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Perhaps Steinbeck’s most successful work, which won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and figured predominantly in his winning the Nobel Prize in 1962, “The Grapes of Wrath” tells the story of the Joad family, who driven out of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl by drought and hardship during the height of the Great Depression travels to California in search of jobs and a better future.
Although written 80 years ago, the play, says director Michael Michetti, is “still profoundly relevant.”
Steinbeck wrote it after observing the life of migrant farm workers. In a letter to his friend Elizabeth Otis, Steinbeck wrote about thousands of families starving to death, “not just hungry, but actually starving… the states and counties will give them nothing because they are outsiders. But the crops in any part of this state could not be harvested without these outsiders.” It is no secret that our country faces similar problems today. The migrant families are not from Oklahoma this time, but they are still migrating in search of employment and better conditions.
Like the Joads, who lost their home and property, in the last few years our country has seen people lose their houses and struggle with unemployment. And like in the story, our society must realize the relevance of government involvement and the need for human kindness.
At A Noise Within, Galati’s adaptation features Steinbeck’s words almost exclusively, as well as live music that includes period hymns, Dust Bowl songs, and original works by Michael Smith written for the play’s original 1988 production. Galati won two Tony Awards for this adaptation and its direction on Broadway.
“The Grapes of Wrath” at A Noise Within is a thought-provoking production. It brings about the realization that, although time moves on, our society remains plagued by like issues. And it underlines the importance of looking beyond ourselves to help others.
It is delightfully performed, creatively staged, and thoroughly enjoyable.
"The Grapes of Wrath"
A Noise Within
3352 East Foothill Blvd,
Pasadena, CA 91107
Saturday, March 2, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 24, at 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 11, at 8 p.m.
Friday, April 12, at 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 20, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 21, at 2 p.m.
Friday, May 3, at 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 11, at 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 11, at 8 p.m.
Price: $40 - $52
Special price for groups of 10 or more | <urn:uuid:011bd0e4-76ce-46b1-be81-b5f2010a11b4> | {
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Mark H. Shour, P&S, Entomology
Several child abuse cases were documented recently when children were exposed to chemicals used in licensed child care centers in Iowa. Injuries ranged from chemical skin burns, to eye injuries, to respiratory distress. Although these injuries were not intentional, they were preventable. Currently, more than 250,000 children are enrolled in child care facilities (centers and in-home sites) in the state of Iowa. These children have the potential of being exposed to cleaning agents, pesticides, and other chemicals while in child care. A March 2007 statewide survey by ISU Extension found more than 700 cleaning and disinfectant products as well as over 130 insecticide, herbicide and rodenticides in child care centers.
To increase awareness for chemical safety in Iowa’s child care centers through provider training and useful educational aids.
A focus group of 10 licensed child care center directors in August 2007 determined that self-paced learning modules (Internet and DVD) would be the best way to train providers since staff/child contact time fills the work week (M-F, 6am – 6PM). Eight modules were assembled: Overview, Pesticides, Pesticide Labels, Cleaning Chemicals, Chemical Storage, Common Pest, Integrated Pest Management Overview, and “Is It Safe?” DVD by the Toxicology Education Foundation. The overall time was 2.5 hours. The Internet training site was: http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/childcare/home . An optional worksheet was developed to enhance the information gained through the audiovisual training. Approval for continuing education units was obtained from ISU Continuing Education for program participants. The child care center director’s focus group also determined that some eye-catching visual aid should be created to reinforce the training. A set of three full color posters (18”W x 24”L; laminated; SP 0316) was developed: “Reading Chemical Product Labels”, “Chemical Use in Child Care Facilities”, and “Choosing Pest Management Strategies”.
A pilot training was conducted with 7 child care centers and 60 providers. Based on pre-training/post-training surveys, participants improved their knowledge of chemical safety issues for 17 of the 30 questions, and had proper understanding for 9 of the 30 questions. Participants strongly believed the training familiarized them with pesticide and other chemical safety and IPM. An additional 40 people have taken the Internet training following the pilot program. There were 9,000 poster sets printed for this project. One set was mailed to each of the 1506 licensed child care centers in Iowa. Additional posters were made available to the public.
170 Pesticide Applicator Training
Page last updated:
August 25, 2008
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PhilippinesEdit This Page
From FamilySearch Wiki
|Welcome to Philippines!|
Beginning in the late 1500s, the Spaniards took various censuses known as vecindarios (local censuses), padrón de almas (head census), or estado de almas (people status). The latter two were religious censuses conducted by parish clergy. Read more...
- Filipinas Heritage Library
- LibraryLink Website
- National Statistics Office
- Philippines Genealogy Search
- Philippine History
- Philippines Libraries (Libweb)
- Websites about Philippine and Filipino Genealogy
Things you can do
In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need to be done. You can help by:
New to the Research Wiki?
In the FamilySearch Research Wiki, you can learn how to do genealogical research or share your knowledge with others.Learn More | <urn:uuid:059fc277-892b-4ff7-b62e-5455197d6c37> | {
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Edutopia stw yesprep rubric and descrip literary analysis romeo and julietCopyright
2009 YES Prep Public Schools
Romeo and Juliet
Literary Analysis Paper
For the Romeo and Juliet essay, you have a choice of six different topicsyou need to choose one.
A good essay will have an introduction paragraph with a strong, clear thesis, several wellorganized body paragraphs with evidence that supports your point of view, and a concluding paragraph with the thesis restated.
Your essay should be two to three pages, typed and double-spaced in 12-point font.
This essay assignment will require you to plan and organize your essay carefully.
I will provide time for you to work in class and will also help you organize your ideas and gather evidence.
Choose a topic about which you have a strong personal opinion
but your thesis must be supported by evidence in the play.
Here is the timeline of due dates for your paper
Add these dates to your calendar:
Due DateAssignment Monday, April 27th
12 Dialectical Journal entries for your topic
Declare project extension(s) Monday, May 4th
Project Extension: Check-in 1 Monday, May 11th
Project Extension: Check-in 2 Monday, May 18th
Final Draft and Project Extensions Monday, May 18th- Thursday, May 21st Project Presentations
I.Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two young lovers who fall deeply in love and do everything they can to be together.
Compare and contrast the actions of this couple with those of typical teenagers we see today in America.
What factors play a role in this love story that create similarities and differences to todays love stories?
a.Possible topics to consider in your analysis (feel free to add your own):
What are the common dating practices of each time period? ii.How do the different cultures affect dating norms? iii.
How does age play a role in decision-making? iv.How much parental involvement is expected in a dating relationship? What is acceptable behavior if parents and children do not see eye to eye? v.Besides family grudges, what are other reasons two young lovers would be forbidden from being together?
II.William Shakespeare is very intentional about how he shapes each character in the play so that each plays an integral role in the tragedy that ensues.
Analyze the personality traits of 2-4 characters in Romeo and Juliet. | <urn:uuid:26bfe293-6575-465f-9f3e-db555d71320b> | {
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Possible Sandro Botticelli Fresco
Painting Found in Ruined Hungarian Castle.
06/10/2007 - A restoration project in Esztergom,
Hungary has resulted in a surprise possible attribution of a
painting to Early Italian
Renaissance painter Sandro
Botticelli. While restorations have been ongoing since 2000
on the four-piece mural, it is only in recent weeks that art
historians have recognized the hand of Sandro Botticelli in the
one of the fresco paintings.
One of the 4
fresco painting, ca.
hereto see our fine art
The mural paintings were commissioned to decorate the castle
chapel by Janos Vitez, Archbishop of Esztergom. To paint the
frescoes, Vitez employed the school of Fra Filippo
Lippi to whom Sandro Botticelli was apprenticed. The
images depict the four medieval virtues, a common theme of the
Apparent in the fresco painting to even a casual observer
is the flowing red hair characteristic of Sandro Botticelli's
Simonetta Vespucci, who died in 1476, but who Botticelli
continued to paint for the remainder of his career.
Janos Vitez was a Hungarian Humanist
who was born around 1400 and reigned as archbishop in Hungary
from 1465 to 1472.
Brenda Harness, Art Historian
For more information on Italian
Renaissance Art and book recommendations, click | <urn:uuid:bdd290e8-0a82-4ac8-8cb3-917563de875c> | {
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The Tasmania Fire Service's Community Education Unit delivers a number of programs to the community to enhance community safety. These programs are free-of-charge.
The School Fire Education Program delivers fire safety information to all Tasmanian primary school students, promoting awareness of fire safety and fire hazards, and steps to take if fire breaks out in the home.
The Juvenile Fire Lighter Intervention Program is for children who engage in unsafe fire lighting behaviour at home or in the bush. Program content is tailored to the age and maturity of the children attending.
Project Wake Up! provides opportunities for people with disabilities and aged people to get advice from firefighters about fire safety matters in their homes, and when necessary, to have free smoke alarms installed. | <urn:uuid:2dc28fe7-eaee-4a7c-978f-3970ba719f6e> | {
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Feral and Stray Cat Management
Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) is a proven humane method for feral (wild) and stray cat population control. These cats are often referred to as "Community" Cats because they are a product of irresponsible pet owners in the community. An abandoned domestic cat that is not already spayed or netuered will produce kittens that will become feral. Feral cats colonies can survive anywhere there is a food source. Feeding them is the first step to controlling the population. The next step is trapping them so that they can be sterilized and vaccinated. The rate of disease in feral cats is the same as for domestic cats. Rabies is not a threat for feral cats in SW Florida. Feral cats act like any other wild animal, totally nocturnal, usually silent and they are normally clean and sleek. Stray cats are visible during the day, are vocal and are dirty and hungry.
Once the cats are spayed and neutered, the pulbic nuisance issues of overpopulation, territory marking, fighting, predation and aggressive behavior cease. Controlled feral cat colonies must be managed by a caregiver who provides daily food and water. A colony of controlled feral cats can be a benefit to the community by providing free pest control for rats, mice and other vermin that carry diseases that could affect the wellbeing of the human community. Collier County has a TNR ordinance in place and is in full support of community members that are trapping and fixing feral and stray cats in their community.
TNR is the centerpiece of our mission. We offer resources to residents of Collier County who are willing to trap and transport cats to local veterinarians for surgery and vaccines. Please visit us at the Petsmart store on Pine Ridge Road in Naples on Saturdays from 10-3 to discuss your needs.
HOW TO HELP FERAL AND STRAY CATS
Feed the cat(s) every day at the same time and place
Feeding Location and Time-
Locate the bowls of food and water in a protected area that is out of sight from public view. You do not want anyone doing harm to the cats. Feed just after dark or very early in the morning so no one sees you. If ants get into the food, buy “food grade diatomaceous earth” from the feed store (or online at www.dirtworks.com) and sprinkle on the ground around the area. It will kill the ants but will not be harmful to the cats.
You can make an affordable covered feeding station/shelter for the cats by buying a large 4 foot Rubbermaid container from Home Depot. Take the lid off (use the lid for something else), turn it upside down, cut out both of the ends and use 2 bungee cords to strap it to a wooden shipping pallet (can be acquired from grocery stores and other business, usually for free).
Trap, neuter and return (TNR) them to the same place- FERAL CATS CANNOT BE RELOCATED
Sterilizing the cat affordably-
Call the Collier Spay Neuter Clinic at 239-514-7647
Getting a trap-
Borrow a trap from Domestic Animal Services on Davis Road in Naples (deposit required) or the Collier Spay/Neuter Clinic on Immokolee Rd 239-514-7647
Buy a trap from Lowes or Tractor Supply (Havahart #1079) for approx. $50.00
Trapping the cat-
Call the Clinic to make sure they can take the cat on the morning you plan to have your cat in the trap
Locate the trap where you feed. Cover the back, top and sides of the trap with a towel to make it more appealing. If the trap is near sprinklers, cover the trap with a black garbage bag first and overlay the bag with a towel.
Put the trap out just after dusk and check on it during the night if you can. Otherwise, check early in the morning before anyone knows it is there
If you have the cat in the trap, cover the trap completely with towels to calm the cat down.
Cover the back seat of your car with garbage bags and transport the cat to the Clinic ASAP. Be prepared to pick the cat up the next morning.
After you pick up the sterilized cat from the vet, put newspaper down on the floor of your garage and put the towel covered trap on the newspaper overnight
Bring the covered trap back to your feeding location early the next morning and release the cat.
The cat may disappear for several days but will be back to resume normal activities
Continue to feed and care for the cats | <urn:uuid:8021ae45-08e6-42e4-b301-cb555bd130eb> | {
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What are tachyons?
Tachyons are hypothetical particles that can only travel faster than the speed of light. As you probably know, objects with a real number for mass can never travel at the speed of light because of Einstein's theory of relativity. As a consequence of this theory, as a objects velocity increases its mass increases. As is it can be seen by the following formula mass=rest_mass*1/sqrt(1-v^2/c^2). At the speed of light the mass becomes infinite. So, it would take an infinite amount of energy for a massive particle to reach the speed of light. These objects are sometimes called tardyons. Photons can travel at the speed of light because they have no mass and their energy is E=planck's constant * nu(frequency of the photon).
In order for something to travel at the speed of light it would have to have an imaginary number for its mass. An imaginary number is a number that is a multiple of the square root of a negative number. As a particle travels faster than the speed of light the denominator of mass=rest_mass*1/sqrt(1-v^2/c^2) becomes imaginary, the imaginary mass would counteract this and we (in the rest frame) would see something that had real mass in the rest frame but something that always traveled faster than the speed of light.
There have been a few experiments to find tachyons using a detector called a cerenkov detector. This detector is able to measure the speed of a particle traveling through a medium. Photons travel at a slower speed inside a medium. If a particle travels though a medium at a speed that is greater than light for that medium cerenkov radiation occurs. This is analogous to the sonic boom produced when an airplane travels faster than the speed of sound in air or the shock wave at the bow of a ship.
If tachyons existed you would be able to see cerenkov radiation in a vacuum. A few cerenkov experiments were conducted in a vacuum and no radiation was found, so it is generally accepted that tachyons do no exist.
I hope this helped you.
Christina L. Hebert Graduate Student at Fermilab
|last modified 12/11/1999 [email protected]| | <urn:uuid:0a836341-2dd7-41a3-aa34-9109e795e68e> | {
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SELECT PRODUCT TYPE
Tips & Advice : Different type of bird feeders
Bird feeders come in all different shapes, materials & sizes all with the same goal of attracting the widest variety of birds as possible to your garden to feed.
What you put in the feeder is the key factor to attracting the birds into your garden. So whether its a seed, peanut or suet feeder its important to try a variety of foods in the feeders to find out which birds like what food. The important factor is ensuring what ever feeder you use that the food can flow easily from it.
Keeping the feeder clean will help ensure any trapped food is removed allowing it to flow freely and at the same time reduce the risk of any bacteria.
Seed feeders are one of the most popular type of feeders probably because of the wide variety of foods you can get to fill them, and the more feeders you site with a variety of different seeds the wider species of birds you are likely to attract.
Seed feeders come in a variety of designs from tubular feeding stations to hopper type feeders with a trough at the base for the birds to eat from. They all come in many different designs to not only appeal to the birds but also to the bird watchers.
Seed feeders are designed to dispense various types of different seed like wild bird seed blended mixes, sunflowers - black, striped or hearts. Some seed requires a specially designed feeders like Niger/thistle seed feeders. Niger/thistle seed is very light and small and without using a specific feeder the seed can blow away and fall through the holes of standard seed feeders.
Tubular style seed feeders come with a various number of feeding ports where birds can hang or perch to feed. The more ports you have the more birds that can feed at anyone time, and quiet often the more confident the birds feel feeding as there is safety in numbers. Ensure feeders with more than 2 ports are tall enough to enable birds of all sizes to perch or hang utilising all ports at once.
Hopper style feeders - the lantern feeder is an example of a hopper feeder. The seed is dispensed through positioned gaps in base of the casing, and with these type of feeders the seed falls into a small trough round the base of the feeder and the birds perch and hang onto the perches to feed on the seed.
Feeders can be hung from a bird table, post, wall, fence or suitable branch of a tree using a bracket, hook, rope or other secure suitable anchor point. Its important that the fixing is secure at all times as when the feeders are full of food and the birds are feeding the weight and movement can result in them becoming insecure.
Peanut feeders are another popular type of feeder. They too come in various shapes, sizes & materials and are essential for dispensing peanuts to the birds in your garden. Its important that peanuts are fed from a specific feeder in order that birds cant get at the peanuts whole as this can cause choking especially amongst fledgling in the spring.
Peanut feeders are usually a cylindrical tube covered in a steel mesh which birds hang from while they peck away at the nuts inside. Having to peck away at the nuts through the mesh not only ensure the birds cant eat the nuts whole but also ensures they hang around in your garden longer to feed. Bringing hours of entertainment to those who love watching the birds.
Peanuts attract a wide variety of birds - Blue tits, Great tits, Woodpeckers, Greenfinches, nuthatch are just a few of the regular visitors that will enjoy feeding on peanuts in your garden.
Another visitor that loves to feed at the peanut feeder will be the squirrel. So if you have problems with the squirrels that visit your garden then use a squirrel proof feeder to deter their unwanted attention.
Tubular and hopper feeders made of plastic are an easy target for squirrels as they gnaw through the plastic fitments to get to the food. Buying feeders made of metal or ceramic fitments helps keep squirrels at bay as they are harder to penetrate while hanging upside down from a fence, tree or bird table. While they are more expensive to buy initially they are well worth it as they are more likely to survive the attention of the squirrels - although determined squirrels may still find a way.
As Squirrels are very partial to seeds and nuts, while it can be very entertaining watching them become acrobat's as they strip and destroy the feeders to reduce this destruction you can buy specially designed feeder that restrict squirrels.
Squirrel proof feeders - are very attractive feeders that have the tubular feeder encased by a metal plastic coated cage, which stops squirrels being able to get at the feeder and the food inside. These feeders are designed to allow the smaller birds into the cage through the wire gaps to feed in peace out of the reach of the larger birds and the squirrels that compete for their food.
Squirrel proof feeders are available for dispensing seed or nuts and even ones that can dispense both within the same feeder.
Even if you don't get a problem from squirrels in your garden using one of these feeders keeps a feeder in your garden that only the smaller birds can feed from encouraging a wider variety of smaller birds into your garden to feed.
Suet feeders are plastic coated wire holders designed to hold fat balls or suet blocks efficiently while birds feed.
The suet block holders are designed for holding suet blocks but are also idea for placing toast or bread and scrap in.
Fat ball feeders are designed to hold fat balls. The plastic netting that fat balls come wrapped in ideally should be removed and the fat ball placed in a suitable feeder to reduce the risk of the birds becoming trapped in the fine netting or choking on the plastic netting as they peck at the suet.
Suet feeders due to the nature of the food that goes in them require regular cleaning to avoid any remains of the food going rancid. They should be cleaned everytime before being replenished.Wash in hot soapy water first rinse well and then clean with a cleaner disinfectant like bug gard.
Suet is high in fat which is a good source of nourishment and attracts many different birds in particular nuthatches, woodpeckers, Tits and Starlings. Starling can ly devour your suet treat in no time at all and to ensure others birds get the chance to feed from them you might want to place the suet in an area of the garden that the larger birds like starling find more difficult to feed from or place the suet feeder inside a metal cage to restrict access to the larger birds & squirrels.
Feeding tray are an alternative way of feeding birds their food while keeping it off the ground. Feeding trays are raised off the ground, usually made of a wood or metal frame with a fine wire mesh base.
The advantage of a feeding tray is food thats not suitable for feeding from a feeder - for example ground food, suet pellets, dried mealworms etc can be fed easily from a tray allowing you pick up any uneaten food at night to reduce the unwanted attention of vermin that may visit during the night attracted by the left overs.
The other advantage is when it rains the rain can soaks through the mesh allowing the food to dry out quickly and also reducing the mess on your lawn or patio. | <urn:uuid:f4833552-3885-4256-86ed-c6f59ab61ee5> | {
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By: Katie Burns Date: 8/1/11
Registered dietitians are aware of the science behind the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and are knowledgeable of the impact poor diet can play on one’s health, but an important component of food and health that is often overlooked or oversimplified is food safety. A significant public health issue, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths per year in the United States related to foodborne illness.
Food safety doesn’t strengthen your bones; it won’t help manage your weight, nor will it help you run faster and jump higher. However, it does play an important role in disease prevention and overall health and wellness. Unfortunately, the IFIC Foundation 2011 Food & Health Survey has shown a steady decline in safe food handling practices by consumers:
• CLEAN: Only about 80% of Americans report washing their hands with soap and water and only 71% report washing cutting boards when preparing food or getting ready to eat;
• SEPARATE: Less than two-thirds of Americans separate raw foods from ready-to-eat foods, and only about half use different cutting boards for each product.
• COOK: While 68% of Americans indicate they cook their food to the required temperature, less than 30% report using a food thermometer to check the food’s doneness.
• CHILL: Nearly 70% of Americans report storing leftovers within two hours of serving.
While the majority of Americans are not seeking out registered dietitians to learn about food safety, only 2% stated they had received food safety information from a registered dietitian, according to the 2011 Food & Health Survey, the basic food safety practices of “clean, separate, cook and chill” can easily be attached to nutrition messages. After all, “food isn’t nutritious unless it’s safe!”
• Enjoy your food.
o CLEAN: When you’re getting ready to eat or make a meal, wash your hands with soap and water. You’ll enjoy your food so much more knowing you’ve taken a step to keep it safe, plus it will allow you to slow down and think about the food you’re about to eat—just one more way to be mindful about what you eat!
• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
o SEPARATE: When preparing your meal, keep raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs (and their juices) away from ready-to-eat foods like fruits and vegetables.
• Choose lean or low-fat meat and poultry.
o COOK: When preparing your meat or poultry dish, use a food thermometer to determine when it has reached a safe internal temperature (high enough to kill the harmful bacteria that cause foodborne illness). This will prevent you from over-cooking it and will keep you safe! Visit the Partnership for Food Safety Education for a list of safe internal temperatures.
• Eat less and avoid oversized portions.
o CHILL: After serving the first helping, put leftovers into containers and refrigerate. This helps avoid the growth of the bacteria that causes foodborne illness and also keeps you from going back for seconds!
These are just a few practical ways to incorporate food safety into the basic nutrition messages of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. What are some other ways to make food safety fun and interesting? | <urn:uuid:cdc47164-7953-4cb7-aafa-c9bdd483c792> | {
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How to Read a Balance Sheet: Current and Quick Ratios
You've read through our abbreviated definitions of various items on the balance sheet -- congratulations. Now we'll have some fun with numbers and play around with these bits of information. We do this to get the nitty-gritty details about how well the company manages its assets and whether or not its price represents a bargain, based on the assets it has at its disposal.
The first tool you use is called the current ratio. A measure of just how much liquidity a company has, this number is simply the current assets divided by the current liabilities.
For instance, if Joe's Bar and Grill has $10 million in current assets and $5 million in current liabilities, here's the formula:
$10 million current assets / $5 million current liabilities = 2.0 current ratio
As a general rule, a current ratio of 1.5 or greater can meet near-term operating needs sufficiently. A higher current ratio can suggest that a company is hoarding assets instead of using them to grow the business -- not the worst thing in the world, but it's something that could affect long-term returns.
You should always check a company's current ratio (and any other ratio) against the same information for its main competitors. Certain industries have their own norms in terms of the current ratios that do make sense and those that do not. For instance, in the auto industry, a high current ratio makes a lot of sense if a company does not want to go bankrupt during the next recession.
When we discussed inventories, we mentioned that sometimes inventories are not necessarily worth the amount they are on the books for. This is particularly true in retail, where you routinely see close-out sales with 60% to 80% markdowns. It is even worse when a company going out of business is forced to liquidate its inventory, sometimes for pennies on the dollar.
And if a company has much of its liquid assets tied up in inventory, it will be very dependent on the sale of that inventory to finance operations. If the company is not growing sales very quickly, this can turn into an albatross that forces the company to issue stock or take on debt.
Because of all of this, it pays to check the quick ratio. The quick ratio is simply current assets minus inventories divided by current liabilities. By taking inventories out of the equation, you can find out if a company has sufficient liquid assets to meet short-term operating needs.
If you look at the balance sheet of Joe's Bar and Grill, you'll see that the company has $2.5 million of current assets in hamburger buns that are sitting in inventory. You now can figure out the company's quick ratio:
Quick ratio = (current assets - inventories) / current liabilities
($10 million current assets - $2.5 million inventories) / $5 million current liabilities = 1.5 quick ratio
Looks like Joe's makes the grade again. Most people look for a quick ratio greater than 1.0 to be sure there is enough cash on hand to pay bills and keep going. Like the current ratio, the quick ratio can also vary by industry. It always pays to compare this ratio to that of peers in the same industry to understand what it means in context.
In addition, some investors will use something called the cash ratio: the amount of cash a company has divided by its current liabilities. This is not a tool to use, however, so we don't have a general guideline if you want to check it. It is just another method to compare companies in the same industry to determine how well they are funded.
For more lessons on reading a balance sheet, follow the links at the bottom of our introductory article. | <urn:uuid:35e42521-439c-4624-96fe-ad413e5326c9> | {
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No one knew the American history better than Gore Vidal. It was in his blood.
He learnt it from a grandfather who served in the Senate, and from his personal association with the great American political families of his time.
From his home atop a Ravello cliff face he spun wonderful stories out of American history, buttressed by a flawless memory and a talent for mimicry.
His historical novels chart the emergence of America as a continental power with centralised government, and what he saw as a descent into imperialism.
He embodied an anti-imperial tradition that goes back to Mark Twain – representing an isolationist viewpoint that once ran deep in America. Gore Vidal believed no foreign war justified a single American life and this view was his fundamental political commitment.
And he loved a political feud – his own being a vendetta against Bobby Kennedy, with whom he clashed while campaigning for the US Congress in 1962.
He told me once that addressing an anti-Nixon rally in Boston he was asked, "Why is Nixon so hated in Massachusetts?" His roared response: "Because having seen so many crooks in its history, the people of Massachusetts recognise a crook when they see one!" The public applause, so strong it was almost a blow to the chest, confirmed in him a love of oratory and the chance to occupy a political stage.
He would have loved to have been a politician and stood twice – once for Congress and later for the Senate from California. He would have traded all his literary accomplishments for a chance to serve as a long term Senator, and to have one day run for President.
Gore Vidal's passing at age 86 is a loss to his country, to literature and to history.
Farewell to a polymath, a storyteller and a wonderful writer. His essays may have been the best in the language.
There won't be another mind like his.
- Minister's office: (02) 6277 7500
- DFAT Media Liaison: (02) 6261 1555 | <urn:uuid:2180b72e-b08b-4084-8a5b-6bedaaea2863> | {
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Miraflores is the name of one of the three locks that form part of the Panama Canal and the name of the small lake that separates these locks from the Pedro Miguel Locks upstream. In the Miraflores locks, vessels are lifted (or lowered) 54 feet (16.5 m) in two stages, allowing them to transit to or from the Pacific Ocean port of Balboa (near Panama City). Ships cross below the Puente de las Américas (Bridge of the Americas) which connects North and South America.
As of 2005, the following schedule was in effect for ship transit through the locks. From 06:00 to 15:15, ships travel from the Pacific towards the Atlantic. From 15:45 to 23:00 ships travel from the Atlantic towards the Pacific. At any other time, travel is permitted in both directions,
A modern visitor centre allows tourists to have a full view of the Miraflores locks operation. Binoculars are recommended to view the Pedro Miguel Locks in the distance. As of 2010, admittance for adults to the visitors centre costs US$5 (observation terrace) or $8 (supporting exhibits and video show added) with lower rates for children and senior citizens. Panama residents are admitted free of charge. Viewing a transit operation at the centre can take more than 30 minutes. A souvenir shop in the base level sells related merchandise. The centre closes at 17:00.
The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 48-mile (77.1 km) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. There are locks at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake (85 feet (26 m) above sea-level). Gatun Lake was created to reduce the amount of work required for the canal. The current locks are 110 feet (33.5 m) wide. A third, wider lane of locks is being built.
France began work on the canal in 1881, but had to stop because of engineering problems and high mortality due to disease. The United States (US) later took over the project and took a decade to complete the canal in 1914, enabling ships to avoid the lengthy Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America (via the Drake Passage) or to navigate the Strait of Magellan. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut made it possible for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in half the time previously required. The shorter, faster, safer route to the US West Coast and to nations in and along the Pacific Ocean allowed those places to become more integrated with the world economy.
During this time, ownership of the territory that is now the Panama Canal was first Colombian, then French, and then American; the United States completed the construction. The canal was taken over in 1999 by the Panamanian government, as long planned. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships when the canal opened in 1914, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, the latter measuring a total of 309.6 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2008, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal, many of them much larger than the original planners could have envisioned; the largest ships that can transit the canal today are called Panamax. The American Society of Civil Engineers has named the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world. | <urn:uuid:ec4df62f-08b4-4272-a8a0-f8c158dcc4d6> | {
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Plant Problems Demystified
Washington State University's Hortsense Web site presents specific information on about 600 common plant problems in western Washington. It's a tremendously helpful site and one I use often. Topics include problems with turfgrass, ornamentals, small fruits, tree fruits, vegetables, and weeds. The site offers non-chemical management information and a list of registered chemicals for the problem.
Caring for Perennials
Inside Caring for Perennials: What To Do and When To Do It, by Janet Macunovich (Storey, 1997; $18), you'll find a season-by-season guide to creating and maintaining a topflight garden with a minimum of effort. There's general advice for doing preventative maintenance in early spring; mulching, dividing, and moving plants in mid-spring; staking them in late spring; deadheading in midsummer; cutting back and removing them in mid-autumn; and composting in autumn. Chapters on pruning, edging, weeding, watering, and fertilizing round out the book, which focuses on the care and feeding of 130 of the most popular perennials. | <urn:uuid:7bfb81ca-d435-4e4e-817e-985faeccbd67> | {
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Gardening Articles: Care :: Soil, Water, & Fertilizer
Transplanting Eggplant, Peppers, and Okra (page 2 of 2)
by National Gardening Association Editors
Head Off Cutworms
One of the simplest treatments to prevent cutworm damage can be done when you transplant. Simply take a strip of newspaper two or three inches wide and wrap it around the stem of the plant. When you place the plant in its hole, make sure an inch of the newspaper strip is below the soil surface, withthe rest staying above ground. This prevents the dreaded cutworm from chewing through the stem of your tender young plant.
Run through a checklist in your mind before you start to transplant. This will prevent you from reaching for something that isn't there while the roots of the plant you've just taken from its pot start to dry out. Is it cloudy or late in the day? Is the soil fully prepared? Are the plants properly hardened off? Do you have a shovel or trowel, fertilizer or compost, newspaper cutworm collars and watering can at hand? If not, do whatever is necessary before starting to transplant.
Even though you've hardened off your transplants, they still have tender roots. Getting them into the ground quickly will help prevent any damage to the roots and help minimize the shock. | <urn:uuid:1f33a079-2dd1-481c-8e8b-52060a6d5203> | {
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Eshelby Islands Site Plan
1.1 RationaleSite plans are an important management tool used jointly by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM). They identify the significant values and management arrangements at a particular site, concentrating on the specific use issues and cumulative impacts.
The waters surrounding Eshelby Island (20-012) and Little Eshelby Island (20-013) have been assigned to a protected setting (Setting 5) in the Whitsundays Plan of Management 2008 (WPOM). Due to their protected setting, the WPOM requires that this site plan be developed to ensure protection of the natural, cultural and heritage values of the Eshelby Islands.
Eshelby Island is a high continental island, located approximately 30 kilometres north of Airlie Beach.
Figure 1: Map of Eshelby Islands [PDF 1.262MB]
2. Natural, cultural and heritage values
The values described below are not exhaustive, but are indicative of the significance of the area covered by this site plan.
Birds are an integral part of the Marine Park and the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and the Whitsundays are recognised internationally as an important stopover for migratory birds. Colfelt (1985) notes that Eshelby Island probably has the most prolific bird life of any island in the Whitsundays.
Eshelby Island is an important rookery for the bridled tern Sterna anaethetus and the common noddy Anous stolidus. Up to 10 000 bridled terns have been recorded on the island at one time. Both of these species are listed marine and migratory species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Eshelby Island also hosts numerous other bird species, some of which are vulnerable, or at risk of becoming vulnerable, in the Whitsundays.
In 1935 an unmanned navigational light was erected on Eshelby Island. Initially powered by batteries, it was converted to solar power in 1985.
2.3 Traditional Owners
The islands and surrounding areas are culturally significant to the Ngaro Aboriginal Traditional Owner Group. The islands, reefs and surrounding waters are part of the cultural landscape. Spiritual connections are often associated with the natural and cultural resources.
The Central Queensland Land Council Aboriginal Corporation is the representative body for Traditional Owners whose estates are located in the Whitsunday region.
3. Current Use
Eshelby Island is a Commonwealth Island, managed by the GBRMPA. Part of Eshelby Island is leased to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which maintains the lighthouse on the island.
No recreational or commercial visitation to the islands or the surrounding waters is allowed as the islands are within a Preservation (Pink) Zone, which prohibits access.
NB: Access is allowed under exceptional circumstances. Refer to 4.1.2(a).
4. Management strategies
4.1 Current management
The waters surrounding the Eshelby Islands are within a Preservation (Pink) Zone under both State and Commonwealth Zoning Plans. Marine Park Zoning Map 10 shows the zoning at the Eshelby Islands. The objective of the Preservation Zone is to preserve the natural integrity and values of the area, generally undisturbed by human activities.
Eshelby Island (as opposed to the waters surrounding the island) is zoned as a Commonwealth Island.
The Zoning Plan is one of a range of management tools for the Eshelby Islands. Other management tools include the Whitsundays Plan of Management 2008, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983.
4.1.2 Restricted access
4.1.2(a) Vessel access
Access into the Preservation Zone surrounding the islands is prohibited without the written permission of the GBRMPA.
Under exceptional circumstances, such as responding to an emergency, permission is not required to enter the Preservation Zone. These circumstances are described in Part 5 of the Zoning Plan.
4.1.2(b) Aircraft access
The Eshelby Islands are identified as significant bird sites in the Whitsundays Plan of Management 2008. Aircraft are not allowed to approach within 1000 metres of the islands below 1500 feet (above ground or water).
4.1.3 Research and monitoring
Written permission from the GBRMPA is required to conduct research activities in the Preservation Zone surrounding the Eshelby Islands, or on the islands themselves. In accordance with section 2.8.4 of the Zoning Plan, permission will only be granted if the research:
a) is relevant to, and a priority for, the management of the Marine Park
b) cannot reasonably be conducted elsewhere.
4.2 Proposed management
Access to the Eshelby Islands is adequately managed under the Zoning Plan. At this time no further management strategies are required.
5. Community engagement
This site plan was developed in consultation with DERM, the Whitsunday Local Marine Advisory Committee, the Tourism and Recreation Reef Advisory Committee, Traditional Owners and local users of the Marine Park.
For further information or to provide comments on the site plan, please call (07) 4750 0700 or email [email protected]
Blackwood, R.(1997). The Whitsunday Islands: an Historic Dictionary. Central Queensland University Press.
Colfelt, D.(1985). 100 Magic Miles of the Great Barrier Reef – the Whitsunday Islands. Windward Publications.
If you're heading out on the water, don't forget your free Zoning Map so you know where you can go and what you can do.
The Great Barrier Reef is a hive of activity. If you're lucky enough to see a humpback whale from May to September, make sure you keep a safe distance.
We're delighted to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park's World Heritage listing.
Visit our Great Barrier Reef and discover its amazing plants, animals and habitats. There are a range of tourism experiences on offer.
Everyone has a role to play in protecting our Great Barrier Reef. Find out what you can do to help protect this Great Australian icon.
If you see sick, dead or stranded marine animals please call RSPCA QLD 1300 ANIMAL
(1300 264 625)
A Vulnerability Assessment: of the issues that could have far-reaching consequences for the Great Barrier Reef. | <urn:uuid:2f7e1381-d6d0-44e1-818d-bad43e9a8391> | {
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How the Flute Works The Native American flute has two chambers. Air enters the first chamber and is forced upward by the wall between the two chambers and out through an opening in the top of the flute. The air is then redirected by a block (also known as a bird or fetish) affixed to the top into a hole in the second chamber. As the air enters the second chamber, the sound is created. Because the block plays such an important role, make sure it is positioned properly. Make certain that the bottom leading edge of the block is lined up with the back of the hole and centered. Later you may wish to experiment by varying the position back or forward 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch.
The sound is influenced by:
1. The tuning of the flute,
2. The nature of the wood from which the flute is crafted,
3. The finger placements over the holes,
4. The force of the air by the player.
Let's Begin with the Basics
Buttons to hear Example of Sounds)
Check Fetish - Always check the fetish on your flute to make sure it is placed with the bottom leading edge of the block lined up with the back of the hole and centered.
Holding your Flute & Finger Placement - The middle three fingers of each hand cover the holes of a six hole flute and the forefinger and middle finger of your top hand and the middle three fingers of your bottom hand cover the holes of your 5 hole flute. The "textbook" method is left hand on top but many fine players place the right hand on top. Experiment both ways to find which is most comfortable for you.
Pads vs Tips of fingers - The holes are covered by the pads of the finger, not the tips. Covering the holes with the pads of your fingers best assures total coverage which is vital.
Producing Sound & the "Sigh" - Sigh into the flute rather than blow. You should get a low mellow sound. Technically the top lip is pulled back against the upper teeth but this is far less important than breathing gently (sighing) into the flute rather than "blowing". If you hear a squeal, you are failing to completely cover all six holes. If you get a high sound, you are over blowing. However, there are a few fingering combinations that work best with "overblow" particularly on notes with the top hole open. You will discover this as you practice the drills.
Air Leak Blow
Variations in Breathing
"Tuh" - If you elect to play the same note more than once in a sequence, "tuh" into the flute for each note you are playing while covering all holes on your flute.
"Woo" - Volume variations can be easily achieved by breathing the sound "woo" into the flute while increasing and decreasing the volume of air.
"Ha" - Vibrato can be created by making the sound "ha, ha, ha, ha, ha" almost like gargling into the flute. The more you play, the more you will learn to experiment with your breath.
Combination - Play some notes long, some short, use more or less force (as a general rule, use more force on higher notes). Vary the force within a note, remember there is no right or wrong way, just fun and joy, so find what feels good to you.
Tapping rapidly, lift and lower your finger or slide it over a hole during a continuous breath. Sliding is moving a finger across a hole while you play.
LESSON FOUR Playing Scales
5 Hole Scale
Basic Minor Scale 5 Hole Flute
Practice this scale in both directions. Drills and songs for the basic scale follow. Remember to breathe as needed. You may wish to practice in front of a mirror (if you turn blue, you are not breathing enough).
6 Hole Scale
Minor Pentatonic Scale 6 Hole Flute
Practice this scale in both directions. Drills and songs for the basic pentatonic scale follow. Remember to breathe as needed. You may wish to practice in front of a mirror (if you turn blue, you are not breathing enough).
NOTE: If your flute begins to sound a little funny after a long playing session, tap the air chamber hole vigorously against the palm of your hand or shake the flute, air chamber down, to remove the excess moisture. Most flute lovers own multiple flutes so they can rotate for freshness and to play different keys.
Other scales, drills and songs are included in our BOOKS.
WHY IS GRAND CANYON FLUTES THE NUMBER ONE PLACE TO BUY FLUTES & DRUMS?
We carry the world's largest selection of finely crafted Native American Style Flutes & Drums
We ship immediately by priority mail... no backorders.. .no delays
We carry flutes from the finest flute & drum makers in the business
Our instruction/song books are easy to follow
Every purchase carries a satisfaction or money back guarantee. | <urn:uuid:ed71cd5a-5db8-4e41-bbc2-5f93054499e9> | {
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The Łódź Ghetto (German: Ghetto Litzmannstadt) was the second-largest ghetto (after the Warsaw Ghetto) established for Jews and Roma in German-occupied Poland.
Situated in the town of Łódź and originally intended as a temporary gathering point for Jews, the ghetto was transformed into a major industrial centre, providing much needed supplies for Nazi Germany and especially for the German Army.
Because of its remarkable productivity, the ghetto managed to survive until August 1944, when the remaining population was transported to Auschwitz and Chełmno extermination camp. It was the last ghetto in Poland to be liquidated.
- האנציקלופדיה של הגטאות, יד ושם
- Model of the Łódź Ghetto built between 1940 and 1944, buried, and unearthed after the war by survivors | <urn:uuid:eeeef170-1c95-41a8-9d29-6d4b2a40870d> | {
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If you are the mother of a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you may be at increased risk for depression, according to a study conducted by a Louisiana-based family physician.
Dr. Louis McCormick conducted a year-long study of mothers of children with ADHD who were patients in his Franklin, La., medical practice. Of the 39 mothers who took the study’s Self-Test for Depression, 21 had scores that suggested depression. Eleven women scored in the “minimal to mild” range; five in the “moderate to marked” range; and five in the “severe to extreme” range. The mothers were then interviewed, diagnosed and, where appropriate, treated.
So, what does this study really mean? McCormick theorizes that the stress of parenting an ADHD child can create situational depression, that is, depression caused by a specific stressful life event: divorce, death of a loved one, losing one’s job, an unwilling move to another location, ill parents and, of course, in this case, a child with an extremely demanding and frustrating condition which, in some cases, can also create financial distress.
ADHD children are often loud, physically overactive, impulsive, and seemingly unwilling to follow directions. They can be reckless, even accident-prone. They may alienate their friends, frustrate their teachers, and annoy neighbors, thereby causing their mothers great distress on many levels.
While certainly there is treatment for ADHD, it requires much time and fine-tuning to develop the appropriate skills for dealing with a child’s behavior, and for the overall treatment (which sometimes includes medication) to be effective. This requires great patience and persistence from the parents. This can take a major psychological toll on mothers who are most often the primary caretakers.
In some cases, mothers may have a biological predisposition to depression. The enormous stress of parenting an ADHD child, McCormick believes, triggers that predisposition to depression, and is an underlying, additional layer of the situational depression.
It is extremely important to be aware of the possible increased risk of depression if you are the mother of a child with ADHD so that you will be as vigilant about your own health as you are about your child’s.
If you suspect that you may suffer from depression, have seen your family physician to eliminate any physiological causes, you can request a self-test or other appropriate test from a professional counselor or psychologist. You can take the test in the privacy of your home, and then discuss the results with your chosen counselor. Together, you can decide whether treatment would be helpful for you.
It is critical for anyone who is a caregiver to be certain they attend to their own physical and psychological needs. It is especially important for mothers of ill children because the stressful demands of the child’s needs are constant for twenty-four hours every day. So for yourself, you need to be a healthy woman as well as a healthy mother.
Based in Rockport, life coach and psychotherapist Susan Britt, M.Ed., teaches individuals, couples and families to resolve relationship conflicts, and clarify and achieve life and career goals. Questions and comments may be addressed to her at [email protected] or 978 546-9431. | <urn:uuid:6fed33db-51d4-4f39-a4c2-3979d68d0272> | {
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What is a news feed?
A news feed (also known as an RSS feed) is a listing of a website's content. It is updated whenever new content is published to the site. News readers "subscribe" to news feeds, which means they download lists of stories at an interval that you specify (every 30 minutes, for example), and present them to you in your news reader. A news feed might contain a list of story headlines, a list of excerpts from the stories, or a list containing each story from the website (BlueDevil's news feeds contain story excerpts). All news feeds will have a link back to the website, so if you see a headline / excerpt / story you like, you can click on the link for that piece of content and will be taken to the website to read it.
What is a news reader?
A news reader (also known as a news aggregator) is simply a piece of software that you can use to read your subscribed news feeds. It is to news feeds what Outlook, Hotmail, and Entourage are to email
What is RSS?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing Web content, such as news headlines. Using an RSS reader, you can view data feeds from various news sources, including headlines, summaries, links to full stories. | <urn:uuid:486880ea-766b-494f-8991-4c3023d8b37d> | {
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Public funding for transportation goes back further than the eye can see, from building the Erie Canal to construction of the New York City subway and Interstate highways. In each case, the decision to expend public monies was based on pressing public needs for expansion of canal, transit and highway systems and the belief that public investment would pay dividends in economic growth.
New York and New Jersey officials are now faced with deciding whether privately operated ferries should be next in line for public funding. New York Waterway, which currently carries 32,000 passengers a day, primarily from New Jersey to Manhattan, is experiencing acute financial difficulties. The company’s president, Arthur Imperatore, announced this month at a City Council hearing that, “New York Waterway is dying.” The company has closed some routes and is planning to shut down additional routes later this month.
As with the region’s bus, subway, rail and highway systems, proponents of public subsidies argue that ferries provide a vital transportation service and spur economic development, in this case, along the New Jersey waterfront. Without the ferries, as many as 5,000 cars now parked near the New Jersey shore might travel into Manhattan each day, further burdening already congested tunnels and bridges into Manhattan. And ferries provide important redundancy in the transportation system, a fact graphically highlighted on September 11, 2001.
Ironically, NY Waterway, established in 1986, has long been hailed as a model of private entrepreneurship. Imperatore’s father set up the company to provide easy access to Manhattan for his New Jersey residential developments. The company offered not only ferry service but also bus service in Midtown to access West Side ferry terminals.
At first glance, ferry service might seem to be an ideal candidate for private operation. Ferries serve a niche market of customers who lack ready access to New Jersey’s bus and rail networks or who prefer the ambiance of waterborne transportation to the crush of PATH trains. Ferry riders are generally well-paid professionals. And by increasing access to Manhattan jobs, the ferries make private residential developments on the Jersey side of the Hudson River more attractive and valuable.
NY Waterway’s current troubles were spawned by decisions intended to build on its own success. Ferry ridership doubled after the 9/11 attacks, which closed the PATH system’s World Trade Center station. Both the company and public agencies leapt at opportunities to increase ferry services by adding routes and revamping ferry terminals. But after NY Waterway took on $33 million in debt to buy new boats, PATH reopened ahead of schedule, Manhattan job losses produced a drop in the number of commuters, ridership fell off after the Hudson River froze for two weeks last winter, fuel prices doubled and the company spent $4 million in legal fees over a dispute with the federal government over billing practices for post-9/11 service.
Some officials are now calling on government agencies to keep the service running. Hudson County (NJ) officials formulated a plan to buy the company and operate it in concert with Hoboken and Weehawken. But state officials last week nixed that plan.
Some Hudson County and New York City Council officials are calling on the City of New York and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to step in. New York City Councilmember David Yassky urged the city to waive docking fees that total $1.5 million a year. Council members also urged the Port Authority to authorize subsidies amounting to $16.6 million a year. Tom Fox of New York Water Taxi, a competitor to NY Waterway which is putting together a plan with three other ferry and sightseeing cruise companies to take over NY Waterway routes, said subsidies are needed to compete with the heavily subsidized PATH lines.
The City Transportation Department responded that the Council would need to offset the revenue loss if landing fees were waived. The Port Authority was noncommittal, calling for a “multiagency review of ferry service throughout the region.”
The Port Authority also pointed out that it has invested, or plans to invest, more than $100 million in ferry terminals, roadway upgrades and other infrastructure costs. Thus, the issue is not whether privately operated ferries should receive public subsidies, but what form of subsidies, and how much, and who will pay.
The most fundamental question is whether public agencies should subsidize specific ferry routes to keep them running. On the one hand, equitable treatment of commuters suggest that the public should subsidize ferry travelers. After all, the PATH system and NYC bus system only recover 41 percent of their operating expenses and even the NYC subway, which leads all transit systems in the U.S. in farebox cost recovery, only pays 67 percent of its expenses from fares, according to federal data (In PDF Format) summarized in a Brookings Institution study.
On the other hand, would political considerations overwhelm business decisions about which routes to keep, which to close and which to expand, leading to an inefficient and heavily subsidized ferry network that drains the public till?
The reticence of the Port Authority and NYC Transportation Department to agree to operating subsidies is well founded. The Port Authority has increased its funding for PATH while keeping PATH fares relatively low. Under pressure from Staten Island voters and elected officials, the Giuliani Administration abolished the Staten Island ferry fare. The average trip on the S.I. ferry costs $2.95, all of which is paid by the city, none by riders. The City Council recently adopted a bill to increase late night service and some rush hour service at an additional cost of $5 million a year.
The test for public officials is now to find a way to support continued ferry service where it provides substantial public benefits while maintaining the market-driven sensitivities to both changing demand and opportunities for service that are the hallmark of private companies. This is a difficult task, made more so in the current crisis-driven environment, as NY Waterway totters on the brink of closure.
Bruce Schaller is head of Schaller Consulting, which provides research and analysis about transportation, and is also a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University. | <urn:uuid:2a0f5045-af22-457d-8744-ac2b9ae789e0> | {
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Screen production and the environmentA major part of the screen production industry relies on the beauty and imagery of dramatic unspoilt natural landscapes. If these landscapes are not protected and cared for, the screen production industry will lose the stunning backdrops for its productions. It is vital that these images relate to reality.
Many of the negative environmental impacts associated with the screen production industry relate to location filming and how production companies treat sites. In many countries, including New Zealand, environmental regulators and/or local authorities have implemented regulations for productions using sites protected for their environmental, historical or cultural importance.
However, negative environmental impacts are not restricted to filming on location. Studio operations also have their own environmental impacts, eg greenhouse gas emissions, even though there may be fewer environmental compliance issues than when filming on location. Often it will be up to the production company to introduce voluntary measures for improving the management of the environmental impacts for studio productions.
The screen production industry has a particular dependency on technical equipment, media and information technology. These have associated environmental impacts but also have the potential to provide and promote solutions to environmental problems.
The availability of film and television to audiences has grown tremendously over the past 50 years. Although entertainment is the main purpose for most films and programmes, screen production has the potential to profoundly influence the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of audiences in their day-to-day lives. Convincing and effective portrayal of environmental and social issues through film and television plays an important role in raising public awareness especially in educational programmes and campaigns of governmental and non-governmental organisations.
Just as the screen industry and broadcast media have been used to promote social change, with respect to the dangers of smoking and drink-driving, better public awareness of environmental issues will lead to positive changes in people’s behaviour. It may mean that someone who has never recycled may begin to do so, or somebody else may decide to take the bus instead of the car or purchase 'environmentally friendly' products. | <urn:uuid:1a43d29e-fc1f-4c3c-b7d4-bddacb23abf3> | {
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No one knows how much warming is "safe". What we do know is that climate change is already harming people and ecosystems. Its reality can be seen in melting glaciers, disintegrating polar ice, thawing permafrost, changing monsoon patterns, rising sea levels, changing ecosystems and fatal heat waves.
Scientists are not the only ones talking about these changes. From the apple growers in Himachal to the farmers in Vidharbha and those living in disappearing islands in the Sunderbans are already struggling with the impacts of climate change.
But this is just the beginning. We need to act to avoid catastrophic climate change. While not all regional effects are known yet, here are some likely future effects if we allow current trends to continue.
Relatively likely and early effects of small to moderate warming:
Natural systems, including glaciers, coral reefs, mangroves, Arctic ecosystems, alpine ecosystems, Boreal forests, tropical forests, prairie wetlands and native grasslands, will be severely threatened.
Longer term catastrophic effects if warming continues:
Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are melting. Unless checked, warming from emissions may trigger the irreversible meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet in the coming decades, which would add up to a seven meters rise in sea-level over some centuries. New evidence showing the rate of ice discharge from parts of the Antarctic means that it is also facing a risk of meltdown.
Never before has humanity been forced to grapple with such an immense environmental crisis. If we do not take urgent and immediate action to stop global warming, the damage could become irreversible. | <urn:uuid:93f23c86-06b2-4c01-8d4e-f0341afe508c> | {
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Stopping genetic junk
Never in the past have crops, cultivated by us, had to undergo such scrutiny. But the scrutiny is required especially in the case of genetically engineered [GE] or genetically modified [GM] crops.
GE crops are organisms created artificially in labs through a process known as recombinant DNA technology. The unpredictability and irreversibility of GE have raised a lot of questions about this technology. Moreover, studies have found that GE crops harm the environment and have a potential to risk human health. All this has resulted in a controversy across the world about the need to introduce this dangerous technology.
Greenpeace in India and in several other countries entered the agriculture scenario with the campaign against the environmental release of GE or GM organisms. GE crops represent everything that is wrong with our agriculture. They perpetuate the destruction of our biodiversity and the increasing control of corporations over our food and farming.
The anti GE campaign has contributed in ensuring a serious debate on the need for GE crops in the country. It has also ensured that India does not approve commercialisation of any GM food crop.
The campaign has brought together farmers, consumers, traders, scientists and other civil society organisations to put up a brave front against the entry of GM crops in our country. This resulted in the indefinite moratorium on Bt brinjal, the first GM food crop that was up for commercialisation.
While Bt brinjal has been stalled for now, 56 other crops are being genetically modified and are waiting for approval. Rice is the leader amongst these. If not stopped the entire country would become one big feeding experiment for GM seed companies.
The campaign is trying to plug the gaps in the existing regulatory system in the country to stop the release of any GM crops. We are also asking the government to come up with a bio-safety regime that will prioritise citizen’s health, environmental safety and the nation’s socio-economic fabric.
As the citizen is also a consumer and has a right to safe GM free food, we have been mobilizing consumers and engaging with food brands in the country to ensure that the food industry in the country remains GM free. For the first time in India there is a consumer campaign against GM food and food brands have started to notice this consumer opinion.
To summarise, our basic demands are:
1. A complete ban the release of any genetically modified organisms in the environment, either for commercial cultivation or for experiments.
2. Re-focus scientific research on ecological alternatives, to identify agro-ecological practices that ensure future food security under a changing climate. | <urn:uuid:415ac6f3-8abb-4d9b-8244-fc590c13bf47> | {
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DARPA looks to nanotechnology to target illnesses
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency hopes to develop intracellular platforms to fight diseases in warfighters.
The research agency issued a solicitation on June 8 for help developing In Vivo Nanosensors for Therapeutics (IVN:Tx) that would fight diseases on a cellular level rather than relying on disease-specific medicines that require expensive and expansive storage and shipment. It said the new platform is needed because research like that done by the Military Infectious Disease Research Program has shown more warfighters are hospitalized each year for infectious diseases than are wounded in combat.
The negative effects of warfighter illness and downtime multiply when extended across the military, it said. Numerous medicines have to be transported to military treatment facilities around the world, soldiers must be trained to fill new roles, and in some cases operational plans must be modified or even postponed, it said.
The rapidly deployed and adaptable IVN:Tx platform to treat military-relevant disease may reduce logistical burdens and increase operational readiness , it said. The platform looks to revolutionary treatment methods to get sick warfighters back on their feet, fast. The agency’s solicitation calls for development of nanoplatforms that treat a variety of diseases, including nanoparticle therapeutic platforms that could be rapidly modified to treat a broad range of diseases, but based on safe and effective technologies.
The civilian medical community has been using small-molecule therapeutics to treat diseases for years, it said, because traditional drugs are often effective against only one disease, can have significant side effects and are very expensive to develop. “Doctors have been waiting for a flexible platform that could help them treat a variety of problematic diseases,” said Timothy Broderick, physician and DARPA program manager. “DARPA seeks to do just that by advancing revolutionary technologies such as nanoparticles coated with small interfering RNA (siRNA). RNA plays an active role in all biological processes, and by targeting RNA in specific cells, we may be able to stop the processes that cause diseases of all types—from contagious, difficult-to-treat bacteria such as MRSA to traumatic brain injury.”
