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It is an undeniable fact that the institution of the Caliphate played a central role throughout Islamic history from the death of the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) in 632CE to the abolishment of the Ottoman Empire on 3rd March 1924CE.
This history which consists of 1,300 years of vast territorial expansion, economic prosperity and intellectual enlightenment is also known for its civil wars, dynastic power struggles and instances of oppressive rule. Therefore, Muslims should refrain from thinking that the history of Islām from the perspective of the Caliphate, empire or governance was faultless, and should avoid portraying it as a quasi-utopian civilisation.
However, my fellow co-religionists should also be wary of not accepting and promoting historical narratives framed by Islām’s ardent ideological detractors i.e. the orientalists, European colonialists, and Judeo-Christian supremacists. It is understandable that since the dawn of the War on Terror and the subsequent retaliatory attacks that have occurred in the West, Muslims have been under immense pressure to accept some of the toxic narratives pertaining to their faith and its alleged symbiotic relationship with terrorism. This subconscious and passive inferiority complex has been further cemented by the heinous crimes of the so-called “Islamic State” which was born out the US-led invasion of Iraq, and has claimed responsibility for numerous lone wolf attacks in mainland Europe.
This tense sociopolitical environment has had an inevitable negative impact on how Muslims reconcile their religious identity with their place of birth or residence, as well as the mindset in which they attempt to understand their history, especially that of the Caliphate.
The Caliphate, or Khilāfah in Arabic, derives from the Arabic word khalaf, which means “successor”. Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) being the final prophet of Allāh stated that the position of authority of the Muslim nation (Ummah) would be granted to Caliphs, as mentioned in the following ḥadīth:
“The children of Israel used to have their political affairs ruled by prophets. Whenever a prophet died another would succeed him. But there will be no prophet after me, instead there will be caliphs and they will number many.” The Companions asked, “What then do you order us?” Muhammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said, “Fulfil allegiance to them one after the other. Give them their dues. Verily, Allāh will ask them about what He entrusted them with.”
In short, the role of the Caliph was to act as Allāh’s vicegerent on earth, by ruling with the Divine law (Shariah) in totality, establishing prayer, collecting obligatory alms (zakāt), and conveying the message of Islām to the world. Naturally, these responsibilities became increasingly difficult and politicised from an administrative perspective as the Caliphate quickly expanded into large swathes of North Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean under the Rāshidūn and Umayyad Caliphates.
Whilst there were clear examples of rebellions, power struggles and usurpation of authority within the history of the Caliphate, prominent non-Muslim commentators have noted that it was never at the scale of the constant wars and instability that ravaged medieval Christian Europe. For all its shortcomings, Muslim theologians and historians have noted that there was always some degree of striving towards Islamic orthodoxy or legitimacy via the key role played by Muslim scholars and judges in the day-to-day running of the Caliphate, albeit historical instances of misapplication of Shariah laws, principles and ethics.
Between romanticism and cynicism
The absence of a nuanced and balanced approach, which avoids falling into either Muslim romanticism or Western cynicism, in trying to understand the sociopolitical and religious dynamics of the Caliphate has been partly due to the tainted method in which orientalist academics have depicted Islamic history in general, as well as the psychological aftereffects of European colonialism in former Ottoman territories.
One of the prevailing arguments that was born out of the post-colonial era of secular nation statehood, which continues to trouble the Muslim psyche today, is the re-establishment of the Caliphate. Unfortunately, the political aspiration of Muslims yearning to see a return of the Caliphate has been meticulously depicted by War on Terror propaganda as the exclusive aim of Islamist extremists – both its violent and non-violent strands. And this cannot be further from the truth based on research and surveys carried out in the Muslim world, which has shown high percentages of Muslims wanting to be governed by Shariah law and united with fellow Muslim majority countries as one state. In addition to this, the irrefutable importance of the Caliphate stressed in Islamic source texts makes it nearly impossible for orientalists, modernists and secular liberal reformers to dismiss the concept of the Caliphate as a post-colonial dream of reactionary Islamists.
A common argument presented by the many critics of the Caliphate is that the institution itself has never been “united,” and this is usually substantiated by the fact that there were multiple (usually two) claimants to the Caliphate at one given time throughout Islamic history. However, what trumps this fact is that the Prophet Muhammad clearly stated that there cannot be two caliphs, and he who makes the second claim should be killed:
“Whoever gives his oath of allegiance to a Caliph and gives him his hand and his heart, let him obey him as much as he can. If another one comes and disputes with him for leadership, kill the second one.”
The majority of Sunni scholars throughout history up until today hold this position, which is based on the above ḥadīth (along with other supplementary evidences). However, a minority of classical scholars, namely Shaykh Ibn Taymiyya, made an exception to this rule due to the difficulties of governing over vast areas of land, poor communication, and to avoid bloodshed and instability.
One Caliph for One Ummah
It is also interesting to note that during periods in Islamic history wherein contesting dynasties fought for power, land and the institution of the Caliphate, there seems to have been a general normative understanding of having one Caliph:
Muawiya (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) – the first Umayyad Caliph – never declared himself as Caliph or sought the bayah (pledge of allegiance) until after the death of Imām ʿAlī (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu), when his son Imām Hasan (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) handed over the position to Muawiya (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) to avoid further disunity in 661CE.
– The first Abbasid Caliph, as-Saffah, waited until all the remaining Umayyad dynasty members were killed until he sought the pledge of allegiance and declared himself Caliph in 750CE.
– Yusuf b. Tashfin, the most prominent leader of the Almoravid dynasty, refused to declare himself as Caliph over the Maghreb and Spain because of the existence of the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad.
– At the pinnacle of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt, the Abbasid Caliphs were still recognised as the symbolic leaders of the Ummah, to the extent that specific religious duties were carried out by the Abbasids, like the declaration of the start of Ramaḍān and the two days of Eid.
– The Seljuk Empire accepted the ceremonial position of the Abbasid Caliphate. They even fought for the restoration of the Abbasid Caliph, al-Qa’im, under Toghrul Beg in 1058 CE when the Fatimid agent Basasiri took control of Baghdad.
– Successive Ayyubid sultans swore loyalty to the Abbasid Caliphate. Most famously, Salahuddin al-Ayyubi’s biographer, Baha al-Din b. Shaddad, documented that one of the objectives of his military campaign was to realign the holy lands with the Abbasid Caliphate.
– Sultan Selim I was the first Ottoman Caliph. He only declared himself Caliph and sought the bayah after the last Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III was forced to abdicate his position by handing over the sword and mantle of the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) in 1517 CE.
– The Mughal Empire unequivocally acknowledged the Ottoman Caliphate. Just before his death, Mughal Emperor Humayun wrote an imperial letter to Sultan Sulaiman ‘the Magnificent’ addressing him as “Caliph of the Muslims”. It was also widely documented that salutations and praises to the “Ottoman Caliphs” were common during the Jumma prayers across the Mughal Empire.
Evidently, one can ascertain that even during times of competing and warring sultanates, there was an overarching acceptance of the institution of the Caliphate, albeit ceremonial and for political legitimacy. There was also a consistent acknowledgement of the ruling that there should only be one Caliph, hence the refusal or hesitancy of the aforementioned dynasties to make the claim and seek the bayah whilst a Caliph already existed. Whilst Persian, Turkic and Berber dynasties flourished, and in most cases out-powered the Abbasids (to the extent they could have easily invaded Baghdad at will) – there was never a second claim to the Caliphate made by these autonomous polities, or an effort to dethrone the Abbasids.
However, there were four significant instances where a second claim to the Caliphate was made during the existence of a formative Caliphate, which are worth noting:
The Umayyads declared a Caliphate in Cordoba between 929-1031CE.
– The Almohad dynasty declared a Caliphate over North Africa and Spain between 1121-1269CE. The Almohads were widely regarded as khawarij (a heretical sect) by many of their contemporaries.
– The Fatimids declared a Caliphate between 909-1171CE, though they were widely rejected by the Sunni masses due to being Ismaili Shias.
– The Sokoto Caliphate was declared by Usman dan Fodio in West Africa between 1804-1903CE. This was a well-organised resistance movement against British colonial rule that did not stretch beyond modern day Nigeria.
The above Caliphates barely lasted 150 years, and with the exception to the Fatimids, none really made the claim to their Caliphate with the intention to overthrow or delegitimise the formative one; even when their expansionist aims were not restricted to lands that were under the direct authority of the Abbasids or the Ottomans. Their lack of longevity or their expansionist restrictions aside, the existence of two Caliphs at one given time was generally unjustifiable from a normative Islamic perspective.
Should history dictate right and wrong?
A manifestation of the inferiority complex mentioned earlier in this article, which has been exacerbated by the War on Terror and the constant blame game against Islam and Muslims, is the disproportionate cynicism many Muslims apply when trying to understand the complex history of the Caliphate, and more so, towards the aspiration of the Ummah to see its return today.
Therefore, it is not uncommon to read or hear Muslims cite examples of civil wars, rebellions, tyranny or misapplication of Shariah laws in the same condescending tone as orientalists and secular liberal reformers. Furthermore, it is as if the cynics among us regard historical events pertaining to the Caliphate as indicators or even evidence to what is ḥalāl and harām in relation to Islamic governance – forgetting that those who ruled the Muslim world after the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) were human beings.
A few examples to stress the above point:
– Internal dynastic power struggles did not necessarily mean that the basic rights of the citizens of the Caliphate were not being met. For example: Feuding Ottoman princes seeking to overthrow or kill each other in Topkapi Palace did not mean their citizens in Bosnia, Syria and Jerusalem were not being fed, clothed and sheltered.
– Usurpation of power and civil wars did not mean that the Shariah was not being implemented and injustice was rife in the Muslim lands. For example: during the fitna between Imām ʿAlī (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) and Muawiya (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu), can we seriously say that justice was not upheld and the Shariah was not being implemented? Such a claim would be outrageous.
– How should Muslims measure the “success” of the Caliphate? Is it through the number of civil wars and rebellions, or its scientific and material achievements? Rather, our measurement of what made the Caliphate “successful” is whether it upheld justice, protected the basic rights and security of its citizens, carried the message of Islām beyond its realm, and if the laws and values of society were centred around Islām. If that is the case, then surely the history of the Caliphate should not be measured by civil wars and individual actions of Caliphs, but rather how closely it adhered to the Qur’ān and Sunnah in its day-to-day running internally and externally?
– Muslims should be able to distinguish between historical events and what Islamic source texts stipulate or indicate, and this is the responsibility of the ʿulama. Muawiya (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) making the Caliphate into hereditary rule did not nullify him being a Caliph, in the same way that the bloody Abbasid revolution which overthrew the Umayyads was Islamically wrong, but it did not negate as-Saffah as a Caliph because he fulfilled the shari’ conditions to be the Caliph, he took authority by force, and was given the bayah by the Ahlul hali wal’aqd (people of power). So, just because hereditary kingship occurred and sitting Caliphs were overthrown, it did not make these events correct or permissible according to Islamic source texts.
– The existence of crimes, sins and debauchery in society does not nullify any Caliphates of the past from a fiqhi (legal) point of view. Crimes, sins, wars, power struggles and even treachery existed at the time of the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) and the Khulafah ar-Rashideen, and they were the best generation of Muslims.
– Another example of historical events not being evidences for what is ḥalāl and harām – even if a particular harām resulted in goodness, or a particular obligation resulted in harm, is the issue of having two Caliphs. Just because two claimants to the Caliphate occurred in Islamic history does not make it permissible to have two Caliphs today. Just because some Caliphs were tyrants whilst others were unimportant and useless, does not mean we reject the obligation of having a Caliphate today – whether it solves all the Ummah’s problems or not.
The above assumptions are becoming increasingly common amongst Muslims today – and sadly, it is expected given the hostile political climate of structural and institutional Islamophobia in the West, and the sophisticated subtlety of orientalist narratives that is spearheading the secular reformist movement. However, as a general principle, Muslims should always remember that history is ultimately written by the victors who subsequently influence or set the narratives about their respective opponents, which varies from over-exaggerating wrongdoings, the distortion of facts to outright fabrications. If liberal reformists, revisionists and orientalist historians claim that most or the entirety of the Caliphate’s history was not actually “Islamic” at all, but rather secular and Godless in nature, then the burden of proof is on them to present the authentic and reliable evidences where the Caliphate disregarded Islām as reference point for its governance.
To conclude, this summarised snapshot into the multi-layered complexities of the history of the Caliphate demonstrates how, even with all its shortcomings, the institution still strived towards Islamic orthodoxy with the inclusion of their respective schools of jurisprudence and theology playing a central role in its governance and social values. When studying and teaching Islamic history, or any history for that matter, students and teachers alike should try to avoid disproportionate romanticism and cynicism – and try to understand everything objectively within its correct sociopolitical and religious context. Admittedly, this is much easier said than done as we all (including myself) have ideological presuppositions and psychological complexes which influence the way we interpret and make sense of everything, including history.
Sahih al-Bukhari
Al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya w’al Wilayat al-Diniyya – Imam Al-Mawardi [Translated by Professor Wafaa H. Wahba, Feb 2000]
Gallup World Poll of Muslims, 2006. http://media.gallup.com/worldpoll/pdf/worldpollmuslimtrifoldbrochure5-2006.pdf
Sahih Muslim
The 60 Sultaniyya, Abu Luqman Fathullah
Classical Scholars on Khilafah: http://www.hizb-australia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Classical-scholars-on-Khilafah.pdf
Majmu‘ Fatawa, Shaykh Ibn Taymiyya (Riyadh: Dar ‘Alam al-Kutub, 1991), 35:175-76.
Kennedy, H. (2004). The prophet and the age of the caliphates. 2nd edition
G. Stewart, Is the Caliph a Pope? in: The Muslim World, Volume 21, Issue 2
A. Stilt, Kristen Islamic Law in Action: Authority, Discretion, and Everyday Experiences in Mamluk Egypt (2011) p.30
Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). “Abbasid Dynasty”. Encyclopaedia Britannica. I: A-Ak – Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL.
The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin. Baha al-Din ibn Shaddad [Translated by D.S. Richards, Routledge November 2002]
Drews, Robert (August 2011). “Chapter Thirty – The Ottoman Empire, Judaism, and Eastern Europe to 1648
‘Six Ottoman documents on Mughal-Ottoman relations’ by N.R. Farooqi in: Journal of Islamic Studies, Volume, Issue 1, p.32-48
Ottoman-Mughal Political Relations Circa 1500-1923, Razi Ashraf https://www.academia.edu/6380410/Ottoman-Mughal_Political_Relations_circa_1500-1923
Kitab Akhbar Al-Mahdi Ibn Tumart, Abu Bakr ibn Ali Baydhaq (Algiers 1982) p.68
Amin Maalouf (1984). The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. Al Saqi Books. pp. 160–170
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Former U.S. Senator and astronaut John Glenn was the keynote speaker at the Statehood Day celebration hosted by the Ohio Historical Society. During his speech he mentioned the Coonskin Library as an example of Ohio’s educational history. Founded in 1804 in Ames, Ohio, the library was one of the first circulating libraries in the state. It was called the “Coonskin Library” because it was the sale of furs that provided funds to purchase the books.
It happens that some of the books from the Coonskin Library are housed in the Archives/Library at the Ohio History Center. Ten of the 51 books originally purchased for the library are stored in our rare book vault. The Coonskin Library continued circulating for decades and more books were added. All together OHS has 287 books that were part of the Library.
After his speech, Sharon Dean, director of Museum and Library Services, invited Senator Glenn and his wife Annie, to the Research Room to view the books. Research Services manager, Liz Plummer, and circulation coordinator, Carla Zikursh, quickly pulled the material for the Glenns. If you would like to see the Coonskin Library books, they are available for use in the Research Room, Wednesday through Saturday, 10 AM-5 PM. Unfortunately, we can not guarantee that John and Annie Glenn will be here when you come. | <urn:uuid:6dbc9dcc-6a31-4a1d-998c-7a229c3ff70e> | {
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“What battles have in common is human: the behaviour of men struggling to reconcile their instinct for self-preservation, their sense of honour and the achievement of some aim over which men are ready to kill them” — John Keegan
EXAMPLES OF SECONDARY SOURCES
- John Keegan, ‘The Somme, 1 July 1916’, The Face of Battle, New York: Viking Press, 1976; pp. 207-289.
- Eric Leed, ‘Exit from the Labyrinth – Neuroses and War’, No Man’s Land: Combat and Identity in World War I, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979; pp. 163-192.
- Army Mutinies
- Command in War
- Correspondence between home and front
- Prisoners of War
papers, letters, diaries, and other archival sources
- MS 342. Eckley Brinton Coxe Markle papers, 1917-1919 (0.75 linear ft.). Markle was a Yale student who served as a pilot during the war. His papers contain his letters to his mother describing his World War I flying experiences, plus photographs covering the same subject. Yale Manuscripts and Archives.
- MS 601. F. Trubee Davison Papers, 1882-1961, 10.5 linear ft. (20 boxes). Davison’s papers contain correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks, photographs and memorabilia documenting his activities as founder of a Yale aviation unit during World War I.
- MS 884. Warren Hiram Lowenhaupt papers, 1891-1967, 2 linear ft. (2 boxes, 1 folio). Papers contain correspondence and memorabilia of Lowenhaupt’s service as an officer during the war. They also include approximately two hundred photographs, nearly half of which show European scenes and events relating to World War I. Yale Manuscripts and Archives.
- MS 900. Paul Charles Blum papers, 1858-1998, 3.55 linear ft. Papers consist of letters, many written by Paul Blum to his family during his service in the U. S. Army Ambulance Service with the French army, 1918-1919.Yale Manuscripts and Archives.
- Typewritten copies of letters from men at the front, etc.; call number Z44 27, Beinecke Library.
memoires and personal narratives
- Friends of France; the Field Service of the American Ambulance described by its members, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916. SML, Sterling Memorial Library, Yale (Bi66 855gt).
- Rowland Strong, The diary of an English resident in France during twenty-two weeks of war time..., London, Nash, 1915. Call number Bi66 553 1; Sterling Memorial Library.
- Rudyard Kipling, France at war : on the frontier of civilization, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & co., 1915. Call number Ip K628 915fb; Beinecke Library .
art and music from the front
- ‘Marching Songs: a handbook of nation melodies for our soldiers in camp, barracks, or on the march’ 1914, VL18 118, Mudd Library.
World War I, 1915. GEN MSS 130. Folder 49, 1938. Photo #17. Image ID 3600515. Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University.
- World War, 1914-1918—Battlefields
- World War, 1914-1918—Campaigns
- World War, 1914-1918—Casualties
- World War, 1914-1918—Draft resisters
- World War, 1914-1918—Personal narratives
- World War, 1914-1918—Prisoners and prisons
- World War, 1914-1918—Recruitment and enlistment
- World War, 1914-1918—Songs and music
- World War, 1914-1918—Trench warfare | <urn:uuid:c835f34d-d145-4b87-afa2-bdf863f623ec> | {
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These findings indicate that neurons in the SEF, pre-SMA, and SMA may proactively regulate movement initiation by adjusting the level of excitation and inhibition of the occulomotor
and skeletomotor systems based on prior performance and anticipated task requirements. This proactive activity in medial frontal cortex is particular interesting, because it could also underlie speed-accuracy tradeoffs in general 54 and 55••]. In addition to controlling the overall responsiveness across trials, the activity in medial frontal cortex could also modulate the momentary responsiveness within an individual trial. The latest decision-making models contain a rising urgency signal that slowly lowers the evidence threshold at which a choice is made 56 and 57]. Such a hypothetical signal explains human and monkey behavioral data well, but no neural correlate of the urgency signal
has been found so far. Galunisertib ic50 It seems worthwhile to test if neurons in the medial frontal cortex might be the source of the urgency signal. However, while proactive control might play a role in decision making, the same might not be true for reactive control mechanisms [58•]. Voluntary behavior requires proactive and reactive control mechanisms that ensure our ability to act independently of habitual and innate response tendencies. Electrophysiological experiments using the stop signal task in humans, monkeys, and rats have uncovered SRT1720 a core network of brain structures that is essential for response inhibition. This network includes motor and premotor cortex, basal ganglia, and spinal interneurons. It is shared across mammals and seems to be conserved throughout their evolution. However, the exact function of the different neurons and local circuits in this larger network is still unclear. Most importantly, there is still no consensus on the neural mechanism by which motor responses are inhibited. At the same time, there is new
research directed at the interaction between inhibitory control mechanisms with other control mechanisms in the brain. This research will be important to understand how response inhibition is used and controlled itself to achieve the overall goals of an agent in its day-to-day behavior. Gemcitabine in vitro Making progress will require further investigations using the stop signal paradigm. Experiments in behaving monkeys will likely stay at the core of this enterprise. Monkeys have exceptional behavioral flexibility, which makes them ideal models to study complex control processes. They are also the closed model of human behavior and physiology that is available. At the same time, new rodent animal models will allow to investigate and manipulate neural circuits in unprecedented detail. The future is bright for this exiting field of neuroscience. The author thanks E.E. Emeric for helpful comments to this review. This work was supported by the National Eye Institute through grant R01-EY019039 to VS. | <urn:uuid:0ae95ee9-050d-4b0f-8277-93bb262dd8cf> | {
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The largest and oldest of the Canary Islands’ parks
Its landscape revolves around the largest volcano in Spain: the Teide, which last erupted in 1798. The volcanic cones and the lava outcrops form an extraordinary conjunction of colours and shapes, and are home to a wide diversity of flora of great biological value.
The Teide National Park was created in 1954 in order to protect this spectacular landscape of great ecological value which lies at the foot of the colossal volcano. The Teide is the volcanic formation located on an ancient and gigantic cauldron-shaped depression, formed by two semi-calderas separated by the Roques de García rock formations. Plant and animal species that are unique in the World live in the shadow of the Teide. There is an astonishing diversity of plants: Teide broom, red echium, blue echium, the guanche rose (Bencomia extipulata), flixweed, rosalillo de cumbre (Pterocephalus lasiospermus), silver thistle (Stemmacantha cynaroides)... The most important species in the park are the invertebrates. Over 700 types of insects have been recorded, of which 50% are endemic to the area. There are some species of reptiles (such as the Tenerife lizard) and birds (Egyptian vulture, sparrowhawks, lesser kestrels, red kite), and a few mammals, the most common of which are the mouflon, rabbits and five species of bat. | <urn:uuid:f4ce3ab8-cbe9-45c6-bd91-4a80a73c328c> | {
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, first published in 1998, measured 10 types of childhood trauma. Five types were the usual suspects: physical, sexual and verbal abuse and physical and emotional neglect. Five were family dysfunction: a member of the household who is addicted to alcohol or other drugs; a household member who is in prison; a household member with a mental illness; a mother who is a victim of domestic abuse; and loss of a parent due to separation or divorce. There are, of course, other types of adversity—for instance, witnessing a sibling being abused, being bullied at school, witnessing neighborhood violence, experiencing a natural disaster—but those were not measured. Some subsequent surveys have included other types of trauma.
Of the more than 17,000 middle-class, college-educated, majority-white, employed people with health insurance who participated in the CDC’s study, 66% had experienced at least one of those 10 types of childhood adversity.
Since 2008, 22 states have done ACE surveys representing the general population; they have found results similar to those found in the CDC’s ACE Study. Social service agencies, pediatricians, the city of Philadelphia and the World Health Organization have also conducted ACE surveys. In specific groups—teens who receive services for troubled youth, for instance, or students who attend an alternative high school—the incidence of child adversity is even higher.
The findings from these studies show:
- The effects start early in childhood and lead to chronic disease in adulthood —including cancer, heart disease and diabetes—mental illness, violence, and being a victim of violence. People with high ACE scores have more broken marriages, more broken bones, more drug prescriptions, more depression, more auto-immune diseases, more work absences, more obesity, more teenage pregnancies and more unwanted pregnancies.
- That ACEs are as common as salt. Between half and two-thirds of those in the studies experienced one or more types of adverse experiences during childhood. (Physical abuse, for example, is being pushed, grabbed, slapped, or having something thrown at you often or very often, or ever being hit so hard that you had marks or were injured.)
- That ACEs tend to occur together. In the CDC’s ACE Study, if a person had experienced one type of trauma, there was an 87 percent chance he/she had also experienced others.
- The more ACEs a person has, the higher the risk of medical, mental and social problems as a child and as an adult (Got Your ACE Score?). Compared to people who had none, people with four types of ACEs were twice as likely to be smokers, 12 times more likely to have attempted suicide, seven times more likely to be alcoholic and 10 times more likely to have injected street drugs.
Brain science shows that, in the absence of protective factors, toxic stress damages children’s developing brains. Stress alters developing brains, and whether the changes are adaptive or maladaptive for the person depends on the context. Toxic stress is the body’s physiological response to events or environment, wherein the stress response is sufficient to cause maladaptive changes. This is the kind of stress that can come in response to living for months or years with a screaming alcoholic father, a severely depressed and neglectful mother or a parent who takes out life’s frustrations by whipping a belt across a child’s body.
In these severe circumstances, kids need stress hormones—a normal survival response—to remain hyper-vigilant in their terrifying and unpredictable circumstances. Their world is one of constant danger. When they’re triggered, their “survival brain” takes over and literally shuts down their ability to learn, think rationally and make decisions. The slightest provocation—a teacher’s raised voice or an accidental bump from another child—may trigger them into “fight, flight or freeze” mode. They may lash out with a punch, bite, throw chairs, run away or withdraw into themselves from the outside world.
How does this happen, exactly? When you hear or see a threat, such as a vicious barking dog racing towards you, that information goes immediately from your eyes and ears to your brainstem –to the locus coeruleus–which alerts your limbic brain. That limbic brain—sometimes called “survival brain” because it’s something we have in common with all animals—has kept humans alive for millions of years. That’s because when there’s danger the limbic brain—specifically, the amygdala—sends out a “red alert” signal faster than your thinking brain can comprehend.
That red alert knocks your thinking brain (prefrontal cortex) off-line, so that your body can automatically do all the things it needs to save your life. It also kicks the brain’s hypothalamus into gear. The hypothalamus flashes two chemical messages. One tells the adrenal glands, perched on top of your kidneys, to instantly gush adrenaline to the heart, lungs and large muscles in the arms and legs to get you moving fast! The second message tells the pituitary gland to direct the outside layer of the adrenal glands to produce cortisol.
Cortisol is the main stress hormone. It’s longer-lasting than adrenaline and sustains the effort required after the initial fight or flight by keeping blood pressure high and releasing glucose to power the muscles and brain to remain hyper-vigilant. Maybe you climbed over a fence to get away from the dog, but now you have to run to your car because the dog is digging a hole under the fence to reach you. Meanwhile, as cortisol builds up, it eventually alerts the hypothalamus that the immediate danger has passed, and to stop sending alarm signals. If there are no further red-alert messages from the amygdala, the increasing cortisol also signals the part of the nervous system that calms the body.
Trauma—such as being attacked by the dog, being beaten by a parent or enduring overwhelming verbal abuse as a child—takes this red alert response to an extreme. That’s when the helpless “freeze” response can kick in. Both systems—the actions ordered by the red alert and the part of the nervous system that gives the all-clear calming effect—work at the same time. At that point, the body has two choices: remain on super-high alert or tune out to what’s happening, also called dissociating. Post-traumatic stress describes the after-effects of having all systems flooded to the point of overload: a person may roll between staring blankly into space and over-reacting to sounds or events.
There are two other important aspects of this process. First, the amygdala sends a message to the hippocampus to record this terrifying event, branding it into the brain’s deepest memory. Any similar event can trigger this memory, which will in turn set off a new red alert. And second, living in a continual state of red alert resets a person’s fear response at a higher level than normal, so that even a teacher raising her voice to be heard might trigger a full blown fight, flight or freeze response from a child who unconsciously associates it with a brutal and enraged parent.
If a child lives in a continual state of red alert, she or he is physiologically unable to learn, because the part of the brain that learns—the prefrontal cortex—is “off-line”. Until the child has recovered, which may take anywhere from minutes to days, no amount of punishment or admonishments to work harder will change the situation. The child’s behavior is a normal, adaptive response to toxic stress; it is not “willful” or intentionally directed against a teacher or parent.
The good news is that the brain is plastic, and continually changes its wiring in response to the environment. If the toxic stress stops and is replaced by practices that build resilience, the brain can slowly undo many of the stress induced changes and return to baseline. This active process of trying to return to baseline is called allostasis.
But if there is no intervention, kids can fall behind in school, fail to develop healthy relationships with peers or create problems with teachers and principals because they are unable to trust adults. Some kids do all three. With despair, guilt and frustration pecking away at their psyches, they often find solace in food, alcohol, tobacco, methamphetamines or other drugs, inappropriate sex, high-risk sports, and/or work and over-achievement. These are examples of behavioral allostasis – behaviors that transiently turn off stress, but ultimately cause more distress in the long run. Children don’t regard these coping methods as problems. Consciously or unconsciously, they use them as solutions to escape from depression, anxiety, anger, fear and shame.
These coping mechanisms can cause health problems; smoking, obviously, can lead to lung cancer. But chronic toxic stress—living in this red alert mode for months or years—can also damage our bodies.
The toxic stress of childhood adversity also affects our bodies, which results in long-term health consequences.
The system that controls our stress and trauma responses is called the HPA system, for hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal, and it normally works as efficiently as air traffic control at a busy airport.
But living in a red alert state for months or years increases allostatic load, or wear and tear on the body. In a red alert state, the body pumps out adrenaline and cortisol continuously. Over time, the constant presence of adrenaline and cortisol keep blood pressure high, which weakens the heart and circulatory system. They also keep glucose levels high to provide enough energy for the heart and muscles to act quickly; this can lead to type 2 diabetes. Too much adrenaline and cortisol can also increase cholesterol.
Too much cortisol can lead to osteoporosis, arthritis, gastrointestinal disease, depression, anorexia nervosa, Cushing’s syndrome, hyperthyroidism and the shrinkage of lymph nodes, leading to the inability to ward off infections.
If the red alert system is always on, eventually the adrenal glands give out, and the body can’t produce enough cortisol to keep up with the demand. This may cause the immune system to attack parts of the body, which can lead to lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia.
Cortisol is also extremely important in maintaining the body’s appropriate inflammation response. In a normal response to a bee sting or infection, the body rushes antibodies, white blood cells and other cell fighters to the site and the tissues swell while the battle rages. But too much swelling damages tissue. Cortisol controls this fine balance. So without the mediating effects of cortisol, the inflammatory response runs amok and can cause a host of diseases.
If you’re chronically stressed and then experience an additional traumatic event, your body will have trouble returning to a normal state. Over time, you will become more sensitive to trauma or stress, developing a hair-trigger response to events that other people shrug off.
Biomedical researchers say that childhood trauma is biologically embedded in our bodies: children with adverse childhood experiences and adults who have experienced childhood trauma may have a smaller prefrontal cortex (the thinking part of the brain), a more active HPA system and higher levels of indicators for inflammation than those who have not suffered childhood trauma. This is the main reason why the lifespan of people with an ACE score of six or higher is likely to be shortened by 20 years.
Epigenetics – We are our epigenome, not our genome.
