist Marius de Zayas. “In my opinion, to search means nothing in painting. To find is the thing.” He continued, “The several manners I have used in my art must not be considered as an evolution or as steps toward an unknown ideal of painting. . . . I have never made trials or experiments.”
But late bloomers… tend to work the other way around. Their approach is experimental. “Their goals are imprecise, so their procedure is tentative and incremental,” … The imprecision of their goals means that these artists rarely feel they have succeeded, and their careers are consequently often dominated by the pursuit of a single objective. These artists repeat themselves, painting the same subject many times, and gradually changing its treatment in an experimental process of trial and error. Each work leads to the next, and none is generally privileged over others, so experimental painters rarely make specific preparatory sketches or plans for a painting. They consider the production of a painting as a process of searching, in which they aim to discover the image in the course of making it; they typically believe that learning is a more important goal than making finished paintings. Experimental artists build their skills gradually over the course of their careers, improving their work slowly over long periods. These artists are perfectionists and are typically plagued by frustration at their inability to achieve their goal.
Picasso wanted to find, not search, Cézanne said the opposite: “I seek in painting.”
I guess there is still hope for some of us :-) | <urn:uuid:7f5993da-4eef-49ce-ae31-a0f3015c2ec5> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://punyamishra.com/2008/11/08/creativity-genius-age/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178363211.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20210302003534-20210302033534-00023.warc.gz | en | 0.970196 | 591 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The genomic organisation of the insect Dichaete regions. Exons are represented by shaded boxes and introns by the linking lines. A scale bar of 2 kb is indicated. The melanogaster and pseudoobscura sequences are to scale, the larger distance between Dichaete and Sox21b in Anopheles and Apis is indicated by a break in the line, the remainder of the diagram is to scale.
McKimmie et al. BMC Genetics 2005 6:26 doi:10.1186/1471-2156-6-26 | <urn:uuid:92b236fe-7ecd-45b4-98be-6917dbfcbf04> | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2156/6/26/figure/F3?highres=y | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246654292.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045734-00137-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.867437 | 118 | 2.5625 | 3 |
As a parent or guardian, you are the gatekeeper of the home. The ultimate goal of any “Internet safety tips” are not just to protect your kids but to train them to eventually live as responsible young adults in an online world. Kids need to know not just what is wise and unwise, but why.
1. People can be cruel, so stand up for others.
Studies show that about a third of teens have been targets of a range of annoying or potentially menacing online activities. Moreover, 88% of social media-using teens say they have seen someone being mean or cruel to another person on a social network site. This could include spreading rumors, rude comments, or posting embarrassing photos. Many have called this “cyberbullying.”
Parental involvement and school programs can only go so far to prevent bullying online. Sameer Hinduja of the Cyberbullying Research Center states:
Bystanders have a humongous role to play. […] Maybe you aren’t the victim or the target, and maybe you aren’t the offender, but I promise you, you talk to any teenager, and yes, they’ve seen this happen at their school amongst people that they know. […] I think bystanders absolutely can be heroes because they’re coming to the rescue of their friends.
Teach your kids to be the hero online and stand up for others when they see abusive words or harsh comments.
2. People can be persistently cruel, so tell an adult.
When your kids see others being abusive or cruel online, or when they are the target for cruelty, usually just ignoring the bully is best. Don’t give the bully the satisfaction of having annoyed you. But if the bullying is particularly menacing or habitual, it is time to tell the right adults. Tell parents, teachers, or school administrators. Alert those who host or manage the websites where the abuse is taking place.
3. Nakedness is meant to be a private thing.
From childhood to the teenage years, children should be taught that though the human body is a beautiful and often alluring thing, nakedness is meant to be private. The online world is a place the human body is often flaunted for the purpose of alluring others, so children should be on guard about this.
- If a child sees pornography or other sexual content, they should be told that such images dishonor the people in the images. No one benefits when sex is on-tap all the time. The women and men in those images are being treated like products, not people. By making these photos available for everyone to see, it only cheapens the goodness of sex.
- A child or teen should never treat themselves this way, sending or posting provocative photos of themselves. As many as 30% of older teens have has sexual images sent to them (called “sexting”). Teens should be taught to honor their own sexuality by not making themselves a commodity for others.
4. Don’t look to online friends for validation.
People do all kinds of things online to get attention. Nearly three quarters of teen girls agree that “most girls my age use social networking sites to make themselves look cooler than they really are,” and 41% admit this describes them. Some post videos of themselves on YouTube asking random strangers if they are pretty, or they will post questions on Formspring to receive anonymous replies.
Those with low self-esteem are far more likely to put more stock in their online image, so as parents, we should help our children be self-aware. While teenage insecurities are as normal as the day is long, we should help our children see the fruitlessness of validation from thousands of online spectators, and worse, how easily these spectators can turn vicious.
5. Don’t trust online resources for research.
While the Internet is a great source for quick-and-easy answers to questions, when doing research for something formal (like a school report), Internet sources should be approached with skepticism. Parents should tell their kids to use the Internet as a place to search for valuable and credible sources.
6. People can be dishonest, so be cautious.
Kids need a reminder that the “don’t talk to strangers” rule applies as much online as offline. Young children should avoid putting personal information online like phone numbers, real names, or home addresses. Teens often post this information, and parents should make sure their teen understands and uses the built-in privacy settings for any given website.
For younger children, screen names should not be a child’s real name, and passwords should never be shared.
There are many Internet predators online, but for most of them their targets are young girls or boys who are willing to have sexual conversations online. Parents should teach their children that it is fun to meet new people online, but not everyone is who they claim to be. They should approach any stranger with skepticism and remember to never engage in sexual questions, sexual chat, or exchange sexual images online. They should also never agree to meet offline with someone they met online.
7. Programs can be malicious, so ask permission.
Thousands of viruses and malware programs can be accidentally accessed online. Parents should inform their children that these exist and to never download new programs they haven’t spoken to their parents about first.
8. Time online should be fun, informative, and purposeful.
It is important that you communicate to your children that the Internet is a place for recreation, connection, and learning. But it is possible to have too much of a good thing. It is easy to let time online slip away. Over 11% of teens can be classified as “hyper-networkers,” spending more than three hours a day on social networks. In some studies, more time online is a predictor of depression.
Parents should monitor the amount of time kids spend online and set appropriate limits. Encourage children to be social and creative in other ways and model for them using the Internet purposefully—with intention.
9. Websites and games can have bad content, just like movies and TV.
There are thousands of great age-appropriate sites for young children. Parents should locate some favorites and bookmark them for their children.
Most social networks, however, have age restrictions for a reason. Unfortunately, many parents are either unaware or unconcerned about these restrictions and allow their children to have accounts.
Parents should consider getting an age-based monitoring and filtering program for all their devices. Covenant Eyes rates every website for its content and applies an age-based rating, like T for Teen or M for Mature—similar to movie ratings or video game ratings.
10. We monitor everything because we want to watch each other’s back.
Most importantly, parents need to model transparency and openness about Internet use in the home. Children should grow up in an environment where Internet-time is not private time—for parents or kids.
“For parents, the answer is to create a new culture in the home—a culture of accountability. Simply put, it means that you can—and should—give an account of your actions (including the websites you visit and the search terms you use) to someone else. Kids should be accountable to their parents. Husbands should be accountable to their wives and vice versa. (Even better, a man should also be accountable to another male friend or mentor.)”
Photo credit: 15216811@N06 | <urn:uuid:de1b7a25-c647-4bb5-a2e4-ab5f8a4ac85c> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://www.covenanteyes.com/2014/07/24/kids-internet-safety-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320305288.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20220127193303-20220127223303-00412.warc.gz | en | 0.946441 | 1,549 | 2.78125 | 3 |
(Written by Elena Morgan) It can be difficult to get kids excited about studying. As children get older and have more homework, it’s important to give them a space that’s all their own to complete their assignments and concentrate on studying.
Giving your children a multi-purpose study space with a youthful style can help him or her get excited about studying. Here are a few ideas to create a unique study space for your child.
Loft bed study space – A small room is no excuse for a dull study space. Use the area under a store-bought loft bed as a cozy study nook. This DIY creation consists of a plywood desk and a homemade frame made from strips of wood. Connect the desk to the loft bed frame for stability and add a pegboard to one side for additional hanging and storage. Your child will have room to study and store books and educational materials in a small space.
Fun accessories – Studying is more fun when kids can get organized with bright, colorful and unique accessories. Help stock your child’s study space with pencils in his or her favorite colors, notebooks with fabric covers, and funky and fun lamps. Adding an alarm clock to his or her space can also help your child commit to study time. Get his or her help to create DIY storage solutions, like woven ribbon baskets, a magazine or book holder made from an old cereal box or a glass etched jar for pencils and pens.
Cool chair – A chair is a chair, right? Wrong. Your children will concentrate better with a comfortable chair. Find one that is adjustable and can grow with your child – his or her feet should be able to touch the floor while sitting. Chairs are available in lots of fun colors, but buying one to fit in with a modern home decor can make it functional in a variety of rooms.
Writing board – Kids need a place to take notes, write ideas or keep track of upcoming assignments – especially kids who learn best by reading or seeing assignments in front of them. Buy a white dry erase board and some colorful markers and hang it near your child’s study space. Pin boards are another great idea for keeping kids organized. . One of the coolest ways to give your young students a unique writing surface is to use chalkboard paint to create a writing surface on the wall beside your child’s desk or on the desk itself! This can be a fun DIY project for you and your child, and will get them invested in their space.
Learn style spaces – Different children learn different ways. Local learners might need a highly-organized space with just the basics. A Kinesthetic learner might be more comfortable with a large desk space that allows him or her to move around while she works. Determine how your child learns and help his or her study space work with this learning style. You’ll find your child will be much more motivated and will succeed. Remember, the goal is a student who loves to learn, so however that might happen (even if it’s at the kitchen table!) empower your child to create a space that is his or her own.
* Photo Courtesy of Pinterest
About the Author:Elena Morgan is an interior designer and mother of two. You can find Elena reviewing furnishings and products for home décor companies. | <urn:uuid:40dc6cd0-ef68-4e37-8e46-eaa9bafaf041> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.parentinginformer.com/designing-a-study-space-for-your-child.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609526252.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005206-00453-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956031 | 679 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Maths Home Education for Primary/K-6
Our Rainbow Ladder Maths (Primary) activities have been designed to introduce your child to all areas of mathematics at an appropriate level. It is designed in a way that makes it possible for you to work on mathematics inside or outside, wherever your child is happiest. Many activities also allow for your child to use toys and objects that are important to him/her.
As the name suggests, we have divided the activities into coloured steps on a ladder. We were keen not to assign an age or a year group to each ladder stage but to enable you, as your child’s maths facilitator to decide when to move on with confidence.
Each activity comes with essential vocabulary; hints and tips to enable you know the key learning for each activity and the knowledge that your child needs to have before starting the activity.
Each level covers all 5 areas of maths listed to the left and builds on the level before, ensuring your child is challenged appropriately. | <urn:uuid:0a5855ec-9f7c-4ac5-bce9-528e377834d6> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.i2imaths.co.uk/for/primary-k6/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947475711.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20240301225031-20240302015031-00076.warc.gz | en | 0.964817 | 203 | 3.890625 | 4 |
What caused the Great Depression? (list 4 factors)
1. People over-speculated on margin in the stock market
2. Banks failed
3. There was over-production of goods
4. There were high tariffs
What was the name of the famous female artist in the 1920s-30s who painted pictures of the Southwest and flowers?
Where does the artistic expression of African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance get traced back to?
What happened to Europe as a result of World War 1 in terms of its economy and its political system?
1. The economy was devastated
2. The political system became unstable
How were the lives of Americans impacted during the Great Depression - list 3 things
1. Banks and businesses failed - which caused people to lose their jobs
2. So people's incomes fell to very, very low levels
3. So many people lost their homes (homeless) and went hungry ... couldn't pay for food
What country went from being an Axis Power during World War 2 to being an Allied Power in 1941?
List some of the major features of the New Deal:
1. increased rights for labor
2. creation of work programs like WPA, PWA, CCC, TVA, & AAA
3. creation of FDIC to protect banks
What did affordable automobiles lead to in the U.S.? (list 3 things)
1. greater mobility and movement
2. creation of jobs
3. people moving out to the suburbs
What was John Steinbeck's book, "The Grapes of Wrath" about? When did he write it?
Migrant workers - he wrote it in the 1930s during the Great Depression
What Allied country was almost taken by Germany during World War 1, and then was taken by Germany in the early parts of World War 2?
What was "the Great Migration"
When African Americans moved North and West after the Civil War (from the South) to look for jobs and a place where there was less discrimination
What does the WPA stand for? What did it do?
Works Progress Administration - hired people to build hospitals, schools, parks and airports; hired artists, writers and musicians
What does the CCC stand for? What did it do?
Civilian Conservation Corps - hired young men to plant trees and build bridges
What does the AAA stand for? What did it do?
Agricultural Adjustment Act - it raised farm prices quickly AND controlled farm production (paid farmers to NOT grow certain crops)
What does the TVA stand for? What did it do?
Tennessee Valley Authority - built dams to provide cheap electric power to seven Southern states; set up schools and health centers | <urn:uuid:06b54d28-7cd1-47f1-8350-b6b1254d75b0> | CC-MAIN-2014-49 | http://quizlet.com/4931154/history-third-quarter-exam-flash-cards/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416931004885.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20141125155644-00038-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975708 | 557 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Green tea, is the unfermented product of the Camellia sinensis plant. Oolong tea is partially fermented, and black tea is fully fermented. Green tea is not fermented at all. Fermentation may reduce the levels of some compounds, such as antioxidants, in the tea. The 4 main polyphenols found in tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), and epicatechin (EC). Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the most powerful of these catechins. The active constituent is EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), which accounts for 40 percent of the total polyphenol content of green tea extract.
According to scientists at the University of Kansas, the antioxidant capacity of EGCG is approximately 100 times greater than that of vitamin C and 25 times greater than that of vitamin E in protecting DNA from the kind of free radical damage that is thought to increase the risk of cancer. Also, it is thought that epigallocatechin gallate plays an critical role in inhibiting DNA synthesis and cell replication, both imperative for the survival of cancer cells.
At the molecular level, epigallocatechin gallate directs cell signals that block dangerous activity that could lead to the uncontrolled growth characteristic of cancer cells. Epigallocatechin gallate selectively induces apoptosis in human carcinoma cell lines. Inhibits telomerase and DNA methyltransferase, two enzymes involved in cancer gene expression and cellular immortality. Anti-oxidant action protects cells from lipid peroxidation and DNA damage induced by reactive free radicals. Curcumin shows synergism with catechins in colonic tumor cells and human larynx carcinoma cells. In vitro experiments suggest that quercetin can enhance the antiproliferative impact of catechins in prostate cells in a synergistic manner. Vitamin C, shows synergism with epigallocatechin gallate in suppressing adenocarcinoma proliferation.
Some experiments shown that catechins inhibits a growth factor receptor named HER2, which is present in excess in approximately 30 percent of breast cancers and is associated with poor outcomes. When non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cells were transplanted into mice, prevented 50 percent of the tumors from taking hold and important inhibited growth of the tumors. In vitro findings show that concentrations of 30 mcg/mL EGCG and EGC inhibit lipoxygenase-dependent arachidonic acid metabolism by 30-75 percent in normal human colon mucosa and colon cancers. A study of 18,000 Chinese men found that men who drank green tea frequently had a 50% lower risk of developing stomach cancer as compared to men who did not drink tea. In a study reported in ‘Cancer Science‘ in 2011 wrote EGCG may help treat cancer when used with anticancer medications.
In a case-control study involving 130 prostate cancer patients and 274 hospital controls, men drinking the most green tea were found to have an 86% decreased risk of prostate cancer compared, to those drinking the least. In a study reported in the December 2004 edition of the “International Journal of Cancer” found that EGCG significantly inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, the production of PSA (prostate-specific antigen), a marker for prostate cancer risk. In Japan, a study of 500 women with Stage I and Stage II breast cancer found that increasing their green tea consumption before and after surgery significantly lowered the risk of recurrence.
EGCG activates endothelial nitric oxide synthase in cells lining blood vessels, or endothelial cells. Increased release of nitric oxide causes smooth muscle within the blood vessel wall to relax, therefore, increasing the diameter of the blood vessel and improving blood flow. Catechins inhibits platelet aggregation and adhesion via effects that differ. First, green tea inhibits thromboxane A2 formation. Also, inhibits another clotting agent called platelet activating factor (PAF). In addition, green tea improves the function of endothelial cells. Researchers in a study have found that people who drink green tea have better blood vessel function just 30 minutes later. This research, “European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation” was reported in the journal.
Dose-response relationships observed in sundry epidemiological studies have indicated that pronounced cardiovascular effects can be obtained by regular consumption of 5 to 6 cups of green tea per day. Also, studies using similar amounts of green tea, containing 200-300 mg of epigallocatechin gallate, have showed its efficacy for maintaining cardiovascular. When compared to drinking less than one cup per day, daily consumption of five or more cups of green tea was associated with a 16% reduction in mortality from all causes and a 26% reduction in mortality from cardiovascular diseases.
Findings from different animal-based and human studies suggest that epigallocatechin gallate may help treat viral hepatitis. Pure (+)-catechin (Catergen) has been used to treat hepatitis since 1976. This product has been shown to be an effective immune stimulator, promoting activation of macrophages, cytotoxic-T-lymphocytes, and NK (natural killer) cells in mice in a dose-dependent manner. 57 patients with chronic liver diseases of various etiology were treated with catergen given in a dose of 3 tablets (1.5 g) a day throughout three months. At the end of the experimental period, was shown that significantly catergen improved some biochemical characteristics of the blood and indicators of the antipyrine test in people with compensated liver cirrhosis of the viral and alcoholic etiology.
According to German scientists, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) may provide an antiviral measure to prevent HCV reinfection following liver transplantation. ‘EGCG inhibits HCV cell entry by blocking viral attachment and may offer a new approach to prevent HCV infection, particularly reinfection liver transplantation’. Sandra Ciesek from the Hannover Medical School in Germany said. In lab tests, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, was found to prevent HIV from attacking T-Cells. Researcher Professor Mike Williamson, made the following statement; this research shows that green tea, could slow down the spread of HIV and could reduce the risk of becoming infected by HIV.
One of the important compounds found in green tea has a strong capability to increase the number of “regulatory T cells” that play a critical role in immune function and suppression of autoimmune illness, according to research in the Linus Pauling Institute. Lab experiments done with mice, showed that treatment with epigallocatechin gallate significantly increased the numbers and frequencies of regulatory T cells found in spleen and lymph notes, and in the process helped to control the immune response.
Daily intake of catechins efficiently protects the brain from irreversible damage due to cerebral ischemia, and consequent neurologic deficits. In a the study, reported in the September 2010 Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, lab mice with Parkinson’s disease were given the epigallocatechin-3-gallate, and nerve cell death was reduced by 50 %. Animal-based studies, mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s disease developed up to 54 % less beta-amyloid buildup in their brains when they were given daily injections EGCg.
For a green tea extract standardized for 80 % polyphenols and 55 % epigallocatechin gallate, a daily dose of 300 to 400 mg green tea extracts is recommended. The generally used dose of green tea is based on the amount consumed in Asian countries, providing 240-320 mg (three cups a day) of the active ingredients polyphenols. | <urn:uuid:3ecf5cc4-c9d9-4998-80ee-33b63c1db2cd> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://www.superfoods-scientific-research.com/natural-remedies/egcg-benefits.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128322873.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20170628065139-20170628085139-00379.warc.gz | en | 0.929337 | 1,615 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Humility is the foundation upon which everything else in the contemplative life rests. It is the beginning and end of wisdom, the highest virtue and yet the lowest status. Humility is like a delicate flower which shines with vibrant colour in the sunlight. It is the most precious jewel in the crown of the Prince of Peace. It is the fulfilment of all human striving. To be humble is to be rooted and grounded in love.
The humble soul sees the immensity of God and how small it is in comparison. It is content with very little and is nothing other than its authentic self. Humility is a state of being, an inner condition of truth. The humble soul always desires to grow in virtue. It never imagines that it has completed the race. It sees itself with a simple mind, it does not exaggerate its own greatness or its own smallness. It knows its own struggles and shortcomings and responds to them with wisdom. It does not fight with itself or anyone else. It rejoices in the love of God and participates in that love by its own patience and generosity. Humility makes us meek.