The agency said safety is a key factor to the many potential technical approaches for IVN:Tx. Nanoplatforms, it said, must be biocompatible, nontoxic and designed with eventual regulatory approval in mind.
The IVN:Tx approach of treating illness inside specific cells may also minimize dosing required for clinical efficacy, limit side effects and adverse immune system response, it said. Similar to today’s medicines, the therapeutic nanoparticles will move throughout the body in a natural, passive manner, it added.
The agency noted that IVN is a technology demonstration and human trials wouldn’t be funded. However, it encouraged proposers to submit plans for testing that would result in a clinical protocol prepared for approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA will be engaged with the IVN:Tx team throughout the program lifecycle by reviewing proposals, participating in Proposers’ Day meetings and participating in government review boards, it said. | <urn:uuid:e94944bf-8dd7-4b0e-b893-dde20d0bb8a8> | {
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Walking and cycling have long been considered the most environmentally sound methods of getting around. They still are but some environmentalists have argued that food production has become so fossil-fuel intensive that driving could be considered greener than walking (though the analysis has been debunked as flawed).
What of other, more obviously polluting, modes of transport? The data below gives an idea of how your carbon footprint might grow depending on how you make a journey. If you were to take an average domestic flight rather than a high-speed electric train, you'd be personally responsible for 29 times as much carbon dioxide.
The data also highlights how the UK government's plans to electrify parts of the rail network could cut emissions. Diesel trains are responsible for more greenhouse gases than electric trains, even taking into account Britain's carbon-heavy electricity production.
On the roads, next-generation hybrid and electric vehicles can help those of us behind the wheel to be that little bit greener. However, no journey is completely carbon free. | <urn:uuid:66d0a330-4520-4e4a-8b95-75da2b16d190> | {
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Our focus will be on how film, art, literature, and music produce and represent global culture in New York City. We will study the changing venues for international art, the influence of diasporic communities, and the ways in which representations of New York City have changed since the attacks of 2001.
Critical examination of economic, political, and cultural processes that have defined what we mean by globalization. Issues such as the political economy of film and music, the role of identity politics in literature and art, the problems of capital and labor in the global city will provice a strong historical and theoretical background for more specific investigations in our other courses.
Mapping the City through Literature, Film and New Media
Readings and activities that will introduce students to the histories and cultures of New York as they are represented in books and on screens large and small.
Students will receive credit for working in a media or media-related organization. Weekly Blackboard entries will allow the class to talk together about their experiences.
Exploration and focused analysis of one form of contemporary media and its relations to globalization in order to suggest answers to one or more of the follow questions: What are the themes and values that inform works or activities that are considered "universal" or "global"? how does localization or culture identity persist in a global context? What approaches to or forms of media allow for individual or collective negotiation of the terrain or culture differences and convergences? | <urn:uuid:c0a6edea-c208-4ded-94fb-34763776f92f> | {
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Zachary Taylor, Our 12th President
Born in Virginia in 1784, Zachary Taylor was taken to Kentucky as an infant where he grew up on a large plantation. In 1808 he received his first commission as an Army officer, becoming commander of the garrison at Fort Pickering (Memphis is located there today). In 1810 he married Margaret Mackall Smith. They had one son and five daughters. Being transferred from one fort to another, Taylor gained fame as an Indian fighter, and received the nickname of “Old Rough and Ready” for his homespun ways and wide-brimmed straw hat. The family settled in Louisiana when Taylor assumed command of the fort at Baton Rouge. He had a 40-year military career in the U.S. Army, serving in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, and Second Seminole War. He also led troops to victory in several important battles of the Mexican-American War. Although a wealthy slave owner, Taylor opposed the extension of slavery into areas where neither cotton nor sugar cane could be grown. As a national hero, he was nominated for President in 1848 by the Whigs, who added Millard Fillmore of New York as VP to balance the ticket. For the first time the entire nation voted on the same day, November 7, 1848, and Taylor and Fillmore were narrowly elected. The slavery issue challenged Taylor immediately. California and New Mexico wanted statehood and the question of whether slavery would be allowed led to a bitter debate in Congress. Southern states threatened to call a secession convention. Taylor issued a statement that he would hang anyone who tried to disrupt the Union by force or by conspiracy. Members of both parties in Congress tried to work out a compromise which would placate both the slave and non-slave supporters. On July 4, 1850, while attending the Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, Taylor contracted a stomach ailment and was dead by July 9. Heat stroke, cholera, typhoid fever and food poisoning have all been suggested as the source of his fatal illness. He had eaten a hasty snack of iced milk, cold cherries and pickled cucumbers. Also, although it was July, he was wearing a thick coat, vest, high-collared shirt and top hat which might have caused heat stroke. He was reported to have a red, flushed face and slurred speech. He is buried in Louisville, Kentucky, at what is now the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery. | <urn:uuid:2e0d24e4-9e66-4f0c-8afd-f175386afe2b> | {
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Acute ear infections account for 15 - 30 million visits to the doctor each year in the U.S. In fact, ear infections are the most common reason why an American child sees the doctor.
Acute Otitis Media (AOM). About two-thirds of children will have a least one attack of AOM by age 3, and a third of these children will have at least three episodes. Boys are more likely to have infections than girls.
AOM generally affects children ages 6 - 18 months. The earlier a child has a first ear infection, the more susceptible they are to recurrent episodes (for instance, three or more episodes within a 6-month period).
As children grow, the structures in their ears enlarge and their immune systems become stronger. By 16 months, the risk for recurrent infections rapidly decreases. After age 5, most children have outgrown their susceptibility to any ear infections.
Otitis Media with Effusion. OME is very common in children age 6 months to 4 years, with about 90% of children having OME at some point. More than 50% of children have OME before the age of 1, and more than 60% by age 2.
Other Risk Factors
Ear infections are more likely to occur in the fall and winter. The following conditions also put children at higher risk for ear infection:
- Allergies. Some doctors believe that an increase in allergies is also partially responsible for the higher number of ear infection cases. Allergies can cause inflammation in the airways, which may contribute to ear infections. Allergies are also associated with asthma and sinusitis. However, a causal relationship between allergies and ear infections has not been definitively established.
- Enrollment in day care. Although ear infections themselves are not contagious, the respiratory infections that often precede them can pose a risk for children who have close and frequent exposure to other children. Some research suggests that the increasing rate of ear and other infections may be due to the increasing attendance of very small children, including infants, in day care centers.
- Exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke. Parents who smoke pose a significant risk that their children will get both otitis media with effusion (OME) and recurrent acute otitis media (AOM). (Passive smoking does not appear to be a cause of initial ear infections, however.)
- Being bottle-fed as infants. Babies who are bottle-fed may have a higher risk for otitis media than breastfed babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for at least the baby's first 6 months.
- Pacifier use. The use of pacifiers may place children at higher risk for ear infections. Sucking increases production of saliva, which helps bacteria travel up the Eustachian tubes to the middle ear.
- Obesity. Obesity has been associated with risk for OME.
- Having siblings with recurrent ear infections.
Review Date: 05/03/2011
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. | <urn:uuid:35aee76e-208f-4bb0-ac28-54473a33d322> | {
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During a fluorescein eye stain test, a dark orange dye (fluorescein) is placed onto the outer surface of your eye, called the cornea. A blue light is then shone onto the eye. The dye will show any scratches, tears or foreign particles on your eye as a green color under the light.
Based on the staining, your doctor can identify any problems with your cornea or diagnosis certain conditions.
This test is usually ordered if your doctor suspects you have damage on your cornea or foreign objects in your eye. If you wear contact lens, your doctor might do this test to see whether the contacts are damaging your cornea.
You doctor may recommend a fluorescein eye stain test if he or she suspects you have abrasions, or scratches, on your cornea.
The cornea is a clear surface that covers your outer eye. It is made up of cells and proteins. Unlike most of your body’s other tissues, the cornea contains no blood vessels. It is protected and nourished by tears.
It has two main functions—to protect the eye from dust, germs, and other harmful irritants; and to permit and direct light as it enters the eye.
The cornea is highly sensitive. If it becomes scratched or damaged, new cells quickly cover the injury to prevent infection from occurring. Deeper scratches will take longer to heal and may cause scars. A fluorescein eye stain test can help detect corneal injuries, small foreign objects or particles in the eye, and abnormal tear production.
The test may also help your doctor determine if your contact lenses are irritatingyour corneas.
According to the Developmental Disabilities Health Alliance, this test has a 93 to 97 percent accuracy rate for detecting corneal problems.
Your ophthalmologist (eye doctor) will use either a small eyedropper or piece of blotting paper to place dye into your eye. He or she will ask you to blink several times to allow the dye to completely cover the surface of the cornea. Blinking spreads the dye throughout your tear film—the wet surface of your eyeball that lubricates and protects the eye. The tear film is made up of water, oil, and mucus.
You may feel a slight stinging sensation when the dye is first applied. After a few moments though, the dye will feel like normal liquid on the eye and will no longer be uncomfortable.
The doctor will then shine a cobalt-blue light onto your eye. The combination of this light and the dye will make any abnormalities or abrasions on the cornea appear green. From this, your ophthalmologist will be able to determine the location of any problems and evaluate the level of damage.
If your eye is healthy and the cornea is undamaged, the dye will remain in the film on the surface of your eye and not cause areas to turn green.
Abnormal results from this test may be caused by corneal abrasions, or scratches on the surface of the eye. These abrasions may be a result of:
- a poke in the eye from a fingernail, make-up brush, or other object
- dust, ash, or dirt that has blown into the eye
- a chemical burn
- rubbing your eyes too roughly
- dirty, old, or poorly-fitting contact lenses
- not protecting the eyes during general anesthesia (if they are not closed, the cornea will dry out)
- the presence of foreign bodies, such as an eyelash
- other injuries or trauma to the eye
In some cases, the damage could be caused by abnormal tear production (or dry eye). This is a condition in which there are insufficient tears to nourish and protect the eye, leading to inflammation of the cornea. Your test may also reveal a blocked tear duct.
This test is risk-free. However, the fluorescein dye may stain for a few days if it touches the skin around your eye.
In general, there is nothing you need to do to prepare for this test. If you wear contact lens, you will be asked to take them out beforehand.
After the test, your doctor will use the results to diagnosis any problems you are having with your eyes. He or she will meet with you to discuss the damage discovered on your cornea and plan any necessary treatment.
Treatment options may include:
- removal of the foreign object from the eye
- using prescription eye drops or ointment
- wearing a temporary eye patch or bandage contact lens
- leaving contact lenses out until the cornea has healed
- taking pain medications
If your injury has only affected the surface of your cornea, it should heal in about two days. If the injury has penetrated the surface of the eye, healing will take longer, depending on the cause, size, and nature of the injury. | <urn:uuid:7956d2a7-2f67-4804-ae7f-dd8f3bccde1f> | {
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Notes and Comments on the "Western Rite"
The question of rites is precisely not, has never been and cannot be a mere question of rites per se , but is and has always been a question of faith, of its wholeness and integrity. The liturgy embodies and expresses the faith, or better to say, the experience of the Church, and is that experience's manifestation and communication. And when rites, deta ched from their nature and function, begin to be discussed in terms of "acceptance" and "rejection" or "likes and dislikes", the debate concerning them becomes meaningless.
For many people, the eastern and western rites are two entirely different and self-contained "blocks" ruling out, as an impure "hybridization", all contacts and mutual influences. This, however, is wrong - first of all, historically. In a sense, the enti re history of Christian worship can be termed a history of constant "hybridizations" - if only this word is deprived of its negative connotations. Before their separations, the east and the west influenced one another for centuries. And there is no exagg eration in saying that the anaphora of St. John Chrysostom's Liturgy is infinitely 'closer' to the Roman anaphora of the same period than the service of Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer is to, for example, the Tridentine Mass.
What makes a western rite Orthodox? For many proponents of the western rite, all it takes is a few additions and a few deletions, e.g. "striking the filioque " and "strengthening of the epiclesis." This answer implies, on the one hand, that there exists a unified and homogenous reality identifiable as the western rite and, on the other hand, that except for two or three "heretical" ingredients or omissions, th is rite is ipso facto Orthodox. Both presuppositions are wrong.
Indeed, one does not have to be an "authority on the West" in order to know that liturgical development in the West was shaped to a degree unknown in the East by various theologies, the succession of which - and the clashes of one with another - constitute western religious history. Scholasticism, Reformation, Counter-Reformation, etc., have all resulted in sometimes radical liturgical metamorphoses and all have had a decisive impact on worship. Therefore, one should speak today not of the western rite, but of western rites, deeply - if not radically - differing from one another, yet all reflecting in one way or another, the western theological tragedy and fragmentation. This does not mean that all these rites are "heretical" and simply to be condemned. It only means that, from an Orthodox point of view, their evaluation in terms merely of "deletions" and "additions" is - to say the least - inadequate. For the irony of our present situation is that while some western Christians come to Orthodoxy in order to salvage the rite they cherish ( Book of Common Prayer , Tridentine Mass, etc.) from liturgical reforms they abhor, some of these reforms, at least in abstacto , are closer to the structures and spirit of the early western rite - and thus to the Orthodox liturgical tradition - than the later rite, those precisely that the Orthodox Church is supposed to "sanction" and to "adopt."
It is my deep conviction that the eastern liturgical tradition is alone today in having preserved, in spite of all historical "deficiencies", the fullness of the Church's lex orandi and constitutes, therefore, the criterion for all liturgical evaluations.
Father Alexander Schmemann (1920-1983)
(SVTQ 24/4, 1980)
The Priest. A Newsletter for the Clergy of the Diocese of San Francisco. Issue No. 5, May 1996
Back to "Theology-Modern Church Life" of Holy Trinity Cathedral's Home Page
Should you have any questions or comments please e-mail us! | <urn:uuid:30b42780-c3b9-4ba0-8c79-56e9e44c438b> | {
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October 31, 2012
A Passive House Is Put to the Test in the United States
In 2007, project planning began on a house built to the Passive House (PH) standard, in Urbana, Illinois. The project was initiated by the Ecological Construction Laboratory (e-co lab), a nonprofit community housing development organization interested in bringing the PH standard to the United States. It became a joint research effort when IBACOS was brought in to lead instrumentation and monitoring through DOE’s Building America program. (For more information, see “About IBACOS.”)
To read complete online articles, you need to sign up for an Online Subscription.
Once an order has been placed there is an automatic $10 processing fee that will be deducted with any cancellation.
The Home Energy Online articles are for personal use only and may not be printed for distribution. For permission to reprint, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:ac3d4ca2-8b16-45b6-813d-31566104ee5e> | {
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Introduction to Ants
Ants, the most common household pest, can be a mere nuisance or more than that: there are some that just want to share the food, but others sting or damage building materials. Here is some information about dealing with these insects.
In the same family with bees and wasps, the ant is a member of a group of insects with thousands of species, some of which are household pests. They can range in size from 0.1” (.25 cm) to 1” (2.54 cm), and are variously yellow, red, brown, black, or a blend. Being omnivorous, they eat human food as well as waste. In addition, the carpenter ant creates living area in wood, often choosing sites where the wood is wet and damaged. Ants have a clearly delineated 3-section body (head, thorax, and abdomen), six legs, compound eyes, and a pair of antennae. Some have stings, and some can spray poison. Some varieties have wings. They are nocturnal, being most active at night.
Ridding Your Home of Ants
Once you identify ants in your home, you need to decide what form of treatment to use. In any case, it is important to eliminate food sources if possible, as well as use some substance that will kill them. Eliminating food sources may include:
- Carefully wiping the outside of all containers that are used to store attractive food stuffs, such as honey and molasses.
- Cleaning all dinnerware, pots and pans, kitchen utensils and flatware after each meal is prepared and served.
- Washing all dining and food preparation surfaces, whether tables, trays, desks, and including those on porches and patios adjacent to the house. Since ants avoid vinegar and citrus, cleaners with either of these will tend to keep them away.
- Eliminating any crumbs from surfaces below the eating area after each meal.
- Securing waste in plastic and removing it from the premises every evening.
- Sweeping/washing the kitchen floor every evening.
- Removing uneaten pet food and cleaning the surrounding area after every meal the pet has.
- Keeping extra pet food in a sealed, hard plastic container.
- Storing pantry items (including, but not limited to, flour, cereal, crackers, cookies, etc.) in sealed, hard plastic containers.
- Finding and repairing any leaks that could be providing a source of water.
If you find ants already in any food item, discard it.
Because ants are so small, it is probably impossible to seal all possible access. So, the next steps are to find the access being used in this instance and seal it, and eliminate the nest.
Since ants like to parade in line, it may be fairly easy to find the point of entry that they are using. When found, seal it with appropriate material, for example, caulk. Petroleum jelly can be used as a temporary sealant. The ants inside can be quickly eliminated with a household cleaning spray.
The ants you find indoors may have nests either in or out of the house. Carpenter ants tend to nest inside; while other species often have their nests in the soil outside and enter the house seeking food or water. For ants nesting in the woodwork, it may be necessary to find the nest in order to have the integrity of the structure confirmed, and for this, professional assistance may be necessary. For outside nests, if sealing the ants’ point of entry doesn’t work, the best approach is often to use poison bait, and let the ants carry the poison to the nest, which will, in effect, destroy it. If there are children or pets in the household, make sure you consider them in choosing your course of action.
Written by Mary Elizabeth
Related Home Institute Articles | <urn:uuid:34ea66ac-3147-41e3-bde7-ee52446bd3a4> | {
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FOOD ALLERGY PREVALENCE
THE FIRST TRUE ASSESSMENT OF HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE FOOD ALLERGIES HAS BEEN DONE, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
NHANES is a huge health and nutrition survey undertaken by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention periodically. In the last survey blood samples were collected and antibodies to common food allergens analyzed. Robert Wood, an allergy expert at Johns Hopkins, describes what the data reveals.
WOOD: They got blood and measured food allergy antibodies from 9000 samples from across the United States, looked at children from the age of 1 to adults over the age of 60. What we found looking at just the four most common food allergens which are peanut, milk, egg and shellfish, that 7.5 million Americans appear to have honest to goodness, potentially severe food allergy to one of those four foods. We think that represents about half the food allergy in the country those four foods but it still gives us the best idea we’ve had so far. :34
So food allergies, including severe ones, are much more common than anyone knew. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey. | <urn:uuid:c38542b1-9972-4836-b9b7-9251ca88c61e> | {
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In elementary and middle school, STAAR will assess the same subjects at the same grade levels that have been covered by the TAKS.But STAAR is different from TAKS in the following ways:
All tests will be scored and reported, and a raw score will be returned. Students may be required to attend summer school or take remedial classes based on their performance. A student's performance on the STAAR test may determine placement in pre-AP classes for middle school, so it's important for students to do their best on this exam.
Middle school students enrolled in a high school-level course, such as Algebra I at the eighth grade, will be required to take the STAAR end-of-course (EOC) assessment for that course.
STAAR Q&A Blog: Resource and discussion on STAAR presented by HISD
Twitter: Follow us at @HISDSTAAR
Facebook: Like us on Facebook
| || || |
STAAR Frequently Asked Questions
Understanding the new STAAR exam
Understanding cumulative scores | <urn:uuid:1bb3181d-358f-461d-909f-3e871d2624cb> | {
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|Federal Legislation||March 14, 2003|
S. 89—Universal National Service Act of 2003
None at this time. HSLDA's National Center is tracking this legislation.
Official purpose: A bill to provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes.
The language of this bill mandates a national service obligation for every U.S. citizen and permanent resident, aged 18-26. It authorizes the President to establish both the number of people to be selected for military service, and the means of selection. Additionally, the measure requires those not selected specifically for military service to perform their national service obligation in a civilian capacity for at least two years.
S. 89 language permits:
- Deferments for education only through high school graduation, or until the age of 20.
- Exceptions are made for those with 1) extreme hardship, or 2) physical or mental disability.
- Conscientious objectors are defined and directed by the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. 456(j)).
Introduced: January 7, 2003 by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings [SC]
|1/7/2003:||Read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Armed Services.|
|12/31/2004:||This bill is "dead". It was not passed into law before the end of the 108th Congress.|
| Other Resources|
House Rejects Bill to Restart Military Draft — (10/06/2004)
Setting the Record Straight About a Military Draft — (09/14/2004) | <urn:uuid:919b535a-6855-43ba-9c1f-ac49e0a8e260> | {
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Sex and Punishment did not start out as a project about sex. My initial, admittedly overambitious, goal was to write a narrative history of the law using colorful cases as examples. I decided to start with the oldest written laws in existence and take it from there. I was surprised by what I found.
As I looked at the first written laws from ancient Mesopotamia, I noticed that the earliest lawmakers were preoccupied with questions of sex. Everywhere I looked, there were specific rules on sexual relations with pigs and oxen, prostitutes, and family members. Sex was evidently more micromanaged then than it is now, with the exception of same-sex relations, which the law ignored almost entirely until the Hebrews labeled homosexuality a terrible crime against God and man. Additionally, I saw that sex was sometimes used as a punishment in itself, as when the wife of an Assyrian rapist was ordered raped in turn as punishment for her husband's crime, or when men who damaged Egyptian property markers were required to deliver their wives and children to the rough affections of donkeys.
It soon became clear that sex law was as passionate and mercurial as the sex drive itself, and could support a rather interesting book on its own. Extraordinary flesh-and-blood cases jumped out of the dustiest volumes, begging to be told. Sex and Punishment brings them back to life.
I would be glad if, after reading my book, people paused before they condemned others for their sexual behavior. Of course, violence and abuse of power are always wrong, but we must realize that we all have inherited attitudes and morals that are, at bottom, arbitrary.
Here are 11 of the most outrageous historical cases of sex being criminalized:
A Castilian law from the 13th century commanded that men who "sin against nature with each other" were to be "castrated before the whole populace" and then "hung up by the legs until dead, and that their bodies never be taken down." Elsewhere, homosexual offenses brought burning at the stake and hanging by the "virile member." By 1300, there were laws punishing homosexuality harshly in virtually every jurisdiction. One city required not only that homosexuals be burned but that their families be forced to watch the execution and to remain until the fire was out. <em>(Photo via stigeredoo on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stigeredoo/21943529/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr.com</a>)</em>
Biblical law made no distinction between body and mind: Both had to be pure if the tribe was to avoid fire and brimstone from God above. When a man had a wet dream, the bed in which he slept became defiled, the bedclothes unusable until scrubbed, and any clay pots touched by the man were considered so filthy they had to be smashed to bits. This process would continue for a week, after which the hapless wet dreamer was required to seek out a priest to help him make a sacrifice of doves or pigeons and beseech God's forgiveness. <em>(Photo via firearcade on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artistgroup/5192546521/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr.com</a>)</em>
In ancient Mesopotamia, men were almost never punished for cheating on their wives. Married women who took lovers, on the other hand, were subjected to the earliest known death penalty law. Many adulteresses were impaled in public on long poles, but not before they were publicly humiliated, such as having their hair shaven and having a cord bored through their noses and being led through town like animals.
Husbands in ancient Greece and Rome had several options to exact vengeance against men who seduced their wives. Greek husbands were allowed to shove objects such as spiky fish or radishes into their rivals' anuses. Rome allowed this, as well, but also permitted aggrieved husbands to rape their wives' lovers. The idea was to degrade the seducers by making them into "women" and thus ruining their social standing. <em>(Photo via clayirving on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clayirving/2683140242/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr.com</a>)</em>
For 1,000 years, Rome's highest priestesses, known as the Vestal Virgins, enjoyed more privileges than any other females. But if they had sex, the safety of Rome was thought to be put at risk. When Rome lost a big battle or disaster struck, people often concluded that a Vestal must have been active in bed. A pleasure-loving Vestal was buried alive in a small, furnished room. As soon as she was put underground, attendants sealed the chamber with stones and spread earth around so no trace of her remained. <em>(Photo via strollers on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/strollers/146813196/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr.com</a>)</em>
Medieval Christian doctrine prohibited sex between husbands and wives during the first three days of marriage, as well as Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, the three Lents, the weeks following Easter, the days preceding the Pentecost, the two months around Christmas, and many other holy days, not to mention during a woman's pregnancy, lactation, or menstruation. At best, that left about four days per month. Even then, sex was restricted to nighttime encounters with no fondling or unusual positions. Oral and anal sex were punishable by up to 25 years of fasting and abstinence.
The law has punished sex between Jews and Christians throughout European history. In 1222 an Oxford deacon was burned to death on a charge of bestiality for marrying a Jewish woman. At about the same time a Parisian man who had fathered children with a Jewish woman was also burned. "Coition with a Jewess," said the judge, "is precisely the same as if a man should copulate with a dog." Jews were also forbidden to visit Christian prostitutes. The city of Avignon threatened Jewish men with the loss of a foot for walking into public brothels. <em>(Photo via burrowphotography on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22886639@N08/5888289895/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr.com</a>)</em>
Women and male homosexuals have always been on the wrong side of the law, but female-female sex was often difficult for lawmakers to understand. While the Italian town of Treviso required that lesbians "be tied naked for a full day to a stake ... and then burned," the Inquisition did not punish female-female sex unless the women used an "artificial instrument" in bed. The last lesbian execution in Europe took place in Germany in 1721, in which a woman was burned to death after adopting no fewer than nine separate male identities and using a large leather contraption to satisfy her credulous wife.
After the Civil War, when racial tensions in the American South ran high, a man's dark skin was proof enough that he was a rapist. As one court put it, no black man could assume that a white woman "would consent to his lustful embraces." Between 1700 and 1820 more than 80 percent of the men executed in America for rape were of African descent; 95 percent of the females were white. Punishments for black rapists in the South included, in addition to the occasional castration, being burned alive and decapitated, followed by the display of the severed heads on a pole.
Chinese females were thought to carry deadly germs that infected the white population. A doctor's report to Congress warned: "There are cases of syphilis among the whites that originated from these Chinese prostitutes that are incurable." In 1875 Congress barred the entry into the United States of all Asian women brought over for "lewd and immoral purposes." The law theoretically allowed genuine Chinese wives to immigrate while keeping out only sex workers, but in application it barred almost all Chinese women from entering the country. Out of 39,579 Chinese who entered the United States in 1882, for example, only 136 were women.
Starting in the 18th century the urge to masturbate was viewed as a dangerous mental disorder. Between 1893 and 1898 doctors at one Kansas mental asylum severed the testicles of 44 masturbating male inmates and performed hysterectomies on 14 self-pleasuring females. Said one Ohio doctor at about the same time: "That insanity exercises a peculiar influence on the sexual organs of women there can be no doubt. This can also be said of insanity in men." | <urn:uuid:dc8aa9e6-8a0b-4045-b8e1-21f5acfefc92> | {
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Veteran physical educator Bev Davison knows how to get the biggest bang for her buck. In Creative Physical Activities and Equipment, she shares her secrets of how to expand a physical education or recreation program without exceeding the budget.
Davison's practical, ready-to-use strategies help you make the most of your budget, no matter how big or small. But the ideas in this book aren't just easy on the wallet; more equipment means less down time and more opportunities for children to participate and learn.
First, you'll discover how to make equipment using inexpensive, readily available materials and even trash! Need some pinnies? Grab a pair of scissors and some old towels and start creating! Are old dryer sheets accumulating in the laundry room? Turn them into juggling scarves! All of the equipment is easy to assemble-no mechanical skill is needed. In addition, the book describes dozens of unique games and activities that use this equipment to teach important skills.
Next, the book explains how to use traditional equipment-such as Frisbees and jump ropes-in nontraditional ways and how to extend the life of old or broken equipment, including flat tennis balls and broken badminton racquets. You'll also learn the art of obtaining free equipment. The book provides information on equipment that's free for the asking, items that can be obtained by collecting proofs of purchase, and general budget-stretching ideas.
Finally, since some equipment can be quite expensive, fundraising is an occasional necessity. Proving that fundraising does not have to be time-consuming and painful, the book presents ideas for 15 refreshingly creative fundraisers that are easy to organize and execute. Many of them don't require solicitation by students, which means greater parental support and participation.
A resource no physical education or recreation program should be without, Creative Physical Activities and Equipment can pay for itself after just one use!
Chapter 1. Making Equipment
Bean Bag Targets • Plastic Bottle Equipment • Streamers • Hockey Pucks, Sticks, and Goals • Pinnies • Football T-Stands • Bases • Whistle Holder • Time-Out Timer
Chapter 2. From Trash to Treasure
Old Panty Hose • Old Socks • Old Newspapers • Old Soda Bottles • Packing Peanuts • Old Coffee Cans • Old Dryer Sheets • M & M Minis Plastic Tube Containers • Empty Adding Machine Paper Rolls • Garden Hose • Empty Paper Towel Rolls • Cardboard Boxes • Plastic Trash Bags
Chapter 3. Same Old Stuff
Frisbees • Rubber Gloves • Jump Ropes • Stilts • Parachute • Folding Mats
Chapter 4. Don't Throw It Out Just Because It's Broken!
Beaded Jump Ropes • Popped Balls • Broken Badminton Racquets • Sound Paddles and Beach Balls • Broken Hula Hoops • Old Pinnies or Jerseys • Stick-a-Ball Paddles • Flat Tennis Balls • Old Racquetballs • Old Miscellaneous Equipment and Balls
Chapter 5. Acquiring Free Equipment
Section 1. Absolutely Free Equipment
Carpet Squares • Stuffed Animals • Balloons • Bowling Pins • Golf Tubes • Toilet Paper • Jar Openers • Plastic Buckets • Paper Plates • Feed Bags • Old Tires • Old Brooms • Plastic Drinking Straws • Old Bicycle Tires • Popcorn Buckets
Section 2. Equipment to Acquire by Collecting Proofs of Purchase
Campbell's Labels for Education • Power of Purchasing Program • Boxtops for Education • Little Debbie Points to Education Program • Kids in Gear Program by Fuji • Other Programs That May Be Available
Section 2. Fundraisers That Are a Little Painful
Show in the Gym • Valentine Serenade • Dog Wash • Teacher of the Year: Students' Choice • Birthday Cupcakes • School Dance • Grants • Powderpuff Football
Index of Games
About the Author
Reference for elementary and middle school physical education specialists and classroom teachers; physical education supervisors, directors, and administrators; recreation directors; athletic directors; YMCA directors; club sport leaders; and church group leaders.
Bev Davison is a veteran physical educator, having taught for ten years at the elementary and secondary levels. During those years she mastered the skill of creating a quality physical education program on a shoestring budget. She has shared her knowledge on this subject with fellow physical educators far and wide-from the Georgia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (GAHPERD) state convention to a naval base in Cuba.
One of Davison's most significant career accomplishments was being named the 1995-96 Teacher of the Year by fellow teachers at her school for implementing the ideas in this book. Davison's contributions to her school's physical education program also led to a 1996 School of Excellence in Physical Education Honorable Mention Award from GAHPERD.
Davison is a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and GAHPERD. She earned her master's degree in physical education from Eastern Kentucky University. In her free time she enjoys biking, fishing, and water sports. She and her husband, Ray, live in St. Mary's, Georgia, with their three children. | <urn:uuid:bd5a03bc-372c-413e-8e77-771bb0ccd97c> | {
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This part of the website is an English translation of the definitive hurdy-gurdy reference book Die Drehleier (The Hurdy-gurdy), written by Marianne Bröcker. For general information about this translation please see the Index Page.
This material is covered by copyright and may not be used without permission. Please see the Index Page for more information about distribution.
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A. Its Position in the Medieval Instrumentarium
The numerous musical instruments of the Middle Ages were mentioned in the literature of the time especially when the authors wanted to describe the brilliance of a festive event. For this they often used long lists of instruments in which they named many different instruments. The authors avoided repeating the name of an instrument and characterized different forms of an instrument group with a special appendage. [fn] If several instruments of the same type were played this was indicated by the use of the plural or by the appendage of a number.[fn]
Since various instruments are so often described as being together it must be supposed that they were also played together.[fn] Accordingly there was already in the Middle Ages a type of orchestra with varying and different members. Next to ensembles, in which only instruments of one family were played[fn], there were also groups which consisted of wind, percussion and string
instruments, as well as standard ornaments which were used over a longer period of time and variously put together.[fn]
It should not be concluded from the varying arrangements of such ensembles that there was unordered and noisy playing or that the instruments were played in unison. "It is in no way to be imagined, as is usually done, that the medieval orchestra consisted of members playing many instruments haphazardly and that now and then a uniform harmonic impression was given, just as the opposite cannot be imagined, namely that all the instruments played the same melody together. There is no reason to deny that a musical practice striving for an aesthetic and harmonic effect existed in the Middle Ages".[fn] With the use of many instruments arose "a rich texture of unique tonal magic." [fn]
Among the instruments of this time the hurdy-gurdy also frequently appears in texts and in pictures; this is an indication that its harmonies were not dissonant when it was played together with various other instruments.
The instruments played simultaneously which are mentioned in texts were arranged by the authors in various ways, and often a grouping according to certain points of view can be established. All instruments played in the same way are named one after the other, such as wind, percussion, plucked or bowed instruments. They may also be arranged according to their loudness of tone, such as loud and soft. The instruments with which the hurdy-gurdy was grouped in these lists vary. A grouping according to related tonal effects is frequently found in connection with the hurdy-gurdy.
The hurdy-gurdy is often grouped with other string instruments in the lists, (ill. 3, 24, 25) [figlink], partly separated from other bowed instruments by the plucked instruments,
partly directly associated with these:
"Que gigue, harpen e simphonie"; [fn]
harpe ende symphonien"; [fn]
"ay [sp][a-y/macron] auje çinfonjas farpa giga e rota"; [fn]
"Harpes, gigues et cyfonies"; [fn]
"Harpéors et Bretons, Giges et chifonie"; [fn]
"audivi suon di gighe e ciunfonie"; [fn]
"Rubebes, leuths, vielles, syphonie"; [fn]
"Symphonies, rotes, sautier" [fn]
"Cistole, rothe, syphonie"; [fn]
"Citole i ot e viele
E synphan, q'amour novele". [fn]
Next to this are found also instrument lists in which the individual instruments appear arranged in pairs. In these sources the hurdy-gurdy is always
named together with a bowed instrument which either has drone strings, like the vielle, or which is played together with the hurdy-gurdy as a descant instrument:
"De gighe sot, de simphonie"; [fn]
"Et sifonies et vieles"; [fn]
"Cil porte gige cil simphonie"; [fn]
"videln und symphonien"; [fn]
"e cyphonies et vielles"; [fn]
"On rebube and on symphonye". [fn]
Even in the 17th century we find the violin and hurdy-gurdy played together:
"Überkam ich eine discant=Geige ihr zugehallen/
und halff ihr ........ in ihre Leyr spilen." [fn]
Among the arrangements of the hurdy-gurdy with other string instruments there are some in which only the plucked instruments are named directly together with the hurdy-gurdy, and it is to be supposed that when these instruments were played together the hurdy-gurdy took over the playing of the melody:
"Ces chytolles, ces chyphonies"; [fn]
"Chyffonyes et monocordes"; [fn]
"harpe, siphonie"; [fn]
"baldosas y linfonías"; [fn]
"cinfonia, guitarra non son de aqueste marco"; [fn]
"La ne fut demandee chalemeal, ne cytolle,
Harpes ne cyphonie". [fn]
It also happens that the hurdy-gurdy is mentioned as the only bowed instruments among plucked instruments, so that it belongs with the wind instruments to the loud melody instruments:
"Then myxt [sp][my-yogh-t] men here many glewes,
Pipe and Trompe, and many nakeres,
Synfan, lute and Citoleres". [fn]
A separation of the wind from the string instruments occurs by mentioning the drums in between:
"Fluctes, bedons, simphonies, rebelles".[fn]
These were apparently also played as rhythmic instruments together with bowed (and plucked) string instruments:
"At þis bruydale was plei i-nough: [sp][i-dash-nou-yogh-h]
song and gret hoppingue,
Tabours and fithele and symphanye"[fn];
"In harpe and tabour and symphan gle Wurschep God" [fn];
Taburs et cifonies i vont lor lais cantant" [fn].
The groupings of plucked instruments, wind instruments, and the hurdy-gurdy (ill. 50) [figlink] not only depicts
both different groups of string instruments separated by the wind instruments, but perhaps also the consciously emphasized tonal relationship of the hurdy-gurdy to the stringed instruments:
"With harpe and pype and simphonye"[fn];
"And whenne he was nye the palyse,
he hurde harping, luting, pipinge, tromping and þe symphonie" [fn].
With this last example the author leaves the number of instruments uncertain, while he emphasizes the hurdy-gurdy with the singular case, the addition of the 'and' as well as the definite article.
The sharp and nasal sound of the hurdy-gurdy with its piercing drone tone is, like that of the bagpipes, quite loud. Therefore even in the Middle Ages the hurdy-gurdy was frequently placed with the wind and percussion instruments in instrument lists and in representations (ills. 47,48) [figlink], in order to make explicit its tonal relationship to the wind instruments:
"Belles, chymbes, and symfan" [fn];
"Cumballes et tambors, semphaines, trompettes et violettes" [fn];
"Gigues et harpes et vieles,
Muses, fléustes, et fresteles
Tympres, tabors et syphonies" [fn];
"cimbales, simphonies, choros, challemies, doulchaines" [fn];
"Chifonie, flaios de saus" [fn];
"De timbres, de cors, de busines
E de tabors e de tröines,
De flageus e de simphonies" [fn];
"Tabors, et timbres, et frestèles,
Fléustes, cors et syphonies" [fn];
"organs in weth cymbalys
recordys ha symphony" [fn]
"trompes, chiphonies, chalemies, bombares,
muses, fleutes, douchaines" [fn];
"with grete foyson of hornys, trumpys, symphonys,
and other mynstrelces"[fn];
"and the sound of organys, symphanys
and of instrumentis of all musyke" [fn].
The fact that in all this last text only two instruments are mentioned by name and the others are only summarily mentioned seems to indicate the tonal similarity and the compatibility of these instruments on account of their drone tones. The relationship of the hurdy-gurdy to the wind instruments is also depicted in a picture of minstrels in a 14th century manuscript from the Alexander Roman (ill. 48) [figlink]. The instruments represented are arranged in two groups, apparently distinguished according to tone and separated from each other by the kettle drums: bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, shawm, portative organ, kettle drums, mandola, harp, fiddle and psaltery. The hurdy-gurdy is among
the wind instruments and is next to the bagpipes, whose sound is most similar to its own.
Aside from the medieval organ with its drone pipes, the bagpipes were especially suited to be played with the hurdy-gurdy. For this reason even today the bagpipes are the instrument most often played with the hurdy-gurdy. In the Middle Ages these instruments were played together on account of their common tonal characteristics. This is made clear by several sources in which either the hurdy-gurdy is named directly with the bagpipes or both instruments appear one after the other:
"ne cyphonie, ne meuse" [fn];
"Citole, rothe, syphonie, La chevrecte d'Esclavonnie" [fn];
"Saltiers, gighes, vïeles, muses et sifonies" [fn];
"Et estives et chiphonies" [fn];
"Cors et musettes, simphonies doulcettes" [fn];
"Tabours and fiþele and symphanye:
stiues and harpingue" [fn];
"He herde the symphony and cornemuse" [fn];
To this last place belongs the grouping of 'symphonie' and 'croud' which occurs several times in the Middle English literature. In these cases 'croud', the Latin "chorus" must denote the bagpipes [fn] and not the string instrument 'croud' or 'crwth':
"and whanne he cam, and neixede [sp][nei-yogh-ede] to the hous,
he herde a symphonie and a croude" [fn];
"and symphonie and croude weren herd
whanne apostles knewen alle wittis" [fn];
"Ther ys harpë nor gyterne,
Symphonyë, nouther crowde" [fn];
"Croude he herde and simphonye" [fn].
An especially clear indication to playing the bagpipes and the hurdy-gurdy together can be seen in the Annals of the Menetriers Jehan and Estienne Ferrier of Geneva. They report about a countess who went out to meet her returning husband in the year 1390 with the entire court and many minstrels. The minstrels blew horns, played harps and flutes, cymbals (cymbales), fiddled (rebbeis), and played hurdy-gurdies (cyphonies) and bagpipes (musettes), "die zusammenstimmten und schlugen Trommeln" [that played together and beat drums]. [fn].
As the texts make clear, the hurdy-gurdy had a permanent place in the medieval instrumental ensembles. Since it was one of the "bas instruments" [fn], the hurdy-gurdy
is always listed with the melody instruments. It was therefore in no way merely an accompanying instrument unsuited for playing melodies, as Hugo Steger supposes [fn]. On account of the method of shortening the strings by means of keys, it belonged instead to those instruments that had a fixed tonal scale, and thus it could take up an important place in the medieval instrumentarium.
B. The Tuning of the Hurdy-gurdy
On the basis of the possibility of tuning a scale exactly and sustaining each note indefinitely, the hurdy-gurdy could also have been used as a demonstration instrument. Thus the hurdy-gurdy and the organ took up position next to the monochord as intonation aids for the singers in the late Middle Ages, the monochord being used in ancient times and in the Middle Ages as a demonstration instrument and as a choral aid.On account of the hurdy-gurdy's long sustained notes a singer could be easily corrected or the tuning of other instruments could be made considerably less difficult. The hurdy-gurdy was also used to teach the young, as illustrations 19 and 47 depict. Finally the author of the "Summa Musicae" recommends the organ, monochord and hurdy-gurdy, on account of their fixed intonation, to the poor singer as supports: "Item rudis cantor ... instrumenta musica exerceat, et saepius eis utatur, qualia sunt monochordum, symphonia, quae dicitur organistrum, in organis etiam cantare laboret. In his etiam instrumentis nota de facili errare non potest, et a sono suo longius distorqueri, eoguod notae per claves certas et signatas facile possunt considerari, et promte proferri absque socio vel magistro cantore" [fn]. Even in the 17th century Marin Mersenne suggested using the hurdy-gurdy when tuning the spinet, insofar as its keys were correctly positioned: "La Vielle peut seruir
pour accorder les Epinettes, et particulierment celles qui sont Luthées [sp]"[fn].
The importance of the hurdy-gurdy as a church instrument and its popularity as a musical instrument in the late Middle Ages is mirrored in treatises which were written especially for this instrument and which must be viewed as the most important sources of information about the tuning of the medieval hurdy-gurdy. These treatises contain directions for the correct placement of the keys, with whose help the single melody tones are produced on a string.
All of the treatises preserved come apparently from the 13th century. The most correct and the most exact information is contained in the treatise earlier ascribed to Odo of Cluny. The others are not exact in what they relate. The treatise is ascribed to Odo since he is mentioned in the appendix of this work. The copy comes from the 13th century; the treatise therefore is considered to be also dated to the 13th century.[fn]. The question concerning the dating of this work is thereby however not cleared up, since the copyist of Odo's work could have relied to some extent on the tuning directions of an older author.
Scholars who busy themselves with the organistrum often claim that the keys, which are later also called 'claves' [fn] had at this time, the 13th century, the name of 'plectra' [fn]. This however does not come clearly from any of the treatises. Only in the following article are two 'plectra' mentioned, which however denote bridges that are situated at the beginning of the keybox and directly behind the wheel.
[NB: in the following pages the "square b" is shown with a small
[NB: in the following pages b, þ, b-flat, and h are all used to label notes. It's not clear yet whether the translator knew which symbol related to which note, or how the notes referred to in the original text relate to modern notation, so these issues remain to be resolved.]
The text runs thus:
"Quomodo organistrum construatur"
In primis a capite iuxta primum plectrum, infra usque ad aliud plectrum, quod ponitur post rotulum, per duos passus metire, et in primo passu pone C. secundus finit. A C ad finem metire per tria, et quartus retro reddit G. a G ad finem per tres, et quartus retro pone D. a D ad finem per III. et in primo passu pone a. De a. ad finem pone III. et in primo retro pone E. Et ab E. ad finem per III. in primo passu pone þ. Item a C. ad finem per II. et III. retro pone F. ab F. ad finem per IIII. in primo passu pone b." [fn]
If the strings are divided in accordance with these instructions and the keys situated on the prescribed points, the result is as follows: the tonal range of the organistrum extends over a diatonic octave with both semitones before the octave, b-flat and b. To achieve this, eight keys must be so placed that the following string relationships result: [fn]
The string relationships of the individual are accordingly:
From the string relationships it is apparent that the hurdy-gurdy was tuned with a Pythagorean temperament. Tuned this way the fourth and fifth were pure. The third on the other hand consisted of two major whole tones 8/9, so that the major Pythagorean third of 64/81 arose. This third is about 80/81,or the syntonic comma, larger as opposed to the pure third of 4/5.
The second treatise, which is also anonymous, comes from around the same time and has the title:
"Mensura Organistri. A. C. novem passus usque ad sustentationem chordae facias. Ieam a D. novem passus. Item a C quatuor passus. Item a C. tres passus. Item a D. tres passus. Item ab F. quatuor passus, primus passus terminat in b. molle. Item ab E. tres passus, primus passus terminabit in þ; quod si adhuc c. acutam, quae diapason cum C. sonat, ponere volueris, quatuor passibus a G. usque in finem dimensis c. supradictam reperies." [fn]
This set of tuning directions is apparently the work of a copyist since it is not only less accurate than the preceding work, but with the notes D to G the writer merely mentions into how many parts the string is to be divided, without saying which notes the individual divisions produce. He also even forgets to provide the length for the sixth, the a. However it can be deduced from the string relationships of the other notes. The relationships are the same as in the preceding treatise, and thus the tuning is the same:
The hurdy-gurdy was also tuned in the same way according to the following treaties, which has two tuning methods in it which are different in that according to the first method three notes are tuned differently, whereby the G and the þ are produced by a division of the string which deviates from the other methods but which leads to the same result. A third note however, the b-flat rotundum is found here, otherwise than in the other tuning methods, not by dividing the string from F as the fourth 3/4 of F, but by the equidistant division of the length Aþ. When the major whole tone Aþ is divided with the ratio 8:9 = 16:18,
then from A we have for the note b-flat the ratio 17:18 with 99 cent.
The second tuning method of this treatise is essentially the same as the others. Only the conclusion is noteworthy, which is almost identical to the previously discussed treatise.
"Item alia mensura organistri. Omnes voces organistri elevatione et depositione lignorum intenduntur et remittuntur. [fn] Equaliter enim dividimus dupla proportione organistrum avolubili etta [fn] usque ad locum quo ponenda est prima littera scilicet C, et relicto primo passu vacuo et in fine alterius C posito ut diximus, iterum redimus ad ettam novenis passibus et primo passu D invenimus epogdoa proportione. Similiter a D ettam novem passus facientes primo passu E ponimus, F vero a C ut G a D usque ad ettam disponimus sesquitercia proportione, A vero a D ut þ quadratum ab E invenimus sesqualtera proportione. Synemenon vero equa divisione illius toni qui est inter A et þ quadratum invenimus.
Volens autem Item alia mensura quis organistrum disponere a C VIIII passus usque ad separationem chordae faciat, primus D ponit, item a D VIIII passus fiant, primus E ponit, a C vero IIII passus faciat, primusque ponit F, item a C tres passus metiantur, primusque G ponit, a D quoque tres passus fiant, primusque A ponit, ab F autem IIII passus faciat, et primus b rotundum, id est synemenon ponit, ab E tres ponantur passus, primusque þ ponit quadratum, quod si adhuc C acutam que dyapason cum C gravi sonat ponere voluerit, IIII passibus a G usque in finem
dimensis C supra dictam reperiet." [fn]
A further tuning method, in which the wheel is mentioned, also dates from the 13th century. According to this treatise as well the hurdy-gurdy is given a Pythagorean tuning.
"Si organistrum regulariter mensurandi notitiam subtilem habere volueris, mediocritas magaga ut magna post rotam ponatur. In primis inveniat, ut illuc usque inferius mensura porrigatur quo corda superius sonans extendit, in primis igitur C prime vocis nota inferioris magne locum [check this - looks like a typo in the Bröcker original] obtineat, hinc id est a C et magda inferiori quaterna divisione ad magdam superiorem quam preterire metiendo non poteris, procedas, et primus passus diatessaron complectens terminabis F. Secundus vero diapente continens desinit in c acutam, reliqui duo vacant. Iterum ad magdam inferiorem revertens, in primo passu ternarie divisionis G invenis, reliqui duo vacant. Deinde vero a G incipies et ternaria divisione facta circinum inferius a G moderatum retorquas et D habebis litteram secundam. Item incipias in D et ternaria divisione in termino primi passus a acutam diapente notantem invenies et ut per G unum ternaria divisione processisti circinum retorquendo D invenisti sic per a invenies E, S. b rotundum [fn] et þ quadratum, que adhuc restant invenienda facile inveniuntur: si b rotundum per F quarternaria divisione queratur, þ quadratum per e ternaria dimensione investigetur. Notandum quoque est alteram c positam non esse necessariam, sed gratia consonantie diapason superadditam fore. Quod si lingua que loco eiusdem c acuta posita fuerit incidatur ut consona sic iocunda, ut ita dicam, vox necesse est conficiatur." [fn]
Of the five tuning methods preserved the following dating to the first half of the 13th century is the most difficult to decipher. In an appendix to an article about organ pipes which concludes the treatise, the copyist
makes several remarks about various musical instruments. The tuning method given there would be incomprehensible without a knowledge of other other organistrum treatises. It concerns the locations of keys on a 'organica lira' (see page 191). The keys are denoted as 'magada' by the writer. The word 'magada' (in the previous treatise also 'magda') comes from the Greek 'magás-ádos' and means 'bridge.'
"Organicum quicumque liram metiendo laboras a magda C gravem passibus angenovem. In D passus erit a c D novem sed E quaerit C dabit F v(...) G passibus A dabit E. Quattuor amagada tot ab F stabit b rotunda passibus hinc geris littera quam gravis. Invenit equivocam tribus invenit e þ c quartam hic placeat suus regula dicta brevis" [fn].
Although these instructions are very incomplete, the formation of the major third from two major whole tones and the use of b-flat and b is evident. This article then gives the same tonal range as the others. That the 'organica lira' is a hurdy-gurdy is clear by the remarks that follow the tuning directions. There follows the two octave Greek system with b-synemenon as the 16th note. The writer gives the letters A-G to the Greek symbols for the intervals, but in such a way that A corresponds to our modern c. The letters A-G used here do not indeed agree with the tuning method for the 'organica lira' above. From this it follows that the writer of this treatise placed several older copies under each other without bothering to harmonize them.
Following this the writer remarks that these are the 16 strings of the monochord, and that the newer ones have an additional two strings. At the end of the treatise come a few remarks about the consonance of the fifth, fourth and octave.
For a better overview the placements of the keys according to the individual tuning methods will be shown again. In this schematic representation the bracketed Arabic numerals behind the starting note show into how many equal parts from there onwards the string is to be divided in ordered to produce the note to which the arrow points.This also indicates the note from which new notes are reached. The arrow in reverse indicates that the string is divided from the starting note to the end of the string, but that the note is not reached in the same direction, but by the transfer of a part of the division to the opposite direction [fn].
[Editor's Note: the translator included some observations on this table, which have been included below. The editor cannot support, confirm or deny any of the statements and conclusions reached by the translator.]
[TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: I have failed to see how the directions above, the schemas as given, and the note [fn] below correspond. The schema Gec [fn] should give, according to the directions above, 5/8, for c=1/2 [sp] of the entire length of the string, and if this length in turn is divided into four equal parts, increments of 1/8 of the entire string length will result. There are four of these increments from the end of the string to c, and hence the addition of one more will result in 5/8 for G. But G, according to the tuning directions of the first treatise, equals 2/3. Note 1 appears to refer to this locating of G since it is the first instance of a reverse arrow and the only instance of finding any note from c. But note 1 shows the length of string from c to the end as being divided into three parts, not four. If the '4' in Gec [fn] is changed accordingly to '3', then the result is the one desired; for 1/3 of the length c-to-the-end-of-the-string is 1/6 of the entire length of the string. 'c' represents 3/6 (one half of the string) and thus the addition of one more increment will make G 4/6 or 2/3. The schemata can hence be rendered serviceable if in all cases of the 'reverse arrow' the numeral in brackets is reduced by one (1). By the way, a formula useful for translating the schemata is the following:
Let L= the fraction length equivalent to the starting letter (C=1) and N= the numeral in brackets and X= the fraction length equivalent to the note sought; then if L(N)dX, then L-(L/N)=X and if Xe L(N), then (L/N-1) +L=X
example: Eea (4)=(16/27) + 16/27= 64 3 81 ]
What is noteworthy about these treatises is that the tunings are all in major keys, observed by Hugo Reinmann. [fn] Implicated in the use of a major tonality is however is also the use of major thirds, that is, pure thirds in the relationship 4/5 ( or 386.3 cents). Compared with the pure third the Pythagorean ditonus, formed from two major tones with the relationship 8/9 (each 204 cents), is 64/81 (408 cents) too high. This third sounds dissonant in harmony since beats are formed that can clearly be heard. On instruments which were built to be played harmonically and which show an obvious major tonality, one would expect a pure tuning; as a matter of fact however all the tuning methods preserved depict Pythagorean tuning. In this however these treatises do not differ from the likewise Pythagorean tuning for the monochord or for the organ [fn], which in the Middle Ages was also a drone instrument. It must be said to this however that the Pythagorean tuning is not contrary to pure tuning, since it does not exclude pure thirds. Rather the Pythagorean tuning leads almost necessarily to pure thirds, as soon as in the chain of fifths b-flat f c g d a e b eight tones have been passed. If a ninth note e-flat is tuned to the eight notes, the interval b- e-flat, disregarding the octave position, gives an almost pure third, which differs from the third 4/5 only by the so called schism of 1.9 cents. If an f-sharp is tuned over the b, then the interval f-sharp - b-flat (a-sharp) can be used as a pure third. With twelve tones in the octave there are four pure thirds. With increasing chromaticism in the Pythagorean tuning therefore pure thirds necessarily have to be attained. Thus there were
many attempts made to attain a pure tuning from the Pythagorean tuning. Even the Kirnenberger tuning utilizes the schismatic equalization and in its first version is nothing else than a twelve-tone tuning in fifths. Likewise the Bonn pure instrument with its 72 notes in the octave was based on this tuning in fifths; each manual in itself is tuned in the Pythagorean manner.
For the medieval theoreticians however, an almost pure third (b - e-flat) attained in this manner could not be consonant, since the numerical relationship underlying it, (2/3)^8 [sp][8 is superscript], was too complicated.
On the diatonically tuned hurdy-gurdy with its seven or eight notes in the
octave the thirds attained by the schismatic equalization could not be utilized.
In its place however the hurdy-gurdy player could correct the pitch by means
of the keys. It can be surmised that such a correction of the pitch was used
already on the instrument with rotating keys. This results from the following
considerations: If a string is stretched between two end bridges over a sounding-box,
and the string is to be shortened from below by placing another bridge upright,
then the string's end bridges do not need to be as high as the other bridge
when it is turned upright, since otherwise the bridge will not make sufficiently
exact contact with the string (a). The pressure against the string would not
be strong enough to evoke a clear tone. The string then must lie low enough
between the two end bridges so that when the other bridge is vertical the string
is really shortened (b). This method of stringing results in a premature contact
between bridge and string when the form is set upright, so that the pitch is
not insignificantly changed before the bridge reaches its upright position (c).