Most people believe that the DNA we’re born with does not change and that it determines all that we are during our lifetime. But the research from epigenetics—the study of how social and other environments turn our genes on and off—shows that toxic stress can actually alter our genes and cause long-term changes in all parts of our bodies and brains. What’s more, these changes can be transferred from generation to generation.
Epigentics means “above the genome” and refers to changes in gene expression that are not the result of changes in the DNA sequence (or mutations). As an example, a process called methylation—the addition and subtraction of tiny groups of chemicals—can turn genes on and off. There are many types of epigenetic mechanisms, including environmental chemicals, drugs/pharmaceuticals aging and as we know now – stress. Epigenetic research into how childhood adversity changes genes is still in its early stages. However, one study of adults who had committed suicide pointed to a possible mechanism. Researchers compared the brains of adults with childhood trauma who had committed suicide with the brains of adults without childhood trauma who had committed suicide. In the brains of those who had experienced childhood trauma, the genes that regulated removing cortisol were 40 percent less functional—meaning that those individuals were less able to regulate stress. Another example has been documented wherein infants who were exposed to prenatal maternal depressions, have changes in the methylation of the glucocorticoid recepter genes. [Oberlander, et al, 2008. Epigenetics 3-97-106]
This body of research—the epidemiology of ACEs, the effects of toxic stress on children’s brains, the biomedical impact of toxic stress, and the epigenetics of toxic stress—marks a pivotal point in our understanding of human development. Researchers are identifying knowledge gaps—focusing especially on what can prevent and even reverse the damage of childhood adversity—so they can lay the scientific foundation for a culture of health.
(For a more detailed explanation of the epidemiological, neurobiological, biological and epigenetic effects of adverse childhood experiences, read Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease, by Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith S. Wiley.)
- What was the most compelling thing you learned from reading this section?
- How could it apply to your work?
- With whom do you want to share this new understanding? | <urn:uuid:d74c3dc8-6a81-499b-a12f-58786e41b880> | {
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On the first day of every month here on The Cornerstone blog, I’ll feature a handful of the best teacher freebies I’ve found. These are no-cost activities and printables that you can use in your classroom right away. If your resource is featured, feel free to grab the button below and show it off on your site. At the bottom of the page is a linky party where you can explore and share other great freebies that I didn’t have space for, or haven’t discovered yet.
Rock, Paper, Scissors: Letter Naming and Sounds by Mrs. Lirette of Mrs. Lirette’s Learning Detectives: “This product is an exciting addition twist on the “Rock, Paper, Scissors” hand game. It covers letter naming for all uppercase and lowercase letters. There are 10 pages with a total of 52 playing cards. This game works wonderfully as a partner activity, or literacy center or station.” (Gr. K)
Daily 5 Bookmarks by Mary of Sharing Kindergarten: “This file is for a colorful, visual two sided bookmark for The Daily 5. One side has guidelines for Read to Self and the other has them for Read to Someone. You can print them back to back for a great, functional reminder tool for young readers.” (Gr. K-3)
Who Took the Cookies? by Deb Thomas of Fabulously First: “This fun packet includes pronouns, nouns, verbs and adjectives, a corresponding recording sheet and a Common Core State Standards poster for your convenience. The cookies are matched to the correct cookie jar with the parts of speech labels.” (Gr. 1-3.)
Frogs and Toads by Arlene Sandberg of LMN Tree: “This is a 15 page science/reading/writing unit that integrates ELA Common Core Standards with a science unit on frogs and toads. It has a complete lesson plan, word study, make and make book, comprehension questions, chant and much more.” (Gr. 2-3)
Printable Fraction Strips by Teacher Nyla: ”These are free reproducible fraction strips to help your students conceptualize the value of each proper fraction in relation to the whole. The fraction range includes twelfths, tenths, eighths, sixths, fifths, fourths, thirds, halves and a whole.” (Gr. 1-5)
“Go Princess!” Equivalent Fractions Go Fish Card Game by Fern Smith’s Classroom Ideas: “This center game has 10 pages of a royal themed ‘Go Princess’ Go Fish game with a distinct cover sheet to glue on the folders, or place in a Ziplock baggie. Everything also comes in black and white if you want to save on color printer ink! Just print, cut apart, and laminate if desired. It is cute, colorful and designed to be an independently-led student activity.” (Gr. 2-5)
Reading Detective Non Fiction Graphic Organizer by Mor Zrihen of A Teacher’s Treasure: “Engage your students with this non-fiction graphic organizer and encourage them to become reading detectives.” (Gr. 3-8)
Summer Vacation Plans – Fun Research Unit and Persuasive Presentation by Arik Durfee: “Students the internet to research possible vacation ideas and make specific plans, create a PowerPoint that gives an overview of the vacation plan, and give a persuasive presentation in which they try to convince the rest of the class to ‘purchase’ their vacation plan.” (Gr. 7-10)
Scientific Method PowerPoint with Notes for Teacher and Student by Amy Brown of Science Stuff: “This is a 26 slide PowerPoint presentation on the nature of science and the scientific method. The slides are colorful and visually appealing. Steps of the scientific method are covered, but more importantly, the lesson provides examples and practice problems illustrating the application of the scientific method. Analysis questions and answers are included..” (Gr. 7 – 12)
More Great Freebies
Deep “See” Addition: An I-Spy to Meet CCSS by A Differentiated Kindergarten (Gr. K-1)
Skippyjon Jones Freebie by Crystal of Kreative in Kinder (Gr. K-2)
Gearin Up with Number Grids by Tessa of Tales from Outside the Classroom (Gr. K-2)
Forest Animal Calendar Numbers by Amanda Myers of A Special Kind of Class (K-2)
Literacy Stations Freebie Pack by Stephanie McMahon (Gr. K-3)
The Emerald City is so Bright by The Schroeder Page (Gr. 1-2)
USA Patriotic Holidays by Sally of Elementary Matters (Gr. 1 – 3)
Weekly Word Wizard – Summer Edition by Denise Boehm of Sunny Days in Second Grade (Gr. 2-4)
Top 10 Lists for Year End Review by Addie Education of Teacher Talk (Gr. 4-10)
Costa Lott Coffee Lesson by Oddball Science (Gr. 6-8)
Live and Learn Life Lessons Class Activity by Tracee Orman (All Grades)
Also, the biggest collection of freebies that I know of right now is at Laura Candler’s Teaching Resources, where (in honor of her upcoming milestone of 50,000 Facebook fans–whoa!), she’s giving away $2,000 worth of teacher resources, including subscriptions to BrainPOP and VocabularySpellingCity, Donors Choose money, Amazon gift cards, and more!
Have you recently created something fabulous for your classroom? Share it below!
Here are the rules for the link up:
1) Link directly to the blog post where you’ve written about a free activity idea or printable.Don’t link to your homepage; people don’t want to click around to find what they’re looking for. I prefer that you don’t require people to download from sites that require a login, like TeachersPayTeachers. Help visitors get to their freebies easily!
2) Your freebie can be on any topic, for any grade level, but it must be free now and forever. Teachers who come across this post a year from now should still be able to visit your site and get the item for free.
3) Link back to this blog post or include the Linky Party button (below) somewhere on your site. InLinkz will not allow you to add a post that is missing a link back. You can embed the button below in your sidebar or put it directly in your blog post about the freebie: this way YOUR site visitors know about the teacher freebie round up and linky party and will be encouraged to share their ideas, too! Feel free to spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc.
4) Check out some of the other linky submissions. The link up is ultimately about sharing ideas and creating conversations, so please leave a comment on at least one other blog. Let the person know how you found them and your thoughts on their ideas.
Did you add your link above? Grab this button and embed it in your blog post!
Latest posts by Angela Watson (see all)
- A bright idea for responding when kids say “I don’t know” - April 12, 2014
- Alternatives to classroom teaching: 15 other rewarding jobs in education - April 8, 2014
- Making eBooks better curriculum tools with Classroom Connections - April 4, 2014
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ATP contains three phosphate groups, whereas ADP contains two. ATP stands for "adenosine triphosphate," and ADP stands for "adenosine diphosphate." They both contain the nitrogenous base adenine, the five-carbon sugar ribose and several phosphate groups.Continue Reading
Cells use ATP as an energy source for a variety of biochemical reactions. Humans and other animals take in energy in the form of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. However, cellular reactions cannot use the energy in these molecules directly. The molecules must first be broken down through cellular respiration and the energy must be converted to ATP.
The third phosphate in ATP is connected to the molecule by a high-energy bond. When this bond is broken, the energy released is used by reactions in the cell as an energy source. These reactions include DNA replication, protein synthesis, cellular transport and muscle contraction. Upon release of the third phosphate group, ATP becomes ADP. In a manner similar to a rechargeable battery, ADP can no longer be used as an energy source. ADP then returns to the site of cellular respiration in the mitochondria. Another phosphate group is then attached to the ADP, producing ATP. This ATP molecule can then be used again by the cell as an energy source.Learn more about Cells | <urn:uuid:63b3a0bd-2e59-4a33-b63c-6fa97b353b2d> | {
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Zambezi River , bordering ZambiaZambia and Zimbabwe. Described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800’s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ - ‘the Smoke that Thunders’. In more modern terms it is known as ‘the greatest known curtain of falling water’. Columns of spray can be seen from miles away as 546 million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge (at the height of the flood season) over a width of nearly two kilometers into a deep gorge over 100 meters below. The wide basalt cliff, over which the falls thunder, transforms the Zambezi from a wide placid river to a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic gorges. | <urn:uuid:10112566-0e0e-4d34-b9e1-8c732c912514> | {
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With updated images and text and improved design elements, this new edition chart provides an easy-to-understand overview of the important anatomical aspects of heart disease. The progression of heart disease in atherosclerosis is shown in three stages, each with an anatomical image of the surface or cross-section of the heart, a cross-section of an artery, and a cross-section of the heart wall. The stages show how a narrowed artery leads to ischemia; how a blocked artery leads to a myocardial infarction (heart attack); and show the recovery period with collateral blood supply.
The chart also shows heart disease in hypertension which can lead to hypertrophy and dilation of the left ventricle. Congestive heart failure, mitral valve prolapse, and the effects of aging on the heart are also illustrated and described.
For comparison, the chart also contains illustrations of normal heart anatomy, including anterior surface and cross-sections of the heart, the systems coronary arteries on the heart, and a cross-section of a normal coronary artery.
Unmounted - Printed on high-quality heavy paper appropriate for framing. (Note: Unmounted charts cannot be displayed on the chart stands.)
Laminated - Printed on high-quality paper with flexible 1.5 mil plastic lamination. Metal eyelets in each top corner for convenient wall hanging or for use with chart stands. Lamination also makes the chart "markable" allowing write-on / wipe-off. Easily rolls up for portability. This is the most popular mounting. | <urn:uuid:70e7d16a-acc6-4286-a412-413e5a5d7e94> | {
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Novel coronavirus infection – update
16 February 2013 - The United Kingdom (UK) has informed WHO of another confirmed case of infection with the novel coronavirus (NCoV). This is the third case confirmed in the country this month and is in the same family cluster as the two recently confirmed cases.
The latest confirmed case does not have recent travel history outside the UK. The case is recovering from mild respiratory illness and is currently well.
The confirmation with NCoV in this case with no recent travel history indicates that infection was acquired in the UK. Although this new case offers further indications of person-to-person transmission, no sustained person-to-person transmission has been identified.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is following up on all close contacts who may have been exposed to the recently confirmed cases.
As of 16 February 2013, WHO has been informed of a total of 12 confirmed cases of human infection with NCoV, including five deaths.
Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns. Testing for the new coronavirus should be considered in patients with unexplained pneumonias, or in patients with unexplained severe, progressive or complicated respiratory illness not responding to treatment.
Any clusters of SARI or SARI in healthcare workers should be thoroughly investigated, regardless of where in the world they occur.
New cases and clusters of the NCoV should be reported promptly both to national health authorities and to WHO.
WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied.
WHO continues to closely monitor the situation. | <urn:uuid:624bf61d-bb99-4c59-9c4d-81b60ce42cf5> | {
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Helping a Depressed Person
How to Reach Out and Help Someone While Taking Care of YourselfIn This Article
When a family member or friend suffers from depression, your support and encouragement can play an important role in his or her recovery. However, depression can also wear you down if you neglect your own needs. These guidelines can help you support a depressed person while maintaining your own emotional equilibrium.
Helping a depressed friend or family member
Depression is a serious but treatable disorder that affects millions of people, from young to old and from all walks of life. It gets in the way of everyday life, causing tremendous pain, hurting not just those suffering from it, but also impacting everyone around them.
If someone you love is depressed, you may be experiencing any number of difficult emotions, including helplessness, frustration, anger, fear, guilt, and sadness. These feelings are all normal. It’s not easy dealing with a friend or family member’s depression. And if you don’t take care of yourself, it can become overwhelming.
That said, there are steps you can take to help your loved one. Start by learning about depression and how to talk about it with your friend or family member. But as you reach out, don’t forget to look after your own emotional health. Thinking about your own needs is not an act of selfishness—it’s a necessity. Your emotional strength will allow you to provide the ongoing support your depressed friend or family member needs.
Understanding depression in a friend or family member:
- Depression is a serious condition. Don’t underestimate the seriousness of depression. Depression drains a person’s energy, optimism, and motivation. Your depressed loved one can’t just “snap out of it” by sheer force of will.
- The symptoms of depression aren’t personal. Depression makes it difficult for a person to connect on a deep emotional level with anyone, even the people he or she loves most. In addition, depressed people often say hurtful things and lash out in anger. Remember that this is the depression talking, not your loved one, so try not to take it personally.
- Hiding the problem won’t make it go away. Don’t be an enabler. It doesn’t help anyone involved if you are making excuses, covering up the problem, or lying for a friend or family member who is depressed. In fact, this may keep the depressed person from seeking treatment.
- You can’t “fix” someone else’s depression. Don’t try to rescue your loved one from depression. It’s not up to you to fix the problem, nor can you. You’re not to blame for your loved one’s depression or responsible for his or her happiness (or lack thereof). Ultimately, recovery is in the hands of the depressed person.
Is my friend or family member depressed?
Family and friends are often the first line of defense in the fight against depression. That’s why it’s important to understand the signs and symptoms of depression. You may notice the problem in a depressed loved one before he or she does, and your influence and concern can motivate that person to seek help.
Be concerned if your loved one...
- Doesn’t seem to care about anything anymore.
- Is uncharacteristically sad, irritable, short-tempered, critical, or moody.
- Has lost interest in work, sex, hobbies, and other pleasurable activities.
- Talks about feeling “helpless” or “hopeless.”
- Expresses a bleak or negative outlook on life.
- Frequently complains of aches and pains such as headaches, stomach problems, and back pain.
- Complains of feeling tired and drained all the time.
- Has withdrawn from friends, family, and other social activities.
- Sleeps less than usual or oversleeps.
- Eats more or less than usual, and has recently gained or lost weight.
- Has become indecisive, forgetful, disorganized, and “out of it.”
- Drinks more or abuses drugs, including prescription sleeping pills and painkillers.
How to talk to a loved one about depression
Sometimes it is hard to know what to say when speaking to a loved one about depression. You might fear that if you bring up your worries he or she will get angry, feel insulted, or ignore your concerns. You may be unsure what questions to ask or how to be supportive.
If you don’t know where to start, the following suggestions may help. But remember that being a compassionate listener is much more important than giving advice. You don’t have to try to “fix” the person; you just have to be a good listener. Often, the simple act of talking to someone face to face can be an enormous help to someone suffering from depression. Encourage the depressed person to talk about his or her feelings, and be willing to listen without judgment.
Don’t expect a single conversation to be the end of it. Depressed people tend to withdraw from others and isolate themselves. You may need to express your concern and willingness to listen over and over again. Be gentle, yet persistent.
Ways to start the conversation:
- I have been feeling concerned about you lately.
- Recently, I have noticed some differences in you and wondered how you are doing.
- I wanted to check in with you because you have seemed pretty down lately.
Questions you can ask:
- When did you begin feeling like this?
- Did something happen that made you start feeling this way?
- How can I best support you right now?
- Have you thought about getting help?
Remember, being supportive involves offering encouragement and hope. Very often, this is a matter of talking to the person in language that he or she will understand and respond to while in a depressed mind frame.
What you can say that helps:
- You are not alone in this. I’m here for you.
- You may not believe it now, but the way you’re feeling will change.
- I may not be able to understand exactly how you feel, but I care about you and want to help.
- When you want to give up, tell yourself you will hold on for just one more day, hour, minute—whatever you can manage.
- You are important to me. Your life is important to me.
- Tell me what I can do now to help you.
- It’s all in your head.
- We all go through times like this.
- Look on the bright side.
- You have so much to live for why do you want to die?
- I can’t do anything about your situation.
- Just snap out of it.
- What’s wrong with you?
- Shouldn’t you be better by now?
Adapted from: The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
Taking care of yourself while helping a depressed person
There’s a natural impulse to want to fix the problems of people we love, but you can’t control a loved one’s depression. You can, however, control how well you take care of yourself. It’s just as important for you to stay healthy as it is for the depressed person to get treatment, so make your own well-being a priority.
Remember the advice of airline flight attendants: put on your own oxygen mask before you assist anyone else. In other words, make sure your own health and happiness are solid before you try to help someone who is depressed. You won’t do your friend or family member any good if you collapse under the pressure of trying to help. When your own needs are taken care of, you’ll have the energy you need to lend a helping hand.
Tips for taking care of yourself
Think of this challenging time like a marathon; you need extra sustenance to keep yourself going. The following ideas will help you keep your strength up as you support your loved one through depression treatment and recovery.
- Speak up for yourself. You may be hesitant to speak out when the depressed person in your life upsets you or lets you down. However, honest communication will actually help the relationship in the long run. If you’re suffering in silence and letting resentment build, your loved one will pick up on these negative emotions and feel even worse. Gently talk about how you’re feeling before pent-up emotions make it too hard to communicate with sensitivity.
- Set boundaries. Of course you want to help, but you can only do so much. Your own health will suffer if you let your life be controlled by your loved one’s depression. You can’t be a caretaker round the clock without paying a psychological price. To avoid burnout and resentment, set clear limits on what you are willing and able to do. You are not your loved one’s therapist, so don’t take on that responsibility.
- Stay on track with your own life. While some changes in your daily routine may be unavoidable while caring for your friend or relative, do your best to keep appointments and plans with friends. If your depressed loved one is unable to go on an outing or trip you had planned, ask a friend to join you instead.
- Seek support. You are NOT betraying your depressed relative or friend by turning to others for support. Joining a support group, talking to a counselor or clergyman, or confiding in a trusted friend will help you get through this tough time. You don’t need to go into detail about your loved one’s depression or betray confidences; instead focus on your emotions and what you are feeling. Make sure you can be totally honest with the person you turn to—no judging your emotions!
Encouraging a depressed person to get help
Beating depression, one day at a time
You can’t beat depression through sheer willpower, but you do have some control—even if your depression is severe and stubbornly persistent. The key to depression recovery is to start with a few small goals and slowly build from there. Feeling better takes time, but you can get there if you make positive choices for yourself each day and draw on the support of others. Read Dealing with Depression
While you can't control someone else’s recovery from depression, you can start by encouraging the depressed person to seek help. Getting a depressed person into treatment can be difficult. Depression saps energy and motivation, so even the act of making an appointment or finding a doctor can seem daunting. Depression also involves negative ways of thinking. The depressed person may believe that the situation is hopeless and treatment pointless.
Because of these obstacles, getting your loved one to admit to the problem—and helping him or her see that it can be solved—is an essential step in depression recovery.
If your friend or family member resists getting help for depression:
- Suggest a general check-up with a physician. Your loved one may be less anxious about seeing a family doctor than a mental health professional. A regular doctor’s visit is actually a great option, since the doctor can rule out medical causes of depression. If the doctor diagnoses depression, he or she can refer your loved one to a psychiatrist or psychologist. Sometimes, this “professional” opinion makes all the difference.
- Offer to help your depressed loved one find a doctor or therapist and go with them on the first visit. Finding the right treatment provider can be difficult, and is often a trial-and-error process. For a depressed person already low on energy, it is a huge help to have assistance making calls and looking into the options.
- Encourage the person to make a thorough list of symptoms and ailments to discuss with the doctor. You can even bring up things that you have noticed as an outside observer, such as, “You seem to feel much worse in the mornings,” or “You always get stomach pains before work.”
Supporting your loved one's depression treatment
One of the most important things you can do to help a friend or relative with depression is to give your unconditional love and support throughout the treatment process. This involves being compassionate and patient, which is not always easy when dealing with the negativity, hostility, and moodiness that go hand in hand with depression.
- Provide whatever assistance the person needs (and is willing to accept). Help your loved one make and keep appointments, research treatment options, and stay on schedule with any treatment prescribed.
- Have realistic expectations. It can be frustrating to watch a depressed friend or family member struggle, especially if progress is slow or stalled. Having patience is important. Even with optimal treatment, recovery from depression doesn’t happen overnight.
- Lead by example. Encourage your friend or family member to lead a healthier, mood-boosting lifestyle by doing it yourself: maintain a positive outlook, eat better, avoid alcohol and drugs, exercise, and lean on others for support.
- Encourage activity. Invite your loved one to join you in uplifting activities, like going to a funny movie or having dinner at a favorite restaurant. Exercise is especially helpful, so try to get your depressed loved one moving. Going on walks together is one of the easiest options. Be gently and lovingly persistent—don’t get discouraged or stop asking.
- Pitch in when possible. Seemingly small tasks can be hard for a depressed person to manage. Offer to help out with household responsibilities or chores, but only do what you can without getting burned out yourself!
The risk of suicide is real
What to do in a crisis situation
If you believe your loved one is at an immediate risk for suicide, do NOT leave the person alone.
In the U.S., dial 911 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.
In other countries, call your country’s emergency services number or visit IASP to find a suicide prevention helpline.
It may be hard to believe that the person you know and love would ever consider something as drastic as suicide, but a depressed person may not see any other way out. Depression clouds judgment and distorts thinking, causing a normally rational person to believe that death is the only way to end the pain he or she is feeling.
When someone is depressed, suicide is a very real danger. It’s important to know the warning signs:
- Talking about suicide, dying, or harming oneself
- Preoccupation with death
- Expressing feelings of hopelessness or self-hate
- Acting in dangerous or self-destructive ways
- Getting affairs in order and saying goodbye
- Seeking out pills, weapons, or other lethal objects
- Sudden sense of calm after a depression
If you think a friend or family member might be considering suicide, talk to him or her about your concerns as soon as possible. Many people feel uncomfortable bringing up the topic but it is one of the best things you can do for someone who is thinking about suicide. Talking openly about suicidal thoughts and feelings can save a person’s life, so speak up if you're concerned and seek professional help immediately!
More help for depression
- Dealing with Depression: Self-Help and Coping Tips to Overcome Depression
- Depression Treatment: Therapy, Medication, and Lifestyle Changes That Can Help Depression
- Suicide Prevention: How to Help Someone who is Suicidal
- Parent's Guide to Teen Depression – Learn the Signs and How You Can Help Your Teen
Resources and references
General information about helping a depressed person
Helping Someone with a Mood Disorder – Covers how to support a loved one through depression treatment and recovery. (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance)
Helping Someone Receive Treatment – What to do (and not to do) when trying to help a loved one get help for depression. (Families for Depression Awareness)
Depression and the family
Helping Someone Manage Depression – Tips on how families can work together to manage depression treatment. (Families for Depression Awareness)
Depression and Relationships: Living with a Depressed Person – Includes nine rules for living with a depressed person. (Uplift Program)
Action Strategies: Family and Depression – Offers strategies for helping a family member who is suffering from depression, as well as protecting the family. (Psychology Today)
Helping a suicidal person
How to Help Someone in Crisis – Advice on how to deal with a depression crisis, including situations where hospitalization is necessary. (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance)
Suicidal helplines around the world
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – Suicide prevention telephone hotline funded by the U.S. government. Provides free, 24-hour assistance. 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Samaritans UK – 24-hour suicide support for people in the UK (call 08457 90 90 90) and Ireland (call 1850 60 90 90). (Samaritans)
Lifeline Australia – 24-hour suicide crisis support service at 13 11 14. (Lifeline Australia)
Crisis Centers in Canada – Locate suicide crisis centers in Canada by province. (Centre For Suicide Prevention)
IASP – Find crisis centers and helplines around the world. (International Association for Suicide Prevention).International Suicide Hotlines – Find a helpline in different countries around the world. (Suicide.org) | <urn:uuid:e007cc78-6e15-4ecd-b8f3-32f74fb32f43> | {
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THE AGE of INTELLIGENT MACHINES | Can Computers Think?
February 21, 2001
- author |
- Mitchell Waldrop
The complexities of the mind mirror the challenges of Artificial Intelligence. This article discusses the nature of thought itself–can it be replicated in a machine? From Ray Kurzweil’s revolutionary book The Age of Intelligent Machines, published in 1990.
At a time when computer technology is advancing at a breakneck pace and when software developers are glibly hawking their wares as having artificial intelligence, the inevitable question has begun to take on a certain urgency: Can a computer think? Really think? In one form or another this is actually a very old question, dating back to such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes. And after nearly 3,000 years the most honest answer is still “Who knows?” After all, what does it mean to think? On the other hand, that’s not a very satisfying answer. So let’s try some others.
Who cares? If a machine can do its job extremely well, what does it matter if it really thinks? No one runs around asking if taxicabs really walk.
How could you ever tell? This attitude is the basis of the famous Turing test, devised in 1950 by the British mathematician and logician Alan Turing: Imagine that you’re sitting alone in a room with a teletype machine that is connected at the other end to either a person or a computer. If no amount of questioning or conversation allows you to tell which it is, then you have to concede that a machine can think.
No, thinking is too complicated. Even if we someday come to understand all the laws and principles that govern the mind, that doesn’t mean that we can duplicate it. Does understanding astrophysics mean that we can build a galaxy?
Yes, machines can think in principle, but not necessarily in the same way we do. AI researcher Seymour Papert of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology maintains that artificial intelligence is analogous to artificial flight: ‘This leads us to imagine skeptics who would say, ‘You mathematicians deal with idealized fluids–the real atmosphere is vastly more complicated: or ‘You have no reason to suppose that airplanes and birds work the same way-birds have no propellers, airplanes have no feathers.’ But the premises of these criticisms is true only in the most superficial sense: the same principles (for example, Bernoulli’s law) applies to real as well as ideal fluids, and they apply whether the fluid flows over a feather or an aluminum wing.”
No! This is the most often heard answer, and the most heartfelt. “I am not a machine [goes the argument]. I’m me. I’m alive. And you’re never going to make a computer that can say that. Furthermore, the essence of humanity isn’t reason or logic or any of the other things that computers can do: it’s intuition, sensuality, and emotion. So how can a computer think if it does not feel, and how can it feel if it knows nothing of love, anguish, exhilaration, loneliness, and all the rest of what it means to be a living human being?”
“Sometimes when my children were still little,” writes former AI researcher Joseph Weizenbaum of MIT, “my wife and I would stand over them as they lay sleeping in their beds. We spoke to each other only in silence, rehearsing a scene as old as mankind itself. It is as Ionesco told his journal: ‘Not everything is unsayable in words, only the living truth: “
Can a Machine Be Aware?
As this last answer suggests, the case against machine intelligence always comes down to the ultimate mystery, which goes by many names: consciousness, awareness, spirit, soul. We don’t even understand what it is in humans. Many people would say that it is beyond our understanding entirely, that it is a subject best left to God alone. Other people simply wonder if a brain can ever understand itself, even in principle. But either way, how can we ever hope to reproduce it, whatever it is, with a pile of silicon and software?
That question has been the source of endless debate since the rise of AI, a debate made all the hotter by the fact that people aren’t arguing science. They’re arguing philosophical ideology-their personal beliefs about what the true theory of the mind will be like when we find it.
Not surprisingly, the philosophical landscape is rugged and diverse. But it’s possible to get some feel for the overall topography 6y looking at two extremes. At one extreme at the heart of classical AI we find the doctrines first set down in the 1950s by AI pioneers Allen Newell and Herbert Simon at Carnegie-Mellon University: (1) thinking is information processing; (2) information processing is computation, which is the manipulation of symbols; and (3) symbols, because of their relationships and linkages, mean something about the external world. In other words, the brain per se doesn’t matter, and Turing was right: a perfect simulation of thinking is thinking.
Tufts University philosopher Daniel C. Dennett, a witty and insightful observer of AI, has dubbed this position High Church Computationalism. Its prelates include such establishment figures as Simon and MIT’s Marvin Minsky; its Vatican City is MIT, “the East Pole.”
Then from out of the West comes heresy–a creed that is not an alternative so much as a denial. As Dennett describes it, the assertion is that “thinking is something going on in the brain all right, but it is not computation at all: thinking is something holistic and emergent-and organic and fuzzy and warn and cuddly and mysterious.”
Dennett calls this creed Zen holism. And for some reason its proponents do seem to cluster in the San Francisco Bay area. Among them are the gurus of the movement: Berkeley philosophers John Searle and Hubert Dreyfus.
The computationalists and the holists have been going at it for years, ever since Dreyfus first denounced AI in the mid 1960s with his caustic book What Computers Can’t Do. But their definitive battle came in 1980, in the pages of the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences. This journal is unique among scientific journals in that it doesn’t just publish an article; first it solicits commentary from the author’s peers and gives the author a chance to write a rebuttal. Then it publishes the whole thing as a package-a kind of formal debate in print. In this case the centerpiece was Searle’s article “Minds, Brains, and Programs,” a stinging attack on the idea that a machine could think. Following it were 27 responses, most of which were stinging attacks on Searle. The whole thing is worth reading for its entertainment value alone. But it also highlights the fundamental issues with a clarity that has never been surpassed.
The Chinese Room
Essentially, Searle’s point was that simulation is not duplication. A program that uses formal rules to manipulate abstract symbols can never think or be aware, because those symbols don’t mean anything to the computer.
To illustrate, he proposed the following thought experiment as a parody of the typical AI language-understanding program of his day: “Suppose that I’m locked in a room and given a large batch of Chinese writing,” he said. “Suppose furthermore (as is indeed the case) that I know no Chinese …. To me, the Chinese writing is just so many meaningless squiggles.” Next, said Searle, he is given a second batch of Chinese writing (a “story”), together with some rules in English that explain how to correlate the first batch with the second (a “program”). Then after this is all done, he is given yet a third set of Chinese symbols (“questions”), together with yet more English rules that tell him how to manipulate the slips of paper until all three batches are correlated, and how to produce a new set of Chinese characters (“answers”), which he then passes back out of the room. Finally, said Searle, “after awhile I get so good at manipulating the instructions for the Chinese symbols and the programmers get so good at writing the programs that from the external point of view . . . my answers to the questions are absolutely indistinguishable from those of native Chinese speakers.” In other words, Searle learns to pass the Turing test in Chinese.
Now, according to the zealots of strong AI, said Searle, a computer that can answer questions in this way isn’t just simulating human language abilities. It is literally understanding the story. Moreover, the operation of the program is in fact an explanation of human understanding.