Meekness is always the shortest distance between two people. It listens to the wisdom of others and admits when it is wrong. It does not boast or brag, it does not imagine it is better than anyone else. It does not judge anyone or make presumptions. It forgives people before they are sorry. It is gentle with all people, even those who are violent. It eats what it is served without complaining. It works diligently and does not ask for any credit. It creates community by its love for others and the way it does not draw attention to itself. It has nothing to prove and therefore nothing to lose.
Without humility no other virtue can be said to be true. If we are charitable but do so for our own ego, then we are not truly charitable. If we compliment others but do so to win their favour, then we are not truly kind. If we are pious and devout but parade our righteousness all over social media, then we are not truly righteous. Pelagius described this exceedingly well when he said,
“Truly you must follow humility, not the kind that is displayed and simulated by bodily gesture or by subduing the utterance of one’s words but that which is expressed in the natural disposition of one’s heart. For it is one thing to pursue the shadow of things, another the reality. The pride which hides beneath outward signs of humility is made much more ugly thereby. For, by some means or other, vices are more unsightly when they are concealed behind an outward semblance of virtue.“ (Trans by Rees)
False humility only hurts us in the end. It deepens the wound of pride in our souls rather than healing it. True humility, on the other hand, accompanies every goodness. The first step in the pursuit of humility is to be vulnerable. Vulnerable with others and with ourselves. Vulnerability is the means by which true humility and false humility can be distinguished from one another.
False humility protects our wounds so that they are hidden from others, and even from ourselves. It is a pretence behind which we hide our brokenness. True humility, on the other hand, is an attitude of honesty and self awareness. One which speaks the truth rather than covering it up. We are vulnerable when we have the courage to name those things we are afraid to say out loud. When we step out of the shadows of shame, prejudice, vanity, and pride into the light of Christ.
Christ was supremely vulnerable. He chose to share the two most vulnerable moments of human life with us – birth and death – and then taught us to be like little children and to pick up our crosses. To be hung from the cross is to be completely exposed. Yet, Christ was not shamed by his vulnerability, like his executioners had hoped he would be. Rather, his vulnerability led him to new life. We all begin in complete vulnerability as little babies dependent upon others. We begin in humility and we end in humility. This is why both birth and death are used to describe the mind of Christ. To put on the mind of Christ is to die before we die and also to be born again.
If you enjoyed this article please share it with your friends or on your favourite social media. If you would like to explore spiritual direction with Justin then click HERE to learn more about it. If you have any questions then feel free to contact Justin at [email protected] or if you are receiving this in an email, simply respond to the email. | <urn:uuid:3d9e85f2-d853-43ba-996c-082accc8ce72> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://newedenministry.com/2023/08/13/blessed-are-the-meek/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510924.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001173415-20231001203415-00324.warc.gz | en | 0.968031 | 954 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Bacteria that can control malarial spread identified
BACTERIA could be the new hero in the fight against the spread of malaria. Researchers at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US have demonstrated how two different bacteria can halt the growth of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria.
It is estimated that the disease takes lives of around 800,000 people, mostly under five years of age. Currently, a three pronged approach is adopted to combat the disease: preventing infection by controlling its spread, treating people who are already infected and exploring options to vaccinate against future infections.
The researchers found that Enterobacter, a bacterium naturally occurring in the mosquito’s gut could kill Plasmodium falciparum before it develops, by producing free radicals.
The team studied the gut of the wild anopheline mosquito species collected in Zambia and isolated the bacteria. Laboratory mosquitoes were then infected with Plasmodium parasites by artificial blood feed. The blood also contained the bacteria. The scientists found that the bacteria inhibited the growth of Plasmodium by up to 99 per cent, both in the mosquito gut and in a test tube culture of the malaria parasite. The study was published in the May 13 issue of Science. “Our study can form the basis of a control strategy that can be used with other methods,” says George Dimopolous, the lead author.
In another study, researchers found that Wolbachia bacteria, which infect many insects including mosquitoes, reduce parasite levels and kill the Anopheles mosquitoes. Wolbachia does not naturally infect Anopheles mosquitoes. The researchers artificially infected the mosquito with different Wolbachia strains.“This is the first time anyone has shown that Wolbachia infections can reduce levels of Plasmodium,” says Jason Rasgon, the lead author of this study.
For the study, the team infected Anopheles gambiae with two different Wolbachia strains. After infection, Wolbachia disseminated widely within the mosquitoes and infected diverse tissues and organs. The study was published in the May issue of PLoS Pathogens.
Apart from relying on bacteria scientists are also working on other ways to counter malaria. Entomologists at the University of Arizona have designed a modified DNA strand which when inserted in the eggs of the mosquitoes creates genetically modified mosquitoes immune to Plasmodium.
Nirbhay Kumar, a parasitologist from Tulane University, Louisiana, has developed a malaria transmission-blocking vaccine. It uses humans to generate antibodies against malarial pathogens. These antibodies are transferred to a mosquito during a blood meal. The antibodies target a specific protein the parasite needs to reproduce within a mosquito host. | <urn:uuid:942efa5a-34f3-4c5f-897c-815ef179e8bb> | CC-MAIN-2014-49 | http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/infect-mosquitoes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416400379462.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20141119123259-00208-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937387 | 561 | 3.75 | 4 |
During a discussion of inexpensive solutions for ways to make authentication into government systems stronger and accessible for the public at a low cost, we were told that the mechanism selected had a version in Braille to allow participation by the blind. Because the program was sponsored by the Department of the Treasury, it was considered ironic that Treasury was concerned about this blind in this program but does not make that same consideration for our currency.
The issue with accessibility of currency has long been an issue, especially since the passages of the Americans with Disabilities Act (Public Law 101-336, signed by President George H.W. Bush). Unfortunately, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has interpreted Title III (Public Accommodation) as not applying to US currency. Even as the BEP has added new security features and the look to our currency, no changes were made for the blind.
In 2002, the American Council of the Blind (ACB) brought a lawsuit against the Treasury Department demanding that US currency be designed to be accessible to visually impaired people. The court ruled in favor of the ACB complaint in 2006. Treasury was supposed to respond to the order in 30 days from the review. No public statement has been made by Treasury.
From the BEP’s founding in 1861 through the mid-1920s, the bureau had a history of frequently changing currency designs and even changed its size around the turn of the century. Beginning in the 1920s, currency design did not change until the mid 1990s when new security features had to be added curb counterfeit problems.
Advocacy groups continue to petition BEP to make the currency more accessible to the visually impaired. BEP has even been provided with studies of describing the features used by over 100 countries to include the visually impaired. The Reserve Bank of Australia has researched and developed the use of polymer notes with special security features with consideration for the visually impaired with great success.
Rather than implement one of existing technologies that are being used by over 100 countries and the European Union, BEP designers chose to increase the size of the “5” on the reverse of the new $5 note so that it would be visible to those with limited sight capabilities. Allegedly, the intaglio printing used on the note is supposed to help the blind. What the BEP does not mention is that once the note wears, the benefits of the intaglio printing disappear.
The BEP does not have the same design restrictions that is placed on the the US Mint (31 U.S.C. §5112). BEP can change the notes at any time for any reason. The only restriction on US currency is that the denominations must begin with one dollar (31 U.S.C. §5115(a)(2)). So why does BEP continue to discriminate against one class of Americans while continuing to producing an ugly product? | <urn:uuid:e160b78c-d5af-4075-998b-770240af221f> | CC-MAIN-2019-13 | http://coinsblog.ws/2008/03/why-is-our-currency-not-accessible.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-13/segments/1552912202572.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20190321193403-20190321215403-00193.warc.gz | en | 0.969925 | 584 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The Ainu are Japans' largest ethnic minority.
They are known for
Shamanistic beliefs and practises which
are considered part of the Siberian tradition.
Shamanism is probably one of the sources of Shinto,
the indigenous religion of the ethnic Japanese.
Specimens of Ainu Folk-lore
by Basil Hall Chamberlain
This is a collection of Ainu folktales, by the translator of the Kojiki.
by John Batchelor [1888-1893]
Another collection of Ainu folktales, by a Christian missionary who
lived among them for many years; these translations are considered
primary source material to this day.
Yukara, epos of the Ainus
by Kiyoko Miura.
Kutune Shirka, The Ainu Epic
tr. by Arthur Waley
NOTE: The preceeding two texts have unknown copyright status. | <urn:uuid:cd9d2682-c69c-44b7-a22f-efaa7954de4f> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/ainu/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1409535921872.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20140909032439-00123-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.863039 | 194 | 3.140625 | 3 |
You may have heard the age-old question (pun definitely intended) “how and when does female fertility decline?” Maybe you've even heard some hard numbers ("falls off a cliff at 35" is something I hear at my family's Thanksgiving, for instance). Using Modern Fertility's Timeline Tool you can now move AWAY from adages, old wives tales, and plain old misinformation and see how female fertility changes with age using some of the best data out there. So now, speaking of data - let's get into how we actually built this thing.
This post is definitely not the first article to tackle explaining how fertility changes with age and how it is investigated. Demographers, anthropologists, doctors, and historians have been grappling with this question in a scholarly way for decades, but often their work is misinterpreted by the popular press. This question is especially relevant as women (and men) are putting off starting families until later ages (1). With the launch of Modern Fertility’s “Timeline Tool,” which includes estimates of the risk of not being able to have a baby naturally, we thought it high time to break down how this number was calculated.
First, let’s lay out why calculating fertility rates is so darn hard. The number one issue is the pill (and condoms, and the IUD, and...you get the idea). Few people will argue that contraception hasn’t been helpful as men and women plan their families. But something we don't often hear about is what other effects, effective contraception can have (say that five times fast!). When you introduce effective contraception, you introduce an element of choice to reproduction (which, don’t get me wrong, is important!). If a sexually active woman does not get pregnant today at age 25, it doesn’t necessarily mean she can’t but that she (and/or her partner) have taken measures to help ensure that she won’t. This makes looking at large-scale demographic data from populations with effective contraception virtually useless when calculating fertility rates.
Additionally, developed nations have gone through what is called the “demographic transition,” a phenomenon where birth rates eventually become low after industrialization because of decreases in child mortality and increases in women's access to education and contraception (2). These advances allow women to choose to have fewer children. This element of choice is particularly relevant when we try to calculate fertility rates at later ages. When the pill initially became available, the first change demographers noticed was that women used it to stop having children as they got older, generally after they already had a couple of kids. They termed it, understandably so, “stopping behavior.” This has made it hard to calculate fertility at later ages because fertile women can now choose to not have children later in their reproductive lives (again, not that they necessarily can’t). In addition to preventing pregnancy at later ages, effective contraception has also allowed women to delay having children, control the time between children, and decide how many children they’d like to have. As a result, record keeping of birth rates in developed nations reflects “choice” more than it reflects “fertility.”
However, there are women who are actively trying to get pregnant and if you survey enough of them from the time they try to conceive to the time they get pregnant, you can collect a better idea of fertility rates. These studies are commonly referred to as “time-to-pregnancy studies” and are conducted by enrolling women before they start trying to get pregnant. Researchers then follow the same women for months or years to determine how long it takes them to conceive. As you might imagine, this is a laborious and time-consuming task––and one that results in small study numbers. The one very important limitation of contemporary time-to-pregnancy studies is that we lack data on women at older ages, notably over 40. Some of the best studies of the past 20 years have not been able to observe or measure pregnancy rates adequately at these older ages. Again, this harkens back to “stopping behavior,” in that there are few older women who enroll in these studies because they have already completed their families and aren’t trying to get pregnant.
I’ve compiled some quotes from some of the best “time-to-pregnancy” studies that show that even the best ones can’t always overcome this limitation:
- “This study has some weaknesses. First, although the cohort was designed to only include women of ‘older reproductive age,’ few women enrolled in the cohort who were in their forties.”-Steiner & Jukic, 2016 (3)
- “Our study enrolled women only up to age 40 years, so the possibility of increases in sterility for couples in their 40s requires further investigation” -Dunson et. al., 2004 (4)
- “However, the proportion of women falling into this age category [>35] is too small to prove (statistically) a significant decline in fertility.” -Gnoth et. al., 2013 (5)
Ok, so now we’ve reached a point where we have the pill, and as a result the demographic studies of developed nations do not reflect the potential for births at older ages, and thus can’t capture the decline in female fertility at later ages. And even those studies that do look at women trying to get pregnant at later ages aren’t adequately powered to give us good data either. So where does one turn? Well, fortunately for researchers, there are populations that don’t use birth control, termed “natural fertility” populations.
What is a “natural fertility” population? It is one that does not use birth control, and even if it does, it is fairly ineffective. There are contemporary populations that, for cultural, economic or religious reason, do not practice contraception. For example, the Hutterites, an Anabaptist group that live in the plains of the northern United States and western Canada, did not use birth control widely in the last century. Hutterites families were also religiously compelled by church doctrine to have as many children as possible, and the communal setup of their “colonies” helped to ensure that these large family sizes could be supported. In a classic study conducted by Tietze in 1957, he showed that Hutterite women have an average of 10 children, 87% had their last birth at age 45 and there were no births after age 49 (6). Others natural fertility populations that have been studied include ones in Taiwan, Mali, Bangladesh and Pennsylvanian Amish communities (among many others) (7).
Though the Hutterite data is robust, it is still based on a small number of women (209) and might not be reflective of all other natural fertility populations. Again, in order to measure something like the decline of fertility in women and age at last birth, it is important to have a large database. As a reminder: this is especially important because as women (and men) get older, birth rates are lower, so there are fewer people to measure and it is harder to compile this data. So, what natural fertility populations are there that are large enough to statistically measure fertility decline? This is when we crack open the history books and acknowledge the work of the father of modern demography, Louis Henry.
Louis Henry was a French historian who recognized that the parish records of France could be a powerful tool in measuring natural fertility. These parish records track birth dates, marriage dates, and death dates (in the form of baptism, wedding and funeral dates...the old-school version of save-the-date cards stuck to your fridge). These records are extremely robust, and the events can be linked to reconstruct the history of entire families. In total, Henry compiled family histories spanning 159 years (1670 to 1829) (8). That’s several generations of data! From this he calculated the proportion of infertile couples at different ages (among many other things). Unfortunately, the pioneering work of the Louis Henry is often misunderstood and cited in the popular press as “questionable data” because it is over 200 years old and thus people assume that it can’t be applicable to modern women. When in actuality, this ignores the fact that the fertility data from contemporary populations has more restrictions and caveats in terms of how it can be interpreted than Henry’s data does.
If we are to believe that Henry’s data holds for more than just agricultural French society, it would be helpful to compare this across other natural fertility populations. Fortunately, this has been done. Marinus Eijkemans and co-authors selected the highest quality historical databases of natural fertility populations and measured the age of last birth for women at all ages (9). All told these included six populations with records of over 58,000 women. They then compiled this data to create a fertility curve. They found that the curves were very similar and that age at last birth was around 40-41 years average in all populations. However, they note that “for women aged 32-34...the lesson is: do not wait much longer, certainly not if you want more than one child. At the same time, the curve contradicts the occasionally exaggerated pessimism about women who intend (or by circumstances are forced) to have children in their late thirties...For them the lesson is: you still have a good chance to succeed if you don’t wait any longer. For women in their early forties the lesson is: just try, your chances are still far from hopeless” (Eijkemans et. al., 2014, page 1311, emphasis mine). This guidance is more nuanced and grounded in data compared to your great aunt’s well-meaning “try by 35” Thanksgiving dinner advice.
Figure 1. Estimated percentage of the population that is infertile from: Stelling, Tamar. ”Want children? Do not be fooled by the IVF industry.” de Correspondent, 19 September, 2018, p. 10. (10) Reprinted with permission.
How does it all compare?
But what about contemporary time-to-pregnancy data from the United States and other developed countries? How does it look in comparison to these larger studies of historical data? The interesting piece here is how remarkably similar the historical data estimates are to the contemporary time-to-pregnancy estimates for natural fertility at later ages (though you can see in the table below that there are few older women enrolled in these studies, as mentioned earlier). This is most likely attributable to the fact that there is little reason to believe that natural selection would have worked to extend the length of female fecundity into later ages in the last 200 years, which is only about four to eight generations.
Rate of infertility by age comparison of historical and time-to-pregnancy studies of contemporary populations.
Note, the measure of not being able to become clinically pregnant may be lower than that of live birth because miscarriage and stillbirth are not accounted for.
What about ART?
One thing to note about this data is that it does not account for the fact that some women might be able to conceive if they have access to assisted reproductive technology (ART). And that’s definitely true! But remember, this data is called “natural fertility” for a reason, so it’s important to avoid comparing apples to oranges. There are great databases where you can look at the success rates of ART for different infertility diagnoses. One I find particularly useful is the SART.org “Predict My Success” tool (this tool is getting an overhaul in 2019 that will update the success rate of ART at older ages. Stay tuned for that update on the SART page! ). However, one element that ART has not yet been able to overcome is that women’s eggs decline in quality as they get older. Even if a woman utilizes ART to try to conceive, if her eggs are of poor quality, she may not be able to bear a child. This is also reflected in the historical demographic data. But don’t forget: there is the possibility of using donor eggs which helps to avoid the problems of egg quality. And in these modern times, creating a family doesn’t always have to involve bearing a biological child: there are 1,000 and 1 ways to have a family.
So, what is the bottom line? As many other authors have concluded, fertility declines with age. Nonetheless, there is definitely still the possibility of having a child at later ages. You might be wondering what exactly those chances are. Thanks to the painstaking work of researchers such as Henry, Tietze and Eijkemans (among many others) we can now better estimate those chances. And those chances have not changed significantly in the past four to eight generations. We specifically chose to utilize the data from Eijkemans and coauthors in our Timeline Tool because it is the largest cross-cultural study of the timing of last birth and is largely aligned with contemporary time-to-pregnancy studies. All the same, we definitely need more attention and research on fertility and women’s health, especially as our generation puts off having children until later ages.
You might also be wondering about the chances of miscarriage or having a healthy baby, particularly because these odds also change with age. The Modern Fertility Timeline Tool synthesizes the best datasets available for natural fertility, miscarriage and Down Syndrome (one of the most common birth defects that is linked to maternal age) in one place so that you can have a more holistic sense of your chances of becoming a parent at different ages. Don’t forget that these are averages and your individual chances depend on many other factors (like male infertility) that aren’t included in the Tool.
Click here to explore Modern Fertility’s new Timeline Tool. Start the conversation and pass along to the badass women in your life––our collective knowledge is our power!
- Vespa, Jonathan. "The changing economics and demographics of young adulthood: 1975–2016." Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, United States Census Bureau 14 (2017).
- Coale, Ansley J., and Susan Cotts Watkins. "The decline of fertility in Europe: the revised proceedings of a Conference on the Princeton European Fertility Project." (1986).
- Steiner, Anne Z., and Anne Marie Z. Jukic. "Impact of female age and nulligravidity on fecundity in an older reproductive age cohort." Fertility and Sterility 105.6 (2016): 1584-1588.
- Dunson, David B., Donna D. Baird, and Bernardo Colombo. "Increased infertility with age in men and women." Obstetrics & Gynecology 103.1 (2004): 51-56.
- Gnoth, Christian, et al. "Time to pregnancy: results of the German prospective study and impact on the management of infertility." Human Reproduction 18.9 (2003): 1959-1966.
- Tietze, Christopher. "Reproductive span and rate of reproduction among Hutterite women." Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey 12.5 (1957): 727-728.
- Baird, Donna Day, and BEVERLY I. Strassmann. "Women’s fecundability and factors affecting it." Women and Health (Goldman MB, ed). New York: Academic Press (2000): 126-137.
- Henry, Louis, and Michel Fleury. "Des registres paroissiaux a l'histoire de la population: manuel de dépouillement et d'exploitation de l'état civil ancien." Population (french edition) (1956): 142-144.
- Eijkemans, Marinus JC, et al. "Too old to have children? Lessons from natural fertility populations." Human Reproduction 29.6 (2014): 1304-1312.