Sliding keys offer a similar possibility to the player. The keys have wooden tangents attached to them which perform the function of shortening the string (see page 102). On most hurdy-gurdies the keys can be pushed further into the keybox than is necessary to produce the desired pitch. Thus the string touched by the tangent is stretched more and the pitch raised (a). My own attempts
sometimes resulted in raising the pitch more than a semitone, especially with
the higher notes. This changing of the pitch by pressure was consciously used
with the hurdy-gurdy. The contemporary French instrument has two full chromatic
octaves (d'-d'''), in which due to lack of space, one note (c#''') has been
left out. The usual practice is to produce the c#''' simply by applying more
pressure to the c''' key, which with some practice succeeds with amazing exactitude.
" Le vielleur modifie la hauteur en appuyant sur les touches" [fn].
On the first hurdy-gurdies to be preserved there is to be observed, besides
the technique of varying the pressure on the key, yet another method of correcting
the pitch. The tangents serving to shorten the string do not sit firmly in the
round holes in the keys made for them (a). The part of the tangent that fits
into the keys is also round, so that the player is able to turn the tangent
back and forth (b), which implies a change in the pitch. With this technique
the fine tuning of the individual notes on the two unison tuned melody strings
of the French hurdy-gurdy is attained even today.
Since there are various ways of changing the pitch, an exact measurement of the individual tones is hard to achieve. At the beginning of this century Ludwig Riemann investigated the pitches of the various notes of a "Baurenleyer" [peasant hurdy-gurdy] from Zurich [fn]. He emphasizes however that the result of his
investigations are subjective. He apparently wrote down only what he heard when he was playing. Unfortunately the author says nothing about the instrument which he used, but just gives the scale of the "Baurenleyer" among 94 scales of instruments. It is apparently an instrument with a diatonic tonal range of one octave. As a standard for the deviations in tone of the individual instruments Riemann used a tempered scale. Deviations from the tempered note he symbolized with a whole note divided into 8 parts: the staff pointing up indicates a higher pitch, and when pointing down a lower pitch. With the "Baurenleyer" he also used in addition sixteenth notes.
The deviations established with the hurdy-gurdy are:
Quarter note deviations and sixteenth note deviations below. The whole note denotes agreement with the tempered note. Riemann produced the following scale for the "Baurenleyer":
First off it must be assumed that the instrument fell out of tune one semi-tone, for a f# scale is thoroughly unusual for a west European hurdy-gurdy.
In order to make the other deviations more clear, cent values are given to the individual notes. From this a more precise picture of the distance between each tone results. The octave has 1200 cents, the tempered whole tone 200 cents, the tempered half tone 100 cents, the quarter tone 50 and the sixteenth tone 12.5 cents. In order to make the differences more apparent the Pythagorean and the just tuning in cents are added.
As can be seen from the table, almost all of the notes of the Riemann scale are impure. Either they are extremely small (whole tone of 162 cents) or extremely large (whole tone of 237.5 cents). In the center of the scale is a normal tetrachord: a# - b - c# - d#, which is flanked above and below by intervals of 350 cents (f#' - a#' and d#" - f#").
It is particularly noteworthy that on this instrument neither the third, fourth or fifth are pure, but the major seventh, on the other hand (1087.5 cents) corresponds to that of the pure tuning (1088 cents). When major intervals like the fourth and fifth are not perfect, but about a quarter tone too low, they are very noticeable, particularly because a drone instrument like a hurdy-gurdy almost always has its drone in the fifth or the fourth. The drone strings are so tuned that the fifth sounds pure to the prime tone. On the scale that Riemann has produced the fifth would sound dissonant, since the fifth of the melody string is about a quarter-tone lower than the fifth of the drone string.
Unfortunately Riemann says nothing about the instrument which he investigated. Doubts about this scale must arise however since the author emphatically established that the folk instruments were so tuned that the practical tones were in agreement with the overtone phenomenon and with the fading of the
tones, [fn] which is not the case with this hurdy-gurdy. Riemann also mentions the extraordinarily frequent occurrence of the major third on folk instruments [fn]. On this hurdy-gurdy however the thirds f#' - a#' (350 cents) and d#" - f#"(350 cents) are pitched as so-called 'neutral thirds' (347 cents) right between the major and the minor thirds; for the major third of 386 cents the lower, f#' - a#', is 36 cents too small, the upper, d#" - f#", is for the minor third of 216 cents 34 cents too large.
It can be assumed that Riemann was dealing with a normal instrument whose tangent positions could be changed and whose keys could be pushed into the body in varying degrees. With this assumption, this scale loses its value because it cannot be checked if Riemann perhaps did not push the keys in as far as they would go, but just so far that a note was produced. The impression of a really subjective auditory investigation arises here, for the impurity of practically every note speaks against the use of a scale such as the one Riemann depicted.
When played together with other instruments the pitch of the hurdy-gurdy could be corrected simply by applying more or less pressure to the keys or by repositioning the tangents. This was probably done without any great difficulty even in the Middle Ages. The adjustment of pitch differences of wind instruments when played with other instruments was known, and on the clavichord pitch differences could be adjusted by stronger or weaker pressure on the key. [fn]
On the hurdy-gurdy, besides the fine tuning available by turning the tangents and by varying the pressure on the keys, there is yet another way of changing the tuning of the melody string slightly. This happens with
the help of two separate nuts, one for each melody string, placed at the beginning of the keybox after the exit of the strings from the peghead (a). Each nut can be moved, so that the pitch of the entire string can be changed.
In order to tune an out-of-tune hurdy-gurdy in such a way that all the notes sound more or less pure, a musician with a good ear and much skill needs two to three hours, since he must check every single note. Tuning is particularly difficult when the hurdy-gurdy is to be played with another instrument, such as a bagpipe or a second hurdy-gurdy. That even in the 16th and 17th centuries value was attached to a well tuned instrument and that this demanded a good ear and skill is indicated by a proverb which was recorded in the 17th century: "Ils accordent bien leurs vielles" [trans. SB: "They tune their hurdy-gurdies well."], with which it is supposed to be said that they are clever people ("ils ont de l'intelligence"). [fn]
C. Early Polyphony and Instrumental Practice
To judge by the representations, the numerous references in the literature and above all from the treatises on tuning which have been preserved, the hurdy-gurdy had a respected position
in the medieval instrumentarium. The instrument could probably only assume this position because it could be polyphonically played, which is indeed indicated by the hurdy-gurdy's medieval names (see page 187). The harmonies which could be realized on the instrument were indeed limited as to type, but these nevertheless corresponded to the earliest known forms of medieval polyphony. The term used for this music practice, 'organum', shows that there was a connected between these polyphonic forms and the musical instruments, which can be recognized clearly in the name for the organ ('organum') and for the hurdy-gurdy ('organistrum'). 'Organum' does not denote just the organ and the polyphonic music practice, but also, quite generally, an 'instrument'. [fn] If 'organum' still had a general meaning (instrument) and a special meaning (organ) for Augustine and Isidor, then later authors used this term to denote just the organ. [fn]
It was known from Augustine and Isidor in the early Middle Ages that 'organum' was the name for the organ or another instrument. If this name was later given to a polyphonic music practice, then the connection between musical instruments and the polyphonic organa cannot be simply disregarded. The use of this name as a term for a music practice leads to the conclusion that this type of polyphony
was first executed instrumentally. This is indicated for example by Johannes Affligemensis, who speaks of naming a particular method of playing after an instrument. [fn] The parallel organum accordingly was "named in view of the effect organum already known in the instrumental music: this was a characterization which, used for a choir of human voices, can only be explained in that this manner of singing was intended to imitate the instrument (organa)". [fn]
Next to the thesis that parallel organa were performed solely by voices [fn] the opinion has also been aired that the musical instrument were only subsequently constructed so as to meet the requirements of the vocal parallel organum. [fn] Both interpretations contradict the sources which lead to the conclusion that the term 'organum' first indicated an instrument and then was transferred to a polyphonic choral practice with instrumental accompaniment. Thus Heinrich Husmann attempted to explain the origin of the term 'organum' for a choral practice as a transfer from the Byzantine organ, since this had a 'mixtur' register which sounded several pipes with parallel octaves and fifths when played on one key. Since in principle this is the construction of the primitive parallel organum, its name (in the first beginning phase) could have been borrowed from the parallel technique of the organ of that period." [fn] That this form of polyphonic choral practice has its origins in instruments is shown by the comparison of the singing with the hurdy-gurdy's sound:
"A donc seront les voiz ohiez En semblance de chifoniez". [fn]
The theoretician's sources also speak for a participation of instruments in the execution of 'organa'. [fn] Besides the "dyaphonia basilica" the author of the "Summa Musicae" mentions instrumental participation in the "organica dyaphonia." [fn] The same author clearly indicates an instrumental execution of the lowest voice when he remarks that the cantus organicus goes so low that it cannot be sung. [fn] The Anonymous IV even testifies to the performance of the drones on the organ, [fn] and the Anonymous from St. Emmeram thinks of organum as being a mixed vocal and instrumental presentation, whereby the author characterizes the instrumental tenor as being a 'burdo.' (see page 48). [fn]
If however the term 'organum' served to denote an instrumental practice, then the terms derived from it are also connected with instruments.[fn]
Cosuequently the term 'organisare' can denote "to play polyphonically', and 'organistra' denotes the 'organ' or 'instrument player', [fn] and the term 'organicus punctus' can be interpreted, not just literally but in reference to the instrument as 'organ point'. [fn] The later addition of the human voice to an instrumentally performed polyphonic music is indicated by the naming of the accompanying voice as 'vox organalis'. It was of course not just the human voice that was denoted by 'vox', but also the voice of an instrument, so that it does not appear to be wrong to think of an instrumental voice with the 'vox organalis'. [fn] Ernst Ludwig Waeltner believes that the term 'organum' was originally not used for the entire practice, but just for that of the 'vox organalis'. The accompanying voice was hence first used in connection with the instruments. Only then was the term applied to the entire practice. "The adoption of the term 'organum' indicates that the use of instruments was an important factor of this method of presentation." [fn]
The connection between 'organum' as a polyphonic music practice and 'organum' as instrument is clearest however in the term 'musica organica' which was common in the Middle Ages for denoting instrumental music. [fn]
Since apparently the term 'organum' was transferred from instruments to a certain manner of presenting polyphonic music, these instruments must have already been polyphonic. However t here was a great number of such instruments
in the Middle Ages. Therefore it can be assumed that instruments of this type were used also in the presentation of organa practice, although the sources of early polyphonic music which have been preserved do not indicate to what extent musical instruments participated. [fn] Probably this will never be known since a strict distinction between vocal and instrumental music was not known until modern times, as for example the addition of a 'da cantare o suonare' to many title pages of old music shows. [fn] Even for the 16th century music the question as to whether it is to be performed instrumentally, instrumentally and vocally, or just vocally cannot be answered since there were not set rules. "Music was played just how the instruments and the voices were available." [fn] With instrumental accompaniment for vocal music the instruments available were played, whereby these could fulfill various functions: they could support the harmony or substitute for missing voices.[fn] The participation of instruments was not exhausted however in these two duties. It can no longer be established what function the individual instruments had, but the medieval instrumentarium which has been preserved in word and picture shows nevertheless such a great number of various types and forms that the conclusion seems to be justified that musical instruments were extensively used in that period. There must have been accordingly a marked instrumental practice about which however only suppositions can be made, since the preservation
of instrumental music began only very late and even these sources do not usually give any information about the use of certain instruments. This may be connected with the fact that while there was a great number of instruments of various types, these instruments were nevertheless in various stages of development, so that no 'instrumental style' for specific instruments could arise.[fn]
D. The Hurdy-gurdy in Church Music
It has already been mentioned that the hurdy-gurdy functioned as a church instrument in the late Middle Ages (see page192). The instrument's harmonies allow certain deductions to be made about its repertoire. The construction of the instrument permits only those harmonies which are also found in the earliest sources of sacred polyphonic music, for which reason the hurdy-gurdy appears particularly suited to the execution of the organa. This polyphonic practice of the parallel and drone organa was common in medieval secular music as well as in sacred music. "Parallelness and drone technique" form the "pillars of the polyphony cultivated in the European ars antiqua." [trans CH:"old music"][fn]
Both forms of polyphony were established early in sacred music. Probably the first reference to the practice of organa is found in the writings of Bishop Aldhelm from the 7th century. [fn] The Musica Enchiriadis, which contains the first extensive description of the parallel organum dates from the middle of the 9th century and originated in the vicinity of Metz. This organum with parallel voices has been handed down [note: better wording = ?] in fourth and fifth intervals. [fn] Hugo Riemann questions
the practical performance of the parallel organum and considered the whole family as simply scholarly tinkering on the part of theoreticians. [fn] This view resulted from our modern sense of sound which finds sequences of fifths and fourths empty and graceless. This is because the harmony of the root note with the fifth or fourth which fades away very rapidly and which has a high degree of consonance. "It should be generally known that even in our music sphere untrained singers, when they want to sing with others in a choir, often sing along in the fifth, thinking they are singing in the same pitch." [fn] Even in the Middle Ages the marked fading-in of these 'perfect' consonances was recognized and hence were used to create a stronger tonal effect.
The treatises which deal with the parallel organum do not represent a fixed establishment of a new "invention", but appear only to order a wide spread type of polyphony " into a fixed theoretical system and provide evidence for the practicability of its use in church choral music" [fn].The author of the Musica Enchiriadis then expressly emphasizes that this polyphony was called "assuete organum"[fn]. Popular parallel music was spread throughout the whole of Europe, and the origins of the church organum are probably to be sought in a popular music practice [fn]. Up until the 16th century polyphonic music of the type of the early organum was known
throughout Europe [fn]; thus the example in Hungary [fn] and in Catalonia, from whence comes a manuscript, the "Cantorale Sti. Hieronimi" from the 15th century. Despite its late date it also contains "two or three voice organa in the style of the 13th century with quadrate notation" [fn]. The last part of a choral manuscript from the first half of the 16th century forms "an almost rigid fifth organum interrupted by unison parts" [fn]. Even in recent times, until 1928, [fn] this parallel organum practice existed in the Icelandic Tvísöngvar ( plural of Tvísöngur). [fn] Another example of the organa music practice is found in Macedonia in a type of social epic, in which two choruses alternating sing in epic verse and finally together end the piece in a interval of a fifth. "Diese Musikpraxis erinnert stark an anser frühmittelalterliches Organum." [fn] [trans MM: "This music practice very much recalls our early medieval organum"]
The drone practice was probably much more developed than the parallel music, as the large number of drone instruments in the Middle Ages testifies. Both types of folk polyphonic music practice appear to be very old and have been spread throughout the whole of Europe. They probably did not originate
in the Middle Ages, but much earlier. Their age cannot be determined, but early forms of polyphony must have been known in antiquity, since the instrumentarium of those times was too complex to allow it to be supposed that there was just a unison presentation practice [fn]. This variety of instruments existed also during the entire Middle Ages, and it appears to be certain that instruments were used for just these forms of polyphonic music. Thus a northern European source reports of several instruments being played together, among these apparently some hurdy-gurdies, and to which a vocal organum was sung: "sumir leika salterium ok simphon, sumir troda [sp][tro-d/stroke-a] organum, sumir berja bumbu, en sumir blása í trumbu" (Some played the psalerium and simphon, others performed organum, some played the bumbu and others blew the trumbu) [fn]. An instrumental basse dance from the 16th century has parallel fourths, fifths and octaves which return over the tenor and which recall the parallel organum [fn].
If the folk music of the Middle Ages had a definite instrumental character,then the use of instruments even in the early medieval church polyphony is not to be excluded from consideration. The theoreticians do not provide any basis for determining the extent to which musical instruments were used in the church organa practice but it must be nevertheless be assumed that they participated
in this music practice [fn]. Many of the preserved sources would in fact remain incomprehensible if the participation of instruments was rejected [fn]. In any case, the participation of instruments cannot be denied on the grounds that "It is church music for which the participation of neither organ (organum) nor instruments (organa) is handed down" [fn]. How would, according to this point of view, the source discussed on page 363 be valued, which reports of participation of minstrels with their instruments at the daily masses? The use of "instruments in organum" was rather " so understandable for the theoreticians that it did not need to be specially mentioned" [fn].
A reference to instrumental participation in parallel organum is given in the Paris Treatise, which allows both 'human' as well as instrumental voices for octave doubling [fn]. The instrumental version is supported by the frequent use of large intervals as ninths, tenths, sevenths, etc., and by the frequently prescribed individual notes isolated by pauses [fn].
Another point which leads us to think of an instrumental presentation is the slowing down of the tempo in organum. The Köln treatise, like the Paris treatise as well as the Musica Enchiriadis emphasize the slower tempo of the organa
in comparison with that of the choral presentation [fn], which itself slows down when instruments are added. "We know from our own experience that plain-chant slows down when it is accompanied by the organ" [fn]. "Die Verlangsamung des Zietmaßes im Organum ist ein besonderes Merkmal der frühen Organalpraxis. Sie ermöglichte es den im Organum beteiligten Instrumenten, wie auch Sängern, ihre jeweiligen Töne zu kolorieren. Diese Kolorierungen stellen gleichsam di Verbindung zwischen den einzelnen Klängen her."[fn] ("The slowing down of the tempo in organum is a special characteristic of the early organa practice. It made it possible for the participating instruments, as well as for the singers, to color their respective tones. This coloration produces, as it were the connection between the individual tones of the organum and hence between the individual sounds." Ernst Ludwig Waeltner considers the organum to be an essential part and a specific manner of presentation, of the liturgy [fn] and even assumes a definite individual instrumental-vocal formation for the early practice of organum. [fn] With this he accords to the sound of the organum which have been handed down in writing only a supporting function as a harmonic tonal foundation, over which it is freely improvised. The numerous instruments serve "through improvisation to increase the splendor of the organum's chordal pillars. It was therefore music which set large masses and means in motion in order to achieve the fullest possible sound" [fn].
Since the musical instruments apparently already had such a great significance for the execution of parallel organum, they must have been even more in demand for the drone organum. Long sustained drone tones are found in sacred music first in the drone organa of the 11th and 12th centuries. Already Guido of
Arezzo gives an example of the drone organum [fn]; this type of organum is further described in a 12th century anonymous treatise [fn]. The constant return to the primary tone and to the fifth have a drone character in sequences, the texts of which frequently mention musical instruments [fn]. "Both tones are so to speak drone tones and are executed as such with instrumental accompaniment" [fn]. As in two short tonal pieces by Perotin a "dyaphonia basilica' (see page 47) is also found in a 15th century manuscript from Innsbruck (Innsbruck Hs. Univ. Ms. 457) [fn]; in a 'organum quadruplum' by Perotin in the F of the tenor is held for over 130 measures [fn], and this could be performed on the hurdy-gurdy or on wind-bag instruments (organ, bagpipes).
The thesis of the instrumentally executed tenors is also supported by the fact that the low drone of the tenor gave its name to the lowest octave on keyboard instruments. In the instrument making treatise of Henricus Arnaut of Zwolle (c. 1440), the notes of the lowest octave of
a keyboard instrument are called 'barduni' [fn], as was also the low unshortened string of the bowed-instrument vielle, which ran along the side of the finger-board, characterized by Hieronymus de Moravia as a drone string: "Secunda (chorda), quae bordunus est aliarum, D solum facit" [fn].
An excellent source for sacred instrument presentation practices is provided by the organa of the Saint Jacob's Liturgy of the Codex Calixtinus [fn]. This codex originated in Santiago de Compostela, the most important pilgrim center in the Middle Ages and at the same time a meeting place of musicians with their various instruments, for the "mittelalterlichen Wallfahrtsorte und Heiligtümer Europas waren immer lebendiger Mittelpunkt der mehrstimmigen, volkstümlichen und Instrumentalmusik" [fn] ("medieval pilgrim centers and shrines of Europe were always lively centers of the polyphonic, popular, and instrumental music.")
The well developed music practice in Santiago was not only preserved by the hand written sources but also by especially generous representation of numerous instruments on the cathedral and on the archbishop's palace. The hurdy-gurdy was also pictured on both buildings which indicates that it was especially valued in the Santiago instrumentarium. The two player organistrum used there was probably utilized mainly for the performance of church music, "and in most cases it was the center of a large orchestra" [fn]. "The organistrum is placed in the center of the group. The circumstance of a rather prominent place being given to it ... suggests that it was used in sacred music rather as a church-organ" [fn].
The instrumental practice cultivated in Santiago is indicated especially by the 23 organa of the Codex Calixtinus,
of which, according to Walter Krüger, 15 were performed with drones. [fn] Many of these organa show not only long drones but also a moving melody of the 'vox organalis' in contrast to the 'vox principalis'. "Doppelgriffe (falls nicht Mixturen) jedenfalls auf Instrumentalpraxis auch der Principalis hinn." [fn] ("Double fingerings (if not 'mixturs') also point to an instrumental practice of the principalis as well". Various other factors also strengthened the instrumental presentation practice of the organa. Dom German Prado established that the 'conductus' of the Codex has its origin in dances from Toledo and Seville, and that for example the conductus 'Ad superni ragis' stems from a Galician dance for the bagpipes [fn], for which reason Krüger supposed that this piece was also performed in Santiago either on the bagpipes or on the hurdy-gurdy [fn]. Besides, there are numerous references to instruments in the text: "Clerus cum organo / et plebs cum tympano / cantet redemptori"; "Organa dulcia conveniencia sunt resonanda" [fn]; "Jocundetur et letetur, augmentetur / fidelium concio, / sollempnizet, modulizet, organizet / spiritali gaudio" [fn]. The 'symphonia' is found in another conductus text, which is interpretated as being a hurdy-gurdy by Marius Schneider: "cum hera simphonia, tuba et canora" [fn].
The chonicler reports that the pilgrims, arranged according to nationality, presented themselves in the cathedral of Santiago and sang to the accompaniment of instruments which they had brought with them from their home countries [fn]. In the sacred processions the musicians, and indeed instrumentalists, were represented, as was always the case with medieval pilgrimages and liturgical celebrations. The Codex includes several
polyphonic pieces which were suited to solemn processions accompanied by dancing and instrumental music [fn].
If one accepts the participation of instruments in the presentation of organum in the churches, then the next question is: 'What instruments known to us from this period were especially suited for this music practice?'. For this question one fact which is essential for the use of the instruments in this context but which often is not sufficiently considered is decisive. The organum was a church practice which was tied to the wide and high spaces of cathedrals and churches. From this in itself results a natural selection of instruments which are particularly suited for these spaces. Indeed all available instruments could be used, as was often the case, but some instruments, on account of their construction and their musical possibilities sounded especially good in a church. Preference was therefore given to those instruments with which the musician could produce not only a loud, but a carrying sustained tone as well. On account of the slow tempo of the organum the players of the participating instruments had to be able to hold each note as long as possible. The wind and bowed instruments were well suited for this purpose, while the quickly disappearing notes of the plucked instruments were unsuitable.
The organ, whose relationship to the organum practice is made clear by the common term 'organum', seems to have been especially well suited for this presentation practice [fn]. If the technical aspects of this instrument
were still imperfect, it was suited nevertheless as a drone instrument on account of the loud sustained tones which were attributed with special respect in the sources [fn]. It is certainly not correct to think that there was no connection between the organ and organum on account of the primitive mechanism of the instrument [fn]; at the Leonin [?] the organ already had keys and the player was quite able to execute faster movements [fn]. The close relationship between the organ and parallel organum is made clear by a late quint organum, which appears in the 14th century in the first English tablature [fn].
Aside from the organ, two other members of the wind instrument family, the double shawms and the bagpipes were of special interest for the organum, since they likewise enable the player to sustain polyphonic harmonies. Among the bowed instruments the hurdy-gurdy especially belonged to the ranks of the polyphonic instruments.
The medieval name of the hurdy-gurdy 'organistrum' indicates a close relationship between the organum and this instrument. Next to other shortening methods the 13th century hurdy-gurdy
also had a key mechanism which appeared as if made just for played fixed organum (ill. 2) [figlink]. "The music peculiar to this type of lyre to a great extent confirms the assumption that the vocal Organum arose from an attempt to imitate the instrumental effect" [fn]. The individual keys of the hurdy-gurdy in illustration 2 are provided with letters for the notes, which indicate that the range of the instrument was one octave with b-flat and b. This picture clearly shows the construction of the keys, which when turned 90 degrees upward simultaneously contact all three strings. The rotating keys of the hurdy-gurdy effected a simultaneous shortening of all the strings. If the instrument had several strings and all the strings could only be shortened simultaneously, the question arises as to how these strings were tuned. Van Waesberghe is of the opinion that all the strings were tuned to one pitch: "Zoals men ziet, wordt met een draaing van de pennen de snaar (of de gelijkgestemde snaren) ingekort ... Dit 'organistrum' kende aanvankelijk een, twee, of drie snaren die allen dezelfde toon voortbrachten" [fn]. [trans: JW: "As can be seen, the string (or strings tuned in unison) are shortened with a turning of the keys ... This 'organistrum' knew, originally one, two, or three strings that all produced the same tone."]
Tuning all the strings to one pitch would have meant that the particular features which the hurdy-gurdy had to offer would not have been utilized. As illustration 2 shows however, the instrument was so built that mixed tones could be played, and it certainly did not correspond to the idea behind the construction to avoid such sounds by tuning the strings to the same pitch. The hurdy-gurdy had with 'organistrum' a name derived from 'organum'. 'Organum' however denoted not only the organ, which could without doubt produce a mixture of tones [fn], but also a polyphonic music practice. This polyphonic organum practice was known even in Spain, despite the domination of the Arabs, [fn] and hence it is that area from which the first preserved representations
of the hurdy-gurdy come. The chronicler Vergilius Cordubensis of Spain, in his listing of the professors and departments at the university in Cordoba, mentions also two music masters and expressly the type of music which they taught: "et duo magistri legebant de musica, de ista arte quae dicitur organum" [fn].
Only one representation of the hurdy-gurdy from this period seems to depict a one-stringed instrument (ill. 13) [figlink]; on all the other representations it is clear that the normal hurdy-gurdy was strung with more than one string. Why then tune all the strings to the same pitch on an instrument which was meant to be played polyphonically? This was not necessary to strengthen the single tone, since the instrument must have had quite a loud sound, if only because of the resonating body. From the modern small hurdy-gurdies we know that the wheel causes a much stronger rubbing than a bow, and that therefore, the tone of the instrument is very loud and wide reaching. [Editor's Note: The modern practice is to tune the melody strings in unison or in octaves.]
Analogous to the other instruments of this period on which drone and mixed sounds could be produced, and corresponding to the organum practice which gave the hurdy-gurdy its name, it must be supposed that the strings were tuned to different pitches. The organum and the organistrum are closely related not only by name but also in respect to their effects. The organum was a church practice and the organistrum was at this time a respected church instrument [fn]; and it was precisely with its function as a church musical instrument that Van Waesberghe concerned himself with in his article [fn].
Noteworthy about the instrument mentioned is the simultaneous shortening of all three strings resulting in a division of all the strings at exactly the same places. If the three strings were not tuned to the same pitch, then they must nevertheless have been so
tuned that necessarily resulting harmonies always remained consonant when the strings were shortened. Thus it is not surprising that most scholars who mention this picture immediately thought of the parallel organum with its primary-fifth-octave sound and did not even consider the possibility that the three strings were all tuned the same [fn]. "L'organisrum produisait donc trois sons à la fois et l'on pouvait les soutenir indéfiniment." [fn] [trans: SB: "The organistrum thus produced three tones simultaneously and could be sustained indefinitely."] On this hurdy-gurdy then harmonies in the sense of the fixed parallel organum were realized with the use of the keys. Edmond de Coussemaker considers therefore the hurdy-gurdy to be an instrument constructed for the performance of the parallel organum: "L'instrument qui porte ce cachet de la manière la plus frappante est 'l'organistrum'. Son nom ... en est lui-même une preuve manifeste: car 'l'organum' était précisemént le nom des accords formes de réunions d'octaves, de quintes ou de quartes, ce qui indique parfaitement sa destination" [fn]. [trans: SB: the instrument which demonstrates this characteristic the most strikingly is the 'organistrum'. Its name ... is in itself manifest proof of this: for the 'organum' was precisely the name of the chords formed by the joining of octaves, fifths or fourths, which clearly demonstrates the purpose of the organistrum."]
As the treatises and illustration 2 prove, the hurdy-gurdy normally had the tonal range of one octave beginning with C and including b-flat and b natural. Deviations from parallel sounds were not possible for the hurdy-gurdy with rotating keys, on the other hand however the instrument already had accidentals of necessity. If one accepts the tuning of the strings in the interval of the lower fifth, or at another time the lower fourth, the following notes result:
With the construction of the hurdy-gurdy which provided only these rotating keys for all three strings, the musical possibilities of the instrument were exhausted in the performance of the parallel organum. The limitations of the instrument is not due to the simultaneous shortening of all three strings, but rather to the shortening of the strings at exactly the same points, which means that the chords playable on the instrument were always similarly constructed. Since the distances between keys were fixed and in each case always remained the same, no change could be brought about in the construction of individual chords.
This instrument was indeed excellently suited for the presentation of a parallel organum, even without the participation of other instruments, but by its nature its tonal possibilities were so limited that its harmonies were unavoidably uniform. It could therefore not be avoided that when polyphony became more varied the hurdy-gurdy made for parallel sounds was given up.
On the other hand the hurdy-gurdy with drone strings has maintained itself up to the present day. By attaching one, two, or more drones, the use of the instrument was considerably extended. With three strings, two strings could be tuned in intervals of a fifth or fourth and be shortened by keys while the third functioned as a drone string (see page 114).
The hurdy-gurdy found use in sacred music as a drone instrument as well. In the 13th century it was a large instrument played by clerics, which, on account of the size of its resonating body and the length of its strings, enabled the musician to produce a deep drone sound.
Compared to most other musical instruments it had the advantage that the player could sustain indefinitely each single note. The large organistrum was especially suited to the performance of the sustained organum with its drone sounds and the tenors with their slight ambitus and the slow alterations in the scale, since this large hurdy-gurdy as a bass instrument with its loud sound was in the position of being able to support all other instruments or voices and perhaps even to drown them out. On the other hand, the instrument was operated by two players, whereby one of these had both hands free to operate the keys. With two hands the musician could even achieve a certain fluency, so that he could play a more moving melody on the melody string. If the instrument was only to serve as a drone instrument, then double drones, double octaves but above all alternating drones, which perhaps changed several times in one piece, were produced. Another advantage lay in the fact that the hurdy-gurdy's strings could be quickly retuned to another key.
It can be said with certainty that the large organistrum for two players was a low sounding instrument and that for a long time it was used in churches as the predecessor to the organ. The frequent representation on 12th century north Spanish churches seems to confirm this, since for the same period, from the 9th to the 12th century, it cannot be established that there were organs in the Spanish churches. [fn]
The large organistrum must have been exclusively a church instrument. On account of the technique required for playing it and the operation by two players it had the disadvantage as compared to other instruments that it could be played only in a sitting position. Small hurdy-gurdies are found in representations only since the 13th century. They must however been around earlier, since the literary sources in the 12th century already mention the use of hurdy-gurdies in celebrations and processions. The hurdy-gurdy probably existed at some time in two different forms and had two different functions: as a large church instrument and as the small instrument of the minstrels. As far as sound goes, the large hurdy-gurdy was doubtless suited for large areas and open spaces. When we hear the considerably smaller hurdy-gurdy of modern times we are still astounded by the sharp and far-carrying sound of this instrument. Hence the hurdy-gurdy for two players must have had a very loud sound, so that with its piercing tone it could properly fulfill the requirements that were placed on an instrument intended for large spaces. The opinion that the instrument, on account of its sound which was compared to a 'rasping shriek', was played only outdoors, "where one can in any case think of the good effect" [fn], cannot be brought into agreement with its great popularity and its position in the medieval instrumentarium.
E. The Hurdy-gurdy in Medieval Secular Music
Besides the large organistrum used in the church there existed already at the same time the small instrument for one player. This hurdy-gurdy was given a quite different sphere of duties, which for the secular instrumental music of the Middle Ages was of great importance. In this sphere however the small one-player hurdy-gurdy could only be used and enjoy such great popularity for such a long time because it offered tonal possibilities different from those of the large bass instrument of the church. By shortening the entire length of the instrument and hence the strings as well it became a descant instrument. Along with the decrease in its size the hurdy-gurdy lost the disadvantage of immobility of the large organistrum; it could now be easily transported and handled, and was thus quite suited to be played while standing or walking and hence could become one of the instruments of the minstrels.
Although the small hurdy-gurdy belonged to the instrumentarium of the minstrels, it was also used in the churches, since the minstrels with their instruments were not excluded from the field of church music. Thus the hurdy-gurdy was a popular instrument of the pilgrims and was expressly mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer in his "Canterbury Tales" as one of the instruments which the Canterbury pilgrims played: "With harpe and pype and simphonye" [fn].
One of the important semi-sacred duties for the small hurdy-gurdy lay in the accompaniment of dances which were certainly cultivated in many pilgrim centers as well. Above all the participants in processions and celebrations danced one part of the liturgical music, and religious dances with instrumental accompaniment even took place in churches. [fn] The Montserrat Dance of Death for example was actually conducted as
a round dance with choir and leader [fn]. The pilgrims at Montserrat also danced and sang continuously between prayers [fn]. In this context it is significant that these dances were accompanied with instruments. Even the accompaniment of cult dances by instruments has been testified to [fn], and when the liturgical tunes were later no longer danced to, the music nevertheless has a certain dance character and betrays its origin from dances [fn].
The performance of this music was generally entrusted to the medieval minstrels, whose repertoire was apparently very extensive. The same minstrels played with their instruments every type of secular and sacred music at feasts and solemnities [fn]. They even performed music in the church, and this practice was apparently so widespread that the Councils had to forbid it from the Spanish churches. [fn] Pilgrims were accompanied on their way by minstrels who also preceded processions, marriage celebrations and other festivities with their instruments. In many areas marriage processions were led by musicians up until the 20th century. These musicians played uninterruptedly all the way to the church. Thus for example in marriage festivities in some French provinces bagpipe players and hurdy-gurdy players led the way in the procession to the church [fn].
The hurdy-gurdy belonged to the instruments which were classed as 'soft instruments' and which were used in the performance of liturgical music and in mystery plays [fn]. With the use of musical instruments however was at the same connected the presence and participation
of minstrels in the church [fn], who until the end of the 15th century played in instrumental ensembles in religious ceremonies and church marriages.[fn]
Very little is known about the structure of medieval secular music [fn], but the literary and pictorial sources testify that the instruments played an important role in it. From the literature it is apparent that the minstrels had to be good instrumentalists; they should be able to play at least nine instruments, as Guiraut de Calanso advises in his Sirventes "Fadet Joglar". He lists that he plays more than these nine instruments, among these the hurdy-gurdy [fn].
A jongleur had to master the a wide variety of skills, but his principal task lay in the performance of music: he made dancing music and entertained his public with instrumental music together with other musicians or by singing to an instrumental accompaniment. The medieval minstrel was an indispensable entertainer in the houses of the rich. Johannes de Garlandia mentioned around 1200 in his "Dictionarius" the many different instrumentalists, among these hurdy-gurdy players as well, whom he had seen in wealthy homes: "Sed in domibus divitum vidi liricines, tibicines, cornicines, vidulatores cum vidulis, alios cum fistro, cum giga, cum simphonia, cum psalteria ..." [fn] These minstrels had also to provide the background music for the dinner, which included both instrumental and vocal music [fn].
Since 'Tafelmusic' was often performed by instrumentalists, a prerequisite was the grouping of different instruments into one ensemble (see page 235). [fn] Thus Mathieu d'Escouchy reports of a dinner during which it was sung to the accompaniment of several instruments: "et apprez, ou pasté, juèrrent les aveugles, de vielles, et aveuc eulx ung leu bien acordé; et chantoit aveuc eulx une damoiselle de l'ostel de ladicte duchesse nommée Pacquette, dont la chose ne valoit pas pis" [fn].
An especially important part of the instrumentalist's task lay in vocal accompaniment since almost all old French poetry was recited in song [fn], and all were intended to be executed by singing [fn]. [Note: These don't seem to differ - resolve.] The most important medieval poetry, the 'chansons de geste', were extensive epics which usually contained more than 10,000 verses [fn]. The presentation of these 'chansons de geste' belonged also to the repertoire of the jongleur: "On n'était pas bon jongleur si l'on n'avait pas dans la memoire un grand nombre de chansons de geste" [fn]. Like the 'chansons de geste' the Lives of the Saints were also sung by the jongleurs [fn].
Hardly anything is known about the composers of the 'chansons de geste' or about their musical structure. It is
certain however that they were sung [fn], otherwise this type of epic would not have been called a 'chanson'[fn]. Melodies for the chansons have not been handed down, since it was not customary to commit them to paper [fn]. Johannes de Grocheo however has something to report about them [fn], according to which the melodies were constantly repeated. They would be then 'short melodies' which all the jongleurs and the copyists of the manuscripts would know, so that it would be superfluous to write them down [fn]. The singing of the chansons was accompanied by instruments [fn] as is indicated in the texts of the chansons [fn]. According to the information from the texts only string instruments were used to accompany the song [fn]. According to the 'Chanson de Horn' the presentation of a lay was conducted in the following manner: first the jongleur would tune his instrument, then he would play an introduction and then accompany the song. Each time after the song he would repeat the melody on his instrument [fn].
The jongleurs with their instruments participated in the presentation of songs of the troubadours and of the trouveres. It is true that the troubadours also presented their songs by themselves, a fact which is particularly emphasized in their biographies [fn]. A polyphonic accompaniment and ornamentation through instruments were just as familiar to the German minnesinger as to the French troubadours and trouveres. This is testified by Gottfried von Straßburg, who called Walther von der Vogelweide a master in "organieren und wandelieren" [fn]. Hermann, a monk from Salzburg, wrote some songs with instrumental parts (among these the "Taghorn" and the "Nachthorn") , in which the instrumental part remains confined to one note which only changes to the lower fourth or the octave, and which is thus quite similar to a drone [fn].
Music formed an essential, part of courtly life and middle-class society, which is why so many instruments are mentioned in medieval poetry. Of approximately 50 Middle High German epics only nine do not mention music at all, while in the others together 29 different instruments are introduced by name. [fn] The pictorial representations must also be added to the numerous instruments mentioned. When therefore, as the sources prove, musical instruments played a significant role, then it is unthinkable that they occupied only a subordinate position and could easily have been done away with. Karl Nef believed that the 'chansons de geste' were performed without any accompaniment just as
the Gregorian chant was, even though he quoted some of the texts which report the practice of song with the simultaneous playing of an instrument, If however the instrument did happen to be used, then Nef purports that its duty consisted more or less of playing along with the melody in the same pitch [fn]. Other authors also share this opinion: "la viola acompanyava el cant dels trobadors a l'unison o a l' octava" [fn][translation JW: "the viola accompanied the troubadour's song in unison or at the octave"] . "Die Begleitung des Gesanges kann nur im Mitspielen der gegeben Melodie, im Einklange, nur Angeben einzelner Haupttöne bestanden haben." [fn] ["The accompaniment can only have consisted in playing with the given melody in unison by providing individual principal notes".]
This idea of the unison performance by an instrument and voice is made problematic by the "often extraordinarily long unsingable colorations" in Minnesinger melodies, which caused Arnold Schering to reject a vocal presentation and to consider them as "instrumental colorations" [fn]. If the melodies were performed on an instrument, then it would have had to enable the player to perform fast passages. The hurdy-gurdy, whose sliding key mechanism (see page 102) made it into a moving melody instrument, was one of the instruments suited for this. The hurdy-gurdy could be excellently used for vocal accompaniment since it always provided a harmony with its drone strings. Compared to the viella, which was bowed, it even had an advantage which lay in the way the instrument was held: the viella was leaned against the shoulder, which had to influence the song when the player and singer were one and the same, while the hurdy-gurdy allowed complete freedom of movement for the upper part of the body. The use of the hurdy-gurdy as an accompaniment instrument was therefore very widespread, and in the sources it is frequently named together with the singers or as the accompanying instrument of a singer.
Like the French jongleurs the Spanish juglares also made use of the hurdy-gurdy for the presentation of 'chansons de geste' [fn]. The most precise source for the accompaniment of these chansons
by the hurdy-gurdy is given by Jean Corbichon, a chaplain of Charles V of France (ruled 1364-1380). In 1372 he translated the work of Bartholomaeus Anglicus "De propietatibus rerum" into French and corrected the author, who in his definition of 'simphonie' relied on Isidor (see page 104): "Mais on apelle en françois une symphonie l'instrument dont les aveugles jouent en chantant les chansons de geste" [fn]. [translation: JW: "But in French a simphonie is the instrument which is used by the blind while playing and singing the "chansons de geste"] The hurdy-gurdy apparently was very suitable as an accompanying instrument, as other texts indicate: "and with-in the cite there wente a-bowte a womman synggynge with a symphanye" [fn]. "Simphonides, simphonieur, qui chante en simphonie" [fn].
In Spain the romances of the 15th century were sung by juglares or by blind beggars everywhere to the accompaniment of the lute, the vihuela, or the hurdy-gurdy [fn]. Probably like the 'chansons de geste' the music of the romances consisted of short melodies which were constantly repeated, whereby the strophes of the text corresponded with those of the music. In long romances the melodies were ornamented and formed into variations, which were executed either vocally or instrumentally [fn]. Marius Schneider established that most of the musicians in representations both sing and play. According to his opinion the musician either sang or played the same part or sang one voice and played a counter voice.
We do not know how the songs which were accompanied by the hurdy-gurdy sounded. One reference point could be provided by a report about wandering bagpipe players from Grusinia, who still visited the small farms and provincial towns at the beginning of this century. They appeared at family gatherings
and at other festivities and sang songs appropriate for the occasion and accompanied them with their bagpipes, framing them in preludes and postludes. Their music was described as being always very much the same [fn].
But the hurdy-gurdy was used not just to accompany song, but was utilized as a melody instrument as well:
"Qui jouoit chançons sur la siphonie" [fn];
"Là péussiez oïr .m. calimels catant.
Taburs et cifonies i vont lor lais cantant" [fn].
The jongleurs and juglares with their instruments were not only singers of the 'chansons de geste' and the Lives of the Saints, but were also transmitters of news [fn]. "Die politische Berichterstattung und Tageskritik waren ... ein Hauptaufgabenfeld für die Fahrenden." [fn] ["Political reports and daily criticisms were ... a chief duty of the itinerants".] They could be met with everywhere; they served the princes of their day or sang and played at church festivities, church dedications or at the annual markets [fn]. In the cities they played for the public in courts and on crossroads [fn] and "functioned as the daily news of those times". [fn]
The daily news items represented
with instrumental accompaniment just as were the songs, and one of the instruments was the hurdy-gurdy. "C'etait au son de la vielle à roue que le Baenkelsaenger chantait les nouvelles et les scandales quotidiens." [fn] [Trans: JW: "It was to the sound of the hurdy-gurdy that the Baenkelsaenger sang the daily news and scandals."] That the presentation of such news was accompanied by the hurdy-gurdy is also shown by a decree of Charles VI of France in September 1395 which forbade the minstrels to mention the king, the Pope, or other French princes in their songs. Some months later measures again had to be taken "Contre les chifoineurs et chanteurs demourans à Paris" [trans: JW: "Against the symphonie players and singers living in Paris"], since the hurdy-gurdy players of Paris had not heeded the decree and had sung about the marriage of Richard II of England with Isabella, the daughter of Charles VI. The marriage took place on 11 March 1396, and five days later the guilty persons were jailed. They then wrote a petition to the king: "Supliant humblement les chifoineurs et chanteurs demourans a Paris, povres gens chargez de femmes et de plusieurs petis enfans" [fn][trans: JW: "Humbly pleading the symphonie players and singers living in Paris, poor people in charge of women and many small children"]. Bacon probably was also one of these hurdy-gurdy players and singers: "Un joueur de chansons sur la 'sifonie'" and one of the best known of the Paris minstrels shortly after 1400 [fn]. In 1495 this passsage in found in a letter of King Charles VIII of France: "Nous vous envoyons enclose soubz notre seel la requeste civile des chifrineurs et chanteurs demourans a Paris" [fn]. [trans: JW: We are sending you under Our seal the civil request of the symphonie players and singers living in Paris".]
In the Middle Ages the hurdy-gurdy was used for secular as well as for sacred music. The various areas of use however promoted a variety of methods of playing. On the large hurdy-gurdy the player who operated the wheel could produce uniformly sustained notes as they were required at the time. In accompanying the 'chansons de geste' and other vocal pieces the musician could shape the presentation with the hurdy-gurdy with supporting chords or by variations of the melody over a drone. When pauses were demanded, they could easily be produced by halting the crank, and finally for dances the rhythm could
be accented by turning the crank abruptly.
The various musical possibilities which were determined by the construction of the instrument indicate that the hurdy-gurdy probably belonged to one of the high points of instrument making technique in the Middle Ages. "The Simphonie probably marks the high point of medieval musical ingenuity" [fn]. The hurdy-gurdy in the Middle Ages was therefore in no case more imperfect than other instruments of the same period. It lost its position of respect however as more and more beggars began to play it.
In the late Middle Ages the hurdy-gurdy in all regions was pushed back into two areas in which it would maintain itself for a long time, and in part even up until the present time. On the one hand the hurdy-gurdy preserved itself as an instrument for the beggar's sentimental songs, and on the other as a well sounding instrument for the accompanying dances and village songs. In these two areas the hurdy-gurdy came to be used for completely different musical repertoires.
The music of the mostly blind beggars showed the last remains of the church practice: they sang mainly religious songs while turning the wheel evenly. A report concerning Russian beggars with hurdy-gurdies gives a good example for these 'beggar's lyres' and their repertoire. Their instruments had three strings which were usually tuned to the primary note, its fifth and its octave, whereby the drone strings were the lower octave and the fifth to the primary note. The White Russian hurdy-gurdy had 4 to 7 keys, the Ukranian had 9 to11, and thus the tonal range was extremely limited. "Die melancholish-monotone und trübe Musik der Leier entspricht am besten dem Repertoire der bettelnden Sänger, den geistlich-religiösen Gesängen".[fn].["The melancholy monotone and sad music of the hurdy-gurdy suits best the repertoire of the begging singer, the spritual-religious songs"] By turning the crank evenly the feeling of monotony was unavoidably conjured up. In Hungary the hurdy-gurdy probably got its name from the monotony of these religious songs which were sung to the instrument, where
it was also called "szentlélekmuzsika", which means 'holy spirit music' [fn]. Marin Mersenne, who had probably heard this type of music on the hurdy-gurdy, knew that it had also other possibilities to offer: " Si les hommes de condition touchoient ordinairement la Symphonie, que l'on nomme Vielle, elle ne seroit pas si meprisée qu'elle est, mais parce qu'elle n'est touchée que par les pauures, et particulierement par les aueugles qui gaignent leur vie auec cet instrument, l'on en fait moins d'estime que des autres quoy qu'ils ne donnent pas tant de plaisir" [fn]. [translation SB: "If men of a higher station regularly played the Symphonie, also called the Vielle, it would not be so despised as it is, but because it is only used by the poor and in particular the blind who earn their living with this instrument, it is held in less esteem than others which do not give as much pleasure"]. It appears as if the repertoire of the hurdy-gurdy played by beggars was very similar in the different countries. One reason for this uniformity is that the beggar wanted to attract attention to himself by his monotonous manner of singing and by the sad sound of his instrument, while the religious character of his songs were intended to awaken the sense of Christian duty. Another reason is that the beggar usually lacked any musical training. [fn] The hurdy-gurdy with its fixed tones and its easily managed tonal range was quickly learned, so beggars remained bonded to their instruments. The reports speak almost exclusively of blind beggars who play the hurdy-gurdy. A blind man could learn to finger the notes the most quickly on this instrument , since "die Leier klingt auch in der Finsterniss" [fn] ["the lyre sounds in the darkness as well"] The beggars were satisfied with a few pieces which they learned to present [fn]. Various sayings which refer to the small musical repertoire of the beggars indicate this: "ce vielleur n'aura qu'un double", [" this hurdy-gurdy player must have a twin!"] meaning that "il ne sait qu'une chanson". [fn] ["he only knows one song"]
"C'est une roue de vielle; c'est toujours la meme chanson, le même refrain" [" it's a hurdy-gurdy wheel, always the same song, the same refrain"] has the same meaning.. Correspondingly in German: "Es ist immer (dieselbe) alte Leier"[fn] "It's always the same old hurdy-gurdy"]; "Auf einer Leire bleiben / chordâ oberrare eâdem" [fn] ["To stay on one hurdy-gurdy"]; "Wer immer leiert Einen Ton, der hat nur Spott zum Lohn"[fn] ["He who plays the hurdy-gurdy to one note deserves only ridicule."]; "Es ist eine alte leir, ein versunaen liedlin" [fn] ["It's an old hurdy-gurdy and a sung out song."]; "es ist ein schlechter Leiermann, der nur ein Liedlein kann" [fn] ["He's a bad hurdy-gurdy player who can only play one tune".]; "Mochte jemand zu dir sagen, kanstu nicht mehr denn nur von menschen gerechtigkeit, weisheit, und sterke sagen, jmer von gottes gerechtigkeit und gnaden die schrift auslegen, und also nicht mehr denn auf einer seiten leiren, und nur ein liedlin singen?" [fn]. [trans pending]
The French proverbs "chascune vielle son deul plaint" ["to each vielle its grievous complaint"] and "chascune vielle a son tour plaint son deuil et dolour" [fn] ["each vielle in turn its grief and pain."] referred to the sentimental and monotonous playing of the begging hurdy-gurdy player. In the liturgical area the monotony of the "Kyrie eleison in der Christwelt" is believed to have been denoted by the Silesian expression "Leiermesse" [fn].
Quite a different method of playing the hurdy-gurdy was required in the country. Here it served as a dance instrument, usually played by peasants or craftsmen themselves at village festivities which is indicated by the Silesian term "Lajermann" for 'village music' [fn]. But not only the country folk provided the necessary dance musicians; begging and itinerant minstrels were employed for this for a long time: "Ich kam als ein Schelm unter die Blinden / und gieng mir wie einem Sackpfeiffer oder Leyendreher / der auf ein Dorff kommt / da Kirchweyh gehalten wird / da mag er leicht ein Liedlein
spielen, dasz Knechte und Mägde darnach tantzen, / wenn kein besser Musicant da ist" [fn]. [translation: JW: "I came as a naughty beggar amongst the blind / and acted as a bagpiper or hurdy-gurdy player / who arrives in a village / where a church fair is being held / where he may softly play a little tune to which lads and lasses can dance / when there is no better musician present."]
As a dance instrument the hurdy-gurdy was apparently widespread, as the mention of the instrument in connection with the dance indicates: "hätte Lyra nicht geleyret, so haette Luther nicht getanzet." [fn]; [translation: JW: "Had the hurdy-gurdy not been played Luther would not have danced."] "Die zwen mit der leiren haben zu Danz gemacht" [fn]. Women as well played the hurdy-gurdy for dances:
"Es solt och die lirerin
Ir aller gespiel sin
Und ain tanz machen
Das es gieng krachen"
In order to effectively accompany a dance, the hurdy-gurdy player had not only to know the repertoire of the dancer, but he had to play his instrument in quite a different way. At dances a uniform monotone manner of playing was probably avoided quite early and it was attempted to mark the dance rhythms by turning the crank unevenly and in jerks. It is not known when this was first started, just as it is not known when the trompette string was introduced as a means of strengthening the rhythm.
Dance melodies of the Middle Ages can be established only with difficulty since only late instrumental sources for dances were preserved. However during the entire Middle Ages dance was extremely popular[fn]. The preserved documentation indicates the predominance of major
scales [fn], and the western European hurdy-gurdy had no chromatic tones for a long time and was tuned in a major scale. Aside from this a strong emphasis was placed on the fifth and fourth [fn], and this is connected not only with the parallel music but also with the primary-note-fifth-(fourth)-drone sounds of the bagpipes or the hurdy-gurdy.
As in other musical areas there was no fixed instrumentation for dance music. Instead the instruments which happened to be available were played. This prevented also a specific instrumental character, so that from the sources preserved it cannot be established for which instruments these were intended. The various instruments when played together must have often sounded quite loud, since the sources mention quite a few wind instruments [fn]. The dances which were danced in every level of society differed however in their instrumentation according to the instruments used in the various levels. "Tanzmusik der Bauern und Bürger mag manchen 'unleidig rauh' geklungen haben. Die Aufführung durch mehrere Instrumente und der Bordun des Dudelsacks brachten Klangfülle und Mehrstimmigkeit. Da diese fast ausnahmslos improvisiert wurde, geben nur vereinzelte schriftliche Zeugnisse Kunde von ihr." [fn] ["The dance music of the peasants and burghers must have sounded 'unbearably crude' to many. The use of several instruments and the drone of the bagpipes produced a fullness of sound and polyphony. Since these were almost without exception improvised, there are only scattered written pieces which report of them."]
As the different uses of the hurdy-gurdy by the beggars, the peasants, and later by the French aristocracy indicate, the method of playing the instrument and the sound it produced changed according to its use: "Ein und dasselbe Instrument trägt anderen Charakter und verlangt eine andere Spielart, je nachdem, ob es der Kunstübung oder der Bewgungsbegleitung dient. Im ersteren Falled erstrebt der Spieler einen möglichtst 'schönen', gepflegten, veredelten Ton, im zweiten aber einen möglichst charakteristischen. Denn diesem wohnt eine viel stärkere Suggestionkraft
inne. Der charakteristische, also häufig ganz entstellte und unnatürligh
gemachte Ton besaß die größte Zauberwirkung". [fn]
"One and the same instrument has a different character and requires to
be played differently according to whether it serves to practice art or to accompany
movements. In the first case the player strives to produce a tone as 'beautiful',
cultivated, and noble as possible, in the second however a one as full of character
as possible. For this has a much stronger suggestive
force. The characterized and hence frequently distorted and unnatural tone possessed the greatest charm."
The hurdy-gurdy belonged to the dance instruments of the Middle Ages and was
undoubtedly played in ensembles with other instruments, and it was used for
dance music until quite recent times. Thus there was until around 1835 in the
region of the upper Elbe and in the vicinity of Moravia a dance music ensemble,
which consisted of a cymbal, violin, bass, harp and hurdy-gurdy [fn].
contact us if you have comments or questions about
this page or other pages on this site.
Alden and Cali Hackmann
Olympic Musical Instruments
© Original text in German copyright 1977, Verlag für systematische Musikwissenschaft GmbH
© Translation copyright 2005, Olympic Musical Instruments and the Bröcker Tranlation Group | <urn:uuid:0a8a720e-0eaa-4862-a397-12ad36642c1e> | {
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|Parry Romberg Syndrome |
Parry Romberg syndrome is a disorder in which the tissue of the face begins to deteriorate and waste away.