And yet, said Searle, while he is locked in that imaginary room he is doing exactly what the computer does. He uses formal rules to manipulate abstract symbols. He takes in stories and gives out answers exactly as a native Chinese would. But he still doesn’t understand a word of Chinese. So how is it possible to say that the computer understands? In fact, said Searle, it doesn’t. For comparison, imagine that the questions and the answers now switch to English. So far as the people outside the room are concerned, the system is just as fluent as before. And yet there’s all the difference in the world, because now he isn’t just manipulating formal symbols anymore. He understands what’s being said. The words have meaning for him-or, in the technical jargon of philosophy, he has intentionality. Why? “Because I am a certain sort of organism with a certain biological (i.e., chemical and physical/ structure,” he said, “and this structure, under certain conditions, is causally capable of producing perception, action, understanding, learning, and other intentional phenomena.” In other words, Searle concluded that it is certainly possible for a machine to think-”in an important sense our bodies with our brains are precisely such machines”-but only if the machine is as complex and as powerful as the brain. A purely formal computer program cannot do it.
Searle’s Chinese roam clearly struck a sensitive nerve, as evidenced by the number and spirit of the denunciations that followed. It was clear to everyone that when Searle used the word “intentionality,” he wasn’t just talking about an obscure technical matter. In this context intentionality is virtually synonymous with mind, soul, spirit, or awareness. Here is a sampler of some of the main objections:
The comparison is unfair. The programs that Searle ridiculed demonstrated a very crude kind of understanding at best, and no one in AI seriously claims anything more for them. Even if they were correct in principle, said the defenders, genuine humanlike understanding would require much more powerful machines and much more sophisticated programs.
Searle quite correctly painted out, however, that this argument is irrelevant: of course computers are getting more powerful: what he objected to was the principle.
The Chinese Room story is entertaining and seductive, but it’s a fraud. Douglas R. Hofstadter of Indiana University, author of the best-selling Godel, Escher, Bach, pointed out that the jump from the AI program to the Turing test is not the trivial step that Searle makes it out to be. It’s an enormous leap. The poor devil in the Chinese room would have to shuffle not just a few slips of paper but millions or billions of slips of paper. It would take him years to answer a question, if he could do it at all. In effect, said Hofstadter, Searle is postulating mental processes slowed down by a factor of millions, so no wonder it looks different.
Searle’s reply-that he could memorize the slips of paper and shuffle them in his head-sounds plausible enough. But as several respondents have pointed out, it dangerously undermines his whole argument: once he memorizes everything, doesn’t he now understand Chinese in the same way he understands English?
The entire system does understand Chinese. True, the man in the room doesn’t understand Chinese himself. But he is just part of a larger system that also includes the slips of paper, the rules, and the message-passing mechanism. Taken as a whole, this larger system does understand Chinese. This “systems” reply was advanced by a number of the respondents. Searle was incredulous-”It is not easy for me to imagine how someone who was not in the grip of an ideology could find the idea at all plausible”-yet the concept is subtler than it seems. Consider a thermostat: a bimetallic strip bends and unbends as the temperature changes. When the room becomes too cold, the strip closes an electrical connection, and the furnace kicks on. When the room warms back up again, the connection reopens, and the furnace shuts off. Now, does the bimetallic strip by itself control the temperature of the room? No. Does the furnace by itself control the temperature? No. Does the system as a whole control the temperature? Yes. Connections and the organization make the whole into mare than the sum of its parts.
Searle never makes clear what intentionality is, or why a machine can’t have it. As Dennett pointed out, “For Searle, intentionality is rather like a wonderful substance secreted by the brain the way the pancreas secretes insulin.” And make no mistake: Searle’s concept of intentionality does require a biological brain. He explicitly denied that a robot could have intentionality, even if it were equipped with eyes, ears, arms, legs, and all the other accoutrements it needed to move around and perceive the world like a human being. Inside, he said, the robot would still just be manipulating formal symbols.
That assertion led psychologist Zenon Pylyshyn of the University of Western Ontario to propose his own ironic thought experiment: ‘Thus, if more and more of the cells in your brain were to be replaced by integrated circuit chips, programmed in such a way as to keep the input-output function of each unit identical to the unit being replaced, you would in all likelihood just keep right on speaking exactly as you are doing now except that you would eventually stop meaning anything by it. What we outside observers might take to be words would become for you just certain noises that circuits caused you to make.” In short, you would become a zombie.
Dennett took up the same theme in his own article. So far as natural selection is concerned, he pointed out, Pylyshyn’s zombie or Searle’s robot is just as fit for survival as those of us with Searlestyle intentional brains. Evolution would make no distinction. Indeed, from a biological point of view, intentionality is irrelevant, as useless as the appendix. So how did it ever arise? And having arisen, how did it survive and prosper when it offered no natural-selection value? Aren’t we lucky that some chance mutation didn’t rob our ancestors of intentionality? Dennett asked. If it had, he said, “we’d behave just as we do now, but of course we wouldn’t mean it!” Needless to say, bath Pylyshyn and Dennett found this absurd.
In retrospect, the great debate has to be rated a standoff. Searle, not surprisingly, was unconvinced by any of his opponents’ arguments; to this day he and his fellow Zen holists have refused to yield an inch. Yet they have never given a truly compelling explanation of why a brain and only a brain can secrete intentionality. The computationalists, meanwhile, remain convinced that they are succeeding where philosophers have failed for 3,000 years-that they are producing a real scientific theory of intelligence and consciousness. But they can’t prove it. Not yet, anyway.
And in all fairness, the burden of proof is on AI. The symbol-processing paradigm is an intriguing approach. If nothing else, it’s an approach worth exploring to see how far it can go. But still, what is consciousness?
Science as a Message of Despair
One way to answer that last question is with another question: Do we really want to know? Many people instinctively side with Searle, horrified at what the computationalist position implies: If thought, feeling, intuition, and all the other workings of the mind can be understood even in principle, if we are machines, then God is not speaking to our hearts. And for that matter, neither is Mozart. The soul is nothing more than the activations of neuronal symbols. Spirit is nothing more than a surge of hormones and neurotransmitters. Meaning and purpose are illusions. And besides, when machines grow old and break dawn, they are discarded without a thought. Thus, for many people, AI is a message of despair. Of course, this is hardly a new concern. For those who choose to see it that way, science itself is a message of despair.
In 1543 with the publication of De Revolutionibus the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus moved the earth from the center of the universe and made it one planet among many and thereby changed humankind’s relationship with God. In the earthcentered universe of Thomas Aquinas and other medieval theologians, man had been poised halfway between a heaven that lay just beyond the sphere of the stars and a hell that burned beneath his feet. He had dwelt always under the watchful eye of God, and his spiritual status had been reflected in the very structure of the cosmos. But after Copernicus the earth and man were reduced to being wanderers in an infinite universe. For many, the sense of lass and confusion were palpable.
In 1859 with the publication of The Origin of Species Charles Darwin described how one group of living things arises from another through natural selection and thereby changed our perception of who we are. Once man had been the special creation of God, the favored of all his children. Now man was just another animal, the descendent of monkeys.
In the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth with the publication of such works as The Interpretation of Dreams (1901), Sigmund Freud illuminated the inner workings of the mind and again changed our perception of who we are. Once we had been only a little lower than the angels, masters of our own souls. Now we were at the mercy of demons like rage, terror, and lust, made all the more hideous by the fact that they lived unseen in our own unconscious minds.
So the message of science can be bleak indeed. It can be seen as a proclamation that human beings are nothing more than masses of particles collected by blind chance and governed by immutable physical law, that we have no meaning, that there is no purpose to existence, and that the universe just doesn’t care. I suspect that this is the real reason for the creationists’ desperate rejection of Darwin. It has nothing to do with Genesis; it has everything to do with being special in the eyes of a caring God. The fact that their creed is based on ignorance and a willful distortion of the evidence makes them both sad and dangerous. But their longing for order and purpose in the world is understandable and even noble. I also suspect that this perceived spiritual vacuum in science lies behind the fascination so many people feel for such pseudosciences as astrology. After all, if the stars and the planets guide my fate, then somehow I matter. The universe cares. Astrology makes no scientific sense whatsoever. But far those who need such reassurance, what can science offer to replace it?
Science as a Message of Hope
And yet the message doesn’t have to be bleak. Science has given us a universe of enormous extent filled with marvels far beyond anything Aquinas ever knew. Does it diminish the night sky to know that the planets are other worlds and that the stars are other suns? In the same way, a scientific theory of intelligence and awareness might very well provide us with an understanding of other possible minds. Perhaps it will show us more clearly how our Western ways of perceiving the world relate to the perceptions of other cultures. Perhaps it will tell us how human intelligence fits in with the range of other possible intelligences that might exist in the universe. Perhaps it will give us a new insight into who we are and what our place is in creation.
Indeed, far from being threatening, the prospect is oddly comforting. Consider a computer program. It is undeniably a natural phenomenon, the product of physical forces pushing electrons here and there through a web of silicon and metal. And yet a computer program is mare than just a surge of electrons. Take the program and run it on another kind of computer. Now the structure of silicon and metal is completely different. The way the electrons move is completely different. But the program itself is the same, because it still does the same thing. h is part of the computer. It needs the computer to exist. And yet it transcends the computer. In effect, the program occupies a different level of reality from the computer. Hence the power of the symbol-processing model: By describing the mind as a program running on a flesh-and-blood computer, it shows us how feeling, purpose, thought, and awareness can be part of the physical brain and yet transcend the brain. It shows us how the mind can be composed of simple, comprehensible processes and still be something more.
Consider a living cell. The individual enzymes, lipids, and DNA molecules that go to make up a cell are comparatively simple things. They obey well-understood laws of physics and chemistry. | <urn:uuid:00f2faca-9339-41ed-bdcc-fc96ad3f7646> | {
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Photo by Eddie Adams
“And she struggles to pay that first loan and then the second installment due the following week. And when she has paid completely, she can say, ‘I did it!’ It’s not just a monetary transaction that has been completed, it is nothing less than the transformation of that person."
Founder of the Grameen Bank, the world’s largest and most successful microcredit institution, Muhammad Yunus was born in one of the poorest places on earth, the country (then part of Pakistan) of Bangladesh. As a professor of economics, he was struck by the discrepancy between the economic theory taught in universities and the abject poverty around him. Recognizing the poor remained poor because they had no access to capital, no collateral for loans, and borrowing requirements so modest that it was not cost-effective for large banks to process their needs, Yunus started experimenting with small collateral-free loans to landless rural peasants and impoverished women. In 1983, he founded the Grameen Bank. Its rules were strict and tough. Clients find four friends to borrow with. If any of the five default, all are held accountable, building commitment and providing community support. Initial loans are as little as ten dollars, and must be repaid with 20 percent interest. Nearly twenty years later, this revolutionary bank is flourishing, with more than 1,050 branches serving 35,000 villages and two million customers, 94 percent of them women. Ninety-eight percent of Grameen’s borrowers repay their loans in full, a rate of return far higher than that of the rich and powerful. More importantly, the clients are transforming their lives: from powerless and dependent to self-sufficient, independent, and politically astute. The real transformation will be felt by the next generation: a generation with better food, education, medication, and the firsthand satisfaction of taking control of their lives, thanks to Yunus’s vision, creativity, and confidence.
Among many awards, Dr. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Together with Nelson Mandela, fellow Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu and select other prominent statesmen, human rights leaders and public figures, Yunus is a member of the “Global Elders” group.
When I started the Grameen program to provide access to credit for the poor, I came upon two major obstacles. First, commercial banks were institutionally biased against women. Secondly, they had absolutely blocked credit to the poor by demanding something no poor person has access to: namely, collateral.
After overcoming the second issue, I addressed the first. I wanted half of the borrowers from banks in my program to be women—a challenge. At first, women were reluctant to accept loans. They said, "No, no, I have never touched money in my life. You must go to my husband. He understands money. Give the money to him." So I would try to explain why a loan would benefit her family. But the more I tried to approach women, the more they ran away from me. My colleagues and I worked hard to come up with a way we could build trust in women so that they would accept loans from men. We slowed down our work just to include more women, since this trust-building took time.
Six years later, proud that half our loans were to women, we began to see something very remarkable. Money that went to families through women helped the families much more than the same amount of money going to men. Unlike men, women were very cautious with money and passed benefits on to their children immediately. They had learned how to manage with scarce resources. And women had a longer vision; they could see a way out of poverty and had the discipline to carry out their plans. Perhaps because women suffer so much more from poverty than men, they are more motivated to escape it.
In contrast, men were looser with money. They wanted to enjoy it right away, not wait for tomorrow. Women were always building up things for the future, for themselves, their children, their families. We saw a number of such differences between men and women.
We decided to make a concerted effort to attract women clients because we got much more mileage out of the same amount of money. So I created incentives for our loan officers because they had such a hard time convincing women to borrow money from the bank. Today, 94 percent of our loans go to women.
It has worked in ways we never anticipated. For instance, women borrowers decided to commit themselves to a set of promises that they called the "sixteen decisions." These are commitments to improve the welfare of the borrowers and their families above and beyond the loans. They agreed to send their children to school, they decided to maintain discipline, to create unity, to act with courage, and to work hard in all their endeavors. They agreed to keep their families small, to send their children to school, to plant as many seedlings as possible, even to eat vegetables. These are some of the resolutions created by the women, not imposed by the bank. These aspirations were critical to their lives. Listening to them, you see what a difference women make.
A typical initial loan is something like thirty-five dollars. The night before a woman is going to accept that money from the bank, she will be tossing and turning to decide whether she is really ready for it. She is scared that maybe something terrible will happen to her. And finally in the morning her friends will come over and they will try to persuade her: "Let’s go through with it. If you don’t go, we can’t. We can’t always worry. It was not easy coming to this point. Let’s go." And finally, with their encouragement, she will come to the bank.
When she holds that money, it is such a huge amount in her hands, it is like holding the hope and treasure that she never dreamt she would achieve. She will tremble, tears will roll down her cheeks, and she won’t believe we would trust her with such a large sum. And she promises that she will pay back this money, because the money is the symbol of the trust put in her and she does not want to betray that trust.
And then she struggles to pay that first loan, that first installment, which is due the following week, and the second installment, which is payable the following week, and this goes on for fifty weeks in sequence, and every time that she repays another installment she is braver! And when she finishes her fiftieth installment, the last one, and she has now paid in full, she can say, "I did it!" She wants to celebrate. It’s not just a monetary transaction that has been completed, it is nothing less than a transformation of that person. In the beginning of it all, she was trembling, she was tossing and turning, she felt she was nobody and she really did not exist. Now she is a woman who feels like she is somebody. Now she can almost stand up and challenge the whole world, shouting, "I can do it, I can make it on my own." So it’s a process of transformation and finding self-worth, self-esteem. Proving that she can take care of herself.
You see, if you only look at the lending program of Grameen, you have missed most of its impact. Grameen is involved in a process of transformation. The sixteen decisions is an example: we found that Grameen children attend school in record numbers because their mothers really take that commitment seriously. And now many of the children are continuing in colleges, universities, going on to medical schools, and so on. It is really striking to see young boys and girls go on to higher levels of education. The program has been so successful that we now foresee a big wave of students needing loans, so we recently came up with another loan product to finance higher education for all Grameen children in professional schools. Now they don’t have to worry about whether their parents will be able to pay for their higher education when tuition is so expensive.
A recent study in Bangladesh showed that children in Grameen families are healthier than non-Grameen children. Scientific American did a study of population growth in Bangladesh showing that the average number of children per family twenty years back was seven, but now it has been reduced to three. What happened? Why did it happen? Scientific American has spurred controversy by claiming the change is due to our program. As women become empowered, they look at themselves and at what they can do. They are making economic progress and alongside that, making decisions about their personal lives and how many children they choose to have. And of course Article 16, Decision 1, says that we should keep our families small. So this is an important part of the equation. At the population summit in Cairo all the sessions spoke of the Grameen model, because the adoption of family planning practices of women in our program is twice as high as the national average. Now, we are not a population program, but this is a beneficial side effect.
There are other side effects. Starting seven years back we encouraged Grameen borrowers to participate in the political process by voting. Their first reaction was negative. They said, "The candidates are all devils, so why should we vote for them?" It was very depressing that people looked at their electoral process in that way.
So we replied, "Okay, yes, they are all devils, but if you don’t go and vote, the worst devil will get elected. So go sit down in your centers, discuss who could be the worst, what could happen if he gets elected, and if you find this prospect terrible, then you have an opportunity to choose among all the devils, the least evil." People immediately got excited, and we had almost 100 percent participation in that first election.
It was very well organized. All the Grameen families met the morning of the elections, and went to the voting place together, so the politicians would take note of their large numbers, so that they were taken seriously. In the next elections we organized Grameen families to vote themselves and also to bring their friends and neighbors to vote, particularly the women.
The result was that in the 1996 election in Bangladesh voter participation was 73 percent, the highest percentage ever. And what shocked everybody was that across the board more women voted than men. In fact, women waited for hours, because when the voting arrangements were made, the authorities had expected only half the number to show up.
The outcome changed the political landscape. In the previous parliament, the fundamentalist religious party had seventeen seats; in the 1996 election, their number was reduced to three, because women found nothing interesting in the fundamentalist party’s program. So that was very empowering, very empowering indeed.
Then, in last year’s local elections, we were shocked to see that many Grameen members themselves got elected. So I went around and talked to those people, and asked why they chose to run for office. They said, "You told us to select the least of the devils, and we tried, but it was such an ugly job that we got fed up, and we started looking at each other, thinking, ‘Why are we looking for the least devil, when we are good people here? Why don’t we run ourselves?" And that started the snowball effect which ended with more than four thousand Grameen members elected into local office. That’s amazing. And the way they talk is completely different. I never heard women in Bangladesh talking like this. They are challenging the government. They say, "The government can’t tell us how to vote. We made commitments to our electorate." This is the kind of thing that happens. So in health care, in political participation, in the relationship between mother and child and between husband and wife, there are transformations of society.
Now you can open up, you can do things, you can discover your own talent and ability and look at the world in a very different way than you looked at before. Because Grameen offers a chance to become part of an institution, with some financial support to do your own thing. Our customers are in a kind of business relationship, but one that makes such a difference to their lives.
Of course there is resistance. The first resistance came from the husbands who felt insulted, humiliated, threatened that their wives were given a loan and they were not. The tension within the family structure sometimes led to violence against the women. So we paused for a while and then came up with an idea. We started meeting with the husbands and explaining the program in a way where they could see it would be beneficial to their family. And we made sure to meet with husbands and wives together so everyone understood what was expected. So that reduced a lot of initial resistance by the husbands.
Neighborhood men also raised objections, and cloaked the fact that they felt threatened by women’s empowerment in religious trappings. We carefully examined whether our program was in some way antireligious. But they were hiding behind religion instead of admitting that they felt bypassed. It was the male ego speaking in religious terms.
Our best counterargument was just to give it time. It soon became clear that our borrowers were still attending to their religious duties, at the same time earning money and becoming confident. Women started confronting the religious people. They said, "You think taking money from Grameen Bank is a bad idea? Okay, we won’t take any more—if you give the money yourself. We don’t care who gives it to us, but without money we cannot do anything." And of course the religious advocates said, "No, no, we can’t give you money." So that was the end of that.
We also received criticism from development professionals who insisted that giving tiny loans to women who do not have knowledge and skill does not bring about structural change in the country or the village and therefore is not true development at all. They said development involves multimillion dollar loans for enormous infrastructure projects. We never expected opposition from the development quarter, but it happened, and became controversial. Because what we do is not in their book. They cannot categorize us, whether right, left, conservative, or liberal. We talk free market, but at the same time we are pro-poor. They are totally confused.
But if you are in a classroom situation, you wander around your abstract world, and decide microcredit programs are silly because they don’t fit into your theoretical universe. But I work with real people in the real world. So whenever academics or professionals try to draw those conclusions, I get upset and go back and work with my borrowers—and then I know who is right.
The biggest smile is from one of those women who has just changed her existence. The excitement she experienced with her children, moving from one class to another, is so touching, so real that you forget what the debate was in the ballroom of the hotel with all the international experts, telling you that this is nothing. So that’s how I’ve got the strength—from people.
Grameen Bank is now all over Bangladesh, with 2.4 million families. Even in hard times, like this year’s terrible flood, people are willingly paying and we’re getting really good loans. That demonstrated the basic ability of the people to do something that they believe in, no matter what others say. People ask, what is the reason that we succeeded, that we could do it, when everybody said it couldn’t be done. I keep saying that I was stubborn. So when you ask if it took courage, I would instead say it took stubbornness. No matter what kind of beautiful explanation you give, that’s what it takes to make it happen.
Speak Truth to Power (Umbrage, 2000) | <urn:uuid:0a0e392d-cc2b-484c-a532-240386d5ca9f> | {
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What is JSESSIONID in JSP Servlet
JSESSIONID is a cookie generated by Servlet container like Tomcat or Jetty and used for session management in J2EE web application for http protocol. Since HTTP is a stateless protocol there is no way for Web Server to relate two separate requests coming from same client and Session management is the process to track user session using different session management techniques like Cookies and URL Rewriting. If Web server is using cookie for session management it creates and sends JSESSIONID cookie to the client and than client sends it back to server in subsequent http requests. JSESSIONID and session management is a not only a popular Servlet interview question but also appear in various JSP interviews. Along with What is JSESSIONID interviewer are also interested in when and how JSESSIONID is created in Servlet and JSP which we will see in next section.
When JSESSIONID created in Web application?
In Java J2EE application container is responsible for Session management and by default uses Cookie. When a user first time access your web application, session is created based upon whether its accessing HTML, JSP or Servlet. if user request is served by Servlet than session is created by calling request.getSession(true) method. it accepts a boolean parameter which instruct to create session if its not already existed. if you call request.getSession(false) then it will either return null if no session is associated with this user or return the associated HttpSession object. If HttpRequest is for JSP page than Container automatically creates a new Session with JSESSIONID if this feature is not disabled explicitly by using page directive %@ page session="false" %>. Once Session is created Container sends JSESSIONID cookie into response to the client. In case of HTML access, no user session is created. If client has disabled cookie than Container uses URL rewriting for managing session on which jsessionid is appended into URL as shown below:
When HTTP session is invalidated(), mostly when user logged off, old JSESSIONID destroyed and a new JSESSIONID is created when user further login.
How to monitor HTTP request to check JSESSIONID
You can check value of JSESSIONID coming in as cookie by monitoring HTTP request. If you are running Tomcat Server in NetBeans IDE in your development environment than you can use HTTP Server Monitor to check http requests. You just need to enable it while starting Tomcat Server form Netbeans. After than with each request you can see all details like request headers, session, cookies etc in HTTP Server monitor screen. If you look on JSESSIONID cookie it will look like:
You can also enable http request and response in Client side by using tools like ethereal or Wireshark. This tool can monitor all http traffic from and to your machine and by looking on request data you can see JSESSIONID cookie and its value.
That's all on What is JSESSIONID and How JSESSIONID is created inside J2EE application. We have seen that both Servlet and JSP can be responsible for Session creation but its done by Container. you can retrieve value of SessionID which is represented by JSESSIONID cookie when you call request.getSession(). Session management in web applications are complex topic especially when it comes to clustering and distributed session. On the other hand JSESSIONID is one of those basics which as J2EE web application developer you should be aware of.
Other JSP and Servlet tutorial from Javarevisited Blog | <urn:uuid:07f5d837-2241-459f-8015-d4a390d95b49> | {
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Yesterday my friend told me something about a girl in my class and I told a sophomore I know, but then today I found out it was a rumor and it's not true. Now I feel guilty because it's spreading around the school. Is there anything I can do to stop it? - Brooke*
Guilt is a normal emotion that signals us when we've done something that's against our values. Your guilt about what happened is motivating you to want to set things right.
We all make mistakes. But, handled the right way, they can be great learning experiences. The best way to deal with this situation (and your feelings of guilt) is to take responsibility and apologize for your mistake, do your best to repair the damage, and promise yourself to do better next time. After that, you can forgive yourself and let the guilt feelings go.
Here's what to do:
Start by going to the person you passed the rumor on to. Let him or her know the information you shared is false.
Next, approach the person you gossiped about. Let her know what's going on. For example, you might say something like this: "Jessie, I owe you an apology. Yesterday I heard that you cheated on Cory and I thought it was true, and I actually told Blake what I heard. But then I found out it wasn't true. I feel really bad that I believed it and that I spread what turned out to be a rumor about you. Even if it had been true, I still shouldn't have spread it. I realize now that I should have thought about it more. I wouldn't want anyone spreading negative stuff about me. I want you to know I already told Blake that what I said was not true. But I wanted you to hear about it directly from me. I'm really sorry. I hope you can forgive me. I learned something. In the future, I'll think twice before I repeat something I hear about anyone."
Give her time to reflect on what you said and deal with her feelings. Maybe you could do something nice for her as an apology or ask her what she'd like you to do to make things right. After a day or so, approach her in a friendly way and ask if she can forgive you.
Be prepared for her to say how hurt or mad she was about what happened. She might be angry when you approach her or she may seem fine but then get mad after she has time to reflect on what happened. You might have to listen, accept what she has to say, and let her express her feelings before she is ready to forgive and move past the issue. Most likely, though, she'll respect that you had the courage and integrity to talk to her about it — even if she never says so to you.
Use the mistake as a learning experience. You've learned not just how rumors can hurt, but how they can make you feel about yourself. The way we talk about people (even when they're not present) matters.
Congratulations on wanting to set things right. It takes a strong, self-confident person to act as you are doing. | <urn:uuid:46958ddc-ecab-4115-8d93-574212b62eeb> | {
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Future smartwatches could sense hand movement using ultrasound imaging
Press release issued: 11 October 2017
New research has shown future wearable devices, such as smartwatches, could use ultrasound imaging to sense hand gestures.
The research team led by Professor Mike Fraser, Asier Marzo and Jess McIntosh from the Bristol Interaction Group (BIG) at the University of Bristol, together with University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UH Bristol), presented their paper this summer [8-11 May] at one of the world’s most important conferences on human-computer interfaces, ACM CHI 2017 held in Denver, USA.
Computers are growing in number and wearable computers, such as smartwatches, are gaining popularity. Devices around the home, such as WiFi light bulbs and smart thermostats, are also on the increase. However, current technology limits the capability to interact with these devices.
Hand gestures have been suggested as an intuitive and easy way of interacting with and controlling smart devices in different surroundings. For instance, a gesture could be used to dim the lights in the living room, or to open or close a window. Hand gesture recognition can be achieved in many ways, but the placement of a sensor is a major restriction and often rules out certain techniques. However, with smartwatches becoming the leading wearable device this allows sensors to be put in the watch to sense hand movement.
The research team propose ultrasonic imaging of the forearm could be used to recognise hand gestures. Ultrasonic imaging is already used in medicine, such as pregnancy scans along with muscle and tendon movement, and the researchers saw the potential for this to be used as a way of understanding hand movement.
The team used image processing algorithms and machine learning to classify muscle movement as gestures. The researchers also carried out a user study to find the best sensor placement for this technique.
The team’s findings showed a very high recognition accuracy, and importantly this sensing method worked well at the wrist, which is ideal as it allows future wearable devices, such as smartwatches, to combine this ultrasonic technique to sense gestures.
Jess McIntosh, PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and BIG Group, said: “With current technologies, there are many practical issues that prevent a small, portable ultrasonic imaging sensor integrated into a smartwatch. Nevertheless, our research is a first step towards what could be the most accurate method for detecting hand gestures in smartwatches.”
‘EchoFlex: hand gesture recognition using ultrasound imaging’ by Jess McIntosh, Asier Marzo, Mike Fraser and Carol Phillips in Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
About the Bristol Interaction Group (BIG)
The (BIG), based in the University of Bristol’s Department of Computer Science, is united by a common interest in creative interdisciplinarity. BIG acts as a hub for collaboration between social scientists, artists, scientists and engineers to combine efficient, aesthetic and innovative design. The group is particularly interested in areas which couple the design of devices with deployment and evaluation in public settings. Members of the group have expertise in research areas spanning human-computer interaction, visual, auditory and haptic perception, visualisation and sonification, touch and gestural input, tangible interfaces, augmented and virtual reality, wearable and on-body computing, sustainable interaction design, digital engagement, interactive fabrication as well as flexible and actuated devices. | <urn:uuid:5f97f40c-1cc3-4744-8594-8693bb18a159> | {
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Overexploitation in many parts of the world is leading to irreversible depletion of groundwater resources. To answer the worldwide call to safeguard this water for future generations, Springer has published a new book entitled ‘Integrated Groundwater Management: Concepts, Approaches and Challenges’, edited by Anthony Jakeman, Olivier Barreteau, Randall Hunt, Jean-Daniel Rinaudo, and Andrew Ross.
To restore equilibrium to at-risk aquifers, this book explores the drivers and current state of groundwater resources, as well as the instruments and institutions available for IGM. It emphasizes the requirement to look at integrated approaches and the importance of the socioeconomic context that underpins all effective IGM. The book includes a comprehensive overview of groundwater management issues from a catchment to a global perspective: groundwater governance, inter-sectoral linkages, climate change, the role of hydrogeological science, management tools and support systems.
Many GRIPP partners, including the Australian National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) who co-edited ‘Integrated Groundwater Management: Concepts, Approaches and Challenges’, played a role in its production.
For free download of book: http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-23576-9 | <urn:uuid:b167e169-d3b4-45aa-a32b-260f57dd5d06> | {
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General works on preservation and conservation
The books listed here offer information on the conservation and preservation of a wide variety of objects, from art objects to historical objects to collectibles and heirlooms. Click the dropdown menus under the Conservation and Preservation tab for books on the conservation and preservation of paintings and works on paper.
Fall, Frieda Kay. Art Objects: Their Care and Preservation, a Handbook for Museums and Collectors. La Jolla, CA: Laurence McGilvery, 1973.
Includes chapters on paintings on canvas and wood panel, watercolors, pastels, prints and drawings, sculpture, ceramics, oriental scroll and screen paintings, metal objects, enameled objects, ivory objects, glass objects, textiles and costumes, tapestries and rugs, furniture, jewelry, and books. Each chapter concludes with a bibliography.
Stacks N9205 F34 1973
Guldbeck, Per E. The Care of Historical Collections: A Conservation Handbook for the Nonspecialist. Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History, 1972.
Sections on fire protection, environmental problems and symptoms, packing for shipment, documentation of an artifact, and “first aid” measures for paper, wood, leather, various metals, textiles, ceramics, glass, bone and ivory, and stone.
Stacks N9205 G84 1976
Heritage Preservation. Caring for Your Family Treasures: A Concise Guide to Caring for your Cherished Belongings. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000.
A concise guide to caring for objects of value, including objects on paper, photographs and albums, home movies, paintings, fabrics, clocks and watches, furniture, ceramics and glass, silver, musical instruments, military mementos, and toys. Also has information on security and insurance, finding professional help, and finding books and other resources for further information.
Stacks NK1125 L66
Hutchins, Jane K., and Barbara O. Roberts, editors. First Aid for Art: Essential Salvage Techniques. Lenox, MA: Hard Press Editions, 2006.
Practical advice for nonspecialists needing to “improve or stabilize the condition of artworks and artifacts that might otherwise be lost from catastrophic damage” due to emergency or disaster. Chapters are organized by type of material, including books, botany specimens, electronic media, furniture, paintings, peleontology specimens, paper and parchment, photographs, sculpture and art objects, skulls and skeletons, study skins, and textiles. Each chapter includes an introduction to the properties of the material, a section on types of damage that are likely to occur and how to identify them, lists of supplies and resources, and how to stabilize the material until professional help is available.