- Stelling, Tamar. "Want children? Do not be fooled by the IVF industry.” de Correspondent, 19 September, 2018, p. 10. | <urn:uuid:e07b29ac-4f6c-4128-8c16-130eeaade00d> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://modernfertility.com/blog/timelinedata/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178362741.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20210301151825-20210301181825-00280.warc.gz | en | 0.952557 | 3,384 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Brett Perkison suffers from asthma. It’s mild, but it’s part of his life. A physician who practices in suburban Houston, Perkison said that when he goes for a run at the end of the day, when streets and freeways jam with commuters hurrying home and tens of thousands of internal combustion engines rev up in unison, expelling tiny particles and other air pollutants, “I don’t do very well.”
He hears the same from his patients. And he heard the same during a recent study he led with other researchers of 200 African Americans, a group, with Hispanics, who suffer a disproportionately high prevalence of asthma. The more severe their symptoms, the more air pollution had affected their lives.
Perkison heard them express frustration, isolation, depression, anxiety. Some, he said, don’t even bother going out at rush hour. They can’t. Others said that dirty air forces them to stay home, which makes working regularly difficult — which makes affording rent, groceries, and other necessities difficult, too, let alone the cost of health insurance or an ambulance ride to the emergency room.
Air pollution is especially hard on seniors, pregnant women, and children, who are forced to miss school and stay inside instead of joining friends at the playground or the park. Around the world, air pollution is responsible for as many as 7 million premature deaths each year — more than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. But the crisis of air pollution isn’t always visible — at least when there isn’t a dark plume lingering in the sky from one more chemical disaster.
The eight-county Houston region, where I live, has never met the Environmental Protection Agency’s health-based standards for ozone pollution. Currently, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio don’t, either. In 2019, my city experienced 29—nearly an entire month—of “ozone action days,” when pollutants from tailpipes and smokestacks chemically react in the heat and sunlight to create air that’s so unhealthy the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) advises us to stay inside as much as we can.
Already, Houston has had two of those ozone action days this spring, coinciding, ironically, with orders from local leaders to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The larger relationship between coronavirus and air pollution is one scientists are just beginning to understand. One preliminary nationwide study shows that areas with high levels of air pollution have seen higher death rates from COVID-19. Anyone can be infected, of course, but not everyone will be equally affected—and air pollution has a lot to do with the difference, as it contributes to heart and lung diseases and many other underlying conditions that are making COVID-19 more deadly.
In fact, the communities in Houston that have been most devastated by COVID-19 so far have been characterized by David Persse, the city’s top health authority, as those living with “decades of disparities” in everything from food security to access to medical care and transportation to environmental exposure.
One of the first Houstonians to die from COVID-19 was James C. Campbell, an 88-year-old man who lived in Pleasantville, a historic African American community on the east side of the city that is inundated with pollution from two interstates, heavy delivery trucks, metal recyclers, and salvage yards. So far, working-class communities like Pleasantville—as well as Sunnyside, Fifth Ward, Port Arthur, and communities in Louisiana’s so-called “Cancer Alley”—appear to have been hit the hardest by the pandemic.
As Perkison told the Observer in March, the terrible history of environmental injustice and racism has led to “a lot of immune systems that aren’t where they should be.” Why then—ever, but especially during the spread of a virus that attacks our respiratory systems—would the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) abandon its responsibility to protect us?
In April, as the curve so many of us stayed at home to flatten spiked with more and more confirmed cases, the EPA finished a five-year review required by the Clean Air Act of those tiny airborne particles, known as fine particulate matter, that aggravate Perkison’s and other Texans’ asthma and are linked to heart and lung diseases and cancer. EPA scientists found that strengthening the current standard for fine particulate matter, which allows 12 micrograms per cubic meter, to 9 micrograms per cubic meter could save more than 10,000 American lives every year.
As tens of thousands of Americans were dying from COVID-19, EPA leadership said, essentially, no: They weren’t going to do it.
Many scientists (and environmental lawyers, too) don’t believe that the current standard is strong enough to be protective of everyone’s health. The standard, set in 2012, contributes to at least 45,000 early deaths a year, EPA’s scientists found. A new analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Harvard School of Public Health found that fine particulate matter contributed to more than 5,000 early deaths and nearly $50 billion in economic damages just in the Houston region and just in 2015.
“A large portion of our population is being exposed to levels that the federal government recognizes are not safe,” said Dr. Grace Tee Lewis, an epidemiologist with the Environmental Defense Fund who’s based in Houston. “The science shows, if we could have a stronger standard, we can prevent [not only] deaths, but also asthma attacks, heart attacks, lung disease, preterm births, and other health conditions.”
Doesn’t it also follow that we could help to make those “immune systems that aren’t where they should be” more able to fight off attacks like COVID-19?
But EPA leadership shrugged. What’s 10,000 American lives? They’re now collecting public comments on the decision, but it’s one of several this spring expected to be rushed through as the pandemic wears on.
They moved quickly during this crisis to undo fuel economy standards and rewrite regulations about mercury pollution. They made it clear to industry that the pandemic could force them to suspend enforcement of noncompliance with environmental laws and that companies should just … monitor themselves. “Act responsibly,” they said.
Eric Schaeffer, who worked for the EPA for more than a decade before founding a nonprofit, the Environmental Integrity Project, said, “I never, ever see, in this administration, a decision on whether a standard is protective enough or what the health impacts will be that I have any confidence in at all.”
One of the reasons for the quality of the air we breathe in this country is strong government action. Ours still isn’t the “clean” air promised by the law established in 1963, but when our leaders set and enforce policies based on the latest science, the policies save lives, inspiring confidence in the ability of a government to protect our health and safety. It sounds nice! It’s time to reimagine the “normal” that so many are clamoring to get back to. Normal, for too many Texans, as Tee Lewis said, meant “living with a higher pollution burden in their daily lives, even before COVID-19 showed up.”
Polluters won’t protect us. The only thing big enough to clean our air, Beth Gardiner, the author of Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution, told me, is government. For the next 60 days, the EPA is collecting comments on their decision.
This article originally appeared in the Texas Observer.
West is a senior communications specialist for the Environmental Defense Fund. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter @allynwest.
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About anti-virus problems
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When it comes to HPV vaccination, females are only half the story. Males can get vaccinated too. Like other vaccines, GARDASIL works to help prevent illness. GARDASIL helps prevent HPV-related cancer and diseases caused by HPV Types 6, 11, 16, and 18. The time to vaccinate is before there is any exposure to these HPV types.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends routine vaccination with GARDASIL for boys and girls ages 11 or 12. The CDC also recommends vaccination for young women ages 13 through 26 and young men ages 13 through 21 who have not already been vaccinated. The CDC states that GARDASIL can be given to young men ages 22 through 26, if they and their doctor decide it’s right for them.
Additional organizations that support the CDC recommendations for HPV vaccination:
*ACS and ACOG support is specific to females
It’s not too early. You have the chance to help protect your child before he or she is exposed to HPV.
Learn more about it before your child’s next doctor’s appointment.Get started >
GARDASIL is a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that helps protect against 4 types of HPV. In girls and young women ages 9 to 26, GARDASIL helps protect against 2 types of HPV that cause 70% of cervical cancer cases, 70% of vaginal cancer cases, and up to 50% of vulvar cancer cases. In males and females ages 9 to 26, GARDASIL helps protect against about 80% of anal cancer cases and 90% of genital warts cases.
GARDASIL may not fully protect everyone, nor will it protect against diseases caused by other HPV types or against diseases not caused by HPV. GARDASIL does not prevent all types of cervical cancer, so it’s important for women to continue routine cervical cancer screenings. GARDASIL does not treat cancer or genital warts. GARDASIL is given as 3 injections over 6 months.
Anyone who is allergic to the ingredients of GARDASIL, including those severely allergic to yeast, should not receive the vaccine. GARDASIL is not for women who are pregnant.
The side effects include pain, swelling, itching, bruising, and redness at the injection site, headache, fever, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and fainting. Fainting can happen after getting GARDASIL. Sometimes people who faint can fall and hurt themselves. For this reason, your child’s health care professional may ask your child to sit or lie down for 15 minutes after he or she gets GARDASIL. Some people who faint might shake or become stiff. This may require evaluation or treatment by your child’s health care professional.
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Paley, a common authority with many on moral questions, in his chapter on the ‘Duty of Submission to Civil Government,’ resolves all civil obligation into expediency; and he proceeds to say that ‘so long as the interest of the whole society requires it, that is, so long as the established government cannot be resisted or changed without public inconvenience, it is the will of God . . . that the established government be obeyed—and no longer. This principle being admitted, the justice of every particular case of resistance is reduced to a computation of the quantity of the danger and grievance on the one side, and of the probability and expense of redressing it on the other.’ Of this, he says, every man shall judge for himself. But Paley appears never to have contemplated those cases to which the rule of expediency does not apply, in which a people, as well as an individual, must do justice, cost what it may. If I have unjustly wrested a plank from a drowning man, I must restore it to him though I drown myself. This, according to Paley, would be inconvenient. But he that would save his life, in such a case, shall lose it. This people must cease to hold slaves, and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people.
In their practice, nations agree with Paley; but does anyone think that Massachusetts does exactly what is right at the present crisis?
‘A drab of stat,
a cloth-o’-silver slut,
To have her train borne up,
and her soul trail in the dirt.’
Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform in Massachusetts are not a hundred thousand politicians at the South, but a hundred thousand merchants and farmers here, who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not prepared to do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may. I quarrel not with far-off foes, but with those who, near at home, co-operate with, and do the bidding of, those far away, and without whom the latter would be harmless. We are accustomed to say, that the mass of men are unprepared; but improvement is slow, because the few are not as materially wiser or better than the many. It is not so important that many should be good as you, as that there be some absolute goodness somewhere; for that will leaven the whole lump. There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing; who even postpone the question of freedom to the question of free trade, and quietly read the prices-current along with the latest advices from Mexico, after dinner, and, it may be, fall asleep over them both. What is the price-current of an honest man and patriot today? They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. At most, they give up only a cheap vote, and a feeble countenance and Godspeed, to the right, as it goes by them. There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man. But it is easier to deal with the real possessor of a thing than with the temporary guardian of it.
All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency. Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will be because they are indifferent to slavery, or because there is but little slavery left to be abolished by their vote. They will then be the only slaves. Only his vote can hasten the abolition of slavery who asserts his own freedom by his vote.
I hear of a convention to be held at Baltimore, or elsewhere, for the selection of a candidate for the Presidency, made up chiefly of editors, and men who are politicians by profession; but I think, what is it to any independent, intelligent, and respectable man what decision they may come to? Shall we not have the advantage of this wisdom and honesty, nevertheless? Can we not count upon some independent votes? Are there not many individuals in the country who do not attend conventions? But no: I find that the respectable man, so called, has immediately drifted from his position, and despairs of his country, when his country has more reasons to despair of him. He forthwith adopts one of the candidates thus selected as the onlyavailable one, thus proving that he is himself available for any purposes of the demagogue. His vote is of no more worth than that of any unprincipled foreigner or hireling native, who may have been bought. O for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbor says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through! Our statistics are at fault: the population has been returned too large. How many men are there to a square thousand miles in the country? Hardly one. Does not America offer any inducement for men to settle here? The American has dwindled into an Odd Fellow—one who may be known by the development of his organ of gregariousness, and a manifest lack of intellect and cheerful self-reliance; whose first and chief concern, on coming into the world, is to see that the almshouses are in good repair; and, before yet he has lawfully donned the virile garb, to collect a fund to the support of the widows and orphans that may be; who, in short, ventures to live only by the aid of the Mutual Insurance company, which has promised to bury him decently.
It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even to most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support. If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man’s shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplations too. See what gross inconsistency is tolerated. I have heard some of my townsmen say, “I should like to have them order me out to help put down an insurrection of the slaves, or to march to Mexico—see if I would go”; and yet these very men have each, directly by their allegiance, and so indirectly, at least, by their money, furnished a substitute. The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war; is applauded by those whose own act and authority he disregards and sets at naught; as if the state were penitent to that degree that it hired one to scourge it while it sinned, but not to that degree that it left off sinning for a moment. Thus, under the name of Order and Civil Government, we are all made at last to pay homage to and support our own meanness. After the first blush of sin comes its indifference; and from immoral it becomes, as it were, unmoral, and not quite unnecessary to that life which we have made.
The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinterested virtue to sustain it. The slight reproach to which the virtue of patriotism is commonly liable, the noble are most likely to incur. Those who, while they disapprove of the character and measures of a government, yield to it their allegiance and support are undoubtedly its most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious obstacles to reform. Some are petitioning the State to dissolve the Union, to disregard the requisitions of the President. Why do they not dissolve it themselves—the union between themselves and the State—and refuse to pay their quota into its treasury? Do not they stand in same relation to the State that the State does to the Union? And have not the same reasons prevented the State from resisting the Union which have prevented them from resisting the State?
How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, and enjoy it? Is there any enjoyment in it, if his opinion is that he is aggrieved? If you are cheated out of a single dollar by your neighbor, you do not rest satisfied with knowing you are cheated, or with saying that you are cheated, or even with petitioning him to pay you your due; but you take effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount, and see to it that you are never cheated again. Action from principle, the perception and the performance of right, changes things and relations; it is essentially revolutionary, and does not consist wholly with anything which was. It not only divided States and churches, it divides families; ay, it divides the individual, separating the diabolical in him from the divine.
Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men, generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to put out its faults, and do better than it would have them? Why does it always crucify Christ and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?
One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial of its authority was the only offense never contemplated by its government; else, why has it not assigned its definite, its suitable and proportionate, penalty? If a man who has no property refuses but once to earn nine shillings for the State, he is put in prison for a period unlimited by any law that I know, and determined only by the discretion of those who put him there; but if he should steal ninety times nine shillings from the State, he is soon permitted to go at large again.
If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth—certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.
As for adopting the ways which the State has provided for remedying the evil, I know not of such ways. They take too much time, and a man’s life will be gone. I have other affairs to attend to. I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad. A man has not everything to do, but something; and because he cannot do everything, it is not necessary that he should be doing something wrong. It is not my business to be petitioning the Governor or the Legislature any more than it is theirs to petition me; and if they should not hear my petition, what should I do then? But in this case the State has provided no way: its very Constitution is the evil. This may seem to be harsh and stubborn and unconcilliatory; but it is to treat with the utmost kindness and consideration the only spirit that can appreciate or deserves it. So is all change for the better, like birth and death, which convulse the body.
I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves Abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both in person and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait till they constitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevail through them. I think that it is enough if they have God on their side, without waiting for that other one. Moreover, any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already.
I meet this American government, or its representative, the State government, directly, and face to face, once a year—no more—in the person of its tax-gatherer; this is the only mode in which a man situated as I am necessarily meets it; and it then says distinctly, Recognize me; and the simplest, the most effectual, and, in the present posture of affairs, the indispensablest mode of treating with it on this head, of expressing your little satisfaction with and love for it, is to deny it then. My civil neighbor, the tax-gatherer, is the very man I have to deal with—for it is, after all, with men and not with parchment that I quarrel—and he has voluntarily chosen to be an agent of the government. How shall he ever know well that he is and does as an officer of the government, or as a man, until he is obliged to consider whether he will treat me, his neighbor, for whom he has respect, as a neighbor and well-disposed man, or as a maniac and disturber of the peace, and see if he can get over this obstruction to his neighborlines without a ruder and more impetuous thought or speech corresponding with his action. I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name—if ten honest men only—ay, if one HONEST man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this co-partnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever. But we love better to talk about it: that we say is our mission. Reform keeps many scores of newspapers in its service, but not one man. If my esteemed neighbor, the State’s ambassador, who will devote his days to the settlement of the question of human rights in the Council Chamber, instead of being threatened with the prisons of Carolina, were to sit down the prisoner of Massachusetts, that State which is so anxious to foist the sin of slavery upon her sister—though at present she can discover only an act of inhospitality to be the ground of a quarrel with her—the Legislature would not wholly waive the subject of the following winter.
Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison. The proper place today, the only place which Massachusetts has provided for her freer and less despondent spirits, is in her prisons, to be put out and locked out of the State by her own act, as they have already put themselves out by their principles. It is there that the fugitive slave, and the Mexican prisoner on parole, and the Indian come to plead the wrongs of his race should find them; on that separate but more free and honorable ground, where the State places those who are not with her, but against her—the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor. If any think that their influence would be lost there, and their voices no longer afflict the ear of the State, that they would not be as an enemy within its walls, they do not know by how much truth is stronger than error, nor how much more eloquently and effectively he can combat injustice who has experienced a little in his own person. Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible. If the tax-gatherer, or any other public officer, asks me, as one has done, ‘But what shall I do?’ my answer is, ‘If you really wish to do anything, resign your office.’ When the subject has refused allegiance, and the officer has resigned from office, then the revolution is accomplished. But even suppose blood should flow. Is there not a sort of blood shed when the conscience is wounded? Through this wound a man’s real manhood and immortality flow out, and he bleeds to an everlasting death. I see this blood flowing now.
I have contemplated the imprisonment of the offender, rather than the seizure of his goods—though both will serve the same purpose—because they who assert the purest right, and consequently are most dangerous to a corrupt State, commonly have not spent much time in accumulating property. To such the State renders comparatively small service, and a slight tax is wont to appear exorbitant, particularly if they are obliged to earn it by special labor with their hands. If there were one who lived wholly without the use of money, the State itself would hesitate to demand it of him. But the rich man—not to make any invidious comparison—is always sold to the institution which makes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue; for money comes between a man and his objects, and obtains them for him; it was certainly no great virtue to obtain it. It puts to rest many questions which he would otherwise be taxed to answer; while the only new question which it puts is the hard but superfluous one, how to spend it. Thus his moral ground is taken from under his feet. The opportunities of living are diminished in proportion as that are called the ‘means’ are increased. The best thing a man can do for his culture when he is rich is to endeavor to carry out those schemes which he entertained when he was poor. Christ answered the Herodians according to their condition. ‘Show me the tribute-money,’ said he—and one took a penny out of his pocket—if you use money which has the image of Caesar on it, and which he has made current and valuable, that is, if you are men of the State, and gladly enjoy the advantages of Caesar’s government, then pay him back some of his own when he demands it. ‘Render therefore to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God those things which are God’s’—leaving them no wiser than before as to which was which; for they did not wish to know.
When I converse with the freest of my neighbors, I perceive that, whatever they may say about the magnitude and seriousness of the question, and their regard for the public tranquillity, the long and the short of the matter is, that they cannot spare the protection of the existing government, and they dread the consequences to their property and families of disobedience to it. For my own part, I should not like to think that I ever rely on the protection of the State. But, if I deny the authority of the State when it presents its tax bill, it will soon take and waste all my property, and so harass me and my children without end. This is hard. This makes it impossible for a man to live honestly, and at the same time comfortably, in outward respects. It will not be worth the while to accumulate property; that would be sure to go again. You must hire or squat somewhere, and raise but a small crop, and eat that soon. You must live within yourself, and depend upon yourself always tucked up and ready for a start, and not have many affairs. A man may grow rich in Turkey even, if he will be in all respects a good subject of the Turkish government. Confucius said: ‘If a state is governed by the principles of reason, poverty and misery are subjects of shame; if a state is not governed by the principles of reason, riches and honors are subjects of shame.’ No: until I want the protection of Massachusetts to be extended to me in some distant Southern port, where my liberty is endangered, or until I am bent solely on building up an estate at home by peaceful enterprise, I can afford to refuse allegiance to Massachusetts, and her right to my property and life. It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than it would to obey. I should feel as if I were worth less in that case.” Henry David Thoreau, a selection from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience that deals with slavery and the Mexican War; 1846
“I have received a letter from a prisoner in the United States penitentiary in Atlanta that makes interesting and profitable reading. The name of the writer for the present at least must remain unknown. The letter would never have been permitted to go out of the prison in the regular way; not a word of criticism of the prison of anyone connected with its management is allowed to pass the censor. No matterwhat practices may prevail or what outrages may be perpetrated, no report thereof is permitted to pass the walls. The general public, which supports the prison, is not allowed to know what goes on there except as it may please the officers in charge to let the people know what a fine place it is and what a privilege to be locked up there. Just at this writing a huge scandal has been uncovered at the United States penitentiary at Atlanta. A ‘dope ring,’ headed by a prison physician and several guards, has been long operating there making dope fiends of young prisoners and supplying all who could pay for it at robber rates with the poisonous drug that would ruin them for life. And this is the benevolent United States government institution where drug addicts are sent to be reformed. And truly it is a fine bourgeois reformation they get at this walled-in inferno.