Because the tissue and skin shrink, the eyebrow, ear, cheeks and mouth will become distorted. It is common for the child’s hair to fall out or turn white. The disorder is not present at birth and will generally not get worse after 5 years of progression.
Treatment includes reconstructive surgery and pain relief medications to keep the child comfortable. | <urn:uuid:b19e2656-ebf7-4a59-97a7-d67c1ccd251b> | {
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4Q448 Parchment Copied between 103-76 B.C.E. Height 17.8 cm (7 in.), length 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.) Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (2)The King Jonathan mentioned in this text can be none other than Alexander Jannaeus, a monarch of the Hasmonean dynasty who ruled Judea from 103 to 76 B.C.E. The discovery of a prayer for the welfare of a Hasmonean king among the Qumran texts is unexpected because the community may have vehemently opposed the Hasmoneans. They even may have settled in the remote desert to avoid contact with the Hasmonean authorities and priesthood. If this is indeed a composition that clashes with Qumran views, it is a single occurrence among 600 non-biblical manuscripts. However, scholars are exploring the possibility that Jonathan-Jannaeus, unlike the other Hasmonean rulers, was favored by the Dead Sea community, at least during certain periods, and may explain the prayer's inclusion in the Dead Sea materials.
This text is unique in that it can be clearly dated to the rule of King Jonathan. Three columns of script are preserved, one on the top and two below. The upper column (A) and the lower left (C) column are incomplete. The leather is torn along the lower third of the right margin. A tab of untanned leather, 2.9 by 2.9 cm, folds over the right edge above the tear. A leather thong, remains of which were found threaded through the middle of the leather tab on the right edge, probably tied the rolled-up scroll. The form of the tab--probably part of a fastening--seems to indicate that the extant text was at the beginning of the scroll, which was originally longer. Differences between the script of Column A and that of B and C could indicate that this manuscript is not the work of a single scribe.
This small manuscript contains two distinct parts. The first, column A, presents fragments of a psalm of praise to God. The second, columns B and C, bear a prayer for the welfare of King Jonathan and his kingdom. In column A lines 8-10 are similar to a verse in Psalm 154, preserved in the Psalms Scroll (11QPsa) exhibited here. This hymn, which was not included in the biblical Book of Psalms, is familiar, however, from the tenth-century Syriac Psalter.
4Q448 Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (2) Column A 1. Praise the Lord, a Psalm [of 2. You loved as a fa[ther(?) 3. you ruled over [ 4. vacat [ 5. and your foes were afraid (or: will fear) [ 6. ...the heaven [ 7. and to the depths of the sea [ 8. and upon those who glorify him [ 9. the humble from the hand of adversaries [ 10. Zion for his habitation, ch[ooses Column C Column B 1. because you love Isr[ael 1. holy city 2. in the day and until evening [ 2. for king Jonathan 3. to approach, to be [ 3. and all the congregation of your people 4. Remember them for blessing [ 4. Israel 5. on your name, which is called [ 5. who are in the four 6. kingdom to be blessed [ 6. winds of heaven 7. ]for the day of war [ 7. peace be (for) all 8. to King Jonathan [ 8. and upon your kingdom 9. 9. your name be blessedTranscription and translation by E. Eshel, H. Eshel, and A. Yardeni | <urn:uuid:1bc50524-a572-431d-a1ce-160e7c4a0b1a> | {
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14 June 2012, 10:10 BST
Getting ever louder in its calls for the world to get serious about climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is also increasingly concrete about what needs to be done.
Global investments in renewable energy must double by 2020 to $23.9 trillion to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 2°C, says IEA in its new book, Energy Technology Perspectives 2012. And they must grow to $140 trillion by 2050.
That's $36 trillion more than currently projected where controlling emissions is not a priority - the equivalent of $130 per person each year.
It sounds like an enormous amount of money, but the plan more than pays for itself. By 2025, reduced spending for fossil fuels would outweigh the investment, and for every $1 invested, $3 would be saved by 2050, adding up to at least $100 trillion in savings.
"The window of opportunity is closing rapidly on achieving the 2°C target. The investments made today will determine the energy system that is in place in 2050; therefore, the lack of progress in clean energy is alarming," says IEA.
"Continued heavy reliance on a narrow set of technologies and fossil fuels is a significant threat to energy security, stable economic growth and global welfare, as well as to the environment."
"Renewable energy resources and significant potential for energy efficiency exist virtually everywhere, in contrast to other energy sources, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries. Reduced energy intensity, as well as geographical and technological diversification of energy sources, would result in far-reaching energy security and economic benefits."
In April, IEA released the Tracking Clean Energy Progress report, warning that despite recent progress in deploying renewable energy, it must be sped up.
IEA's 2°C Scenario prioritizes the clean energy technologies that can ensure an 80% chance of limiting long-term global temperature increase to 2°C.
It starts with energy efficiency to cut energy consumption in the world economy by two-thirds before 2050. Annual improvements in energy intensity must double, from 1.2% over the last 40 years to 2.4 % in the coming four decades. Economic incentives and more stringent standards are necessary, particularly in buildings and transportation.
While more mature technologies - hydro, biomass, onshore wind and solar PV - are making sufficient progress, others lag. "Particularly worrisome is the slow uptake of energy efficiency technologies, the lack of progress in carbon capture and storage and, to a lesser extent, of offshore wind and concentrating solar," says IEA.
Reducing coal use and improving efficiency of coal-fired generation are important first steps. Cutting carbon emissions 50% by 2050, requires coal demand to fall by 45% compared to 2009 levels.
"Against that background, the current increase in the use of coal for electricity generation is the single most problematic trend," says IEA.
Fossil fuels would not disappear, but its role would change. Higher steam temperatures in coal plants, for example, would cut emissions 30% as natural gas increasingly complements so-called variable renewable sources (primarily wind and solar), providing the flexibility that energy systems need to balance generation and demand fluctuations.
Over the past year, the typically conservative International Energy Agency has urged governments to stop subsidizing fossil fuels and to instead subsidize renewable energy to stabilize the earth's climate.
Read the Executive Summary: | <urn:uuid:7c6f8734-aae0-4479-b396-6d4b326d5624> | {
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Social Bases of West German Politics, 1953 (ICPSR 7104)
Principal Investigator(s): UNESCO Institut fur Sozialwissenschaften
This study, conducted in West Germany prior to the federal election in September 1953, covered four main areas: politics, the respondents' occupational background, family relations, and social relations. Respondents were asked about their intended vote in 1953 and their past vote in 1949. Additional questions explored the extent of the respondents' political information and political interest, and how often and with whom they discussed politics. The occupational background section of the interview probed whether respondents had achieved their occupational goals in life. Employed respondents were queried about their occupational histories and job satisfaction, while unemployed respondents were asked about their interest in entering the labor force. Another portion of the study inquired about the respondents' relationships with their families. Variables assessed whether the respondents lived with relatives or shared financial support. The interview also asked about discussions between husbands and wives, and whether they shared opinions. The fourth major area covered by the study ascertained how frequently and with whom the respondents had long talks, discussed personal problems, or wrote letters. This section also surveyed the respondents' membership and activity in voluntary associations and church-related initiatives. The personal data section of the interview covered the education, income, marital status, sex, age, and religious preference of each respondent. Additional items provide information about the respondents' geographic mobility and place of residence.
These data are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions. Because you are not logged in, we cannot verify that you will be able to download the data.
UNESCO Institut fur Sozialwissenschaften. Social Bases of West German Politics, 1953. ICPSR07104-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-08-15. doi:10.3886/ICPSR07104.v2
Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07104.v2
This survey was funded by:
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Scope of Study
Subject Terms: attitudes, elections, family life, interpersonal communication, job history, job satisfaction, job security, opinions, party membership, political awareness, political participation, social contact, social networks, voter attitudes, work attitudes
Date of Collection:
Universe: Citizens 18-79 years of age in the Federal Republic of Germany, registered in the community central registry of inhabitants ("Einwohnermeldekartei"). Persons living in private households and group quarters were included in the sample, as well as institutional populations.
Data Types: survey data
Sample: A stratified, multistage, random sampling procedure was utilized in this study. The sample was drawn in three stages: first, the sampling points were designated, then households were chosen within each sampling point, and finally, individuals were selected within each household.
Weight: The study contains a weight variable (V3) that produces a representative sample of citizens of the Federal Republic 18-79 years of age when used in analysis. The weight variable corrects for sex and age biases in the sample, and was constructed by comparing the age by sex distribution of the sample with the census distribution. The weighted N for this sample is 3,256.8.
Original ICPSR Release: 1984-06-19
- 2006-08-15 This study has been updated from OSIRIS and now includes SAS, SPSS, and Stata setup files, a SAS transport (XPORT) file, a SPSS portable file, and a Stata system file.
Use any of the notification links to add this study to your RSS feed; you will then receive notification if the study is substantively updated.
- Citations exports are provided above.
Export Study-level metadata (does not include variable-level metadata)
If you're looking for collection-level metadata rather than an individual metadata record, please visit our Metadata Records page. | <urn:uuid:dd28ec8a-7b64-4152-a291-dc40d141e3b2> | {
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Do Radioisotope Clocks Need Repair? Testing the Assumptions of Isochron Dating Using K-Ar, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Pb-Pb Isotopes
by Steven A. Austin, Ph.D.
RATE II: Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, (Volume II), L. Vardiman et al., eds. (San Diego, CA: Institute for Creation Research and the Creation Research Society, 2005)
The assumptions of conventional whole-rock and mineral isochron radioisotope dating were tested using a suite of radioisotopes from two Precambrian rocks. Amphibolite from the Beartooth Mountains of Wyoming shows evidence of thorough metamorphism by isochemical processes from andesite by an early Precambrian magma-intrusion event. A diabase sill, exposed within the wall of Grand Canyon at Bass Rapids, formed by a rapid intrusion event. The event segregated minerals gravitationally, apparently starting from an isotopically homogeneous magma. Although K-Ar, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Pb-Pb methods ought to yield concordant isochron dates for each of these magmatic events, these four radioisotope pairs gave significantly discordant ages. Special allowance was made for larger-than-conventional uncertainties expressed as 2σ errors associated with the calculated “ages.” Within a single Beartooth amphibolite sample, three discordant mineral isochron “ages” range from 2515±110 Ma (Rb-Sr mineral isochron) to 2886±190 Ma (Sm-Nd mineral isochron). The diabase sill in Grand Canyon displays discordant isochron “ages” ranging from 841.5±164 Ma (K-Ar whole-rock isochron) to 1379±140 Ma (Sm-Nd mineral isochron). Although significant discordance exists between the K-Ar, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Pb-Pb radioisotope methods, each radioisotope pair appears to yield concordant “ages” internally between whole-rocks and minerals. Internal concordance is best illustrated from the Bass Rapids diabase sill by the tightly constrained Rb-Sr whole-rock and mineral isochron “ages” of 1055±46 Ma and 1060±24 Ma, respectively. The most problematic discordance is the Sm-Nd and Pb-Pb whole-rock and mineral isochron “ages” that significantly exceed the robust Rb-Sr whole-rock and mineral isochron “ages.” It could be argued that the robust Rb-Sr whole-rock and mineral isochron “ages” are in error, but an adequate explanation for the error has not been offered. The geological context of these Precambrian rocks places severe limitations on possible explanations for isochron discordance. Inheritance of minerals, slow cooling, and post-magmatic loss of daughter radioisotopes are not supported as processes causing isochron discordance in Beartooth amphibolite or Bass Rapids diabase. Recently, geochronologists researching the Great Dyke, a Precambrian layered mafic and ultramafic intrusion of Zimbabwe in southeast Africa, have documented a similar pattern of radioisotope discordance. Alpha-emitting radioisotopes (147Sm, 235U, and 238U) give older “ages” than β-emitting radioisotopes (87Rb and 40K) when applied to the same rocks. Therefore, it can be argued that a change in radioisotope decay rates in the past could account for these discordant isochron “ages” for the same geologic event. Conventional radioisotope clocks need repair.
radioisotope decay rates, isochron dating, RATE II
For Full Text
Please see the Download PDF link above for the entire article. | <urn:uuid:22201536-2f4b-440e-b7c3-52532dee3e4e> | {
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During the “automation scare” in the 1950s, people were intrigued yet suspicious about the power of computers. Would they someday send us into permanent unemployment? Could robots eventually take over the world?
The original goal of artificial intelligence was to build a person out of silicone. Although scientists made quick progress in building computers and robots that amazed us, they never came close to actually replicating the human brain.
“Machine learning” was first introduced 50 years ago. This concept focuses on computers’ ability to “learn” not through human programming, but through experience and pattern identification. For example, machine learning allows a computer to become a masterful chess player by observing good and bad moves and learning from mistakes. While a computer looks at every possible move up to 20 to 40 moves ahead, humans use more conceptual skills to decide how to make moves.
In a recent PBS NOVA documentary “The Smartest Machine on Earth,” researchers explore powerful new tools in computing, like “Watson,” a supercomputer with a brain, or central processing unit, that can process 500 gigabytes, or the equivalent of a million books, per second. In 2009, Jeopardy producers came to IBM to size up Watson’s abilities.
You might remember when 74-win Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings went head-to-CPU with Watson a few years back. During Watson’s “training” for the match, the scientists at IBM had to constantly expose Watson to large amounts of possible answers to questions so that it would have sufficient rules and logic to come up with correct answers.
Having studied thousands of questions, within a few milliseconds Watson analyzed every possible answer. It learned to make statistical judgments based on how pieces of evidence work together in the database of information scientists gave to it. In the end, the competition was close, but Watson pulled ahead and won the show.
Scientists who worked with Watson point out that there are two ways of building intelligence. We can either write down the recipe or let it grow by itself. It’s clear that we don’t know how to write down the recipe, according to scientists. Machine learning enables computers to grow their own intelligence.
Scientists continue to debate the ability of machines to truly displace us. There is so much that we know that we don’t even realize we know, such as the fact that ice is cold and sandpaper is rough. Our common sense knowledge seems too complex to program into a computer. Human intelligence is deeply rooted in language and emotion.
Without experience or emotion, can computers ever understand the world the way we do?
They don’t connect to human cognition on an emotional level, such as the way a symphony or a play can move us. Language and context are barriers for understanding. For example, figuring out the meaning of a sentence like “I shot an elephant wearing pajamas” is very difficult for computers. Was the shooter wearing pajamas or was the elephant? Was a camera or a gun used to do the shooting?
Of course machine learning goes far beyond winning trivia game shows. It’s driving a computing revolution. According to an article in Wired magazine , today artificial intelligence isn’t trying to re-create the brain. Instead, it relies on machine learning, massive data sets, sophisticated sensors, and clever algorithms to master discrete tasks. “In short, we are engaged in a permanent dance with machines, locked in an increasingly dependent embrace.”
Machine learning makes it possible to predict the weather days in advance. It lets companies like Amazon or Zappos suggest products for you based on what you’ve chosen before. It allows doctors to better diagnose medical conditions.
It’s even helping us communicate with people through speech recognition, which was once though impossible. Computers are now trained with millions of patterns of human speech, and the accuracy continues to improve. There are even apps for the iPad and iPhone that you can use to quickly record something and translate it on the spot when talking to a person who speaks another language.
IBM imagines a time when a computer will operate like the one in Star Trek—as information-seeking tools that communicates with us to ensure we get what we want. This thinking signals a shift in the way we use and accept computers in our lives, compared to the fear and suspicion we felt half a century ago. | <urn:uuid:3020c353-cba8-4d3a-8b9b-a0bd6890cc69> | {
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Lewis Latimer: An Edison Pioneer
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Revision as of 13:53, 3 September 2008
Lewis Howard Latimer was born to George and Rebecca Latimer on 4 September 1848, the youngest of four children (three boys and one girl). He attended only grade school, and the remainder of his education was self-taught. At the age of 10 he began working with his father in order to support the family. He has a fabulous appetite for reading, drawing, and learning in general.
The son of a former slave, Latimer had bitter feelings about slavery. At the age of 15, he falsified the date on his birth certificate and enlisted in the Union Navy during the Civil War. After receiving an honorable discharge, Latimer returned to Boston. His first job was as an office boy with Crosly and Gage, a well-known Boston patent law firm. He taught himself drafting and, after recognizing his talents, the firm promoted him to draftsman. One of his assignments was to make the initial drawings for one of Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patents.
In 1880, Herman Maxim, Chief Engineer and Electrician for the United States Lighting Company, who was very impressed with Latimer’s talents as a draftsman, hired him. Latimer took this opportunity to learn about the electric industry. During his tenure with Maxim, he invented an electric lamp with a carbon filament (1881). He traveled to London to advise the English on setting up a lamp factory.
In 1885 he began his association with Thomas Edison, serving as an engineer, chief draftsman, and expert witness on the Board of Patent Control in gathering evidence against the infringement of patents held by General Electric and Westinghouse. He was named an Edison Pioneer in 1918, an elite group of men who worked for Edison.
Latimer married Mary Wilson on 10 December 1873, and they had two children, Emma Jeannette, born in 1883, and Louise Rebecca, born in 1890. Throughout his life, Latimer was also interested in poetry, the arts, and civil rights.
Notable Patents and Contributions:
Water closet for railroad cars (1874)
Improvement to electric lamp (1881)
Process for manufacturing carbon filament (1882)
Arc light globe support (1882)
Apparatus for cooling and disinfecting (1886)
Device for locking hats, coats and umbrellas on hanging racks (1895)
Lamp fixture (1910)
In his patent role, he was responsible for preparing the mechanical drawings for Alexander Graham Bell’s patent application for his telephone. Thomas Edison took note of his work for Bell and on the light bulb and hired him in 1884. Latimer, in fact, holds the distinction of being the only African American member of the Edison Pioneers, the original engineering division of the Edison Company.
He continued to work on electric lighting, and in 1890 published Incandescent Electric Lighting, a technical engineering book that became the standard guide for lighting engineers.
He retired in 1924 at the age of 75. He passed away at his home in Flushing, New York on 11 November 1928, at the age of 80. When Latimer died, the Edison Pioneers attributed his “important inventions” — he held eight U.S. patents — to a “keen perception of the potential of the electric light and kindred industries.” The Edison Pioneers published an obituary that included the following testimonial:
“He was of the colored race, the only one in our organization, and was one of those to respond to the initial call that led to the formation of the Edison Pioneers, January 24th 1918. Broadmindedness, versatility in the accomplishment of things intellectual and cultural, a linguist, a devoted husband and father, all were characteristic of him, and his genial presence will be missed from our gatherings.”
1) Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation: Granville T. Woods, Lewis H. Latimer, and Shelby J. Davidson.
Rayvon Fouche. The Johns Hopkins University Press), 2003.
2) Black Pioneers of Science and Invention.
Louis Haber. (New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace & World), 1970.
3) Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern.
Ivan Van Sertima. (New Brunswick: Transition Books), 1984.
4) Eight Black American Inventors.
Robert C. Hayden. (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley), 1972.
5) Hidden Contributors: Black Scientists and Inventors in America.
Aaron E. Klein. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday), 1971.
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Epiphenomenalism is a position in the philosophy of mind according to which mental states or events are caused by physical states or events in the brain but do not themselves cause anything. It seems as if our mental life affects our body, and, via our body, the physical world surrounding us: it seems that sharp pains make us wince, it seems that fear makes our heart beat faster, it seems that remembering an embarrassing situation makes us blush and it seems that the perception of an old friend makes us smile. In reality, however, these sequences are the result of causal processes at an underlying physical level: what makes us wince is not the pain, but the neurophysiological process which causes the pain; what makes our heart beat faster is not fear, but the state of our nervous system which causes the fear etc. According to a famous analogy of Thomas Henry Huxley, the relationship between mind and brain is like the relationship between the steam-whistle which accompanies the work of a locomotive engine and the engine itself: just as the steam-whistle is caused by the engine’s operations but has no causal influence upon it, so too the mental is caused by the workings of neurophysiological mechanisms but has no causal influence upon their operation.
Table of Contents
- What Is Epiphenomenalism?
- Epiphenomenalism in the 18th and 19th Century
- Epiphenomenalism in the 20th Century
- Arguments for Epiphenomenalism
- Arguments against Epiphenomenalism
- References and Further Reading
In the beginning epiphenomenalism was known as the doctrine of “automatism” or as the “conscious automaton theory.” The term “epiphenomenalism” seems to have been introduced in 1890 in William James’s The Principles of Psychology (it occurs once in the chapter entitled “The Automaton-Theory;” other than that James uses the terms “automaton-theory” or “conscious automaton-theory;” see Robinson 2003). The term “epiphenomenon” was used in medicine in the late nineteenth century as a label for a symptom concurrent with, but not causally contributory to, a disease (an epiphenomenon is thus something like a secondary symptom, a mere afterglow of real phenomena). Accordingly, epiphenomenalism in the philosophy of mind holds that our actions have purely physical causes (neurophysiological changes in the brain, say), while our intention, desire or volition to act does not cause our actions but is itself caused by the physical causes of our actions. To assume that regular successions of mental and physical events—volitions followed by appropriate behavior, fear followed by an increased heart rate, pains followed by wincings etc.—reflect causal processes is to commit the fallacy of post hoc, propter hoc: “The soul stands related to the body as the bell of a clock to the works, and consciousness answers to the sound which the bell gives out when it is struck” (Huxley 1874, 242).
One of the first explicit formulations of epiphenomenalism can be found in the Essai de Psychologie of the Swiss naturalist and philosophical writer Charles Bonnet, dating from 1755: “the soul is a mere spectator of the movements of its body; [...] the latter performs of itself all that series of actions which constitutes life; [...] it moves of itself; [...] it is the body alone which reproduces ideas, compares and arranges them; which forms reasonings, imagines and executes plans of all kinds, etc.” (Bonnet 1755, 91). More than a century later, the British philosopher Shadworth Hodgson also expressed the view that “[s]tates of consciousness are not produced by previous states of consciousness, but both are produced by the action of the brain; and, conversely, there is no ground for saying that [...] states of consciousness react upon the brain or modify its action” (Hodgson 1865, part 1, ch. 5, §30). The most prominent articulation and defense of epiphenomenalism, however, stems from the Presidential Address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science of the British biologist, physiologist and philosopher Thomas Henry Huxley, published in 1874 with the suggestive title “On the hypothesis that animals are automata, and its history.” Huxley argued that brute animals and (presumably) human beings are conscious automata: they enjoy a conscious mental life, but their behavior is determined solely by physical mechanisms. Huxley was convinced that the body of humans and animals is a purely physical mechanism and that the physical processes of life are explainable in the same way as all other physical phenomena. This mechanistic conception, he held, “has not only successfully repelled every assault that has been made upon it, but [...] is now the expressed or implied fundamental proposition of the whole doctrine of scientific Physiology” (Huxley 1874, 200). Already Descartes had argued that non-human animals are mere mechanical automata and subject to the same laws as other unconscious matter, and Huxley wholeheartedly embraced Descartes’s defense of automatism by appeal to reflex actions (Huxley 1874, 218). Huxley observed that a frog with certain parts of his brain extracted was unable to initiate actions but nevertheless able to carry out a range of reflex-like actions. Since he thought that the partial leucotomy made sure the frog was totally unconscious, he concluded that consciousness was not necessary for the execution of reflex actions:
The frog walks, hops, swims, and goes through his gymnastic performances quite as well without consciousness, and consequently without volition, as with it; and, if a frog, in his natural state, possesses anything corresponding with what we call volition, there is no reason to think that it is anything but a concomitant of the molecular changes in the brain which form part of the series involved in the production of motion. (Huxley 1874, 240)
Huxley agreed with Descartes that animals are automata, but he was unwilling to accept that they are devoid of mentality: “Sleeping dogs frequently appear to dream. If they do, it must be admitted that ideation goes on in them while they are asleep; and, in that case, there is no reason to doubt that they are conscious” (Huxley 1898, 125). Huxley therefore segregated the question of consciousness from the question of the status of an automaton: animals do experience pain, but that pain is, like their bodily movements, just a result of neurophysiological processes. Animals are conscious automata. In contrast to Descartes, Huxley argued that considerations similar to those about reflex actions in frogs also suggest that we are conscious automata. He referred to a case study of a certain Dr. Mesnet who had examined a French soldier who had suffered severe brain damage during the Franco-Prussian war in 1870. From time to time this soldier fell into a trance-like state in which he was able to execute a series of complex actions while apparently being unconscious:
If the man happens to be in a place to which he is accustomed, he walks about as usual; [...] He eats, drinks, smokes, walks about, dresses and undresses himself, rises and goes to bed at the accustomed hours. Nevertheless, pins may be run into his body, or strong electric shocks sent through it, without causing the least indication of pain; no odorous substance, pleasant or unpleasant, makes the least impression; he eats and drinks with avidity whatever is offered, and takes asafœtida, or vinegar, or quinine, as readily as water; no noise affects him; and light influences him only under certain conditions. (Huxley 1874, 228)
Since Mesnet’s patient could carry out actions ordinarily performed with consciousness as initiating or coordinating element while apparently being unconscious, consciousness did not seem to be necessary for their execution. Since it was impossible to prove that the patient was indeed unconscious in his abnormal state, Huxley did not claim to have proven that humans are conscious automata, but he at least thought that “the case of the frog goes a long way to justify the assumption that, in the abnormal state, the man is a mere insensible machine” (Huxley 1874, 235). Huxley’s naturalistic or mechanistic attitude towards the body convinced him that the brain alone causes behavior. At the same time, his dualism convinced him that the mental is essentially non-physical. He reconciled these apparently discordant claims by degrading mentality to the status of an epiphenomenon.
Most contemporary philosophers reject substance dualism and the question that plagued Descartes–How can an immaterial mind whose nature is to think and a material body whose nature is to be spatially extended causally interact?–no longer arises. Moreover, many philosophers even reject Huxley’s event-dualism in favor of psychophysical event-identities. According to one version of non-reductive physicalism, for instance, every concrete mental event (every event token) is identical to a concrete physical event, although there are no one-one correlations between mental and physical properties (event types). Since fear is identical to the neurophysiological event which causes the increased heart rate, fear causes the increased heart rate, too, and epiphenomenalism seems avoided. However, the charge of epiphenomenalism re-arises in a different guise. There is a forceful intuition that events cause what they cause in virtue of some of their properties. Suppose a soprano sings the word “freedom” at a high pitch and amplitude, causing a nearby window to shatter. The singing which causes the shattering is both the singing of a high C and the singing of the word “freedom.” Intuitively, only the former, not the latter, is causally relevant for the singing’s causing the shattering: “Meaningful sounds, if they occur at the right pitch and amplitude, can shatter glass, but the fact that the sounds have meaning is irrelevant to their effect. The glass would shatter if the sounds meant something completely different or if they meant nothing at all” (Dretske 1989, 1-2). If events cause their effects in virtue of some of their properties but not in virtue of others, the question arises whether mental events (even if they are identical to physical events) cause their effects in virtue of their mental, their physical or both kinds of properties. If mental events cause their effects only in virtue of their physical properties, then their being mental events is causally irrelevant and mental properties are, in a certain sense, epiphenomena (three reasons for thinking that mental properties are causally irrelevant are discussed in section 4b). Following Brian McLaughlin, one can thus distinguish between event- or token-epiphenomenalism on the one hand and property- or type-epiphenomenalism on the other (see McLaughlin 1989, 1994). According to the event- or token-epiphenomenalism defended by Huxley, concrete physical events are causes, but mental events cannot cause anything. According to the kind of property- or type-epiphenomenalism that threatens modern non-reductive physicalism, events are causes in virtue of their physical properties, but no event is a cause in virtue of its mental properties. If event-epiphenomenalism is wrong, mental events can be causes; but if they are causes solely in virtue of their physical properties, property-epiphenomenalism is still true, and some consider this to be no less disconcerting than Huxley’s original epiphenomenalism (see
Arguments in favor of a philosophical theory typically focus on its advantages compared to other theories—that it can explain more phenomena or that it provides a more economical or a more unifying explanation of the relevant phenomena. There are no arguments for epiphenomenalism in that sense. Epiphenomenalism is just not an attractive or desirable theory. Rather, it is a theory of last resort into which people are pushed by the feeling that all the alternatives are even less plausible. Even epiphenomenalists admit that, from the first-person point of view of a thinking and feeling subject, they don’t like it. Why, then, do people embrace epiphenomenalism?
Epiphenomenalism required an intellectual climate in which two apparently discordant beliefs about the world were equally well entrenched: a dualism with respect to mind and body on the one hand and a scientific naturalism or mechanism concerning the body on the other. To most thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, it seemed obvious that human beings enjoy a mental life that resists incorporation into a purely materialist ontology. Our thoughts, sensations, desires etc. just seemed to be too dissimilar from ordinary physical phenomena for them to be “nothing but” physical phenomena. At the same time, however, science saw the advent of a decidedly naturalistic attitude towards the human body, motivated by the successes of mechanistic physics in other areas and characterized by a desire to identify the underlying causal structure of every observed phenomenon in terms of matter and motion alone. In particular, neurophysiological research was unable to reveal any mental influence upon the brain or the body. Eventually, with the demise of vitalism regarding the forces governing animate life, the conception of the physical as a causally closed system, in which physical forces are the only forces, became almost universally accepted. When combined with the naturalistic assumption that human beings are a part of the physical world and governed by its laws, this left no room for any causal efficacy of our mental life. There simply seemed to be “no gaps” (McLaughlin 1994, 278) in the causal mechanisms that could be filled by non-physical phenomena. Therefore, epiphenomenalism can be regarded as the inevitable result of the attempt to combine a scientific naturalism with respect to the body with a dualism with respect to the mind. Human beings are exhaustively governed by physical laws so that no non-physical causes must be invoked to explain their behavior, but since they are also subjects of non-physical minds, these minds must be causally irrelevant. Whenever our trust in the causal authority of the physical is overwhelmed by our first-person experience of ourselves as creatures with an essentially non-physical mind, epiphenomenalism is waiting in the wings. This holds for Huxley’s version of epiphenomenalism no less than for modern property-epiphenomenalism–both are driven by the idea that some of our mental life is distinct from that part of the physical that is the ultimate and only authority with regard to causation.
Those who defend epiphenomenalism typically do so because they fail to see how it could not be true. How could our mind make a causal difference to our physical body? This is the so-called “problem of mental causation.” That there is mental causation is part and parcel of our self-conception as freely deliberating agents that are the causal origins of their actions and do what they do because they have the beliefs and desires they have. Yet, the How of mental causation constitutes a serious philosophical problem. Its solution requires an account that shows exactly how the mental fits into the causal structure of an otherwise physical world in such a way as to exert a genuine causal influence, and any such account faces at least three difficulties. First, causation seems to require laws, but there are grounds for denying the existence of appropriate laws connecting the mental and the physical (the “Argument from the Anomaly of the Mental”). Second, causation is arguably a local or intrinsic affair, while in the case of beliefs and desires, for instance, those aspects constitutive of them insofar as they are mental are arguably relational or extrinsic (the “Argument from Anti-Individualism”). Third, we do not understand how the mental can be causally efficacious without coming into conflict with other parts of the causal structure we know (or at least suspect) to play an indispensable causal role in the production of physical effects (the “Argument from Causal Exclusion”).
The Anomalous Monism of Donald Davidson was one of the earliest versions of non-reductive physicalism (see Davidson 1970). Davidson devised it to reconcile the idea that the mental is part of the physical causal network with the idea that we are autonomous agents in voluntary control of our actions. The problem is that the latter idea requires, while the former explicitly denies, that “[m]ental events such as perceivings, rememberings, decisions, and actions resist capture in the nomological net of physical theory” (Davidson 1970, 207). On the one hand, since cause and effect must always fall under a strict causal law, if the mental is to be causally efficacious, it must be subject to strict laws. On the other hand, we can be autonomous agents only if the mental is not part of the potentially deterministic nomological network of physics; true autonomy requires that there be no strict laws connecting mental events with other mental events or with physical events and that the concepts necessary to describe, explain and predict actions and to ascribe attitudes not be reducible by definition or natural law to the concepts employed by physical sciences (Davidson 1970, 212). The exact nature of Davidson’s argument for this “anomaly of the mental” is a matter of dispute, but his idea seems to be that the existence of strict psychophysical or psychological laws, together with the strict and potentially deterministic physical laws, would be at odds with the essentially holistic and rational nature of belief attributions (Davidson 1970, 219-221.) If causation requires causes and effects to fall under strict laws, and if there are no strict laws concerning mental events, mental causation seems to be impossible. This is the “Argument from the Anomaly of the Mental.” One response would be to abandon the requirement that causes and effects must fall under strict laws. Another response would be to retain the causal law requirement but to deny that the mental is anomalous in the relevant sense. Davidson himself did neither of these. His Anomalous Monism was designed to show that mental causation is in fact compatible with the causal law requirement and the absence of strict psychological and psychophysical laws. Davidson derived Anomalous Monism from the following three seemingly inconsistent premises: (1) Principle of Causal Interaction: At least some mental events causally interact with physical events. (2) Principle of the Nomological Character of Causality: Events related as cause and effect fall under strict causal laws. (3) Principle of the Anomalism of the Mental: There are no strict psychological or psychophysical laws on the basis of which mental events can be predicted and explained. (1) and (2) apparently imply the falsity of (3): “it is natural to reason that the first two principles [...] together imply that at least some mental events can be predicted and explained on the basis of laws, while the principle of the anomalism of the mental denies this” (Davidson 1970, 209). Davidson’s goal was to interpret (1), (2), and (3) in such a way that they are not only consistent but jointly entail that particular mental events which causally interact with other events are identical to physical events. According to Davidson, (1) is an extensional claim about a relation between particular events: although the assertion of the causal relation between two events c and e requires describing them, the causal relation itself holds “no matter how they are described” (Davidson 1993, 6; 1970, 215). In contrast, (2) and (3) concern laws. Since “laws are linguistic” (Davidson 1970, 215) and thus an intensional affair, particular events fall under laws “only as described.” (2) says that whenever two events c and e are related as cause and effect, there are descriptions “dc” and “de” of c and e, respectively, under which c and e instantiate a causal law, although there may be descriptions “d*c” and “d*e” under which they do not instantiate a causal law (although “d*c caused d*e” is nevertheless a true singular causal statement). Given this, it is easy to see why Davidson thinks that (1), (2), and (3) entail that mental events which causally interact with other events must be identical to physical events. By (1), some mental event m causes or is caused by a physical event p. By (2), m and p must therefore instantiate a strict causal law. That is, there must be descriptions “dm” and “dp” of m and p, respectively, such that “dm-events cause dp-events” (or “dp-events cause dm-events”) is a strict causal law. By (3), this can only be a physical law. Hence, “dm” and “dp” must belong to the vocabulary of physics. Since events are mental or physical “only as described” and since m has with “dm” at least one physical description, m must thus be a physical event (Davidson 1970, 224). However, while causation may admittedly be an extensional relation between particular events, many philosophers have argued that which causal relations an event enters into is determined by which event-types it falls under. The singing’s being the singing of a high C, it seems, is causally relevant for its causing the shattering, while its being the singing of the word “freedom” is not. According to Anomalous Monism, Davidson’s critics claim, only the strict laws of physics can be causal laws, and hence events seem to be causally related only in virtue of falling under physical event-types, rendering mental event-types causally irrelevant:
Davidson’s argument for Anomalous Monism shows that any causal relation involving a mental event and a physical event holds only because a strict physical law subsumes the two events under physical kinds or descriptions. The fact that the mental event is a mental event, or that it is the kind of mental event that it is, appears to be entirely immaterial to the causal relation. [...] Individual mental events [...] do have causal efficacy, but only because they fall under physical kinds, and the mental kinds that they are have [...] nothing to say about what causal relations they enter into. The causal structure of the world is wholly determined by the physical kinds and properties instantiated by events of this world. (Kim 2003b, 126)
This is a prominent objection against Anomalous Monism (see, for example, Honderich 1982; Kim 1989a, 1993a; Sosa 1993). Anomalous Monism may avoid token- or event-physicalism, but it seems to succumb to type- or property-epiphenomenalism: mental events, by being identical to physical events, are causally efficacious, but that they are the kind of mental event they are adds nothing to their causal efficacy (for responses on behalf of Anomalous Monism see Campbell 1997, 1998; Davidson 1993; Lepore & Loewer 1987; McLaughlin 1989).
Anti-individualism or externalism holds that the content of mental states and the meaning of some natural language terms is a relational, or extrinsic, rather than a local, or intrinsic, property (see Burge 1979; Putnam 1975). What are local or relational properties? Suppose Sarah weighs 110 pounds, is four foot five, has blond hair and is taller than Jack. The first three properties seem to be local in the sense that they supervene upon Sarah’s internal make-up and Sarah can acquire or loose them only if she herself undergoes some change. The fourth property, in contrast, seems to be relational in the sense that Sarah has it only by courtesy of certain external facts, namely, only if there is someone else, Jack, who is smaller than she is. If Jack grows tall enough, Sarah loses the property of being taller than Jack, although she herself does not undergo any change. According to Hilary Putnam, meanings of natural kind terms are relational properties (see Putnam 1975). What Sarah means by an utterance of, say, “water,” “tiger,” “elm,” or “gold” is not determined solely by her internal make-up, but also by her environment. Consequently, such terms can mean different things in the mouth of molecularly identical twins that are indistinguishable with regard to their local properties. Meanings “just ain’t in the head,” as Putnam famously put it. Moreover, the contents of the corresponding thoughts seem to be relational properties, too: what Sarah believes when she has a belief she would express as, say, “Water is wet” is determined by the way the world is and not solely by how things are “inside” her. Tyler Burge went even further and argued that natural kind terms are not the only terms whose meaning is determined by external factors and that not only differences in the physical environment can affect the meaning of a term or the content of a belief, but also differences in a subject’s historical, linguistic, or social environment (see Burge 1979). Externalism or anti-individualism makes mental causation problematic. Causality seems to be an entirely local affair in the sense that a system’s behavior apparently supervenes upon its internal make-up. Consequently, two systems exactly alike in all internal respects will behave in exactly the same way, so that relational properties like being a genuine dollar coin or being a photo of Sarah do not seem to make a difference to the behavior of, say, a vending machine or a scanner: as long as the piece of metal inserted into a vending machine has a certain set of local properties, the vending machine will exhibit a certain behavior, no matter whether the piece of mental inserted is a genuine dollar coin or a counterfeit, and a scanner will produce a certain distribution of pixels on the screen, no matter whether the object scanned is a photo of Sarah or a piece of paper locally indistinguishable from a photo of Sarah. The assumption that causation is a local affair, when combined with externalism or anti-individualism, leads to epiphenomenalism: the meaning or content of a mental state, being a relational property, threatens to be as irrelevant for our behavior as the property of being a genuine dollar coin is for the behavior of a vending machine. In order to avoid epiphenomenalism, we must either eschew anti-individualism or show how relational mental properties can make a causal difference. Jerry Fodor tried to explicate a notion of “narrow content” according to which the mental states of intrinsically indistinguishable subjects must have the same contents, although their relationally individuated “wide contents” may differ (see Fodor 1987, ch. 1, 1991). Since narrow contents supervene upon the intrinsic make-up of a subject, Fodor held, the charge of epiphenomenalism can be avoided. However, he has recently given up on this idea because it proved extremely difficult to say exactly what narrow contents are (see Fodor 1995). Frank Jackson and Philip Pettit argue that relational properties can be causally relevant in virtue of figuring in so called “program explanations,” although strictly speaking the causal work is done solely by local properties (see, for example, Jackson & Pettit 1990). In a similar vein, Lynne Rudder Baker and Tyler Burge claim that the charge of epiphenomenalism “just melts away” (Baker 1993, 93) if we acknowledge that our explanatory practice which undoubtedly treats explanations in terms of relational properties as causal explanations trumps any metaphysical armchair argument to the contrary (see Baker 1993, 1995; Burge 1993). And Fred Dretske argues that while the triggering causes of behavior are always local, relational mental properties can make a causal difference in virtue of being structuring causes of behavior, that is, in virtue of structuring a causal system in such a way that the occurrence of a triggering neurophysiological cause causes a given behavioral effect (see, for example, Dretske 1988).
Most philosophers nowadays defend some version of non-reductive physicalism. According to non-reductive physicalism, all scientifically respectable entities are physical entities, where entities which cannot be straightforwardly reduced to physical entities—mental events or properties, for instance—are physical at least in the broad sense that they supervene or depend upon physical entities. Non-reductive physicalism is attractive because it promises to respect the naturalistic attitude characteristic of our modern scientific time while at the same time also preserving our self-conception as autonomous agents. For decades, however, Jaegwon Kim has argued that non-reductive physicalists unwittingly commit themselves to epiphenomenalism. His master argument is the so-called Causal Exclusion Argument, which he uses as a reductio ad absurdum of non-reductive physicalism: if the mental were merely supervenient upon but not reducible to the physical, as non-reductive physicalism holds, it would be causally irrelevant (barring overdetermination). Non-reductive physicalism is thus unable to steer a safe path between the Scylla of reductionism on the one hand and the Charybdis of epiphenomenalism on the other, so that those unwilling to embrace outright reductionism are forced to accept epiphenomenalism. Kim’s most recent version of the Causal Exclusion Argument, the so-called Supervenience Argument, has two stages. Stage one holds that mental properties (or, rather, their instances–a qualification that will be omitted from now on) can cause other mental properties only if they can cause physical properties. Stage two then holds that mental properties can cause physical properties only if they are reducible to physical properties or genuinely overdetermining. Since overdetermination can be ruled out, the only remaining alternatives are “reduction or causal impotence” (Kim 2005, 54). Suppose a mental property M causes a mental property M*. Since mind-body supervenience “is a shared minimum commitment of all positions that are properly called physicalist” (Kim 2005, 13), non-reductive physicalism must posit a physical supervenience base P* of M* which is (non-causally) sufficient for M*. What, then, is responsible for M*’s occurrence—M or P*? There appears to be “a tension between vertical determination and horizontal causation” (Kim 2003a, 153): “under the assumption of mind-body supervenience, M* occurs because its supervenience base P* occurs, and as long as P* occurs, M* must occur [...] regardless of whether or not an instance of M preceded it. This puts the claim of M to be a cause of M* in jeopardy: P* alone seems fully responsible for, and capable of accounting for, the occurrence of M*” (Kim 1998, 42). The upshot of this first stage of the argument is that the tension between M and P* can be resolved only by accepting that “M caused M* by causing its supervenience base P*” (Kim 2005, 40). Stage two then goes on to argue that mental-to-physical causation is impossible. Given the so-called causal closure of the physical, P* must have a sufficient and completely physical cause P, leading to a competition between M and P for the role of P*’s cause. Barring overdetermination, M seems bound to loose this competition: if P is a sufficient cause of P*, then once P is instantiated all that is required for P* to occur is done and there is nothing left for M to contribute, causally speaking. This completes stage two of the Causal Exclusion Argument. Both steps together seem to lead to epiphenomenalism–unless mental properties are reducible or genuinely overdetermining, they must be causally inert, so that with the overdetermination option and the reduction option ruled out, epiphenomenalism is the inevitable consequence. In response, non-reductive physicalists have offered compatibilist accounts of mental causation designed to explain how irreducible mental properties can play a substantial causal role in the production of physical effects, given that the causal work is done solely by physical properties. The common core of these attempts is the idea that there is some compatibilist condition C such that (1.) fulfilling C is sufficient for being causally relevant; (2.) properties which do not do any real causal work can fulfill C; (3.) C can be fulfilled by two or more properties without leading to any kind of “causal competition;” and (4.) mental properties can fulfill C. Prominent compatibilist candidates for C include figuring in counterfactual dependencies (see LePore & Loewer 1987) or program explanations (see Jackson & Pettit 1990), being a determinable of the physical properties which do the causal work (see Yablo 1992), or falling under non-strict causal laws (see Fodor 1989; McLaughlin 1989).
Intuition tells us that we, as conscious selves, are in charge of our actions, and the man in the street finds the idea that consciousness is a causally irrelevant by-product of brain processes preposterous. Empirical scientists, however, have long questioned these assumptions. Many of them think that the brain causes our actions and then makes us think that it was us who did it: “The unique human convenience of conscious thoughts that preview our actions gives us the privilege of feeling we willfully cause what we do. In fact, unconscious and inscrutable mechanisms create both conscious thought about action and the action, and also produce the sense of will we experience by perceiving the thought as cause of the action” (Wegner 2002, 98). No empirical research has provoked more philosophical discussion than Benjamin Libet’s experiments concerning the relationship between unconscious brain activity and the subjective feeling of volition during the initiation of simple motor actions (see Libet et al. 1983; Libet 1985). Previous research had shown that actions that are perceived to be the result of a conscious feeling of volition are also preceded by a pattern of brain activity known as the “readiness potential.” The question Libet and his colleagues wanted to answer was: What comes first—the feeling of volition or the readiness potential? They instructed subjects to perform a simple motor activity, like pressing a button, within a certain time frame at an arbitrary moment decided by them (“Let the urge to act appear on its own any time without any preplanning or concentration on when to act”; Libet et al. 1983, 625). The subjects were asked to remember exactly when they made the decision, when they were first aware of the “urge to act,” by noticing the position of a dot circling a clock face (the “clock” being a cathode ray oscilloscope modified so as to be able to measure time intervals of roughly fifty milliseconds). The time when the action was carried out, when the subjects actually pressed the button, was measured by electronically recording the position of the dot. On average, it took about 200 milliseconds from the first conscious feeling of voliton to the actual pressing of the button. But Libet and his collaborators also recorded the subjects’ brain activity by means of an EEG. They found that an increased electrical activity, the so-called “readiness potential,” was built up (primarily in the secondary motor cortex) on average approximately 500 milliseconds before the button was pushed, and that means approximately 300 milliseconds before the subjects felt the conscious “urge to act” (Libet’s experiments have been repeated and improved several times; see, e.g. Keller & Heckhausen 1990; Haggard & Eimer 1999; Miller & Trevena 2002; Trevena & Miller 2002). It is tempting to interpret this result as showing that the allegedly free decision of the subject was in fact determined by unconscious brain processes and that, at least insofar as decisions to act are concerned, our mind is a mere epiphenomenon, but it remains a controversial issue exactly what philosophical consequences we ought to draw from Libet’s experiments (see Pockett et al. 2006).
Epiphenomenalism has had few friends. It has been deemed “thoughtless and incoherent” (Taylor 1927, 198), “unintelligible” (Benecke 1901, 26), “quite impossible to believe” (Taylor 1963, 28) and “truly incredible” (McLaughlin 1994, 284). The resistance stems from the fact that many think that if epiphenomenalism were correct, we could not be the kind of being we are and we could not occupy the place in the world we occupy. We would instead be at the mercy of our brains and we would have to say that our actions are all our brains’ actions and that ultimately “we” have nothing to do with them.
If the eyebrows are raised they are not raised by us. What is done is not done by us. [...] We go piggy-back, and we cannot get off. Where it goes, we go. What’s “it”? The body/brain is “it.” “It” is not us, is the point. Epiphenomenalism would be the ruin of the self and that self’s life. […] Our supposed self is illusory, and we are deluded. [...] We lose ourselves when consciousness ceases to be effective in what we chose. (Hyslop 1998, 68)
In his book The Fundamental Questions of Philosophy, Alfred Cyril Ewing introduced epiphenomenalism as a theory that can be disposed of in a “conclusive fashion” (Ewing 1953, 127): “That epiphenomenalism is false is assumed in all practical life [...] and it is silly to adopt a philosophy the denial of which is implied by us every time we do anything” (Ewing 1953, 128). But what exactly is it that renders epiphenomenalism so evidently absurd?
Epiphenomenalism is counterintuitive. There’s no doubt about that. Yet, philosophy, like all science, is not concerned with intuitiveness but with truth, and that a theory is counterintuitive does not show that it is not true. In fact, a host of widely accepted and feted theories are counterintuitive at first and some remain so forever: the Copernican system, the Freudian theory of the unconscious, Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity or quantum mechanics. Einstein’s theory of relativity, for instance, is much less intuitive than Newtonian physics, but ultimately the fate of a theory depends on whether there are good arguments in favor of it, not on whether it is intuitive. If there are reasons for taking epiphenomenalism seriously, then we should do that, just as we do it in the case of the theory of relativity: “Epiphenomenalism may be counterintuitive, but it is not obviously false, so if a sound argument forces it on us, we should accept it” (Chalmers 1996, 159).
It might seem as if we can be introspectively aware of chains of mental occurrences, one of which is causing the other, for instance when we reason through an argument, write a piece of prose, or acquire a new belief by inferring it from previously held beliefs. We just know, it seems, that in these cases there is mental causation. The same may be said to be true of various chains of occurrences both inside and outside of our mind, for instance when volitions give rise to appropriate behavior, when a pain results in a wincing, or when fear makes our heart beat faster–one might say that in these cases, too, we have some immediate cognitive access to the causal efficacy of the mental. If we could indeed be in some sense “directly acquainted” with the fact that such sequences are the result of genuinely causal processes, epiphenomenalism would not be an option. Yet, our awareness of regular successions does not and cannot reveal their causal nature. The awareness of the psychological or psychophysical sequences that make up our everyday life is no more awareness of causal processes than awareness of the sequence of shadows a moving car casts (Lachs 1963, 189). Whatever those who hold that epiphenomenalism is “incompetent to take account of the obvious facts of mental life” (Taylor 1927, 198) mean, they cannot mean that it is contradicted by our immediate cognitive access to our mind’s causal effectiveness, because there is no phenomenological difference between a situation in which epiphenomenalism is false and a situation in which epiphenomenalism is true.
One of the earliest objections to epiphenomenalism starts with the observation that we have the properties we have because they contributed positively to our ancestors’ differential fitness and that a property which endows an organism with an evolutionary advantage must make a causal difference to its survival. Since we have mental properties, while our ancient ancestors did not, the argument continues, these properties must have evolved over time and therefore must be capable of making a causal difference (this argument is frequently attributed to Popper & Eccles 1977, but it was endorsed already by James 1879). Epiphenomenalists respond that mental properties may have evolved as nomologically necessary by-products of adaptive traits. A polar bear’s having a heavy coat decreases its fitness (by slowing it down), but is nevertheless an evolved trait because it was an inevitable by-product of a highly adaptive trait, namely, having a warm coat: “Having a heavy coat is an unavoidable concomitant of having a warm coat [...], and the advantages for survival of having a warm coat outweighed the disadvantages of having a heavy one” (Jackson 1982, 134). Likewise, it could be that we enjoy our mental life because its neurophysiological causes contributed positively to our ancestors’ differential fitness by making them “fitter” compared to those who lacked such neurophysiological equipment. Maybe we have a mind because it was evolutionary adaptive to have a big brain and it is nomologically impossible to have a big brain without having a mind. The problem with this response is that while we understand perfectly well why polar bears can have warm coats only in virtue of having heavy coats, we have little or no idea why it should be necessary to have a mind in order to have a big brain. Why should of all neurophysiological structures only those with a causally irrelevant mind as by-product be able to do what was required for our ancestors’ survival? If a company claims that religion is not an employment criterion, but it turns out that all its employees are of the same religion, that cries out for an explanation, and the same holds if the epiphenomenalist claims that although our mind is totally ineffective, during the course of evolution only brain structures have evolved that are accompanied by a mind as a by-product.
Another problem is that epiphenomenalism seems to render our standard response to the other minds problem impossible. According to that response, our belief that our fellow human beings have a mental life similar to ours is justified by an argument from analogy, stated in its classic form by John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell (Mill 1865, 190-191; Russell 1948, 208-209 & 501-504). Since our own body and outward behavior are observably similar to the body and the behavior of our fellow human beings, we are justified by analogy in believing that they enjoy a mental life similar to ours. The idea is to infer like mental causes from like behavioral effects and this does not work for the epiphenomenalist who denies that there are any mental causes. (This is an objection to epiphenomenalism only if the argument from analogy does indeed provide a good solution to the other minds problem, and that is far from obvious–notoriously, inductions based on a single positive instance are problematic and in the case of other minds there is no independent way of verifying the conclusion.) The epiphenomenalist can employ the same strategy as in the case of the argument from evolution and insist that our inference to the mental life of others need not advert to causality all the way up. If the similar behavior and the similar body of others provide evidence for anything, they provide evidence for the assumption that they are in physical states relevantly similar to those which, in us, are causally responsible for our mental life. This inference is not one from outward behavior to inward mental causes, but from outward behavior to inward neurophysiological causes and from there on further to inward mental effects, but it seems that it is no less reliable (see Benecke 1901; Jackson 1982).
Davidson famously pointed out that I may have a reason for performing an action, perform that action, and yet not perform it for that reason (Davidson 1963, 9). Suppose, for instance, I want to meet my mistress and I believe that I can attain this goal by giving her a call; suppose I also have a second-order desire to get rid off my first-order desire and I believe that I can attain this goal by calling my psychiatrist. When I finally walk to the phone, it seems, I have a reason for doing so (my first-order desire plus my corresponding belief) which is not the reason for which I walk to phone (Wilson 1997, 72). According to Davidson, the reasons for an action and the reasons for which the action is performed can be easily distinguished: the reasons for which an action is performed are those which cause the action. This explanation is not available to the epiphenomenalist who holds that no reason ever causes an action. (Again, this is an objection against epiphenomenalism only if Davidson’s distinction makes sense; see Latham 2003 for the view that it doesn’t.) In response, however, the epiphenomenalist can hold that the reasons for which an action is performed are those that are caused by the neurophysiological cause of the action.