Stacks N9205 H883
Kelly, Francis. Art Restoration: A Guide to the Care and Preservation of Works of Art. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972.
Answers questions about restoration asked by artists, collectors, dealers, curators, and gallery owners. Includes sections on the care of paintings and prints, the responsibilities of the restorer, painting structure and supports, the care and composition of paper, painting media and techniques, examining a painting, and the repair and cleaning of paintings. Includes a bibliography.
Stacks N9205 K44
National Committee to Save America’s Cultural Collections. Caring for Your Collections. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1992.
A guide for private collectors on the dangers that can face a collection and how the dangers can be avoided. Chapters on creating and maintaining the right environment, and on the care of paintings, works on paper, photographs, furniture, textiles, decorative arts, metal objects, stone objects, musical instruments, and ethnographic objects; also on authenticating collections, appraising and insuring collections, and obtaining professional conservation services.
Stacks N9205 C37
Shelley, Marjorie. The Care and Handling of Art Objects: Practices in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987.
A practical guide to the care and handling of a museum collection; includes guidelines useful for private collectors as well. Chapters on three-dimensional objects, musical instruments, paintings, works on paper and books, Eastern works on silk and paper, textiles and costumes. Also on lighting, humidity and temperature, photography, environment, and the deterioration of art objects.
Stacks N9205 S44
Williams, Don, and Louisa Jagger. Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve your Collectibles, Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005.
Explains in nontechnical language how to preserve photographs, family artifacts, furniture, family heirlooms sports and political memorabilia, “attic leftovers” (scrapbooks, military uniforms, etc.), musical instruments, fine art, printed matter such as comic books and letters, and much more.
Stacks NK1125 W55
Williamstown Regional Art Conservation Laboratory. Conservation Bibliography. Unpublished manuscript, 1982.
A lengthy classified “working bibliography on conservation….[created to] satisfy some of the many inquiries that the Laboratory receives.” Part 1: Museology. Part 2: General (includes sections on many materials and media such as ceramics, enamels, furniture, leather, parchment, photography, sculpture, stone, textiles, paints and pigments, inks and dyes, adhesives, solvents, and lacquer). Part 3: Paper. Part 4: Painting.
Reference Z N9205 W54
Restoration of "Nymphs and Satyr"
Tom Branchik, Director and Conservator of Paintings at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center, doing a cleaning test on the Clark's "Nymphs and Satyr" by William Bouguereau. | <urn:uuid:edd6a48d-d609-44b3-9b40-39ea373ea994> | {
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Hopefully by this point (if you have been following the series on Fun with Arpeggios) you get the idea of how we can creatively use arpeggios in our improvisations. Before we move on to another topic I wanted to continue the thought process, but introduce arpeggios of different chord quality then just major (which was used in part 1 & part 2). In this part we will use the minor 7th arpeggio to build some of our lines.
Below is the minor 7th arpeggio in quarter notes (Cmin7) along with a more extended eighth-note version both up and down:
Unlike the major 7th arpeggio that has the half-step between the 7th and the root, the minor 7th arpeggio has more of a pentatonic scale type feel to it with the combination of minor 3rd, major 3rds and the whole step between the 7th and the root. This can create some interesting combinations over different harmonies.
One obvious way you can use the minor 7th arpeggio is over minor chords, but I am pretty sure most of you can figure that out on your own. However, one really useful way to use the minor 7th arpeggio is over the V7 chord of a ii-V-I. Below is an example with a half-step chromatic target of the C minor 7th arpeggio over the F7 which resolves into the Bbmaj7:
And the next example below takes the descending C minor 7th arpeggio at the beginning of this post and resolves it to the 7th (A) of the Bbmaj7:
I, for one, enjoy this sound over the V7 chord. It almost has a blues flavor to the line when you have the minor 7th arpeggio (a 5th away from the root) played over the V7 chord.
I hope you have enjoyed this series and that it has added value and benefit to your and/or your students. If you have not yet, I would invite you to check out my Digital Store today to take a look at my books and other services. Also, be sure to hit “like” on my Facebook Page as well as I will continue to give updates on my upcoming CD Mountain, Move. | <urn:uuid:e23d5ed2-53df-4903-bc56-57a06a53bac8> | {
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Spontaneous human combustion is the alleged burning of a person's body without a readily apparent, identifiable external source of ignition. The combustion may result in simple burns and blisters to the skin, smoking, or a complete incineration of the body. The latter is the form most often recognized as SHC.
There is much speculation and controversy over SHC. It is not a proven natural occurrence, but many theories have attempted to explain SHC's existence and how it may occur. The two most common explanations offered to account for apparent SHC are the non-spontaneous "wick effect" fire, and the rare discharge called static flash fires. Although mathematically it can be shown that the human body contains enough energy stored in the form of fat and other tissues to consume it completely, in normal circumstances bodies will not sustain a flame on their own.
Many people believe that Spontaneous Human Combustion was first documented in such early texts as the Bible, but, scientifically speaking, these accounts are too old and secondhand to be seen as reliable evidence.
Over the past 300 years, there have been more than 200 reports of persons burning to a crisp for no apparent reason.
The first reliable historic evidence of Spontaneous Human Combustion appears to be from the year 1673, when Frenchman Jonas Dupont published a collection of Spontaneous Human Combustion cases and studies entitled De Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis. Dupont was inspired to write this book after encountering records of the Nicole Millet case, in which a man was acquitted of the murder of his wife when the court was convinced that she had been killed by spontaneous combustion. Millet, a hard-drinking Parisian was found reduced to ashes in his straw bed, leaving just his skull and finger bones. The straw matting was only lightly damaged. Dupont's book on this strange subject brought it out of the realm of folkloric rumor and into the popular public imagination.
On April 9, 1744, Grace Pett, 60, an alcoholic residing in Ipswich England, was found on the floor by her daughter like "a log of wood consumed by a fire, without apparent flame." Nearby clothing was undamaged.
In the 1800's is evidenced in the number of writers that called on it for a dramatic death scene. Most of these authors were hacks that worked on the 19th century equivalent of comic books, "penny dreadfuls", so no one got too worked up about it; but two big names in the literary world also used SHC as a dramatic device, and one did cause a stir.
The first of these two authors was Captain Marryat who, in his novel Jacob Faithful, borrowed details from a report in the Times of London of 1832 to describe the death of his lead character's mother, who is reduced to "a sort of unctuous pitchey cinder."
Twenty years later, in 1852, Charles Dickens used Spontaneous Human Combustion to kill off a character named Krook in his novel Bleak House. Krook was a heavy alcoholic, true to the popular belief at the time that SHC was caused by excessive drinking. The novel caused a minor uproar; George Henry Lewes, philosopher and critic, declared that SHC was impossible, and derided Dickens' work as perpetuating a uneducated superstition. Dickens responded to this statement in the preface of the 2nd edition of his work, making it quite clear that he had researched the subject and knew of about thirty cases of SHC. The details of Krook's death in Bleak House were directly modeled on the details of the death of the Countess Cornelia de Bandi Cesenate by this extraordinary means; the only other case that Dickens actually cites details from is the Nicole Millet account that inspired Dupont's book about 100 years earlier. book about 100 years earlier.
In 1951, the Mary Reeser case recaptured the public interest in Spontaneous Human Combustion. Mrs. Reeser, 67, was found in her apartment on the morning of July 2, 1951, reduced to a pile of ashes, a skull, and a completely undamaged left foot. This event has become the foundation for many a book on the subject of SHC since, the most notable being Michael Harrison's Fire From Heaven, printed in 1976. Fire From Heaven has become the standard reference work on Spontaneous Human Combustion.
On May 18, 1957, Anna Martin, 68, of West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was found incinerated, leaving only her shoes and a portion of her torso. The medical examiner estimated that temperatures must have reached 1,700 to 2,000 degrees, yet newspapers two feet away were found intact.
On December 5, 1966, the ashes of Dr. J. Irving Bentley, 92, of Coudersport, Pennsylvania, were discovered by a meter reader. Dr. Bentley's body apparently ignited while he was in the bathroom and burned a 2-1/2-by-3-foot hole through the flooring, with only a portion of one leg remaining intact. Nearby paint was unscorched.
July 1, 1951 -- Perhaps the most famous case occurred in St. Petersburg, Florida. Mary Hardy Reeser, a 67-year-old widow, spontaneously combusted while sitting in her easy chair. The next morning, her next door neighbor tried the doorknob, found it hot to the touch and went for help. She returned to find Mrs. Reeser, or what was left of her, in a blackened circle four feet in diameter. All that remained of the 175-pound woman and her chair was a few blackened seat springs, a section of her backbone, a shrunken skull the size of a baseball, and one foot encased in a black stain slipper just beyond the four-foot circle. Plus about 10 pounds of ashes. The police report declared that Mrs. Reeser went up in smoke when her highly flammable rayon-acetate nightgown caught fire, perhaps because of a dropped cigarette. But one medical examiner stated that the 3,000-degree heat required to destroy the body should have destroyed the apartment as well. In fact, damage was minimal - the ceiling and upper walls were covered with soot. No chemical accelerants, incidentally, were found.
In 1944 Peter Jones, survived this experience and reported that there was no sensation of heat nor sighting of flames. He just saw smoke. He stated that he felt no pain.
- Alchoholism - many Spontaneous Human Combustion victims have been alcoholics. But experiments in the 19th century demonstrated that flesh impregnated with alcohol will not burn with the intense heat associated with Spontaneous Human Combustion.
- Deposits of flammable body fat - Many victims have been overweight - yet others have been skinny.
- Devine Intervention - Centuries ago people felt that the explosion was a sign from God of punishment.
- Build-up of static electricity - no known form of electrostatic discharge could cause a human to burst into flames.
- An explosive combination of chemicals can form in the digestive system - due to poor diet.
- Electrical fields that exist within the human body might be capable of 'short circuiting' somehow, that some sort of atomic chain reaction could generate tremendous internal heat.
No satisfactory explanation of Spontaneous Human Combustion has ever been given. It is still an unsolved mystery.
- The body is normally more severely burned than one that has been caught in a normal fire.
- The burns are not distributed evenly over the body; the extremities are usually untouched by fire, whereas the torso usually suffers severe burning.
- In some cases the torso is completely destroyed, the bones being reduced completely to ash.
- Small portions of the body (an arm, a foot, maybe the head) remain unburned.
- Only objects immediately associated with the body have burned; the fire never spread away from the body. SHC victims have burnt up in bed without the sheets catching fire, clothing worn is often barely singed, and flammable materials only inches away remain untouched.
- A greasy soot deposit covers the ceiling and walls, usually stopping three to four feet above the floor.
- Objects above this three to four foot line show signs of heat damage (melted candles, cracked mirrors, etc.)
- Although temperatures of about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit are normally required to char a body so thoroughly (crematoria, which usually operate in the neighborhood of 2,000 degrees, leave bone fragments which must be ground up by hand), frequently little or nothing around the victim is damaged, except perhaps the exact spot where the deceased ignited.
Some events of Spontaneous Human Combustion are witnessed but some are not.
All reported cases have occurred indoors.
The victims were always alone for a long period of time.
Witnesses who were nearby (in adjacent rooms) report never hearing any sounds, such as cries of pain or calls for assistance.
In the witnessed combustions - people are actually seen by witnesses to explode into flame; most commonly. Here the witnesses agree that there was no possible source of ignition and/or that the flames were seen to erupt directly from the victim's skin. Unfortunately, most of the known cases of this type are poorly documented and basically unconfirmed. Sometimes there are no flames seen by the witness.
Non-fatal cases - Unfortunately, the victims of these events generally have no better idea of what happened to them than do the investigators; but the advantage to this grouping is that a survivor can confirm if an event had a simple explanation or not. Thus, there are far fewer cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion with survivors that can be explained away by skeptics without a second look.
Sometimes victims develop burns on their bodies that have no known external cause. These strange wounds commonly start as small discomforts that slowly grow into large, painful marks.
Sometimes the victim will exhibit a mysterious smoke from the body. In these odd and rare occurrences smoke is seen to emanate from a person, with no associated fire or source of smoke other than the person's body.
Spontaneous Human Combustion Wikipedia
Danny Vanzandt May Have Died From Spontaneous Human Combustion Huffington Post - February 21, 2013
Did Spontaneous Combustion Kill a Man? Discovery - February 22, 2013
Sheriff Ron Lockhart of Sequoyah County hasn't yet determined that the death of 65-year-old Danny Vanzandt was definitely a case of spontaneous combustion - but he hasn't ruled it out, either. Vanzandt's brother discovered the victim in the kitchen and immediately called 911, according to KFSM. Fire crews found a badly burned body, but no fire damage to nearby furniture or other items. There were no signs of a break-in, a struggle or any other cause of death. Though the term "spontaneous combustion" sounds like a sudden burst of flames, Lockhart told KFSM the body appeared to have burned for up to 10 hours. Vanzandt's remains have been sent to the Oklahoma medical examiner's office in Tulsa, which will determine the cause of death.
Can people spontaneously combust? Daily Mail - September 30, 2011
The Romans (and Dickens) thought so. As it's given as a cause of death by a coroner. So what is the truth? When firemen were called to 76-year-old Irishman Michael Flaherty's home in the middle of the night last December, the sight that greeted them could have leapt from the pages of a Victorian murder mystery. Mr Flaherty's body had been burned away to little more than a pile of ashes. Apart from the floor below him and ceiling above, the room was not damaged. There were no signs of foul play or anything that could have caused the ignition. Mr Flaherty was lying on his back in the living room with his head near an empty fireplace, but firemen found no sign of accelerants such as petrol and there was no evidence of anyone having entered or left the scene.
'First Irish case' of death by spontaneous combustion BBC - February 23, 2011
A man who burned to death in his home died as a result of spontaneous combustion, an Irish coroner has ruled. West Galway coroner Dr Ciaran McLoughlin said it was the first time in 25 years of investigating deaths that he had recorded such a verdict. Michael Faherty, 76, died at his home in Galway on 22 December 2010. Deaths attributed by some to "spontaneous combustion" occur when a living human body is burned without an apparent external source of ignition. Typically police or fire investigators find burned corpses but no burned furniture.
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2012 THE ALCHEMY OF TIME | <urn:uuid:f2d9e97a-2c2a-4485-aafd-d26ed1528c2b> | {
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Now that we have explored triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, and circles, we are going to learn how to find the perimeter and area of each. First we will derive each formula and then apply them to different types of polygons and circles. In addition, we will explore the properties of similar polygons, their perimeters and their areas.
This chapter covers perimeter and area of all the basic geometric figures. Perimeter and area are compared and calculated for rectangles, parallelograms, triangles, and then for composite shapes of those figures. The chapter then branches into perimeter and area for other special geometric figures, namely trapezoids, rhombuses, and kites, as well as similar polygons. The chapter wraps up with the circumference of circles and arc length followed by the area of a circle and the area of sectors and segments.
- Area of a Rectangle:
- Perimeter of a Rectangle
- Perimeter of a Square:
- Area of a Square:
- Congruent Areas Postulate
- Area Addition Postulate
- Area of a Parallelogram: .
- Area of a Triangle: or
- Area of a Trapezoid:
- Area of a Rhombus:
- Area of a Kite:
- Area of Similar Polygons Theorem
- Circumference: or
- Arc Length
- Arc Length Formula: length of or
- Area of a Circle:
- Sector of a Circle
- Area of a Sector:
- Segment of a Circle
- Perimeter of a Regular Polygon:
- Area of a Regular Polygon: or
Find the area and perimeter of the following figures. Round your answers to the nearest hundredth.
- regular pentagon
- regular dodecagon
Find the area of the following figures. Leave your answers in simplest radical form.
- isosceles trapezoid
- Find the area and circumference of a circle with radius 17.
- Find the area and circumference of a circle with diameter 30.
- Two similar rectangles have a scale factor . If the area of the larger rectangle is , find the area of the smaller rectangle.
Find the area of the following figures. Round your answers to the nearest hundredth.
- find the shaded area (figure is a rhombus)
Texas Instruments Resources
In the CK-12 Texas Instruments Geometry FlexBook, there are graphing calculator activities designed to supplement the objectives for some of the lessons in this chapter. See http://www.ck12.org/flexr/chapter/9695. | <urn:uuid:f929526c-7a82-431b-99de-a7139ba79869> | {
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The history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly referred to as the "Mormon" church, has been well researched, yet little has been written about individual community histories. This work centers on the small Mormon community of Syracuse, Utah, located about twenty-five miles north of Salt Lake City on the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake. From its inception in 1877 through 1987, the community of Syracuse continues to be dominated by the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) influence. This thesis examines the development of this LDS Church settlement, giving emphasis to the early history of the area, prominent families and their roles in business, civic, and church matters, economic advancements in the area and their effects upon the community, the ecclesiastical leaders' direction within the community, and finally population expansions which have taken place in Syracuse.
College and Department
Family, Home, and Social Sciences; History
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Tucker, J. Kent, "An Examination of the Mormon Settlement of Syracuse, Utah" (1987). All Theses and Dissertations. 5176.
Syracuse, Utah, History, Mormon Church, Wards, Syracuse Utah | <urn:uuid:e9de6d82-303e-4cb4-a16c-953e9c7a68b3> | {
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Keywords: STEM; Instructional Strategies; Silo Instruction; Embedded Instruction; Integration Instruction; Technology Education
PATT 26 Conference; Technology Education in the 21st Century; Stockholm; Sweden; 26-30 June; 2012
Banks; F. (2009). Technological literacy in a developing world context: The case of Bangladesh. In PATT-22: ‚ÄėPupils Attitude Towards Technology‚Äô Conference; p. 24-38; August 2009; Delft; The Netherlands.
Barlex; D. (2009). The STEM programme in England. In PATT-22: ‚ÄėPupils Attitude Towards Technology‚Äô Conference; p. 63-74; August 2009; Delft; The Netherlands.
Bour; I.; Bursuc; A.; & Konstantinidis; S. (Eds). (2011). Proceedings from SEFI ’11: Gender related perceptions of Science; Technology; Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education. Lisbon: Portugal.
Breiner; J.; Harkness; S.; Johnson; C.; & Koehler; C. (2012). What is STEM? A discussion about conceptions of STEM in education and partnerships. School Science and Mathematics; 112(1); p. 3-11.
Chen; M. (2001). A potential limitation of embedded-teaching for formal learning. In J. Moore & K. Stenning (Eds.); Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 194-199). Edinburgh; Scotland: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; Inc.
Deslauriers; L.; Schelew; E.; & Wieman; C. (2011). Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class. Science; 332(6031); 862-864. DOI: 10.1126/science.1201783
Dickstein; M. (2010). STEM for all students: Beyond the silos. [White Paper]. Retrieved from http://www.creativelearningsystems.com/files/STEM-for-All-Students-Beyond-the-Silos.pdf
Dugger; W. (2010). Evolution of STEM in the U.S. 6th Biennial International Conference on Technology Education Research. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=silo%20instruction%20and%20stem%20education&source=web&cd=1& ved=0CEsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iteea.org%2FResources%2FPressRoom%2F TERCBeginner.ppt&ei=FRIvT56UBYn00gH2j6nsCg&usg=AFQjCNGfvapUAmsFpGg2PM ufDDVnYqPYPg
Harden; R. (2000). The integration ladder: A tool for curriculum planning and evaluation. Medical Education; 34(1); 551-557.
Hmelo; C.E.; & Narayanan; N.H. (1995). Anchors; cases; problems; and scenarios as contexts for learning. Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 5-8). Pittsburgh; PA; U.S.A.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; Inc.
International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA). (2007). Standards for technological literacy (STL): Content for the study of Technology (3rd ed.). Reston;VA: Author.
Jacobs; H. (Ed.). (1989). Interdisciplinary curriculum: Design and implementation. Alexandria; VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Kelley; T. (2010). Staking the claim for the ‚ÄėT‚Äô in STEM. The Journal of Technology Studies; 36(1); 2-9.
Laboy-Rush; D. (2011). Integrated STEM education through problem-based learning. [White paper]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/dlaboyrush/integrating-stem-educationthrough- project-based-learning
Morrison; J. (2006). STEM education monograph series: Attributes of STEM education. Teaching Institute for Essential Science. Baltimore; MD.
Morrison; J.; & Bartlett; R. (2009). STEM as curriculum. Education Week; 23; 28‚Äď31.
Novack; J. D. (2002). Meaningful learning: The essential factor for conceptual change in limited or appropriate propositional hierarchies (liphs) leading to empowerment of learners. Science Education; 86(4); 548-571.
Rossouw; A.; Hacker; M.; & de Vries; M. (2010). Concepts and contexts in engineering and technology education: An international and interdisciplinary Delphi study. International Journal of Technology and Design Education; 21(4); 409-424.
Sanders; M. (2009). STEM; STEM education; STEMmania. The Technology Teacher; 68(4); 20-26.
Wang; H.; Moore; T.; Roehrig; G.; & Park; M. (2011). STEM integration: Teacher perceptions and practice. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research; 1(2); 1-13.
Williams; J. (2011). STEM education: Proceed with caution. Design and Technology Education; 16(1); 26-35. | <urn:uuid:6c387619-06f1-4d4a-8ca4-7dea7ee8b785> | {
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CAMPAIGNERS are accusing the European Union of taking too soft an attitude towards environmentally damaging trawlers, in the run-up to a vote at the United Nations on 16 November.
During consultations that ended yesterday (3 November) in New York, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) called for a moratorium on trawling the bottom of the oceans. Blaming the EU for trying to block the moratorium because of fisheries interests, the DSCC is urging the bloc to take swift action against the fishing practice.
Over the last three weeks, the UN negotiated the drafting of two resolutions on Sustainable Fisheries and Oceans and the Law of the Sea, which would ensure that marine life in international waters is protected.
The damaging fishing technique involves deploying enormous fishing nets that sweep across the ocean floor.
Member states that make use of so-called bottom trawling are Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Denmark, Lithuania and Latvia.
DSCC member Greenpeace said this practice would rapidly destroy deep-sea biodiversity if it were not suspended soon.
“Bottom trawling destabilizes the ocean,” said Katharine Mill, Greenpeace European unit media officer. “There is a real need for concerted efforts to protect it.”
Greenpeace’s oceans policy advisor Rosanna Micciche talks about a “domino effect”.
“If the EU is positive on this issue, other member states will follow. So far the EU has rather been a champion of the negative attitude,” she said.
But officials at the European Commission’s directorate-general for fisheries say that they are already tackling the issue.
They highlight recent measures proposed by the Commission to protect deep-sea biodiversity around the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands.
“We have no objection to the objective in principle and it’s a problem that we have been trying to counter for years,” said a Commission official.
“But the moratorium tactic is inefficient; what the NGOs propose is like wind.
“We prefer the regional approach, which has the merit of being effective.”
The official said that despite pressure from Spain and other EU countries to adopt a stronger position on deep-sea fishing, “it is not a contentious topic for EU countries”.
Bottom trawling is unregulated in large areas of the high seas.
In February 2004, more than 1,000 scientists issued a statement calling bottom trawling a “great threat” and urged rapid action to protect deep-sea corals and other vital ecosystems. | <urn:uuid:448851a1-7f5b-4f6f-b73b-1bddb779d0f2> | {
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These are some notes about design arguments for the existence of God. They are based on my readings of Benjamin Jantzen’s excellent book An Introduction to Design Arguments, which was published by Cambridge University Press back in 2014.
1. Likelihood Versions of the Design Argument
Design arguments for the existence of God are popular and persistent. They all share a common form. They start with evidence drawn from the real world — the remarkable way in which a stick insect resembles a stick; the echolocation of bats; the fact that the planet earth exists in the habitable zone; the fine tuning of the physical constants for the production of life in the universe; or the collection of all such examples — and then argue that this evidence points to the existence of a designer, i.e. God.
This basic common form has been developed in numerous ways over the course of human history. Most recently, it has been common to present design arguments using the formal trappings of probability theory and, quite often, this involves the use of likelihood comparisons. ‘Likelihood’ here must be understood in its formal sense. In every day language, the term ‘likely’ is synonymous with ‘probable’. In its formal sense, its meaning is subtly different: it is a measure of how probable some piece of evidence is given the truth of some particular theory.
Let’s use an example. Suppose you have a jar filled with one hundred beans. You are told that one of three hypotheses about that jar of beans is true, but not which one. The three hypotheses are:
H1: The jar only contains black beans.
H2: The jar contains 50 black beans and 50 green beans.
H3: The jar contains 25 black beans and 75 green beans.
Suppose you draw a bean from the jar. It is green. This is now some evidence (E) that you can use to rank the likelihood of the different hypotheses. How likely is it that you would draw a green bean if H1 were true? Answer: zero. H1 says that all the beans are black. If you draw a green bean, you immediately disconfirm H1. What about H2 and H3? There, the situation is slightly different. Both of those hypotheses allow for the existence of green beans. Nevertheless, E is more expected on H3 than it is on H2. That is to say, E is more likely on H3 than it is on H2. In formal notation, the picture looks like this:
Pr (E|H2) = 0.50
Pr (E|H3) = 0.75
Therefore - Pr (E|H2) < Pr (E|H3)
Notice that this doesn’t tell us anything about the probability of the respective hypotheses. Likelihood is a measure of the probability of E|H and not a measure of the probability of H|E (the so-called ‘posterior probability’ of a hypothesis). This is pretty important because there are cases in which the posterior probability of a hypothesis and the likelihood it confers on the evidence are radically divergent. Based on the above example, we conclude that H3 is the more likely theory: it confers the greatest probability on the observed evidence. But suppose we were also told that 90 percent of all jars contain a 50-50 mix of black and green beans, whereas only 5 percent contained the 25-75 mix. If that were true, H2 would be the more probable hypothesis, even if we did draw a green bean from the jar. (You can do the formal calculation using Bayes Theorem if you like). The only case in which likelihood arguments tell us anything about the posterior probability of a theory are cases in which all the available hypotheses are equally probable prior to observing the evidence (i.e. when the ‘principle of indifference’ can be applied to the hypotheses).
This hasn’t deterred some theists from defending likelihood versions of the design argument. The reason for this is that they think that when it comes to comparing certain hypotheses we are in a situation in which the principle of indifference can be applied. More particularly, they think that when it comes to explaining evidence of design in the world, the leading available theories (theism and naturalism) both have equal prior probabilities and hence the fact that the evidence of design is more likely on theism than it is on naturalism gives some succour to the theist. In other words, they think the following argument holds:
- Notation: E = Remarkable adaptiveness of life in the universe; T = hypothesis of theistic design; and N = hypothesis of naturalistic causation.
- (1) Prior probabilities of T and N are equal.
- (2) Pr (E|T) >> Pr (E|N) [probability of E given theism is much higher than the probability of E given naturalism]
- (3) Therefore, Pr(T}E) >> Pr (N|E) [theism has more posterior probability than naturalism]
Is this argument any good?
2. The Reverse Gambler’s Fallacy
There are many things we could challenge about the likelihood argument. An obvious one is its underspecification of the relevant explanatory hypotheses. Consider N. How exactly does naturalistic causation explain the adaptiveness of life? One answer is simply to say that it explains it through chance. The naturalistic view is that the universe churns through different arrangements of matter and energy, and through sheer luck it occasionally stumbles on arrangements of matter and energy that take on the adaptive properties of life. If your understanding of N is that it only explains E in terms of pure chance, then the likelihood argument may well be effective (though see the objection discussed in the next section).
But no one thinks that naturalism explains adaptiveness in terms of pure chance: the universe doesn’t constantly rearrange itself in completely random ways. Even before the time of Darwin, there were versions of naturalism that went beyond pure chance as an explanation. David Hume, in his famous Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion argued that design could be explained in Epicurean terms. The idea here is that although the universe does churns through different arrangements of matter and energy, some of those arrangements are more dynamically stable than others. They tend to persist, replicate and adapt. Those are the arrangements to which we attribute the properties of life and adaptiveness. Jantzen fleshes out this Humean/Epicurean hypotheses in the following manner (2014, 180):
- N1: The traits of organisms (and the universe as a whole) are the product of a process involving chance, the laws with which atoms blindly interact with one another, and a great deal of time — after a very long time, the universe eventually stumbled across a configuration that is dynamically stable.
If this is your understanding of naturalism, then the likelihood argument is cast into more doubt. It is at least plausible that the probability of E|N is much closer to the probability of E|T (particularly if the universe has been around for long enough).
Elliott Sober disputes this Humean argument. He says that proponents of it overstate the likelihood of E because they commit something called the Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy. The regular Gambler’s Fallacy arises from the tendency to assume that if a particular random outcome occurs several times in row it is less likely to happen in the future. Thus, if you flip a coin ten times and get heads on each occasion, you would commit the Gambler’s Fallacy if you assumed that you were more likely to get tails on the next flip. Although the numbers of heads and tails tend to be roughly equal over the very long term, the probability of the next coin flip being tails is the same as it is for every other coin flip, i.e. 0.5. Thus, the regular Gambler’s Fallacy is the tendency to overstate the likelihood of an event (a tails) given a previous set of evidence.
The Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy is, as you might expect, the reverse. It’s the tendency to overstate the likelihood of a particular event given a limited set of evidence. Jantzen’s explains the concept with a simple example. Imagine you have just wandered into a casino and you see somebody roll a double-six on a pair of dice. That’s your evidence (call it E1). There are two hypotheses that could explain that observation:
- H4: This is the first roll of the evening.
- H5: There have been many rolls of the dice that evening.
Although the probability of any particular roll of the dice being a double-six is 1/36, if there were lots of rolls in the course of one evening you would expect to see a double-six at some stage (indeed, given enough rolls the probability of eventually seeing a double six would start to approach 1). Thus, you could argue that:
- Pr (E1|H4) << Pr (E1|H5)
And hence that H5 is the more likely explanation. But this, according to Sober, is a fallacy. You have overstated the likelihood of the observation you made. The reason for this is that E1 is ambiguously stated. It could mean ‘a double six was rolled at some point in the evening’ or it could mean ‘a double six was rolled on this particular occasion’. If it means the former, then H5 is indeed more likely than H4. But if it means the latter, then the likelihood of H5 and H4 is equal. For any particular throw, they each confer an equal likelihood on E1, i.e. 1/36.
How does this apply to the Humean argument? The answer, according to Sober, is that the Humean explanation is like H5. The Humean idea is that given enough time and enough rolls of the galactic dice, we will eventually see arrangements of matter and energy that have the properties of life and adaptiveness. This could well be true, but for any particular arrangement of matter and energy — e.g. the functional adaptation of the eye for receiving and processing light signals — the Humean explanation does not confer that much likelihood on the outcome. Hence, the person who assigns a high likelihood to the Pr (E|N1) is committing the Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy.