The letter, which follows, was sent out underground or it would never have left the prison. It is from a man who served a term of years in the navy and has been rewarded for his patriotism by a long prison sentence. There are several hundred inmates at Atlanta who were soldiers, marines, and sailors, some of them of many years standing, who for more or less trifling offenses were court-martialed by their ‘superiors’ and sent to the penitentiary to contemplate the beauty of their reward for putting on a uniform and fighting to make their country ‘safe for democracy.’ The writer of this letter is one of those victims and the letter speaks eloquently for itself.
Here it is:
Through your many friends and comrades in prison here I
have learned of your suffering for the noble cause of the human
race. Your martyrdom will blaze the trail to the goal which the
working class are destined to reach. With a few more such mar tyrs the cause will be won. Your undying devotion to your noble
principles and your untiring efforts to secure liberty and justice
for all, to make this country a fit place to live in, will be crowned
with victory at last. From now on my life belongs to your cause.
Having thrown away 11 years in the navy, the lessons of experience have at last been a blessing to me. I have learned what
our navy really stands for and that is not for the protection
against invasion, but simply a school that teaches the doctrines
of the rich.
The struggle of the oppressed will be won in time and then
your name shall be a household word to the new generation.
To help in this struggle in which the truth must be known by
the masses, I am writing you of conditions which exist in the
Navy, wishing everyone to know the truth. Candidly I would rather
serve time here than in the navy. One cannot imagine the tyrannical rules which govern in our navy. In this letter I shall speak
by the truth and I shall stand prepared to defend my statements.
Every father and mother should know of the conditions that
exist in the navy and if they did they would never consent to their
sons’ enlistment. There are few, if any, of the enlisted personnel
who are of wealthy parents. The majority are of the working
class. The glowing advertisements showing scenes of foreign
countries and depicting the fascinating life as related by men
who have been instructed in this art are intended to lure young
lads into the trap. These glowing inducements draw the young
away from home. The majority of those who first enlist are young
and adventurous, desiring to travel Some of them never see foreign soil.
An enlisted man has no rights, only privileges, and these are
granted by the commanding officers. Everything is at their discretion. The maxim first inculcated in the minds of new recruits is
‘Fear your superiors more than you do your enemy.’ This is the
basis of discipline. If the young men knew the truth, they would
never enter the navy. The wide distinction between officers and
enlisted men means a big break when the latter begin to think for
The officers of the navy belong to a class or clique with an
idea that this clique must have its way in everything. They do as
they please in their palaces on the high seas. Some wonder why
a man is not chosen from the military to be Secretary of the
Navy. With a military head their power would be complete.
Naval Officers Not Gentlemen.
The officers of our navy are snobs, looking upon the enlisted
men as curs. The following are a few rules which the recruit
never learns until he has signed his rights away. Whistling is prohibited aboard ship. Captain Gilmore, USN, was made Governor
of Guam. He at once prohibited whistling on the island. Your hair
must be cut according to the style which the captain sets. If during recreation you are reading or writing and the captain heaves
in sight, you must drop everything and stand at attention until he
passes. To speak to the captain you should first try to have an
interview with the Sultan. Never forget the Sir to your superiors,
as they are termed. You are taught to obey your superiors without
I worked in the Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia, then under
control of a tyrant, Admiral Phillip Andrews. He looks upon the
working class as slaves and he treats them as such. His idea is
that of a slave-driver. His purpose is to have all enlisted men
working in Navy Yards. He can then train them to be driven.
The people outside do not hear much of the immoral practices existing in the navy. I am an honorably discharged man and my last three months were on recruiting duty. There are many incidents I could relate from my experience did space permit.
The military machine must be smashed and then only will
the working men win their long struggle for liberty and justice.
The warning voice of this imprisoned marine, whose eyes are now opened and who would save other young men from sharing in his lamentable experience is well worthy of serious consideration.” Eugene Debs, “From Atlanta Prison: a Letter From a Prisoner With a Warning;” New Age, 1922.
Several years after hearing of its existence, I have at last got my hands on a copy of Zamyatin’s We, which is one of the literary curiosities of this book-burning age. Looking it up in Gleb Struve’s Twenty-Five Years of Soviet Russian Literature, I find its history to have been this:
Zamyatin, who died in Paris in 1937, was a Russian novelist and critic who published a number of books both before and after the Revolution. We was written about 1923, and though it is not about Russia and has no direct connection with contemporary politics–it is a fantasy dealing with the twenty-sixth century AD–it was refused publication on the ground that it was ideololgically undesirable. A copy of the manuscript found its way out of the country, and the book has appeared in English, French and Czech translations, but never in Russian. The English translation was published in the United States, and I have never been able to procure a copy: but copies of the French translation (the title is Nous Autres) do exist, and I have at last succeeded in borrowing one. So far as I can judge it is not a book of the first order, but it is certainly an unusual one, and it is astonishing that no English publisher has been enterprising enought to reissue it.
The first thing anyone would notice about We is the fact–never pointed out, I believe–that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World must be partly derived from it. Both books deal with the rebellion of the primitive human spirit against a rationalised, mechanised, painless world, and both stories are supposed to take place about six hundred years hence. The atmosphere of the two books is similar, and it is roughly speaking the same kind of society that is being described though Huxley’s book shows less political awareness and is more influenced by recent biological and psychological theories.
In the twenty-sixth century, in Zamyatin’s vision of it, the inhabitants of Utopia have so completely lost their individuality as to be known only by numbers. They live in glass houses (this was written before television was invented), which enables the political police, known as the “Guardians”, to supervise them more easily. They all wear identical uniforms, and a human being is commonly referred to either as “a number” or “a unif” (uniform). They live on synthetic food, and their usual recreation is to march in fours while the anthem of the Single State is played through loudspeakers. At stated intervals they are allowed for one hour (known as “the sex hour”) to lower the curtains round their glass apartments. There is, of course, no marriage, though sex life does not appear to be completely promiscuous. For purposes of love-making everyone has a sort of ration book of pink tickets, and the partner with whom he spends one of his allotted sex hours signs the counterfoil. The Single State is ruled over by a personage known as The Benefactor, who is annually re-elected by the entire population, the vote being always unanimous. The guiding principle of the State is that happiness and freedom are imcompatible. In the Garden of Eden man was happy, but in his folly he demanded freedom and was driven out into the wilderness. Now the Single State has restored his happiness by removing his freedom.
So far the resemblance with Brave New World is striking. But though Zamyatin’s book is less well put together–it has a rather weak and episodic plot which is too complex to summarise–it has a political point which the other lacks. In Huxley’s book the problem of “human nature” is in a sense solved, because it assumes that by pre-natal treatment, drugs and hypnotic suggestion the human organism can be specialised in any way that is desired. A first-rate scientific worker is as easily produced as an Epsilon semi-moron, and in either case the vestiges of primitive instincts, such as maternal feeling or the desire for liberty, are easily dealt with. At the same time no clear reason is given why society should be stratified in the elaborate way it is described. The aim is not economic exploitation, but the desire to bully and dominate does not seem to be a motive either. There is no power hunger, no sadism, no hardness of any kind. Those at the top have no strong motive for staying at the top, and though everyone is happy in a vacuous way, life has become so pointless that it is difficult to believe that such a society could endure.
Zamyatin’s book is on the whole more relevant to our own situation. In spite of education and the vigilance of the Guardians, many of the ancient human instincts are still there. The teller of the story, D-503, who, though a gifted engineer, is a poor conventional creature, a sort of Utopian Billy Brown of London Town, is constantly horrified by the atavistic* impulses which seize upon him. He falls in love (this is a crime, of course) with a certain I-330 who is a member of an underground resistance movement and succeeds for a while in leading him into rebellion. When the rebellion breaks out it appears that the enemies of The Benefactor are in fact fairly numerous, and these people, apart from plotting the overthrow of the State, even indulge, at the moment when their curtains are down, in such vices as smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. D-503 is ultimately saved from the consequences of his own folly. The authorities announce that they have discovered the cause of the recent disorders: it is that some human beings suffer from a disease called imagination. The nerve-centre responsible for imagination has now been located, and the disease can be cured by X-ray treatment. D-503 undergoes the operation, after which it is easy for him to do what he has known all along that he ought to do–that is, betray his confederates to the police. With complete equanimity he watches I-330 tortured by means of compressed air under a glass bell:
She looked at me, her hands clasping the arms of the chair, until her eyes were completely shut. They took her out, brought her to herself by means of an electric shock, and put her under the bell again. This operation was repeated three times, and not a word issued from her lips. The others who had been brought along with her showed themselves more honest. Many of them confessed after one application. Tomorrow they will all be sent to the Machine of The Benefactor.
The Machine of The Benefactor is the guillotine. There are many executions in Zamyatin’s Utopia. They take place publicly, in the presence of The Benefactor, and are accompanied by triumphal odes recited by the official poets. The guillotine, of course, is not the old crude instrument but a much improved model which literally liquidates its victim, reducing him in an instant to a puff of smoke and a pool of clear water. The execution is, in fact, a human sacrifice, and the scene describing it is given deliberately the colour of the sinister slave civilisations of the ancient world. It is this intuitive grasp of the irrational side of totalitarianism–human sacrifice, cruelty as an end in itself, the worship of a Leader who is credited with divine attributes–that makes Zamyatin’s book superior to Huxley’s.
It is easy to see why the book was refused publication. The following conversation (I abridge it slightly) beteen D-503 and I-330 would have been quite enough to set the blue pencils working:
‘Do you realise that what you are suggesting is revolution?’
‘Of course, it’s revolution. Why not?’
‘Because there can’t be a revolution. Our revolution was the last and there can never be another. Everybody knows that.’
‘My dear, you’re a mathematician: tell me, which is the last number?’
‘But that’s absurd. Numbers are infinite. There can’t be a last one.’
‘Then why do you talk about the last revolution?’
There are other similar passages. It may well be, however, that Zamyatin did not intend the Soviet regime to be the special target of his satire. Writing at about the time of Lenin’s death, he cannot have had the Stalin dictatorship in mind, and conditions in Russia in 1923 were not such that anyone would revolt against them on the ground that life was becoming too safe and comfortable. What Zamyatin seems to be aiming at is not any particular country but the implied aims of industrial civilisation. I have not read any of his other books, but I learn from Gleb Struve that he had spent several years in England and had written some blistering satires on English life. It is evident from We that he had a strong leaning towards primitivism. Imprisoned by the Czarist Government in 1906, and then imprisoned by the Bolsheviks in 1922 in the same corridor of the same prison, he had cause to dislike the political regimes he had lived under, but his book is not simply the expression of a grievance. It is in effect a study of the Machine, the genie that man has thoughtlessly let out of its bottle and cannot put back again. This is a book to look out for when an English version appears.” George Orwell, “Review of We, by E.I. Zamyatin; The Tribune, 1946
“David Horowitz’s article, ‘Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea and Racist Too,’ recently achieved circulation in a handful of college newspapers throughout the United States as a paid advertisement sponsored by the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. While Horowitz’s article pretends to address the issues of reparations, it is not about reparations at all. It is, rather, a well-heeled, coordinated attack on Black Americans which is calculated to elicit division and strife. Horowitz reportedly attempted to place his article in some 50 student newspapers at universities and colleges across the country, and was successful in purchasing space in such newspapers at Brown, Duke, Arizona, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, University of Chicago, and University of Wisconsin, paying an average of $700 per paper. His campaign has succeeded in fomenting outrage, dissension, and grief wherever it has appeared. Unfortunately, both its supporters and its foes too often have categorized the issue as one centering on ‘free speech.’ The sale and purchase of advertising space is not a matter of free speech, however, but involves an exchange of commodities. Professor Lewis Gordon of Brown University put it very well, saying that ‘what concerned me was that the ad was both hate speech and a solicitation for financial support to develop antiblack ad space. I was concerned that it would embolden white supremacists and antiblack racists.’ At a March 15 panel held at UC Berkeley, Horowitz also conceded that his paid advertisement did not constitute a free speech issue.
As one examines the text of Horowitz’s article, it becomes apparent that it is not a reasoned essay addressed to the topic of reparations: it is, rather, a racist polemic against African Americans and Africans that is neither responsible nor informed, relying heavily upon sophistry and a Hitlerian ‘Big Lie’ technique. To our knowledge, only one of Horowitz’s ten ‘reasons’ has been challenged by a black scholar as to source, accuracy, and validity. It is our intention here to briefly rebut his slanders in order to pave the way for an honest and forthright debate on reparations. In these efforts we focus not just on slavery, but also the legacy of slavery which continues to inform institutional as well as individual behavior in the U.S. to this day. Although we recognize that white America still owes a debt to the descendants of slaves, in addressing Horowitz’s distortions of history we do not act as advocates for a specific form of reparations.
1. There Is No Single Group Clearly Responsible For The Crime Of Slavery
Horowitz’s first argument, relativist in structure, can only lead to two conclusions: 1) societies are not responsible for their actions and 2) since ‘everyone’ was responsible for slavery, no one was responsible. While diverse groups on different continents certainly participated in the trade, the principal responsibility for internationalization of that trade and the institutionalization of slavery in the so-called New World rests with European and American individuals and institutions. The transatlantic slave trade began with the importation of African slaves into Hispaniola by Spain in the early 1500s. Nationals of France, England, Portugal, and the Netherlands, supported by their respective governments and powerful religious institutions, quickly entered the trade and extracted their pieces of silver as well. By conservative estimates, 14 million enslaved Africans survived the horror of the Middle Passage for the purpose of producing wealth for Europeans and Euro-Americans in the New World.
While there is some evidence of blacks owning slaves for profit purposes–most notably the creole caste in Louisiana–the numbers were small. As historian James Oakes noted, “By 1830 there were some 3,775 free black slaveholders across the South. . . . The evidence is overwhelming that the vast majority of black slaveholders were free men who purchased members of their families or who acted out of benevolence.” (Oakes, 47-48.)
2. There Is No Single Group That Benefited Exclusively From Slavery
Horowitz’s second point, which is also a relativist one, seeks to dismiss the argument that white Americans benefited as a group from slavery, contending that the material benefits of slavery could not accrue in an exclusive way to a single group. But such sophistry evades the basic issue: who benefited primarily from slavery? Those who were responsible for the institutionalized enslavement of people of African descent also received the primary benefits from such actions. New England slave traders, merchants, bankers, and insurance companies all profited from the slave trade, which required a wide variety of commodities ranging from sails, chandlery, foodstuffs, and guns, to cloth goods and other items for trading purposes. Both prior to and after the American Revolution, slaveholding was a principal path for white upward mobility in the South. The white native-born as well as immigrant groups such as Germans, Scots-Irish, and the like participated. In 1860, cotton was the country’s largest single export. As Eric Williams and C.L.R. James have
demonstrated, the free labor provided by slavery was central to the growth of industry in western Europe and the United States; simultaneously, as Walter Rodney has argued, slavery depressed and destabilized the economies of African states. Slaveholders benefited primarily from the institution, of course, and generally in proportion to the number of slaves which they held. But the sharing of the proceeds of slave exploitation spilled across class lines within white communities as well.
As historian John Hope Franklin recently affirmed in a rebuttal to Horowitz’s claims:
“All whites and no slaves benefited from American slavery. All blacks had no rights that they could claim as their own. All whites, including the vast majority who had no slaves, were not only encouraged but authorized to exercise dominion over all slaves, thereby adding strength to the system of control.
“If David Horowitz had read James D. DeBow’s “The Interest in Slavery of the Southern Non- slaveholder,” he would not have blundered into the fantasy of claiming that no single group benefited from slavery. Planters did, of course. New York merchants did, of course. Even poor whites benefited from the legal advantage they enjoyed over all blacks as well as from the psychological advantage of having a group beneath them.”
The context of the African-American argument for reparations is confined to the practice and consequences of slavery within the United States, from the colonial period on through final abolition and the aftermath, circa 1619-1865. Contrary to Horowitz’s assertion, there is no record of institutionalized white enslavement in colonial America. Horowitz is confusing the indenture of white labor, which usually lasted seven years or so during the early colonial period, with enslavement. African slavery was expanded, in fact, to replace the inefficient and unenforceable white indenture system. (Smith)
Seeking to claim that African Americans, too, have benefited from slavery, Horowitz points to the relative prosperity of African Americans in comparison to their counterparts on the African continent. However, his argument that, “the GNP of black America makes the African-American community the 10th most prosperous “nation” in the world is based upon a false analogy. GNP is defined as “the total market value of all the goods and services produced by a nation during a specified period.” Black Americans are not a nation and have no GNP. Horowitz confuses disposable income and “consumer power” with the generation of wealth.
3. Only A Tiny Minority Of White Americans Ever Owned Slaves, And Others Gave Their Lives To Free Them
Most white union troops were drafted into the union army in a war which the federal government initially defined as a “war to preserve the union.” In large part because they feared that freed slaves would flee the South and “take their jobs” while they themselves were engaged in warfare with Confederate troops, recently drafted white conscripts in New York City and elsewhere rioted during the summer of 1863, taking a heavy toll on black civilian life and property. Too many instances can be cited where white northern troops plundered the personal property of slaves, appropriating their bedding, chickens, pigs, and foodstuffs as they swept through the South. On the other hand, it is certainly true that there also existed principled white commanders and troops who were committed abolitionists.
However, Horowitz’s focus on what he mistakenly considers to be the overriding, benevolent aim of white union troops in the Civil War obscures the role that blacks themselves played in their own liberation. African Americans were initially forbidden by the Union to fight in the Civil War, and black leaders such as Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany demanded the right to fight for their freedom. When racist doctrine finally conceded to military necessity, blacks were recruited into the Union Army in 1862 at approximately half the pay of white soldiers–a situation which was partially rectified by an act of Congress in mid-1864. Some 170,000 blacks served in the Civil War, representing nearly one third of the free black population.
By 1860, four million blacks in the U.S. were enslaved; some 500,000 were nominally free. Because of slavery, racist laws, and racist policies, blacks were denied the chance to compete for the opportunities and resources of America that were available to native whites and immigrants: labor opportunities, free enterprise, and land. The promise of “forty acres and a mule” to former slaves was effectively nullified by the actions of President Andrew Johnson. And because the best
land offered by the Homestead Act of 1862 and its subsequent revisions quickly fell under the sway of white homesteaders and speculators, most former slaves were unable to take advantage of its provisions.
4. Most Living Americans Have No Connection (Direct Or Indirect) To Slavery
As Joseph Anderson, member of the National Council of African American Men, observed, “the arguments for reparations aren’t made on the basis of whether every white person directly gained from slavery. The arguments are made on the basis that slavery was institutionalized and protected by law in the United States. As the government is an entity that survives generations, its debts and obligations survive the lifespan of any particular individuals. . . . Governments make restitution to victims as a group or class.” (San Francisco Chronicle, March 26, 2001, p. A21.)
Most Americans today were not alive during World War II. Yet reparations to Japanese Americans for their internment in concentration camps during the war was paid out of current government sources contributed to by contemporary Americans. Passage of time does not negate the responsibility of government in crimes against humanity. Similarly, German corporations are not the “same” corporations that supported the Holocaust; their personnel and policies today belong to generations removed from their earlier criminal behavior. Yet, these corporations are being successfully sued by Jews for their past actions. In the same vein, the U.S. government is not the same government as it was in the pre-civil war era, yet its debts and obligations from the past are no less relevant today.