Knowledge, memory, justification, meaning and reference all seem to require the causal efficacy of what is known, remembered, believed, meant or picked out. How, for instance, could we say that Sarah knows that there is orange juice in the fridge or that her belief that there is orange juice in the fridge is justified, if her belief were in no way causally connected to the fridge or the orange juice? The causal relation does not have to be direct–it may be that Sarah’s mother saw the orange juice in the fridge, told it to Sarah’s sister who in turn told it to Sarah, causing her thereby to believe that there is orange juice in the fridge. Most of our knowledge depends upon such indirect causal chains. We are not in direct causal contact with Plato, the cholera, Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon or the outbreak of World War I, but we can have knowledge about these things because we are linked to them by long causal chains starting with someone who was in direct causal contact with them. According to a causal theory of knowledge, knowledge is impossible without such a causal chain, and something similar holds for justification, memory, meaning, and reference. If Sarah believes that it rained on February 1, 1953 in Amsterdam, but the rain on February 1, 1953 in Amsterdam is not causally related in any way to Sarah’s belief, then it seems that her belief cannot be justified; if the rain on that day is not causally related to Sarah’s current mental states in any way, then it seems that she cannot remember the rain on February 1, 1953 in Amsterdam; and one reason why Sarah’s twin on Putnam’s famous Twin Earth (see Putnam 1975) cannot refer to water and why by using the word “water” she cannot mean water is that she never did causally interact with water. If knowledge, justification, memory, meaning and reference require a causal contact with what is known, believed, remembered, meant and picked out, epiphenomenalism implies that we cannot have knowledge of or justified beliefs about mental states (our own or those of others), that we cannot remember past mental states, cannot refer to mental states and cannot make meaningful statements about them. However, it is absurd to hold that Sarah cannot know that she is having a toothache, that she cannot remember the feeling she had when she fell in love for the first time etc. Moreover, if a causal theory of meaning or reference is correct, then the very statements the epiphenomenalist uses to formulate her position are meaningless: “if the mental contributes nothing to the way in which the linguistic practices involving ‘[psychological' terms are developed and sustained in the speech-community [...] then [this] would deprive the epiphenomenalist of the linguistic resources to enunciate his thesis” (Foster 1996, 191). To the extent that epiphenomenalism aspires to make a meaningful statement about the nature of our mental life, it would thus be self-refuting since that is impossible if it is true (see Robinson 2006 for a discussion of this problem and for a reply on behalf of epiphenomenalism). Even if the epiphenomenalist could somehow formulate her position, it would be a pointless exercise from her point of view to try to convince us of its truth, because if she is right, rational considerations can have no causal influence upon our beliefs and actions. In response, the epiphenomenalist could argue that a causal chain cannot always be required because Sarah can know, justifiably believe or remember that bachelors are unmarried and that two plus two equals four, or use the term “the biggest star in the universe” to refer to an object even if she never causally interacted with bachelors, the number two or the biggest star in the universe. The problem, however, is that our knowledge and our memories of and our talk about our mental states seem to be fundamentally different from the typical examples of knowledge, memory, or reference that are possible without a causal contact. As Dieter Birnbacher points out (before he goes on the defend epiphenomenalism against this charge): “[such] examples show that a causal theory of knowledge cannot claim to cover all and every kind of knowledge. But this doesn’t mean that a causal theory of knowledge is implausible for other, and admittedly central, kinds of knowledge such as knowledge by perception and introspection” (Birnbacher 2006, 123-124). The epiphenomenalist has to offer a constructive account of what, if not a causal relation, grounds knowledge, justification, memory, meaning, and reference in the case of mental states. According to David Chalmers, for instance, in the case of phenomenal mental states, knowledge and justification are an immediate consequence of the fact that we have these experiences: “it is having the experiences that justifies the beliefs [about our experiences]” (Chalmers 1996, 196), because “[t]o have an experience is automatically to stand in some sort of intimate epistemic relation to the experience” (Chalmers 1996, 196-197). Since the epiphenomenalist admits that we have experiences and since we cannot have experiences without knowing that we have them, the epiphenomenalist can admit that we can have knowledge of our experiences. Chalmers also develops a non-causal account of memory and reference (Chalmers 1996, 192-203; see Robinson 1982, 2006 for competing but related proposals). Although there may be problems with such accounts, it certainly seems plausible to ask why the opponents of epiphenomenalism insist that the relation that grounds knowledge, justification, memory, reference and meaning must be causal through and through. According to the epiphenomenalist, when Sarah knows that she has a toothache or remembers the feeling she had when she first fell in love, there is a causal chain which leads from the neurophysiological cause of her toothache or her feeling to her current state of knowledge or memory. Why should such a chain be less capable of grounding knowledge or memory than a causal chain which starts with the toothache or the feeling itself? To insist without further explanation that the link has to be causal through and through does not tell us what the apparently indispensable je-ne-sais-quois about such a causal link is, without which knowledge, memory etc. are supposed to be impossible (see Pauen 2006 and Staudacher 2006 for further discussion). There are various objections against epiphenomenalism, nearly all of which are based upon the claim that this or that undeniable fact would be impossible if epiphenomenalism were true. In response, the epiphenomenalist typically points out that the causal relation she says holds between mental states and their neurophysiological correlates ensures that whenever her opponents appeal to a mental cause to account for some apparently undeniable fact, she can appeal to a physical cause which is correlated with the alleged mental cause with nomological necessity and does exactly the same causal job.
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University of Bielefeld, Germany
Last updated: March 31, 2007 | Originally published: March/31/2007
Categories: Mind & Cognitive Science | <urn:uuid:bc08d6f0-964c-4257-b3be-da849d757dd4> | {
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The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 would create 20,000 new jobs in Illinois and save its average household $193 a year by 2020, according to a new report released by Environment Illinois and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
The federal bill, which passed the House of Representatives in June and now moves to the Senate, introduces new renewable energy and energy efficiency requirements. It also contains “cap and trade” — a cap on carbon emissions and a mechanism for companies to bid on emissions “credits” in a stock market-type system. According to the report, the legislation would also reduce Illinois’ annual carbon emissions by 9.7 million metric tons — equal to pollution from more than 1.7 million cars — by 2020.
Brian Spranger, a field associate for Environment Illinois, a citizen-funded environmental organization, confirms that Illinois has much to gain from the ACESA — including one of the highest potentials for increased job growth in the nation.
“The high job creation number has to do with not only our strong manufacturing potential and skilled workforce, but the age of a lot of our buildings in the state,” Spranger says. “Quite simply, we have a lot of leaky old buildings that waste a lot of energy. This means there’s a lot of work to be done, and thus, plenty of jobs to be created.”
Environment Illinois and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C., are calling on the Senate to implement further policy improvements. The report estimates that stronger measures such as requiring utility companies to reduce their energy usage by at least 10 percent (the current version of the ACESA requests 5 percent with an optional 3 percent increase) would create 30,400 new jobs in Illinois, save its average household $252 a year and reduce annual carbon emissions by 16 million metric tons in the next 10 years.
In a released statement, Brian Granahan, a staff attorney and clean energy advocate with Environment Illinois, said:
“While the House bill is a critical first step in harnessing the power of energy efficiency, this report shows that we can save even more money, create more jobs and reduce more pollution.”
In the past few months, Illinois has also taken its own steps to increase energy efficiency. In late August, Gov. Pat Quinn signed the Energy Efficient Building Act, which requires Illinois to adopt the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code for new residential construction. Additions, renovations or repairs to existing buildings need to meet IECC standards, which update every three years.
Earlier in July the governor signed a comprehensive energy package that introduces on-bill financing, a program that allows residential customers to fund energy measures by applying future savings to the cost of their “green” purchase, and mandates utilities to reduce natural gas use by 8.6 percent by 2020 [see, “Utility reform emerges from legislative chaos,” June 3].
Quinn also approved the Green Buildings Act, requiring state-funded building construction projects and major renovations of existing state facilities to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the United States Green Building Council, or an equivalent rating from a similar program, for efforts in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
For more information on Energy Efficiency in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009: Impacts of Current Provisions and Opportunities to Enhance the Legislation, visit www.environmentilllinois.org.
Contact Amanda Robert at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:a5959e9b-100d-4641-8899-75b5a24aae66> | {
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Criminal Justice-coas | Urban Crime Patterns
P417 | 9758 | Leon Pettiway
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an
overview of the research devoted to crime in urban areas. The course
center on the arrangement and structure of urban places, the impact of
social, economic and demographic characteristics on crime production,
consequences of urban growth and decline on crime rates, the impact of
urban spatial structure and the effect of spatial structure on crime
and criminals, the prevention of crime through environmental design,
and the importance of situational crime prevention strategies. Some
issues that will be covered in this course include:
1. The role that segregation of the population (along income, age,
and race lines) plays in affecting the behavior of criminals and
non-criminals in space.
2. The significance of differentials in racial composition, age, sex,
and income on the incidence of crime in urban areas.
3. The distribution and the selection of targets of opportunity by
offenders in urban areas and factors that influence the mobility of
offenders in space.
4. Environmental design and its influence on the incidence of crime
in urban areas.
5. The impact of various spatial arrangements on our cognition of | <urn:uuid:1297dede-74e4-4135-b8e9-534c88a0ee79> | {
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Four Laws That Drive the Universe
By Peter Atkins
(Oxford University Press, USA, Hardcover, 9780199232369, 130pp.)
Publication Date: November 2007
Written by Peter Atkins, one of the worlds leading authorities on thermodynamics, this powerful and compact introduction explains what these four laws are and how they work, using accessible language and virtually no mathematics. Guiding the reader a step at a time, Atkins begins with Zeroth (so named because the first two laws were well established before scientists realized that a third law, relating to temperature, should precede them--hence the jocular name zeroth), and proceeds through the First, Second, and Third Laws, offering a clear account of concepts such as the availability of work and the conservation of energy. Atkins ranges from the fascinating theory of entropy (revealing how its unstoppable rise constitutes the engine of the universe), through the concept of free energy, and to the brink, and then beyond the brink, of absolute zero.
C.P. Snow once remarked that not knowing the second law of thermodynamics is like never having read a work by Shakespeare. This brief but brilliant book introduces general readers to one of the cornerstones of modern science, four laws that are as integral to the well-educated mind as such great dramatic works as Hamlet or Macbeth. | <urn:uuid:e313392d-83f3-4599-88cc-d8a92122ac02> | {
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History & Region
Ceylon Orange Pekoe is a classic breakfast tea grown on the island of Sri Lanka. The name comes from the Dutch
Royal House of Orange - not from the fruit.
Situated just off the southern coast of India, Sri Lanka's climate is tropical,
with two distinct monsoon seasons allowing for yearlong tea production. Gorgeous
green tea bushes wrap the lush hills, and the narrow roads wind through the
Long ago, Europe found it
an ideal place for trading, and it became colonized for 450 years before
gaining independence in 1948. The Portuguese, Dutch and British have all left
their influence. The island is now home to almost 20 million people.
The Dutch were the first to experiment with planting tea,
but without success. When the British secured the island, they had more luck.
Planters came from England
spurred by courage and opportunity. They bought land and toiled in harsh
conditions, and by 1875, the tea industry was up and going. Sir Thomas Lipton is the most famous of the
Tea produced in Sri Lanka is still referred to as
is the world's third largest producer of tea in the world. Most estates are
also home to their own tea factories, processing thousands of tons of tea in
many instances. The majority of tea production is black, 'orthodox' and grown
in the following regions: Kandy, Nuwara Eliya,
Dimbula, Uva, Ratnapura and Galle.
The region of Nuwara Eliya is the highest growing region and is credited for
producing the finest teas.
'Orthodox' tea production is a
method of crushing tealeaves by rolling. The rolling process helps break down
and twist the leaves, allowing oxidization to begin. The tea is then fired, and
final grading is based on the quality of the leaf.
Glossary of Tea Grades
Pekoe: derived from
the Chinese word 'bai hao' meaning 'white hair.' It refers to the silvery white
down present on young tealeaves.
Flowery Orange Pekoe:
high quality whole or broken leaf tea with lots of tips
whole leaf tea with some tips
whole leaf tea with leaves rolled lengthwise
Pekoe: whole leaf
tea of medium quality
Broken Orange Pekoe:
smaller and broken leaves with lots of tips
broken, less quality tealeaves
Tasting Notes & Brewing
When making our teas from Ceylon, we like to pre-heat our
teapot or mug. Add 1 teaspoon per cup, add hot water (just as it comes to a
boil) and steep until desired strength. This tea is ideal for making in a
porcelain teapot with white cups that show off its clear amber color. | <urn:uuid:af3d15bb-1f14-4bba-aca0-ec318321e382> | {
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Climate Change: The Facts
Australia needs an honest debate about the facts of climate change.
Governments around the world are preparing to dramatically increase taxes, regulate energy supplies and limit individual choices to deal with climate change.
But what do we really know about the science of climate change? Is climate change caused by humans? Is it new? Is there a "scientific consensus"? Is CO2 pollution? Can we cut emissions cheaply? What's missing from the climate change debate?
In this important book, the world's best scientists and economists tackle the most important political issue in a century.
With contributions from Ian Plimer, Richard Lindzen, Bob Carter, Nigel Lawson, Bill Kininmonth, Willie Soon, Christopher Monckton, Garth Paltridge, Richard Tol, Brian Fisher, and Alan Moran, with an introduction by John Roskam. | <urn:uuid:119c3b6c-7522-40f9-81cb-c9bdc1121ebd> | {
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CIMMERIANS, a nomadic people, most likely of Iranian origin, who flourished in the 8th-7th centuries b.c.e.
The name. The English form is ultimately derived from Gk. Kimmérioi via Lat. Cimmerii. In Assyrian and Babylonian sources various forms are found: Ga-mir, Gamir-(r)a, Gi-mir-a-a, Gi-mir-ra-a-a, and so on (see, e.g. Parpola, 1970a, pp. 122-33; cf. Pinches, p. 611). The Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10:2, Ezekiel 38:6) has gmr, masoretic Gṓmär (erroneously assimilated to Gṓmär, name of the wife of Hosea (Hosea 1:3; D’yakonov, 1981, p. 109 no. 12); in the Septuagint the forms Gámer (Genesis) and Gómer (Ezekiel) are used (cf. Josephus, Antiquitates Iudaicae 1.123: Gómaros, and 1.126: Gomareís), and the Vulgate has Gomer (cf. also Ezekiel 27.17: gmdym [read gmrym?; cf Lagarde, p. 367], Jeremiah 25.25: zmry [read gmry?; cf. D’yakonov, 1981, p. 112]). I. M. D’yakonov attributes the variation a/i in the first syllable of the word to vowel gradation (see below). It is possible that the name was preserved in Arm. Garmikʿ, referring to Cappadocia south of the river Halys (Adontz, pp. 316ff.; D’yakonov, 1981, p. 111; cf., however, Nöldeke, p. 324).
Origin. The first mention of Cimmerians in western sources is in The Odyssey of Homer (11.14), where they are described as inhabitants of the opposite side of the Oceanus river surrounding the earth, a country forever deprived of sunshine, thus at the entrance to the kingdom of Hades, toward which Odysseus sails to obtain an oracle from the soul of the seer Teiresias. The western Greeks very early localized Odysseus’s wanderings to the seas around Italy and Sicily and placed the Cimmerians around Lake Avernus near Cumae in Campania; near Avernus there was an ancient oracle of the dead, and, because of its physical peculiarities, the lake was considered to be one of the entrances to Hades (Ephorus [ca. 405-330 b.c.e.], in Jacoby, Fragmente, no. 70, fr. 134; Strabo, 5.4.5). Nearly all authors of the Hellenistic and Roman periods looked at the Cimmerians through the prism of the Homeric evidence; specifically it is often used to date Homer. The fictive identification of the Cimmerians with the Celtic (or Germanic) tribe of the Cimbri, made by Poseidonius (128-45 b.c.e.), ultimately depended on this evidence (Jacoby, Fragmente, no. 87, fr. 31).
Nevertheless, prevailing opinion among the ancients was that the Cimmerians had once inhabited the steppes on the northern shore of the Black Sea. The first surviving evidence of this view is found in the poem Arimaspaea by Aristeas of Proconnesus (ca. 550 b.c.e.), in which the Scythians are said to have driven the Cimmerians from their country in southern Russia (Bernabé, p. 151, fr. 2; cf. Herodotus, 4.11-13; cf. 1.15, 1.103-04, 4.1, 7.20). According to Herodotus (4.11-12), the Cimmerian aristocrats, reluctant to abandon their homeland, killed one another and were buried in a tumulus beside the river Tyres (modern Dniester), after which the common people migrated to “Asia” to escape the Scythians, proceeding along the Black Sea coast of Caucasia (see caucasus i. geography, population, and economy) to the peninsula of Sinope and leaving traces in the form of toponyms on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus. The idea that the Black Sea steppes had been the former homeland of the Cimmerians was probably already current at the beginning of the period of the Ionian colonization of Scythia, in the second part of the 7th century b.c.e. Initially two different versions about the starting point of the Cimmerian flight were current among the colonists, that of the Tyrits and that of the Bosporans. Later these were combined by the historians, as in the work of Herodotus. Later authors, influenced by the large number of “Cimmerian toponyms” in the region of the Bosporus, connected the Cimmerians mainly with that region (see, e.g., Strabo,1.1.10, 1.2.9, 3.2.12, 7.4.3, 11.2.5). Probably it was before the time of Herodotus that reports about the Cimmerians on the northern shores of the Black Sea were connected with the evidence in The Odyssey; it seemed natural to consider that Homer had depicted this cold northern country in poetic imagery as deprived of sunshine and near Hades (Strabo, 1.1.10; 1.2.9).
This opinion has been accepted by the majority of scholars in modern times. Archeologists have logically concluded that finds dating from before the appearance of the Scythians (i.e., the culture of Scythian type) in southern Russia must be Cimmerian. Especially since A. I. Terenozhkin published his work on these pre-Scythian finds, Soviet archeologists, as well as many from abroad, have identified a nomadic culture that flourished mainly in the Ukraine during the period of transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age as that of the Cimmerians. Two chronological phases have been recognized: Chernaya Gora (ca. 900-750 b.c.e.) and Novocherkassk (ca. 750-700 b.c.e.; for this dating see Il’inskaya and Terenozhkin, p. 19; for a more convincing dating of the second phase to the 9th-8th centuries, see Kossak, pp. 35ff., 84).
Some scholars, however, have considered the classical tradition to be imaginary, pointing, for example, to glaring errors in Herodotus’s narrative, for example, his report (4.11) that the Cimmerians had fled eastward from the Scythians, who were in fact coming from the east, and his report of the troops’ march along the Caucasian shore of the Black Sea, which would have been impassable if they were coming directly from the strait of Kerch (D’yakonov, 1981, pp. 135-36). Karl Müllenhoff (pp. 19-31) argued that the location of the Cimmerians on the north shore of the Black Sea was based solely on an attempt at rationalization of the Homeric evidence by the Greeks, citing the Avernian location as an analogy (see also, Rohde, pp. 99-100; Aly, pp. 122-23; Cozzoli, p. 67 et passim). Nevertheless, it seems that this interpretation could have had only secondary importance in the evolution of the classical tradition; it is significant that there are no legends about Odysseus’s wanderings on the Black Sea, in contrast to the western Mediterranean. More important is archeological evidence that both shores of the strait, as well as the lower Dniester, were largely uninhabited from the 10th century b.c.e. until the arrival of the Scythians, the period of the Novocherkassk culture previously associated with the Cimmerians (Vinogradov, pp. 370ff.; Tokhtas’ev, 1984a, pp. 142-43). It is clear that the Greeks ascribed to the Cimmerians a tumulus beside the river Tyres, just as, for example, they ascribed various ancient buildings to the half-mythical Pelasgians (cf. Uslar, p. 277; D’yakonov, 1956, p. 239). A similar interpretation was given to some ruins that were reminiscent of defensive structures, Kimméria teíkhea (“Cimmerian fortifications”; Herodotus, 4.12; Tokhtas’ev, 1984b, pp. 144-45). Excavators of the Bosporan settlement Kimmerikon (late 6th century b.c.e.-3rd century c.e.) discovered a stratum dated to the second half of the 2nd millennium b.c.e., which had been disturbed by Greek colonists (Kruglikova; for dating, see Sharafutdinova, pp. 115-16); the name of the later settlement is evidence that the Greeks considered these antiquities to be Cimmerian. The assertion that Cimmerians had lived there was founded partly on findings of this sort and was reflected in the name of another locality on the Bosporus, Kimmeríē khṓrē (“Cimmerian land”; Herodotus, 4.12; cf. Tokhtas’ev, 1984b, pp. 142ff.). Just as the Thracian Bosporus received its name from adjoining Thrace, the Cimmerian Bosporus took its name from Cimmeria.
Confidence in the classical tradition was finally shaken by the fact that no artifacts of the Novocherkassk type have been found in the Transcaucasian, Near Eastern, or Anatolian regions connected with later Cimmerian activity (see below). Only artifacts of early Scythian type have been found in those areas (Kossak, pp. 47-48, 63, 66, 67; D’yakonov, 1981, pp. 133ff.; Kleiner et al., pp. 94, 135ff.). The most ancient such finds (probably from the end of the 9th century b.c.e.) were discovered in Tuva (southern Siberia). In the second half of the 8th century the bearers of this culture were moving westward. One group reached the land that is now Bulgaria; another halted in northern Caucasia and at the same time partly penetrated into Transcaucasia and, in the 7th century, as far as Anatolia. This last group is to be identified with the Cimmerians of the written sources (for material, see Il’inskaya and Terenozhkin, pp. 18-86; Murzin; for chronology, see Kossak, pp. 25ff. and passim).
As the Cimmerians cannot be differentiated archeologically from the Scythians, it is possible to speculate about their Iranian origins. In the Neo-Babylonian texts (according to D’yakonov, including at least some of the Assyrian texts in Babylonian dialect) Gimirri and similar forms designate the Scythians and Central Asian Saka, reflecting the perception among inhabitants of Mesopotamia that Cimmerians and Scythians represented a single cultural and economic group (D’yakonov, 1981, pp. 118ff.; Dandamayev, pp. 95-105). Unfortunately, the proposed etymologies of the names of Cimmerian kings—Teušpa, Tug/k/Dúg/k-dam-mì-i, and Sa-an-dak-KUR-ru (read Sandakšatru?)—are not completely reliable, though they could be Iranian (D’yakonov, 1981, pp. 112 n. 20, 116-17 n. 30; cf. Mayrhofer, pp. 187ff.). The ingenious etymology proposed for the ethnonym itself, from Iranian *gāmīra-/*gmīra- “mobile unit” (D’yakonov, 1981, pp. 131-32), cannot be verified, but no other satisfactory suggestion has been put forward. The widely held opinion that the Cimmerians were of Thracian origin depends in fact only on the confused information of Strabo: “The Cimmerians, who are also called Treres, or some people of them” (1.3.21); “. . . Treres, a Cimmerian people” (14.1.40). In all other references, however, Strabo and other authors treated Treres and Cimmerians as separate peoples (cf. Strabo, 1.3.21, 12.3.24, 12.8.7, and 13.4.8; cf. Callisthenes, in Jacoby, Fragmente, no. 124, fr. 29; for more detail, see Cozzoli, pp. 75ff). Some scholars have considered the word árgillai “underground dwellings,” which Ephorus applied to the habitations of the Avernian Cimmerians, as of Thracian origin, but those Cimmerians were not directly related to the historical people (see above); the same word, attested this time as a Greek word, has a convincing Greek etymology (cf. Chantraine, p. 103).
Cimmerians in Transcaucasia and the Near East. According to intelligence reports sent to the Assyrian king Sargon II between 720 and 714 b.c.e., King Rusā I of Urarṭu marched his troops to KUR Gamir(ra) “land of the Cimmerians” but was defeated (Parpola, 1987, nos. 30-32; Lanfranchi and Parpola, nos. 92, 144, 174; Deller, pp. 98ff.); a modern attempt at more precise dating of these events to August-September 714 (Lanfranchi) is hardly convincing. KUR Gamir(ra) was reliably localized by D’yakonov on the territory of modern Georgia, most probably in its central part (D’yakonov, 1984, pp. 90, 175 n. 253; idem, 1981, p. 108; idem and Kashkai, p. 71); the opposing view of Mirjo Salvini (pp. 45-46) and his arguments for a location south or southeast of lake Urmia do not seem well founded. It is in central Georgia that archeologists have found the greatest concentration of materials of the Scythian type (D’yakonov, 1981, p. 135; Esayan and Pogrebova, p. 20 map), the earliest dating from about 700 b.c.e. (Kossak, pp. 43-48). The Homeric evidence for the Cimmerians (see above) was apparently drawn from a more ancient Greek epic, Argonautica (see Von der Mühll, pp. 148ff.), which may have recorded the actual presence of Cimmerians in the general region immediately to the east of Colchis in the 8th century b.c.e.
According to another Assyrian intelligence report (Lanfranchi and Parpola, no. 145; Deller, no. 2.1), Cimmerians did invade Urarṭu from the territory of Mannea (the country south of Lake Urmia); the document is datable to the same years (720-14 b.c.e.), but, as the context differs from that of Rusā’s campaign against the “country of Cimmerians,” it is probable that it deals with a different phase of the conflict.
Transcaucasia was in fact the base from which Cimmerian troops marched, probably until the beginning of the reign of Aššurbanipal (668-ca. 625 b.c.e.). In 679 the Cimmerian king Teušpa was defeated by the Assyrians near the city Ḫubušsnu (perhaps in Cappadocia; see, e.g., Borger, pp. 33 l. 18, 51 l. 43, 100 l. 23; Heidel, p. 14, col. 2 ll. 1-3; Grayson, p. 125, chron. 14.9); in the same year Cimmerian detachments of individual soldiers (probably captives) were serving in the Assyrian army (D’yakonov, 1984, p. 175 no. 259; idem, 1981, p. 113). In 675 they were present on the border of Mannea (Fales and Lanfranchi; cf. Starr, no. 269) and in about 667 on Mannean territory (Parpola, 1983, p. 420). Šubria (the country west of Lake Van) was perhaps subject to invasion by the Cimmerians in about 672-69 (Starr, no. 18, referring to an alliance with Urarṭu. In the period of the Median revolt against Assyria (ca. 674-72) even Parsuā (west of Media; Starr, no. 39, 40) and probably Ellipi (between Media and Elam, Starr, nos. 79, 80; cf. nos. 65, 97) were open to attack by the Cimmerians, who were allies of the Medes (cf. Starr, nos. 36, 43, 45, 48, 50, 51, pp. lxi-lxii; Parpola, 1983, pp. 192-93 and n. 196). Cimmerians were serving as contingents in the Assyrian army in 671-70 (Starr, nos. 139, 142, 144, p. lxiii).
Cimmerians in Anatolia. Strabo (1.3.21) synchronized the suicide of King Midas of Phrygia with the invasion of his country by the Cimmerians. Owing to contradictory and dubious reports about the date of Midas’s death, however, it is impossible to date this event more precisely than 700-675 b.c.e. The apparent synchronism most likely results from chronographic speculations, in which ancient and popular conceptions about Midas and Homer as contemporaries were connected with the no less widely accepted synchronism between Homer and the Cimmerian invasion. Other evidence about the arrival of the Cimmerians in Phrygia (Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. Syassós) offers no grounds for dating. An Assyrian oracular text of 676-60 b.c.e. has been interpreted as referring to a conjectural alliance between the Cimmerians and Phrygians against Melitene, URU Melīdi (modern Eski Malatya in eastern Turkey; Starr, no. 1, cf. pp. lvii-lviii; see also Starr, no. 17, a document probably related to the same events, mentioning Cimmerians in the same connection with Cilicians). It is equally difficult to determine when the Cimmerians appeared in the region of Sinope (Ehrhardt, pp. 55, 326ff.). As noted above, Cimmerians were defeated by Assyrians in eastern Anatolia as early as 679 b.c.e., but in the reign of Esarhaddon (680-69 b.c.e.) they remained active, mainly on the northern and eastern borders of Assyria. The first reliable information about their permanent establishment in Anatolia is from the early reign of Aššurbanipal: in about 665 they attacked Lydia but were defeated by King Gyges, with Aššurbanipal’s support (Cogan and Tadmor, p. 84; Spalinger, p. 402). In the spring of 657 the Assyrians expected the Cimmerians to march against Lydia, probably from eastern Anatolia (apparently from Cappadocia, which was their base; cf. Arm. Gamirkʿ), whence they also exercised “hegemony” over at least a part of Syria (Parpola, 1970b, nos. 110, 300; idem, 1983, pp. 307ff.). In 644 they defeated the Lydians and took Sardis, the Lydian capital; Gyges died during this battle. It is possible that, when the Treres and the Lycians seized Sardis once again in 637, the Cimmerians were their allies (Spalinger, pp. 406-09; Cogan and Tadmor, pp. 78-79 nos. 25, 84).
In the 640s, under the leadership of King Lygdamis (Akkad. Dugdammē) and sometimes in alliance with the Treres under King Kobos, the Cimmerians attacked the Greek city-states of Ionia and Aeolis (Herodotus, 1.6; Callimachus, Hymn to Diana 255ff.; Welles, no. 7; Strabo, 1.3.21, 3.2.12, 11.2.5; Kleiner et al., pp. 135ff.). They were also active in Paphlagonia (Strabo, 1.3.21), especially in the region of Sinope (cf. above); in Bithynia (Arrian, in Jacoby, Fragmente, no. 156, frs. 60, 76; scholia in Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.1126; Heracleides Ponticus, in Wehrli, pp. 103-04, fr. 129); and in the Troad (Aristotle, in Stephenus Byzantius, s.v. Antandros; in Pliny, Natural History 5.123). In about 640 they tried to enter into an alliance with the state of Tabal, a faithless vassal of Assyria, and twice attacked the imperial forces; during the second campaign, in 640, Lygdamis was taken seriously ill and killed himself (according to Strabo, 1.3.21, he died in Cilicia), being succeeded by his son Sa-an-dak-KUR-ru (Thompson, 1933, pp. 88-89; idem, 1940, pp. 106-07 no. 33 l. 10-11, 109 no. 35 ll. 6-12; Millard, pp. 109-10; Cogan and Tadmor, pp. 80-81, 84; Spalinger, p. 407).
In the 630s or 620s b.c.e. the Scythian king Madyes defeated the Treres (Strabo, 1.3.21), probably in eastern Anatolia, and at the end of the 7th or beginning of the 6th century the Lydian king Alyattes defeated the Cimmerians (Herodotus, 1.16; Polyaenus, 7.2.1), after which nothing more was heard of them.
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P. K. Uslar, Drevneĭshie skazaniya o Kavkaze, Tiflis, 1881.
Yu. G. Vinogradov, “Polis v Severnom Prichernomor’e,” in Antichnaya Gretsiya I, Moscow, 1983, pp. 366-420.
F. Wehrli, Die Schule des Aristoteles VII. Herakleides Pontikos, Basel, 1953.
C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period, New Haven, Conn., 1934.
(Sergei R. Tokhtas’ev)
Originally Published: December 15, 1991
Last Updated: October 20, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. V, Fasc. 6, pp. 563-567 | <urn:uuid:f0295a22-3da0-4429-ba88-933f87b11ba5> | {
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Economic Tools for Marine Protected Areas
01 June 2008 | News story
From 26-30 May 2008, the IUCN Regional Office for Oceania, Coral Reef Initiatives for the South Pacific (CRISP) and the Secretariat of the Pacfic Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) hosted a regional workshop on the use of economic tools for supporting the design and management of marine protected areas (MPAs).
The aim of the workshop was to share information and discuss how economic tools could be incorporated into the various stages of Pacific MPA design and management.
Presentations were given on a range of topics including the use of contingent valuation techniques to assess the non-use value of marine resources in Fiji, the use of input-output analysis to assess the local economic impact of the creation of protected areas in New South Wales, the design of a payment system for ecosystem services for MPAs in Vietnam, the cost of Pacific locally managed marine areas (LMMAs), the use of cost-benefit analysis for natural resource management decision-making and the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (Kiribati) endowment financing scheme.
The last day of the workshop was dedicated to identifying around a dozen case studies in Pacific island countries, where economic tools can be applied and tested for informing marine managed area design and management. Funding from CRISP, IUCN and SPREP will be used to develop partnerships for carrying out the proposed case studies which will include a cost-benefit analysis of destructive fishing practices in Kiribati, a cost effectiveness analysis of several management schemes for the LMMA network in the region and a cost-benefit analysis of alternative MMA management models in Vanuatu.
During the workshop, the lack of trained resource economists in the region was identified as one constraint to carrying out economic analysis to support the design and management of MMAs in the Pacific on a wider scale. As a result most economics work in this area to date has relied on outside expertise. Participants identified a number channels for addressing this issue including: direct capacity building exercises, promoting partnerships between outside and local experts in carrying out the proposed case studies, and providing incentives to regional economists to apply their skills to MMA issues.
The workshop was attended by key stakeholders involved in economics and marine conservation in the Pacific from organizations including Conservation International, Foundation for Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI), Institut de recherche pour le developpement (IRD), Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), Secretariat of the Pacific Commmunity (SPC), University of the South Pacific (USP), the World Fish Centre and the World Bank, as well as government officials from Australia and New Caledonia. | <urn:uuid:9cb593c2-44b5-4e34-9139-c7f1f14c54df> | {
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Light Behind the Fall: Japan’s Electricity Consumption, the Environment, and Economic Growth
By Vaclav Smil
The phenomenon is unmistakable (albeit largely unnoticed), and the contrast lends itself to all kinds of symbolic interpretations: Japan’s unending retreat from being a highly respected polity and economic powerhouse, widely expected to become the 21st century’s global ichiban, has entered troubled waters. As a result of that downward economic trend, whose beginning was signaled by the collapse of the Nikkei index in 1990, Japan’s GDP managed the real (inflation-adjusted) annual growth of just 1.1% between 1991 and 2006, while during the preceding 15 years the country’s GDP had nearly doubled. But this long-lasting economic and social malaise has been accompanied by a substantial (17%) increase in Japan’s primary energy consumption. This is remarkable because pre-1990 Japan was the world’s most consistently, and most admirably, energy-efficient economy that had always managed to do with relatively less energy.
Overall efficiency of Japan’s energy conversion (usually measured as the amount of primary commercial energy used to generate a unit of GDP) was high before the first OPEC oil price crisis in 1973-74, when the Western nations were wasting energy with abandon. During the early 1970s it took about twice as much energy to produce a dollar of GDP in the US as it did in Japan. And when Europe and North America belatedly embarked on unprecedented energy conservation programs during the late 1970s, they found that the already frugal Japan was becoming even more energy-parsimonious. This great energy conservation drive was going strong through 1985, when OPEC’s hold on the global oil market collapsed and oil prices fell from the historic high of nearly $40 in 1981 to less than $10; its effects would linger through the 1980s. By 1990 the US needed about 30% less energy to produce a dollar of GDP than it did in 1974—but Japan had lowered the average energy of its economy by another 35%. Consequently, despite the pronounced appreciation of its currency (by 1990 the purchasing power parity was ¥193/US$), Japan was thus even further ahead of the US in energy conservation than it had been before the first oil price crises of the early 1970s.
But then an unexpected reversal took place. Between 1990 and 2005, the energy intensity of the US economy (using inflation-adjusted monies) fell by another 12%, but the energy intensity of the Japanese economy first stagnated and then, by the year 2000, was actually about 6% above the 1990 value. By the year 2005 it was still about 3% higher. A closer look at the reasons for this reversal shows two surprising factors. First, Japan’s fabulous industrial energy conservation machine had seized up (Fig. 1). Energy intensities (that is, energy used per unit value of product) of all major industries—after falling by 20-50% between 1973 and the late 1980s—had reached their lowest levels between 1988 and 1990, and had risen and stagnated afterwards: By the year 2000, the energy intensity for the iron and steel industry, manufacturing, and ceramics were about 12%, 15%, and 17% above the 1989 level respectively.
Fig. 1. Energy intensities of Japan’s major industries
Why did this happen? Fig. 1 clearly indicates that the rate of improvement was already considerably lower during the late 1980s than it had been during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and hence it would have been unrealistic to expect further large efficiency gains during the 1990s. This sequence is universal: the least expensive, technically the easiest or the most rewarding energy conservation measures (“low-hanging fruit” in the engineering parlance) are taken first, and subsequent improvements depend much more on the cost of energy: During the 1990s, world oil prices remained stable and low, discouraging more expensive conservation measures. But this does not explain the post-1990 reversals of industrial energy intensity trends. Those are attributable to several concurrent trends.
First, as large numbers of more efficient energy converters and processes that were installed before 1990 began to age, their performance began to deteriorate. Assiduous maintenance and upgrading can prevent such deterioration, but in many cases these steps were not taken because companies were short of funds as they faced contracting markets and foreign competition, or as they channeled their investment into setting up new facilities overseas (especially in China) and neglected the domestic infrastructure. Contraction and stagnation of the Japanese economy and foreign competition also meant that many industries began to use their assets less intensively, and lower utilization capacities often translate into higher energy (and monetary) costs per unit of production. Finally, some industries tried to stay competitive by concentrating on production of higher-quality items that are often much more energy-intensive than the mass produced varieties that now come increasingly from China and India (stainless steel vs. ordinary sheet steel; composite materials vs. ordinary ceramics).
The second reason was that Japanese citizens—after generations of relatively frugal living—had finally began to spend more on their interior environment, and nowhere has this increase been clearer than in the rising consumption of electricity. Between 1990 and 2005, Japan’s generation of electricity rose by about 33% in absolute, and by about 28% in per capita terms—but per capita residential electricity consumption rose by about 45%, to roughly 2,200 kWh/year. This was by far the fastest increase in using any form of residential energy: Between 1990 and 2005, consumption of liquid fuels (dominated by kerosene for heating) barely changed (going up by less than 3%), and the combustion of natural gas (for cooking and heating) went up by less than a quarter. Japan’s excellent surveys of the ownership of household electricity converters explain the reasons for this rise (Table 1).
Table 1. Ownership of household electric converters (units/1,000 households)
Between 1990 and 2005 the ownership of automatic washing machines tripled; installation of room air conditioners more than doubled; there were 50% more stereos, about 40% more VCRs, 20% more large refrigerators (with the volume in excess of 300 liters), and about 10% more color TVs. Moreover, in 2005, virtually every household had a personal computer, and nearly a fifth of them had a dishwasher, items that were relatively rare in 1990. And Japanese bought more lights: Between 1990 and 2005, the average consumption of electricity for residential lighting went up by about 50%, to nearly 300 kWh/year/capita or nearly 950 kWh/household; this was still slightly less than half of the average U.S. household rate, but more than 20% higher than that of Germany, 30% higher than that of the UK, and twice as high as that of France.
Consequently, it would seem that Japanese homes are increasingly filled with electric (and electronic) gadgets. The fact that they still have fewer lights per household than the three largest European economies—17, compared to 18.5 in France, 20.1 in the UK and 30.3 in Germany (the U.S. mean is 43)—is not a useful comparative metric. Japanese lights are far more efficient than those in other affluent countries, because 95% of them are fluorescent lights—mostly the tubes that produce up to 95 lumens of light per watt compared to just 10-15 lumens per watt (lm/W) for standard incandescent bulbs. In contrast, only about 45% of Europe’s lights and 35% of U.S. lights are either linear or compact fluorescents (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Shares of different lights in 2005
Consequently, the proper indicator of lighting intensity is the actual quantity of illumination, the amount of lumens available per unit of household area. In Japan (using the average household area of 95 m2), this rate is about 515 lm/m2 compared to 315 lm/m2 in the U.S. and 450 lm/m2 in Germany: High lighting efficiency and the relatively small area of Japanese dwellings more than compensate for a significantly smaller number of lights in Japanese homes (Table 2). But it is by no means clear to what side of an international comparative ledger this primacy belongs.
Table 2. Residential lighting in Japan, USA and Germany (2005)
On one hand, light usage in Japan points to strongly collective Japanese behavior and exemplary frugality (95% use efficient fluorescent lights), traits that other nations would find useful in their effort to lessen the impact of modern civilization on the global environment; on the other hand, standard linear fluorescent lights are neither the most spectrally-optimized nor beautiful sources of illumination, and hence their near-universal usage can be seen as a sign of relative impoverishment and, as is so often the case in Japan, as yet another inexplicable acceptance of bad taste in a culture that is so devoted to beautiful design.
And the Japanese, people with an even greater chronic sleep deficit than Americans, keep their fluorescent tubes and compacts lit much longer than do people in any other affluent nation, averaging about 3.4 hours a day per light, compared to 1.9 hours in the U.S., 1.5 hours in Germany and a mere hour in France. In a search for specific factors that would explain this significant difference I suggest three realities, none of them unique to Japan but all of them quite pronounced in that country. The first factor that contributes to longer use of electric lights is Japan’s ubiquitous long-distance commuting that often starts and ends in darkness. Consequences of the chronic cumulative sleep deficit induced by this practice are well illustrated by a recent survey by InfoPlant market research: two-thirds of males and 71% of females sleep when riding a train.
The second factor is a sleep pattern common among Japanese high-school students: napping (inemuri) during the late afternoon and then studying late at night and into the early morning. Steger concluded that “regardless of possible considerations of whether it makes sense, this rhythm seems to be a set sleeping pattern for students in general, and in particular for high-school students preparing for exams. Since everyone follows a similar rhythm, it is difficult for an individual to change or even seriously question it.” Finally, there is a traditional Japanese arrangement of infants and small children sleeping with the parents, who are readily accessible to children during waking episodes: this practice obviously leads to more light-switching at night, besides making yonaki, sleep-related nighttime crying, more common and a matter of concern for the country’s pediatricians.
There is little doubt that the Japanese would illuminate their households even more if electricity prices were lower. Japan’s national electricity market was expanded in 2005, but (unlike in many other countries) large (and vertically integrated) utility companies (dominated by the giant Tokyo Electric) do not allow their customers to switch to other suppliers. Even so, the mere threat of further market reforms has helped to reduce electricity prices, albeit only modestly: Between 2000 and 2005 they fell by about 5%. For decades the combination of increasing intensity of outdoor lighting and high densities of Japan’s residential and industrial areas, and of the country’s transportation corridors, has created large bright patches of light across large parts of the archipelago seen on nighttime satellite images (Fig. 3). Good news is that, regardless of what is going on in the outside world, there is now also considerably more light inside the Japanese homes.
Fig. 3. Nighttime satellite image of Japan’s lights superimposed on a
daylight satellite image of the archipelago and its eastern neighbors.
Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor, University of Manitoba, Canada. His interdisciplinary research has roamed broadly over issues of environment, energy, food, population, economics, and policy studies. He wrote this article for Japan Focus. Published on April 2, 2007.
His article “Japan and China: The Next Fifty Years,” is available from Japan Focus. He can be reached via email and his homepage.
1. Calculated from annual data series in: Statistics Bureau. Japan Statistical Yearbook. Tokyo: Statistics Bureau. The most recent volume is online: www.stat.go.jp/english/data/nenkan.
2. I dealt with various consequences of that transformation in: Smil, V. 2006. Japan and China: The next fifty years. Japan Focus Summer 2006: www.japanfocus.org/products/details/2213.
3. See, among many others: Smil, V. 1987. Energy Food Environment: Realities, Myths, Options. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Smil, V. 1992. How efficient is Japan’s energy use? Current Politics and Economics of Japan 2(3/4): 315-327.
4. I have used purchasing power parity, rather than official exchange rate, to calculate the Japanese value from official energy and GDP statistics.
5. For the US data see: Energy Information Administration. 2007. Energy consumption, expenditures, and emissions indicators, 1949-2005. Available online: www.iea.doe.gov/emeu/aer/txt/ptb0105.html. For the Japanese data see: The Energy Conservation Center. 2006. Handbook of Energy & Economic Statistics in Japan. Tokyo: The Energy Conservation Center.
6. Energy Conservation Center Japan. 2007. Japan Energy Conservation Handbook. Tokyo: ECCJ.
7. Statistics Bureau. 2007. Japan Statistical Yearbook 2007. Tokyo: Statistics Bureau.
8. Compiled from data in 2007 and 1992 editions of Japan Statistical Yearbook.
9. Waide, P. 2006. Light’s Labour’s Lost: Policies for Energy-efficient Lighting. Paris: International Energy Agency. Available online: www.iea.org/Textbase/work/2007/cfl/Waide.pdf.
10. Improvements in the efficacy of electric lights are traced in detail in: Smil, V. 2005. Creating the 20th Century: Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact. New York: Oxford University Press; Smil, V. 2003. Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Compiled and calculated from data in Waide , Japan Statistical Yearbook and Statistical Abstract of the United States.
11. Even in sub-Arctic Sweden with short winter days the average usage is only 1.35 hours/lamp.
12. Trains are the Japanese second bedroom. What Japan Thinks, 7 December 2005. Available online: whatjapanthinks.com/2005/12/07/trains-are-the-japaneses-second-bedroom
13. Steger, B. 2006. Sleeping through class to success: Japanese notions of time and diligence. Time & Society 15(2-3): 197-215. If you have electronic access to Time & Society, I highly recommend this illuminating analysis.
14. Fukumizu, M. et al. Sleep-related nighttime crying (yonaki) in Japan: A community-based study. Pediatrics 115 (1): 217-224.
15. Sioshansi, F.P. and W. Pfaffenberger, eds. 2006. Electricity Market Reform: An International Perspective. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
16. The image is available at: Kitamoto, A. 2007. Earth in the Night: Nighttime Lights of the World Data by DMSP Satellites. Tokyo: National Institute of Informatics: agora.ex.nii.ac.jp/~kitamoto/research/rs/world-lights.html.en | <urn:uuid:241e6d3e-5708-4bc8-b71d-db191d57db72> | {
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With a rash of media reports of bear sightings across North Carolina, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is reminding residents not to panic and to remain calm if they see a black bear. Bears are not inherently dangerous and seeing a bear can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for residents to appreciate from a safe distance.
It is not uncommon to see a black bear in spring in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Juvenile bears (1-2 years old) are dispersing from their den’s home area, while adult bears can roam extensively searching for food and mates.
Juvenile bears may look small — in fact, some people refer to them as cubs — but they are not cubs and are well-equipped to live on their own.
Sometimes a young bear finds its way accidentally into a town when the natural corridor, river or drainage ditch it is traveling on leads into a town. This often happens at night, when human activity is low and vehicle traffic is light.
However, at daybreak the bear finds itself in the middle of increasing human activities. If left alone by the public, most young transient bears will find their way quickly back out of the town and to their natural habitat.
Residents are urged not to approach or follow bears, and to use caution when driving in areas where bears have been sighted. Commission biologists monitor these situations to determine if any action is needed to protect the animal.
If a bear is in a tree, residents are urged to clear the area and allow the bear to come down on its own and move on. A bear climbs a tree because it feels threatened by cars and people. It will come down after it no longer feels threatened, usually at night.
The Commission is cautioning people to not feed bears that wander into yards, parks, onto sidewalks or into other residential areas. Feeding a bear rewards it for coming near people and their homes, which increases the likelihood that the bear will approach again.
While black bears are rarely aggressive toward people, they can become bold when they grow accustomed to feeding on human-provided foods, such as pet foods, garbage and bird seed. When this happens, black bears can lose their fear of humans.
When reported to the Commission, interactions between humans and bears are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. However, the Commission does not normally relocate bears. Bears that wander into urban or suburban settings and seek refuge in trees will most likely leave the area on their own.
Relocation of bears is rarely needed because:
- Most conflicts do not warrant trapping. For example, a bear simply wandering into a suburban area is not necessarily a safety issue. Bears can move long distances during dispersal, and it’s likely the animal will move on if left alone. The process of trapping and relocating bears is difficult, and can be more dangerous for the bear, the public, and those involved than letting the bear leave the area on its own. Bears are more likely to injure themselves, or threaten humans, during the course of trapping and relocation.
- Simply catching every bear that someone sees is not an option because there are few remote areas of the state remaining in which to relocate bears where they will not come into contact with humans.
- Relocated bears often return to the place they were originally captured.
- In many cases, food attractants are the source of the problem. The best long-term solution involves removal of attractants (bird feeders, unsecured garbage) rather than removal of the bear.
- Trapping and relocating bears attracted by food would simply move the problem, rather than solve it. The solution is to modify your habits and prevent bears from being attracted to your home.
Residents can avoid problems by:
- Securing bags of trash inside cans stored in a garage, basement or other secure area, and placing the cans outside, as late as possible, on trash pick-up days — not the night before.
- Purchasing bear-proof garbage cans or bear proofing your existing garbage container with a secure latching system.
- Discontinuing the feeding of wild birds during spring and summer, even with feeders advertised as “bear-proof.” Bears are still attracted to seed that spills on the ground.
- Avoiding “free feeding” pets outdoors. If you must feed pets outdoors, make sure all food is consumed and empty bowls are removed.
- Cleaning all food and grease from barbecue grills after each use. Bears are attracted to food odors and may investigate.
For more information and more tips on black bears in North Carolina, read “Coexisting With Bears” at www.ncwildlife.org. | <urn:uuid:a26e5173-dc86-4d6c-ad50-ff475f76b820> | {
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Many ideologies have passed over the Mediterranean Sea on their way to the Arab world, and each time a new ideology arrived, many thought that it would be the ideology, with a capital ‘I’ that would unite, organize, form and lead the Arab world into European-style modernity. The nationalism (loyalty of the individual to his ethnic group) that was awakened in Europe after the “Spring of Nations” (1848) was known as “Komiya” – patriotism, in the Arab world, which is expressed by connection and loyalty to the homeland. Pan-Slavism was transformed into pan-Arabism; European socialism was adopted by the Arab world under the name of “Ba’ath”; Communism was also imported and was known as “Shayoo’aya” and even Nazi ideas that arrived in the years of the thirties took hold among some modern Arab intellectuals. One example is Muhammad Anwar al-Sa’adat, who was head of the Egyptian Nazi movement, and was later to become the president of Egypt.
All of these ideas were buzzing in the public arena in the Middle East within the last hundred years, and observers from outside – mainly the officials of the colonial offices of the British Empire – thought that European modernity had arrived to the Middle East and had settled among its peoples through the modern ideologies that were imported in the mouths and in the pens of those enlightened Arabs who were educated in the Sorbonne, Oxford, Yale and Harvard. On the basis of these ideologies – so the British, French and Italian colonial officials hoped – nation-states would emerge, as happened in Europe, and these nation-states would supply a focal point for identity, social adhesion, and national consciousness for the masses in the Middle East (though nobody asked these people if they at all wished to adopt the social methods and ideologies of the European states).
But this didn’t happen. The masses of the Middle East, for the most part, remained loyal to their tribe, ethnic group, religious group, or sect and rejected all of the ideas that were imported from the West. The cornerstone of Middle Eastern culture was and remains tribal culture, that which Europeans thought it possible to eliminate by means of a few articles in the newspaper or speeches on the radio. Today we address our words to the loyalty of the peoples of the Middle East within their traditional frameworks.
The source of this miserable country’s problems is the fact that the British included within it eleven different ethnic groups: Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Nuristani, Pamiri, Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, and Baloch. These groups share very little in common, because they have different languages, different world views, different customs, different leadership, different goals, and, in short – these peoples are so different from one another that they don’t even speak the same language. It’s also important to note that none of these groups is called “Afghani”. So is it really surprising that this state is a failed state, and that no one manages to stabilize it? Throughout this state’s history, foreigners have tried to bring these ethnic groups together into some kind of basic cooperation, but the experiments have all failed. It is a wonder to me that the world continues to resuscitate this dead political body, which should have been divided into its ethnic parts long ago.
This unfortunate state is torn and divided along four axes:
The ethnic axis – In Iraq there are four ethnic groups: Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, and Persians.
The Tribal Axis – The population in Iraq comprises approximately seventy tribes, each of which functions as if it were an ethnic group. The sons of these tribes do not marry the daughters of another tribe, because they don’t trust them, and therefore also tend not to open a business with another tribe. Each tribe has its own dialect, and in Iraq some of the tribes have their own flag and anthem, which are not connected to the flag and anthem of Iraq.
The Religious Axis – In Iraq there are a large number of religions: Muslim, Christian, a few dozen Jews, Tsavaaim, Mandaean, Zoroastrians, Bahai, Yazidi and more. The Muslims see the members of other religions as heretics.
The Sectarian Axis – The religions are divided: The Muslims are divided into Sunni, Shia, Salafi and Sufi; the Christians have about eight different sects.
Thus, Iraq is “blessed” with all of the four axes of division that are known in the Middle East. Is it a wonder that this state is hemorrhaging?
Because Libya is entirely within the Sahara desert where there is almost no water at all, the population is divided into small tribes; in Libya there are about 140 different tribes. After they succeeded in overthrowing Qadafi, the tribes are now fighting one another.
In Jordan, about one quarter of the population is Bedouin, and three quarters are “Palestinian”, meaning farmers and city people who do not want to be Bedouins and cannot be Bedouins, and therefore they are now trying to split off from the regime, (which anyway is headed by a family that the Saudis threw out ninety years ago) and to establish for themselves an “alternative homeland”, that is, a different Palestine, in addition to that which they hope will arise between the sea and the Jordan River. This is the reason that Jordan’s King Abdullah comes to Washington each month: – primarily to urge President Obama to exert pressure on Israel to establish a Palestinian state in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. If a state such as this will arise, then the King will be able to say to his citizens: “The Palestinian State already exists” and the king will then be able to exile to that Palestinian state anyone in Jordan who speaks of an “alternative homeland”. In this way he hopes to survive on his throne.
About the Author: Dr. Mordechai Kedar (Ph.D. Bar-Ilan U.) Served for 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence specializing in Arab political discourse, Arab mass media, Islamic groups and the Syrian domestic arena. A lecturer in Arabic at Bar-Ilan U., he is also an expert on Israeli Arabs.
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Green Jobs Industry in the 21st Century
In December of 2007, Congress passed a $125 million green collar jobs program. The Green Jobs Act would invest $125 million in green-collar job training programs, and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, which would authorize grants to local communities to help improve their energy efficiency and increase renewable energy.
Colleges and universities are joining the green revolution. Along with greening their campuses with sustainable buildings, better recycling and waste management programs, and a dedication to the conservation of wilderness areas and arboretums, colleges and universities are incorporating green studies into their curriculum. Many schools across the country now have renewable energy programs, solar energy laboratories, sustainable agriculture green chemistry studies, sustainable architecture programs, and ecotourism programs, to name a few.
Across every industry, new job possibilities are emerging for those with the skills ranging from farming to finance, and engineering to ecology. Corporations who once shied away from culpability for their role in creating hazardous wastes and harming the environment are now becoming more "green" conscious. The best thing about the green industry is that many workers - engineers, lab technicians, installation professionals, analysts, scientists - are finding that it is as easy as transitioning from one industry to the next.
With the overwhelming attention paid to the deteriorating environment, and with new government regulations and policies, the Green Jobs industry is burgeoning in the U.S. In a 2007 U.N. reported in preliminary findings that the U.S. environmental industry in 2005 produced more than 5.3 million jobs (ten times the number in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry). According to the American Solar Energy Society, there are 8.5 million jobs in renewable energy or energy-efficient industries. And, according to the Apollo Alliance (a coalition of environmental groups, politicians, and labor unions dedicated to leading the US economy into a renewable energy based economy) there will be 3 to 5 million more green jobs by 2018. | <urn:uuid:9ab2c581-480e-402f-a9c5-bce49e318553> | {
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Unmasking the Purim story Purim celebrates a miraculous salvation that took
place over 2,000 years ago, in the Persian- Median Empire. But its message is as
relevant today as ever.
Purim literally means a lottery, a reference to
the lot that the wicked Haman drew. The name of the holiday implies fate and
chance – the roll of the dice, the luck of the draw.
And at first glance,
the story of Purim appears to be a series of mere coincidences. When reading the
megilah, you get the feeling that the narrative is written like a great piece of
classical literature: Heroes and villains, high drama and suspense, climax and
The fabric of the story is tightly woven. The plot thickens
with all of its twists and turns.
But behind this “storybook drama” lies
something profound. According to Rabbi Joseph B.
Soloveitchik, one of the
lessons of the Purim story is that man is vulnerable. One minute everything is
fine and then suddenly, without warning, the Jewish People across the entire
Persian Empire are confronted with the threat of destruction.
story merely a string of events strung together with no meaning? Is life just a
series of events? Are we merely subject to the whim of an evil tyrant? A pliable
king? Esther is one of the books of our holy Bible, but God is not mentioned,
not even once. According to our tradition, He is hiding. The Talmud (Hullin
139b) asks, “Where is [there an allusion to] Esther in the Torah?” The Talmud
then cites the verse from the Torah’s admonition that speaks of hester panim –
God seemingly hiding His face amidst Jewish suffering – “And I will surely hide
(haster astir) My face from you.”
And yet, there is a tradition that in
the book of Esther, when we read the word ha-Melekh, “the King,” it’s not only a
reference to King Achashverosh, but therein lies an allusion to God, the King of
ON PURIM, we are challenged to see God, the King, in the
narrative; to search for him; to seek him out. He appears to be “hidden,” in the
fabric of this tightly woven tale, but indeed He is pulling the strings from
behind the curtain.