There are, however, three problems with this criticism. The first is that the evidence of design that is relevant to the likelihood argument is general, not specific. Theists are appealing to the general presence of adaptiveness in the universe over the course of history, not just individual specific ones. The Humean explanation takes this into account. So the Humean argument does not really involve anything analogous to the Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy. Second, if the focus were on specific instances of adaptiveness, the theistic explanation would be just as much trouble as the Humean one. After all, the generic hypothesis of theism doesn’t explain why God would have chosen to design particular functions and adaptations into animals. You need a much more specific hypothesis for that, and providing one runs into all sorts of trouble (more on this below). Third, the Humean explanation obviously does not exhaust all the possible naturalistic explanations of adaptiveness. The most scientifically credible explanation — Darwinian natural selection — confers a much higher likelihood on adaptiveness than the simple Humean explanation. If we were to compare the likelihood of E given Darwinian natural selection to the likelihood of E given theism, the comparative likelihoods would be much harder to disentangle, and would arguably lean in favour of naturalism.
3. The Problem of Auxiliary Hypotheses
There are other problems with likelihood arguments. Sober’s favourite criticism of them focuses on the role of auxiliary hypotheses in their computation. His point is subtle and its significance is often missed. The idea is that whenever we make a claim concerning the likelihood of one hypothesis relative to another, we usually leave a great deal unsaid (implicit) that helps us in making that comparison. When I gave the example of the dice being rolled in the previous section, I assumed a number of things to be true: I assumed that dice rolls are statistically independent; I assumed that there are usually many dice rolls in any given evening of play; I assumed that the dice in question were fair. It was only because of these assumptions that I was able to say, with reasonable confidence, that the probability of any particular roll resulting in a double six was 1/36 or that the probability of observing a double-six at some point in the evening was reasonably high.
All of these assumptions are auxiliary hypotheses and they are needed if we are going to make sensible likelihood comparisons. In everyday scenarios, the presence of auxiliary hypotheses in a likelihood calculation is not a major cause for concern. We share common experience of the world and so rightfully take a lot for granted. Things are rather different when it comes to explaining the origins of adaptiveness in the universe as a whole. When we reach this level of explanatory generality, there is less and less that we can assume uncontroversially. This means that it is very difficult to compute sensible likelihoods for general explanations of adaptiveness.
This is a particular problem with theism. In order for the general hypothesis of theism to confer plausible likelihoods on the presence of adaptiveness, we would need to add a number of auxiliary hypotheses concerning the intentions and goals of the designer. For example, when looking at the human eye (or any collection of examples of adaptiveness), we would have to be able to say that God has goals X, Y and Z and these explain why the eye (or the collection) has the features it does. Some theists might be willing to speculate about the intentions and goals of God, but doing so gets them into trouble, especially when it comes to explaining away instances of natural evil. They would have to state the intentions and goals that justify God in creating parasites that incubate in and destroy the functionality of the eye (to give but one example). In light of the problem of evil, many theists are unwilling to speculate in too much detail about divine intentions. They resile themselves to view that God’s intentions are unknowable or beyond our ken. But in doing this, they undercut the likelihood argument.
Note, however, that the problem with auxiliary hypotheses is not just a problem for the theist. It is also a problem for the naturalist. In order for the naturalist to compute plausible likelihoods, they have to add more detail to explain why the adaptiveness we see have the features it has. There are various ways of doing this, e.g. by making assumptions about natural laws, historical conditions on earth, and so on. They would all have to get added into the mix to make a reasonable likelihood comparison. The problem then, as Jantzen puts it, is that ‘Sober’s objection is not really about picking auxiliary assumptions but rather identifying allowable hypotheses. But [the likelihood principle] tells us nothing about what counts as an acceptable hypothesis. Nor does the principle of Indifference. So it seems we have to either entertain them all or risk begging the question in favour of one or another conclusion” (Jantzen 2014, 184).
The net result is that it is very difficult to come up with a plausible likelihood argument for design. | <urn:uuid:295229ec-98e9-4e14-a931-ea9b828cb34d> | {
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A newly released image of Charon, Pluto’s largest moon, reveals a heavily fractured surface that may have formed when a subsurface ocean froze and expanded to split an exterior shell of ice. High-resolution images show that much of the moon’s northern hemisphere is cracked, nowhere more dramatically than in an equator-straddling series of chasms that includes Serenity Chasma (shown in the 175-km-by-386-km close-up seen at right above, and color coded for elevation at bottom right). Altogether, the low-latitude system of cracks and valleys is the longest known anywhere in our solar system (about four times the length and in some places almost five times the depth of Earth’s Grand Canyon), the researchers report. Because Charon’s modern-day surface is mostly water ice, it makes sense that the 1212-km-diameter moon once had a subsurface ocean kept liquid by heat from the radioactive decay of elements in its core, as well as by the heat generated from collisions of smaller bits when the moon first accumulated. Later, surface waters exposed to space were the first to freeze. As the moon aged its icy shell got thicker. Eventually, possibly a few hundred million years after the moon formed, the deepest parts of the ocean froze, swelling to crack surface ice—which may have been 10 km thick or more—just as ice cubes in a freezer often do. The image released yesterday, obtained just 100 minutes before the New Horizons craft swooped past Charon last 14 July, was taken from a range of about 78,700 km. | <urn:uuid:d45e6a73-194c-4a32-9ddc-afffc278aef8> | {
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Earlier this summer, National Geographic Young Explorer Dr. Neil Losin and his colleague Dr. Nate Dappen traveled to the Spanish Mediterranean islands of Ibiza and Formentera to create a book about the endemic Ibiza Wall Lizard (Podarcis pityusensis), the symbol of these islands. Learn more about Neil and Nate’s work at www.daysedgeproductions.com.
My colleague Nate Dappen and I have been back home for nearly two months now, but we’re still working through the thousands of images we captured during our 1-month photographic expedition on the Mediterranean islands of Ibiza and Formentera. We were there to create a photographic book about the Ibiza Wall Lizard (Podarcis pityusensis), which is only found in the Pityusic Archipelago of the western Mediterranean. (See our previous updates here: Update 1, Update 2, Update 3.) You can see a gallery of some of our favorite images from the expedition here.
During the expedition, as I approached the project one day at a time, I don’t think I fully appreciated the diversity of the lizards. But now that the adventure is over and I look back on our photos from dozens of different islands, the variation from one population to another, particularly the diversity in color, is stunning! Some of the most amazing inter-island differences occurred between islands that were barely separated at all. Even between islands just a few meters apart – islands that shared similar terrain, climate, and biological communities – there were often stark differences in the color, size, or behavior of their lizard inhabitants.
We decided we needed a standardized approach to document this diversity, so we adopted the white-background “Meet Your Neighbours” style of photography (you might have seen this approach used in the recent National Geographic / National Parks Service “BioBlitz” held in Rocky Mountain National Park). We had research permits that allowed us to capture a couple of lizards from each island population and hold them long enough to photograph them in the Meet Your Neighbours “field studio” before re-releasing them at their site of capture. I think these simple studio portraits do a great job demonstrating the population differences in color!
By the end of the month we spent in the Mediterranean, I had also gained a better appreciation for the threats that these lizards face. The IUCN classifies them as “Near Threatened,” and this classification may initially seem counterintuitive to someone visiting Ibiza or Formentera for a vacation – after all, the lizards are abundant all over the islands, even in towns and on crowded tourist beaches. But at the same time, their entire global range encompasses just a few islands, so the lizards are vulnerable even to local human impacts. Luckily for the lizards (or “sargantanas” in the local Catalan language), the governments of Ibiza and Formentera (particularly the latter) seem skeptical of the merits of additional human development. And many of the most distinctive lizard populations are found on tiny, uninhabited islands that are well protected within national parks and marine reserves. We got to visit these islands and interact with many of the local park officials during our expedition; they are passionate folks committed to keeping these places pristine and their natural inhabitants (lizard or otherwise) in a natural state. With great photos and informative text and maps, our book will allow people to experience these small, fragile island ecosystems without ever setting foot there.
A more insidious threat to the unique small-island populations of lizards is illegal collecting for the pet trade. While there are many responsible herpetoculturists who only keep captive-bred specimens – and who work hard to promote reptile and amphibian conservation – there are other collectors who are less ethical. By publishing a book of beautiful photographs showing the amazing geographic variation in the Ibiza Wall Lizard, do we risk perpetuating the demand for rare and exotic color morphs of these lizards in the illegal pet trade? The thought has certainly crossed our minds. But the fact is, those few people who are involved in the illegal wildlife trade already know the lizards well, and most visitors to the islands would never consider taking lizards home with them. So I think our book will help – the more that people acknowledge the lizards as an indispensable part of the islands’ natural heritage, the greater the motivation of the local government will be to keep the sargantanas – and the unique landscape they inhabit – preserved so that tourists and locals can continue to enjoy their amazing reptilian neighbors for generations to come. | <urn:uuid:669a98cb-70c2-4ff2-9a7f-5e34631c4cce> | {
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Definitions for xiangtanˈʃyɑŋˈtɑn
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word xiangtan
Xiangtan is a city in Hunan province, People's Republic of China, located on the lower reaches of Xiang River. The hometowns of several founding leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, and Peng Dehuai, are in the Xiangtan Municipal District, as well as the hometowns of Qing Dynasty painter Qi Baishi and scholar-general Zeng Guofan. As of 2010, it had 2,748,552 inhabitants, of whom 1,779,960 lived in the built-up area. Together with the four adjoining urban districts of Zhuzhou, its built-up area is home to 2,586,948 inhabitants.
Find a translation for the xiangtan definition in other languages:
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We all see things through unique sets of eyes. We take what we experience and retain this information in memories created in a story format. Each person’s preferred story format can vary – there will be some that form memories as told from a ‘victim’s’ standpoint while others will form memories from a ‘victor’s’ point-of-view.
My question for you: How do you format your memories?
Think about it. Observe yourself the next time you’re in a situation that you’re bound to make a memory about. Do you like the kinds of memories you create? Do they bring you happiness when you call upon these memories? Do they provide a source of strength and encouragement? Or do your memories serve as heart-wrenching reminders of times you felt excluded, wounded, or isolated? It’s up to you how you wish your memories and your perceptions to serve you – for better or worse.
Before you judge others’ takes on situations, consider that he or she has formed his or her perception and memories in a way that at one point served their greater needs. You cannot possibly understand what everyone around you has lived through, so abandon the assumptions. There is a lot to learn from the view points of others, therefore, instead of closing your mind when others discuss their opinions and observations, open your ears. Maybe a lot of the people around you notice the same things that you had not. Perhaps you have been oblivious to something important. You won’t ever know unless you step outside of your own head. If you aren’t comfortable listening to beliefs that differ from yours, then chances are, you are not firm in your own beliefs.
For those who like a little science backing on such matters, consider reading this article from the Smithsonian on How Our Brains Make Memories, and how we naturally rewrite our memories at a subconscious level.
Some of my favorite quotes on the subject:
“It’s okay to disagree with the thoughts or opinions expressed by other people. That doesn’t give you the right to deny any sense they might make. Nor does it give you a right to accuse someone of poorly expressing their beliefs just because you don’t like what they are saying. Learn to recognize good writing when you read it, even if it means overcoming your pride and opening your mind beyond what is comfortable.”
“It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.”
“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”
“It is never too late to give up your prejudices”
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”
Are You Ready to Leap into Life Transformation? Join Me & Receive Receive My FREE Newsletter! | <urn:uuid:09c90728-a66c-40bd-a50f-d351bbf3f3f0> | {
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This week we are starting cycling our 2 tanks at the polytunnel – with our wonder ingredient to get us kick-started – Ascophyllum – a large and rather common brown algae – the type that (if you are a North Atlantic dweller as we are in the UK) slithers past your ancles as you take a chilly dip! This seaweed has long fingers with bubbles in them that are full of air. These help the seaweed float upwards from the rocks it grips onto when it’s in the sea.
‘Cycling’ is about getting the system ‘balanced’ – Ph Oxygen, Nitrites, nitrates and so forth, to ensure a good environment for the fish, bacteria, worms and plants. Cycling involves circulating the water around the system and adding the nutrients that the ecosystem needs to encourage nitrobacter bacteria and nitrosomonas bacteria as well as carbon consuming heterotrophic bacteria. Once the system is cycled, and stabilised, we can add fish – hopefully in 2-3 weeks.
We will be inoculating the tanks with some dark seaweed sludge to provide both ammonium for our bacteria, and macro ( N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S) and micro nutrients ( Mn, Cu, Fe, Zn) plus cytokinins, gibberellins, betaines, mannitol, organic acids, polysaccharides, amino acids, and proteins that will be beneficial to our growing plants (Norris 1999).
J. Norrie & D. A. Hiltz (1999). “Seaweed Extract Research and Applications in Agriculture”. Agro food Industry hi-tech. | <urn:uuid:1e029f40-3f80-46cc-8071-4c9697e37720> | {
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by Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez
Why is this light different from all other lights?
We light Shabbat candles so that we may see one another at the table. We light a Havdallah candle to make a distinction between light and dark, and to reignite creative fire in the world. We light memorial candles to bring the inner spark of our loved one back into our lives. Jewish law permits us to use each of these lights for practical purposes as well. But the lights of our Hanukkiah (the Hanukkah menorah) are simply for their own sake. Their light cannot be used for practical purposes.
But if the candle’s light cannot be used, why do we care so much about exactly how we light? Shouldn’t any light suffice? This is where the idea of pirsumei nisa, publicizing the miracle, comes in to play. We must light in such a way that others will see our lights. We must share our joy and miraculous freedom.
This reminds me of a story:
One day, a student asked their rabbi: “Rabbi, I know that to be Jewish is to have a special role, a special job in the world. Rabbi, what is my job as a Jew in the world?”
The rabbi, never one to answer directly, said: “Once upon a time, long before flashlights on smart phones or even any electricity—there was a person in every town who was responsible for lighting up the streets. On the street corners, lamps sat—ready to be lit each night as the sun began to set. And there was one person whose job it was to walk from street to street, from lamp to lamp, with a flame at the end of a long pole. Each evening this person would walk their route, lighting each and every lamp—no matter how cold it was, or how hard it was to reach.”
“But, what if the lamp is in a desolate wilderness, far from everything and everyone,” one of the students asked? The rabbi answered: “Then, too, it must be lit.”
“And what if the lamp is in the middle of an ocean?” The rabbi smiled and said: “Then one must put on a bathing suit, jump into the water, and light it there. Without it, she said, there would be no light.”
The student looked again at the rabbi and said: “Rabbi, I still don’t know the right answer. What is my job as a Jew in the world?”
The rabbi looked at her students and said: “You can be anything that you want to be. But no matter what you decide to do with your life, you must be a lamplighter on the streets of the world.”
(Adapted from a story attributed to the Lubbavitcher Rebbe.)
This is what Hanukkah is all about, really.
The candles are beautiful. The doughnuts and latkes are yummy. The dreidel and gifts are fun.
But the essence of Hanukkah is about spreading light, as we read in Proverbs (6:23): “For the mitzva is a lamp and the Torah is light.”
Jews spread light every day of the year, that’s what it is to be a Jew always, but on Hanukkah we celebrate that light and show it off. The rest of the year our light is practical, but this week we’re not enjoying its practicality, we’re enjoying its pure existence – and we’re spreading the word.
This Hanukkah, as you share latkes and love, don’t forget to celebrate and embrace all the light you spread in this world. | <urn:uuid:4ad701e2-001b-4c8b-ac2d-7f5803b6a65a> | {
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Learning Organization Defined
A learning organization is
an organization which facilitates
learning of all its members and continuously
"The ability to learn faster than your
may be the only
– Arie de Geus
Creating Your Future
Knowledge is most productive when it is shared by all. A learning
organization is an organization that is continually expanding its capacity
to grow and create its greater future. It is continuously learning new ways of
doing things and also involved in a continuous process of
forgetting obsolete ways of doing things.
Leveraging the Power of Knowledge
Learning is the key competency required by any
organization that wants to survive and thrive in the new
knowledge economy. Market champions keep
learning questions, keep learning how to do things
better, and keep spreading that knowledge throughout their organization.
Learning provides the catalyst and the intellectual resource to
sustainable competitive advantage.
Knowledge organizations obtain competitive advantage from
continuous learning, both individual and collective. In organizations with a
well established knowledge management
system, learning by the people
within an organization becomes learning by the organization itself. The
changes in people's
attitudes are reflected in changes in the formal and
informal rules that govern the organization's behavior.
Knowledge communities organized around the principles of
have the best chance at success.
A constructivist learning environment is a
place where people can draw upon resources to make sense out of things and
solutions to problems
. It emphasizes the importance of
meaningful, authentic activities that help the learner to construct
understandings and develop skills relevant to
Serendipity as a
Source of Competitive Advantage
Serendipity helps you create unplanned and unintended, but remarkable
by taking advantage of unanticipated, unexpected and unsought information.
Develop serendipity as a
corporate capability and
leverage it to your | <urn:uuid:c642b4ed-a4d3-440c-886a-a0d5a8bee3d2> | {
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The technologies that improve lives, solve problems, and enhance learning and performance stem from high-risk, fundamental research in science and engineering. Research funded by the federal government through NSF has underpinned many leading U.S. developments such as the Internet, Doppler radar, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, DNA fingerprinting, and bar codes-to name a few. In today's global enterprise, however, ideas can be generated anywhere. They travel quickly, vastly increasing the competition and accelerating the research and development timeframe. Partnerships among government, public and private sectors can help to speed U.S. innovations from concept to laboratory to regional, national and global application. The Highlights below are examples of NSF funded projects that have made a difference. | <urn:uuid:0859e3da-0872-43d1-9bee-e1991295b26a> | {
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Cartoonist Ronald Wimberly's Black History In Its Own Words, a historical graphic novel that highlights important black figures throughout history, will be released from Image this February, coinciding with Black History Month.
Black History In Its Own Words features portraits and illustrations by Wimberly along with the words of famous black figures such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kanye West, Zadie Smith, Ice Cube, Dave Chappelle, James Baldwin, Spike Lee, and more.
“In January 2014, Matt Bors asked me to pick some quotes and illustrate eight of them for The Nib for Black History Month," Wimberly explained. "I chose quotes ranging from the casual to the profound from luminaries both past and present. I had so much fun I did four extra (12 in total) and continued to do 12 more the subsequent year. This book collects those first 24 works as well as 14 new works."
“I was inspired by the aesthetic discipline of Emory Douglas and Bruno Paul to work in graphic reduction and a limited palette inspired by national colors of the black diaspora," Wimberly continued. "I hope that these images of black luminaries and their words will inspire readers to further research and be emboldened to live life as they have.”
Black History In Its Own Words is scheduled to be released February 8. | <urn:uuid:e6a79bbd-141c-4def-98b6-9325aa54b168> | {
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The legal case and Historical case
- Somaliland’s claim for independence is based primarily on historical title – its separate colonial history, a brief period of independence in 1960, the fact that it voluntarily entered into its unhappy union with Somalia and the questionable legitimacy of the 1960 Act of Union.
- Somaliland’s independence restores the colonial borders of the former British Protectorate of Somaliland and therefore does not violate the principle of uti possidetis – that former colonial borders should be maintained upon independence – which is enshrined in the Consultative Act of the African Union.
- The separation of fused states into their former territories has precedents in Africa:
- Egypt and Syria were joined as the United Arab Republic (1958 – 1971).
- Senegal and Mali were united as the Fédération du Mali (1959 – 1960).
- Senegal and Gambia were merged in the Sénégambia Confederation (1982 – 1989).
- Eritrea officially separated from Ethiopia in 1993.
- Britain granted and recognised the independence of Somaliland in 1960. On the basis that Somaliland voluntarily opted for unification with Somalia, Somaliland should also be allowed to opt out.
- The validity of the 1960 Act of Union is highly questionable:
- In June 1960, representatives from Somaliland and Somalia each signed different Acts of Union – agreeing to different terms of unification.
- The official Act of Union was passed retrospectively in January 1961 by the new National Assembly.
- In a referendum on the new Constitution of the Somali State, held in June 1961, a turnout of less than 17% in Somaliland, and an overwhelming rejection of the document by those that voted, demonstrates significant discontent with the union.
- The unification of Somalia and Somaliland failed to meet domestic or international legal standards for treaty formation, and the Act of Union falls short of the Vienna Convention’s legal requirements for a valid international treaty.
Attributes of statehood
The main criteria for statehood remain those set by the 1933 Montevideo Convention, generally considered a norm of customary international law:
“The State as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications:
- a permanent population;
- a defined territory;
- government; and
- capacity to enter into relations with the other states.”
Somaliland unequivocally meets each of these established legal criteria.
1. A permanent population
- The Republic of Somaliland has a population of approximately 3.5 million. Its capital Hargeisa has a permanent estimated at 1.1 million.
- The nomadic nature of many of Somaliland’s inhabitants, and the consequent flow of the population in and out of the territory, has no impact on the legal definition of permanent population.
2. A defined territory
- The British protectorate established clearly defined borders for Somaliland by treaties in the 19th century. These borders were confirmed upon Somaliland’s declaration of independence in 1960.
- The contestation of the eastern border does not invalidate statehood.
3. Effective government
- Somaliland has a central government which exercises effective control over the majority of its territory. It has held internationally recognised free and fair election, most recently in June 2010, and has effective government institutions including a constitution approved by a popular vote, a democratically elected President, national parliament, local governments, and an independent judiciary.
4. Capacity to enter into relations with other States
- Despite its unrecognised status, Somaliland has entered into informal and formal relationships with a number of other states, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. It has also achieved de facto recognition from a number of other nations around the world | <urn:uuid:2b887832-a4f1-4970-948c-02e96014ae81> | {
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Jane Austen is now celebrated as one of England’s greatest novelists, but when she was buried in the Cathedral in 1817 at the age of 41, her original memorial stone made no mention of her books. You can read the brass plaque erected in 1872 to redress the omission in the north side aisle and an illustrated exhibition detailing Jane Austen’s life, work and death in Hampshire, is displayed beside her grave.
Why is Jane Austen important?
Jane Austen’s brief life was lived in relative obscurity, and some of her novels remained unpublished till after her death. Yet she put her stamp on the English novel for all time.
She began writing stories and sketches as a young girl, starting her first novel was started when she was just twenty. It was published eighteen years later as Pride and Prejudice.
She went on to write five more exquisitely detailed novels that have become English classics.
How is she linked to Hampshire?
Most of Jane’s short life was spent in the county of Hampshire.
She was born in 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, to the Reverend George Austen and his wife Cassandra (the name also given to Jane’s beloved only sister and life-long friend). She enjoyed a happy childhood in a large and creative family.
Aged 25, she moved with family to Bath, where her father had decided to retire. But when he died in 1805, she returned with her mother and Cassandra to Hampshire to live in Southampton. Four years later, they moved to a cottage in the village of Chawton, also in Hampshire, now a museum to her work.
Here, Jane began to write seriously, working on Sense and Sensibility (published in 1811) followed by Mansfield Park in 1814 and Emma in 1815. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published after her death.
Why was she buried in Winchester Cathedral?
By 1816, Jane was beginning to feel increasingly unwell. In May 1817, she and her sister Cassandra drove the 16 miles from Chawton to Winchester, in pouring rain.
They took up lodgings in College Street, next to the Cathedral. The plan was to get help from a celebrated doctor at the newly established Winchester Hospital.
But Jane’s illness rapidly worsened. She died there in Cassandra’s arms, aged just 41, early in the morning of 18 July 1817.
She was buried in the Cathedral, a building she greatly admired. Her modest funeral was attended by just four people, and took place early in the morning, before services began.
She lies under the floor of the north aisle of the nave, where you can still see her simple gravestone. The inscription recorded her personal virtues and stoicism, but made no mention of her writing.
Why does she have three memorials in the Cathedral?
Jane’s fame as a writer steadily grew. In 1870, her nephew Edward wrote a memorial to his aunt, and used the proceeds to erect a brass plaque on the wall next to her grave. This time, the inscription begins: Jane Austen, known to many by her writings…
By 1900, she was famous enough for a public subscription to pay for the memorial window you can see above the plaque.
Today, tourists come from all over the world to stand at her grave. Nearby, they can also see her brass plaque and memorial window – three memorials to a remarkable woman whose novels so brilliantly capture the quiet drama of human relationships.
Find out more
Discover Winchester Cathedral Resources List (PDF)
Key books and information sources to help you dig deeper
Visit our online shop
A wide range of exclusive Jane Austen gifts, books and souvenirs | <urn:uuid:c5844d40-b9be-4839-a3b5-3fd97efe1ad0> | {
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Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology claim to have established that time travel is impossible. More specifically, they claim to have established that an individual photon (the smallest unit of light) may not travel faster than the speed of light (introducing the obvious question of how could it if it is light) and that this precludes anything from going backward in time.
Per the article:
"The study, which showed that single photons also obey the speed limit c, confirms Einstein's causality; that is, an effect cannot occur before its cause," the university said.
The findings have been published in the U.S. peer reviewed journal, Physical Review Letters.
Think of it like a flowing river. To place that river back in time you have to have some way to place every drop of water exactly where it was. I know we can't do it with a river. How can you imagine that we can doit with the entire universe
Some may argue that science cannot prove a negative. Just like it can't prove the non-existence of god(s). How can it prove the non-existence of time travel?
The universe has many surprises left for us to discover. Time travel may be one of them. Possibly through some means other than travelling faster than the speed of light.
Impossible, based on what we understand at this time. I don't think science deals in absolutes... correct? Just to be nuanced here isn't it better to write there doesn't seem to be any possibility of time travel based on what we know? | <urn:uuid:8dda358e-9d4f-4710-b2ce-c4d909d8d29a> | {
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Because I write for ScienceBlogs, I have been invited to a special sneak preview of the “Extreme Mammals” exhibit hosted by the American Museum of Natural History, where I was a postdoctoral fellow for two years. This exhibit features the biggest, smallest, most amazing and generally the weirdest mammals to ever swim, fly or walk the face of this earth. “Extreme Mammals” opens to the public on Saturday, 16 May, but my goal is to take a lot of photographs to share with you here on the evening before the exhibit opens, so stay tuned to see my “Extreme Mammals” photoessay!
From the press release:
Extreme Mammals explores the surprising and sometimes bizarre world of extinct and living mammals. Featuring spectacular fossils from the Museum’s collections, the exhibition will examine the ancestry and evolution of numerous species, ranging from huge to tiny and speedy to sloth-like, and showcase animals with oversized claws, fangs, snouts, and horns.
Extreme Mammals will also explore how some lineages died out while others diversified to form groups of well-known mammals living today. Planned highlights of the exhibition include fascinating specimens — from the egg-laying platypus to the recently extinct Tasmanian wolf — and fleshed-out models of extinct mammals like Ambulocetus, a “walking whale.”
Visitors will encounter an entire skeleton of the giant, six-horned Uintatherium, with its dagger-like teeth; a life-size model of Indricotherium, the largest land mammal that ever lived; one of the oldest fossilized bats ever found; and a diorama featuring the hippo-like Coryphodon; the ancient tapir Thuliadanta; and the tree-climbing carnivore Vulpavus in the once-warm and humid swamps and forests of Ellesmere Island, located in the Arctic, about 50 million years ago.
The exhibition will also include dynamic media displays, animated computer interactives, hands-on activities, touchable fossils, casts, taxidermied specimens, and live animals that highlight mammals’ distinctive qualities and illuminate the shared ancestry that unites these diverse creatures.
Extreme Mammals is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada; and Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Major funding for Extreme Mammals has been provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund. Additional support for Extreme Mammals has been provided by the Eileen P. Bernard Exhibition Fund and by Harlan B. Levine, MD and Marshall P. Levine.
According to the press release, Will Harcourt-Smith, a postdoc in AMNH’s paleontology department will be on-hand for interviews and wireless will be freely accessible so live-blogging this event is a distinct possibility. | <urn:uuid:7632bc87-e398-494f-9c04-cbe5c264d141> | {
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A Graphical Representation of Bird Sounds
by Colleen McLinn
Students will understand some common ways in which sound is represented
visually, and gain practice in comparing visual and auditory representations of
- Students will be able to correctly draw or predict changes in sound frequency,duration, and amplitude using a spectrogram representation of sound.
- Students will be able to identify the sounds or mnemonics of a few common urban bird species.
- Cards with emotions or ideas listed on them
- Index cards with lines or grids
- Transparent tape
- Slide explaining how to read a spectrogram (see below)
- A computer
- Five to ten bird sounds to play (from the CUBs species list)
- Spectrograms for two to three sounds (download a handout here)
Sound travels as a longitudinal wave, or through successive compression and rarefaction of air molecules, from the ones nearest the source to ones
farther away. We can’t see sound directly, but researchers have developed ways to graph its properties or characteristics in order to study it.
You may already be familiar with a waveform or oscilloscope representation of sound. Sometimes on television or at a museum, you get the chance to talk into a microphone and see changes in sound waves. What does this view of sound plot? How does it change with higher frequency sounds? How does it change with louder sounds? Longer duration sounds?
There is another way to plot sounds, often used by researchers who study bird song. It is called a spectrogram (or sonogram). Although you may not have seen one of these before, when you get used to looking at them, it makes it much easier to see changes in frequency over time.
Musical Notation vs. Spectrogram notation:
- Spectrograms are similar because: Time is on the x-axis as in musical notation, and frequency or pitch of the sounds is on the y-axis. Like chords in music, there may be more than one frequency at a given time (and there may be harmonics).
- Spectrograms are different because: Instead of notes, bird songs are displayed as continuous lines based on their frequency at a given time.
- Spectrograms give you even more exact information than musical notation by telling you exactly how long a bird holds each note, down to the millisecond.
- Another way a spectrogram is slightly different than musical notation is that it gives you information about how loud a sound is. (Musical notation has time signatures or words that indicate speed but isn’t set up for fine scale directions about loudness, they just have verbal guidelines like pianissimo!)
Procedures (download full sample slideshow for this activity here):
1. Communicating Without Words
a. Have students pair up and give each a stack of cards with an idea or emotion written on them. Have the students sit with their backs to each other and take turns attempting to convey the message on the card using only a single syllable (ba, da, etc.)
b. Their partner will attempt to guess the message being conveyed and must explain their reasoning.
c. Students should go through all the cards and write down their guesses and reasoning on individual worksheets before comparing to what was written on the cards.
d. Debrief as a group. What were some ways that you varied your voice in order to convey a message? Do you think animals do something similar in order to convey a message?
e. Optional: Play a few examples of animal sounds (use ones that the instructor knows the underlying message/meaning of). Ask the students what they think each one is trying to express.
f. Next, we are going to get a bit more specific about what we mean by how sounds vary.
2. Seeing Sounds
a. Give each student a blank index card. Tell them you are going to play a sound and their task is to draw a picture that represents how the sound might look. Play the sound several times.
b. Ask for volunteers to show their drawings. There are no right or wrong answers at this stage! You might want to tape some of these to a board to show the variety of different notations people used.
c. Make the point that if you need to interpret and quantify sounds so that other people can read them, you need to come up with a common language to communicate in or common conventions to use.
d. Ask the students if they have ever seen another representation of sound.
e. One familiar example is musical notation. Ask the students to help you draw an example of musical notation. What is the horizontal axis? What is the vertical axis? Did anyone draw anything like musical notation on their index cards?
f. Introduce the term “spectrogram” (optional: show an example of the spectrogram for the sound you just played). Tell the students that a spectrogram is a scientific way of looking at sound that has some similarities to musical notation.
g. Show some examples of how sound (pitch) frequency, loudness (amplitude), or duration is represented on a spectrogram. You might show the images and ask the students to guess what they sound like, or model/play the sounds in the spectrograms.
h. Ask or tell the students how a spectrogram is similar to musical notation. How is it different?