5. The Historical Precedents Used To Justify The Reparations Claim Do Not Apply, And The Claim Itself Is Based On Race Not Injury
As noted in our response to “Reason 4,” the historical precedents for the reparations claims of African Americans are fully consistent with restitution accorded other historical groups for atrocities committed against them. Second, the injury in question–that of slavery–was inflicted upon a people designated as a race. The descendants of that people–still socially constructed as a race today–continue to suffer the institutional legacies of slavery some one hundred thirty-five years after its demise. To attempt to separate the issue of so-called race from that of injury in this instance is pure sophistry. For example, the criminal (in)justice system today largely continues to operate as it did under slavery–for the protection of white citizens against black “outsiders.” Although no longer inscribed in law, this very attitude is implicit to processes of law enforcement, prosecution, and incarceration, guiding the behavior of police, prosecutors, judges, juries, wardens, and parole boards. Hence, African Americans continue to experience higher rates of incarceration than do whites charged with similar crimes, endure longer sentences for the same classes of crimes perpetrated by whites, and, compared to white inmates, receive far less consideration by parole boards when being considered for release.
Slavery was an institution sanctioned by the highest laws of the land with a degree of support from the Constitution itself. The institution of slavery established the idea and the practice that American democracy was “for whites only.” There are many white Americans whose actions (or lack thereof) reveal such sentiments today–witness the response of the media and the general populace to the blatant disfranchisement of African Americans in Florida during the last presidential election. Would such complacency exist if African Americans were considered “real citizens”? And despite the dramatic successes of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, the majority of black Americans do not enjoy the same rights as white Americans in the economic sphere. (We continue this argument in the following section.)
6. The Reparations Argument Is Based On The Unfounded Claim That All African-American Descendants of Slaves Suffer From The Economic Consequences Of Slavery And Discrimination
Most blacks suffered and continue to suffer the economic consequences of slavery and its aftermath. As of 1998, median white family income in the U.S. was $49,023; median black family income was $29,404, just 60% of white income. (2001 New York Times Almanac, p. 319) Further, the costs of living within the United States far exceed those of African nations. The present poverty level for an American family of four is $17,029. Twenty-three and three-fifths percent (23.6%) of all black families live below the poverty level.
When one examines net financial worth, which reflects, in part, the wealth handed down within families from generation to generation, the figures appear much starker. Recently, sociologists Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro found that just a little over a decade ago, the net financial worth of white American families with zero or negative net financial worth
stood at around 25%; that of Hispanic households at 54%; and that of black American households at almost 61%. (Oliver & Shapiro, p. 87) The inability to accrue net financial worth is also directly related to hiring practices in which black Americans are “last hired” when the economy experiences an upturn, and “first fired” when it falls on hard times.
And as historian John Hope Franklin remarked on the legacy of slavery for black education: “laws enacted by states forbade the teaching of blacks any means of acquiring knowledge-including the alphabet-which is the legacy of disadvantage of educational privatization and discrimination experienced by African Americans in 2001.”
Horowitz’s comparison of African Americans with Jamaicans is a false analogy, ignoring the different historical contexts of the two populations. The British government ended slavery in Jamaica and its other West Indian territories in 1836, paying West Indian slaveholders $20,000,000 pounds ($100,000,000 U.S. dollars) to free the slaves, and leaving the black Jamaicans, who comprised 90% of that island’s population, relatively free. Though still facing racist obstacles, Jamaicans come to the U.S. as voluntary immigrants, with greater opportunity to weigh, choose, and develop their options.
7. The Reparations Claim Is One More Attempt To Turn African-Americans Into Victims. It Sends A Damaging Message To The African-American Community
What is a victim? Black people have certainly been victimized, but acknowledgment of that fact is not a case of “playing the victim” but of seeking justice. There is no validity to Horowitz’s comparison between black Americans and victims of oppressive regimes who have voluntary immigrated to these shores. Further, many members of those populations, such as Chileans and Salvadorans, direct their energies for redress toward the governments of their own oppressive nations– which is precisely what black Americans are doing. Horowitz’s racism is expressed in his contemptuous characterization of reparations as “an extravagant new handout that is only necessary because some blacks can’t seem to locate the ladder of opportunity within reach of others, many of whom are less privileged than themselves.” What Horowitz fails to acknowledge is that racism continues as an ideology and a material force within the U.S., providing blacks with no ladder that reaches the top. The damage lies in the systematic treatment of black people in the U.S., not their claims against those who initiated this damage and their spiritual descendants who continue its perpetuation.
8. Reparations To African Americans Have Already Been Paid
The nearest the U.S. government came to full and permanent restitution of African Americans was the spontaneous redistribution of land brought about by General William Sherman’s Field Order 15 in January, 1865, which empowered Union commanders to make land grants and give other material assistance to newly liberated blacks. But that order was rescinded by President Andrew Johnson later in the year. Efforts by Representative Thaddeus Stevens and other radical Republicans to provide the proverbial “40 acres and a mule” which would have carved up huge plantations of the defeated Confederacy into modest land grants for blacks and poor whites never got out of the House of Representatives. The debt has not been paid.
“Welfare benefits and racial preferences” are not reparations. The welfare system was set in place in the 1930s to alleviate the poverty of the Great Depression, and more whites than blacks received welfare. So-called “racial preferences” come not from benevolence but from lawsuits by blacks against white businesses, government agencies, and municipalities which practice racial discrimination.
9. What About The Debt Blacks Owe To America?
Horowitz’s assertion that “in the thousand years of slavery’s existence, there never was an anti-slavery movement until white Anglo-Saxon Christians created one,” only demonstrates his ignorance concerning the formidable efforts of blacks to free themselves. Led by black Toussaint L’Ouverture, the Haitian revolution of 1793 overthrew the French slave system, created the first black republic in the world, and intensified the activities of black and white anti-slavery movements in the U.S. Slave insurrections and conspiracies such as those of Gabriel (1800), Denmark Vesey (1822), and Nat Turner (1831) were potent sources of black resistance; black abolitionists such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Richard Allen, Sojourner Truth, Martin Delany, David Walker, and Henry Highland Garnet waged an incessant struggle against slavery through agencies such as the press, notably Douglass’s North Star and its variants, which ran from 1847 to 1863 (blacks, moreover, constituted some 75 % of the subscribers to William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberatornewspaper in its first four years); the Underground Railroad, the Negro Convention Movement, local, state, and national anti-slavery societies, and the slave narrative. Black Americans were in no ways the passive recipients of freedom from anyone, whether viewed from the perspective of black participation in the abolitionist movement, the flight of slaves from plantations and farms during the Civil War, or the enlistment of black troops in the Union army.
The idea of black debt to U.S. society is a rehash of the Christian missionary argument of the 17th and 18th centuries: because Africans were considered heathens, it was therefore legitimate to enslave them and drag them in chains to a Christian nation. Following their partial conversion, their moral and material lot were improved, for which black folk should be eternally grateful. Slave ideologues John Calhoun and George Fitzhugh updated this idea in the 19th century, arguing that blacks were better off under slavery than whites in the North who received wages, due to the paternalism and benevolence of the plantation system which assured perpetual employment, shelter, and board. Please excuse the analogy, but if someone chops off your fingers and then hands them back to you, should you be ‘grateful’ for having received your mangled fingers, or enraged that they were chopped off in the first place?
10. The Reparations Claim Is A Separatist Idea That Sets African-Americans Against The Nation That Gave Them Freedom
Again, Horowitz reverses matters. Blacks are already separated from white America in fundamental matters such as income, family wealth, housing, legal treatment, education, and political representation. Andrew Hacker, for example, has argued the case persuasively in his book Two Nations. To ignore such divisions, and then charge those who raise valid claims against society with promoting divisiveness, offers a classic example of ‘blaming the victim.’ And we have already refuted the spurious point that African Americans were the passive recipients of benevolent white individuals or institutions which ‘gave’ them freedom.
Too many Americans tend to view history as ‘something that happened in the past,’ something that is ‘over and done,’ and thus has no bearing upon the present. Especially in the case of slavery, nothing could be further from the truth. As historian John Hope Franklin noted in his response to Horowitz:
‘Most living Americans do have a connection with slavery. They have inherited the preferential advantage, if they are white, or the loathsome disadvantage, if they are black; and those positions are virtually as alive today as they were in the 19th century. The pattern of housing, the discrimination in employment, the resistance to equal opportunity in education, the racial profiling, the inequities in the administration of justice, the low expectation of blacks in the discharge of duties assigned to them, the widespread belief that blacks have physical prowess but little intellectual capacities and the widespread opposition to affirmative action, as if that had not been enjoyed by whites for three centuries, all indicate that the vestiges of slavery are still with us.
And as long as there are pro-slavery protagonists among us, hiding behind such absurdities as ‘we are all in this together’ or ‘it hurts me as much as it hurts you’ or ‘slavery benefited you as much as it benefited me,’ we will suffer from the inability to confront the tragic legacies of slavery and deal with them in a forthright and constructive manner.
‘Most important, we must never fall victim to some scheme designed to create a controversy among potential allies in order to divide them and, at the same time, exploit them for its own special purpose.'” Robert Chrisman & Ernest Allen, “Ten Reasons: a Response to David Horowitz;” Black Scholar, 2001 | <urn:uuid:fe2510ca-4745-4907-8b12-80dd049b9d10> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | http://www.worldorganizationofwriters.press/3-10-2017-doc-of-the-day/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250593994.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20200118221909-20200119005909-00541.warc.gz | en | 0.973912 | 12,850 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Last modified: 2012-05-05 by rick wyatt
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image by Antonio Martins, 10 August 2001
The village of Winneconne, is famous for the excellent fishing from the main bridge spanning the Wolf River. But there was a time when the village was not so famous. In 1967, Winneconne was inadvertently left off of the Wisconsin state map!
In protest, the villagers seceded, declaring themselves to be "the sovereign state of Winneconne" until then-Governor Knowles called them up to apologize. The village has been on the map every year since then, but Winneconne still holds an annual festival each year to commemorate "Sovereign State Days." Those who use their Wisconsin state map to locate Winneconne today will find a thriving village with a well-rounded business district and its own industrial park. Lake Poygan, Lake Winneconne and Lake Butte des Morts have proved a major attraction for tourists and for residents wishing to combine small-town life with magnificent water views.
Submitted by Dov Gutterman, 12 April 1999 | <urn:uuid:26298596-ba09-4992-8c03-79942ae24714> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/us-wi-wn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623488253106.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20210620175043-20210620205043-00321.warc.gz | en | 0.952019 | 273 | 2.625 | 3 |
This handmade by Miss Nisha Santa Muerte altar plate is a sacred item used in devotion to Santa Muerte, a folk saint venerated in Mexican and Mexican-American folk Catholicism. Also known as “Holy Death” or “La Santísima Muerte,” Santa Muerte is often associated with protection, healing, and assistance in various life matters. The altar plate plays a significant role in the rituals and offerings made to Santa Muerte, serving as a focal point for devotion and symbolic representation of the deity.
- Devotional Offering: The altar plate is a central element of the Santa Muerte altar and serves as a devotional offering to honor and connect with the spiritual energy of Santa Muerte. Devotees use the plate as a platform for making offerings and expressing reverence.
- Symbolic Representation: The plate is adorned with symbols and imagery associated with Santa Muerte, such as skulls, scythes, candles, or other symbols representing death and the afterlife. These symbols are meant to invoke the protective and transformative aspects of Santa Muerte.
- Altar Decor: Alongside other ritual items, the altar plate contributes to the overall decorative and sacred ambiance of the Santa Muerte altar. Altars dedicated to Santa Muerte often include candles, flowers, religious statues, and personal items representing the specific requests or concerns of the devotee.
- Ritual Use: Practitioners use the Santa Muerte altar plate during rituals and ceremonies dedicated to Santa Muerte. Offerings of food, candles, incense, or other symbolic items may be placed on the plate as part of the ritual acts of devotion.
- Energetic Connection: Devotees believe that the altar plate serves as a focal point for spiritual energy and a conduit for communication with Santa Muerte. It is seen as a sacred space where devotees can connect with the protective and transformative powers associated with the folk saint.
- Personal Requests: The Santa Muerte altar plate may also be used for making specific requests or petitions, such as seeking protection, guidance, healing, or assistance in matters of love, justice, or prosperity. | <urn:uuid:752069d2-2d06-4827-a783-711b656b8d55> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://readingsbyjudie.com/product/santa-muerte-altar-plate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947476396.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20240303142747-20240303172747-00126.warc.gz | en | 0.90273 | 452 | 2.75 | 3 |
Remember how sad everyone was that Pluto is no longer the ninth planet in the solar system? It’s now a dwarf planet, and the bad news is we only have eight planets orbiting our sun.
However, circumstantial evidence gathered from different observations support the theory of a “Planet Nine” that could orbit our star from afar.
According to an article on Advocator, backed by The Inquisitr, this planet might lurk at the edge of our solar system. An international group of scientists believes that this mysterious planet is hiding somewhere beyond the Kuiper belt.
Surhud More, an astronomer at the University of Tokyo, is always ready to spot it:
“Every time we take a picture, there is this possibility that Planet Nine exists in the shot.”
Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, planetary astrophysicists at the California Institute of Technology theorized the existence of Planet Nine in 2016.
Batygin and Brown theorize that this planet is a “missing super-Earth,” that gathered around it a lot of small objects in the Kuiper belt. Their weird tilt was proof that something pulled at them.
Astronomer Scott Sheppard (Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington) is convinced that there is a missing planet out there. He discovered a planetoid that was orbiting the sun at 80 astronomical units (an astronomical unit – AU – is the distance between the Sun and Earth). He concluded that:
“If things are in the same orbit, then something’s pushing them.”
Why Is Planet Nine “Invisible”?
The astrophysicist explains we couldn’t detect Planet Nine because the location makes it “essentially invisible to our observatories.”
The planet should be a frozen giant that is 1,000 times farther from the sun than our planet. This makes the planet too dim for observatories on Earth. If Planet Nine were only 600 times farther from the Sun than our planet is, it would mean that it would be 160,000 times dimmer than Neptune. So, at 1,000 AU, Planet Nine would appear 1 million times fainter.
There might be two millimeter telescopes in Antarctica and Chile that could pick up the glow if the Planet crosses the search field. Right now, two teams are looking for Planet Nine: one led by Brown and one led by Sheppard.
However, the chances of spotting this elusive planet are very low, because many things could obscure it from our observatories – light pollution in the Milky Way or the glare of a bright star. And even if we look towards its location, it could be farther than 1,000 AU, making it invisible to our observatories.
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics. | <urn:uuid:6f2a314d-2b62-4b6c-8efa-fec1930f31a8> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | https://greatlakesledger.com/2018/09/03/planet-nine-could-be-at-the-edge-of-our-solar-system-claim-astronomers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579251681625.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20200125222506-20200126012506-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.941636 | 642 | 3.75 | 4 |
Save A Life On Campus: Know When, Where And How To Use An AED
You’ve probably walked by an AED every day without even taking notice. Did you know that Colorado State University has more than 200 AEDs installed throughout campus? Knowing their locations could save a fellow Ram’s life.
Look for AED signs along the walls of popular campus buildings, or visit CSU maps to view the location of all AEDs. Simply select the “health and safety” option from the left-hand navigation menu. From there, select “AEDs.” Clicking on the AED symbol for a specific location will provide a detailed description and/or photo of the AED location within the building. With this simple tool, you can be prepared at a moment’s notice to save someone’s life. AEDs are for everyone’s use, even without prior training. And every second counts!
AEDs (automated external defibrillators) are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest, a leading cause of death in the United States. Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) claims one life every 90 seconds and kills more people than Alzheimer’s disease, assault with firearms, breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, diabetes, HIV, house fires, motor vehicle accidents, prostate cancer and suicides combined. Of the individuals who experience SCA, 95 percent of them will die because immediate treatment is not provided. (source: phillytrib.com) This is where you come in!
When bystanders intervene by giving CPR and using an AED before emergency medical personnel arrive, four out of 10 victims survive. Unfortunately, only 32 percent of SCA victims receive bystander CPR and only 2 percent are treated with AEDs. Don’t let this be true for CSU! AEDs are designed for anyone and everyone to use, with or without training. The AED will first diagnose the victim to determine if SCA is the true cause of the symptoms. It will scan the victim for abnormal heart rhythms, and if detected, will deliver a shock to restore a normal heart rhythm. AEDs provide simple audio and visual instructions telling the user exactly how to operate the device. Anyone can do it! (source – www.sca-aware.org)
If you are interested in learning more, please go to CSU’s AED/CPR website, where you can find additional information and access to both online and instructor-led AED trainings. Both are offered at no cost. Or for $99, consider taking CSU’s American Red Cross-sponsored course, offering a two-year certification in adult, child and infant CPR, AED and first aid. Explore all your options here.
Even without training, knowing the location of the nearest AED can save the life of person experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. Be prepared to jump in and assist. Remember, Rams take care of Rams!
Story Credit: https://source.colostate.edu/save-life-campus-know-use-aed/ | <urn:uuid:1714e993-1ed5-4a1a-8586-e494dac72287> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | http://safebeat.org/newsroom/headlines/save_a_life_on_campus_know_when_where_and_how_to_use_an_aed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267865081.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20180623132619-20180623152619-00212.warc.gz | en | 0.902865 | 650 | 2.828125 | 3 |
A principal source of advice, support and information on psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
A registered charity no: 1118192
A registered charity no: 1118192
This information you are about to read is intended to be supportive, and informative. It is also intended to be as comprehensive as possible, so that you can gain information or signposting to topics about the condition that are at this time useful to you and your child. REMEMBER that because your child has just been diagnosed with psoriasis, it does not mean your child will have every aspect of the condition to deal with in their lives either now or in the future. Your child may go through life with their condition not even bothering them or flaring up, and only have the tiniest of patches somewhere on their bodies. However, there may be times when the psoriasis flares, or you just need some additional information to help answer their questions – so this website and information is a guide to help you when needed, but should not be a substitute for professional medical advice.
You may wish to read the following sections on this to learn about the various aspects of psoriasis in more detail:
Why does my child have psoriasis?
The heredity factor seems to play a part. About one third of people with psoriasis are able to identify a relative, living or dead, with psoriasis. It is estimated that if 1 parent has psoriasis that there is a 15% chance that a child will develop the condition. If both parents have psoriasis this increases to about 75%. Interestingly, if a child develops psoriasis and neither parent is affected there is a 20% chance that a brother or sister will also get psoriasis. This is because the condition is known to skip generations but somewhere there will be a familial link to a relative via either or both parents.
What triggers psoriasis in children?
Symptoms only develop if they are triggered by certain events, most frequently in children and teenagers, often after a throat infection due to streptococcal bacteria. This type of psoriasis is known as guttate psoriasis or raindrop psoriasis so named because it manifests itself over the body in the form of scaly droplet-like shaped patches. Numerous small red scaly patches quickly develop over a wide area of skin, although the palms and the soles are usually not affected. Some people will go on in later life to develop chronic plaque psoriasis.
What does psoriasis in babies look like?
Babies can develop psoriasis in the nappy area of an infant to cause a bright red, weeping rash or more typical psoriasis plaques. A child who has napkin psoriasis as a baby does not seem to have a higher risk of developing other forms of psoriasis in later life.
My child has a rash and I suspect it’s psoriasis what should I do?
Any rashes on a child should be checked out by a doctor to rule out other conditions. If your child develops a rash make sure when you visit your doctor to tell them (if you are aware) that there is a family history of psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis in your family as this is an important fact that may be overlooked at initial diagnosis as psoriasis can also be mistaken for eczema.
Who should I see about my child’s psoriasis?
Once you have noticed that something is wrong with your child and has not cleared up within a short period of time you should make an appointment with your doctor (GP) to discuss this. The doctor will then make a diagnosis and discuss a treatment plan with you and explain what your child has. If the doctor feels it necessary, he may suggest referring your child on to secondary care to see a specialist in skin problems, this will be a dermatologist. However, if this is not the case, your GP may feel happy that your child’s problem can be controlled and managed in their care, prescribing topical creams to help clear the condition up.
Should you after a reasonable length of time feel you would like to consult a specialist about your child’s problem as it does not seem to be responding to treatment, then you can request a referral to secondary care.
What is secondary care?
Secondary care is usually when your GP refers you to a hospital, or specialist centre to be seen by a consultant dermatologist, who is a doctor trained and specialising in skin conditions, and will be better placed to give advice on treatments that your child requires. More potent medications/treatments are only available at secondary care level. Your child will have a thorough assessment of their condition and confirmation of existing diagnosis made or further tests advised if thought needed. In many cases you will be referred back to your GP with a treatment plan.