The name of the book itself Megillat Esther, in fact,
can be understood to mean “revealing the hidden.”
But it’s not enough to
see God in the Purim story; we are challenged to find him in the narrative of
our lives: in our trials and tribulations, in the vicissitudes of life; the ups
and downs of our personal lives. And it’s true for our national life as well –
Purim challenges us to see God behind the curtain on the stage of modern history
as it unfolds before our eyes.
Purim is a topsy-turvy day. Everything is
upside down. We hide behind costumes to remind us that to truly see is to peel
back the layers of perception. Some drink in excess to access a deeper reality,
one beyond logic or reason. We recognize that redemption can come in places we
least expect it, and that the plans and schemes of our enemies can be foiled
just as quickly as they were hatched.
Being human, we are limited in our
ability to understand.
Tragic events seem senseless, without a rhyme or
reason. World events can seem confusing, with the future uncertain. On Purim, we
recognize that God’s hand is guiding it all. The King is working behind the
We may not understand all of the twists and turns of the plot,
but we know the Author.
The writer lives and teaches in Jerusalem and is
the author of Mishteh Shimshon on the Laws of Purim. His forthcoming book is Return Again: The Argument for Aliyah. | <urn:uuid:ed8a59f8-f6df-4dd5-8916-17ff25914459> | {
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Mosquitoes are not only an annoying pest to you, your family and pets, they are also transmitters of pathogens and parasites. Some of the common diseases known to be caused by mosquitoes are Filariasis (Heart Worm), Epidemic polyarthritis (Ross River Fever),
Breeding occurs in any stagnant water body so make sure your property does not have water lying around. In order to prevent breeding you should change water weekly in bird baths, stock ponds with fish, make sure your roof gutters drain properly, remove pot plant saucers or fill them with sand, check funnels of bromeliad plants, screen or cover septic and water holding tanks, and keep lawns and other ground vegetation short. Partly emptied swimming pools containing dirty water are very likely to breed mosquitoes so demolish your pool, fill it in or drain it completely if not used. But now they’re back and breeding, possibly in your own back yard and this makes YOU a target for their next bloodmeal. You could also be exposed to viral and parasitic attack.
For more information on Mosquitoes see NSW Health publication ‘Mosquitoes are a Health Hazard’. (Murray Valley Fever). | <urn:uuid:8abcb685-4db5-479d-8e76-673e2a7cd42b> | {
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Syllabification Vocabulary Building Game
Grades 3 - 6. Wonderful interactive and challenging game that will spark writing and spelling activities as well as show how words are made of chunks. The game consists of 100 plastic tiles which include root words, derivatives of root words, prefixes and suffixes. For up to 6 players. Includes word trays and instructions. | <urn:uuid:59d71396-a7c7-4e45-818d-256a7be33ed6> | {
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GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - Dr. Amy Esler from the University of Minnesota joined KARE 11 News at 10:00 to discuss a new study that indicates that older men are more likely than young ones to father a child who develops autism or schizophrenia.
Scientists reported on Wednesday that the link is because of random mutations that become more numerous with advancing paternal age. It is the first study to quantify the effect as it builds each year. The age of mothers had no bearing on the risk for these disorders, the study found.
Experts said that the finding was hardly reason to forgo fatherhood later in life, though it may have some influence on reproductive decisions. The overall risk to a man in his 40s or older is in the range of 2 percent, at most, and there are other contributing biological factors that are entirely unknown.
But the study, published online in the journal Nature, provides support for the argument that the surging rate of autism diagnoses over recent decades is attributable in part to the increasing average age of fathers, which could account for as many as 30 percent of cases.
The findings also counter the long-standing assumption that the age of the mother is the most important factor in determining the odds of a child having developmental problems. The risk of chromosomal abnormalities, like Down syndrome, increases for older mothers, but when it comes to some complex developmental and psychiatric problems, the lion's share of the genetic risk originates in the sperm, not the egg, the study found.
Previous studies had strongly suggested as much, but the new report quantifies that risk for the first time, calculating how much it accumulates each year.
The research team found that the average child born to a 20-year-old father had 25 random mutations that could be traced to paternal genetic material. The number increased steadily by two mutations a year, reaching 65 mutations for offspring of 40-year-old men.
The average number of mutations coming from the mother's side was 15, no matter her age, the study found.
"This study provides some of the first solid scientific evidence for a true increase in the condition" of autism, said Dr. Fred Volkmar, director of the Child Study Center at the Yale School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. "It is extremely well done and the sample meticulously characterized."
The new investigation, led by the Icelandic firm deCODE Genetics, analyzed genetic material taken from blood samples of 78 parent-child trios, focusing on families in which parents with no signs of a mental disorder gave birth to a child who developed autism or schizophrenia. This approach allows scientists to isolate brand-new mutations in the genes of the child that were not present in the parents.
Most people have many of these so-called de novo mutations, which occur spontaneously at or near conception, and a majority of them are harmless. But recent studies suggest that there are several such changes that can sharply increase the risk for autism and possibly schizophrenia - and the more a child has, the more likely he or she is by chance to have one of these rare, disabling ones.
Some difference between the paternal and maternal side is to be expected. Sperm cells divide every 15 days or so, whereas egg cells are relatively stable, and continual copying inevitably leads to errors, in DNA as in life.
Still, when the researchers removed the effect of paternal age, they found no difference in genetic risk between those who had a diagnosis of autism or schizophrenia and a control group of Icelanders who did not. "It is absolutely stunning that the father's age accounted for all this added risk, given the possibility of environmental factors and the diversity of the population," said Dr. Kari Stefansson, the chief executive of deCODE and the study's senior author. "And it's stunning that so little is contributed by the age of the mother."
Dr. Stefansson's co-authors included C. Augustine Kong of deCODE and researchers from the University of Iceland, Aarhus University in Denmark, and the company Illumina Cambridge Ltd.
Dr. Stefansson said that it made sense that de novo mutations would play a significant role in brain disorders. At least 50 percent of active genes play a role in neural development, so that random glitches are more likely to affect the brain than other organs, which have less exposure.
In the end, these kinds of mutations may account for 15 to 30 percent of cases of autism, and perhaps schizophrenia, some experts said. The remainder is likely a result of inherited genetic mutations and environmental factors that are the subjects of numerous studies.
Dr. Stefansson and other experts said that an increase in the average age of fathers has most likely led to more cases of autism. Unlike other theories proposed to explain the increase, like vaccinations, it is backed by evidence that scientists agree is solid.
But this by itself hardly explains the overall increase in diagnoses, at least in the United States. The birthrate of fathers age 40 and older has increased by more than 30 percent since 1980, according to government figures, but the diagnosis rate has jumped tenfold, to 1 in 88 8-year-olds in the most recent government survey.
And it is not clear whether the rate of schizophrenia diagnosis has increased at all in that time.
Nonetheless, if these study findings hold up and extend to other brain disorders, wrote Alexey Kondrashov, of the University of Michigan, in an editorial accompanying the study, "then collecting the sperm of young adult men and cold-storing it for later use could be a wise individual decision."
That very much depends on the individual, of course. "You are going to have guys who look at this and say, 'Oh no, you mean I have to have all my kids when I'm 20 and stupid?' " said Evan E. Eichler, a professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. "Well, of course not. You have to understand that the vast majority of these mutations have no consequences, and that there are tons of guys in their 50s who have healthy children."
This story, "Father's Age Is Linked to Risk of Autism and Schizophrenia," originally appeared in The New York Times.
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Death of a Visionary
February 16, 1950: Jesse Clyde Nichols, who developed the Country Club Plaza and many housing developments throughout Kansas City, dies just six months before his 70th birthday at his Kansas City home.
Jesse Clyde Nichols died on February 16, 1950, after a three-month battle with lung cancer. The news about the famed real estate developer’s death quickly spread across the nation and even much of the world. Some 2,000 people attended his funeral at the Country Club Christian Church, where Pastor Warren Grafton, in his eulogy, explained that the best memorial was to simply look around the city and see the influence of J. C. Nichols.
Nichols was born in 1880 in Olathe, Kansas. Always a hard worker, he began selling small homes in his early twenties. In 1905 Nichols embarked on his first real estate development, which he called the Country Club District. It comprised just 10 acres in 1905, but four years later it encompassed 1,000 acres.
What brought Nichols national renown was not the scale of his developments, but the potential permanence of his developments. The top priority was to protect the beauty and character of residential areas through what eventually became known as city planning.
In city planning, private or public leaders would create long-term plans for the location and character of shopping districts, residential areas, transportation networks, and heavy industry. Zoning regulations, among the first in the nation, legally limited certain areas to residential, industrial, or commercial development.
Neighborhood covenants required the proper maintenance of homes and landscapes. Homeowner associations in each neighborhood would permanently control the covenant regulations. Carefully planned parks, attractive roads, and suburban shopping districts could enhance the value of the homes around them. Nichols demonstrated this with the Country Club Plaza shopping center, which combined some elements of all three.
Less celebrated by modern standards were deed restrictions that limited what sort of people could purchase property in a given neighborhood. The resulting racial discrimination barred minorities from the Country Club District, even if they could have afforded the expensive homes. At the time, discrimination against racial or religious minorities was both legal and common throughout the nation. As a result of high property values and demographic trends, the racial makeup of the Country Club District is still largely white even though legal housing discrimination ended in the 1960s.
The criticisms of Nichols notwithstanding, Pastor Grafton’s adage still holds true half a century after Nichols’s death. In addition to most of the southwestern portion of Kansas City, Missouri, observers today can see grand monuments that Nichols influenced or inspired. The J. C. Nichols Memorial Fountain, J. C. Nichols Parkway, and the Reece & Nichols real estate company bear his name.
He was a critical leader in the creation of the Midwest Research Institute, the Kansas City Art Institute, the Liberty Memorial, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Country Club Plaza, and the North American Aviation aircraft plant that paved the way for the General Motors Fairfax Plant that stands at the same location. Decades after his death, his accomplishments continue to pay dividends to Kansas City.
Read biographical sketches of J. C. Nichols and his associates, prepared by the Missouri Valley Special Collections, The Kansas City Public Library.
- Biography of J. C. Nichols (1880-1950), Real Estate Developer, by Susan Jezak Ford, 2003
- Biography of Edward Buehler Delk, (1885-1956), Architect; the chief architect of the Plaza, by Susan Jezak Ford, 1999
- Biography of George E. Kessler (1862-1923), Landscape Architect; assisted with the overall layout of the Plaza and streets, by Susan Jezak Ford, 2003
- Biography of Edward W. Tanner (1896-1974), Architect; designed most of the early Plaza buildings, by Susan Jezak Ford, 2003.
- Biography of Sid J. (1860-1938) and S. Herbert Hare (?-1960), Landscape Architects; designed much of the Country Club District, by Daniel Coleman, 2008
View images of J. C. Nichols and related items that are a part of the Missouri Valley Special Collections.
- Map of the Country Club District, 1917
- J. C. Nichols Memorial Fountain
- Portrait of J. C. Nichols
- Country Club Plaza, 1940
- Garden at the J. C. Nichols residence
- Postcard of a rustic bridge and spirea in bloom in Mission Hills Kansas; used by J. C. Nichols to promote real estate
- Postcard of a Rustic Bridge in Rockhill Park; one of J. C. Nichols’s first real estate developments
Check out the following books about J.C. Nichols.
- The J. C. Nichols Chronicle: The Authorized Story of the Man, His Company, and His Legacy, 1880-1994, by Robert Pearson and Brad Pearson; funded by the J. C. Nichols Company and the Nichols family, offers the most complete biography of Nichols and a narrative of his accomplishments
- J. C. Nichols and the Shaping of Kansas City: Innovation in Planned Residential Communities, by William S. Worley; examines the impact of J. C. Nichols on Kansas City, includes some comparisons to other cities
- J. C. Nichols and the Origins of the Planned Residential Community in the United States, 1903-1930, by William S. Worley; how J. C. Nichols spurred national real estate trends
- The Building and Selling of Homes, by Jesse Clyde Nichols; manuscript of a speech that described his theories on real estate development
View the documentary, Community Builder: The Life & Legacy of J.C. Nichols, by Steven C. F. Anderson and Brian Peter Falk, Kansas City Public Television.
Continue researching J. C. Nichols using archival material.
- Vertical Files: Country Club District, the Missouri Valley Special Collections
- Vertical File: Nichols, J. C. Company, Missouri Valley Special Collections
- Vertical File: Fountains--Nichols, J. C., Missouri Valley Special Collections
- Vertical File: J.C. Nichols Investment Company, Missouri Valley Special Collections
- Vertical File: Nichols, Jesse Clyde, Missouri Valley Special Collections
- J. C. Nichols Collection (SC48), Missouri Valley Special Collections
- J. C. Nichols Company Records, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Kansas City
By Jason Roe, graduate student, Department of History, University of Kansas
Christensen, Lawrence O. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999.
Ford, Susan Jezak. Biography of J. C. Nichols (1880-1950), Real Estate Developer. Missouri Valley Special Collections, 2003.
Pearson, Robert and Brad Pearson. The J. C. Nichols Chronicle: The Authorized Story of the Man, His Company, and His Legacy, 1880-1994. Kansas City, MO: Country Club Plaza Press, 1994.
Worley, William S. J. C. Nichols and the Shaping of Kansas City: Innovation in Planned Residential Communities. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1990. | <urn:uuid:0c6f8c8e-49ec-4cfa-aad8-fe13857a9ace> | {
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The Mormon Passage through Missouri
In 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued the "Order of Extermination" that ordered the killing or removal of Mormons residing in Missouri—initiating an exodus of Latter-day Saints. Though there seems to be no historical evidence that Missouri carried out these threats, the order spurred Mormons to leave the state in search of friendlier territory.
Over time, the Order of Extermination has become a symbol of violence and discrimination against Mormons, resulting in a distortion of what historical evidence suggests actually happened: emigration and eventual prosperity, not mass extermination, from 1838 to 1869.
Fred E. Woods sheds new light on this 30-year period of Mormon history on Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St. His presentation will reveal that Mormons used Missouri as an outfitting post to travel west by wagon to their promised land—in spite of the Order of Extermination—until the arrival of the transcontinental railroad.
Woods is associate professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, where he currently holds the Richard L. Evans Chair for Religious Understanding.
This presentation is part of the Missouri Valley Speakers Series, a program of the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Central Library. The series is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Admission is free. Click here or call 816.701.3407 to RSVP. Free parking is available in the Library District Parking Garage located at 10th and Baltimore. | <urn:uuid:b782aa61-4a89-4453-8461-33735461031a> | {
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It's October. Welcome to 425+ years of Filipino American History. While reflecting on our community's legacies and connections to this land, we shed light on just how deeply this story is woven into the story of food and agricultural systems. This is true whether talking about the first Filipinos in the bayous, Alaskeros in the salmon canneries, to the struggles of farmworkers for dignity. That history, that story of connection, isn't over yet.
Last week, I was invited to lead a seeds lesson to 2nd and 3rd grade classes. While preparing the lesson, I felt surprisingly nervous, more than if I was going to address a room full of young adults. I knew this wouldn't be the time to get into topics like Monsanto and agribusiness, the benefits of sustainable farming, seedsaving, or the current debate around the right to know campaign on GMO foods.
How do you get to what a seed really is? How to touch its essence, and not define it by the complex issues surrounding it? This felt like turning a novel - a whole library, really - into a haiku.
So when I entered the classroom and faced 20 pairs of friendly eyes, I asked them to close those eyes for a minute and imagine a world without plants. To really imagine it. What would that world look like, smell like, be like? When they opened their eyes, they shared some of their ideas.
We couldn't breathe any air, said one girl. Everything would be dry and nothing would be green, added a boy. There would be no flowers. There would be nothing for us or the animals to eat. (Later, we talked about how even our clothes are from plants - many of us were wearing cotton). I heard this one repeated often: we need the plants to make our earth more beautiful.
I asked them who could tell us what a seed is, what it does. "A seed is the part of the plant that grows into another plant." And what does a seed need to grow? So many eager hands shot up. They knew: air, water, space, good dirt, and sunlight.
We talked about the seeds we knew and loved to eat. They named fruits like kiwi, and dishes like refried beans and rice. Jars full of seeds to smell and touch were passed around the circle, full of red rice grains, millet, multicolored heirloom corn, bright lentils and whole, sweet-smelling vanilla pods.
At the end of the day, reorganizing the little jars of seeds, I couldn't help but think about the adult world outside this school classroom. How we get ourselves so confused at times. It's trite, but talking with the very young is perhaps the most potent reminder of what adults need to be reminded of. There is so much noise we either cut through or get caught in. I wondered:
To the boy who answered that seeds are the things that grow into other plants - what would he think if he later learns that some seeds have been engineered so the plants do not produce viable seeds?
To the kids who said seeds simply need good dirt, sunlight, space, water and clean air - what would they think about agriculture that leans on artificial fertilizers and pesticides, and poisons people and those very things needed to survive?
The truth is that if we do not shift course from where things are now, in a major way, that reality will continue and is exactly what they will inherit. The youngest and most vulnerable of our society see and know the simple truths. We owe the best we can do to restore and protect the promise of seeds.
More on Seeds: | <urn:uuid:7785081c-c250-448d-a7ec-65956ffd4b01> | {
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Posted: Oct 5, 2010 12:27 PM by (CC)
Updated: Oct 5, 2010 8:56 PM
An experimental brain cancer vaccine has been found to nearly double the life expectancy of some patients with the most aggressive form of the disease.
Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer that usually claims its victims within 15 months after diagnosis, but patients in a clinical trial at Duke University are beating the odds.
"one of the most amazing things we've seen with this vaccine is several of our patients have now lived over 5 years from their time of diagnosis," said Dr. John Sampson of Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University.
The vaccine targets a genetic mutation that fuels about a third of glioblastomas, but those mutations are also found in other cancers, which has some wondering whether the vaccine could do more.
" I think there's good evidence that it will. This particular mutation that it targets in a highly specific way is actually present in a number of other cancers," said Dr. Sampson.
The next step in the research is to launch a study that compares patients on the vaccine with those on a placebo.
Doctors say it is going to be very difficult to find sick people willing to chance not getting the treatment when they see how well patients in the small, experimental studies are doing.
Those on the vaccine also went an average of 14 months before their disease progressed, compared with more than 6 months for other patients.
There were no side effects related to the vaccine. | <urn:uuid:6416002b-385f-4723-b172-4ee3ce7a0c06> | {
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Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) is found in most shampoos and toothpaste. It is a known skin irritant and is absorbed through the skin and retained in the heart, liver and brain for long periods of time. It can cause damage to the eyes, even when absorbed through the skin. Exposure can Lead to coughing, headaches, nausea and vomiting. It is an ingredient of great concern for scientists, especially when children are exposed to it. Oddly, Skin Deep only rates this ingredient a 3.
Sodium Laureth Sulphate(SLES) is a milder version of SLS with an added ether chain and is regularly found in cleansers and shampoos. It is added to thicken and give a richer consistency. It can cause skin irritation, and should be kept away from children.
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate(ALS) is also commonly used in shampoos and cleansers. It can irritate eyes, skin and lungs but is much milder and safer than SLS. The Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database rates this ingredient 1-2.
Sodium Lauryl Sulphoacetate(SLSA) sounds very similar to Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, and its very easy for one to draw the conclusion that its equally bad for the body. In fact that is not the case - the two are very different. Sodium Lauryl Sulphoacetate is a very mild foaming agent and has a Hazard Ranking of 1 (low hazard) in the Skin Deep database. It is derived from coconut and palm oils and creates a rich lather that can easily be rinsed away. Its molecular size is considerably larger than SLS - it is too large to penetrate the skin, unlike the much smaller SLS molecular that does penetrate the skin and Lead to skin irritations and other problems.
All of the above are anionic surfactants (or wetting agents) which are used to lower the surface tension of water. | <urn:uuid:9860b15b-7dea-45c0-9bf0-51a5c7e7fd11> | {
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Students create puppet theatre based on a study of Greek mythology.
Breathing Life Into Myths
Program Summary A language arts teacher draws on puppetry techniques and help from her school’s theatre teacher to engage her sixth-graders in exploring Greek myths.
The Integrated Instruction
HELEN SCHELL, 6th-Grade Language Arts Teacher I’m trying to immerse the children in the idea that mythology and Greek culture permeate our day-to-day life. I chose puppets because any time I plan a curriculum for the kids, my first thought is “How can I draw them in?” We’re working with art, we’re working with theatre, we’re working with history, and obviously, we’re working with language arts and writing.
JENNIFER LARSON, Theatre Teacher The way I worked with Helen Schell is very typical of what we do here. It started out as a passing in the hallway and that turned into a scheduled meeting. Initially we swapped ideas, and then I tried to stay a part of the process throughout. When the mythology scripts reached the level of production I went in and served as an advisor, working with Helen to get the kids to add some theatrics to the project, and doing some critiquing. | <urn:uuid:30069e5f-77e3-4ed6-98d8-20a84550c489> | {
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Lesson plans for teaching organization
A collection of LEARN NC's lesson plans for teaching organization, the second of the five features of effective writing.
- Getting Paragraphing Down P.A.T.
- One way to remember when to indent and begin a new paragraph is when (P) the place changes, (A) the action changes, and (T) the time changes (P-A-T). In this lesson, students will learn how to identify appropriate places to indent new paragraphs in their writing.
- Great beginnings
- Good beginnings hook readers and make them want to continue reading. Students will learn the features of good beginnings by reading the beginnings of several narrative picture books, and then writing good beginnings for their own narratives.
- Great endings
- Sometimes authors end their stories with a memory, a feeling, a wish, or a hope. Other times they end the story by referring back to the language of the beginning. In this lesson, students will examine the characteristics of good endings by reading good endings of narrative picture books. They will then practice writing good endings for their own narratives.
- Little Bit ? BIG BIT ? Little Bit
- This lesson helps students who tend to jump right in and tell their entire story in the first few sentences and then struggle to complete their story. Students will learn to start and end their stories with just a “Little Bit” about the setup and closure of the story.
- Meanwhile - Transition Words that Connect Ideas
- Students will identify transition words in picturebooks that they can use in their own writing. Transition words are the glue that holds sentences and paragraphs together. They signal that this is a new part of the story.
- Transition Words and Phrases
- Students will learn to combine sentences using two kinds of transition words: time transitions and thought (logical) transitions. Transition words link related ideas and hold them together. They can help the parts of a narrative to be coherent or work together to tell the story. Coherence means all parts of a narrative link together to move the story along. Think of transition words as the glue that holds a story together. Using transition words helps avoid the “Listing” problem in stories.
- Cause and effect writing: What it looks like and who reads it
- Students examine the causes and effects presented in a brochure called “Ozone: The Good and the Bad.” They also examine the language of the brochure with regard to audience appropriateness. Students then write their own brochures examine their classmates’ brochures for cause and effect and for audience appropriateness.
- Helping Students Understand Text Structures: Informational Problem/Solution
- This exercise teaches students to understand the organizational structure of problem/solution essays by having them write “what it says” and “what it does” statements about a text. Asking students to write these statements about a text will enable students to read the text closely and will ensure that they understand the structure of a problem/solution text.
- Examining effective openers and closures in writings
- Students will listen to a reading of Dr. Seuss’ and Jack Prelutsky’s Hooray for Difendoofer Day! Students will then work cooperatively to edit one another’s rough drafts of analytical essay, focusing on openers and closures.
- Practicing Elaboration in a Problem/Solution Essay
- One theory suggests that students tend to list in an essay because they lack the tools to elaborate. Because they do not have the strategies, they attempt to fill up the empty space by introducing new primary ideas instead of fleshing out the ideas they have already presented. This activity attempts to make students aware of the need to elaborate and to provide students with some workable strategies for elaborating. Using a PowerPoint presentation, the teacher demonstrates the necessity for elaboration in a problem/solution essay. Students then choose a particular point in the PowerPoint presentation to expand through elaboration.
- Making Patterns, Make Sense
- Students will analyze organizational patterns in analytical writing by reading, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. Students will then apply these patterns to their own writing by creating children’s books about success.
- Thematic and Organizational Patterns in McLaurin’s “The Rite Time of Night”
- Students will learn to identify and color-code thematic and organizational patterns found in the narrative and then use two-column notetaking to highlight how these patterns helped McLaurin give his story focus and organization. As a suggested follow-up activity, students are given ideas for writing their own narratives, using similar techniques as McLaurin. | <urn:uuid:e3c8f011-1af4-424e-89b8-b37560a91447> | {
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Gypsies, Roma and Travellers
This photograph depicts a group of Gypsies taken in Ireland
In 2007 an innovative project to find out about the family histories and culture of local Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (GRT) began in Leicestershire. Working in partnership with museum colleagues in Leicester, the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland assisted by volunteers from the local GRT community, began to collect information and material. The funding was provided by Renaissance East Midlands and channelled through the Leicester City Council Museum Service. This project was part of a bigger enterprise “Moving Here”, hosted by The National Archives, which gives access through the website www.movinghere.org.uk to migration stories from people of various backgrounds and origins who moved to Britain. The undertaking had its own Project Worker, Margot Farnham, who conducted all of the interviews with the representatives of the Gypsy Roma and Travellers Community and edited them digitally. After collating all the available resources, the Record Office put on an exhibition called ‘Stopping Places’ in July 2008.
Interior of a trailer. Please note it is decorated with the Crown Derby & silver bowl at the back
Gypsies and Travellers leave very little trace in archives because of their nomadic lifestyle and dependence on an oral tradition rather than a written one, and little is known about them. What can be found in the Record Office, as in many county archives, are passing references to Gypsies in parish registers or in documents such as parish Constables’ accounts, where they had brushes with the law. The picture is very one-sided. As a result of this, one of the main aims of the project was to create a resource about them, working as equal partners with members of the community to tell their stories. Through cooperation with members of the Travelling community, the Record Office now has recorded interviews, written stories, photographs and other documentation, which the public and researchers can access. Another vital reason for working on this project was the request of the representatives of the Gypsy group to create records about their lives and customs so that their descendants may use them in future.
Wagon & harnessed horses - Ireland or Isle of Man
In this section you can discover the history and customs of the GRT community, read their family histories and view various photos and documents.
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VINCENT'S WORD STUDIES
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Robertson's Word Pictures in the NT - Greek NT
When he was set (kaqisantov), following Tyndale. Rev., more literally, when he had sat down (compare Wyc., when he had set). After the manner of the rabbis, he seated himself ere he began to teach.
Its root is supposed to be a word meaning great, and its earlier meaning appears to be limited to outward prosperity; so that it is used at times as synonymous with rich. It scarcely varies from this meaning in its frequent applications to the Grecian gods, since the popular Greek ideal of divine blessedness was not essentially moral. The gods were blessed because of their power and dignity, not because of their holiness. "In general," says Mr. Gladstone ("Homer and the Homeric Age") "the chief note of deity with Homer is emancipation from the restraints of moral law. Though the Homeric gods have not yet ceased to be the vindicators of morality upon earth, they have personally ceased to observe its rules, either for or among themselves. As compared with men, in conduct they are generally characterized by superior force and intellect, but by inferior morality."
In its peculiar application to the dead, there is indicated the despair of earthly happiness underlying the thought of even the cheerful and mercurial Greek. Hence the word was used as synonymous with dead. Only the dead could be called truly blessed. Thus Sophocles ("Oedipus Tyrannus"):
"From hence the lesson learn ye To reckon no man happy till ye witness The closing day; until he pass the border Which severs life from death, unscathed by sorrow."
And again ("Oedipus at Colonus"):
"Happiest beyond compare, Never to taste of life: Happiest in order next, Being born, with quickest speed Thither again to turn From whence we came."
Nevertheless, even in its pagan use, the word was not altogether without a moral background. The Greeks recognized a prosperity which waited on the observance of the laws of natural morality, and an avenging Fate which pursued and punished their violation. This conception appears often in the works of the tragedians; for instance, in the "Oedipus Tyrannus" of Sophocles, where the main motive is the judgment which waits upon even unwitting violations of natural ties. Still, this prosperity is external, consisting either in wealth, or power, or exemption from calamity.
With the philosophers a moral element comes definitely into the word. The conception rises from outward propriety to inward correctness as the essence of happiness. But in all of them, from Socrates onward, virtue depends primarily upon knowledge; so that to be happy is, first of all, to know. It is thus apparent that the Greek philosophy had no conception of sin in the Bible sense. As virtue depended on knowledge, sin was the outcome of ignorance, and virtue and its consequent happiness were therefore the prerogative of the few and the learned.
The biblical use of the word lifted it into the region of the spiritual, as distinguished from the merely intellectual, and besides, intrusted to it alone the task of representing this higher conception. The pagan word for happiness (eujdaimonia, under the protection of a good genius or daemon) nowhere occurs in the New Testament nor in the Scriptures, having fallen into disrepute because the word daemon, which originally meant a deity, good or evil, had acquired among the Jews the bad sense which we attach to demon. Happiness, or better, blessedness, was therefore represented both in the Old and in the New Testament by this word makariov. In the Old Testament the idea involves more of outward prosperity than in the New Testament, yet it almost universally occurs in connections which emphasize, as its principal element, a sense of God's approval founded in righteousness which rests ultimately on love to God.
Thus the word passed up into the higher region of Christian thought, and was stamped with the gospel signet, and laden with all the rich significance of gospel blessedness. It now takes on a group of ideas strange to the best pagan morality, and contradictory of its fundamental positions. Shaking itself loose from all thoughts of outward good, it becomes the express symbol of a happiness identified with pure character. Behind it lies the clear cognition of sin as the fountain-head of all misery, and of holiness as the final and effectual cure for every woe. For knowledge as the basis of virtue, and therefore of happiness, it substitutes faith and love. For the aristocracy of the learned virtuous, it introduces the truth of the Fatherhood of God and the corollary of the family of believers. While the pagan word carries the isolation of the virtuous and the contraction of human sympathy, the Gospel pushes these out with an ideal of a world-wide sympathy and of a happiness realized in ministry. The vague outlines of an abstract good vanish from it, and give place to the pure heart's vision of God, and its personal communion with the Father in heaven. Where it told of the Stoic's self-sufficiency, it now tells of the Christian's poverty of spirit and meekness. Where it hinted at the Stoic's self-repression and strangling of emotion, it now throbs with a holy sensitiveness, and with a monition to rejoice with them that rejoice, and to weep with them that weep. From the pagan word the flavor of immortality is absent. No vision of abiding rest imparts patience and courage amid the bitterness and struggle of life; no menace of the destiny of evil imposes a check on human lusts. The Christian word blessed is full of the light of heaven. It sternly throws away from itself every hint of the Stoic's asserted right of suicide as a refuge from human ills, and emphasizes something which thrives on trial and persecution, which glories in tribulation, which not only endures but conquers to world, and expects its crown in heaven.
The poor (oi ptwcoi). Three words expression poverty are found in the New Testament. Two of them, penhv and penicrov, are kindred terms, the latter being merely a poetic form of the other, and neither of these occurs more than once (Luke xxi. 2; 2 Cor. ix. 9). The word used in this verse is therefore the current word for poor, occurring thirty-four times, and covering every gradation of want; so that it is evident that the New Testament writers did not recognize any nice distinctions of meaning which called for the use of other terms. Luke, for instance (xxi. 2, 3), calls the widow who bestowed her two mites both penicran and ptwch. Nevertheless, there is a distinction, recognized by both classical and eccleciastical writers. While oJ penhv is one of narrow means, one who "earns a scanty pittance," ptwcov is allied to the verb ptwssein, to crouch or cringe, and therefore conveys the idea of utter destitution, which abjectly solicits and lives by alms. Hence it is applied to Lazarus (Luke xvi. 20, 22), and rendered beggar. Thus distinguished, it is very graphic and appropriate here, as denoting the utter spiritual destitution, the consciousness of which precedes the entrance into the kingdom of God, and which cannot be relieved by one's own efforts, but only by the free mercy of God. (See on 2 Cor. vi. 10; viii. 9.)
Shall be comforted. See on John xiv. 16.
As a human attribute, Aristotle defines it as the mean between stubborn anger and that negativeness of character which is incapable of even righteous indignation: according to which it is tantamount to equanimity. Plato opposes it to fierceness or cruelty, and uses it of humanity to the condemned; but also of the conciliatory demeanor of a demagogue seeking popularity and power. Pindar applies it to a king, mild or kind to the citizens, and Herodotus uses it as opposed to anger.
These pre-Christian meanings of the word exhibit two general characteristics.
The equanimity, mildness, kindness, represented by the classical word, are founded in self-control or in natural disposition. The Christian meekness is based on humility, which is not a natural quality but an outgrowth of a renewed nature. To the pagan the word often implied condescension, to the Christian it implies submission. The Christian quality, in its manifestation, reveals all that was best in the heathen virtue - mildness, gentleness, equanimity - but these manifestations toward men are emphasized as outgrowths of a spiritual relation to God. The mildness or kindness of Plato or Pindar imply no sense of inferiority in those who exhibit them; sometimes the contrary. Plato's demagogue is kindly from self-interest and as a means to tyranny. Pindar's king is condescendingly kind. The meekness of the Christian springs from a sense of the inferiority of the creature to the Creator, and especially of the sinful creature to the holy God. While, therefore, the pagan quality is redolent of self-assertion, the Christian quality carries the flavor of self-abasement. As toward God, therefore, meekness accepts his dealings without murmur or resistance as absolutely good and wise. As toward man, it accepts opposition, insult, and provocation, as God's permitted ministers of a chastening demanded by the infirmity and corruption of sin; while, under this sense of his own sinfulness, the meek bears patiently "the contradiction of sinners against himself," forgiving and restoring the erring in a spirit of meekness, considering himself, lest he also be tempted (see Gal. vi. 1-5). The ideas of forgiveness and restoration nowhere attach to the classical word. They belong exclusively to Christian meekness, which thus shows itself allied to love. As ascribed by our Lord to himself, see on Matt. xi. 29. Wyc. renders "Blessed be mild men."
A candlestick (thn lucnian). Rev., the stand. Also a part of the furniture of every house, and commonly but one in the house: hence the article. The word, which occurs four times in the Gospels and eight times elsewhere, means, in every case, not a candlestick, but a lamp-stand. In Heb. ix. 2, the golden "candlestick" of the tabernacle is called lucnia; but in the description of this article (Exod. xxv. 31, 39), we read, "Thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof;" and in Zech. iv. 2, where the imagery is drawn from the sanctuary, we have a "candlestick" with a bowl on the top of it, "and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes (for the oil) to the lamps which are upon the top thereof."
"The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence And black Gehenna called, the type of hell."
As fire was the characteristic of the place, it was called the Gehenna of fire. It should be carefully distinguished from Hades (adhv), which is never used for the place of punishment, but for the place of departed spirits, without reference to their moral condition. This distinction, ignored by the A.V., is made in the Rev.
Officer (uphreth). Denoting a subordinate official, as a herald or an orderly, and in this sense applied to Mark as the "minister" or attendant of Paul and Barnabas (Acts xiii. 5). It furnishes an interesting instance of the expansion of a word from a limited and special meaning into a more general one; and also of the influence of the Gospel in lifting words into higher and purer associations. Formed with the verb ejressw, to row, it originally signified a rower, as distinguished from a soldier, in a war-galley. This word for a galley-slave comes at last, in the hands of Luke and Paul, to stand for the noblest of all offices, that of a minister of the Lord Jesus (Luke i. 2; Acts xxvi. 16; 1 Cor. iv. 1). | <urn:uuid:fce96fca-3754-453e-8822-bd2ee14cb826> | {
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by Gary North
The economist rarely uses the words "glut" and "shortage" without adding: at some price. Other scholars are not equally wise.
A free market theory of pricing rests on the supposition that gluts and shortages are temporary phenomena. Prices adjust so as to clear a market. If this does not take place, the free market economist goes looking for evidence of state intervention.
Consider the problem of excess inventory. It is better to get something for unused and unwanted inventory than to pay for storage. So, selling prices adjust downward. This eventually eliminates the glut. The unpleasant experience also warns the producer not to do this again.
Why does a glut exist? Because of an error in prior forecasting. Suppliers believed that there would be buyers at a specific price. It turned out that there was an insufficient number of buyers at that expected price.
Then why does a glut persist? One answer: ignorance on the part of suppliers. But why should this ignorance persist? Why don't suppliers get the picture?
Experienced sellers do get the picture. The problem is a continuing supply of new sellers who are unfamiliar with the market and ignorant of the past supply-demand conditions. Or, as has been said so often, there's a sucker born every minute. There is no evidence that P. T. Barnum ever said this, but it is nonetheless true.
In the worldwide suckers' market, gamblers are the only people who are slower to learn than young adults with masters' degrees. Bright graduate students possess a pair of non-marketable skills: the ability to write term papers and the ability to take academic exams. They are also economic illiterates and incurably naïve. So, they become the trusting victims of the professorial class.
THE ECONOMICS OF THE PROFESSORATE
No one ever sits down and tells a newly minted college graduate about the economics of the professorate. No one tells the student about the crucial and neglected work of the person who first blew the whistle on the economics of the Ph.D., David W. Breneman. He is the Dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. He wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on the economics of the Ph.D. It was accepted in 1970 by the University of California, Berkeley. It was based on research completed in 1968, the year prior to the beginning of the Ph.D. glut. Its title: "The Ph.D. Production Process: A Study of Departmental Behavior." Of all Ph.D. dissertations ever written, this is the only one that one that should be read by every college student who is contemplating graduate school. Of course, no one tells him. Few people have ever heard of it.
I read it in 1970. I do not recall how I came across it. I was completing my Ph.D., so I was facing the Ph.D. glut personally, which had begun in the fall of 1969. It had been predicted for the sciences by Allan Cartter of New York University in 1964. Sometime around 1966, Clark Kerr, President of the University of California, had mentioned this looming problem to a group of us in an elite student organization called the California Club. But I was naïve. I figured, "It won't happen to me." Ha!
As they say in those late-night Ronco ads, "Here's how it works!" Academic departments grow in terms of the number of students enrolled. We know from Parkinson's Law that growth is an institutional imperative. Administrators advance their careers by expanding the number of subordinates in their department. So, every academic department wants more students — students of a special kind.
Students are not of equal value to a department. The lower-division student (freshman or sophomore) does not rate highly in the currency of academic resource allocation: the full-time enrollment, or FTE. The FTE figure is what justifies the hiring of a full-time faculty member. The lower the ratio, the better. It may take 15 lower-division students to generate one FTE. It may take only eight Ph.D.-level graduate students to generate an FTE.
The more Ph.D. students a department can attract, the faster the growth of that department. This is the iron law of academia. All other economic laws are sacrificed for it, as the economist says, other things being equal.
This fact of academic economic life creates an incentive for departments to enroll lots of graduate students. It also rewards those departments that persuade M.A. students to go into the Ph.D. program.
Also, the brightest graduate students may be asked to do unpaid or grant-paid research for senior professors. The professors then publish the results of this research under their own names, thereby advancing their careers. It's the division of labor at work.
"GLUT? WHAT GLUT?"
The Ph.D. glut has existed ever since the fall of 1969. The number of entry-level full-time professorial positions has remained stagnant. Few new universities have been constructed. Legislatures have resisted additional funding.
This has led to a reduction of the number of tenure-level positions. Universities and community colleges have been able to staff their entry-level positions with inexpensive instructors.
Those few Ph.D.s who receive a full-time position at a university find that they are paid much less than tenured members of the department. They are assigned the lower-division classes, which are large — sometimes 200 to 1,000 students. These mega-classes require lecturing skills that most professors do not possess. Those untenured faculty members who perform well in mega-classes are kept on until the day of reckoning: the decision to grant them tenure, usually eight years after they go on the payroll. They are usually not re-hired unless they have published narrowly focused articles in professional journals. But mega-class professors do not have much time to do the required research.
The assistant professor is now 35 years old or older. He has not made the cut. He is now relegated to the academic underworld: the community colleges. But here there is fierce competition. Community colleges hire part-time instructors at $10 to $15 an hour. These people seek a full-time position at the community college. They need that initial foot in the door: night school courses for worn-out adults who are trying to earn an A.A. degree. Their natural enemies are the newly dismissed assistant professors from universities.
Who gets an entry-level position at Boonsdocksville State University, which in 1960 was a public schools teacher training college? New graduates with Ph.D.s from the two-dozen major universities.
Then what happens to graduates with Ph.D.s issued by Boonsdocksville State? They go straight into the community college circuit.
This has been going on ever since the fall of 1969. It is great for community college administrators, who have a never-ending supply of optimistic Ph.D.-holding graduates of all but the top two-dozen universities, plus a never-ending supply of burned-out, terrified assistant professors from top universities who did not receive tenure.
If you want to understand this process, watch Ghostbusters: the scene after the parapsychology team has been dismissed from the university. Dan Ackroyd speaks for tens of thousands of Ph.D.-holding rejects who did not make the cut.
For over three decades, all it has taken to generate 1,000 applicants was this ad in a professional journal in the humanities:
The salary has been almost irrelevant: not more than the average salary of the average American worker with a high school diploma.
If the ad said "Ph.D. or ABD required," it would generate 2,000 applicants. ABD stands for "all but dissertation."
Graduate students do not learn about supply and demand, and it does not pay senior professors to teach them. Here is evidence. In response to the ever-growing glut of Ph.D.'s, the American university system turned out about 30,000 Ph.D. graduates per year, 1969 to about 1975. Since then, it has increased the output. In 1980, it was 33,615. In 1990, it was 38,371. In 2000, it was 44,808. In 2003, it was 46,024. (Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2006, Table 290.) Despite this, we read on a website devoted to selling "how to get higher learning degrees" materials,
The Bureau of Labor Statistics currently predicts that the job outlook for postsecondary teachers (a job commonly sought by Ph.D. graduates) should be much brighter than it has been in recent years. Employment in that area is expected to grow by almost 40 percent by 2012, whereas overall employment is expected to grow by only 15 percent! So, if you're just starting down the track to a Ph.D. and hope to take root in the world of academia, your timing may be just right!
There's one born every minute . . . and two who will relieve him of his funds.
Most degree-granting universities are funded by taxpayers. A university used to be an institution of higher learning that was authorized by a college-accrediting agency to grant the Ph.D. Employees of all but the most prestigious four-year colleges want to be called a university. So, title inflation has matched degree inflation and grade inflation over the last 35 years.
The supply of college graduates with ever-lower academic abilities is funded by money coerced from taxpayers. The American higher education system is structured by the professorate to reward those professors who teach small classes of graduate students. So, year after year, decade after decade, the supply of Ph.D.-holding students increases, despite an academic market that does not hire most of them, and hires a minority at wages that do not compensate them for the money and time invested in earning their degrees.
They cannot teach at the high school level because their advanced degrees force the school districts to pay them too much. A teacher with a B.A. is paid a fraction of what a Ph.D. or Ed.D. is paid. The teacher unions have negotiated payment so that existing employees who attend night school and summer school at Boonsdocksville State can work their way up within the system. Being tenured, they cannot be fired. Earning a graduate degree is a guaranteed way to earn a larger salary. But no district goes looking for Ph.D.s to hire. That financial affliction is entirely generated from inside the union-dominated, tax-funded public schools.
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
Ph.D. students are a lot like gamblers. They expect to beat the odds. The gambler personifies odds-beating as Lady Luck. The Ph.D. student instead looks within. "I am really smart. These other people in the program aren't as smart as I am. I will get that tenure-track job. I will make the cut. I will be a beneficiary of the system."
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Also, if ego were marketable, all Ph.D. graduates would get tenure.
Why does any Ph.D. student at any but the top graduate schools believe that he will get tenure at any university? The odds are so far against him, and have been for a generation, than he ought to realize that he is about to waste his most precious resource — time — on a long-shot. Investing five or more years beyond the B.A. degree, except in a field where industry hires people with advanced degrees, is economic stupidity that boggles the imagination. Yet at least 200,000 graduate students are doing this at any time. Of the 46,000 who earned a Ph.D. in 2003, an equal number (or more) got to ABD status and quit. Probably more than half of the others quit before they got to ABD status.
At $20,000 or more per year in tuition and living expenses, plus the $35,000+ not earned in the job market, trying to earn a Ph.D. is a losing proposition.
In some departments, the years invested are horrendous. Breneman's dissertation went into the grim details, department by department. Anyone seeking a degree in philosophy was almost doomed to failure, yet the Ph.D. degree took on average over a decade beyond the B.A. to earn. There were almost no college teaching jobs when they finished. That was before the glut.
Earning a Ph.D. may pay off if your goal is status, although I don't understand why anyone regards a Ph.D. as a status symbol that is worth giving up five to ten years of your earning power in your youth, when every dime saved can multiply because of compounding. If the public understood the economics of earning a Ph.D., people would think "naïve economic loser" whenever they hear "Ph.D."
A word to the wise is sufficient.
January 24, 2006
Copyright © 2006 LewRockwell.com | <urn:uuid:0d5a239c-521b-48be-89b0-12b9b98910f9> | {
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The Mississippiana Collection is a comprehensive collection of books about Mississippi, by and about Mississippians, and/or published in Mississippi. As such, it constitutes a vital resource for the study of Mississippi history and culture. These books can be accessed through the library catalog.
In addition to the Mississippiana book collection, the library subscribes to several serials (magazines, journals, newsletters, and numerous other professional and organizational publications) relating to Mississippi. McCain Library serves as a depository for Mississippi state documents. These items provide information on virtually every facet of state government and the economic, social, and cultural characteristics of the state. Many of these can be accessed via the library catalog or by asking the reference librarian. A map collection includes city, country, and state highway maps and various types of soil, mineral, drainage, topographic, nautical, historical, and specialty maps. They document Mississippi and the region from 1699 to the present. Vertical Files consisting primarily of newspaper clippings and pamphlets contain up-to-date information about the people, events, social issues, institutions, cities, and towns of Mississippi. Also included is historical information on a variety of subjects. The Mississippiana Collection maintains copies of telephone books for the entire state, and city directories for the state's major cities. | <urn:uuid:aaee612d-24c0-4ca2-aa09-89b548b2ff39> | {
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What is anesthesia?
Anesthesia is the administration of drugs or gases to create insensitivity to pain before surgical operations.
The word comes from the Greek “an” meaning “without,” and “aesthesis” or “sensation.” The word anesthesia was coined by the famous 19th
century physician and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., in 1846.
Who are anesthesiologists and what do they do?
During surgery, anesthesia is administered for pain relief or “depression of consciousness.”
Before a major surgery, anesthesiologists administer general anesthesia
, which causes full loss of consciousness in the patient.
The responsibility of the anesthesiologist is to manage the patient’s pain while monitoring vital life functions, such as breathing, blood pressure, heart rate and homeostasis, as well as blood transfusions, if required.
As the patient recovers from surgery, anesthesia in the form of dissociative drugs – either oral or injectable – may be administered. These drugs partially sedate the patient to ease pain and distress.
Anesthesiologists are extensively trained doctors specializing in human physiology, diseases and pre-operative medical evaluations, life support and pain control while a patient undergoes surgery, post-op recovery, intensive-care training and chronic and acute pain management.
What are the various types of anesthesia?
The different types of anesthesia include:
What are the most common surgeries that use general anesthesia?
- Local – Anesthesia in a single part of the body, such as a tooth or area of skin. Local anesthesia is commonly used during dental procedures to reduce pain. It is the preferable and safer type of anesthesia for many situations, including cesarean section, since the patient still has consciousness and is not fully sedated.
- Regional – Anesthesia in a larger part of the body than local anesthesia, such as a limb. The patient is not fully sedated.
- General – Anesthesia that “puts the patient under” into a state of unconsciousness or sedation. During general anesthesia, a patient will lose normal response to pain, memory, motor reflexes and consciousness, and will experience muscle relaxation.
- Dissociative – Anesthesia brought on by dissociative drugs causing marked sensory loss and loss of pain and memory but not accompanied by actual loss of consciousness. A common effect of dissociative anesthesia is hallucinations.
Heart, lung and abdominal surgery are the most common surgeries using general anesthesia.
During surgery, anesthesia must affect breathing. How is the patient able to breathe under general anesthesia?
A patient’s muscles, including the lungs, are relaxed during anesthesia to allow for easier access during surgery. A breathing tube inserted into the mouth after administration of anesthesia helps maintain ventilation and oxygen levels. Vital signs, including breathing and oxygen levels, are monitored throughout the surgery with a continuous pulse oximetry machine.
How is anesthesia administered?
It can be given in one of two ways:
How Safe is Outpatient Surgery?
- Intravenously – Through an IV directly into the blood stream
- Anesthesia mask – In gas form, administered through a mask placed over the patient’s nose and mouth | <urn:uuid:00cd3d51-bc4c-4232-83d5-edd50bde07ad> | {
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The rocks that were used to build the walls were probably throw-aways, unearthed during excavation for homes built more than a century ago. Each is different. Each was put into place by hand. The rock walls have seep holes for drainage, preventing pressure from bringing the wall, and the garden, down.
"Somebody had a plan," Patricia Levine said.
Levine is the manager of 66 Center Street, a bed and breakfast built in 1886 by the Perkins family, who owned of the lumber mill across the street. Levine also keeps the garden that climbs the slope next to the house. She doesn't know who built the rock walls that hold the garden to the hillside, but she can read the signs -- the walls were the work of masons who knew what they were doing.
"Any wall you can stand on is a good wall," she says.
The retaining wall at the back of the slope is limestone, probably built at the time of the house, Levine said. The walls that hold the raised beds are made of what she calls rubble rock -- the kind she finds under the ground when working in her own garden. Some are geodes -- when you break them open, there are crystals inside. Some look like pieces of petrified wood.
"None are stackable," she said.
Levine has worked at the house for six years, and was the planner and planter, along with a former co-worker, of the garden as it is today. Five yeas ago, it was covered with vinca vines.
"We removed the vinca, put in the bushes and started planting," she said.
The wall builders incorporated metal garden art into the walls -- old wagon wheels, a motor part, a bed frame. The branching petunias are also recycles: being single, not hybrids, they resow themselves from seed. Levine, who has greenhouses, started all the flowers from seed, including the carpet zinnias, the dwarf dahlias, the coxcomb and the salvia.
"It's the cheapest way, if you have the time," she said. "And it's second nature. I've been doing it for 30 years."
To keep the garden in shape through the summer, Levine arrived at the house at 6 a.m. and worked a couple of hours, pulling weeds, mulching and watering. She doesn't use chemical fertilizers, putting down mulch to keep the weeds in check. Mulch also builds up the soil and keeps it moist.
"Raised beds are great, but they dry out fast," she said.
The level area around the house was originally used as a drying yard for the lumber mill, Levine said. The dining room of the house was a showroom where women came to choose wood trim for their houses. Center Street was very commercial at the turn of the century, she said, with a hardware store, feed store, Liberty Stables and other businesses that Spring Street didn't have space for. Now the lumber mill is an antique store.
"Some of the old mill equipment is still stored there," she said.
Other vicissitudes of gardening in Eureka Springs: The deer come through and wipe out the garden two or three times a year, she said. The resident ground hog, known as Junior, inflicts further damage. He lives in the garden house, deroofed in an ice storm.
"Every year is a struggle," Levine said. "Nothing is easy in the Ozarks."
That Eureka Springs has a long growing season means that local gardeners tend to look forward to the first frost, she said. Frost signals the end of gardening season, but not an end to the work.
"When the garden goes to bed, you have to clean it all up," she said. "That's when I start thinking about what I'm going to do next year.
"Every spring I plant something."
And even in winter when the flowers are gone, the garden, she said, still looks good.
The homestead at 66 Center St. is in the National Register of Historic Places. For more information, go to www.66center.com or call 479-981-0991.
* * *
Jennifer Jackson is features writer for the Lovely County Citizen. She can be reached at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:3c3a27e1-bf1a-4168-82ad-a457ff71b55f> | {
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Desert RATS Test Robotic Rover
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Sep 30, 2005
Until earlier this year, when President Bush announced an ambitious blueprint for space exploration, NASA had no plans to send humans back to the moon, or to Mars.
But that didn't stop an intrepid group of scientists, based at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, from investigating technologies that would be needed for such a mission.
Every year for nearly a decade, they have trekked out to remote desert locations to conduct research on equipment and procedures that might some day be used by off-world explorers. The skunkworks project, known as Desert RATS (Research and Technology Studies), has just completed its eighth field season, on a barren cattle ranch near the rim of Meteor Crater, some 40 miles outside Flagstaff, Arizona.
It's hard to find places on Earth that simulate Martian conditions. But the Arizona high desert comes close enough for the experiments the Desert RATS team conducted during the first two weeks of September.
According to Joe Kosmo of Johnson Space Center, who has led the Desert RATS effort since its inception, Meteor Crater is an ideal test site because if you "strip away the vegetation, put the atmospheric pressure at 100,000 feet, and put the sun a little farther away, essentially you're encountering the kind of terrain you'd see on Mars," Rough, slightly hilly desert hard pack, with an assortment of rocks and boulders strewn about. And dust (red, of course). Dust everywhere, blowing around in heavy gusts, making dust devils and coating everything in site.
This year's two-week field test focused on the interaction between a pair of "astronauts" (actually, space-suited scientists) and a rover named SCOUT (Science Crew and Operations Utility Testbed).
When astronauts travel to the moon or Mars, they will be going to do pretty much the same things a geologist does when exploring a field site on Earth: walking around, observing land formations, taking pictures and collecting rock and soil samples. But unlike on Earth, where even at the most remote locations, help is usually not far away, off-world explorers will have severely limited resources. Moreover, they will want to investigate as much terrain as possible, so conserving energy to focus on scientific tasks will be important.
"We're trying to augment the human-machine cooperative working relationship so that the machines can do a lot of the tedious tasks," says Frank Delgado, project lead for SCOUT. For example, by using SCOUT to drive explorers "to the location where they need to do their science, when they get there, they're a lot fresher."
SCOUT looks like an oversized dune buggy. Its design is loosely based on the Moon Buggy used by astronauts on the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions back in the 1970s. Its seats are built to accommodate two passengers wearing bulky spacesuits. Its joystick and computer touch screen are optimized for easy use by heavily gloved hands. And it is tricked out with an eclectic array of cameras, speakers and a host of communications gear. Its maximum ground speed: 6 miles per hour.
SCOUT had its first real-world test during the 2004 Desert RATS field season, but in that initial shakedown it was driven under manual control. "We basically focused on having somebody drive it from onboard," says Delgado. "So if you needed to get to a crater or somewhere to collect some rocks, they would jump onboard, and they'd drive it."
This year the RATS team tried out several automated modes of operation, including tele-operation, voice commands and gesture recognition. The field tests, which were highly successful, were the first ever that involved such complex interaction between humans and a semi-autonomous robotic assistant.
One type of tele-operation involved operating the rover in real- or near-real-time from a remote location. The operators used a joystick and a set of switches, knobs and buttons to control the rover as though they were onboard. Delgado's team was able to tele-operate SCOUT in this way both from a Desert RATS command center located about a half-mile from the test site and from a control center about 1200 miles away at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
This is a feasible approach for operating a robotic rover on the moon from a lunar base or even from Earth. It could also be used by humans operating a rover from a local command base on Mars. It wouldn't be possible to tele-operate a Mars rover from Earth in real-time, however, because it takes too long for radio-command signals to get from one planet to the other.