3. Celebrate Urban Birds Sounds
a. Ask the students if they think seeing sounds as you hear them can really help you understand and remember specific bird sounds.
b. Make sure each students has 5-10 index cards and a pen ready. Tell them, “For each sound I play, write the name of the species on the back. Draw your best estimate of what the sound spectrogram might look like on the front.” (Leaving up the slide about spectrogram notation will probably make this easier).
c. Play 5-10 example sounds of Celebrate Urban Birds Species, giving the students the name of the bird first each time. Play the sounds several times if needed. Do NOT show the spectrograms for these sounds—the students should be just listening at this stage.
d. Have the students pair off. Shuffle the cards and have one person hold up a card to show their partner. Do not show or tell them the species name written on the back.
e. The partner’s job is to guess what species the card corresponds to by finding their own similar drawing. Have the students continue the matching game (taking turns to hold up a card), until all cards have been matched. If you want, you can tally how many each of you got right on your first, second, third, guesses.
f. Debrief about the activity as a class. Ask the students, “How did you interpret that sound compared to how your partner interpreted it? How similar or different are the drawings?”
Have the students make drawings representing duration, frequency and amplitude. (“Draw a sound that has a duration of X seconds and increases in frequency”).
Using the index cards you made:
- Sort by similarity and defend your reasoning.
- Vote who is closest to the “real” spectrogram. This could lead into a higher-level physics lesson on how spectrograms are calculated from a waveform (Fourier Transforms).
- Select two student examples for each species (should work for a class size up to 32). Distribute one to each student. Their job is to imitate is as well as they can based on the drawing, and attempt to find their partner in the noisy crowd.Sort by calls vs. songs and look for patterns. The spectrograms on All About Birds and the CUBS bird guide describe whether the recording is a call or song.
- This could be used to start a lesson about the difference between a call and a song. (Note that the different is not just based on form but on the function for which a call or song is used.)
- Sort by habitat the bird lives in (which you can find on the online bird guides) and look for patterns. This could lead into a lesson about sound propagation through the environment and how different wavelengths will either bend around objects like trees or bounce off of them.
- Sort the cards by oscines and suboscines (“true” songbirds and other species). This will require some extra research about what suborder the each species is in. This could lead into a lesson on how birds make sound or how to read a cladogram or evolutionary tree. After sorting the recordings by similarity, see how these groupings map onto other traits like habitat, sound type, and suborder. You could do this in a tactile/visual way using color and symbol codes on the index cards, or make it a technology lesson by entering the states for each character into a spreadsheet or cladogram program.
Adaptations for Visual- or Hearing-Impaired Individuals:
- Emphasize mnemonics that go with bird sounds.
- Learn the individual syllables better by slowing down the songs in Raven.
- Make a sound map of the schoolyard.
- Emphasize visual analysis with color spectrograms, discussing frequency and amplitude modulation.
- Compare a spectrogram to a waveform or oscilloscope representation of sound.
Part 1, Communicating Without Words, was developed in cooperation between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES for a middle school unit on Birds and Physics (NSF DUE-0532786). Many thanks to Amy Monachino, Daena Ford, Sharon Bassage, Mya Thompson, and Karen Purcell for ideas and improvements! | <urn:uuid:3833cdeb-4605-47e8-82b4-6d228f6aa0b0> | {
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Marine Education Centre
- View as map
Coastal ecotourism and education for adults, teens, children, schools and colleges.
Derrynane/Kenmare Bay is a unique place and is situated in a special area of conservation. It is home to rare and endangered habitats and species including the Natterjack Toad and the Kerry Lily.
Marine Education Centre run educational courses for all ages within the Derrynane Special Area of Conservation from its facility at Derrynane Harbour. The centre promotes understanding of the natural environment in a fun, engaging and hands on way.
Courses are numerous and include biodiversity explorer, recording and lab analysis, classroom learning and outdoor education including marine and coastal sampling, whale and dolphin watching, snorkelling, wildlife watching and wild flower walks.
It is an ideal place for parents with children and teenagers, tourists and adults who want to learn about the Wild Atlantic Way's unique coastal biodiversity; teachers and their students from late primary through second level to third level colleges. The centre also caters for international students. | <urn:uuid:a75cfb40-ef72-404f-b2fc-3805a8ef869b> | {
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- entire rhizome edible.
- underwater tuber can be disloged from main roots with toes, floats to top.
- tubers are edible raw.
- raw unwashed tubers can be stored for several months.
- tubers can be cooked, sliced, dried for storage, and later boiled.
- tubers are usually several feet from parent plant.
- stems can be cooked.
- varieties in Nova Scotia are Arum-leaved arrowhead (Sagittaria cuneata) and Wapato (Sagittaria latifolia).
- grows in calm water in plains, foothills, and montane regions.
- warning: some species can cause skin reactions. | <urn:uuid:920a710f-f5b1-4edb-af09-0bd14553b8c7> | {
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When a molecule (two blue spheres) collides with an atom (single red sphere), an atom can be exchanged. A new molecule is produced (red and blue spheres) and an atom (single blue sphere) is released. In the experiment performed in Innsbruck this process is observed at temperatures of less than one millionth above the absolute zero. The exchange is completely determined by the quantum nature of the matter and can be controlled by a magnetic field. (Caption: Eureka Alert; Image: IQOQI)
Press release from Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Innsbruck, Austria.
Popular press coverage (not an exhaustive list):
|Science Daily, ``Ultra-Cold Chemistry: First Direct Observation of Exchange Process in Quantum Gas,'' Feb. 2, 2010.|
|Lab Spaces, ``Featured Article: Ultra-cold chemistry,'' Feb. 2, 2010.|
|Nanowerk News, ``Ultracold Chemistry: First direct observation of exchange process in quantum gas,'' Feb. 2, 2010.|
|Physorg.com, ``Ultracold chemistry: First direct observation of exchange process in quantum gas,'' Feb. 2, 2010.
||Chemie.de, ``Ultra-cold chemistry,'' Feb. 2, 2010.
||Chemistry Times, ``Ultra-cold chemistry,'' Feb. 3, 2010.
110. ``Magnetically controlled exchange process in an ultracold atom-dimer mixture,''
S. Knoop, F. Ferlaino, M. Berninger, M. Mark, H.-C. Naegerl, R. Grimm, J.P. D'Incao, and B.D. Esry,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 053201 (2010).
Viewpoint by R.V. Krems, ``Ultracold controlled chemistry,'' Physics 3, 10 (2010). | <urn:uuid:49ade787-6675-42a7-9c43-cbfdd350f746> | {
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If you’re coming along to one of our purrrfect children’s shows this season, you’ll have noticed something of a theme – cats! Whether it’s The Owl & The Pussycat’s Treasury of Nonsense (Sat 13th Feb) or Puss In Boots (Weds 30th March) we’ve got some furry facts that’ll be like a scratch behind the ears for your little ones!
1) In 1995 a green kitten was found in Denmark! Drinking water with lots of a chemical called copper changed the colour of their fur. You must never give your kitten anything but clean water – but you can try this experiment to make magic colour changing flowers!
2) Your cat can make over 100 different noises: purr, meow….can you make some up?
3)The biggest house cat is called a Maine Coon.
4) Cats say hello to each other by rubbing their noses together. I think I prefer a handshake….
5) Cats with their eyes closed might not be snoozing – closed eyes can mean the cat is very happy. Blinking slowly at a cat is a great way to say “I love you” in cat! But don’t stare! Cats (and a lot of humans) can think you are angry at them.
6) Cats are extremely intelligent and can be trained, though they’re often not as interested in learning tricks as dogs! This doesn’t mean they aren’t smart though, take a look at this clever kitty: | <urn:uuid:5eaad7a0-724f-4feb-b5b1-b7f23ac37277> | {
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It’s time to block off a lot of time from work and call all your chemistry teacher friends, cause you’re about to do a lot of drugs. In fact, you are gonna have to do every substance on this list today or you will die.
folate / folic acid
ascorbic acid (yes, [ə.skɔ˞.bɪk])
phylloquinone / phytomenadione / phytonadione
menaquinone-4 / menatetrenone
OK, if that’s not enough for you and you still wanna ride the A-train, B-train, or whatever train that took you on, then here are some substances that will make things interesting. Some of them are in fact life-or-death essential, while some of may perhaps be harmful. You’ll have to do more than see long scary chemistry words to find out.
potassium sodium tratrate
The substance on the first list are not actually drugs, but scary sounding chemical names for vitamins. The second list is things like water, salt, sand, alcohol, and caffeine. When you write out the chemical formulas for even the most common and essential compounds, the pile of Neo-Grecolatin rises and felicity flies out the door, leading to ocular dilation, heart palpitations, anxiety, racing thoughts—and delusions of chemical grandeur.
Common names for everything helps, as in the case with caffeine (the only chemical name for it is hugely inaccessible and grossly obtuse), but our relationship with chemistry terms—and jargon in general—needs to change: more education and less usage except in a learning or otherwise clarified environment. | <urn:uuid:0082837f-20ad-4aac-b4ac-210234c31a76> | {
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Text includes any text users can see in your app. Review these guidelines on the use of UI text, style, and tone for your apps.
In this section
|User Interface Text
||User interface text appears on UI surfaces.
|Style and Tone
||Tone in writing is the attitude that the writer conveys to the reader. It's not necessarily what you say, but how you say it. Tone is intended to create a specific response or emotion in the reader; it creates a personality that can either engage or repel users. | <urn:uuid:761c3242-c301-4095-9d50-06c4a5fe16d9> | {
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Modern science has quite an array of methods trying to localize and analyze brain activity, trying to get down to individual neurons firing: EEG, fMRI, CT, etc. This requires very expensive machines to record data, lots of processing power, trained technicians, etc. At the same time each one of us has a brain which we are trying to study with these methods. I'm interested in knowing is if there has been experiments in which people have developed new "diagnostic" senses or feelings about their own brain activity and these senses correlate with modern scientific equipment. In other words: "when a person feels x, a machine would pick y signal off the patients brain, which can be reproduced across attempts".
Here are a couple examples of "new senses" that I can think of:
- finger magnets, which let a person feel magnetic fields after a few months of implantation
- vibrating ankle bracelets that help a person learn to feel true north
Alternatively, maybe there was a group of notable test subjects who were really good at understanding/expressing their feelings. Did these feelings for test subjects translate into predictable scientific instrument readings? | <urn:uuid:64312372-def2-4307-aa1d-5da3966bb27c> | {
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By Stephanie Nebehay and Ben Hirschler
Suspected links between the Zika virus and two neurological disorders, microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barre syndrome, should be confirmed within weeks, says the World Health Organisation.
A sharp increase in birth defects in Brazil has triggered a global health emergency over the mosquito-borne virus, which had previously been viewed as a relatively mild illness, and has spurred a race to develop a vaccine and better diagnostic tests.
The WHO said on Friday (local time) US government scientists and an Indian biotechnology firm were currently front-runners in the race to develop a vaccine. The UN agency for the first time advised pregnant women to consider delaying travel to Zika-infected areas.
Brazil, centre of the Zika outbreak that has spread to more than 30 countries, is hosting the Rio 2016 Olympics, an event expected to draw hundreds of thousands of athletes, officials and spectators.
"It seems indeed that the link with Zika [and microcephaly] is becoming more and more probable, so I think that we need a few more weeks and a few more studies to have this straight," Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation, told a news briefing.
Studies of pregnant Latin American women who are confirmed as having had the Zika virus and due to deliver their babies soon should yield evidence, Kieny said, adding data also was being collected from studies in French Polynesia and Cape Verde.
Kieny said areas hit by the Zika virus had also seen increased cases of the neurological disease Guillain-Barre, adding: "The direct causality has still to be demonstrated but the association in time and in location seems to be clear."
Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system, causes gradual weakness in the legs, arms and upper body and sometimes total paralysis.
Researchers in Brazil are scrambling to determine whether Zika has caused a big rise in the number of cases of microcephaly, or abnormally small heads in newborns, with more than 4000 suspected cases of the condition reported to date.
Brazil has confirmed more than 400 of those cases as microcephaly and has identified the presence of Zika in 17 babies but a link has yet to be proven. | <urn:uuid:66213cab-135d-444c-a35c-c4205737f81e> | {
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Don’t bother, says Stephen Craig Cary, a University of Delaware expert on frozen microbes, who wrote to us from Antarctica.
Most of the bacteria on your jeans probably started off on your own body. Since these critters are happiest living at the temperature of human skin, “one might think that if the temperature drops well below the human body temperature they will not survive,” Cary writes, “but actually many will. Many are preadapted to survive low temperatures.” And it takes only one survivor to repopulate your jeans when they warm up.
“I would suggest that you either raise the temperature to 121 degrees Celsius for at least 10 minutes,” Cary writes, “or just wash them! The latter surely is the best alternative to save energy.”
Julie Segre of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who studies the skin’s microbiome, seconds the washing recommendation. “The bacteria that would live on your jeans on the sloughed skin and the dirt nutrients than the jeans themselves, so detaching the sloughed skin could reduce the microbial load of your jeans,” she says. In her opinion, removing the dirt and the sloughed skin is more important than removing any bacteria, though she warns that she may have “just transitioned from speaking as a scientist to speaking as a mother.”
How often you wash your jeans may depend on how comfortable you are with the growing amount of dirt and sloughed skin on the fabric; the bacterial load doesn’t seem to be much affected by how often you go between washings. A somewhat unscientific experiment by a Canadian student found little difference in the bacterial load between one pair of jeans worn for 15 months without washing and another pair worn for 13 days.
So, sorry Levi’s, freezing our jeans sounded like a great idea, but it’s probably not doing anything more than taking up space better left for ice cream. | <urn:uuid:8498e94f-fb30-4fc9-a33a-ae513712318b> | {
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We recently heard about the two young ladies in Minnesota who hung themselves after being bullied for not fitting in and being overweight. That’s ridiculous that our children have to commit suicide due to another’s person’s bias and hatred.
A hate crime is any criminal act motivated by bigotry and bias. That bias can be based on racial, religious, ethnic, handicap, gender or sexual orientation prejudice. Through harassment, intimidation, or violence, hate crimes are an assault on our constitutional rights and our physical wellbeing. And they cannot be tolerated.
Crimes motivated by hatred and bias are among the most serious challenges to public safety our Commonwealth faces. The Patrick-Murray administration is committed to preventing, responding to and supporting the victims of hate crimes in every community.
Since 1991, Massachusetts has been aggregating data from local police departments on the number and nature of hate crimes reported in every one of the Commonwealth’s communities. For more information on these reports visit www.mass.gov/eops.
Ending hate crimes in our communities requires each of us to do our part. Raising awareness about hate crimes and the promotion of non-violent, tolerant attitudes are the most important tools we have to improve the safety of all Massachusetts citizens. | <urn:uuid:0ce30552-5454-4262-ba79-499b1c0e3e14> | {
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Tonight will be one of the best chances to see comet Panstarrs as it passes 28 million miles from the sun and over 100 million miles from earth. Despite the distance, if you are patient and find a good spot to view after sunset, you should be able to see Panstarrs near the horizon just after sunset at 6:55 tonight. To the unaided eye, it may look like a fuzzy star, but if you have a set of binoculars, you should be able to make out the tail. Here is a graph showing the position of Panstarrs during the coming week.
Chart courtesy: Space.com
On the weather side of things, skies will be clear tonight at 6:55 p.m. sunset, but we will be dodging clouds on Wednesday – Friday. Still, opportunities will appear to see the comet if you are lucky and your timing is good. Remember, DO NOT use your binoculars until the sun is completely below the horizon…your eyes can be seriously damaged if you look at or near the sun.
Image courtesy: Space.com
In case you were wondering how Panstarrs got its name, here is the explanation from www.space.com: " Comet Pan-STARRS, which has the official designation C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS), was discovered in June 2011 by astronomers using the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (or PANSTARRS) telescope in Hawaii. The comet made its way into the inner solar system from the Oort cloud — a group of icy bodies orbiting the sun in a region that extends from just beyond the orbit of Neptune out to a distance of 93 trillion miles."
If you don't get to see Panstarrs, you'll have another chance to see comet Oort Cloud in late November. This comet promises to be one of the brightest in at least 30 years. We'll have more on that on the blog closer to November.
In the meantime, bundle up, get your binoculars and head out tonight to see Panstarrs. If you are able to photograph it, you can share your pictures here on 14news.com or on the 14News Facebook page or the 14First Alert Facebook page.
1115 Mt. Auburn Road
Closed Captioning Contact: | <urn:uuid:f16ee996-0018-4834-8138-a1da10a4a44c> | {
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UT Arlington receives Grand Challenges Explorations grant for groundbreaking research in global health and development
Two UT Arlington engineers will use a new Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to update an ancient method of evaporation to cool vaccines and medicine that must be shipped to remote parts of the world without ready access to electricity.
Seung Mun You and Hyejin Moon, two Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering faculty members, are using aluminum and nanopore technology to update an evaporative process known as “zeer cooling.” They will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled "High Performance Portable Evaporative Refrigeration for Vaccine Delivery."
“We have an entire population that isn’t getting the proper medicine and vaccines because of where they are located,” said You, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in UT Arlington’s College of Engineering . “We will use nanotechnology to circulate water that will keep the vaccine cargo cool through evaporation.”
Grand Challenges Explorations funds individuals worldwide who are taking innovative approaches to some of the world’s toughest and persistent global health and development challenges. GCE invests in the early stages of bold ideas that have real potential to solve the problems people in the developing world face every day. You’s project is one of more than 80 Grand Challenges Explorations Round 9 grants announced recently by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Investments in innovative global health research are already paying off,” said Chris Wilson, director of Global Health Discovery and Translational Sciences at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We continue to be impressed by the novelty and innovative spirit of Grand Challenges Explorations projects and are enthusiastic about this exciting research. These investments hold real potential to yield new solutions to improve the health of millions of people in the developing world, and ensure that everyone has the chance to live a healthy productive life.”
To receive funding, You and other Grand Challenges Explorations Round 9 winners demonstrated in a two-page online application a creative idea in one of five critical global heath and development topic areas that included agriculture development, immunization and communications.
Zeer technology has been used for thousands of years to keep produce and items that need refrigeration cool in places where electricity is non-existent.
“Think of it as a fridge for your picnic,” Moon said.
Typically, two clay pots are used in the zeer process. Holes in the bottom of the pots are plugged, and sand is placed in the larger clay pot as a base. The smaller clay pot is then placed inside the larger one, and sand is placed as a layer between the pots. Then water is poured in that sand. The evaporation process causes the smaller pot to cool.
The traditional zeer process has several limitations, You said. The water added to the sand causes the pots to be very heavy. Water must be added continually to keep contents in the smaller pot cool. And the process only works well in arid, hot conditions.
You’s technology would use lightweight aluminum materials rather than clay and sand. Nanostructures would be networked on the inside of the outer aluminum container. Those nanostructures would move the water around, causing vaporization and cooling the inside container.
Moon, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, said the inside container of their system can chill to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius), cool enough to ensure that vaccines and medicines are preserved and can arrive safely at the far-flung reaches of the world.
Engineering Dean Jean-Pierre Bardet said the team’s work holds global promise.
“It could be a game-changer,” Bardet said. “Evaporative cooling is not only smart, it also has a sustainable element to it. Anything we can use that will cool but use less energy is a smarter way to go.”
About Grand Challenges Explorations
Grand Challenges Explorations is a $100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation . Launched in 2008, over 700 people in 45 countries have received Grand Challenges Explorations grants. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organization. The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with short two-page online applications and no preliminary data required. Initial grants of $100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to $1 million.
About The University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive research institution of more than 33,200 students and more than 2,200 faculty members in the heart of North Texas. Visit www.uta.edu to learn more.
Herb Booth, [email protected], 817-272-7075
The University of Texas at Arlington, www.uta.edu | <urn:uuid:2d1c44ba-55c7-4cd3-a09e-192d11f30830> | {
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The tallest stone at Stonehenge points towards the sunrise on the midwinter solstice, according to a new theory from an English Heritage steward.
Historians have long known the circle of stones is aligned with the midsummer sunrise but Tim Daw says the tallest one is lined up with the midwinter sun.
It was previously thought the stone had been put back at the wrong angle when it was re-erected in 1901.
But Mr Daw, who works there, says his research shows its angle is deliberate.
Mr Daw said: “The largest stone at Stonehenge is not where it ‘should’ be, it is twisted.
“This stone, Stone 56, is the tallest one at the end of the inner horseshoe of sarsen stones.
“Because it was put back to the…
View original post 384 more words | <urn:uuid:0d98c0a4-c157-480c-9827-b239fccb5f4b> | {
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Erucic Acid Poses Health Risk to Children
News Nov 14, 2016
Erucic acid – a naturally occurring contaminant present in vegetable oil – is not a safety concern for most consumers as average exposure is less than half the safe level. But it may be a long-term health risk for children up to 10 years of age who consume high amounts of foods containing this substance. EFSA also found that levels of erucic acid present in animal feed may be a health risk for chickens.
Erucic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, which is present in the oil-rich seeds of the Brassicaceae family of plants, particularly rapeseed and mustard. It mainly enters the food chain when rapeseed oil is used in industrial food processing and home cooking in some countries. It is present in pastries, cakes and infant/follow-on formulae and is also found in some animal feed (e.g. rapeseed meal).
Although natural forms of rapeseed and mustard contain high levels of erucic acid (over 40% of total fatty acids), levels in rapeseed cultivated for food use are typically below 0.5%.
In 1976 the EU set maximum limits for erucic acid as a contaminant in vegetable oils and fats, and foods containing added vegetable oils and fats as an ingredient. Also, specific maximum limits for infant formulae and follow-on formulae were set five times lower than for other foods. EFSA was asked for a new risk assessment as part of a review of these maximum levels.
Tests on animals show that ingesting oils containing erucic acid over time can lead to a heart condition called myocardial lipidosis. This is temporary and reversible. Other potential effects observed in animals – including changes in the weight of the liver, kidney and skeletal muscle – occur at slightly higher doses.
Based on this information, experts on EFSA’s Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) established a tolerable daily intake of 7 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg bw) per day.
Average consumer exposure ranges from 0.3 to 4.4 mg/kg bw per day across age groups. But among consumers with higher exposure, infants and other children could be exposed to up to 7.4 mg/kg bw per day. The experts noted however that they are likely to have overestimated this risk to account for limitations in the available scientific information.
For most consumers, especially for toddlers (1-2 years old) and other children (3-10), the main contributors to erucic acid exposure in the diet are pastries, cakes and biscuits. For infants (0-12 months), infant formulae is the main source.
Risks to animals
The CONTAM Panel’s scientific opinion also covers the risks for animal health from exposure to erucic acid. In pigs, feed levels of erucic acid are unlikely to represent a health concern. EFSA experts said there may be a health risk for poultry but noted that the calculation method used overestimated exposure. The risk for ruminants (cattle, sheep and other species), horses, fish and rabbits could not be assessed as no adequate data were available.
To address information gaps, the Panel recommended further data collection on erucic acid concentrations in processed foods such as fine bakery wares and food for infants and small children. Levels in animal-derived products (meat, milk, eggs) transferred through animal feed would also be useful. New toxicity studies could also improve understanding on the effects for humans and animals, particularly for target livestock animals and fish.
Story from European Food Safety Authority. Please note: The content above may have been edited to ensure it is in keeping with Technology Networks’ style and length guidelines.
Knutsen, H,K. Alexander, J. Barregård, L. Bignami, M. Brüschweiler, B. Ceccatelli, S. Dinovi, M. … Vleminckx, C. (2016). EFSA CONTAM Panel (EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain), Scientific opinion on erucic acid in feed and food. EFSA Journal, 14(11):4593, pp. 173 doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4593
Major international Summit in Belfast to Tackle Escalating Problem of Food IntegrityNews
Food-security experts from all over the world will converge on Belfast from 28-31 May 2018 for a major Summit on how to feed a growing global population - amid massive challenges such as climate change, Brexit, labyrinthine food-supply chains and food fraud on a global scale.READ MORE
Rechargable Antibacterial Coating - Just Add Bleach!News
Stainless steel is the gold standard for kitchen appliances and cookware, described as modern and sleek. But bacteria can grow on stainless steel surfaces, contaminating food. Current coatings available on the market are pricey and potentially harmful, so scientists have now developed an affordable specialized polymer coating for such surfaces that they can recharge with bleach treatments.READ MORE
Vegetable Compound Could Have a Key Role in ‘Beeting’ Alzheimer’s DiseaseNews
A compound in beets that gives the vegetable its distinctive red color could eventually help slow the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain, a process that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease.READ MORE | <urn:uuid:0a11d932-d379-4f74-b4e4-028b43222a41> | {
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Finding will help develop targeted treatment for eye tumours
(Toronto - June 14, 2004) - Scientists at Toronto Western Hospital have discovered the specific cells in the eye that develop into retinoblastoma, the most common eye cancer in young children. The research suggests that these cells already have cancer-like properties, a finding that explains why retinoblastoma occurs in children while other cancers such as colon and lung cancer occur in adults, developing after decades. Featured as the cover story in the June issue of Cancer Cell, this discovery paves the way for developing new treatments for retinoblastoma that target these first cancerous cells, thereby avoiding the difficult side effects that patients suffer from treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
"From the first cancerous cell to the malignant tumour, there are a chain of events that must occur for a person to develop cancer, which must overcome each one of the body's natural protective barriers that guard against tumour growth," explains Dr. Rod Bremner, the study's lead author and senior scientist with the division of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Toronto Western Research Institute, the research arm of Toronto Western Hospital. He is also affiliated with the hospital's Vision Science Research Program, and is associate professor with the department of Ophthalmolgy and Vision Science at the University of Toronto. "For a number of years, it's been known that retinoblastoma develops more quickly and with fewer number of events than typical adult cancers, but until now, it wasn't clear why."
Dr. Bremner and his colleagues discovered that the genetic mutation associated with retinoblastoma removes some of body's protective barriers at a cellular level. The result is that specific retinal cells are predisposed to becoming tumours since they already have tumour-like properties, including the ability to bypass cell death - a special mechanism that causes cells to self-destruct if they begin dividing uncontrollably, as happens when a tumour begins growing. Normally, a gene called Rb prevents retinoblastoma by blocking cell division. In children with retinoblastoma, Rb is defective. To study the consequences of the defective Rb, the scientists knocked out the Rb gene in the retina of mice. Expecting to see the cells with defective Rb die as a result of cell death, they were instead surprised to find that while four types of cells did die, three type of cells not only survived but also continued dividing.
"Just like tumours, these three types of cells had the natural ability to survive despite the defective gene, and they were naturally resistant to cell death," says Dr. Bremner. "Much is known about the advanced stages of cancer, but there is a paucity of information about the tiny single cell where it all starts. This understanding will help us develop drugs that interfere with the cellular development of cancer by preventing growth of malignant tumours, earlier on in the process."
Source: Eurekalert & othersLast reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 21 Feb 2009
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to.
-- Annie Gottlier | <urn:uuid:3420583b-eb5a-45ec-9edd-7741f9ea0553> | {
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What does Buddhist practice help us renounce? Greed, hate and delusion.
What’s the payoff? Generosity, compassion and wisdom.
It’s not so much that the first three are discarded and the second three are obtained. It’s more like the first three are investigated so relentlessly that they (we) get tired and give up and reveal the second three, which just happen to be there all along. And all it takes is a willingness to let go of our fixed ways of thinking and explore new perspectives (technically known as Right View).
Dōgen: When we change how we think and act, we change the world.
Abhidharma: From a different perspective, it’s a different thing.
Suzuki-roshi: To let go is to find composure.
Prince Shakyamuni started this exploration for us in dramatic fashion – he said to Mara (the lord of death and suffering), “I know who you are. You’re me” – and thus declared his willingness to explore the possibility that the cause of his suffering wasn’t outside himself. Or as Thich Naht Hahn said two dozen centuries later, “Peace never depends on the other person.”
Exploration requires us to say, I don’t know or I was wrong. It requires us to hold both that the world isn’t as we see it, nor is it otherwise. It requires us to wear down the barriers that stand between us and kindness.
To renounce is to leave the comforts of our home-mind and go exploring, not just finding, but creating new worlds. How will we know what to do out there? As Zhijian promised his student Rujing:
If you would get out of your old nest, you would find a way. | <urn:uuid:c8215d2b-1ca5-4858-8f1c-5a8d45fade06> | {
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A new report investigating the impacts of bilingualism in the study of mathematics in Ireland was launched recently by Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD. Published by the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL) at the University of Limerick, the report is based on a doctoral study completed by Dr Máire Ní Ríordáin, former Senior Projects Officer at the NCE-MSTL and currently Head of Education at St Patrick’s College, Thurles.
The report reveals previously unnoticed advantages to a bilingual approach to mathematics education. The study found that learning mathematics through the medium of Gaeilge at primary level education may enhance long-term mathematical understanding and attainment in English-medium second level education. Bilingual students in 2nd and 3rd level education with high ability in both Irish and English outperformed their monolingual peers in mathematics, even when assessed through their second language of learning, English.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock said; “This report adds new evidence-based analyses on language issues in mathematics education that are timely in terms of the national Irish language policy debate, formulation and implementation. A major finding of the study points to the advantages of bilingualism for education.”
The aim of the study was to investigate Irish post-primary and undergraduate bilingual mathematics students’ experiences of learning mathematics through the medium of English, their second language of learning.
Dr. Máire Ní Ríordáin, author of the report said; "The study noted some drops in performance in the transition from Gaeilge-medium primary level to English-medium second level; however these were only experienced in the initial transition and are specific to having English as the new language of learning. The advantages of being bilingual can outweigh the negatives once proficiency is developed in both languages.”
For further information about the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL) and a copy of the report is available www.nce-mstl.ie | <urn:uuid:52db3e7b-50da-4c38-9bc1-f7ea425b1101> | {
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Java Virtual Machine Tools Interface
Java Virtual Machine Tool Interface (JVMTI, or more properly, JVM TI) was introduced in J2SE 5.0 (Tiger). This interface allows a program to inspect the state and to control the execution of applications running in the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). JVMTI is designed to provide an Application Programming Interface (API) for the development of tools that need access to the state of the JVM. Examples for such tools are debuggers or profilers.
The JVMTI is a native interface of the JVM. A library, written in C or C++, is loaded during the initialization of the JVM. The library has access to the JVM state by calling JVMTI and JNI (Java Native Interface) functions and can register to receive JVMTI events using event handler functions that are called by the JVM when such an event occurs.
JVMTI was defined through the Java Community Process by JSR-163, the specification for the Java Platform Profiling Architecture. The JVMTI replaces the JVMPI (Java Virtual Machine Profiling Interface) and the JVMDI (Java Virtual Machine Debug Interface). The JVMPI and the JVMDI are declared as being deprecated in J2SE 5.0 and were removed in Java SE6.