What questions should I ask my doctor?
Always get your concerns answered about any treatments that your child is about to be given. Ask about any side-effects – both short and long-term. If you feel that you will not be able to comply with a treatment regime because it is too complicated, time consuming or feel it is unacceptable for your child, as it may be too distressing for them tell your doctor.
A programme that suits you and your child is essential to ensure good compliance and results. Remember you know your child and you know what is achievable at home, lifestyle also plays a vital part in compliance with medication. If it is too sticky or has to be applied very early on a cold winters morning it is not going to do anyone any good, but cause more stress for all, so a good treatment plan is important. Ask your doctor for alternative formulations which are cosmetically more accetable, or maybe see if you can use treatments once a day.
How do I tell difference between psoriasis and eczema?
Psoriasis which is rare in young children will show itself in most cases as raised red patches, covered by overlaying silver scales which may be flaky when touched.
In eczema the colouring may appear different, more pink than angry red, and its texture will be rougher to the touch. They are hard to the untrained eye to diagnose and so a correct diagnosis is necessary from a doctor.If you cannot see a doctor quickly, then speak to your pharmacist who may be able to examine your child and advise you on what would be safe to use to comfort your child’s skin without doing any harm or cause any more discomfort.
Can my child have both psoriasis and eczema?
Yes, it is possible to have both psoriasis and eczema particlularly when they appear on the face and the term sebo-psoriasis may be used. You should always get the correct diagnosis from a dermatologist if this is the case so that the best course of treatments can be prescribed for your child.
Can my child’s psoriasis be controlled?
Yes, once correctly diagnosed you and your health team will devise an appropriate healthcare plan for your child.
What are the treatments for psoriasis in children?
Generally those used in children are the same as for adult psoriasis, although there may be dosage differences and some products might not have a licence for use in children.
Go to treatment section for full list.
In general, doctors try to control psoriasis in children with topical treatments because they are the safest. Occasionally they may use UV light or systemic treatments. The therapeutic needs of each individual, child or adult, are different. Your doctor is in the best position to decide what is the best treatment for you or your child. He will always come to that decision by weighing up the relative risks and benefits involved in each possible treatment. Once you and your child have agreed a treatment plan with your doctor it is important to follow it through even though it can be hard work and frustrating. Medicines can only be effective if they are used according to instructions.
How long will the treatments take to work?
You must be aware that psoriasis treatments can take time to work effectively, and it may take some time to find the treatments that work best for your child in collaboration with your healthcare professionals. Good compliance is essential to ensure good treatment results for your child.
Will my child always have psoriasis?
Probably yes, but with correct management you and your child can ensure that it is controlled. Also you should be aware that psoriasis can go into remission (disappear) for periods of time for no apparent reason. Every person is an individual with their own bodily cycles. You will learn what triggers flare-ups and what treatment work best for your child.
Remember: your child may only have a few tiny patches at a time, and not overall coverage, or large patches to treat, and there will be periods where they may have none at all – psoriasis waxes and wanes.
There will be times your child may go for long periods trouble free and there will be times if they get stressed, for example around exam times in school, their psoriasis may flare-up, but as you learn together about this condition, and live with it, it will become easier f to cope and deal with, and become part of normal life.
Can I predict a flare?
Although psoriasis is unpredictable, there might be triggers that you notice that cause it to flare. It may even be as your child gets older, their psoriasis becomes milder. There is no way of predicting what it is going to do next, or pre-empting the next flare-up, so worrying about it will not change things, your child may pick up on your concerns and anxiety thus causing them distress which could then cause a flare-up. So a laid-back, relaxed approached where possible will help.
Your healthcare professionals are there to support you too, as well as prescribing treatments, so talk to them about any concerns you have, this could be the difficulties you have with applying the treatments to your child, they might be able to alter things or give you tips on how best to approach the current problem.
Does psoriasis itch?
Although some people will claim that psoriasis does not itch, most people who have it, will say it does and this can be very distracting and uncomfortable for any person with psoriasis, especially a child. Moisturisers can help soothe such irritation but always ask your doctor or pharmacist first to see if such products are suitable for your child.
Can diet affect my psoriasis?
There is no clear link between what you eat and severity of the psoriasis symptoms. A healthy diet is important for well-being and can reduce your child's risk of many long term illnesses. If you are worried about your child's diet then talk to your doctor.
What can I do to help?
Psoriasis can affect both you as parents emotionally as well as physically, and this is especially true of children. It may influence their social life, performance in school, leisure activities, confidence and self-esteem.
As a parent you may feel guilty or unable to cope, and feel frustrated at times that your child does not understand how important it is to carry out or comply with their treatments so great patience is needed .
So you can help your child to cope with psoriasis by explaining that:
Make their treatments as normal as possible so that it will be part of their daily structure; this will prepare them for dealing with things more easily and naturally as they get older
Can psoriasis cause pain?
If you child has psoriasis on parts of their body, especially their feet or hands, bear this in mind, as sometimes it may hurt them. This could be because they have scratched the lesions and made them sore, the medication has caused some irritation, even down to the weather temperatures. Cold weather can make the skin really sore and so anything against the skin may irritate and cause pain. Perhaps slightly bigger shoes for periods when their feet hurt may allow some comfort. In the summer the heat may make their feet sweat, this again can cause some discomfort, so perhaps keeping them as dry as possible with some talcum powder may prove useful.
With their hands, the temperature and weather can play havoc too. Cold weather, dry, sore, even cracked skin, causing tightness will bring discomfort so be aware of this and try to encourage them to wear gloves and keep their hands well moisturised to help prevent cracking and soreness. In the summer, moisturising their hands keeps them in good condition avoiding the drying out and cracking of skin. Never a good idea to scratch patches, as this leads to possible infection, bleeding and pain, so if you can, discourage them from scratching.
What is the best clothing to wear?
Loose fitting cotton clothing is probably the most comfortable, especially during the summer months. If wearing synthetic clothing such as football tops, these could be worn over cotton clothing so as to avoid any possible irritations.It is best sometimes to be guided by your child and how their skin feels during a flare-up.
Some topical treatments can be messy, and some can cause staining, and so this needs consideration when wearing good clothing, and indeed sitting on household furnishings. Always read product/patient instruction leaflets before use. Set aside some old clothes, night bedding, etc if you are to be using messy treatments.
Will psoriasis cause my child to be emotional?
Many children if young will accept their skin problems as a matter of course, whilst others, depending on their age of onset may take their conditions differently and feel embarrassed, upset, angry, stressed or even depressed. They may feel anxious about recurring flare-ups once they’ve experienced good periods of remission, and become pre-occupied and distracted from normal daily activities. As they grow up, possibly pre-occupied with their body, body image and peer pressure, their psoriasis may become more of an issue for them. Love, support, encouragement and trust in their medical team too will help overcome such stressful periods in their lives. Parents should always be understanding and aware of such issues especially if their child has psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis.
One of the best things a parent can do for their child from an early age, or when they first get psoriasis is educate their children about the condition, answer any questions or worries they have as they arise, reassure them on a regular basis, take an interest in how they feel, monitor their psoriasis in a discreet way so not to make a big issue of it. Reassure them that there is much research going on to find a cure and easier, more effective treatments to use with better, longer outcomes of remission. It is not a contagious condition and that their friends, boyfriends and girlfriends will not catch it. Encourage them to talk openly about their condition and not to hide it.
Counselling can be helpful when people feel particularly low or in a crisis. Ask your doctor what services are available on the NHS. All are confidential and some may offer their services without charge.
Will psoriasis affect my child’s education?
There is no reason why your child’s education should be affected, but a visit to the school with your child to make sure their teacher knows the essential facts about psoriasis might help. Take leaflets and fact sheets with you to leave behind. Make sure your child feels comfortable talking about psoriasis with you and the school, so they will bring any problems to your attention. Ask the school how they will tackle any bullying issues if your child’s psoriasis is quite noticeable and devise avoidance tactics to pre-empt any possible situations occurring.
The school should realise that there will be periods when your child may not want to participate in P.E sessions during flare-ups and this should be explained to the school so that they can avoid any stressful situations for your child.
Swimming can be a particularly difficult for a child with psoraisis, as the chlorine in the water can make psoriasis patches worse than they actually are and more pronounced, so your child may become upset over this or embarrassed..
As your child gets older consider encouraging him or her with the following advice:
What can I do to help an older child?
It is important that your child understands their condition, and that they treat it as normal for them, so as they grow they accept the situation in a natural way. Involve them in their treatment regimes, try to make it fun by devising games, or a reward system. Listen to them and what they say about the treatments they are using. If they say it stings, it’s too sticky, its uncomfortable, it makes them itch more these are all things you can discuss together with your doctor when you next meet, as these factors may be alleviated or other products tried. It is important that they have your support and encouragement and that they can discuss issues with you as they grow.
If your child is older approaching their teen years encourage them to explore and experiment with camouflage cosmetic creams that will help disguise bad patches that they may want to hide on a daily basis or for a special occasion.
Relationships can be difficult, some finding it difficult to enter into relationships because they feel self-conscious. Encourage them to have more inner confidence and work on their self-esteem empowering them to feel more confident about themselves. Encourage them to talk to their friends and others educating them about this condition, that it is not catching, it can be genetic and that it is an over production of skin cells.
Will the sun help my child's psoriasis?
Those who have psoriasis find that the sun helps to improve their skin’s appearance. For some the change is dramatic, with red scaly patches almost disappearing altogether during summer months in a warm climate. Go to psoriasis and the sun.
Sunlight can help psoriasis, but sunburn must be avoided at all times. Not only is it a risk factor for skin cancer, it may precipitate the Keobner Phenonomon which is where psoriasis can form on a injury site such as sun burnt skin.
Good skin protection when dealing with the sun goes for everyone with or without the condition. Many people who have psoriasis find that sunlight during the summer helps their skin clear up so as a parent if you notice this with your child, proper, regular, viligant skin protection is paramount, whilst letting them get the benefits of the good weather and the natural vitamin D (found in sunlight) we all need to keep us healthy.
Especially taking care to promote this regime whilst they are at school, is essential, when schools in the summer months are preparing for their sports days, and children spend more time outside generally. Again some research by yourself to find a good high factor, skin sensitive sun creams, and discussing this with your doctor or healthcare team will make things easier and give you the reassurance your child is protected whilst having fun. As your child gets older teach them how to apply their own suncreams and why this is so important for them to do so. | <urn:uuid:c772ead2-6559-4b6f-9c1e-c0383b848c4f> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://www.papaa.org/children/children-psoriasis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501174276.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104614-00375-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964379 | 3,975 | 2.625 | 3 |
James J. Heckman
Director, Center for the Economics of Human Development, University of Chicago
Amartya Sen Lecture
Human Development and Capability Association September 11th, 2015 — Washington, D.C.
James J. Heckman (Nobel Laureate in Economics, Professor at the University of Chicago), introduced various studies from the perspectives of economics, psychology, and neuroscience and demonstrated their implications for policies to promote the development of capabilities.
Many studies of the features of family life that contribute to developing children who lead flourishing lives point in the same direction, and show the harm that ensues when such investments are not made. The way parents interact with their children, the amount of time they spend with them and the resources they have to provide intellectual and social stimulation greatly affect their children’s potential for leading flourishing lives.
James J. Heckman argues that capabilities are the capacities of individuals to function in society. Disparities in capabilities are major contributors to economic and social inequality. Policies that equalize opportunities to express and acquire capabilities across all segments of society reduce inequality. They foster social inclusion and promote economic and social mobility. They generate economic productivity and create social well-being. They give agency to people to shape their lives.
Essential elements for successful childhoods include engaged, supporting parents and teachers and early health, nutrition and learning.
• Cognitive Skills
• Produce better health practices; produce more motivation; greater perception of rewards greater self control.
• Efective policies for adolescents provide mentoring and integrate schooling and work.
• Predistribution of skills not just Redistribution
• Giving people autonomy, agency, and dignity
• Boosting the capabilities of children entering school boosts the benefits of education for them.
• Early development is as important as education in promoting wages, employment, and health. | <urn:uuid:3e0cc08f-a979-4d4a-8d34-6f7e8fc0a932> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://iusconstifil.blogspot.com/2016/04/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823482.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20171019231858-20171020011858-00322.warc.gz | en | 0.929647 | 375 | 3.375 | 3 |
July 15, 2010
‘Broken Symmetry’ Discovery In High-Temperature Superconductors Opens New Research Path
In a major step toward understanding the mysterious "pseudogap" state in high-temperature cuprate superconductors, a team of Cornell, Binghamton University and Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists have found a "broken symmetry," where electrons act like molecules in a liquid crystal: Electrons between copper and oxygen atoms arrange themselves differently "north-south" than "east-west."
This simple discovery opens a door to new research that could lead to room-temperature superconductors."Cornell has the world's best, if not the universe's best scanning tunneling microscope (STM) facility; combining that with a new theoretical idea enabled this discovery," said Eun-Ah Kim, assistant professor of physics at Cornell and corresponding author of a report published July 15 in the journal Nature.
"We know if you identify the broken symmetries, you are close to understanding how a material works," said J.C. S©amus Davis, Cornell's J.D. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences and director of the Center for Emergent Superconductivity at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He said the discovery is analogous to learning that a key to controlling liquid crystals (found in the LCD displays in watches, calculators and computer monitors) was that the molecules can arrange into an asymmetrical state.
Broken symmetries are seen in many materials when they undergo a "phase transition" like that of water freezing into ice, or liquid crystals becoming opaque. A material going into a superconducting state "“ conducting electricity with zero resistance "“ is another kind of phase transition.
Superconductivity was first discovered in pure metals cooled very close to absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius). Ceramic materials called cuprates superconduct at temperatures as "high" as 150 Kelvins (degrees above absolute zero). Cuprates are made up of copper oxide layers alternating with layers of other elements. Each copper oxide layer is a checkerboard sheet formed by repeating an L-shaped unit of one copper and two oxygens, with one oxygen atom to the "north" and the other to the "east" of each copper. The presence of other elements between the copper oxide sheets nudges electrons in the copper oxide sheet around and, at the right combinations of temperature and chemical content, creates a condition for superconductivity.
Davis and his experimental group study these materials using an exceptionally precise STM that can map the location of atoms and energy levels of the electrons around them. In the superconducting phase, an "energy gap" appears "“ electrons that ought to be in certain energy levels associated with atoms disappear to form "Cooper pairs" that travel without resistance. But above the superconducting temperature there is a range where the energy gap is still seen, but superconductivity is not.
This "pseudogap" phase may extend all the way to room temperature in some materials, so learning to overcome its limitations could lead to room-temperature superconductors.
The broken symmetry has been present but hidden in existing data from STM experiments including ones from the Davis group, said Kim, who, with colleagues at Cornell and Binghamton, proposed a new theoretical perspective and mathematical procedure to reveal the broken symmetry from the data.
Previously, Kim said, theorists had focused only on the arrangement of the copper atoms, and experimentalists had been averaging signals over all the oxygen atoms in a sample, rather than comparing "east-west" and "north-south" signals.
Kim said the finding presents "an opportunity for a whole new stage of research. We have a map of this broken symmetry, now we can experimentally study how it affects superconductivity. Further, the importance of oxygen sites for the broken symmetry points to a theoretical model that may explain the mechanism of pseudogap and high Tc [critical temperature] superconductivity."
On the Net: | <urn:uuid:d3c3d24b-a438-46e2-a62f-12139a8dc3d5> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1892505/broken_symmetry_discovery_in_hightemperature_superconductors_opens_new_research_path/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886133447.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20170824082227-20170824102227-00113.warc.gz | en | 0.933277 | 827 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Retirees, disabled workers, surviving spouses and their dependents are entitled to monthly Social Security benefits. Because the intent of Social Security income is to supplement rather than replace lost wages, the amount you get each month is generally not enough to support all of your living expenses. The federal government recognizes this fact and as a result has, over time, enacted a series of laws designed to protect Social Security benefits and keep monthly payments intact.
Enacted on March 2, 2004, HR743 -- the Social Security Act of 2004 -- focuses on protecting the Social Security benefits of minor children and legally incompetent adults who have representative payees. The law defines a representative payee as a person the Social Security Administration appoints or approves to receive and manage monthly benefits. The bill states that representative payees may only use benefits to pay current maintenance needs, such as food, clothing and medical care of the recipient. The payee must deposit in a savings account or invest any benefits remaining at the end of the month. To ensure compliance, the agency requires representative payees to submit a yearly Representatives Payee Report, along with proper documentation to show how the money was spent or invested during the previous year.
Section 207 of the Social Security Act, enacted August 10, 1939, protects benefits, with some exceptions, from assignment, levy, or garnishment. Five exceptions to Section 207 include garnishment to enforce a child support or alimony order, garnishment for past due federal taxes, an agreement between the IRS and recipient to withhold a portion of benefits to pay current federal income tax, garnishment to pay a past-due debt to any federal agency and permission for the IRS to garnish up to 15 percent of monthly benefits to satisfy a past-due federal tax debt.
U.S. Treasury Protections
Effective May 1, 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department began a phase-out of paper checks in favor of direct electronic deposits, and on March 1, 2013, discontinued issuing paper checks completely. Switching to electronic deposits significantly reduces the risk of fraud associated with lost or stolen benefit checks. An alternative to direct deposit to a bank account is to receive a Direct Express debit card. Because this card requires the use of a personal identification number and is insured by the FDIC, using it protects Social Security benefits as well as having a bank account.
Frozen Funds Protection
The switch to electronic-only deposits also brought with it an update to Section 207 of the Social Security Act. Prior to May 1, 2011, if your bank received an order of garnishment, it would generally freeze all the money in your bank account, including Social Security benefits on deposit at the time -- whether or not they could be subject to garnishment. However, starting on May 1, 2011, if your bank receives a garnishment order, they must verify whether any money in the account represents direct deposit Social Security benefits. If so, the bank must set aside two months’ worth of benefit payments and leave them accessible to you.
- Social Security: Social Security – Understanding the Benefits
- Social Security: Social Security Legislative Bulletin - President Signs into Law H.R. 743, the Social Security Protection Act of 2004
- Social Security: Social Security – FAQs for Representative Payees
- Social Security: Compilation of Social Security Laws
- Bankrate: Separate Savings from Social Security
Based in Green Bay, Wisc., Jackie Lohrey has been writing professionally since 2009. In addition to writing web content and training manuals for small business clients and nonprofit organizations, including ERA Realtors and the Bay Area Humane Society, Lohrey also works as a finance data analyst for a global business outsourcing company. | <urn:uuid:a9afaee9-0678-4f47-8ec2-1e0838c33939> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://finance.zacks.com/federal-laws-protecting-social-security-benefits-8847.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662625600.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20220526193923-20220526223923-00124.warc.gz | en | 0.937326 | 764 | 2.59375 | 3 |
According to Cohen, Swerdlik & Sturman (2018), the instrument norm is created for a group of test takers to use as a reference to evaluate, interpret, and for context placing of a person’s test scores (Cohen, Swerdlik ; Sturman, 2018). This research will study ‘norm-referencing’ to examine cognitive abilities in scoring comparisons then it will measure participants’ performance and test anxiety influence on. An example, measurements may contain inadequate test preparation, students’ features of freezing on a test, and self-defeating heightened confidence. Also, if previous reliability measurements are accessible, they would give you verified practices to compare information with similar constructs. A measurement tool for reliability is ‘situation-specific’ which would focus on two main points of test anxiety; emotional and cognitive measurements (Cohen, Swerdlik ; Sturman, 2018). This would emphasize study habits, skillsets, test perceptions, emotional factors and possibly, cognitive scale measurements for consistency over time (Cohen, Swerdlik ; Sturman, 2018).
- “The and any conditions between those use cases.
- Did their family members, if someone besides their | <urn:uuid:0e9d302d-f0c5-4abb-ae46-817554184c6a> | CC-MAIN-2021-17 | https://freedomrunners.org/according-to-cohen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-17/segments/1618038464146.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20210418013444-20210418043444-00053.warc.gz | en | 0.902212 | 251 | 3.09375 | 3 |
GOT MOLD? You don’t know but your eyes water and itch all the time? You have trouble breathing when you spend any time in your basement?