Earth-based scientists could tele-operate a rover on Mars using batch commands, however. For example, "You can say, Go to waypoint 1, take a picture; go to waypoint 2, take a panorama; go to waypoint 3; and then come back home.' And it will do that automatically," says Delgado.
This is similar to the way in which mission controllers operate the Spirit and Opportunity rovers currently exploring Mars. But sending commands to Spirit and Opportunity requires first going through a laborious process of translating science-team requests into a sequence of arcane commands in a specialized language that the rovers can understand. SCOUT can understand direct voice commands.
Perhaps the most intriguing mode of operation that Delgado's team successfully tested was a procedure known as "human following," in which the rover followed one of the scientists as he explored on foot. To initiate human following, the scientist stood in front of the rover and said, "SCOUT, follow me." Onboard the rover, Delgado explains, is a pair of stereo cameras and a computerized shape-recognition system that knows "what a person should look like.
It locks onto them and as they walk around in front of the vehicle, the cameras will swivel to that direction. If they walk away from the vehicle, the vehicle actually follows them, like a pack mule. So if they're doing some sort of geological expedition and they're going to go out a half mile or a mile, the vehicle will be right there for them to get back on, instead of them having to walk all the way back."
Delgado's engineers also got SCOUT to respond to commands issued in the form of gestures. One of the scientists stood in front of the rover and put out his arm, as though signaling for a left turn. SCOUT recognized the gesture and turned on its lights. When the scientist bent his arm at a 90-degree angle, SCOUT turned the lights back off.
This was only a proof of concept, but it holds great promise. For example, says Delgado, an astronaut could point to an interesting rock and say, " Take a picture of that.' [The rover] will see where their finger's pointing and it'll turn the cameras in that direction and take a picture."
Although future missions to the moon and Mars will utilize vehicles with SCOUT-like capabilities, SCOUT was built as a testbed, and not as a prototype of a rover for a future mission. "There's a lot of basic functionality in the vehicle," Delgado explains, "that's there to support some of the concepts that we're trying to develop - the autonomous operations, tele-operations, obstacle avoidance, human following."
But features like rubber tires with air in them, or the rover's aluminum frame "would never be flown to the moon or to Mars." Moreover, the computer systems on SCOUT are built from off-the-shelf components. Hardware used on vehicles intended for spaceflight have to be specially designed for protection against dust, intense radiation and other severe conditions.
Still, the lessons learned in testing SCOUT will no doubt be applied to designing whatever rovers do get built to accompany humans on their return to the moon, and eventually to Mars.
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Lunar Dreams and more
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 09, 2006
Last week Spirit completed robotic-arm work on "El Dorado." The rover used all three of its spectrometers plus the microscopic imager for readings over the New Year's weekend.
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement| | <urn:uuid:5d8bf16a-632c-4171-b72d-0056395382f4> | {
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Adoptionism, or adoptianism, was a theological doctrine propounded in the 8th century by a Spanish bishop, Elipandus of Toledo. Concerned to distinguish between the divine and human natures of Christ, Elipandus held that in his divinity Christ was the son of God by nature, but in his humanity by adoption only. The doctrine was opposed by the English scholar Alcuin and condemned as heresy by the Council of Frankfurt (794). Similar views were held by Paul of Samosata and the followers of Monarchianism.
Put most simply, adoptionism is the theory that Jesus was in nature a man who became God by adoption.
The earliest extant work which expresses this position is the Shepherd of Hermas, thought to be written by the brother of the bishop of Rome about A D 150. It taught that the Redeemer was a virtuous man chosen by God, and with him the Spirit of God was united. He did the work to which God had called him; in fact, he did more than was commanded. Therefore he was by divine decree adopted as a son and exalted to great power and lordship. Adherents of this Christology who were declared heretics in the third century asserted it had at one time been the dominant view in Rome and that it had been handed down by the apostles.
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Elipandus, bishop of Toledo from c. 780, in his writings on the Trinity expressed the view that Christ was an adopted son; Felix, bishop of Urgel in the Pyrenees, taught a similar position soon thereafter. Numerous local churchmen opposed them; and their teachings were condemned by three synods under Charlemagne, who assumed the position of ruler of the church in his realm and who was concerned with its unity. Pope Adrian I also became involved, and the recantation of both men was obtained. They had a numerous following, however, and extensive efforts were required to bring these people back into the fold. The effects of the controversy lasted for decades in Toledo. Possibly remnants of the old Arian heresy contributed to the popularity of adoptionism at this time.
A sound refutation of adoptionism was never made, and leanings in that direction appeared in some scholastic writings during the late Middle Ages.
H F Vos
(Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)
A Harnack, History of Dogma; A Hauck, S H E R K, I.
Adoptionism, in a broad sense, a christological theory according to which Christ, as man, is the adoptive Son of God; the precise import of the word varies with the successive stages and exponents of the theory. Roughly, we have (1) the adoptionism of Elipandus and Felix in the eighth century; (2) the Neo-Adoptionism of Abelard in the twelfth century; (3) the qualified Adoptionism of some theologians from the fourteenth century on.
(1) Adoptionism of Elipandus and Felix in the Eighth Century This, the original form of Adoptionism, asserts a double sonship in Christ: one by generation and nature, and the other by adoption and grace. Christ as God is indeed the Son of God by generation and nature, but Christ as man is Son of God only by adoption and grace. Hence "The Man Christ" is the adoptive and not the natural Son of God. Such is the theory held towards the end of the eighth century by Elipandus, Archbishop of Toledo, then under the Mohammedan rule, and by Felix, Bishop of Urgel, then under the Frankish dominion. The origin of this Hispanicus error, as it was called, is obscure. Nestorianism had been a decidedly Eastern heresy and we are surprised to find an offshoot of it in the most western part of the Western Church, and this so long after the parent heresy had found a grave in its native land. It is, however, noteworthy that Adoptionism began in that part of Spain where Islamism dominated, and where a Nestorian colony had for years found refuge. The combined influence of Islamism and Nestorianism had, no doubt, blunted the aged Elipandus's Catholic sense. Then came a certain Migetius, preaching a loose doctrine, and holding, among other errors, that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity did not exist before the Incarnation. The better to confute this error, Elipandus drew a hard and fast line between Jesus as God and Jesus as Man, the former being the natural, and the latter merely the adoptive Son of God. The reassertion of Nestorianism raised a storm of protest from Catholics, headed by Beatus, Abbot of Libana, and Etherius, Bishop of Osma. It was to maintain his position that Elipandus deftly enlisted the co-operation of Felix of Urgel, known for his learning and versatile mind. Felix entered the contest thoughtlessly. Once in the heat of it, he proved a strong ally for Elipandus, and even became the leader of the new movement called by contemporaries the Haeresis Feliciana. While Elipandus put an indomitable will at the service of Adoptionism, Felix gave it the support of his science and also Punic faith. From Scripture he quoted innumerable texts. In the patristic literature and Mozarabic Liturgy he found such expressions as adoptio, homo adoptivus, ouios thetos, supposedly applied to the Incarnation and Jesus Christ. Nor did he neglect the aid of dialectics, remarking with subtilty that the epithet "Natural Son of God" could not be predicated of "The Man Jesus", who was begotten by temporal generation; who was inferior to the Father; who was related not to the Father especially, but to the whole Trinity, the relation in questions remaining unaltered if the Father or the Holy Ghost had been incarnate instead of the Son. Elipandus's obstinacy and Felix's versatility were but the partial cause of the temporary success of Adoptionism. If that offspring of Nestorianism held sway in Spain for wellnigh two decades and even made an inroad into southern France, the true cause is to be found in Islamitic rule, which practically brought to naught the control of Rome over the greater part of Spain; and in the over-conciliatory attitude of Charlemagne, who, in spite of his whole-souled loyalty to the Roman Faith, could ill afford to alienate politically provinces so dearly bought. Of the two heresiarchs, Elipandus died in his error. Felix, after many insincere recantations, was placed under the surveillance of Leidrad of Lyons and gave all the signs of a genuine conversion. His death would even have passed for a repentant's death if Agobar, Leidrad's successor, had not found among his papers a definite retraction of all former retractions. Adoptionism did not long outlive its authors. What Charlemagne could not do by diplomacy and synods (Narbonne, 788; Ratisbon, 792; Frankfort, 794; Aix-la-Chapelle, 799) he accomplished by enlisting the services of missionaries like St. Benedict of Aniane, who reported as early as 800 the conversion of 20,000 clerics and laymen; and savants like Alcuin, whose treatises "Adv. Elipandum Toletanum" and "Contra Felicem Urgellensem" will ever be a credit to Christian learning.
The official condemnation of Adoptionism is to be found (1) in Pope Hadrian's two letters, one to the bishops of Spain, 785, and the other to Charlemagne, 794; (2) in the decrees of the Council of Frankfort (794), summoned by Charlemagne, it is true, but "in full apostolic power" and presided over by the legate of Rome, therefore a synodus universalis, according to an expression of contemporary chroniclers. In these documents the natural divine filiation of Jesus even as man is strongly asserted, and His adoptive filiation, at least in so far as it excludes the natural, is rejected as heretical. Some writers, mainly Protestant, have tried to erase from Adoptionism all stain of the Nestorian heresy. These writers do not seem to have caught the meaning of the Church's definition. Since sonship is an attribute of the person and not of the nature, to posit two sons is to posit two persons in Christ, the very error of Nestorianism. Alcuin exactly renders the mind of the Church when he says, "As the Nestorian impiety divided Christ into two persons because of the two natures, so your unlearned temerity divided Him into two sons, one natural and one adoptive" (Contra Felicem, I, P. L. CI, Col. 136). With regard to the arguments adduced by Felix in support of his theory, it may be briefly remarked that (1) such scriptural texts as John, xiv, 28, had already been explained at the time of the Arian controversy, and such others as Rom., viii, 29, refer to our adoption, not to that of Jesus, Christ is nowhere in the Bible called the adopted Son of God; nay more, Holy Scripture attributes to "The Man Christ" all the predicates which belong to the Eternal Son (cf. John 1:18; 3:16; Romans 8:32). (2) The expression adoptare, adoptio, used by some Fathers, has for its object the sacred Humanity, not the person of Christ; the human nature, not Christ, is said to be adopted or assumed by the Word. The concrete expression of the Mozarabic Missal, Homo adoptatus, or of some Greek Fathers, ouios thetos, either does not apply to Christ or is an instance of the not infrequent use in early days of the concrete for the abstract. (3) The dialectical arguments of Felix cease to have a meaning the moment it is clearly understood that, as St. Thomas says, "Filiation properly belongs to the person". Christ, Son of God, by His eternal generation, remains Son of God, even after the Word has assumed and substantially united to Himself the sacred Humanity; Incarnation detracts no more from the eternal sonship than it does from the eternal personality of the Word. (See NESTORIANISM.)
(2) New-Adoptionism of Abelard in the Twelfth Century
The Spanish heresy left few traces in the Middle Ages. It is doubtful whether the christological errors of Abelard can be traced to it. They rather seem to be the logical consequence of a wrong construction put upon the hypostatical union. Abelard began to question the truth of such expressions as "Christ is God"; "Christ is man". Back of what might seem a mere logomachy there is really, in Abelard's mind, a fundamental error. He understood the hypostatical union as a fusion of two natures, the divine and the human. And lest that fusion become a confusion, he made the sacred Humanity the external habit and adventitious instrument of the Word only, and thus denied the substantial reality of "The Man Christ" -- "Christus ut homo non est aliquid sed dici potest alicuius modi." It is self-evident that in such a theory the Man Christ could not be called the true Son of God. Was He the adoptive Son of God? Personally, Abelard repudiated all kinship with the Adoptionists, just as they deprecated the very idea of their affiliation to the Nestorian heresy. But after Abelard's theory spread beyond France, into Italy, Germany and even the Orient, the disciples were less cautious than the master. Luitolph defended at Rome the following proposition -- "Christ, as man, is the natural son of man and the adoptive Son of God"; and Folmar, in Germany, carried this erroneous tenet to its extreme consequences, denying to Christ as man the right to adoration. Abelard's new-Adoptionism was condemned, at least in its fundamental principles, by Alexander III, in a rescript dated 1177: "We forbid under pain of anathema that anyone in the future dare assert that Christ as man is not a substantial reality (non esse aliquid) because as He is truly God, so He is verily man." The refutation of this new form of Adoptionism, as it rests altogether on the interpretation of the hypostatical union, will be found in the treatment of that word. (See HYPOSTATIC UNION.)
(3) Qualified Adoptionism of Later Theologians
The formulas "natural Son of God", "adopted Son of God" were again subjected to a close analysis by such theologians as Duns Scotus (1300); Durandus a S. Portiano (1320); Vasquez (1604); Francisco Suárez (1617). They all admitted the doctrine of Frankfort, and confessed that Jesus as man was the natural and not merely the adoptive Son of God. But besides that natural sonship resting upon the hypostatical union, they thought there was room for a second filiation, resting on grace, the grace of union (gratia unionis). They did not agree, however, in qualifying that second filiation. Some called it adoptive, because of its analogy with our supernatural adoption. Others, fearing lest the implication of the word adoption might make Jesus a stranger to, and alien from God, preferred to call it natural. None of these theories runs counter to a defined dogma; yet, since sonship is an attribute of the person, there is danger of multiplying the persons by multiplying the filiations in Christ. A second natural filiation is not intelligible. A second adoptive filiation does not sufficiently eschew the connotation of adoption as defined by the Council of Frankfort. "We call adoptive him who is stranger to the adopter." The common mistake of these novel theories, a mistake already made by the old Adoptionists and by Abelard, lies in the supposition that the grace of union in Christ, not being less fruitful than habitual grace in man, should have a similar effect, viz., filiation. Less fruitful it is not, and yet it cannot have the same effect in Him as in us, because to Him it was said: "Thou art my Son, today have I begotten Thee" (Hebrews 1:5); and to us, "You were afar off" (Ephesians 2:13).
Publication information Written by J.F. Sollier. Transcribed by Bob Knippenberg. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. Published 1907. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
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The main BELIEVE web-page (and the index to subjects) is at: BELIEVE Religious Information Source - By Alphabet http://mb-soft.com/believe/indexaz.html | <urn:uuid:2f39bd61-a96c-497b-b48e-6240e1dde12b> | {
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Rye bread consumption in early life and reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer
Cancer Causes and Control, 05/04/2012
Torfadottir JE et al. – The results suggest that rye bread consumption in adolescence may be associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer (PCa), particularly advanced disease.Methods
- From 2002 to 2006, 2,268 men, aged 67–96years, reported their dietary habits in the AGES-Reykjavik cohort study.
- Dietary habits were assessed for early life, midlife, and current life using a validated food frequency questionnaire.
- Through linkage to cancer and mortality registers, the authors retrieved information on PCa diagnosis and mortality through 2009.
- They used regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) for PCa according to whole-grain consumption, adjusted for possible confounding factors including fish, fish liver oil, meat, and milk intake.
- Of the 2,268 men, 347 had or were diagnosed with PCa during follow-up, 63 with advanced disease (stage 3+ or died of PCa).
- Daily rye bread consumption in adolescence (vs. less than daily) was associated with a decreased risk of PCa diagnosis (OR=0.76, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.59–0.98) and of advanced PCa (OR=0.47, 95 % CI: 0.27–0.84).
- High intake of oatmeal in adolescence (≥5 vs. ≥4 times/week) was not significantly associated with risk of PCa diagnosis (OR=0.99, 95 % CI: 0.77–1.27) nor advanced PCa (OR=0.67, 95 % CI: 0.37–1.20).
- Midlife and late life consumption of rye bread, oatmeal, or whole-wheat bread was not associated with PCa risk. | <urn:uuid:82376437-7a50-4931-bec9-0f795e1708d8> | {
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Jake is a 15-year-old high school student who has been participating in the model demonstration project since 2003. Since the beginning, Jake's mother and home care providers have played a critical role in helping him realize success. When the project began in 2003, Jake had no formal means of communication, and his school program focused largely on developing functional skills. Our efforts began with identifying a means of communication and a tool for writing.
Late Spring 2004
We began exploring light-tech communication systems. Our first efforts involved a 4-location flip chart. In this video, you see Jake using a combination of partner assisted scanning and eye-pointing to make choices. This is the first time Jake and his mom have tried this system. Success on day 1!
Watching Jake use the 4-location flip chart with eye-pointing helped us evaluate his vision and his understanding of symbols. It became clear to us that he was able to visually distinguish between symbols in the Mayer Johnson Boardmaker Sign Language Symbol library.
While we continued to explore light-tech solutions, we started exploring switch access. Jake had years of trials with single switches without much success. Efforts with 2-switch step scanning proved much more successful for him. He uses his arm to move the highlighter from one item to the next and his knee to select desired options. In this video, Jake is having fun interacting with the members of his family ... including the dogs.
By the fall of 2004, it was quite evident that 2-switch step scanning was going to provide Jake with an important way to interact with technology and to control partner-assisted scanning interactions. Based upon our understanding of Jake's vision and his use of 2-switch scanning we tried a number of computer-based options for accessing the alphabet and writing. In the end, a light-tech solution provided the best supports for Jake in his early efforts to write.
Late Winter 2005
The best way for Jake to access the alphabet turned out to be a light-tech flip chart. Using this alternative pencil, Jake could indicate which letters his partner should write for him. Jake used his arm to access the mover switch which lit a green light indicating that his partner should move to the next letter. When his partner pointed to a desired letter, Jake used his knee to access the picker switch which lit a red light indicated that his partner should write that letter for him.
Throughout the year, Jake engaged in self-selected writing using the alphabet flip chart at home. He selected the topics for his writing and wrote in a journal or wrote notes to family and friends. The flip chart displays the letters of the alphabet in groups of 4 or 6 and offers simple editing commands such as, space, new word, and delete.
In all of the following writing samples, facilitators always began the writing activity by supporting Jake in selecting a writing topic. Choices were presented to Jake via photographs, signs, and his remnant book. The remnant book was frequently his favorite as it documented the events of his life, big and small. Remnant books are typically used to set a topic for communication (Beukelman & Miranda, 2005), and are developed by collecting items from the activities and events Jake experiences each day. For example, Jake’s remnant book includes ticket stubs from a movie he saw with his brother, a plastic bag with a dead bug he found, a picture cut from the box of a game, and so on. Jake selected a topic from the book by directing the facilitator to “go to the next page” using the switch by his arm and stop on the desired topic using the switch by his leg to say, “that’s the one I want.”
Home Journal Entry: June, 2004
Topic: Going to the Movies
Home Journal Entry: June, 2004
Topic: The Bug that Ruled Mom's Kitchen
Working with Jake to help him select a topic is an important part of the writing process for him. Beyond making it clear that we write for a purpose, setting a topic provides us with important information that supports our efforts to interpret his writing efforts. Since Jake cannot tell us what he has written, knowledge of the topic helps us carefully consider the letters Jake selects and the words he attempts to spell. When we know the topic, we are able to attribute meaning to his writing attempts much more successfully.
Jake’s early writing samples reflect his exploration of working with the full alphabet and using the alternative pencil, the alphabet flip chart. While his initial attempts appear random, consistent and meaningful opportunities to write, lead to change over time.
Over time, Jake’s writing began to show evidence of his increasing understanding of print. For example, in the following note to Gretchen, Jake writes the first and last letter of his name (albeit in the wrong order) and the letter g, for Gretchen. Since Gretchen’s name sign is the finger spelling version of a g moved from left to right across the forehead, it isn’t surprising the Jake would know this initial letter.
In other samples, we see more evidence of first letter knowledge. While we can’t know with certainty that Jake intended to write the words we believe he was writing, he does eagerly confirm our inquiries one some occasions and tell us no on others. For example, in this entry Jake wrote about a new friend named Molly. When asked, he confirmed that he was attempting to write his own name, jk, and Molly’s name, m.
Home Journal Entry: August, 2005
Topic: Going to Greensboro
On another occasion, he wrote about working with a psychologist, Dr. M. When asked, he confirmed that he was writing about himself, j, the doctor, m, and working very hard, www.
Home Journal Entry: September, 2005
Topic: Going to the Doctor's
With time, Jake continued to show evidence of more deliberate efforts to select particular letters in his writing. In this sample, he chose to write about his mother who was away for two weeks. This was a very important topic for Jake as he has never been separated from his Mom long periods of time. Again, he confirmed his attempts to write his name more than once “jkkk,” and “jjjjk.” He also confirmed that he was writing about his mom, mmmmuuuu.
Home Journal Entry: September, 2005
Topic: Mom Being Gone for 2 Weeks
Within a few months of beginning to represent multiple words using initial letters, Jake begins to insert spaces in his writing. He also begins to include words that are spelled correctly, dad.
Over time, Jake’s writing offers useful, concrete evidence of his developing understandings of print. For students who are unable to use gestures (pointing to individual words on the page), words (labeling letters and words), and other behaviors to communicate their understandings of print, writing is essential. The alphabet flip chart provided Jake with an alternative pencil that made writing every day a possibility.
Home Journal Entry: December, 2005
Topic: My New Remote Control Dinosaur
ac dad jk kk m m r r rs u u uwz
begh jj j m vv w
Check back for updates on Jake's continued progress over time. | <urn:uuid:496d3808-b2a5-4bcc-9800-958833d62243> | {
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Maintaining Weight Loss
Benefits of maintaining weight loss:
While losing weight is difficult for many people, it is even more challenging to keep weight off. Most individuals who lose a large amount of weight regain it two to three years later. One theory about regaining lost weight is that people who decrease their caloric intake to lose weight experience a drop in their metabolic rate, making it increasingly difficult to lose weight over a period of months. A lower metabolic rate may also make it easier to regain weight after a more normal diet is resumed. For these reasons, extremely low calorie diets and rapid weight loss are discouraged.
Losing no more than one to two pounds per week is recommended. Incorporating long-term lifestyle changes will increase the chance of successful long-term weight loss.
Weight loss to a healthy weight for a person's height can promote health benefits such as lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels, lower blood pressure, less stress on bones and joints, and less work for the heart. Thus, it is vital to maintain weight loss to obtain health benefits over a lifetime.
Keeping extra weight off requires effort and commitment, just as losing weight does. Weight loss goals are reached by changes in diet, eating habits, exercise, and, in extreme circumstances, surgery.
Weight loss maintenance strategies:
The strategies that encourage weight loss also play an important role in maintenance:
Support systems used effectively during weight loss can contribute to weight maintenance. A study conducted by the National Weight Control Registry found people who lost weight and continued bi-monthly support group meetings for one year maintained their full weight loss. Study participants who did not attend support group meetings regained almost half of the weight.
Physical activity plays a vital role in maintaining weight loss. Studies show that even exercise that is not rigorous, such as walking and using stairs, has a positive effect. Activity that uses 1,500 to 2,000 calories per week is recommended for maintaining weight loss.
Diet and exercise are vital strategies for losing and maintaining weight. A study by the National Weight Control Registry found that nearly all of 784 study participants who had lost at least 30 pounds, and had maintained that loss for one year or longer, used diet and exercise to not only lose the weight, but also to maintain the weight loss.
Once the desired weight has been reached, the gradual addition of about 200 calories of healthy, low-fat food to daily intake may be attempted for one week to see if weight loss continues. If weight loss does continue, additional calories of healthy foods may be added to the daily diet until the right balance of calories to maintain the desired weight has been determined. It may take some time and record keeping to determine how adjusting food intake and exercise levels affect weight.
Continuing to use behavioral strategies can help maintain weight. Be aware of eating as a response to stress and use exercise, activity, or meditation to cope instead of eating.
A return to old habits does not mean failure. Paying renewed attention to dietary choices and exercise can help sustain behaviors that maintain weight loss. Identifying situations such as negative moods and interpersonal difficulties and incorporating alternative methods of coping with such situations rather than eating can prevent relapses to old habits.
Weight cycling is losing and regaining weight multiple times. Some studies suggest that weight cycling, also called "yo-yo dieting," may result in some health risks such as high blood pressure, gallbladder disease, and high cholesterol. However, these studies are not conclusive. The best strategy is to avoid weight cycling and to maintain healthy weight through activity and healthy eating.
One myth about weight cycling is that a person who loses and regains weight will have more difficulty losing weight again and maintaining it compared to a person who has not gone through a weight-loss cycle. Most studies show that weight cycling does not affect the rate at which the body burns fuel and a previous weight cycle does not influence the ability to lose weight again. In addition, weight cycling does not increase the amount of fat tissue or increase fat distribution around the stomach.
Always consult your physician for more information. | <urn:uuid:9e40e2a5-2789-4ce0-9434-66cb928cb202> | {
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In 1980, Congress began passing provisions that made Medicare a secondary payer to certain primary plans in particular situations.
For example, Medicare is the secondary payer to coverage provided by Group Health Plans (GHPs) if a beneficiary is employed at a company with 20 or more employees, or if a beneficiary’s spouse (of any age) is enrolled in a GHP through an employer.
Employees may reject coverage through a GHP, so Medicare will become the primary payer, but employers will not be able to offer secondary coverage for services covered by Medicare.
There are exceptions, however. For example, Medicare is the secondary payer for up to 30 months for people with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) who are covered by a GHP. The period begins when the employee becomes eligible for Medicare.
Medicare is also secondary insurance for people under 65 years old who are living with a disability and covered by a Large Group Health Plan (LGHP) (100 employees or more), or who have a family member covered by such a plan.
Medicare is secondary to workers’ compensation (WC) plans, liability insurance and all forms of no-fault insurance, although it will make a conditional payment if one of the aforementioned plans will not pay or will not pay promptly.
Medicare will also make conditional payments for claims denied by an employee’s GHP or LGHP, or if a beneficiary fails to file a proper claim due to mental or physical incapacity. Medicare will not make conditional payments if a claim is denied for one of the following reasons:
• GHP is alleged to be secondary to Medicare;
• GHP limits payment because a beneficiary is entitled to Medicare;
• GHP covers services for younger employees and spouses but not those over 65;
• Or the beneficiary fails to files a claim for any reason other than mental or physical incapacity.
In general, if a beneficiary has more than one primary private insurer, the costs are coordinated between the insurers. For example, if one plan is based on retirement, then Medicare is the primary payer; if the other plan is based on employment, then Medicare is the secondary payer. In this the case, the order of payment would be: GHP, Medicare, retirement plan.
What Is the Single-Payer System?
What Are Bundled Payments?
What Is the Premium Support Option, and How Is it Different From Current Medicare? | <urn:uuid:8a1956bf-a797-4239-998b-360102cd9e85> | {
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Definition of Cholangiogram
Cholangiogram: A radiologic procedure used to look at the gallbladder and bile ducts. It could also mean picture of the bile ducts. See also: Intravenous cholangiogram.
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2012
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Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:5f6d10e7-d6c6-4670-bc8d-a8d7c9d9f1b2> | {
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Primary idiopathic seborrhea is a skin disease seen in dogs and rarely in cats. It is characterized by a defect in keratinization or cornification that results in increased scale formation, occasionally excessive greasiness of the skin and hair coat, and often secondary inflammation and infection. Secondary seborrhea, in which a primary underlying disease causes similar clinical signs, is more common than primary seborrhea. Seborrhea in horses is usually secondary to either pemphigus foliaceus or equine sarcoidosis (chronic granulomatous disease).
Etiology, Clinical Findings, and Diagnosis
Primary seborrhea is an inherited skin disorder characterized by faulty keratinization or cornification of the epidermis, hair follicle epithelium, or claws. It is seen more frequently in American Cocker Spaniels, English Springer Spaniels, Basset Hounds, West Highland White Terriers, Dachshunds, Labrador and Golden Retrievers, and German Shepherds. There is usually a familial history of seborrhea, suggesting genetic factors. The disease begins at a young age (usually <18–24 mo) and typically progresses throughout the animal's life. A diagnosis of generalized primary idiopathic seborrhea should be reserved for cases in which all possible underlying causes have been excluded.
Most seborrheic animals have secondary seborrhea, in which a primary underlying disease predisposes to excessive scaling, crusting, or oiliness, often accompanied by superficial pyoderma, Malassezia (yeast) infection, and alopecia. The most common underlying causes are endocrinopathies and allergies. The goal is to identify and treat any underlying cause of the seborrhea. Palliative therapies that do not compromise the diagnostic evaluation should be instituted concurrently to provide as much immediate relief as possible.
Underlying diseases may present with seborrhea as the primary clinical problem. The signalment (age, breed, sex) and history may provide clues in diagnosing the underlying cause. Environmental allergies (atopic dermatitis) are more likely to be the underlying cause if age at onset is <5 yr, whereas an endocrinopathy or neoplasia (especially cutaneous lymphoma) is more likely if the seborrhea begins in middle-aged or older animals.
The degree of pruritus should also be noted. If pruritus is minimal, endocrinopathies, other internal diseases, or certain diseases limited to the skin (eg, demodicosis or sebaceous adenitis) should be excluded. If pruritus is significant, allergies and pruritic ectoparasitic diseases (eg, scabies, fleas) should be considered. The presence of pruritus does not exclude nonpruritic disease as the underlying cause, because the presence of a pyoderma, Malassezia infection, or inflammation from the excess scale can cause significant pruritus. However, a lack of pruritus helps to exclude allergies, scabies, and other pruritic diseases as the underlying cause.
Other important considerations include the presence of polyuria, polydipsia, or polyphagia; heat-seeking behavior; abnormal estrous cycles; occurrence of pyoderma; the influence of seasonality; diet; response to previous medications (including corticosteroids, antibiotics, antifungals, antihistamines, or topical treatments); zoonosis or contagion; and the environment. The duration and severity of disease as well as level of owner frustration are important factors in determining the aggressiveness of the diagnostic plan.
A thorough physical examination, including internal organ systems and a comprehensive dermatologic examination, is the first step in identifying the underlying cause. The dermatologic examination should document the type and distribution of the lesions; the presence of alopecia; and the degree of odor, scale, oiliness, and texture of the skin and hair coat. The presence of follicular papules, pustules, crusts, and epidermal collarettes usually indicates the existence of a superficial pyoderma. Hyperpigmentation indicates a chronic skin irritation (such as pruritus, infection, or inflammation), and lichenification indicates chronic pruritus. Yeast (Malassezia spp) infection should always be considered when evaluating a seborrheic animal.
Secondary infection plays a significant role in most cases of seborrhea. The sebum and keratinization abnormalities that are common in seborrhea frequently provide ideal conditions for bacterial and yeast infections. The self-trauma that occurs in pruritic animals increases the likelihood of a secondary infection. Often, coagulase-positiveStaphylococcus spp or Malassezia spp are present. The infections add to the pruritus and are usually responsible for a significant amount of the inflammation, papules, crusts, alopecia, and scales.
One of the first diagnostic steps is to obtain superficial cytology of the affected areas to identify the quantity and type of bacteria or yeast present. If numerous cocci and neutrophils are present, pyoderma is likely. In addition to systemic therapy, topical shampoos will aid in the treatment of secondary infections. In a seborrheic dog with pruritus, the infection may cause all or most of the pruritus. Instead of considering allergies as the underlying disease in these dogs, nonpruritic diseases (eg, endocrinopathies) may be uncovered by addressing the infections.
After the infections have been addressed, other diagnostic tests that should be considered include multiple deep skin scrapings, dermatophyte culture, impression smears, trichograms, and flea combing. If these are negative or normal, a skin biopsy, CBC, serum biochemical profile, and complete urinalysis will complete the minimum database. Examples of diagnostic clues include increased serum alkaline phosphatase (which may suggest hyperadrenocorticism or previous steroid therapy), cholesterol (which may suggest hypothyroidism), blood glucose (which suggests diabetes mellitus), and BUN or creatinine (which may suggest renal disease).
Palliative therapy is needed to keep the animal comfortable while the underlying cause is identified and secondary skin diseases are corrected. For treatment of pyoderma, an antibiotic with known sensitivity against Staphylococcus pseudintermedius should be appropriate. Examples of such antibiotics are amoxicillin-clavulanate 13.75 mg/kg bid, cephalexin 20–30 mg/kg bid-tid, cefpodoxime 5-10 mg/kg/day, lincomycin 20 mg/kg bid, ciprofloxacin 30 mg/kg/day, enrofloxacin 5-10 mg/kg/day, marbofloxacin 3- 6 mg/kg/day, azithromycin 10 mg/kg/day, 4 days/wk, doxycycline 5 mg/kg bid, trimethoprim-sulfa 30 mg/kg bid, clindamycin 11 mg/kg bid, chloramphenicol 50 mg/kg tid (dogs); 12.5-20 mg/kg bid (cats) . Because most staphylococcal infections in seborrhea cases are superficial pyodermas, they should be treated for a minimum of 4 wk.
With the increase in methicillin-resistant S pseudintermedius,
S aureus, and S schleiferi, it is now strongly recommended to perform a bacterial culture of any animal with pyoderma that does not begin to respond to an antibiotic after 3–4 wk. Epidermal collarettes may be cultured using a dry sterile culturette rolled across the collarettes. While methicillin-resistant S pseudintermedius infections are more difficult to treat, they are not more virulent or visually striking than those due to methicillin-susceptible S pseudintermedius. Previous (ie, within the past year) hospitalization, surgery, or previous antibiotic treatment are all possible risk factors for development of methicillin-resistant S pseudintermedius infections.
Malassezia may be treated systemically with an azole such as ketoconazole or fluconazole (5 mg/kg/day, for 4 wk). In addition to addressing any secondary infections, antipruritic therapy and shampoo therapy are usually needed to help control the seborrhea and speed the return of the skin to a normal state. Shampoo therapy can decrease the number of bacteria and yeast on the skin surface, the amount of scale and sebum present, and the level of pruritus; it also helps normalize the epidermal turnover rate.
In the past, seborrhea has been classified as seborrhea sicca (dry seborrhea), seborrhea oleosa (oily seborrhea), or seborrheic dermatitis (inflammatory seborrhea). Most seborrheic animals have varying degrees of all three of these classifications of seborrhea.
Most products contained in shampoos can be classified based on their effects as keratolytic, keratoplastic, emollient, antipruritic, or antimicrobial. Keratolytic products include sulfur, salicylic acid, tar, selenium sulfide, propylene glycol, fatty acids, and benzoyl peroxide. They remove stratum corneum cells by causing cellular damage that results in ballooning and sloughing of the surface keratinocytes. This reduces the scale and makes the skin feel softer. Shampoos containing keratolytic products frequently exacerbate scaling during the first 14 days of treatment because the sloughed scales get caught in the hair coat. The scales will be removed by continued bathing, but owners should be warned that the scaling often worsens initially. Keratoplastic products help normalize keratinization and reduce scale formation by slowing down epidermal basal cell mitosis. Tar, sulfur, salicylic acid, and selenium sulfide are examples of keratoplastic agents. Emollients (eg, lactic acid, sodium lactate, lanolin, and numerous oils, such as corn, coconut, peanut, and cottonseed) are indicated for any scaling dermatosis, because they reduce transepidermal water loss. They are most effective after the skin has been rehydrated and are excellent adjunct products after shampooing. Antibacterial agents include benzoyl peroxide, chlorhexidine, ethyl lactate, tris-EDTA, and triclosan. Antifungal ingredients include chlorhexidine, sulfur, ketoconazole, and miconazole. Boric and acetic acids are also used as topical antimicrobials.
It is important to know how individual shampoo ingredients act, as well as any additive or synergistic effects they have, because most shampoos are a combination of products. The selection of appropriate antiseborrheic shampoo therapy is based on hair coat and skin scaling and oiliness, of which there are four general presentations: 1) mild scaling and no oiliness, 2) moderate to marked scaling and mild oiliness (the most common), 3) moderate to marked scaling and moderate oiliness, 4) mild scaling and marked oiliness. These categories are intended to guide the type of shampoo therapy necessary; however, all factors for each individual patient should be considered.
Animals with mild scaling and no oiliness need mild shampoos that are gentle, cleansing, hypoallergenic, or moisturizing. These shampoos are indicated for animals that have mild seborrheic changes, are irritated by medicated shampoos, or bathed too often. These products often contain emollient oils, lanolin, lactic acid, urea, glycerin, or fatty acids. Emollient sprays or rinses are often used in conjunction with these shampoos.
Animals with moderate to marked scaling and mild to marked oiliness should be bathed with shampoos that contain sulfur and salicylic acid. Both agents are keratolytic, keratoplastic, antibacterial, and antipruritic. In addition, sulfur is antiparasitic and antifungal. Some of these shampoos also contain ingredients that are antibacterial, antifungal, and moisturizing, which can help control secondary pyoderma, Malassezia spp, and excessive scaling. Shampoos that contain ethyl lactate lower the cutaneous pH (which has a bacteriostatic or bactericidal action by inhibiting bacterial lipases), normalize keratinization, solubilize fats, and decrease sebaceous secretions. These actions also result in potent antibacterial activity.
In the past, dogs with moderate to severe scaling and moderate oiliness were often treated with tar-containing shampoos. However, because tar shampoos usually have an unpleasant odor and can be irritating, along with poor owner compliance, they usually are no longer recommended.
In animals with severe oiliness and minimal scaling, profound odor, erythema, inflammation, and a secondary generalized pyoderma or Malassezia dermatitis are often present. Shampoos that contain benzoyl peroxide provide strong degreasing actions along with potent antibacterial and follicular flushing activities. Because benzoyl peroxide shampoos are such strong degreasing agents, they can be irritating and drying. Other antibacterial shampoos are better suited in animals that have superficial pyoderma without significant oiliness. These shampoos usually contain 2%–4% chlorhexidine (often in assoication with tris-EDTA) or ethyl lactate. The follicular flushing action of benzoyl peroxide makes it helpful for animals with numerous comedones or with demodicosis. Benzoyl peroxide gels (5%) are good choices when antibacterial, degreasing, or follicular flushing actions are desired for focal areas, such as in localized demodicosis, canine acne, or Schnauzer comedone syndrome. However, these gels also may be irritating.
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Eye redness is due to swollen or dilated blood vessels, which cause the surface of the eye to look red, or bloodshot.
Bloodshot eyes; Red eyes; Scleral infection; Conjunctival infection
There are many possible causes of a red eye or eyes. Some are cause for concern; some are medical emergencies. Others are nothing to worry about.
How red the eye appears is often less of a concern than whether you also have eye pain or difficulty seeing.
Bloodshot eyes appear red because the vessels in the surface of the white portion of the eye (sclera) become swollen. This may result from dry air, too much sun, dust, something in the eye, allergies, infection, or injury.
One common cause of a red eye is straining or coughing. This can lead to a bright red, dense bloody area on the white part of the eye. This is called a subconjunctival hemorrhage. Although this bloody area may appear alarming, it is a fairly common occurrence and of little significance. If you notice a bloody spot in one eye that doesn't hurt, but just looks bad, don't worry. It should clear up on its own within a week or two.
Eye infections or inflammation can occur, causinge redness as well as possible itching, discharge, pain, or vision problems:
Blepharitis -- Swelling of the eyelash along the edge of the eyelid.
Conjunctivitis -- Swelling or infection of the tissue that lines the eyelids and coats the surface of the eye (the conjunctiva). This is often referred to as "pink eye."
Corneal ulcers -- Ulcers on the outer covering of the eye, usually because of a bacterial or viral infection.
Uveitis -- Swelling of the uvea, which includes the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. This is often related to an autoimmune disorder, infection, or exposure to toxins. Often, only the iris is inflamed, which is called iritis.
Other potential causes include:
Cold or allergies.
Acute glaucoma -- a sudden increase in eye pressure that is extremely painful and causes serious visual disturbances. This is a medical emergency. Most times, glaucoma is chronic and gradual.
Corneal scratches caused by sand, dust, or overuse of contacts.
For fatigue or eyestrain, try to rest your eyes. No treatment is necessary.
If you have eye pain or a vision problem, call your doctor or nurse.
Call your health care provider if
Go to the hospital or call your local emergency number (such as 911) if:
Your eye is red after a penetrating injury.
You have a headache along with blurred vision or confusion.
You take blood thinning medication, like warfarin.
You may have an object in your eye.
You are very sensitive to light.
You have a yellow or greenish discharge from one or both eyes.
What to expect at your health care provider's office
Your doctor will perform a physical exam, including an eye exam, and ask questions about your medical history. Questions may include:
Are both of your eyes affected? If only one eye, which one?
What part of the eye is affected -- the white part, or elsewhere?
Did the redness come on suddenly?
Have you ever had eye redness before?
Do you have eye pain? Does it get worse after movement of the eyes?
Do you have other symptoms like eye discharge, burning, or itching? Nausea or vomiting? A headache?
The eyes may need to be washed out with normal saline solution, and any foreign bodies will need to be removed. Eye drops may be prescribed.
Wright JL, Wightman JM. Red and painful eye. In: Marx JA, ed. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2009:chap 32.
Rubenstein JB, Virasch V. Conjunctivitis: Infectious and noninfectious. In: Yanoff M, Duker JS, eds. Ophthalmology. 3rd ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby Elsevier; 2008:chap 4.6.
Yanoff M, Cameron D. Diseases of the visual system. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 431.
Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director and Director of Didactic Curriculum, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc. | <urn:uuid:e1a55881-01be-4c30-abf5-c9b5a4c565fe> | {
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By using ultraminimalist electrical configurations, you can lighten your housing arrangements and make them more portable too.
Ultraminimalist lighting is straightforward. The most efficient way of lighting a house is to use lamps with compact fluorescent bulbs inside. For example, a 27W compact fluorescent is equivalent to a 100W incandescent bulb. Use LED lights for task lighting and spot lighting. These would ideally running on 12V DC if you are generating your own power, otherwise 120V AC works of course.
Run stereos, televisions, DVD players on DC if possible. Charge phones, batteries from DC. Run laptops instead of desktops.
Irons, vacuums and power tools are fine because, although they are energy intensive, they are only used for a short time. Hence a sufficiently large inverter will run them (for example 3000W). Use cordless, rechargeable tools where possible.
Using electricity for heating is not efficient. The most efficient ways to heat a house: arrange your house so that the sun heats something solid: for example walls or floors, that will later radiate the heat, or store the heat from the sun in water — lots of water if possible. For example, you could use evacuated glass tubes and radiant flooring, or something in that vein. Supplement solar heating with a renewable heating source: wood or vegetable oil for example. | <urn:uuid:1c41f158-66b5-4b4a-90a5-3edebfac771b> | {
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any device (whether in written, mechanical, electronic, or other form) that can be used by a worker to facilitate the performance of a job or task.
a guide for performers, which eliminates the need to recall the steps of a task by memory alone
a guide used to eliminate or minimize requirements to memorize information when performing critical tasks
a repository for information, processes, or perspectives that is external to the individual and that supports work and activity by directing, guiding, and enlightening performance
a tool to guide job performance in real time
A procedural guide that helps a person perform a task.
A repository for information, processes, or perspectives that support work and activities by directing, guiding, and enlightening performance. Job aids are often printed or visual summaries of key points or steps essential to the performance of a task.
A device designed for use on the job and providing guidance on the performance of a specific task or skill. May be printed or on-line. Used in situations where it is not feasible or worthwhile to commit the procedure to memory before on-the-job-activity. Often these are paper-based and posted on the wall in plain sight or in a small reference notebook. They can also be, decals, manuals, cards, etc.
A tool which can exist in paper form or on the computer which provides on-the-job instruction for a specific task. | <urn:uuid:a5f42426-aa39-4f05-8610-3daa93bf8f37> | {
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Abraham and David Roentgen were renowned German cabinetmakers whose workshop was famed throughout Europe for its exquisite marquetry work and complex mechanical devices. Proportioned for a stately public room or library, this musical clock is likely to have been the first Roentgen object to reach the United States, belonging to Gouverneur Morris, one of the nation’s founding fathers. Not only does it tell time, but it also displays the interior works, which are hidden in most clocks.
This clock, from The Nemours Foundation, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).
David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock
The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 11524 views
Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 18103 views
Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3147 views
Dinner fork (one of twelve)
Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.
This artwork is not on display
Marking: IT monogram in shaped punch (maker's mark);
X in square (date letter for 1727-28);
E P in shaped punch (mark of assay master Edward Penman);
another; partial strike (three-towered castle Edinburgh town mark)
Location of marks:
- on underside of body inside foot ring.
Major Ian Shaw of Tordarroch, M.B.A. (until 1983; sale, Christie's and Edminston's, Glasgow, March 29 , 1983, no. 83)
© 2000–2013 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:e274fec3-b59e-4147-b68f-79e8d7be1111> | {
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The Simplest Things
Sometimes the simplest things are, in fact, the most profound. And the smallest changes can have the greatest impact. I believe it is possible to dramatically improve our approach to training and education with just a few simple changes. Changes simple enough that teachers can begin applying them the day they learn them.
To understand the solution, we must first recognize the problem.
The problem is that we leak.
That's right, leak. We leak information.
We very rapidly forget new facts to which we are exposed. If you want to revolutionize training and education, you must fully understand this inherent human weakness. We need to be exposed to information again and again, perhaps even hundreds of times, before we can successfully retain and recall it. This is reality folks. Don't ignore it. Deal with it.
So how do we deal with this without genetically altering humans? Here are the simple steps:
1. Clearly identify the facts you want a student to learn.
2. Provide a method to reinforce those facts over time (over multiple sleep cycles).
Folks, that is it. It is so amazingly simple that it boggles the mind. Have you seen how we actually teach and train our students? We do not do these two things well at all!
Clearly Identify the Facts
Most classes do not clearly identify the specific set of facts to learn. Instead, they take the “guess what I think is important” approach. In this approach, a professor or lecturer stands at the front of the room and drones on and on for hours and hours, over days and days. Eventually, a test is presented to the students. The students are not told exactly what is going to be on the test. Instead, the students get to guess what the instructor thinks is important.
If you guessed right, you get an A. As a result, the computer can ensure every single student masters every single fact, and it does this so quickly that to most students, it does not even feel like studying.
If you guessed wrong, you fail.
In either case, it is highly unlikely that you will remember more than one or two of the facts within thirty days of the exam.
This failure is clearly demonstrated in the game show Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader. We don't remember what we learned in elementary school. Why? Because we leak!
It is really simple folks, if the facts are not systematically reinforced, they are most assuredly forgotten.
To fix the problem, clearly identify every fact the student should remember for the long-term. Next, give the students all of these facts in advance. Yes, all of them. If they should know 1000 things give them all 1000. Help them master all 1000. Test them on all 1000.
I know, this is extra work for the educators. They actually need to clearly identify what the students should master. We don't do this today because we think it would take too much time and energy for students to remember all of these facts. The truth is, with the proper reinforcement system in place, it will take less than five minutes a day.
Reinforce the Facts
To retain and successfully recall facts, they need to be reinforced over multiple sleep cycles. Some facts are learned quickly. They may only need to be reinforced a few times. Other facts, for whatever reason, are learned slowly. They may need to be reinforced several hundred times. The problem is, these facts are never the same for two different people. Everyone needs to be reinforcing different facts on entirely different schedules. Admittedly, this is almost impossible to do in a lecture. However, for a computerized tutor, it is remarkably simple.
A computer can be used to build a mind map for each individual student, learning exactly what facts the student knows and doesn't know. The computer can remember every time a student was exposed to a fact, on what date and at what time. The computer can remember each individual student's success in recalling and retaining each and every fact. Finally, the computer can provide a customized reinforcement plan individualized for every single student.
This is not a theory folks, it is a fact. For the last two years at Procuit we have been doing applied research on precisely this method of training. Others have been doing it even longer. It really works. However, don't take our word for it, test it on yourself. Pick something you would like to learn and implement a system of spaced repetition and reinforcement over extended periods of time.
You learn more. Faster. With less effort.
Sometimes the simplest things are, in fact, the most profound. Identify the facts you want your students to learn, all of them, and provide a customized method to reinforce them. You'll be amazed at how smart they become.
Let the knowledge revolution begin.
Tip of the Day: My research system is available to use free of charge at StudyTag.com. Try learning all of the U.S. States and Capitals, or author your own course, you can learn almost anything in five minutes a day.
My company is Procuit Inc. Visit us, if you are interested in learning more.
Training Budgets Waste or Total Waste?
If Michigan is interested in learning how to truly compete on a global scale, then we have to get dramatically smarter, about getting smarter.
Why is it that whenever the auto industry has a down-turn the first budget slashed is training? One week we want everyone to attend all of these important training seminars and the next week almost ALL of it is canceled. Why?
I have my own theory as to why training budgets are cut in this way. I propose this theory in the manner of a confession. You see, for most of the past 20 years I've been involved in some form of professional training. I have seen first hand what companies intuitively know, which is that a great deal of the money, time, and energy spent in professional training total is a TOTAL WASTE.
There, I said it, I feel better already.
Unfortunately, this also applies to most on-line training courses. The big difference between on-line training and live training in terms of results is simply that you waste less money with on-line training because you spend less for the course. Not a big win.
Here is a simple test to see how effective your training has been.
List, from memory, five facts you learned at your last all-day training course.
Thirty days after you take that on-line computer training lesson, do you remember even two things you learned?
I doubt it.
Research dating back to Ebbinghaus in 1885 shows us why. The reality is, we are great at forgetting. Perhaps it is time we start applying this research? Or, here's an idea, perhaps we can apply some of the additional research done in human cognition and memory that has been performed since 1885. We do have an additional 122 years of research we could be using. Have you ever read any of it? When I look at most professional training it is certainly clear that your trainers haven't!
Remarkably, whether teaching in schools or training in business, for the the most part, we ignore 122 years of research. We use old and wasteful training methods. Hey Detroit! Interested in learning how to slash your training budgets while achieving dramatically better training results? Want to ensure your employees actually gain and retain the skills and knowledge required to compete in the 21st century? Here is a hint.
STOP PUTTING YOUR STUPID POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS ON-LINE INTO STUPID COMPUTER BASED TRAINING SYSTEMS.
Please stop doing that, it just makes me sick. In case you didn't notice, most people are BORED TO DEATH by PowerPoint presentations. Why do you think putting them on the Internet will suddenly make them more interesting?
There is a dramatically better way to provide training and education. Information worth learning should be properly reinforced so that it is retained and recalled long-term. Here is a thought, if you do training right, you should ACTUALLY REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED.
Oh, and an additional benefit of doing training right - if you change your tools and approach, most training sessions should not cost more than $10. Think Charles Shaw training: if you are paying more than $10 a bottle of training, you are paying too much. If your vendors are charging you more than that, get new vendors, or demand that they implement a better system, a system based on 122 years of research.
If Michigan is going to be competitive in the 21st Century we are going to have to have some of the most effective training and education programs on the planet. We can do this. First we have to be willing to admit that what we are currently doing is not good enough. Next, we have to change. The tools are ready. The time is right. The secrets are ready to be revealed.
Tomorrow, I'll tell you the secrets to dramatically reforming our education and training systems, including exactly what needs to change, how to change it, and where you can begin.
I Wish We Were So Stupid
From time to time I hears folks criticizing one of our wonderful Michigan businesses. I know, this is hard to believe, but it is true. To be specific, people sometimes call our businesses and their great leaders stupid. “Ford was stupid doing this,” “GM was stupid for doing that,” and “all of them are stupid for ignoring W. Edwards Deming,” and on and on. (O.K., I admit, I'm usually the one making the Deming comment.) Usually the criticism is followed with, “And you will not believe what the morons running my company just did.”
In the past, whenever I heard people complaining about how stupid Michigan companies were, I would tell them, “If you want to really experience stupid, you have work for a California company.” Over the years, while still living in Michigan, I've somehow managed to end up working for California companies. I am not exaggerating when I say that these are the absolutely most amazingly stupid companies I have ever had the pleasure of working with. In fact, in the case of Commerce One, they turned stupidity into a mind numbingly glorious singularity – burning in stupid brightness, losing literally hundreds of millions of investment dollars, shutting down profitable businesses, and driving themselves to financial ruin. If you really want to meet stupid people, I am convinced that there is no better place than Silicon Valley.
At one point I mistakenly took solace in the idea that the Michigan companies I knew were significantly smarter than the California ones. Yes, the California companies were continually doing bold, innovative, and dramatic moves, but most these moves were also colossally unforgiving and, to me anyway, quite frequently stupid. Silicon Valley companies seem to enjoy betting their entire future on some crazy innovation, a single roll of the dice. Imagine how stupid the California VCs and Angels must be to invest in these companies.
To add insult to injury. Californians seem to celebrate their stupidity. They wear it as a badge of honor to have tried a startup and failed. Their VCs actually give money to inventors and managers who failed the last time they tried a startup: they let them try again! They even fund teenagers and college students ten to fifty thousand dollars for a stupid startup idea, with no real business plan, not even a single financial projection. Some even expect them to launch a new business in only 10 weeks. Oh the insanity, the insanity, and yes, I'm talking about you, Y Combinator.
In Michigan we have a better way – slow, deliberate, cautious, ..., smart. By golly, I remember the response I received when I presented an idea for an Internet company to a Michigan VC firm in 1996. The Michigan VC said, “The Internet, well, I don't really know if that Internet is going to go anywhere.” After all, we wouldn't want to invest if we didn't really KNOW the result ahead of time, like a Treasury Bill. That's the smart way to invest.
I was happy with my opinion on how smart we all are in Michigan. Even my experience with our local VC community didn't really change that opinion, although it did begin to shake the ground a little. It wasn't until I read, On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin, that I fundamentally began to question my faith in Michigan's approach to intelligent investing. That Darwin, always challenging our faith. I couldn't help but apply his theory to business, and I was surprised at the perspective it gave.
The beauty of the theory of natural selection is that doesn't require intelligent design. That is why it is so offensive to so many people. The key concept that so intrigues me is this:
Natural selection doesn't require intelligent design.
It is not intelligent selection, it is natural selection. It is not survival of the smartest, but survival of the fittest. And sometimes, being the fittest, is simply a function of luck. When I think of Darwin in the realm of innovative startup businesses, I am inclined to believe that intelligence is overrated.
What is required for natural selection to perform its wonders for startup businesses?
A large population, selection, and time.
Here is where we may be in trouble in Michigan. We are just too darn smart. We are trying to do intelligent design on a process better suited to natural selection. Intelligent design simply isn't as good as natural selection in creating strong, new, innovative businesses and jobs. The world is changing so fast, and technology is moving fast, if you want to ride the edge of innovation you cannot wait to make intelligent investments, for by the time it is clear what investments will survive and thrive, the opportunity has passed you by, and someone else will have the thriving new business life created by the process.
Say, for a purely hypothetical example, a new piece of technology appears called XMLhttprequest. Let's call the technology, and how it is applied, Web 2.0. California, being stupid, blindly starts up and finances hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Web 2.0 companies, all in less than three years. Mostly stupid companies, with stupid ideas, and no hint as to how they will ever even make any money.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Michigan, however, is much more clever. We only startup a few, and we don't provide them with any capital. Certainly no Michigan VC gives them any money, and for goodness sake, don't even approach the Angel Groups or the MGCS with this sort of lame idea. Include these types of businesses in the 21st Century Jobs Fund? That would be stupid.
Michigan is smart. California, clearly stupid.
End of the story? Unfortunately, no. The galling thing is that, in the end, California wins. How? The power of natural selection over a large population outperforms intelligent design.