JVMTI is the lowest level of the Java Platform Debugger Architecture. | <urn:uuid:dd282b52-25ea-4355-a33b-d6cee85e39ae> | {
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How does Alex's on-going commentary(in his letter to Jonathan) contribute to the novel's overall "meaning"
Answers 1Add Yours
The story progresses from two points of view; it is a dual narrative rather then authorship. Alex's point of view is presented through his narration of the young man's quest to find traces of Safran's family's savior (alove or dead). The second narration is told in the third-person omniscient where our narrator spins the story of the shtetl (small Jewish town) where the Jonathon's. The second narration, unlike the first, moves us forward in time to the present day.
The use of a dual narrative allows the author (Foer) a distinct number of opportunities to interject both comedy and contrast before the two begin to intermingle. History is humanized and a common line between the reader and what is foreign is drawn enabling the reader to empathize and understand. Alex's letter to Foer is light; it approaches history in a similar way to Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and emphasizes color, humor and atavism with nonsensical speech. It also has a vitality and truth which we often find lacking.
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The rainbow skink (Lampropholis delicata) is a small lizard introduced to New Zealand from Australia. Although smaller than native skinks, they do look very similar.
Rainbow skinks are able to reach high population densities in a relatively short time, potentially competing with our native lizard species for food, habitat and space.
Rainbow skinks were first recorded in Auckland during the 1960s, probably arriving accidentally in cargo. Since this time they have become widespread from Northland to Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, with outlying populations at Wanganui, Palmerston North and Foxton Beach. They are not known to be in the South Island.
If you suspect that you have found this pest in the South Island, call MPI Biosecurity New Zealand on 0800 80 99 66.
Adult rainbow skink
Head of rainbow skink, showing
Rainbow skinks are native to Australia. They are small lizards, measuring about 3-4 cm long from nose to hind legs excluding the long thin tail. The skink is brown or grey-brown with a dark brown stripe down each side, and an iridescent rainbow or metallic sheen when seen in bright light.
Although the adults are smaller than native skinks, they look very similar but can be easily distinguished with one distinctive feature.
Rainbow skinks have one large scale on the top of their head, whereas New Zealand native skinks have two smaller scales.
Rainbow skinks reproduce rapidly – laying up to eight eggs three times per year (more than five times as fast as most native lizards) and mature in less than half the time of native lizards. They can reach high population densities in a relatively short time, competing with native lizards and other native fauna for food and habitat, and and increasing predation pressure on native invertebrates.
By comparison, most New Zealand skinks are long lived and only breed once per year at most. Some don’t even start breeding until they are around five years old.
Rainbow skink scale patterns
Where they are found
Rainbow skinks prefer moist areas and are commonly found under vegetation, litter, rocks and logs.
They also thrive in urban areas, gardens, commercial areas, industrial sites, garden centres, and waste ground. These skinks will frequently enter freight and shipping containers.
Rainbow skinks are prolific breeders, and you may find communal nests of 20-100 small white eggs, 8-10 mm long, oval in shape, with a tough leathery shell. It is common for them to lay their eggs in the soil of potted plants.
Why they are a threat
Rainbow skinks are invasive pests that pose a threat to our rare native lizards. Rainbow skinks have already invaded other countries, for example Hawaii, where their impact has resulted in the serious decline of native skink species there.
Many of New Zealand’s approximately 35 native skink species are in decline, or, in some cases, have become locally extinct through introduced predators such as rats, cats, mustelids and hedgehogs. Rainbow skinks are yet another threat to our declining native lizard populations, by competing directly for food and habitat.
As the natural range of the rainbow skink includes the temperate climate of Tasmania they are well equipped to survive and spread throughout New Zealand and its offshore islands. Climate modelling suggests they would easily be able to establish in the South Island.
DOC has worked closely with MPI Biosecurity New Zealand to declare rainbow skinks an Unwanted Organism. It is illegal to knowingly communicate (move); release, or cause to be released; spread; sell, or offer for sale; exhibit; or breed rainbow skinks without the explicit permission of MPI Biosecurity.
DOC is monitoring the distribution of rainbow skinks, and raising public awareness of how to limit the spread of this invasive species.
DOC undertakes surveillance of significant reserves and offshore islands to prevent them from entering these sites, many of which provide a safe haven for our rare and threatened native lizards.
You can help
Check for rainbow skinks and eggs when moving nursery trees, which have been known to carry them
If you live in an area that has rainbow skinks, and wish to relocate any equipment, goods, or other freight to an area that is free of this species; thoroughly check your personal belongings for rainbow skinks before departure.
Potting mix in potted plants is a favoured breeding habitat. Check these for any of the small white eggs, especially if plants are to be used in restoration projects, such as on off-shore islands or key ecosystems on the mainland.
Also, inform your neighbours and friends of the presence of rainbow skinks on your property and their threats and impacts.
Together we can prevent the rainbow skink from spreading.
If you see one outside of its known range, or suspect people of trading them as pets, call the 24 hour DOC hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) or MPI Biosecurity 0800 809 966 immediately.
If possible, take a photo to help with obtaining the correct identification.
How can I find out more?
or check the MPI Biosecurity NZ website for further information.
back to top | <urn:uuid:13823654-2174-45d2-a07a-8c71cb5c433e> | {
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Older horse care
Cathy Erickson loves to interact with her horse, Jesse, on her Adel, Iowa, acreage, and Jesse enjoys the attention. Just seeing her approach causes his ears to perk up. He's a great horse, strong in stature and calm in temperament. He even still enjoys going on long, exerting trail rides.
It's hard to believe Jesse is 25 years old. Many people at 25 are in the prime of their life, but for horses, 25 is equivalent to over 60 human years. And just like humans, as horses get older, they begin to need a little extra care. Jesse appreciates the impeccable attention from Erickson that keeps him going strong.
Check the teeth first
With better veterinary medicine and nutrition, horses today are living much longer than they have in the past, and it's not uncommon for a horse to live to be 30 years old. A 12-year-old horse is considered to be in its prime, so it is vital to monitor a number of issues in older horses, including health conditions and feeding habits. For example, as horses grow older, their teeth elongate and shift.
"A lot of older horses have dental problems," says Erickson. "Sometimes their teeth deteriorate to the point where they can't graze properly or chew hay." So what can you do to make their eating easier? "If your horse is dropping partially chewed food out of its mouth, you should have its teeth checked. Older horses may need to have their grain processed into pellets, which are easier to chew, or give them hay that is chopped. If your horse is missing any teeth, pellets and hay cubes can be soaked in water first."
"Consult your veterinarian to figure out the best treatment," she says. "Your older horse should have its teeth checked twice a year." In addition to checking the mouth, they will provide necessary vaccinations and look for signs of diseases common to older horses, such as Cushing's syndrome.
Stretch before exercising
As horses age, they develop swayback, an excessive dip in the center of the back. That doesn't mean they can't be ridden. Erickson credits exercise as the key to keeping an older horse young. Additionally, stretching out its legs and back will help to provide free mobility, unhindered by tight, sore muscles.
One of the best ways to care for your older horse is to keep up on the new developments in senior horse care, Erickson says. "Stay educated, read equine magazines, stay current on senior feed advancements and see your vet twice a year." Tips like these are bound to make your older horse as happy and healthy as Jesse.
You might like...
Add Your Comment
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Login | <urn:uuid:ba810fe2-c083-42c0-ab41-1b8356934211> | {
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Examples of Python source code or interactive sessions are represented as \verbatim environments. This environment is a standard part of LaTeX. It is important to only use spaces for indentation in code examples since TeX drops tabs instead of converting them to spaces.
Representing an interactive session requires including the prompts and output along with the Python code. No special markup is required for interactive sessions. After the last line of input or output presented, there should not be an ``unused'' primary prompt; this is an example of what not to do:
>>> 1 + 1 2 >>>
Within the \verbatim environment, characters special to LaTeX do not need to be specially marked in any way. The entire example will be presented in a monospaced font; no attempt at ``pretty-printing'' is made, as the environment must work for non-Python code and non-code displays. There should be no blank lines at the top or bottom of any \verbatim display.
Longer displays of verbatim text may be included by storing the example text in an external file containing only plain text. The file may be included using the standard \verbatiminput macro; this macro takes a single argument naming the file containing the text. For example, to include the Python source file example.py, use:
Use of \verbatiminput allows easier use of special editing modes for the included file. The file should be placed in the same directory as the LaTeX files for the document.
The Python Documentation Special Interest Group has discussed a number of approaches to creating pretty-printed code displays and interactive sessions; see the Doc-SIG area on the Python Web site for more information on this topic.
See About this document... for information on suggesting changes. | <urn:uuid:8e8afdb8-adcd-4d41-a263-cdcb0e2a135e> | {
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As early as 1653, New York City (formerly called New Amsterdam) recognized that it needed to care for the city's minor children, widows, and orphans. In February of that year, the Deacons of the Reformed Dutch Church were appointed to act as Orphan Masters. Their duties were to "keep their eyes open and look as Orphanmasters after widows and orphans..." They were to report to city officials who would appoint cuators if necessary to take care of the estates and effects of these widows and orphaned children.
On February 10, 1653, two men were appointed to act, not as Orphanmasters as originally intended, but as Overseers of Orphans. City officials continued to rule in the Orphan's Court, which had been created by Stuyvesant to "attend to orphans and minor children within the jurisdiction of this city [New York City]"
The Records of this Orphans' Court have been published as "Minutes of the Orphan Masters of New Amsterdam 1655-1663" by Berthold Fernow and "The Minutes of the Orphan Masters of New Amsterdam 1663-1668" translated by Edmund B. O'Callaghan. Genealogists can also consult The Records of New Amsterdam : From 1653 to 1674 Anno Domini by Berthold Fernow
Searchable Orphan Records can be found at http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/orphans/ | <urn:uuid:ab4d9f00-9e84-4262-a3d5-cb4ae3917428> | {
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I finally found some wonderful information about the memory usage on the BlackBerry.
| Memory Management |
The BlackBerry® Java® Virtual Machine manages memory usage on the BlackBerry device. The BlackBerry JVM allocates memory, performs garbage collection, and automatically swaps data between SRAM and flash memory. The BlackBerry JVM must also share available memory between the BlackBerry device applications and the BlackBerry® Java Application. The memory capabilities represent the total amount of available memory, which is larger than the available working memory when all of the applications and associated application data exist on the BlackBerry device.BlackBerry "Device Memory"
BlackBerry® devices include the following types of memory:
Flash Memory Key Resources to Reserve
The BlackBerry operating system and all application modules are stored persistently in flash memory. When a BlackBerry device user turns on the BlackBerry device, the core operating system and the BlackBerry® Java Application modules use approximately 10 MB to 15 MB of flash memory, depending on the version. Flash memory can store the BlackBerry device user's email messages, organizer data, and other personal information, as well as the data that a BlackBerry Java Application stores in memory.
SRAM controls the transient data objects and runtime processes.
MicroSD Expandible Memory Card
The microSD card stores media files, documents, and persistent data from a
BlackBerry Java Application.
The persistent storage space that is available on the BlackBerry® device is a fixed amount of flash memory, typically in the range of 8 MB to 64 MB.
Persistent object handles
The handles that are assigned to each persistent object are consumed only by persistent objects. The amount of flash memory on the BlackBerry device determines the fixed number of persistent object handles in the system.
Each object and array of primitives has an object handle associated with it. The amount of flash memory
on the BlackBerry device determines the fixed number of object handles in the system.
And also this information about low memory conditions occurring on the system.
| Best practice: Minimizing memory use |
To minimize runtime memory, consider the following guidelines:
• Use primitive types (such as int or Boolean) instead of objects (such as String or Integer).Managing low memory availability
• Do not depend entirely on the garbage collector.
• Avoid creating many objects quickly.
• Set object references to null when you are finished using them.
• Reuse objects as much as possible.
• Move heavy processing to the server. For example, you can filter or sort data before sending it to the BlackBerry® device.
The low memory manager handles memory resources on the BlackBerry® device when the available memory resources fall below a certain threshold. The low memory manager attempts to free used memory to provide more available memory on the BlackBerry device. All applications, including BlackBerry® Java Applications, should work with the low memory manager to free as much memory as possible when the BlackBerry device is low on memory resources.Identifying low memory availability on a BlackBerry device
The following conditions can cause the low memory manager to attempt to free memory resources:
• The amount of available flash memory on the BlackBerry® device falls below a certain threshold. The flash memory threshold depends on the amount of free RAM in the system. The flash memory threshold ranges between 400 KB and 800 KB.
• The number of persistent object handles that are available on the BlackBerry device falls below 1000 persistent object
• The number of object handles that are available on the BlackBerry device falls below 1000 object handles.
And finally this information regarding garbage collection by the JVM and essentially memory management and control of the system when in operation.
| Garbage collection on a BlackBerry device |
RAM garbage collection on a BlackBerry device
The BlackBerry® Java® Virtual Machine initiates a RAM garbage collection operation only when the BlackBerry JVM cannot allocate an object because of a lack of space in RAM. The RAM garbage collection operation typically takes 500 to 600 milliseconds to execute. The garbage collection operation removes any freshly allocated variables that are no longer referenced in RAM. To make sure that the lack of a reference in RAM is a sufficient condition for removing the object, a RAM garbage collection operation can only be performed when objects have not been paged out to flash memory.Full garbage collection on a BlackBerry device
The full garbage collection operation executes for 1 second on average and should take less than 2 seconds to complete.
The full garbage collection operation performs the following actions:
• It performs a RAM garbage collection operation.
• It marks objects in flash memory that are no longer referenced or no longer persisted.
• It releases any nonpersistent object handles in RAM and flash memory.
The system might initiate a full garbage collection operation in the following situations:
Idle garbage collection on a BlackBerry device
• The BlackBerry® Java® Virtual Machine cannot allocate an object because of a lack of available space in RAM.
• A process is about to exceed its currently allocated heap size.
• The BlackBerry JVM cannot allocate a new object because the object handles are not available.
• The BlackBerry device is idle.
Garbage collection does not occur every time that the BlackBerry® device idles. It occurs only when the system considers a garbage collection operation to be beneficial for optimal system performance and maximized battery performance.
To improve performance without impacting the BlackBerry device user experience, the system attempts to perform the following garbage collection operations when the BlackBerry device idles:
• A full garbage collection operation can occur when the BlackBerry device idles for a relatively small amount of time.
• A thorough garbage collection operation can occur when the BlackBerry device idles for a significant period of time.
This is also interesting to note, but apparently Aerize has been able to circumvent this or so it seems.
| Security considerations |
Access to memory
The BlackBerry® Java® Development Environment is designed to inhibit applications from causing problems accidentally or maliciously in other applications or on the BlackBerry device. BlackBerry applications can write only to the BlackBerry device memory that the BlackBerry® Java® Virtual Machine uses; they cannot access the virtual memory or the persistent storage of other applications (unless they are specifically granted access to do so). A BlackBerry® Java Application can only access persistent storage or user data, or communicate with other applications, through specific BlackBerry APIs. Research In Motion must digitally sign a BlackBerry Java Application that uses these BlackBerry APIs, to provide an audit trail of applications that use sensitive APIs.
I believe that this is the reason why Aerize only works when you reinstall an application because Aerize cannot "break into" the already installed persistent application storage in the flash memory section of the device memory that applications are installed into apparently. | <urn:uuid:c14b070a-d255-4284-bf1c-c0461327633c> | {
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In electronics, the "lumped" designation refers to elements that can be treated as a black box, something that turns a given input to a perfectly predictable output without an engineer having to worry about what exactly is going on inside the element every time he or she is designing a circuit.
"Optics has always had its own analogs of elements, things like lenses, waveguides and gratings," Engheta said, "but they were never lumped. Those elements are all much larger than the wavelength of light because that's all that could be easily built in the old days. For electronics, the lumped circuit elements were always much smaller than the wavelength of operation, which is in the radio or microwave frequency range."
Nanotechnology has now opened that possibility for lumped optical circuit elements, allowing construction of structures that have dimensions measured in nanometers. In this experiment's case, the structure was comb-like arrays of rectangular nanorods made of silicon nitrite.
The "meta" in "metatronics" refers to metamaterials, the relatively new field of research where nanoscale patterns and structures embedded in materials allow them to manipulate waves in ways that were previously impossible. Here, the cross-sections of the nanorods and the gaps between them form a pattern that replicates the function of resistors, inductors and capacitors, three of the most basic circuit elements, but in optical wavelengths.
"If we have the optical version of those lumped elements in our repertoire, we can actually make designs similar to what we do in electronics but now for operation with light," Engheta said. "We can build a circuit with light."
In their experiment, the researchers illuminated the nanorods with an optical signal, a wave of light in the mid-infrared range. They then used spectroscopy to measure the wave as it passed
|Contact: Evan Lerner|
University of Pennsylvania | <urn:uuid:dbadd5c9-eba3-44e3-9a85-4d4681f6e170> | {
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This article profiles 27 of the many companies (from conglomerates to start-ups) attempting to provide robotic solutions for farming problems and explores what they are doing, when their products will be available, and at what cost.
Frank Tobe | The Robot Report
Agriculture is one of our most important industries. It provides food, feed and fuel necessary for our survival. With the global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, agricultural production must double to meet the demand. And because of limited arable land, productivity must increase 25% to help meet that goal.
Consider these factoids:
Major US farming conglomerates are buying foreign land and beginning to farm there citing lower overall cost.
China is buying land in Africa and sending skilled workers to supervise those new farms.
Farmers and ranchers the world over are transitioning to precision agricultural methods, i.e., subdividing their acreage into many sub-plots, in some cases, right down to the individual plant/tree/animal thereby enabling increased productivity and lower overall costs.
Unmanned aerial vehicles are being used to map, observe, sense and spray.
Unmanned (or at least autonomous) ground vehicles are providing more precise movements and thereby enabling precision practices.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 2012 median pay for farm workers was $9.09.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were 749,400 ag workers in 2012, down 3% (25,000) from 2011.
74% - approximate number of crop workers in the US who were born in Mexico or Central America of which more than half are likely to be undocumented (according to Fortune Magazine).
Cropdusters have the 3rd highest fatality rate among professions in the US. 90% of crop spraying in Japan is done using small unmanned helicopters.
Thus the agricultural industry is in transition. And that transition differs country by country, state by state, region by region as well as by type of farming practiced: from primitive to conventional to precision to experimental. A little bit of everything is going on everywhere but the general trend worldwide is toward precision agriculture supplemented by advanced technologies including robotics.
Many factors are precipitating these changes in addition to global population growth and the cost and availability of labor: the diminishing availability and increasing cost of water, political and regulatory procedures and hold-ups; limited tillable acreage; better, cheaper and faster technological automation products; and climate change, to name just a few.
Modern farmers and ranchers are already high-tech. Digitally-controlled farm implements are regularly in use. There are partially and fully automatic devices for most aspects of agricultural functions from grafting to planting, from harvesting to sorting, packaging and boxing. Farmers use software systems and aerial survey maps and data to guide their field operations. They also use auto-steer systems included in many new tractors (or buy kits that do the same thing) which follow GPS and software guidance. Some farmers are already transitioning some of their operations to full autonomy. Thus forward-thinking farm owners today may be able to skip over slow, incremental improvements and jump directly to robotic and autonomous automation. But are the robots ready?
In a follow-up to my July, 2014 article “Will agricultural robots arrive in time to keep fruit and vegetable costs down?” this article profiles 27 of the many companies (from conglomerates to start-ups) attempting to provide robotic solutions for farming problems and explores what they are doing, when their products will be available, and at what cost.
[NOTE: From a list of 60 organizations involved with agricultural robotics, dairy was eliminated even though robotic milking systems are amazing and a growing business. Also eliminated were companies that didn't (or couldn't because they are publicly traded such as John Deere and CNH Industrial (Case/New Holland)) respond to my brief questionaire. Further, only one of the many university ag research facilities was profiled even though there's a lot of rich science under development; I wanted to focus on the here and now; not the future.]
Harvesting and Tractors - Tractors do two things: provide guidance to the devices they are towing, and pulling power. Current tractors are huge and if they break down, the entire operation comes to a halt. Autonomous machines don't need operators and can operate around the clock. Thus tight operational windows can be achieved for seeding and other time-sensitive activities.
- Clearpath Robotics
- Autonomous Solutions
- Wageningen UR
- Kinze Manufacturing
- AGCO Fendt
- Robotic Harvesting
Planting, Pruning, Potting, Grafting and Nursery Operations
Thinning and Weeding
UAS, Inspection, Data Collection and Data Manipulation - UAVs are only as good as the other precision ag equipment and systems; if there are no computers on the tractors or controllers on the implements towed, and if they can't talk to each other, UAS data collected is just pretty pictures.
Smart Implements - New implements incorporate advanced control systems and can respond to commands from the towing tractor or provide their own mobility and navigation.
Agriculture is big business in every country around the world. Thus this is a timely review of the progress to bring robotic automation to an already automated industry. Bottom line: lots of activity, much of which will be coming online in the next year or two, but little market penetration thus far.
ISO Group's flower planting robot RoBoPlant
Area of use: All over the EU
Function: Semi and full automatic machinery for greenhouse or protected horticulture. Flower planting robotic system takes flats of peat seedlings, separates them and plants them in chosen patterns;
Testing: Continual testing and development
Availability: Began selling products in 2002
Autonomous Implement - Spirit Mower
Area of use: Hay producers in the US
Function: Mowing hay. Can add modular engine power as needed by the type and size of implement. Will expand to other crops and other non-ag industries after mower begins shipping
Testing: Continuously field testing
Availability: Expect to come to market and begin shipping pre-orders in 2016
Price: Price expected to be 1/2 of similarly-powered tractors and implements
Blue River Technology 3-row LettuceBot2
Area of use: CA and AZ lettuce fields (covers 80% of US lettuce production)
Function: Thinning and weed spraying of iceberg, romaine and leaf lettuce
Testing: Recently completed field testing 3rd generation machine; selective weeding used to improve germination
Availability: Began operating as a per-acre service in 2013
Price: Price per acre depends on the lettuce planting configuration but equates to a slight premium over manual labor costs
Agrobot hydroponic growing system
Area of use: Strawberry harvesting in Oxnard, CA
Function: Ripe berry picking from raised hydroponic growing beds
Testing: Will start final testing strawberry harvesting in January; have done seasonal testing for a few years
Price: $250,000 for a harvester with 60 robotic picking arms. Says one large berry farmer: “The Agrobot works on several investment paths. One where we harvest cheaper than we do today and another where we harvest fruit that there are not sufficient people for. In the latter case the Agrobot pays off instantly because without the ability to harvest we do not have a business (this is becoming more common).”
Agribotix Hornet Drone
Agribotix image processing services
Area of use: US Midwest (CO, KA, MO, etc.)
Function: Lease ag drones to co-ops, agronomists, crop consults, farm managers and big industrial farm corporations; produce and process hi-res images and maps using various sensors, and provide prescription maps to match the application of fertilizer to the places that need more (or less)
Testing: Ongoing testing with pilot customers
Availability: Began selling services in 2014
Price: About $8,000 for a season which includes training, drone use, stitched-together RGB and infrared images, crop health and prescription maps. Agribotix offers an image processing services contract with per acre charges for various maps and images over an annual contract period
Wall-Ye 1000 Pruning Robot
Area of use: French grape vineyards pruning
Function: Autonomous pruning
Testing: Completed in 2013
Availability: For sale and as a service
Price: $30,000 per robot
ecoRobotix concept field robot
Area of use: Field testing in Switzerland; next year in Germany
Function: A robotic platform for weeding of spaced-row cultures, which includes advanced weed recognition algorithms, fast robotic arms, advanced sensor technology, high energy efficiency, and wireless communications
Testing: Currently with sugarbeet but plan to extend to colza, sunflower, corn and soya
Availability: First machines available for sale by end of 2015
Price: About 15’000 EUR ($18,750) per robot
Energid towed multi-arm citrus harvester
Area of use: Florida citrus orchards; oranges (early and late season) and grapefruit
Function: Harvesting, initially for juice
Testing: Will test again during seasons in Florida in 2015 and 2016
Availability: Expect to have initial product in late 2016
Price: System to cost $300,000-$400,000
Harvest Automation HV-100 Mobile Robot
Harvest Automation potted plant movement schema
Area of use: Nurseries (ornamental, berries, tomatoes, etc.)
Function: Material handling, movement of containers, spacing.
Testing: HV-100 testing completed
Availability: Been selling since 2013
Price: $130,000 for a team of four robots to purchase. Harvest Automation also rents teams of four for $30K/3 months. The rental scheme has worked really well. All who have rented then subsequently purchased.
Clearpath Grizzly RUV pulling implement
Area of use: Sold to university research facilities for ag applications development
Function: Harvesting, mowing, hauling, research
Testing: Testing asparagus farming with added laser scanner to identify appropriate stalks and a cutter inserted into the soil to cut the stalk below ground; hauling manure from chicken farms while cleaning out barns; detecting where cows urinate and then treating the area so grass can continue to grow; mowing inbetween orchard rows and hauling (hay/straw wagons back to barn and return so that the farmer doesn’t have to stop baling; hauling chemical refills to sprayer locations; hauling manure spreader)
Availability: Early 2015 – at present only selling to academia and research organizations
Price: $12,000 to $100,000 depending on configuration
Company: Autonomous Solutions (ASI), Petersboro, UT
Product: Forge Robotic Platform, a kit for enabling a skid steer to operate autonomously or remotely controlled
ASI skid steer with cab in vineyard
ASI skid steer cab options
ASI Universal Vehicle Automation Kit
Area of use: Wine vineyards
Function: Mowing and spraying functions
Testing: Running field trials in CA and TX
Price: $75,000 - $150,000/unit (includes complete skid steer device and driving kit) depending on skid steer configuration
Company: Wageningen UR (University and Research center), Wageningen, The Netherlands and Agritronics, Sint Annaparochie, The Netherlands
Website:http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/Wageningen-UR-Greenhouse-Horticulture/Research-themes/Advanced-Cultivation-and-Production-Systems/Subthemes/Computer-vision-and-robotics.htm and http://www.agritronics.nl/
Product: Research to supply intelligent systems for high value crops to commercial research partners/vendors
Wageningen UR cucumber harvesting robot
Area of use: Sweet peppers in The Netherlands, apples and grapes in Belgium, canopy spraying in Slovenia and spot spraying in Italy
Function: Harvesting and spraying (spot and canopy)
Testing: Yes, for sweet pepper, in July in a commercial greenhouse; for apples and grapes tests are now completed. For spraying, field tests have been completed. A new harvester, visual quality inspection and vision system for broccoli, is being developed with start-up Agritronics, Sint Annaparochie, The Netherlands
Availability: “This will take several years”
Price: Not available
Vision Robotics 6-Line Lettuce Thinner
Vision Robotics grapevine pruner
Area of use: California
Function: Grapevine pruning being tested; lettuce thinner available for sale
Testing: Testing and development for grapevine pruner could be completed in less than 18 months depending on funding
Availability: Lettuce thinner available now; pruner early 2016
Price: Lettuce thinner starts at $140,000 and upwards depending on configuration; pruner will likely sell for same amount
PrecisionHawk Lancaster plug-in sensors
Area of use: Ontario, Canada
Function: Providing data for crop researchers, consultants and farmers and ranchers to make farm management decisions
Testing: Performing field tests under an SFOC from Transport Canada for a number of years. The majority of research and development happens in Ontario, Canada. Over the past six months have obtained a number of CoAs from the FAA to perform field tests and research across the United States in conjunction with universities such as NC State, Texas A&M, Kansas State and Cornell.
Availability: 70% of sales are global. Have entered into a number of projects with US companies on foreign soil for specific research projects
Price: Basic Lancaster platform is $15,000 plus sensors and other options
Area of use: 30 machines already at work in UK, the EU and Canada.
Function: Weeding and thinning of lettuce, cabbage, fennel and onions
Testing: In California (preceding expansion into North America)
Availability: Started selling in 2011 after 8 years of development
Price: The 5-row version sells in Europe for 80.000€ ($100,000)
Company: Kinze Manufacturing, Williamsburg, Iowa and Jaybridge Robotics, Cambridge, MA
Website: http://www.kinze.com/ and http://www.jaybridge.com/
Product: Autonomous vehicle system for row crop harvesting
Kinze autonomous tractor and grain cart
Area of use: Iowa and Illinois corn and soybeans
Function: Autonomously garner row crop grains from combine machines and bring it out of the field to the transport area
Testing: Testing autonomous harvesting system since 2012; in 2013 three farmers in Iowa and Illinois leased systems without Kinze overseeing operation allowing the farmers to use the technology independently. The Kinze system marries off-the-shelf components, including GPS, radar, laser sensors and video cameras, with custom software that allows the system to react to field obstructions. It was developed in partnership with Jaybridge Robotics.
Availability: Kinze is not currently selling the harvesting system but is working towards full commercialization soon
Price: The price has not yet been set for the system which includes the autonomous driving kit for the tractor and grain cart plus the navigation, path planning, harvester communication and control software systems
Area of use: Midwest US farm belt
Function: AutoProbe is a towed device which directs the driving of the towed vehicle to enable consistent, uniform and accurately distanced soil samples. The device is capable of pulling over 2,500 cores per hour
Testing: Tested for 7 years in the Mississippi Delta in the Midwest US
Availability: Available now as both a service and a sale; live demos at various US ag shows
Price: Not available
Amazone-Bosch BoniRob lightweight field robot
Area of use: Work on corn and wheat experimental plots in Germany
Function: Autonomous omnidirectional field robots working in "flocks" for multiple purposes
Testing: Multiple-purpose lightweight robot for weeding, applying fertilizer, inspection being developed with Robert Bosch GmbH
Availability: Only two built; no plans announced for commercialization at this time
Price: No information available
Helper Robotech fruit and vegetable grafting robot
Area of use: Korea, Japan and China
Function: Grafting is most common in European and Asian countries as well as in greenhouses worldwide where crop rotation is no longer an option and available land is under intense use. Robotic grafting is relatively new although mechanically-assisted grafting has been going on for a long time.
Availability: Available now
AGCO Fendt GuideConnect - driverless 2nd system
AGCO Fendt VarioGuide auto steering system
Area of use: Global
Function: SectionControl integrates various data and enables fully automatic section control via GNSS for ISOBUS-capable sprayers, spreaders and seeders; the VarioGuidenight and day auto steering system; and the newGuideConnect in which two tractors act as a unit where one vehicle is unmanned
Testing: GuideConnect is still under development with no known date or area for availability; the following vehicle doesn't have its own obstacle detection which may be why they haven't yet released the product
Availability: All but GuideConnect are available now in the EU and US
Price: Not available for all 3 systems
Company: Rowbot, Minneapolis, MN
Product: Rowbot is a self-driving, multi-use platform that travels between rows of corn, ex: applying nitrogen fertilizer in sync with corn needs. It can also collect sensor data to inform both current and future work. GPS and several sensors keep the robot from trampling the crop
Rowbot in cornfield. Rowbots work in teams to apply nitrogen fertilizer in sync with precision needs
Area of use: US Corn Belt
Function: Rowbot travels between corn rows - often under the leaf canopy - to apply nitrogen fertilizer and also to seed cover crops
Testing: Working in conjunction with Carnegie Robotics on development of the Rowbot.