If you’ve ever experienced water damage from a storm, broken pipe, a poorly vented bathroom or an unusual musty odor in your home or place of business, you may be at risk of mold contamination. Mold will begin to grow in 24 hours if it has its 3 main ingredients. #1: Moisture >50%, #2: Temperature above 40 degrees F, and #3: An organic material like wood, drywall, paper, dirt, some carpet, etc.
More than just affecting indoor air quality, molds can produce spores and toxins that can cause serious health risks in both humans and animals.
Testing can be performed in a multiple number of ways. Air, swab, tape, wall samples are taken and analyzed by an AIHA accredited laboratory. Results are available within a few days of sampling. | <urn:uuid:8a61e21a-2cc1-41c3-992c-379593230928> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | http://homeinspectionboulder.com/mold-inspection/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347409337.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20200530133926-20200530163926-00499.warc.gz | en | 0.931204 | 205 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Which weighs more: a kilo of cheese or a kilo of Vegemite? Surprisingly, the answer depends on where they come from.
The science of measurement has a communications problem: how do people agree on how much they are talking about?
Historically, things were measured by convenient but variable references, such as the width of a thumb (an inch) or a foot (a foot) – no doubt responsible for many an ancient argument.
Resolving the ambiguity inherent in these rough rules of thumb became important enough to medieval commerce that the Magna Carta – apparently catering to inebriated textile workers, and now celebrating its 800th year – required that:
(35) There shall be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard width of dyed cloth, russet, and haberject, namely two ells within the selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly.
During the scientific and industrial revolutions, increasing demands for precision and standardisation in science, mass-production and global commerce lead to the development of the metric system, based on units like the metre, kilogram and second.
This system became the bedrock for the modern scientific edifice, enabling people to quantitatively study phenomena such as gravity, electricity or temperature, for which there are no convenient, everyday references.
A reference to measure
Standard units were originally defined by a reference artefact. For instance, a platinum mass in Paris defines the primary kilogram, with derivative secondary copies stored in various National Measurement Institutes.
But there remains the problem of reliably distributing the standard. For example, when primary and secondary kilogram masses are periodically compared, they differ slightly. Since National Measurement labs legally define measures within their jurisdiction, a kilo of French cheese is currently a microgram lighter than a kilo of Australian Vegemite!
To fix this problem, scientists have been working to redefine the system of units in terms of universal constants, such as the speed of light, the frequency of certain atoms, or the electrical resistance of quantum devices. This program is more or less complete for time, length and electrical charge.
Others, such as mass and temperature, still rely on artefacts. The Kelvin unit for temperature is defined in terms of “Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water”, specially prepared by the International Atomic Energy Agency. In the current ITS-90 temperature scale, the triple-point (where liquid, solid and gas phases coexist) of this peculiarly named water defines exactly 273.16 Kelvin (0.01℃).
A universal measure of temperature
Internationally, there are various approaches being pursued to redefine the Kelvin in terms of universal quantities.
Our approach, published in Nature Communications, is based on Doppler spectroscopy of Caesium atoms in a low pressure vapour at room temperature. An example of the Doppler effect is the audible change in frequency of a police siren as it passes by.
Atoms in a gas are zipping around, and the higher the temperature, the larger their typical velocity.
Using very precise lasers we were able to measure the Doppler frequency shift of the atomic spectrum, from which we determine the atomic velocities – just like a traffic cop at a speed trap measures vehicle speeds with a Doppler radar gun.
From the atomic velocity (v), we calculate the temperature (T) of the gas using the formula (right; m is the atomic mass and k is Boltzmann’s constant).
Importantly, there are no unknown calibration factors in our technique; we rely only on universal constants such as the atomic mass and the speed of light. So with sufficient technical skill, any lab – whether on Earth or in the Andromeda galaxy – could replicate our experiment; no reference artefacts required. Even better, our approach scales over a large range of temperatures, from well below freezing to the interior of furnaces.
One of the challenges of this technique is that the laser light used to probe the atoms also changes their internal state, even for extremely low power lasers. Just as motorists become agitated after spotting a speed radar, so the atoms in our experiment become excited by the light used to measure them.
The change in the atomic state is small – just one part in 10,000 – but this is large compared to our target accuracy of one part in a million. Fortunately atoms of the same Caesium isotope are all exactly alike, so we can account for these small changes using quantum theory to dramatically improve our measurement performance.
Getting our system of units right is critical: it is the foundation on which science and technology are built. Upgrading the Kelvin definition will require backward compatibility with the current system, and pursuing several different experimental avenues will ensure we get it right.
As with any upgrade, this one will be deemed successful if the public hardly notice the transition. But to those at the cutting edge – whether developing high-temperature materials processing, studying the cosmic microwave background or making ultra-cold quantum gases – basing the Kelvin on universal and fundamental principles will enable the most rigorous tests of the universe. | <urn:uuid:440a7fb0-2bdd-4296-af96-6761a0991120> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://theconversation.com/cant-take-the-heat-we-need-a-universal-measure-on-temperature-47154 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886112682.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170822201124-20170822221124-00134.warc.gz | en | 0.924563 | 1,066 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Facts about Rita Dove tell us about the American poet and essayist. He was born on 28th August 1952 as Rita Frances Dove. The Library of Congress appointed her as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry in 1993 until 1995. At that time, it was an unusual position to give for an African-American. In 1999 until 2000, she earned the position as a special consultant in poetry by the Library of Congress. Let us get other unique facts about Rita Dove below:
Facts about Rita Dove 1: the award
In 1987, Dove was awarded with Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She is the second Afro-American to earn the award.
Facts about Rita Dove 2: Poet Laureate of Virginia
In 2004 until 2006, she was appointed as Poet Laureate of Virginia.
Facts about Rita Dove 3: the birthplace and parents
The birthplace of Dove was located in Akron, Ohio. Her father was the first Afro-American who worked as a research chemist at Goodyear. His name was Ray Dove. Her mother was Elvira Hord. Rita inherited the passion of reading from her mother.
See Also: 10 Facts about Richard Peck
Facts about Rita Dove 4: education
She was a Presidential Scholar upon graduation from Buchtel High School in 1970. In 1973, she earned her B.A. from Miami University as a summa cumlaude student.
Facts about Rita Dove 5: higher education
Dove pursued higher education at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany after she obtained a Fulbright Scholarship in 1974. In 1977, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa awarded her with MFA.
Facts about Rita Dove 6: teaching
In 1981 until 1989, Dove had a teaching post at Arizona State University. She works for University of Virginia in Charlottesville in a teaching post in 1989.
Read Also: 10 Facts about Ralph Ellison
Facts about Rita Dove 7: Poet Laureate
The Librarian of Congress appointed her as Poet Laureate in 1992. She took the post in 1993 until 1995. Bill Moyers interviewed her for Bill Moyers Journal for PBS prime-time program during her role as a poet laureate.
Facts about Rita Dove 8: the most notable work
Thomas and Beulah are considered as the most notable work of Dove. In 1986, Carnegie-Mellon University Press published it.
Facts about Rita Dove 9: novel
In 1992, Dove published a novel under the title Through the Ivory Gate.
See Also: 10 Facts about Ransom Riggs
Facts about Rita Dove 10: a play
The Darker Face of the Earth is the title of her play published in 1994.
Do you like reading facts about Rita Dove? | <urn:uuid:5add083e-918b-483a-b648-8afa092bbf3a> | CC-MAIN-2018-34 | https://www.factsofworld.com/10-facts-about-rita-dove/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221209755.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20180815004637-20180815024637-00127.warc.gz | en | 0.973448 | 577 | 2.796875 | 3 |
The following editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday, Jan. 26:
A national heroin and opiate epidemic has reversed health gains — especially among white Americans — that have resulted from medical advances. Drug overdoses are driving up death rates for young white adults to levels not seen for decades.
Findings from recent public health studies underscore the need for more intense prevention and treatment practices, as well as bolstered electronic databases that track the dispensing of opioids.
Young white people, ages 25 to 35, make up the first generation since the Vietnam era of the mid-1960s to experience higher death rates than the previous generation. Meanwhile, death rates for young African-Americans are falling.
In 2014, the overdose death rate for whites, ages 25 to 34, was five times the 1999 level, while the rate for 35-to-44-year-old whites tripled, according to a New York Times analysis.
Overdose deaths for young black adults have edged up, but only slightly. Overall, a decline in deaths from AIDS has contributed to a falling death rate for African-Americans. As a result, the former chasm between death rates for blacks and whites has shrunk by two-thirds.
Even among whites, death rates for those with less education rose much faster than for those with college degrees. Public health agencies must find more effective ways of targeting education and prevention efforts to lower-income people with less education.
Education programs, targeted at both patients and physicians, can cut the abuse of prescription painkillers that can lead to heroin use. For those already addicted, medication-assisted treatment has shown far higher recovery rates.
Addiction to heroin and prescription painkillers is reversing the strides many Americans have made in overall health. Without more intense treatment and prevention, the epidemic will only grow.
(c)2016 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. | <urn:uuid:262ea5a9-1744-47e8-a650-70f458e82043> | CC-MAIN-2016-40 | http://loganbanner.com/opinion/5174/fatal-overdoses-are-reversing-recent-health-gains | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738662856.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173742-00205-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951438 | 408 | 2.75 | 3 |
It is estimated that over 200 000 people have fled to neighbouring countries to avoid the unrest and actions by the military.
Human rights defenders and journalists have been targets of violence and intimidation. Since Nkurunziza’s announcement that he would remain in office, at least 400 confirmed deaths have occurred. Raids in the night have taken men away. They are often found shot dead in the streets with the morning light.
A group that calls itself the Republican Forces of Burundi has vowed to oust the president and reinstall the accords that ended the 13 year long civil war.
It is unlikely that Nkurunziza will go quietly. He is reputed to be a born-again Christian who believes that he is ruling by divine fiat.
A group of former government workers has organized an opposition to Nkurunziza.
The capital city, Bujumbura, has seen much gunfire and grenade explosions are a common occurrence. Every morning people wake to the sight of bodies of the murdered left in the dirt. While police and army claim they have no connections to the extrajudicial killings many of the deceased were in opposition to the current president. The son of a prominent civil rights worker was apprehended and died while in custody. Others have told of harsh torture at the hands of the authorities.
A failed coup attempt in July has split the ranks of the army. Some have fled to neighbouring countries. Currently at least 100 thousand people have left their homes to find uncertain safety in neighbouring countries. As the violence continues to escalate, a further 100 to 250 thousand people are expected to flee.
The cost to provide for the refugees is estimated at $39 million.
The African Union has stated that it will not attend the presidential election.
Many of Burundi’s citizens claim that violence and intimidation are rampant in the lead up to the presidential elections. A vice-president and the speaker of the house have both fled the country, seeking asylum in Belgium. Tanzania is overwhelmed with refugees. At last count, 100 000 people have fled.
The situation is tragic for the people of Burundi. The elections that placed Nkurunziza in power in 2006 were the hope for a nation that saw a 13 year long civil war end. That civil war erupted shortly after the first elections since independence. When Belgium divested itself of the former colony, a monarchy held sway until 1993.
The civil war was particularly vicious, splitting the population along ethnic lines. At final count, there were at least 300 000 dead.
Burundi president precipitates crisis
Nkurunziza is a born- again Christian whose beliefs lead him to believe he has divine sanction to rule.
Mr Nkurunziza indeed believes he is president by divine will, and he therefore organises his life and government around these values," says presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe. BBC News
There are some very strange laws in the country. It is illegal for men to jog in a group. If caught and prosecuted, they may be jailed for life. It is a way for those in power to prevent militias from forming.
There are 40 opposition parties who have put forward candidates for the May 26 election. Some are already voicing fears that violence will find them.
Canada Travel Advisory has two large, red exclamation marks on its Burundi page, warning that all non-essential travel is to be avoided. In addition, it points out the areas that border on the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC) are unsafe
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada
Running a news based website is fun, time consuming and can be costly. If you would like to help the site keep afloat please use the donate button | <urn:uuid:2a88f6c4-a5fa-4228-8e23-66383a31b5eb> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://www.newtekjournalismukworld.com/bmcpherson/category/burundi | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655890105.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20200706042111-20200706072111-00377.warc.gz | en | 0.965759 | 798 | 2.53125 | 3 |
A sealant is a material used for sealing something to make it watertight or airtight. It fills gaps, allows expansion and contraction of building materials, and enhances aesthetics. In the building and construction industry, a sealant is taken to be same as caulking, and it helps in blocking dust, sound, and heat transmission. Polyurethane sealants are organic compounds generated as a result of a reaction between glycol and isocyanate. These sealants are used for sealing, waterproofing decks, trims, and wood flooring. Polyurethane sealants are of two types, namely, one component and two component. One component polyurethanes sealants find their applications in sealing roofs, electrical cable an in plumbing. Two-component polyurethane sealants are used in industries where there is a need for rapid property development.
An exhaustive competition analysis that covers insightful data on industry leaders is intended to help potential market entrants and existing players in competition with the right direction to arrive at their decisions. Market structure analysis discusses in detail Polyurethane Sealants Industry companies with their profiles, revenue shares in market, comprehensive portfolio of their offerings, networking and distribution strategies, regional market footprints, and much more.
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The report primarily attempts to track the evolution of growth path of market from 2019, through 2021, and post the crisis. It also provides long-term market growth projections for a predefined period of assessment, 2015 – 2027. Based on detailed analysis of the industry’s key dynamics and segmental performance, the report offers an extensive assessment of demand, supply, and manufacturing scenario.
Top Leaders in Polyurethane Sealants Market:
The report also includes the profiles of key companies along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies in the polyurethane sealants market. In addition, the report focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, components, and services offered, financial information of the last 3 years, the key development in the past five years.
- Arkema S.A.
- Hodgson Sealants
- Kommerling Chemische Fabrik Kg
- Mapei S.p.A.
- PCI Augsburg GmbH
- Selena Co., SA
- Sika AG
- Splendor Industry Company Limited
- Sunstar Engineering, Inc.
Scope of the Report:- The report scope combines detailed research of Polyurethane Sealants Market with the apprehension given in the advancement of the industry in certain regions.
The Top Companies Report is designed to contribute our buyers with a snapshot of the industry’s most influential players. Besides, information on the performance of different companies, profit, gross margin, strategic initiative and more are presented through various resources such as tables, charts, and info graphic.
Key Elements that the report acknowledges:
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• Detailed SWOT analysis.
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• PEST analysis of the market in the five major regions.
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The Insight Partners is a one-stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Life Science, Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense, Food Beverages, chemicals etc.
Web : https://www.theinsightpartners.com/ | <urn:uuid:ba1e5d36-6f44-4ebb-9f4a-aeeb580d07fd> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://www.mccourier.com/polyurethane-sealants-market-overview-2021-market-to-exhibit-a-cagr-of-6-7-by-2027-during-the-forecast-period-2021-2027-with-top-key-players-selena-co-sa-sika-ag-splendor-industry-company-limited/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243988858.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20210508091446-20210508121446-00359.warc.gz | en | 0.896371 | 1,005 | 2.625 | 3 |
Dillon, Patrick The Story of Buildings, pgs. 95 Candlewick Press, 2014 Language: (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content-G; Violence: G;
This is a fascinating architectural look at many famous buildings in history and the world. The book begins by explaining how houses are built from bricks to chimneys to roofs. It also contains how buildings like barns, airports, power plants, water mills and train stations were are built. Here are a few examples of the buildings that a chapter might contain… Pyramid of Djoser, The Temples of Greece, The Parthenon, Hagia Sophia, A white Robe of Churches, The Romans, Notre-dame Cathedral, The Forbidden City, The Renaissance in Europe, Villa Rotonda, The Taj Mahal, The Baroque in Europe, Vaux-le-vicomte, Melk Abbey, Saint Petersburg, The Crystal Palace, The Bauhaus, The Chrysler Building, The Sydney Opera House, The Pompidou Center, and the Straw Bale House. It gives brief history, fun facts, illustrations and a fold out page with fascinating drawings labeled with important information like what it was made of or what was found on the walls. This is the type of book you could pick up and not put down. Some books like this could get overwhelming and boring but this gave the right amount of information without overwhelming the reader.
EL, MS, HS - ESSENTIAL Emilee | <urn:uuid:7db8f661-68c9-44a2-8ae4-a07033a66f64> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-story-of-buildings-by-patrick.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281424.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00183-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937364 | 306 | 2.90625 | 3 |
angel A supernatural being who mediates between God and mortals. Angels are held to minister over all living things and the natural world, as well as all things in the cosmos.
The term “angel” comes from the Greek angelos, which means “messenger.” Similarly, the Persian term angaros means “courier.” In Hebrew, the term is malakh, which also means “messenger.” The name refers to one of the angel’s primary duties: to shuttle back and forth between realms, bringing human prayers to heaven and returning with God’s answers. Angels also mete out the will of God, whether it be to aid or to punish humans. Angels are specifi c to Judaism, Christianity and Islam; however, they derive from concepts of helping and tutelary spirits that exist in mythologies the world over.
The Western concept of the angel evolved primarily from the mythologies of Babylonia and Persia, with influences from Sumerian, Egyptian and Greek beings. These ideas were absorbed by the Hebrews, who in turn influenced the Christians. Both Hebrew and Christian lore influenced the Muslims. The ancient Greeks had a comparable concept, the Daimon. There is no exact equivalent for angels in Eastern mythologies; the closest concepts are the avatars (incarnations of God) in Hinduism and the bodhisattvas (enlightened beings) and devas (shining ones) of Buddhism. Beings with many of the same characteristics ascribed to angels, such as playing an intermediary role between humankind and the gods, protecting a person or site, or providing counsel, exist universally throughout An Inuit drawing of a ghost spirit. world mythologies.
The Bible presents angels as representatives of God. They exist in a celestial realm. They are incorporeal but have the ability to assume form and pass as mortals. They also appear as beings of fire, lightning and brilliant light, sometimes with wings and sometimes without. Various classes of angels are mentioned in the Bible; by the sixth century these were organized into hierarchies called choirs.
The angel Lucifer committed the sin of hubris and was cast out of heaven. About one-third of the heavenly host followed him. The fallen angels became Demons (whose ranks also include the Demonized gods of pagan cultures). In the Bible, angels are main players on the stage of life and in the working out of humanity’s relationship to the Divine. Where appropriate for delivering God’s messages or meting out God’s will, they have appeared to humans in visionary experiences and DREAMS.
The church fathers of Christianity gave extensive consideration to the duties, nature, numbers, abilities and functions of angels. This theological interest peaked by the Middle Ages and began to decline in the Renaissance.
On a popular level, angels were believed by many to play roles in everyday life. People prayed to them, and magicians conjured them in spells. Visions of angels were interpreted as omens. However, during the Enlightenment, with its emphasis on science and intellectual thought, angels retreated to the realm of poetry and romantic fancy, and mystics such as Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg called the souls of the dead “angels” and said he visited with them in the afterlife during his mystical trances.
Angels made a comeback in popularity in the late 20th century, due in part to a widespread spiritual hunger for personal relationships with the Divine and for the comfort of ready supernatural assistance and guidance.
Encounters with angels continue to be experienced in the modern world. Angels are most often sensed or heard by clairaudience; occasionally they manifest as apparitions in brilliant white robes or as balls of brilliant white light. Often angels appear as real persons in a “mysterious stranger” encounter. These encounters occur when a person is in a dilemma and needs quick action. A mysterious person suddenly appears out of nowhere and provides a solution. Mysterious strangers can be male or female of any race. Most often, they are male—usually a fresh-looking, clean-cut youth. They are invariably well-dressed, polite and knowledgeable about the crisis at hand. They often are calm but can be forceful, and they know just what to do. They speak, though sparingly. They are convincingly real as flesh-and-blood humans; however, once the problem has been solved, the mysterious strangers vanish. It is their abrupt and strange disappearance that makes people question whether they have been aided by mortals or angels.
Some persons consider the appearance of a spirit of the dead, such as a family member, to be an angel if the manifestation serves to warn, comfort or protect them. In Deathbed Visions, the souls of deceased friends and relatives who come to help the dying to the Other Side are often perceived as angels. See NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE (NDE).
Further Reading :
- Angels Library
- Evans, Hilary. Gods–Spirits–Cosmic Guardians: Encounters with Non-Human Beings. Wellingborough, England: Aquarian Press, 1987.