Out of these thousands of new startup companies created in California many will, through the process of natural selection, survive, adapt, and even grow. Most die. Some absolutely thrive, creating whole new industries and thousands of new jobs. At the end of a few years, California successfully employs thousands and thousands of engineers and managers in the thriving companies. Thousands more work in those that are merely surviving. These companies being to develop synergy, create new ideas (mostly stupid), and launch yet still more new businesses creating new jobs.
Michigan. Michigan in the same time frame likely creates ten to twenty Web 2.0 companies. Most get no funding and die on the drawing board. Others move to California. And the few remaining ones who are successful, well, if they have an exit strategy it likely involves selling the company and moving it to California. After all, the only people stupid enough to buy it, are in California.
Final score: California, tens of thousands of new jobs in new industries, without a single tax credit to create them. Michigan, 0.
I wish we were so stupid.
There was a time when Michigan was a lot dumber. Henry Ford stupidly wanted to sell affordable cars to everyone. The smart money kept telling him to focus on selling cars only to the rich. "Silly Henry, don't you know the farmers can't afford cars, and we don't even have any roads for people to drive on." I can hear the capital speaking even now. Oh, if only we had a few thousand people as stupid as Henry around, and a few others stupid enough to back them.
The next time you hear somebody say how stupid a Michigan company is, tell them what I say, "Yeah, and not nearly stupid enough." I mean, we wouldn't want to have created a good alternative fuel car when gas was only $1.00 a gallon – that would've been stupid.
Tip of the Day: A slightly different take on my thesis can be found in the most excellent book, Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Would you like to better understand Web 2.0? Read Tim O'Reilly's original article. It is a bit technical, and a bit old, but still quite good. My personal Web 2.0 project? StudyTag. Check it out, and maybe even learn something about the Great Lakes. Best of all, StudyTag is free. I know, I know, it is stupid to give stuff away for free.
Chrysler, Want To Make an Extra 50 Billion? Or Why Detroit Needs Open Source.
Did you know that there is an IT breakthrough hidden inside of Chrysler that in the right hands could be worth 50 billion dollars or more? I’m not talking research, I’m talking developed, deployed, and operational software. The funny thing is, Chrysler almost assuredly doesn’t even know what it has! In fact, it is likely they have already turned off and abandoned this bit of amazing IT innovation.
Don’t get me wrong. At least two Chrysler employees knew exactly what they had, but they were just lowly software engineers in an auto company. They didn't have the temperament to spin-off, raise capital, and start a new industry.
Here is what happened. An internal software initiative had already failed two or three times, and yet another team had taken seven person-years to try to do it right. Unfortunately, the resulting system was slow, buggy, and behind schedule. The project involved data collection for manufacturing plants. Not just a little data, but a great pile of data for nearly every part for almost every machine (several hundred to several thousand machines per facility.) To make it more interesting, the data being collected would be different for different machines and the data may change over time. Chrysler needed to know how many machine cycles a particular piece of tooling has made on one machine, and on another machine, how long the cycle time was, and on and on. And this was just the data collection. Once the system had the data, they needed to provide alerts on certain conditions, warnings on others, and reports and real-time views on it all. And these needed to be able to be changed in real-time.
To make a long story short, a miracle occurred, and a completely new version of the system was written by one individual in two months – put another way, 84 months worth of work was reduced to 2 months, and the results were error free. This is what an employee told me later:
"A little less than two months later, this guy tossed me the product release, I had to laugh, he emailed me the release! How could something that will fit in my email possibly accomplish even a fraction of the requirements! I chuckled under my breath, and performed the install.
Then it hit me! This was working, just like he said it would.
And, I didn’t have to code the changes for each machine; it would create what was needed from the machine specifications!
I am always the skeptic, so I presented my first challenge: O.K., smart guy, each minute on this line costs $1000.00, sure you are collecting the down time, but I want to split the cost between every “Downed” machine on the line, on a per minute basis, and at the end of the day, I want to know which machine cost me the most dollars in productivity.
The next morning, I opened my E-Mail to find a configuration file.
I had him now….he forgot to send me the new release! A quick trip by his desk left me shaking my head, I didn’t need a new release, all I needed to do was apply my new business rules to the existing system!
My friend, this is agile.
This is what development was supposed to do for us.
I threw seven man-years of code in the trash that day, and launch a great system at a fraction of the cost. Using traditional methods, I could have spent years trying to design a system just to tell me the high cost machine on my lines, I got it from this system in a single day."
Basically, Chrysler was shown by a lone consultant on a small project a totally new way to develop industrial software, a way that dramatically reduced cost and improved quality. This approach was so innovative that it could have been spun-out into an entire new software industry. Of course, that would require time, energy, and capital, and automotive companies are not software companies.
So what happened? The innovation was never developed further. All of our big automotive companies treat IT as proprietary and confidential. And, near as I can tell, all of them are continually redoing the same projects over and over and over again. The result of this secrecy policy? Well, I am sure even Sue Unger never knew this particular innovation existed. You see innovation is a delicate thing that needs to be carefully tended, most of the time it isn't even recognized as innovation by experts in the field. Make every line of software internal and highly confidential, and even you will not know about your own innovations when they happens. Innovation born. Innovation dies.
Sadly, I know of many of these stories in Michigan. Michigan has incredible talent in software engineering. We have tremendous innovation. However, because all of the software is treated as an internal secret, it dies internally and is a secret EVEN TO THE COMPANY THAT CREATED, FINANCED, AND USES IT.
The solution? In my opinion, Detroit automotive companies should seek to open source almost all of their software initiatives. Everyone needs to control a factory floor, everyone needs to meet payroll, everyone needs to manage suppliers, and frankly none of you are that good at developing software. So, when you do spend a fortune developing and deploying it, don't hide it, open source it! Let others unabashedly benefit from your investment and nurture your innovation.
Had this innovation at Chrysler been properly nurtured in an open source community, the IT costs at all of our Michigan automotive companies would have been slashed, and it would still be dropping! Not by moving to cheap offshore labor, but by eliminating most of the labor entirely. Think about it, 80 months of labor reduced to 2 months of labor. I won't even calculate the percent savings because it is too embarrassing to the industry!
Detroit, do you want to dramatically reduce your software costs? Then open source your software projects! It is probably the only way you will actually be able to benefit and leverage the innovation that is incurring inside your walls. It you are clever, or perhaps I should say if you are stupid, you might even get a piece of the 50 billion dollar non-competing industry that arises from the innovation.
We'll talk more about being that stupid tomorrow.
Tip of the Day: Two open source packages I use continually are Open Office and Firefox. Check them out.
Enough Hoopla Around Google? Not Nearly Enough!
On more than one occasion I've heard someone poo poo (poo poo is that the formal term for it?) the announcement that Google opened a large office in Michigan. Typically, their statements go something like this "We've lost 19,000 manufacturing jobs last year. Sure it is great that Google opened an office here, but what is Google going to be, a thousand jobs? What difference will that make?"
It is a good question. What difference will it make? What difference could having one of the most innovative and interesting search, advertising, and marketings companies on the planet open a large office in Michigan make? Here is an answer for you...
It could save Michigan.
Let me repeat the answer, just to make it clear.
It could save Michigan.
Google has the potential to be that important to the long-term future of Michigan. Not because of revenue generated from the thousand jobs, the pay at those jobs is not nearly high enough. Nor will Google setting up shop in Michigan convince many other companies to follow. It may convince a few, but with our shallow VC and Angel market we are certainly not positioned to be the next Silicon Valley.
No. The benefit of having one of the world's most innovative search, advertising, and marketing companies setup shop in Michigan is that finally Michigan businesses may finally begin to realize just how important Google's tools are to growing business worldwide. Michigan businesses may begin to recognize that it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL that they start using Google products and services to grow their business! Michigan businesses must dramatically improve their game in Internet marketing and selling, their future, and ours, depends on it.
I attended an event in Ann Arbor this year where a Google guest speaker was flown in from California to demonstrate Google Analytics. It was well attended. The room where it was held was packed. The only problem is if everyone in Michigan who needed to learn the information had attended it would have required Ford Field to hold the audience. Google Analytics and Google Adwords are that important! Don't you know this yet? Where were you? Every single business in Michigan can benefit greatly from a well executed Adwords strategy. These tools may be the single most important way you can grow your company, improve sales, reach new customers, and have a global impact. It is time you learned more about it.
Google is training up to 1,000 Google employees in Michigan on Google Adwords. Even better, it is the job of these people to pass that knowledge on to you! The Google office in Michigan is specifically designed to help you do a better job using Adwords.
If I was Governor I would do everything in my power to ensure that every Michigan business understands how to create and execute an Adwords campaign, and how to build a landing page for that campaign that actually converts to sales. These are the skills that will allow new businesses to grow. These are the skills that allow Michigan businesses to sell and test market anywhere in the world at very low cost, and I mean anywhere, including your own backyard. Do you want to give Michigan businesses a head start? Teach Michigan workers how to use Adwords.
In case you're wondering, no, I do not work for Google and I do not own their stock (my bad). I have, however, used their tools for years. I KNOW that they work. I know that they can turn a business around. I know that they can make the process of marketing, lead generation, and sales actually fun again. My knowledge is real and personal, and I continue to use these tools every day. Google's tools are not the end of the journey, they are just the beginning, and there are other excellent Internet tools you should be using to grow your business. However, Google is probably one of the best places to start. I suggest you start today.
Yes. Losing 19,000 manufacturing jobs hurts, a lot.
But there is also hope. Google opened a large office in Michigan. Google, the company that has been changing how businesses advertise, market, and sell for years. It is still rare to find a Michigan company that is using these tools well. If Google having an office here in Michigan can begin to change that, then yes, it is really, really important.
It could just save Michigan.
Tip of the Day: Where would I start learning this stuff if I were you? Get the Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords by Perry Marshall and Bryan Todd.
Currently selling for less than $20 on Amazon. Don't just buy it, actually read it! Then, actually do it. The best $20 you will spend this year, and don't be fooled, the book isn't really about Adwords, it is about how to implement a comprehensive Internet marketing and sales strategy. | <urn:uuid:738873d2-41da-49d3-acb9-639e8f403025> | {
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The likelihood of becoming seriously ill from cholera depends on your blood group. It is possible to find a new remedy for the feared illness by studying the molecular structure in the toxin in the cholera bacteria.
Three to five million people are infected by cholera ever year. The mortality rate is high: one hundred thousand people die from the feared illness every year.
'Cholera depends on the blood group. Some blood groups have an increased risk of becoming seriously ill', says Professor Ute Krengel in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oslo.
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Several devices, from portable computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to mobile phones and video cameras, use liquid crystal display (LCD) technology to render images on a screen. Before these innovations existed, the smallest level of detail that a computer could use was a single pixel. With ClearType font technology, LCD monitors now can display features of text as small as a fraction of a pixel in width.
The result is that the words on a computer screen now look almost as sharp and clear as those printed on a piece of paper. ClearType improves readability of text on LCD displays so that words on the screen appear almost as sharp and clear as words on a printed page. Resolution improvements also increase the sharpness of tiny details in text that is displayed. This makes it easier for the user to read over long durations.
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Created in 2002, Minkébé National Park (MNP) is situated in the extreme northeast of Gabon, and covers an area of about 7560km². The Park is set within a huge forest block of 32260km² and is among the more intact and isolated forests in Central Africa. Today the forest is largely uninhabited, though in pre- colonial times, settlements were scattered through the forest. During the colonial era, resettlement planners moved villages toward roads and navigable rivers. Today, temporary hunting camps occur on the peripheries of the forest and gold mining communities live in the interior near the park borders. Baka pygmies from Gabon and southern Cameroon live throughout the northern sector of the Minkébé forest, where they are involved in large-scale elephant poaching for village-based gun owners and ivory traffickers. Minkébé is well known for its wildlife which includes a high density of elephants and other large mammals. However, the elephants of Minkébé are known to be threatened by poaching, notably in the north of the Park near the border with Cameroon. The park is managed by the government of Gabon with the assistance of WWF.
Elephant dung density inside the park was considerably higher than in the zone outside the park. Mean dung density outside the park in the high human impact stratum was of 4807/km2, in contrast to the density in the two strata within the park of 4981 dung/km2 (moderate human impact) and 6498 dung/km2 (low human impact). Unfortunately, an estimate of elephant abundance based on dung density is highly error-prone because dung degradation rates and defecation rates required for the conversion are not known for this site. However, using estimates of 90 days for degradation time and 19 defecations per day, an average elephant density of 3.1/km2, or a total of 29146 elephants in the total area of the survey zone, or 22678 in the Minkébé NP can be calculated. Among all MIKE sites that surveyed, Minkébé contained the highest dung density and due to its large area, probably holds the highest elephant population in the protected areas network of Central Africa.
The MIKE elephant inventory zone (above) included both the national park, and an area outside the park to the northwest known to be heavily hunted, in order to sample elephant abundance across a gradient of human impact. The survey zone with a total area of 9319km², was divided a priori into 3 strata of low, medium, and high human impact. Sixty-one systematically placed line-transects were connected by “recces” (survey paths of least resistance). Standardised methods (with small modifications) were used to count elephant dung, ape nests, a suite of other ecological and human signs. A team of technicians from WWF-Gabon completed the survey over a 10-month period (August 2003-June 2004).
Forest Elephant Survey | <urn:uuid:fd4d867d-1330-473b-9dc1-f0486855f200> | {
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1929: Eli Lilly & Co. registers thimerosal under the trade name Merthiolate. It begins to appear in over-the-counter products and as an anti-bacterial preservative in multi-dose vaccines.
1974: Eli Lilly ceases production of vaccines. Several other pharmaceutical companies continue using thimerosal as a preservative in vaccines.
1980: The FDA begins a review of over-the-counter (OTC) products containing thimerosal.
1982: The FDA proposes a ban on thimerosal in OTC ointments, citing its possible toxicity and ineffectiveness.
January, 1991: The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices adds Haemophilus influenzae B (Hib) to its recommendations for childhood immunization. Ten months later, they recommend Hepatitis B vaccinations for children. Thimerosal is used as a preservative in multidose vials of both vaccines.
November, 1997: Congress passes the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act, requiring the study of mercury content in FDA-approved products. The review discloses the hitherto-unrecognized levels of ethylmercury in vaccines.
April, 1998: The FDA's proposed ban on thimerosal in OTC products goes into effect.
1999: Some public-health experts publicly advocate the removal of thimerosal from vaccines. Their recommendation is partly based on a study that found neurological problems in babies whose mothers had ingested mercury while eating whale blubber during pregnancy. This study becomes the source for the EPA's recommended limit for exposure to mercury.
July, 1999: Public-health officials announce that thimerosal will be phased out of vaccines. The CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, and FDA insist the measure is purely precautionary. They ask manufacturers to eliminate or reduce mercury in vaccines as quickly as possible.
August, 1999: Congressman Dan Burton (R-Ind.), then-Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, begins hearings for what will become a three-year investigation into autism and its possible causal link to vaccines. At this time, federal agencies estimate that autism affects 1 in 500 children in the United States.
February, 2000: CDC researcher Thomas Verstraeten's analysis of CDC Vaccine Safety Datalink records finds a relative risk of 2.48 for autism in children who receive thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs).
June, 2000: Verstraeten discloses his analysis to vaccine advisory committee members at a meeting outside Atlanta. The relative-risk figure has dropped from 2.48 to 1.69. Later that month, the advisory committee decides against stating a preference against TCVs.
July, 2000: Safe Minds forms to "investigate and raise awareness of the risk to infants and children of exposure to mercury through medical products, including thimerosal in vaccines."
April, 2001: Sallie Bernard and Lyn Redwood publish "Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning" in the journal Medical Hypotheses, publicizing the case for a causal link between mercury and autistic spectrum disorders. The same month, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) releases a report finding no association between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism.
July, 2001: The CDC's vaccine advisory committee again decides not to state a preference for thimerosal-free vaccines. By this date, diptheria-tetanus-pertusis (DTaP), Hepatitis B, and Hib vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market no longer contain thimerosal. TCVs that have not yet expired may remain on doctors' shelves.
October, 2001: A second IOM report finds insufficient evidence to either accept or reject a causal relationship between TCVs and neurological disorders, but says the "hypothesis is biologically plausible."
July, 2002: Proceedings looking into the causal link between thimerosal and autism begin in the federal vaccine court. This is the first step in the legal process for parents seeking compensation for alleged adverse effects of vaccines on their children.
November, 2002: The FDA has estimated this as the final expiration date for thimerosal-containing HepB, Hib, and DTaP vaccines. A California study finds that a three-fold increase in classic autism diagnoses in the state between 1987 and 1998 is real, and cannot be explained as a result of improved diagnostic techniques and case-finding.
November, 2002: Congressional Republicans insert language into the 475-page homeland security bill that would prevent parents from suing vaccine makers. After public outcry, the proposal is scrapped in January 2003.
January, 2003: A CDC study finds a ten-fold increase in autism rates in Atlanta between the 1980s and 1996. Some researchers now estimate 1 in 150 children have autistic spectrum disorders.
June, 2003: an analysis of CDC vaccination data finds that children who received TCVs had a higher risk.
October, 2003: One of the largest, most comprehensive studies discounting a link between TCVs and neurological disorders is published by Danish researchers.
November, 2003: The House Committee on Government Reform's report on its investigation assails public-health officials and pharmaceutical companies for failing to remove ethylmercury, "a potent neurotoxin" from medical products. The report concludes: "Our public health agencies' failure to act is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self-protection and misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry."
November, 2003: Verstraeten's analysis is published in a peer-reviewed journal, Pediatrics, setting off a new wave of controversy and accusations of statistical manipulation. Congressman Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) writes to CDC Director Julie Gerberding to open up the agency's vaccination database to independent researchers.
November, 2003: A national autism summit is held in Washington D.C. to discuss an interagency effort to researching the causes and possible treatments for autism.
January, 2004: A joint statement by the AAP, American Academy of Family Physicians, the CDC vaccination advisory committee, and the Public Health Service maintains that "there remains no convincing evidence of harm caused by low levels of thimerosal in vaccines."
February, 2004: A panel sponsored by the Institute of Medicine convenes to examine the possible thimerosal-autism link. Its report is expected this spring.
- Rina Palta | <urn:uuid:1bdf4906-b71d-402a-abb4-dd0e2dd25624> | {
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The First World War was a singing war. Soldiers used songs to bond and to alleviate the stress and fears encountered at the front. They shared songs with each other at base camps, while marching, and in the front lines.
Types of Songs
There were popular songs of the war, like It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary and Keep the Home Fires Burning, as well as many songs drawn from contemporary music halls. Sentimental ballads were as popular as irreverent ditties. In addition to the songs coming from the home front, which were often sung in the trenches, many soldiers took these songs and parodied them, adding new lyrics to the existing tunes. These new soldiers' songs often focused on antiwar or antiauthoritarian themes, and few outsiders, especially civilians, knew what to make of songs with morbid titles like We're All Waiting for a Shell or Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire.
See more objects and photographs about this topic: | <urn:uuid:b4633695-62e7-46ef-aaf6-cb244661511d> | {
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Trembowla Historic Site & Museum/The Cross of Freedom Inc.
Région touristique : Parkland
The first Ukrainian settlement from Europe was established in 1896, in the Trembowla area along the Drifting River, in the Rural Municipality of Dauphin. The following spring, Reverend Nestor Dmytriw arrived from Pennsylvania to celebrate the first Ukrainian Catholic Liturgy on Canadian soil for the Pioneers. To commemorate the occasion, the settlers erected a large Cross of Freedom representing freedom in a new land. Later that year on September 12, 1897, the settlers of Volkiwtsi, known as Mink River, were also visited by Rev. Dmytriw, who consecrated their cemetery and advised them to build a Church. The following year, the settlers erected a small chapel of logs and later built an addition to the permanent Church. It was consecrated in 1902 as St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church and served the Parish of Mink River until 1960.
The Church was relocated to the Cross of Freedom Historic Site in 1967 where it is preserved to this day as the first and oldest Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada.
Renseignements sur les collections
The collection consists of: road-side Historic Site, monuments, the first Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada which is preserved on Site. Historic Buildings include: St. Michael's Church, Trembowla School, Wasyl Ksionzyk Home, and replica of a pioneer home. Clay bake oven. In addition, a Grotto has been built to celebrate the centennial of St. Michael's Church (1998). The Grotto, built to the Blessed Virgin Mary, has appropriate plaques relating the history and first parishioners of St. Michael's Church. As well, a statue of the Blessed Mother of the Universe was donated by St. Elizabeth Parish of Polonia.
Collection of old School books, attendance records of Trembowla School dating back to 1919. Church records from St. Michael's Church, dating 1920 to 1960.
Architectural Records •
Prints and Drawings •
Autre : Ukrainian Church books and Bibles
Furniture or Furnishings
Autre : Church banners, chandelier, tabernacle
Canadian • European
Autre période : 1896-1966
Média : Painting • Photography • Prints and Drawings • Sketchbooks or Albums
Cross of Freedom commemorates the site of the first Ukrainian Divine Liturgy.
Costumes and Accessories
Furniture or Furnishings
Household Objects or Domestic Technology
Religious or Liturgical Objects
Autre : Clay bake oven.
Small collection of fossils and rocks.
Sciences de la Terre et collections géologiques
Services de recherche
Classes or Workshops
Information aux Visiteurs
Accessible by Public Transportation
Information Centre or Desk
Nature Trails, Walks or Gardens
Reminiscence or Oral History Kits
Special Needs Facilities
: Wheelchair access
Autres visites guidées : Ukrainian
Services de bénévoles
Volunteer Services Available •
Volunteer Training Offered
Nombre de bénévoles : 20
Tâches : Prepare food for annual event; clean and maintain historic buildings; do grant applications, fundraising, publicity and promotional programs
Free luncheon, Volunteer Appreciation Day, souvenirs
Services de restauration
Publications et produits
Video - Centennial Celebration (100th Anniversary of Ukrainian Settlement) 1896-1996
Annual Reports •
Museum Guide •
T-Shirts or Sweatshirts or Caps
Autre : Centennial Cook Book 1996
121 - 7th Avenue Southeast
Voir la carte
By Appointment •
Open May to September 9:00 to 5:00 and by appointment.
Droits d'entrée :
Admission by Donation | <urn:uuid:f46874fe-1cb7-4323-b26c-722ded4e041d> | {
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Diego Ramón, son of the former Capt. Domingo Ramón, was appointed commanding officer in the aftermath of his father’s death. The success of the presidio depended in large part on the ability of the Spanish to establish a permanent military presence and create a community free of concern of continual attacks from local tribes.
Given that the Copane, a sub-tribe of the Karankawa, occupied the coastal region extending from Garcitas Creek to Corpus Christi, it was determined that the presidio should be relocated further inland.
For the newly appointed Capt. Diego Ramón, however, his command would not last that long. Ramon’s competence as a leader was lacking and he was soon replaced by Captain Don Juan Antonio de Bustillo y Ceballos before the relocation took place.
Desperate to move, the Franciscans did not wait for permission. Instead, they staked out an area along the Guadalupe River approximately 10 leagues west of the Garcitas Creek settlement.
In April 1726, Spanish Governor Perez de Alamazan inspected the site and was very pleased with what he saw, thus recommending a stronger and more permanent presidio be built in the same location, across the river from the mission. Among the qualities that made the new location desirable were the climate, topography, a river for fresh water and irrigation, plentiful timber and an accessible stone quarry for building strong fortifications. Also of great importance was the fact that area tribes proved a more peaceful neighbor than the Karankawa had at Garcitas Creek.
It did not take long for the presidio to flourish at its new location. By 1730, tremendous progress had been made. Permanent dwellings and sturdy fortifications were built, livestock and agriculture were flourishing, relations between the soldiers and natives were more stable and the Franciscans had been successful in spreading Christianity to numerous tribes in the region. During a 1730 presidial inspection ordered by the viceroy of Mexico, it was noted that the presidio had a garrison of ninety men of remarkable discipline and military knowledge, from their impeccable appearance to their knowledge of the Manual of Arms. Their commander, Capt. Bustillo y Ceballos, also received high praise.
Despite all of the improvements and the years of hard work and effort put forward and the many lives that were lost along the way, this was not to be the final location of Presidio La Bahía. Spanish Texas was growing at a steady and rapid pace. In order to better protect Texas from foreign invaders, it was important to situate the presidio in the most advantageous place in relation to the Camino Real, the highway that connected the interior of Mexico to East Texas. | <urn:uuid:fdc2debb-2ce0-4e80-a1ba-8c5f02c7db75> | {
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Seventh Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering Reengineering the Paralyzed Nervous System P. HUNTER PECKHAM Department of Biomedical Engineering Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio INTRODUCTION Damage to the central nervous system is the major cause of disability in the United States. In some cases, such as in spinal cord injuries or strokes, connectivity has been lost because the pathway has been severed. In other cases, such as in Parkinson’s disease, the neural circuits behave in a disordered fashion. Whether the origin of the damage is congenital, traumatic, or age-related, improving neural connectivity and restoring function has a major impact on the lives of people with these injuries. Many approaches to restoring the connectivity of neural elements are being explored (e.g., gene therapies, stem cell transplants, tissue engineering). One of the most promising is engineering, which can provide an interface with the nervous system to restore functions. Through the delivery of low levels of electrical current in precise ways, control of the nervous system can be regained and function restored. Understanding how such an interface works requires a fundamental appreciation of the structure of nerves and how they work. First, consider a single nerve fiber. From the cell body, or soma, at one end, hundreds of dendrites emerge, through which input is provided to the cell. Only one axon leaves the cell. The axon delivers information to another structure, such as another nerve cell or a muscle cell. Electrical stimulation is usually delivered to the axon somewhere along its length. The electrical current causes the permeability of the membrane to change causing an efflux/influx of sodium, potassium, calcium, and other ions. When the difference across the membrane reaches a sufficient level, an action potential is generated that propagates along the axon in both directions from its point of origin. This fundamental principle, called “gating” the membrane potential, is the basis for restoring function to the nervous system by electrical activation.
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Seventh Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering The action potential generated by an electrical current causes events analogous to the events that occur in the normal generation of nerve impulses. Using electrical current to restore neural function has many advantages. First, most events involving the nervous system are communicated naturally by electrical means. Second, electrical stimulation has the capacity (1) to activate a single nerve fiber or multiple nerve fibers to generate movement and sensation, (2) to inhibit the firing of nerve fibers to reduce spasticity and pain, and (3) to activate or inhibit complex neural circuits, called neuromodulation, to change the firing of entire circuits of cells so it could be used to restore a wide range of different functions. Third, the effect of electrical stimulation can be localized, and turning off the current can eliminate the effect. Currents could also be delivered in such a way as to prolong the effect by taking advantage of the inherent plasticity of the nervous system. Fourth, electrical stimulation is incredibly efficient. A very small amount of current can generate enough muscle activation to lift the body. Electrical stimulation also acts very rapidly; the effect can be observed in seconds. Finally, electrical stimulation can be applied safely. Methods of delivering electrical current to biological tissue have already been developed through careful research and testing. Safe, stimulating waveforms that use bidirectional pulses with charge densities below established limits are well tolerated by biological tissues. Thus, electrical stimulation is an extraordinarily versatile, effective, and safe tool for manipulating the activity of the nervous system. Electrical activation of the nervous system is applicable to virtually every disorder involving the central nervous system (i.e., the brain and spinal cord). Some devices have already been granted regulatory approval and are commercially available in the United States. These include devices for restoring hand function, controlling bladder and bowel function, controlling respiration in spinal cord injuries, suppressing seizures in epilepsy, suppressing tremors in Parkinson’s disease, and restoring audition for people with hearing loss. Clinical research is being done on human subjects to enable patients to stand and walk, swallow, control the anal sphincter, and see. Basic research is also continuing on all of these applications to improve function and extend their applicability. For example, electrical stimulation has had limited success in restoring function in individuals with stroke, brain injuries, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy, although theoretically their neurological disabilities can be overcome. For patients with spinal cord injuries, for example, the technique must be operable for extended periods of time, perhaps for 50 years or more. In addition, these injuries affect more than one organ system, the limbs and bladder, for instance. Ideally, therefore, the technology will be applicable to multiple systems.
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Seventh Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering IMPLEMENTATION OF NEUROPROSTHESES Several factors must be considered in the clinical implementation of neuroprostheses. The use of a neuroprosthesis always involves trade-offs between physiological, technological, and clinical factors. Physiological Considerations Physiological factors are associated with the creation of a safe, effective interface between the prosthesis and the nervous system. First and foremost, the delivery of the electrical stimulus must be safe. A sufficient charge must be directed across the nerve membrane to depolarize it and generate action potentials, without generating toxic species in sufficient quantities to cause damage. Destruction (necrosis) or damage to the nerve tissue would exacerbate the problem. To understand the complexity of the problem, consider a device that could restore respiration. Biphasic (bidirectional or AC) current regulated pulses with charge reversal has been found to be effective. Eliciting an action potential in a compound nerve may require 10–20 mA at 30 V at a frequency of 20Hz 24 hours per day for up to 50 years. Another physiological consideration is the control and coordination of activation of the muscle. The physiologic control of muscles is graded, and this must be duplicated in the reengineered system. There are only two fundamental mechanisms for controlling muscle force, (1) activating more muscle fibers (recruitment) or (2) activating muscle fibers faster. The latter leads to fatigue. Therefore, the preferable rate of stimulation is 20Hz or less. Controlling force by recruitment requires that the number of nerve fibers activated be increased as the controlling current is increased. The resulting activation is a nonlinear function, generally sigmoidally shaped. High-gain regions of the relationship may cause difficulties in control because small changes in current can cause large changes in the number of activated nerve fibers, as can small movements between the electrode and the nerve. In addition, a fundamental characteristic of muscle is that its force is dependent on its length; therefore, muscle length must also be considered in artificial control. Generally, an action is not caused by the “simple” generation of force from a single muscle but is the result of many muscles working together to produce the desired movement. Even for a simple movement, this means that one muscle (an agonist) increases in strength as a second muscle (an antagonist) works in opposition and decreases in strength. When one considers a complex action, such as walking or moving an arm, one can begin to appreciate the complexity of restoring movement through electrical activation. The stability of the electrically activated response must also be considered. Muscles become fatigued with sustained contraction, whether naturally or electrically induced. With electrical stimulation, however, muscles become fatigued faster for two reasons. First, in an electrically stimulated contraction, there is
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Seventh Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering less rotation of activated fibers than in a natural, voluntary contraction. Second, paralyzed muscles are generally less able to sustain force because their metabolic properties have been compromised since the injury. Electrical activation can effectively reverse this “disuse atrophy” to increase the fatigue resistance of paralyzed muscles. Technological Considerations The fundamental technology in systems for neuroprosthetic devices includes stimulators, electrodes, sensors, and the lead wires or communication channels that connect them. The form of the technology depends on the application. In the examples given above, which must be used for a substantial portion of a person’s life, the most effective devices would be implanted. The specificity and reliability afforded by implantation results in vastly improved function and convenience for the user. Therefore, the device must be thoroughly reliable, designed to accommodate enhancements, and be repairable without compromising the remaining components. The requirements for an electronic device that can operate in the body for 50 years are stringent. For example, the current technology used to control the motor system consists of a multichannel, implantable stimulator with multiple leads that extend from the implanted electronics to the terminal electrodes placed adjacent to the nerve-muscle connection in the distal limb. The implantable stimulator contains hybrid microelectronics to provide the stimulation and control functions. The battery is not implanted because power consumption is too high for this to be practical. (To get an idea of power consumption, consider a device with eight channels of stimulation activated at 10–20 mA at 30 V at a frequency of 20 Hz 24 hours per day.) Currently, the electronics are powered and controlled by a radio-frequency signal transmitted through the skin with tuned coils (transmission frequency approximately 6.7MHz). The implanted electronics are protected from moisture by a titanium package with glass-metal feedthroughs for the leads. The configuration of the package depends on the application; generally 8 to 16 feedthrough pins are used for the stimulation and control functions. The leads present a difficult mechanical challenge because they are subject to repeated cycles of both bending and stretching. In addition, each lead must have a midline connector so repairs can be made in the event of failure. Stress concentrations are created both at these connectors and at the junction where the leads exit the feedthroughs. In addition, the passage of current through the electrodes causes electrochemical reactions at the interface to the tissue, which can cause degradation of the electrode, as well as the tissue. The biological compatibility of the materials with the surrounding tissue is essential in all types of implanted devices because any weakness in the design will be exploited by the environment. The problem is even more difficult for
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Seventh Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering neuroprosthetic applications in terms of protecting the implanted electronics and ensuring the long-term continuity of the lead electrode. Clinical Considerations In developing a neuroprosthetic device, it is particularly important to understand the function that is to be restored and how this aspect of the disability is treated medically. The technology must be not only functional, but must also be deployable by clinical practitioners (physicians, therapists, and nurses) whose appreciation of the complexity of the technology may be limited. The design must also meet the requirements of the user, such as an acceptable level of risk, time commitment, and the effort required for implementation and training. The neuroprosthesis must not only function acceptably, but it must also be easy and natural to use and easy to put on. Acceptable function may be less than full, normal function. RESTORING UPPER LIMB FUNCTION The focus of our work has been on a neuroprosthesis to restore hand and arm function (Figure 1) for people with cervical-level spinal cord injuries. These individuals have lost control of their hands and lower extremities but retain FIGURE 1 Sample implementation of neuroprosthesis for restoration of hand-arm control. SOURCE: Reprinted with permission from the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (Bhadra et al., 2002).
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Seventh Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering control of their upper arms. The neuroprosthesis we have developed incorporates an implantable sensor that transduces joint angle (IJAT), a multichannel stimulator-telemeter, and an external control unit. Movements of the wrist are transduced by the IJAT and used to control the stimulation applied to the paralyzed finger and thumb muscles. Two grasp patterns are provided: (1) lateral pinch-release, in which the thumb contacts the side of the index finger; and (2) palmar prehension-release, in which the index and long fingers oppose the thumb. The former grip is typically used for picking up or holding small objects and the latter for grasping larger objects. Grasp is proportional; flexion of the wrist corresponds to full hand opening, and wrist extension corresponds to maximum grasping strength. Intermediate positions of the wrist correspond to intermediate grasp positions between these two extremes. The system operates in the following manner. Contacting an external switch turns the system on, which transmits the radio frequency to the implant from the external controller, thus powering the transducer. This also establishes the “zero” command position of the wrist, corresponding to full hand extension, which is achieved by stimulating each of the target muscles at the appropriate level. For example, for hand extension, the finger and thumb muscles are maximally stimulated, and the finger and thumb flexors are inactive. These values are stored in a look-up table, in which any given wrist position corresponds to stimulus levels for each muscle. From the position of wrist extension, the user maneuvers the hand around the object and extends the wrist, causing the flexor muscles to be stimulated to a higher level and the extensor stimulation to decrease. Activating the external switch again sets a hold command, which maintains the stimulus level even if the wrist position changes. Other switch commands allow the user to regain control, reset zero, reset hold, or turn the system off. This system also enables users to regain control of elbow extension, which has been lost because of paralysis of the triceps. The switch enables the user to select alternative modes in which the triceps is either on or off. This system is a second-generation neuroprosthesis, five of which have been implemented in human subjects. The first-generation neuroprosthesis, which has an external sensor on the opposite shoulder for control and eight channels of stimulation, has completed clinical trials (Peckham et al., 2001), has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and is commercially available (NeuroControl Corporation, Vallee View, Ohio). Approximately 200 first-generation devices have been implanted worldwide. Both systems enable people with spinal cord injuries to grasp and release common objects and thus perform many everyday activities, such as eating, writing, and grooming, These functions, which are essential for independence and self-sufficiency, often lead to dramatic changes in patients’ lives.
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Seventh Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering Future Development Many new tools, such as sensors, electrodes, stimulators, and detailed “instruction sets” of how to use them, are expected to become available in the future. By describing how these tools interact with the underlying neural tissue and modeling this performance, the instruction set allows us to predict how the tools will perform in various situations. Sensors that detect physical movement, pressure, or electrical activity may be used for control or feedback. Advances in microsensors and bioMEMS are likely to yield great dividends. Current triaxial accelerometers and micropressure transducers are small enough and low-power enough to be implanted in the body. With advances in electrode technology, we will be able to stimulate selected fascicles of a whole nerve and create unidirectional impulses on the nerve. This will make complete and selective activation of nerves possible, as well as the inhibition of neural activity, such as the blocking of spastic activity or pain. These electrodes will also make it possible to record the natural activity of afferent nerve fibers for feedback and control. The development of a microelectrode will make possible the stimulation of spinal circuitry and cortical centers and selective recording from these regions. Complex high-density circuitry could be incorporated into the electrodes themselves, which could lead to direct access to the central nervous system and direct interfaces with the neural circuitry that controls complex coordinated functions at the spinal or cortical level. It could also enable us to extract control information from cortical neurons and, eventually, to translate the intention to move into signals that could be used to control movement. Finally, high-density stimulation and transmitting devices are under development that will enable the activation of more channels of stimulation in a smaller volume; this would greatly facilitate the development of complex visual prostheses. New technology will provide tools for the development of more precise interfaces with the damaged nervous system leading to even more significant clinical results. We have already made progress in this direction by showing that afferent signals recorded from the nerves innervating the bladder during filling could be used to help control bladder activity. The neuroprosthesis for hand control described above, which uses both implantable sensors and stimulators, is undergoing clinical evaluation. This device could eliminate much of the external hardware and provide natural control of the hand that is easy for the user to learn. Systems that provide more than one function are not far away. In the future, neuroprostheses may be used independently or in conjunction with other approaches, which may ultimately provide the best effect. For example, the plasticity of the nervous system is being revealed in clinical trials for body-weight supported walking and constraint-induced arm therapy. Function probably improves because residual spinal and cortical circuits have the capacity to alter their functions in an activity-dependent way. These adaptations are driven
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Seventh Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering by the individual’s remaining voluntary function but could also be triggered or reinforced by an electrical stimulus. Using these tools effectively and developing new tools will require continued progress in our understanding of the pathophysiology of neural injury and how to interact with disordered control. As these technologies mature and become more available, advances can be expected to accelerate. New devices will almost certainly address a wider range of problems and benefit a growing number of individuals. Electrical stimulation is a powerful tool that will continue to be an essential aspect of new devices to mitigate the effects of disabling central nervous system conditions. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research described in this article was supported in large part by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke Neural Prosthesis Program, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Service. Support was also received from the Food and Drug Administration Orphan Products Division, the Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research Foundation, the Movement Disorder Foundation, and the Shapiro Foundation. REFERENCES Bhadra, N., P.H. Peckham, M.W. Keith, K.L. Kilgore, and F. Montague. 2002. Implementation of an implantable joint angle transducer. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development 39(3):411–422. Brindley, G.S., and D.N. Rushton. 1995. The sacral anterior root stimulator as a means of managing the bladder in patients with spinal cord lesions. Bailliere’s Clinical Neurology 4(1):1–13. Chapin, J.K., and K.A. Moxin, eds. 2000. Neural Prostheses for Restoration of Sensory and Motor Function. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press. Creasey, G.H., and P.H. Peckham, eds. 1999. Functional Electrical Stimulation. Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, Vol. 5, no. 1. Peckham, P.H., M.W. Keith, K.L. Kilgore, J.H. Grill, K.S. Wuolle, G.B. Thorpe, P. Gorman, J. Hobby, M.J. Mulcahey, S. Carroll, V.R. Hentz, and A. Wiegner. 2001. Efficacy of an implanted neuroprosthesis for restoring hand grasp in tetraplegia: a multicenter study. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 82:1380–1388. Triolo, R.J., ed. 2000. Electrical Stimulation. Assistive Technology (Special Issue), Vol. 12, no. 1.
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September 18, 2011
“The Legacy of Complaint”
Rev. Dr. David A. Davis
It is difficult to avoid all the complaining in the 16th chapter of the Book of Exodus. The complaining actually starts at the end of the last chapter, right as Moses orders the people to set out from the Red Sea. After three days in the wilderness with no water to drink “the people complained against Moses” (15:24). The complaining starts in the 15th chapter and it finds its way into the 17th chapter as the people camped at Rephidim, again with no water to be found. “The people thirsted there for water and the people complained against Moses” (17:3). So there’s a bit of complaining around the edges, but as for Exodus chapter 16, in an of itself, it is chock-full of complaint. Actually, it’s not even the whole chapter, all the complaint, only the first dozen verses.
It was a month and half in, on the wilderness wanderings. Which means there was about 478 months to go. As it is recorded in the scripture, the people had arrived at the oasis of Elim, “where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees and they camped by the water” (15:27). It doesn’t mention how long Moses let them stay at the resort but right out of the gate in chapter 16, they’re back in the wilderness. That’s when the complaining starts. Some form of the word “complain” occurs 7 times in 12 verse, and that doesn’t count the verse that actually includes the complaining: “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (3). The Israelites complained. Your complaining. You complain. The complaining. Your complaining. Your complaining. The complaining. It’s not just the complaining; it’s all the talk about the complaining.
This story of the people in the wilderness is told again in the Book of Numbers. There’s a fair amount of complaint there, but nothing like the rapid fire appearance of complaint in Exodus 16. Job complains a good bit. The Pharisees and Sadducees complain about Jesus once or twice in the gospels. The disciples themselves complained on occasion. The psalmist is known to voice a complaint in the prayers, the songs, the poetry of the psalter. But the vortex of complaint in all of scripture is here in the first part of Exodus 16. For those who are able to drill down on the Hebrew language, the uniqueness of that abundance of complaint only becomes more clear. The prayerful, meditative complaint of the psalmist is not the same as the murmuring complaint of the people in the wilderness. All the complaining. All that complaint. “Your complaining is not against us”, Moses said, “but against the Lord” (8).
You can’t ignore the complaining but there is little consensus about what to do with it. This text from Exodus, it is the Old Testament lesson in the lectionary assignment for today, the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time. That means that in congregations all around this morning; Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, in congregations all around, if the preacher is preaching from the lectionary, and if the preacher chose to preach the Old Testament Lesson, then the sermon text is Exodus 16:1-12. So we if took a “Christmas Carol” flyover with the ghost of sermons present, we would inevitably hear varying opinions on what to do with all the complaining.
One preacher is going to make it very simple: the complaining is evidence of doubt and a lack of faith in the Lord’s provision. Just as the Israelites nostalgically glorified their days in slavery and turned their backs on the God who heard their cry, so too, the people of God so easily blame God and find the easiest of life’s excuses to turn and run the other way. Stop your complaining, suck it up and return to the Lord who made heaven and earth.
A second preacher will rise enthusiastically in defense of the wandering, complaining people. The suffering in the wilderness, even for six weeks, would have been beyond the imagination. Life in Egypt would have been better, and life back at that oasis better still. Of course they complained. An honest encounter with the God of their forebearers would have required nothing less. Offer the breadth of your life, the joys and the concerns, the thanksgivings and the petitions, to the God who hears your cry and your complaint. Come, bring it on, to the Living and Loving God!
Somewhere a preacher avoids the whole complaint thing by focusing on the bread from heaven and offers a call to reclaim the sabbath. Somewhere a preacher’s had a bad couple of weeks in the congregation and uncomfortably but very adeptly crafts the sermon into a response to a small group in the congregation who complain about everything and anything related to his ministry, including his wardrobe, the cookies at coffee hour, and the way he lifts the cup at the Lord’s Supper. Somewhere a preacher offers the theological corrective that the text is not about the people’s complaint. It is about God’s response and how God’s glory appeared in the cloud smack in the middle of all that whining. And somewhere a preacher rises to offer a word on behalf of all those who cry out and complain and bear their soul to God, and the sea never parts, the manna never comes, the suffering never ends, and the grief never goes away. “Are you hearing every complaint, Lord?” is her refrain in the sermon.
So much complaint and so many explanations. The legacy of complaint handed on to us as a people of faith. Exodus 16 rests at the heart of the scriptural witness on complaint. A take away, a key to understanding all this complaint, it is tucked in surrounded by all the complaint. Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘draw near to the Lord for the Lord has heard your complaining.” Draw near to the Lord. Here in Exodus 16, surrounded on both sides by complaint, a simple command; not just an invitation, but an expectation. From Aaron, who got it from Moses, who heard it from the Lord, “draw near.”
Some expressions require local knowledge to understand them. If a freshman here on Princeton’s campus is invited by a group of friends to go out to “the street”, they’re not intending to go on Nassau Street. If an international student at Harvard facebooks a friend and tells her she “lives in the Yard,” it’s not supposed to spark visions of a tent and outdoor living. In Pittsburgh, if you tell someone “Kennywood’s Open”, it has nothing to do with amusement park named Kennywood. And if you are in London and you here the expression “mind the gap” it has nothing to do with growing concerns about the economy; the rich and the poor. A proper understanding of some phrases requires local knowledge.
It seems the same is true for the Old Testament expression, “Draw near to the Lord.” Scholars suggest that “draw near to the Lord” is a technical term in scripture, referring to ancient worship; the sanctuary, the altar, the ritual. In the wisdom of Ecclesiastes, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools” (5:1). In the Book of Leviticus, Moses said to Aaron, "Draw near to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people; and sacrifice the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as the LORD has commanded." (9:7). That part of the Law in Leviticus also has specific instructions for who cannot draw near to the Lord. In the liturgical expressions of the prophet Isaiah, “Draw near, O nations, to hear; O peoples, give heed! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it” (34:1).
Draw near to the Lord. It’s a loaded, Old Testament term. To the locals, it conjures up images of worship, and the sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and the ark, and priestly actions and sacrifices offered and a community’s way of life. Draw near to the Lord. When the expression falls on faith filled ears, it is more than a casual invitation to think on God, or to take a few holy steps, or to offer a few cleansing breaths. Draw near to the Lord. It is not simply a broad stroke reference to spirituality that carries with it an individualistic notion of “whatever works for you.” The term came complete with instructions, priestly tasks on behalf of the people, and a ritualized understanding of the collective daily life of the people of God.
Draw near to the Lord…Come, people of God, let us worship God. Sisters and brothers in Christ, let us offer praise to the Living God. Come, to this Feast that has been prepared in the kingdom of heaven. Come, let us sing a new song to the Lord. Come, let us praise the name of the Lord. Praise the Lord. Draw near to the Lord. Here in Exodus 16, if the call of the people is complaint. The response of God is worship. If Exodus 16 is the vortex of complaint in scripture, at the very center of all that complaint is a call for the people of God to be in a relationship of praise and worship with the One who hears their cry and their complaint. It is almost as if the opposite of all that complaint is the community’s worship way of life. And when the people bring the fullness of their lives to God in worship; when they cry out to God baring their souls, their suffering, their questions, their frustrations, their anger, when all the brokenness is lifted to God as part of a faith community’s way of life, well that’s not complaint that’s lament. As Professor Luke Powery says in his book Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching, when balanced and knit together, “lament and celebration may be conceived as doxology, two postures united in giving praise and honor to God.” It’s not stop your whining and come to worship. Rather, take the breadth of your life before the Lord here in the context of the worship life of the people of God. Draw near to the Lord.
The legacy of complaint is the legacy of God’s expectation of the people’s life in worship and praise and adoration and lament. That our life here in this room, that we do here as a people, that how God’s Spirit meets us here and shapes us here, that it is so much more than how you liked the sermon, or what you thought of the music, or what you got out of church today. That part of being in this community and present here in worship, is how you are contributing to the someone else’s deepening relationship with God. You can’t sing today, but we’re going sing for you. Someone can’t bring themselves to pray this morning, so you’re going to pray for them. The one who rejoices here is lifting the one who weeps here. Your presence here in this place, in a community at worship, is helping to transform someone’s distant complaint into an intimate lament before the living God.
At the end of the day, would any preacher like a good crowd in here? Sure. Do I worry about revenues when we have to cancel worship due to weather. Yes, I do. Am I suggesting perfect attendance, or even keeping roll, or looking to use guilt as a motivator for worship attendance? No. But at deeper level, theologically, beyond what sociologists can tell us about religious participation and attendance and the rise of the non-religious, non-participant…what Robert Putnam calls “the nones”…at some point after all of what the sociologists have to tell us, we have to talk about what is lost for each one of us, in terms of a relationship with God, our collective relationship with God, when you or someone else is not here.
Every Lord’s day, when we draw near to the Lord, someone hear, needs you. And many of Sundays, you need them.
© 2011, Property of Nassau Presbyterian Church
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- 14th July − 14th October 2012 | Scottish National Gallery | £10 (£7)
Moods of Nature
Symbolist artists rejected the prevailing style of Naturalism, which sought to replicate the material world from a rationalist point of view. In contrast, the Symbolists expressed a world beyond superficial appearances and used subjects and motifs to create underlying meanings.
The landscape also aided artists to articulate nationalist concerns. By carefully selecting scenes that had special national significance, artists were able to promote their homeland or suggest the notion of a waning culture. The Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela, for example, drew on the mythology and imagery of his native country to assert Finnish independence from Russia.
Landscape painting offered artists the chance to fuse their own concerns with those of a wider public. Though individualism and expression lie at the heart of Symbolist art, the placing of events in a specific setting and the use of local attributes provided viewers with recognisable imagery and articulated the broader issues of the age. | <urn:uuid:d9d95e09-17aa-4229-9544-596ad1de07db> | {
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The principal purpose of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility of instrumenting heavily icecovered fjords to obtain real-time data of the upper ocean.
Greenland's ice-covered fjords are the connections between the Greenland Ice Sheet and the open ocean. These dynamic environments enable access of warm ocean water to outlet glaciers, causing large amounts of melting under floating tongues (e.g. Rignot and Steffen, 2008; Motyka et al., in press). On the other hand, deep fjords also enable ice to break up mechanically through the process of calving. These icebergs are then transported away from the glaciers, where they eventually melt. The interactions between the ocean, its ice cover (the melange), the glacier ice, and the atmosphere remain poorly understood, mostly due to the extremely difficult conditions for direct observations (e.g. Amundson et al., 2010). Yet, it is increasingly clear that the dynamic behavior of the ice sheet is dominated by its interaction with the surrounding oceans (e.g. Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2006; Joughin et al., 2008; Holland et al., 2008). It is therefore imperative to gain a better understanding of the physical processes that determine the heat and mass exchange between ocean and ice. This is an issue not only for Greenland, but at all the larger glaciated areas of the planet. The current inability of predicting changes at marine-terminating glaciers is responsible for the lack of a reliable estimate of the future cryospheric contribution to sea level rise (IPCC, 2007; Truffer and Fahnestock, 2008).
To make progress in the task of predicting the behavior of outlet glaciers, a better understanding of physical processes in glacier-fed fjords is necessary. This will require direct observations. The physical environment for this type of work is extremely challenging. The inner fjords are often covered in brash ice and large ice bergs, sometimes mixed with sea ice. Large ice bergs can roll, creating hazards to boats. The area very close to glaciers can have turbulent upwelling with fast currents, the proximity of the glacier is too dangerous to work in due to calving activity, and calving events can send meter-scale waves through the fjord. Moorings are difficult to deploy, and have to be deeply submerged to avoid interaction with the keels of the bigger ice bergs, making it impossible to measure processes and exchanges at the critical atmosphere-ice-ocean boundary. Here we propose to measure the properties of the upper water column using drifting buoys. The proposed experiment carries a certain risk, as the equipment could get destroyed. We will attempt to minimize this risk by letting the buoys drift, and by constructing them more solidly, so they are better able to absorb impacts. Also, they will be equipped with Iridium satellite modems, so that data can be uploaded on a regular basis and will not be lost should the buoys fail.
We expect to obtain a record of up to one year length of temperature, salinity and currents in the upper water column (down to ~30m) of the inner Godthabsfjord, near the main outlet glacier Kangiata Nunata Sermia (KNS). We propose to deploy four Lagrangian drifters; two on the glacier side and two on the outer side of a sill that was created by a previous glacier advance (Mortensen et al., subm. to JGR). The deployments in the heavily ice-covered inner fjord are considered higher risk. The deployments on either side of the sill balance the risk of deploying in heavy ice with the desire to obtain data at those locations. The other expected result is to gain experience with instrumenting these difficult areas, where many details of physical processes have remained elusive. For example, if drifting buoys prove to be successful, one could develop these further into profiling instruments that are capable of sampling the entire water column. Another possible application is to develop drifting depth sounders to obtain geometric observations where boats cannot penetrate. Before such plans are implemented, it is imperative to gain some experience with lower cost instruments. | <urn:uuid:7e5d03a3-1703-4c51-b973-7b9dbb1300f8> | {
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Defend Against Dry Skin this Winter
According to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 81 million Americans are impacted by dry, itchy skin in the winter with the worst conditions occurring between the months of November and March. This year, representatives from the O'Keeffe's Company are offering simple tips to help people prevent their hands and feet from developing these painful symptoms.
1. Hydrate to achieve relief. Use a moisturizer made with a water base instead of oil. Oil-based products form a barrier on the skin that makes it difficult for the skin to draw in moisture. They also leave skin feeling greasy which can make it difficult for people to use their hands while performing daily activities.
O'Keeffe's offers two water-based products – O'Keeffe's Working Hands and O'Keeffe's for Healthy Feet – that are specifically designed to protect skin from further water loss and hydrate skin cells. Water works in combination with glycerin to draw moisture into the skin, which speeds up the moisturizing process and allows the skin to heal itself.
2. Humidify to replenish lost moisture. As the temperature decreases during the winter months, so does the humidity. This cold, dry air is a common cause of winter skin problems. Heating the house also removes moisture from the air causing the skin to dry out. To replenish the moisture, use a humidifier. The humidity will help soothe dry skin irritation and eliminate bacteria that thrive in dry air environments. Make sure to keep the doors closed in rooms where a humidifier is in use.
3. Lower the thermostat. When it's cold outside, our natural instinct is to turn up the heat, but central heat can make the house even drier. Set the thermostat to a cool, comfortable setting – 68 degrees to 72 degrees.
4. Regulate water temperature. Extremely hot water deprives the skin of its natural oils, leaving skin dry, chapped and even withered. Take lukewarm showers or cut hot showers down to five minutes or less. Make sure to use a post-bath moisturizer as well. O'Keeffe's Working Hands and O'Keeffe's for Healthy Feet work best if used directly after a shower, as skin temperature rises, which optimizes absorption.
5. Protect skin from the elements. Wind, freezing rain and snow can have damaging effects on exposed skin. Make sure to wear waterproof gloves and boots to keep skin dry and healthy.
-Ensure that your boots fit properly. It may seem like common sense, but wearing the wrong size or style boot can take a toll on your feet causing them to crack or blister.
-Always wear gloves or mittens when outside. The extra layer of protection will allow your skin to retain moisture, making it less likely to dry out and split.
"The skin is the human body's largest organ and our first line of defense against infection," said Tara O'Keeffe, pharmacist and founder of the O'Keeffe's Company. "Each year, when the temperature and humidity drop, skin becomes easily susceptible to dryness and irritation. The hands and feet become particularly vulnerable, since they're often directly exposed to the elements. It's critical that people take necessary precautions to protect their skin from irritation and infection, so that they can enjoy winter activities." | <urn:uuid:e36a5fe1-bcbf-4f92-9d9e-6f5564c892ef> | {
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"url": "http://www.naturalsolutionsmag.com/news-item/defend-against-dry-skin-winter"
} |
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