- Godwin, Michael. Angels. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
- Graham, Billy. Angels: God’s Secret Agents. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1975.
- Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Angels. New York: Facts On File, 1996. | <urn:uuid:7c1fc594-2595-42cb-b57f-65e2cc390394> | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | https://occult-world.com/angels-basic/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323585045.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20211016231019-20211017021019-00547.warc.gz | en | 0.955586 | 1,126 | 3.296875 | 3 |
The book of Hebrews teaches the preeminence of Jesus Christ regarding His person and His work on the cross. Jesus Christ is superior and more important than any Old Testament prophet, priest or king. In fact, He is superior and more important than all of the Old Testament saints put together.
John 1:17 tells us that "......the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Grace and truth are contrasted here with the law. When placed in contrast with the law, grace and to truth are seen to be superior and have a much greater glory. To say that "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" is to say "that believing you might have life through his name," "grace reigns or is sovereign.....even unto eternal life through Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:21). The fact "that believing" is conditional for receiving life again shows that life is of grace, for faith and grace are inseparable. "It is of faith so that it might be by grace" (Romans 4:16). The Bible teaches that life is "through his name." His name refers to that which is always of grace. In fact, it is the merit and work of Jesus Christ that is the basis of grace. The merit and work of each one of us is the basis of the law. The law is hard, cruel, non-compassionate, inflexible, intolerant, and will curse all who attempt to follow it. That is why the law is not a part of the Christian life.
In II Corinthians 3:7, the law given by Moses is called "the ministration of death." In Romans 11:6 works are said to replace grace under the as each man strands by his own merit instead of the merit of Jesus Christ. From these and other Biblical sources, it is very clear that the law and grace are incompatible. Where there is law, there is no grace, and where there is true grace, there is no law. Romans 11:6 says "And if by grace, then it is no longer works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."
Consider too, that the law was given through Moses, a mere human instrument, a member of the sinful human race. Not so with grace and truth. These came through Jesus Christ who was both the Son of Man and the Son of God. Jesus Christ and Moses are contrasted with each other in other passages. Hebrews 3:3 tells us, "Jesus has been found worthy of greater glory (honor) than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater glory (honor) than the house itself." Then in Hebrews 3:5-6 it says, "Moses was faithful AS A SERVANT IN ALL GOD'S HOUSE..........BUT CHRIST IS FAITHFUL AS A SON OVER GOD'S HOUSE......"
The preeminence of Jesus Christ over Moses and all the prophets is indicative of the preeminence of grace over law. The preeminence of grace over law can then be said to be as: the Creator over the creature, as the divine over the sinful, as the spiritual over the flesh, as the infinite over the finite, and as that which endures over that which passes away.
Therefore, when Jesus Christ came at His first advent, He fulfilled the law, and after so doing, the law was set aside. The law has nothing to do with the Christian life under grace. Romans 6:14 tells us, ".....you are NOT UNDER LAW, but UNDER GRACE." Galatians 3:10, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse......." Galatians 3:11-12, "The righteous will live by faith, the law is not based on faith." Galatians 5:18, "But if you are led by the Spirit, you ARE NOT UNDER LAW." Throughout the writings of the apostle Paul, over and over again he tells his readers, that the Mosaic law is not a part of the Christian life, and, if you desire to follow the Mosaic Law, then you are not following Christ. It is very important to understand this principle if you want your life to be all it can be for Jesus Christ.
Hebrews is one of those books that is almost impossible to interpret properly unless you have an understanding of Jewish history. Many of the things the writer talks about are impossible to duplicate today. For example, we could not commit most of the sins the writer of Hebrews condemns, because there is no Jewish Temple where we could offer sacrifices today. Many of the sins he mentions deal with the offerings and sacrifices of the Jewish Temple. So we must look first at the historical background of this great book.
One of the important concepts to understand in studying the book of Hebrews is the concept of ICE teaching. ICE teaching is the only way anyone can ever hope to understand any part of the Bible. ICE is an achronym for ISAGOGICS, CATEGORIES AND EXEGESIS. ISAGOGICS refers to historical background, CATEGORIES refers to other parts of the Bible that teach the same thing and EXEGESIS refers to a word by word study of each verse. When these three things are accomplished, it is very easy to understand what the Bible is teaching in any given passage.
(1) - Any serious attempt to understand the book of Hebrews must be based on careful exegesis of the text from the original language, plus the study of the historical background, plus a comparison of the categories with other Scriptures. With the language, historical background, and categorical information, there must be an analysis of this information to arrive at the correct interpretation of a passage.
(2) - The book of Hebrews could be titled "The Preeminence of Jesus Christ." Preeminence means "having a paramount rank, dignity or importance; that which is superior, or has a superexcellency." Jesus Christ is superior to and preeminent over everyone and everything.
From the very beginning of this book we are challenged by the bold stand taken by the writer. In Hebrews 1:1-4 we are told that Jesus Christ is superior to the prophets of the Old Testament and He is superior to all angels, because He is the Son of God through whom God has spoken in this new dispensation. Philippians 2:5-11, "Let this thinking be in you that is in Christ Jesus. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven (all angels and humans), and on earth (all angels and humans), and every tongue acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord, (is deity, is God) to the glory of God the Father."
John 1:1-18, In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John (John the Baptist or John the Baptizer) He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and though the world was made by him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own (Israel), but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right and the authority to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh (incarnation) and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, 'This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."
Colossians 1:15-20, "He is the (visible) image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; (this refers to the various ranks of angels. Christ created the angels and gave them their authority and power. The Scripture is very clear that Jesus is not an angel, but the Creator of angels. He is above the angels, who in fact worship Him and are under His authority. Jesus' relationship to the unseen world, like His relationship to the visible universe, proves that He is God). all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things (preexistence), and in him all things hold together (are sustained). And he is the head of the body, the Church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (in the humanity of Jesus Christ), and through him to reconcile (bring back) to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross (His substitutionaryspiritual death on the cross)."
(3) - You cannot understand the book of Hebrews unless you understand the book of Leviticus, because the book of Hebrews is based upon the principles of the Levitical priesthood. By the time we finish the book of Hebrews, you should have a pretty good grasp of the book of Leviticus as well.
(4) - The author of the book of Hebrews is the Holy Spirit. He is the author of all the books of the Bible. Who the human writer of the book of Hebrews was has been debated throughout the centuries. We do know that he had a Greek background, and was an expert in the use of the Greek language. He also had an excellent Jewish background, and was an expert in Jewish history and traditions.
(5) - There are at least five different views as to who wrote the book of Hebrews.
(A) - The first view is that Luke wrote Hebrews. This view was held by many in the first century. It was also held by John Calvin. The reason for this is because the Greek of the book of Hebrews is very polished. In some cases it is almost pure classical Greek. It is very interesting that the epistle that has the most information by way of the Jewish background should also be the purist type of Greek. However, there's too much Jewish history in this epistle for it to be written by a Gentile, and Luke was a Gentile.(6) - The book of Hebrews was written around 67 AD, about three years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans. This book was the last warning to the Jews before their national destruction.
(B) -The second view is that Clement of Rome wrote Hebrews. Eusebius (Church historian: 260-340 AD) and Erasmus (Dutch scholar: 1466-1536 AD) held this view. At one point Origen (Greek scholar and teacher in the early church: 185-254 AD) said that "The book of Hebrews had Paul's thoughts, but that Clement of Rome wrote it." Again there is too much Jewish background for Clement of Rome.
(C) - The third view is that Barnabas was the human writer of Hebrews. Barnabas was a Levite with a good Jewish background. He was also the mediator between Paul and the Jewish Christians. And even today there are some scholars who believe that Barnabas is the writer of the book of Hebrews.
(D) - The fourth view is that Apollos wrote Hebrews. This view was held by Martin Luther (1483-1546 AD). As a Jew from Alexandria, Egypt and well - versed in the Old Testament, Apollos is an obvious possibility. However, no ancient tradition or testimony exists in that direction.
(E) - The fifth view is that Paul wrote Hebrews. But it's not like Paul to omit his name. Plus, the style of Hebrews is smooth and literary, two characteristics not applied to Paul's writings. Paul wrote in an iliptical and rough style. Paul would also quote the Old Testament from the Hebrew text. The writer of Hebrews quoted from the Old Testament Greek (the Septuagint), not the Hebrew. There are many Pauline ideas in the book of Hebrews, and there are many Bible scholars who hold the position that Paul is the writer of Hebrews.
In conclusion, any one of these five men could have written the book of Hebrews. But when I read the statements by E.W. Bullinger in his book "Number in Scripture," he brings forth a very good argument for Pauline authorship. Using the principle of Biblical numerology, Dr Bullinger states, "The New Testament contains 27 separate books (3 x 3 x 3 =27)". Three is the number of divine perfection). "Of these 27 books 21 are epistles (3 x 7 = 21)." Three being the number of divine perfection, and seven being the number of spiritual perfection and completion. "If we take the agents employed (in the writing) we have 8 in the New Testament. Of the 21 Epistles of the New Testament 14 (2 x 7) are by Paul (if Hebrews is included), and seven by other writers. In this we have an argument for the Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews; an argument which is confirmed by numbers of verbal occurrences.........." )I would encourage anyone who may be interested to purchase Dr Bullinger's book "Number in Scripture" and read pages 26-41). Dr Bullinger continues, "This law, affecting the occurrence of important words, may be used in evidence as to authorship. For example, if we take certain words in Paul's Epistles alone, we do not find the law operating unless we include the Epistle to the Hebrews. If we add the occurrences in Hebrews to those in the other Pauline Epistles, the harmony is at once restored."
(7) - The purpose of the Epistle to the Hebrews is explained in eight principles:
(A) - To warn believers regarding negative attitudes toward the Word of God, and to provide Biblical information to aid them in their spiritual growth.(8) - The book of Hebrews is a presentation of Christ, the Messiah, the author of a better system, greater than the one God made in the Old Testament. The old system was not bad or wrong; it was God-given and, therefore, good. But it was incomplete and preliminary. It actually set the stage for the better system. I Timothy 1:8 tells us that "We know that the law is good." Romans 7:12 says, "So the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just and good."
(B) - To deliver believers in Jerusalem from the catastrophe of the national destruction which was approaching.
(C) - To clarify the issues of the angelic conflict and the believer's relationship to this great spiritual warfare.
(D) - To lead believers to spiritual maturity through the learning and application of Bible doctrine in the filling of the Holy Spirit.
(E) - To reveal the glory of the person of Jesus Christ and to stimulate occupation with Christ while on earth. In other words, to help the believer develop category one love, love for God. Your capacity to love Jesus Christ can be measured by the amount of Biblical knowledge you possess and apply.
(F) - To orient the believer to the grace principles regarding the universal priesthood of the believer.
(G) - To distinguish between the function of the Jewish dispensation and the Church Age. The reality of your priesthood and its function is never possible until you understand dispensations and recognize the difference between the Church Age and the Jewish Age.
(H) - To relate the priesthood of the believer to every facet of the Christian way of life.
The overall theme of the book of Hebrews is the superiority, or the preeminence of Jesus Christ. He is better than anything that was before or anything to come. He is better than any Old Testament person, He is better than any Old Testament institution, He is better than any Old Testament ritual, He is better than any Old Testament sacrifice and He is better than anyone and everything else.
The writer of Hebrews begins with a general superiority of Christ to everyone and everything, then he continues throughout the book to give specifics.
The superiority of Christ to the prophets: Heb 1:1-3.This brief outline gives us the flow of the book of Hebrews, which, above all else, teaches the total, complete and absolute superiority of Jesus Christ. When we come to understand that Jesus Christ is truly superior to anything else, then we should come to realize that Jesus Christ and the teachings of grace are far superior to anything in the Old Testament. This is why the apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:16, "By observing the law, NO ONE WILL BE JUSTIFIED." Then in Galatians 3:10 he says, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse." The Mosaic Law is very inferior to everything that is taught under grace in the epistles of the New Testament. In fact, after Jesus Christ fulfilled the law (Matt 5:17), it was set aside and replaced by something far greater, the system of grace. Law and grace cannot exist together. John 1:17 tells us that "The law was given through Moses, GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ." Therefore, since Jesus Christ, and the epistles of the New Testament are greater than anything and everything in the Old Mosaic Law, God cancelled the law, He set aside the Law, He made the Law null and void and replaced it with something far greater, the system of grace.
The superiority of Christ to angels: Heb 1:4-14; 2:1-9.
The superiority of Christ to Moses: Heb chapters 3 & 4.
The superiority of Christ to Melchizidek, the king priest of Jerusalem: Heb chapter 7.
The superiority of Christ to Aaron and the Levitical priesthood: Heb chapters 5 - 7.
The superiority of Christ to any high priest: Heb chapter 8.
The superiority of Christ to the Old Covenant: Heb chapters 9 & 10.
The superiority of Christ's sacrifice to the old sacrifices: Heb chapters 9 & 10.
The superiority of Christ's faithful people to all the faithless: Heb chapter 11.
The superiority of Christ's testimony to that of any other: Heb chapters 12 & 13.
(9) - In the book of Hebrews, not only is Jesus Christ brought out as our Redeemer and Savior, but He is also brought out as our High Priest and our King. There were high priests and kings in the Old Testament, but no one was both. Except Melchizidek who was the high priest to the Most High God and the king of Salem (Jerusalem, Gen 14:18). But Melchizidek lived before the Mosaic Law was given, and his status is very unique.
(10) - The book of Hebrews teaches that Jesus Christ came as the Mediator of a better system. Under the Old Testament system sacrifices were made constantly, hour after hour, day after day, month after month and year after year. They never stopped. Besides this, the priests themselves were sinners. They had to make sacrifices for their own sins before they could make sacrifices for the sins of the people. Also, the entire system never removed any sin. It only covered it up, or set it aside temporarily.
What man needed was a perfect Priest and a perfect Sacrifice. A sacrifice that was not just a shadow or illustration. A sacrifice that did not deal with just one sin at a time, but a sacrifice that would take way sin once and for all. Not only the sin, but also the guilt and the judgment that were connected to the sin. That, says the writer of Hebrews, is exactly what Jesus Christ was (the perfect Sacrifice), and what He did (removed sin) and its judgment from the human race permanently.
Jesus Christ came as a Mediator of a better system because it is one that does not have to be repeated every hour, or even every month, or even every year.This was something that no priest could ever do. There were no seats, no chairs, nothing to sit on in the Tabernacle or in the Temple. The priest had to keep making sacrifices; his work was never finished. But after Jesus made His sacrifice, He "sat down." It was finished. It was done. It was completed. Therefore, Jesus Christ is a better priest, making a better sacrifice. There is a central message of the book of Hebrews. To the believing Jew the Spirit says, "Continue to have confidence in this Priest and His sacrifice."
Jesus Christ came as the Mediator of a better system because His sacrifice, once and for all removes every sin and the penalty of every sin.
Jesus Christ came as the Mediator of a better system because He is a priest who does not need to make any sacrifice for Himself. He is perfect in every way. The perfect Priest and the perfect Sacrifice. Hebrews 10:10, "By this we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL." Hebrews 10:12, "But He, having offered ONE sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God."
(11) - The idea of new system (grace) was not easy for the Jews to accept. After they accepted the new system of grace, it was very difficult for them to make a clean break with the old Mosaic Law. The Gentiles did not have that problem, since they had never been a part of the old Mosaic system. They had long before lost any real knowledge of the true God, and in consequence they were worshiping idols. Some of these idols were primitive and some of them very sophisticated, but all of them were idols just the same.
But the Jews had always had a divine religion. For centuries they had known a divinely appointed place of worship and a divinely revealed way of worshiping. God Himself had established their religion. Therefore, even after a Jew received the Lord Jesus Christ, he had a very difficult time. He had a traditional desire to retain some of the forms and ceremonies that had been a part of his life since earliest childhood. Part of the purpose of the book of Hebrews, therefore, was to confront the born-again Jew with the fact that he could and should let go of all his Judaistic trappings. But since the Temple was still standing and priests still ministering in it, this was especially difficult to do. Letting go became easier after the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD.
(12) - Jews who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior received intense persecution from fellow Jews. The high priest Ananias was especially hard and cruel. He had all Christian Jews automatically banished from the holy places. All their lives they had access to these sacred places. Now they were not allowed to be a part of the God-ordained services. They were not considered clean. They could not go to the synagogue, much less the Temple. They could not offer any sacrifices, they could not communicate with the priests, they could have nothing to do with their own people. They were cut off from their own society. For clinging to Jesus as the Messiah, they were banished from almost every sacred thing they had ever known. Though in God's eyes they were the only true Jews (Rom 2:28-29), they were considered by fellow Jews to be worse than Gentiles.
Throughout the book of Hebrews these Jewish Christians were told to keep their confidence in Christ, the Mediator of a BETTER SYSTEM and the new GREAT HIGH PRIEST. They were reminded that they were losing nothing for which they were not getting something infinitely better. They had been deprived of an earthly temple, but they were going to get a heavenly one. They had been deprived of an earthly priesthood, but they now had a heavenly Priest. They had been deprived of the old system of sacrifices, but now they had one final, total and complete sacrifice to rely on.
(13) - In the book of Hebrews we are going to see a lot of contrasts. Everything presented will be viewed as being BETTER.
A better hope: Heb 7:9.Jesus Christ is presented as being the supreme best. And we are presented as being in Him and as dwelling in a completely new dimension, the heavenlies. And this term is used over and over again.
A better testament: Heb 7:22.
A better promise: Heb 8:6.
A better sacrifice: Heb 9:23.
A better substance: Heb 10:34.
A better country: Heb 11:16.
A better resurrection: Heb 11:35.
A better everything!
The heavenly Christ:Everything is new. Everything is better. We don't need the old worn-out system of the Mosaic Law.
The heavenly calling: Heb 3:11.
The heavenly gift: Heb 6:4.
The heavenly country: Heb 11:16.
The heavenly Jerusalem: Heb 12:22.
Back to MBC Bible Doctrine Links: Back to Exegetical Bible Studies: | <urn:uuid:309519ec-61db-41df-8bfa-e85ac77e5c23> | CC-MAIN-2014-42 | http://www.angelfire.com/mt/hermon/hebrews.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414119651018.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20141024030051-00186-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97881 | 5,524 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Fundamental British values
Five key British values are promoted explicitly and implicitly through the collective worship of our Catholic life of our school, our strong school ethos, which is reflected in our Mission statement.
Activities in and out of the classroom allow children to develop socially, morally, culturally, spiritually.
What are the 5 key values?
the rule of law,
and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Our Catholic faith and Mission statement help us to explore these values.
Here are some examples of how the school addresses these values:
Democracy: all pupils vote for class representatives to serve on the School Council or as members of the Lighthouse group.
The Rule of Law: pupils have class contracts, setting down rules they think are important and ways they can show mutual respect to others, whilst supporting individual liberty.
Individual Liberty: children explore their rights and those of others through stories, RE, Geography, History and assemblies, for example, Oscar Romero's life and work were explored to see how a Catholic priest followed Christ's example to protect people's liberties; Children are also encouraged to understand the link between rights and responsibilities.
Mutual Respect: relationships with members of the school community are modelled on Jesus's commandment to love one another. This rule is also the basis of how we treat and consider others beyond our school walls. The way children support and consider other people's needs is exemplified through their prayer life, assemblies, and charity events, such as the Macmillan tea party and the CAFOD annual fund raising event. Children also explore this through literature, such as The Rainbow Fish.
In October, as part of Black History Month, the lives of both Mary Seacole and Oscar Romero were explored and even though they were not always shown respect, they served the needs of others.
Tolerance of those with different faiths: children show their respect for others as they learn more about others in areas such as RE, Geography, History, and many stories.
Who do inspires you?
As part of Black history month the school explored how some people, such as Oscar Romero and Mary Seacole have inspired us to serve or help others.
Here are some of the people who inspire some of our pupils: | <urn:uuid:97c65c4f-6e87-4723-9a9e-52dfb7c607c9> | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | https://saintthomasm.org.uk/British-Values/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656103516990.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20220628111602-20220628141602-00426.warc.gz | en | 0.964921 | 474 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Subsets and Splits