Availability: Began test marketing this year for in-season nitrogen and cover crop seeding services; plan to widen scope of services in 2015
Price: No information available about the cost of the service
senseFly eBee Ag
senseFly eBee Ag autopilot system and carrying case
Area of use: Global
Function: The eBee ag system includes eMotion software and a carrying case. The software and cameras enable 2 cm per pixel resolution and produce 3D maps and overlays as well as the capability to lay out (and simulate) a flight path for up to 45 minutes of flying time
Availability: The eBee ag system is available now
Price: About $12,000 for the complete system
Conic Systems EMP-300 Grafting Robot
Area of use: Global
Function: Enables grafting of vegetables and other greenhouse plants
Price: Not available
Naio Technologies Oz field robot
Area of use: Mostly in France
Testing: Testing next generation of Oz robot (with improved navigation capabilities) in real field conditions in France
Function: The Oz robot serves as an autonomous electric tractor which can be used for weeding and as a transport from harvesters to accumulation points. Oz operates as a self-powered robotic implement rather than a towed implement
Availability: Began selling in 2013
Price: Initially robots are being rented to help customers get familiarized with the product line and to help optimize the utilization. Units are renting/leasing for $315 to $475 per month depending on configuration
Robotic Harvesting Strawberry Harvester
Area of use: California
Testing: Ongoing in California
Function: Autonomous mobile device which takes stereovision photos to locate any fruit or vegetable in 3D space and then uses a robot arm to pick and place on a conveyor selected berries
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You must be logged in before you can post a comment. Login now. | <urn:uuid:c6258187-ac0c-44d5-aefa-2d825ce243ec> | {
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Ridhima Pandey is from Uttarakhand, just west of Nepal in India's Himalayan region. She is nine years old. Last week she filed a lawsuit against the Indian Government for its failure to take action on Climate Change. Uttarakhand suffers many of the same problems as the communities our work supports in neighbouring Nepal: flash floods, landslides, insect pest infestations and heavy rain storms. Climate Change is exacerbating these problems and will continue to. Even at nine years of age Ridhima understands this and is calling on the Indian Government to honour pledges made in the UNFCCC Paris Agreement to limit the impacts.
One way to 'adapt' to the impacts of Climate Change is to leave these remote areas, but this is not really adaptation at all, it is fleeing and a painful last resort. When people leave remote, rural areas they most commonly head to the city. Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, like many cities in neighbouring India and China, is growing and with that growth comes overcrowding, air pollution and severe health problems. In a globalised world, the opportunities to migrate for work and study are fantastic things and we would never want to deny young people like Ridhima these opportunities. But, we desperately need to ensure they also have the opportunity to make a living in the remote communities they call home. The Himalayas are littered with thousands of abandoned villages, it is tragic and avoidable.
Genuine adaptation to climate change is possible and achievable, The Glacier Trust and our partners in Nepal are proving this. Thanks to our work, families are able to remain in the villages that have been their homes for generations. In some instances, our interventions have encouraged people to return to farm their land. We are helping them to nurture and improve it making it more fertile, productive and resilient. By enabling farmers to grow cash crops in a sustainable and organic way, our work is creating economic possibilities. This, we hope, will secure a future for the next generation.
We strongly support lobbying efforts like Ridhima's, but are not relying on national government's and UN bodies to turn their words into deeds. In a world of Trumpian politics it feels like a very high stakes gamble. Our focus is on the urgent need to take action now to secure the future of remote mountain communities. With your help we can do even more. | <urn:uuid:39994b20-bf04-4023-939c-1a6fe1ca8c73> | {
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Surviving Digital Forensics: Link Files
MP4 | Video: 1280x720 | 60 kbps | 44 KHz | Duration: 2 Hours | 436 MB
Genre: eLearning | Language: English
A computer forensic guide for understanding LINK file evidence on Windows computer systems
Windows LINK files are a great source of information when your aim is proving file use and knowledge during a computer forensic investigation. This course goes beyond automated results and digs into the body of a LINK file in order to understand how it is constructed and how to manually pull out and interpret the data. Through a series of hands-on validation exercises and practical exercises you will gain a firm understanding of how LINK file data is affected by different types of user driven behavior. Using all freely available tools, this course takes you through the process of understanding what automated tools do under the hood - all in about an hour.
Source material for the practical exercises is provided. Just bring your Windows 7 or Windows 8 system and a desire to learn.
What are the requirements?
Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer system
Basic computer forensic fundamentals
Basic Windows computer fundamentals
What am I going to get from this course?
Over 25 lectures and 1.5 hours of content!
Learn how to interpret LINK files on Windows 7 & Windows 8 systems
Learn how to tie a specific User account to LINK file activity
Learn to identify first and last file access times using LINK files
Learn how to discover the drive letter, volume name and file path of accessed files using LINK file data
Learn how User activity affects LINK file evidence
Learn how to manually locate and decode embedded LINK file data such as MAC times
Learn to do all of this using freely available computer forensic tools
What is the target audience?
Computer forensic analysts
Computer crime investigators
链接: http://pan.baidu.com/s/1ntCJF0t 密码: 278x | <urn:uuid:12d262ba-0128-4f3d-a311-997521b1fdc4> | {
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International refugee protection 50 years on: The protection challenges of the past, present and future
30-09-2001 Article, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 843, by Erika Feller
Headlines repeatedly proclaim: “Experts meet in Dublin to discuss child asylum seekers”; “More refugees flee to the Gambia from Senegal’s Casamance province”; “73 illegal immigrants detained in Austria at weekend”; “UNHCR to repatriate more Tanzanian refugees in Kenya”; “Afghanistan: Taliban impose Islamic law on aid workers”; “East Timorese refugees in West Timor to vote on repatriation”; “Residents, army fear rebel assault on Burundi capital”; “1,600 Sudanese refugees enter Uganda”; “Scotland: asylum hate'shames city'”; “Immigrants are seeking asylum in outdated law”. These are just some of the press headlines featuring refugee issues in May/June 2001.
To begin to appreciate the scale of humanitarian need underlying the work of international refugee protection, it is enough to look at refugee statistics showing that UNHCR has responsibility for some 22 million persons in 160 countries, of which the majority are women, children and the elderly. While there is little cause for celebration of the 50th anniversary of UNHCR and the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees , it provides an opportunity to reflect seriously on the point now reached in refugee protection and where it could or should go from here.
This article first outlines the refugee protection regime and its key components, then it portrays past developments in the refugee field, looks into the question as to whether the 1951 Convention is outdated and takes stock of current protection challenges. Finally, it illustrates the current dialogue on how these challenges could be met.
Full text in PDF format (124 kB) | <urn:uuid:38dfa8e3-41aa-4c80-961b-b36cd674cf5c> | {
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Clean, fresh water is all around our Great Lakes State.Water drawn from the Detroit River and Lake Huron has been used as the source of our public drinking water. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department treats this water so it is safe to drink.
Please click here to view this report.
A dripping faucet can waste up to 2,000 gallons of water a year. A leaky toilet can waste as much as 200 gallons of water a day.
A community-based landscape education program promoting waste reduction, water quality protection and biodiversity.
Visit the Healthy Lawns & Gardens Link for more information
What is the hardness of my water?Depending on the manufacturer of your appliance, you need to know the ppm (parts per million) of your water or the "grains of hardness". SOCWA water runs consistently at 100 ppm or 6 grains of hardness. | <urn:uuid:fbedcfec-f346-4cf6-acbf-48f7f0b85ab3> | {
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Persuasions #15, 1993 Pages 23
In the Service of Comedy
Jane Austen, the quintessential female wit, holds a unique place in literary history. The greatest female literary artist of her time, she altered the steps of fiction’s dance. As Regina Barreca explains in her new book on women and humor, They Used to Call Me Snow White … But I Drifted, “women have been labelled as ‘unfunny,’ as less likely to laugh than their male counterparts. It’s been an unspoken but unwavering assumption that women and men have different reactions to humor, as well as different ways of using it. The noted psychologist Rose Laub Coser, argues: … ‘women are expected to be passive and receptive, rather than active and initiating’. ”1 Austen endows her most beloved heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, with a devilish tongue. Elizabeth’s intelligence helps her control her unfortunate indenture to a society which underrates her. Every joke she makes at Darcy’s expense brings her closer to marriage with him. It is a marriage achieved through a series of games she plays with her partner to prove her worth. Austen suggests that intelligence is as valuable as social position. She celebrates the human intelligence. As Barreca says, making a joke is a political gesture – a response to one’s feelings of powerlessness.2 Critic Emily Toth asserts that “women humorists attack – or subvert – the deliberate choices people make; hypocrisies, affectations, mindless following of social expectations.”3 Elizabeth’s quips are her ticket to the upper echelons of a society for which she is frankly unqualified by birthright or education. Elizabeth is undaunted by her lack of weapons in life. She does not feel her “bow” is too light; her aim is true and the arrow of her wit flies straight to its mark. She is a heroine we can embrace two hundred years after her birth as an example of what a woman’s intelligence can accomplish. She succeeds to the fullest extent possible given her society’s limits. Indeed, this is all any of us can hope to do. Austen extends the limitations of Elizabeth’s world to allow for an unexpectedly happy future for her. Collins is the logical choice for Elizabeth’s partner, but Austen shows us how ridiculous such a match would be. In making her readers see this too, she challenges the very foundations of her society. Elizabeth’s dancing feet take her to the altar with the partner of her choice.
1 Regina Barreca, They Used to Call Me Snow White . . . But I Drifted (New York: Viking Press, 1991), p. 6.
2 Barreca, p. 15.
3 Barreca. p. 13. | <urn:uuid:1cc467c9-5adb-423c-af5b-374fae922ce0> | {
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Attempting or gaining access to someone's computer without their consent or knowledge is illegal all over the world – in the UK it is prohibited under the ‘Computer Misuse Act’. However, whilst these laws criminalise those who spread malicious viruses, they do not explicitly outlaw spyware, a fact that spyware developers are eager to exploit.
Many spyware developers operate as legitimate companies because of the methods used to pass their software to computers. Though people often believe they haven’t authorised spyware to access their computer, it often comes bundled with desirable applications with permission granted through the terms outlined in the fine print of end-user license agreements. Most users usually ignore the full details of these agreements, but spyware companies believe that agreeing to these demonstrates user consent.
End-user licence agreements (EULA) are a common feature of software downloads, often in the form of ‘click wrap’ agreements, under which a single click is taken as consent to the entire text. There is legal debate surrounding whether or not these agreements can constitute a binding contract in all circumstances, and in the absence of certainty spyware developers widely use them as an acceptable form of consent. To avoid spyware, it is best to scrutinize end-user licence agreements for any mention of you giving consent to have your personal information shared with third parties. The law is much clearer on forms of spyware that don’t request user consent – these are outlawed.
Certain US states have produced clear laws that make it illegal for anyone other than the owner or operator of a computer to install software that monitors web browser setting, monitors keystrokes, or disables internet security software. Laws have also been passed in US Congress to impose penalties on producers of spyware that is used to hijack control of user’s computer, expose users to pop-up ads that cannot be closed, modify user’s personal settings or access personal information without specific consent.
The vagaries of the law on what precisely defines ‘spyware’ have led some software firms to file libel actions after their products have been described using this (commonly) pejorative term. Producers of software that monitor user’s behaviour have successfully filed law suits against agencies who have described their products as ‘spyware’, and as a result in some cases such products have become known as ‘greyware’. This is a particularly apt term, as in areas pertaining to spyware, what constitutes precise definition of the law is indeed a grey area.
Spyware producers believe end-user license agreements create a contract based on informed consent. Computer users who download software that contains spyware without reading the fine detail may not be so sure, and the law is currently not definitive on this matter.
To protect your personal information and keep your computer free of spyware, it is important that you carefully read the license agreement for any software you download and that you install anti malware software.
What is a worm?
What is a rootkit?
What is a keylogger?
What is ransomware?
What is spam?
What is a Trojan horse? | <urn:uuid:df7ba679-00ca-4c9c-a8b6-110e1aef422e> | {
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1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland Book
Discover the hidden treasures of Fairyland in the picture book 1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland Book. This search-and-find book is great for young kids because there are very few words on it, but it does help them with their counting skills when they are looking for the objects on each page. With each turn of the page, you are taken to different parts of Fairyland, like the secret garden or fairy school. Within each setting, you need to find a set number of certain objects.This book is very imaginative and filled with lots of color so as to keep you entertained for hours.
Item # 512200
- 1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland is a search-and-find book filled with lots of colors and imagination
- It will help improve counting and discovery skills as you explore Fairyland
- 32 pages | <urn:uuid:74858396-61c5-4da9-9927-83c0254a0cbe> | {
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A tall, horizontally subdivided container for fractional distillation in which vapour passes upwards and condensing liquid flows downwards. The vapour becomes progressively enriched in more volatile components as it ascends, and the less volatile components become concentrated in the descending liquid, which can be drawn off.
- Vapors from the oil move into a fractionating column, a tall tower containing a series of chambers.
- The crude oil is heated in a furnace and pumped into the fractionating column, near its base.
- The packed fractionating column can be used for the production of terpeneless essential oils and isolation of natural aroma chemicals under high vacuum.
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: frac¦tion|at¦ing col¦umn
Definition of fractionating column in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
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An international team of scientists has officially crowned the Arctic tern the king of long-distance migration. Every year, the tiny bird flies nearly 45,000 miles on its trip from the northern tip of Greenland to the shores of Antarctica and back again. That's equal to 60 trips around the Earth in the bird's lifetime.
"This is a mind-boggling achievement for a bird of just over 100 grams [about 3.5 ounces]," says Carsten Egevang of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources. He was one of the main scientists on the tern study.
Scientists have known for years that the bitty bird, which weighs as much as a stick of butter, made a lengthy migration. But scientists could never before prove that it was the longest in the world. The instruments used to follow large animals, such as geese, penguins and seals, were too big for the terns to carry.
The development of tiny tracking devices has allowed scientists from Greenland, Denmark, the United States, Great Britain and Iceland to map the Arctic tern's massive pole-to-pole migration. Scientists attached devices called geolocators to the legs of 50 birds in Greenland and 20 in Iceland. The geolocators are about the size of a small paperclip. They helped to track the birds' flight.
What a Trip!
What did the scientists learn? The terns make a month-long stop in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean to feed on small fish and shrimp-like animals called krill. As they continue their journey south, half of the birds fly down the coast of Africa. The others fly across the Atlantic Ocean and down the coast of South America. The two groups meet in Antarctica.
The scientists were surprised to find that the birds did not take the shortest route back to their breeding grounds in Greenland. Instead, they flew in an S-shaped pattern over the Atlantic, adding 1,000 miles to their journey. Ian Stenhouse, a scientist on the study, says that the birds follow wind systems to help them on their return trip.
"They get a lift from the wind," Stenhouse told TFK, "and this allows them to make the return journey in about half the time they spent going south."
But the biggest discovery of all was how far these birds actually travel each year. Scientists had estimated the round-trip to be about 20,000 miles. The new tracking instruments showed that the Arctic tern travels twice that distance. | <urn:uuid:19aaf20f-e915-4ecc-8f24-563476d6e3dc> | {
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Prior to the arrival of the motorcar, carriage lighting was not a part of every buggy. If so equipped, the illumination was usually provided by what was commonly known as a gaslight that burned some type of fuel. Most people did not venture out at night, and if they did, it was more important for the horse to see where it was going than the driver or the passengers. If lighting did exist, it did little to illuminate the road and was more for pedestrians to see the carriage. Thomas Edison ended all of that with the invention of the electric light bulb, and this technology eventually was applied to motor vehicles.
As engines became more powerful and, thus, vehicles traveled faster, the need for adequate lighting became apparent very quickly. It was no longer acceptable to have the roadbed lit only a few feet in front of the vehicle. This was especially important in rural areas where there was no man-made light.
When electric replaced gaslights, the power was supplied by either an independent storage battery, a generator with a storage battery or through an independent generator system. If a battery alone was being used, it would need to be recharged from an outside source, or from a generator on the vehicle. Early light bulbs were made from a carbon filament and consumed a great deal of current. So, it was difficult to employ a storage battery alone, because it would need to be quite large and heavy to provide any practical illumination time. The carbon filament lamp used a thin, chemically treated wire that was placed inside a vacuum. This was eventually replaced by a gas-filled lamp with increased brightness and less electrical consumption.
If a stand-alone storage battery system was used, the capacity of the battery had to be great enough to run the headlamps and rear lamps for a reasonable time before the battery had to be recharged.
During the 1930s, a total electrical consumption rate of 7.85 amperes was assumed for headlamps, along with the rear and dash lamps.
A 100 ampere-hour lighting system battery would run the bulbs for approximately 12 hours of steady on time. Under average conditions, this would mean that the battery would have to be recharged about once a week. A 120 to 150 ampere-hour battery would not cost much more than a 100 ampere-hour unit and, thus, provide a much longer time between charging.
Quickly, both the manufacturers and motorists realized that generator and battery systems would be much more advantageous and would require less coddling by the vehicle owner. It would automatically keep the battery charged and would permit more current to be used for lighting without danger of running down the battery while far from home. This became the accepted method of providing lighting for motor vehicles. With this design, the battery also supplied current for the starter motor and ignition system along with any other apparatus that required electrical energy.
Some early cars employed an independent generator system for the headlamps. The Ford Model T was the most common example. The generator delivered alternating current, which was used both for lighting and ignition. Because an automotive battery cannot be recharged with alternating current, the headlamps could only be used reliably when the generator was running. Thus, the brightness of the lamps varied with the speed of the engine, unless a regulator was part of the design.
The Society of Automotive Engineers handbook from 1930 provided the protocol for automobile lighting. It was deemed by committee that headlamps would be divided into three general categories:
Single-socket- A lamp having one focusing type reflector and one focusing type light source;
Two-socket- A lamp having one focusing type reflector along with an auxiliary light source; and
Doubles- A lamp having two focusing reflectors and two focusing type light sources.
Shortly after the 1930 SAE standard was written, improvements to vehicle lighting were made, such as prefocused bulbs, which eliminated the necessary constant focus adjustments of earlier headlamps. Instead, the headlamp itself or the reflector was moved to properly aim the light path. A foot switch was used to shift to "passing" beams. The asymmetrical type headlamps, which came into general use in 1938, applied to light beams that are not in parallel with each other, or not symmetrical.
For example, one system had the beam from the left lamp toe inward to the right side of the road, and the beam from the right lamp project slightly toward the left side of the road. The latter was evoked on passing another motorist to minimize glare. The sealed-beam headlamp system came into general use in 1940. With this design, the reflector, lens and light source are hermetically sealed as an assembled unit. When the filament burns out, the entire unit is replaced. The life expectancy of an early sealed-beam headlamp was said to be approximately two years of average driving. The lamp provided two beams: the traffic beam rated at 30 watt and the country beam, rated at 40 watts. A foot switch was used to select either beam. There was no focusing adjustment as the light source was precision focused at the factory. The only adjustment was to assure correct aiming of the beams. The headlamp assembly holder was equipped with two adjustment screws, one for lateral and the other for vertical aim. In addition, most sealed-beam lamps also employed a headlamp relay, so the entire electrical load to illuminate the filament would not need to be carried by the headlamp switch.
The source of light in a bulb is the thin wire at the center of the lamp bulb, known as the filament. The current heats the wire white hot. If a bulb was designed for 6 volts, and the circuit is powered by 12 volts, then the filament would become so hot it would burn up. If designed for 12 volts and the circuit supplies only 6 volts, the filament would be yellow and dim.
The term candlepower is used to express the amount of light generated by the filament. Although a lamp may be described as having a certain candlepower, when applied to an automobile it actually refers to spherical candlepower. The same amount of light is sent out in every direction.
The reflector does not increase the brilliance of the light, it simply takes the total amount of light that would be projected in all directions and concentrates it in one direction.
The voltage rating of the bulb is usually that of the battery. But it was quite common that, to save the bulb from burning out, a lamp designed for an input one to two volts higher is employed.
For example, if a 6-volt light bulb were to be used with a 6-volt battery, the light would only be bright when the battery was fully charged. If a generator was used to charge the battery and supply power for the headlamps, by the time the car reached around 15 mph, the voltage output would be slightly higher than the battery voltage. The result would be that the higher voltage would increase the brightness of the light and cause premature failure of the filament.
The amperage of the light bulb is governed by the candlepower, and, in the 1930s, the average automotive bulb was between 2 and 32 candlepower. The higher the candlepower, the more voluminous the light, the greater amount of current would be consumed.
Wattage is the amount of energy consumed as a function of volts multiplied by amperes. Thus, a 6-volt bulb that pulls two amperes is considered to be 12 watts.
Filament design for automotive lamps is considerably different from that of household lamps. A vehicle's light bulbs must be able to withstand severe vibration and road shocks and not fail while the thin metal filament glows white hot.
The design of the lamp base that moors it into the wiring socket has become standardized with the development of the automobile, and for many years Detroit used only a few distinct designs. They were identified as a double contact bayonet; single-contact bayonet; screw base; miniature screw base. Often single and double-contact base bulbs were identified with the abbreviation S.C and D.C., respectively.
As more automobiles made their way onto the road, many states started to evoke laws to combat the danger of glare to other motorists. The light that produces glare is the part that leaves the headlamp at a rising angle and so never hits the road, but does make contact with the eyes of the approaching drivers. These rays may come from either the top or bottom of the reflector, depending on the position of the lamp in the reflector base.
It was discovered that there are prescribed methods for reducing headlamp glare. Using a very low candlepower lamp or dimming the headlamps is one way. Low output lamps help reduce brilliance, and colored lens glass will absorb some of the light and eliminate glare.
This method was effective, but was deemed unacceptable because it rendered the sealed-beam headlamp not much better than a kerosene lamp. Tilting the reflector down enough to bring the upper edge of the beam below the average eye level was a much more effective method of reducing glare. The downside to this approach is that the amount of the road that will be lit is greatly reduced.
Another idea was by diffusion of the light by means of ground glass with a large number of small lenses or pyramids. With diffused lenses, there is a tendency to glare if the candlepower of the lamp is sufficient to light the road, as the light is thrown in many directions. Deflecting lenses, which bend or deflect the light, were also tried. This design has the beam rising up and then back down to road level. Devices of this kind have the advantage of being able to limit the glare without cutting down the distance the light will be thrown on the road. Some of the deflecting lenses were constructed so all of the light leaving the headlamp would hit the road nearer to the car than it would with clear glass. This would not be desirable without special consideration given to the mounting on the vehicle.
The Ideal Lamp
An ideal lamp is defined as one which will meet the following requirements: sufficient candlepower to illuminate the road such a distance that the driver would have ample time to stop before reaching an object, and so that it would be able to penetrate dust and fog; very bright light at the edge of the road and close to the car so that the road could be clearly seen and followed in spite of glare from an approaching car; and full-width of the road from side to side lighted for at least 200 feet ahead of the car.
Through engineering protocols, the ideal light can be defined, but still to this day, the perils of darkness are not eliminated through automobile headlamps. Many years ago, the Federal government mandated a candlepower limit that is still in effect.
Europe has allowed more freedom in headlamp design and has designed lamps that could be a benefit to American motorists, but are illegal to market here. A major breakthrough in lighting was delivered in the U.S.A. with the 1975 model year automobiles. Production vehicles were now allowed to use rectangular sealed-beam lamps. Prior to that, only round headlamps were permitted.
It is interesting to note that the rectangular lamps were not any brighter than the round version, but allowed more freedom of front-end style. Aerodynamics could be enhanced because the area occupied by the headlamp system would not impose such a great penalty against the air stream.
Recently, the introduction of high-intensity discharge lamps was allowed by more up-to-date government legislation. These lamps do a much better job of illuminating the road, but are very expensive and create a blue light that increases glare for oncoming motorists. With all the modern technology available today, old-fashioned glare is still the battle that has yet to be won. This Mechanical Marvel can turn the night into day, but only at the expense of other drivers.
This article originally appeared in the January, 2007 issue of Hemmings Classic Car.
Order Backissues of Hemmings Classic Car
Subscribe to Hemmings Classic Car | <urn:uuid:ecc2a89e-3017-4ee6-ba79-46ac3e5f4ee1> | {
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Vito Marcantonio, Congressman
Vito Marcantonio was born on December 10, 1902, in East Harlem, lived in East Harlem all his life, and was buried from East Harlem three days after his sudden death on August 9, 1954.
His political life was, from the very beginning, closely associated with that of his friend and early mentor Fiorello H. La guardia In his own memorial tribute to La guardia Marcantonio tells how they met.
"I first met La guardia when I was attending De Witt Clinton High School. He addressed the school assembly the same day when I made a speech. I shall never forget it. I spoke in favor of old-age pensions and social security. La guardia made this the theme of his speech to the students."'
Even as a high school youngster Marcantonio was aware of the special hardships of the poor and crowded East Harlem community. The great majority of his neighbors, like his own family, were immigrant Italian Americans. In addition to economic insecurity a large number faced language difficulties and the disturbing effects of a new culture on old family ties and traditions. The frequently hostile attitude of older Americans towards newcomers intensified their problems. Derogatory references to East Harlem in newspaper reports, then as now, made it harder still for many of its people to envision for themselves acceptance as equals or a full participation in American life.
Marcantonio, who never lost his profound feeling of identification with his community, developed early in his high school years an equal sense of kinship with the democratic spirit of America as it was expressed in the lives and writings of Jefferson and Lincoln.
Unlike many young people who became embittered or cynical as they saw the discrepancy between the glowing picture of American life as they were taught it, and its reality in such communities as East Harlem, Marcantonio kept his faith in the people's ability to make the American dream come true. He set himself the job of interpreting the unrealized possibilities of democracy for his neighbors, and of helping them to achieve the dignity and security they deserved and needed.
As a first step he led a group of schoolmates in organizing Citizenship and English classes for adults at a neighborhood church, and he continued to teach similar evening groups for many years. In this and in other practical ways he began, in his teens, to express the active farsighted devotion to his community and his country that characterized his life to the end.
Concern with individual human problems and attempts to solve them through social action were always, for Marcantonio, the very essence of politics. In a sense then his political career began when, at 18, he became a leader of the East Harlem Tenant League and conducted its successful 1920 rent strike. But in the more customary meaning of the word his first step into actual political life was taken at the request of La guardia As Marcantonio himself told the story:
"The next time I met him was the summer of 1924 when both of the two old parties had ganged up on him. That year La guardia decided to support Senator LaFollette for President on the Progressive Party ticket. The Republican Party refused La guardia the Republican nomination. The Democratic Party, as usual, sought to defeat him. La guardia asked me to actively participate in that campaign, and together with a handful of our friends and neighbors in East Harlem, we conducted a successful campaign for him and for LaFollette in our congressional district."
Marcantonio, who had been graduated from law school in 1925, managed the campaigns which returned La guardia to Congress on the Republican-Progressive ticket in 1926, 1928 and 1930. In 1930 the young lawyer was appointed assistant United States attorney, a position which he resigned two years later. La guardia was defeated for Congress by a Democrat in the New Deal victory of 1932 and Marcantonio worked with him to organize the City Fusion Party, an anti-Tammany coalition which elected "the Little Flower" Mayor of New York City in 1933.
With La guardia's enthusiastic support Marcantonio then determined to represent his community, La guardia's former constituency, in Congress. Despite the opposition of the "Old Guard" he secured the Republican nomination and, endorsed by the City Fusion Party, won a bitterly contested election, defeating the incumbent Member for the 20th Congressional District by 247 votes in November 1934. He took his seat in the 74th Congress in January, 1935.
At the beginning of his first term Marcantonio established the pattern of regular daily personal service to the people of his community. His unpretentious headquarters on the ground floor of an old brownstone house at 247 E. 116 Street, which had formerly been La guardia's center, was open seven days a week throughout the year for all who wished free assistance with health, citizenship, relief, workmen's compensation, tenant, immigration, or other legal and family problems.
While Congress was in session these services were necessarily provided by Marcantonio's associates, but every weekend, despite his extraordinarily heavy program of legislative work in Washington, he returned to New York to meet personally with the hundreds of neighbors who needed his help. This custom remained unbroken during his subsequent terms in office. At the same time his attendance record on the floor of the House for the next fourteen years was outstanding, and the volume of outside work he did studying and writing bills, organizing congressional and public support for, or opposition to, specific legislation, planning and directing parliamentary strategy, was certainly unexceeded and probably unequalled by any other Congressman.
With all Marcantonio's great personal popularity in his district, and the fact that he was one of the strongest supporters of New Deal policies in the 74th Congress (1935-36), the landslide for President Roosevelt in 1936 carried practically every Democratic candidate in New York City to victory and Marcantonio was defeated.
In local New York City politics, being a Republican then often meant, essentially, an anti-machine, anti-Tammany position. This was true in such neighborhoods as East Harlem. La guardia had, for example, been elected as a Republican to the 68th Congress and as a Socialist to the 69th Congress and Marcantonio strongly expressed the same anti-Tammany viewpoint throughout his life. But on the national scene Republican opposition to relief expenditures, social security, and other health and welfare appropriations, ran counter to Marcantonio's profound convictions. This rapidly became evident to his colleagues on both sides of the House and gave rise to such exchanges as the three-sided one with a Democratic Congressman, O'Connor, and Republican leader Martin, which took place in the House on July 29, 1935:
Mr. O'Connor: What has really been happening here? Practically every Republican member voted the other day to adjourn this House [without acting on an emergency relief appropriation requested by the President] and go home.
Mr. Marcantonio: Is not the gentleman in error in that?
Mr. O'Connor: I will make an exception, yes; the gentleman from New York, my good friend Mr. Marcantonio did not.
Mr. Martin: He is not a Republican.
Mr. O'Connor: My affection for him is so strong that it somewhat coincides with that opinion. I really hope he is not.
During his first two years in Congress it had become clear to Marcantonio that many of the Democratic Members of the House were unwilling to go even as far as the President on social welfare legislation; and that the administration itself often fell short of measures Marcantonio considered necessary to protect civil liberties, the rights of labor, the foreign born, and other minority racial or political groups.
In the spring of 1936, for example, the administration bill for supplementary W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) appropriations was less than a third of the amount requested the previous year. Marcantonio remarked bitterly: "The New Deal has substituted in the place and stead of the Hoover myth of two chickens in every pot the stark reality of two wolves at every door." Congressman McCormack, an administration spokesman, objected: "We have given $3,000,000,000 a year [to the unemployed]. It is $3,000,000,000 more than Hoover gave." Marcantonio then aroused laughter with the reply: "Is the gentleman proud of being just a little better than Hoover? Is that all the gentleman has to offer?" And a rhetorical question by Mr. McCormack, "Where would they [the unemployed] be if the present administration had not engaged in the humane policy that it has...," elicited the quick retort, "...you should ask me where would the administration be? The unemployed owe the past appropriations to their own mass pressure."
The newly organized American Labor Party was far closer to expressing Marcantonio's political philosophy than even the New Deal Democratic platform, and from the first he affiliated himself with the A.L.P. In November, 1938, he was elected to Congress as the only American Labor Party Member. He had also won the Republican nomination, defeating the regular organization nominee in the primaries, and therefore ran on both tickets. Although his vote was 10,059 on the Republican line and only 8,901 on the A.L.P. line he asked specifically that his designation in the Congressional Directory be solely "American Labor Party."
In 1940 he was elected as American Labor Party candidate with Republican endorsement, but in 1942 the regular Republican organization leadership again refused him the nomination. He replied by entering himself in both the Republican and Democratic primaries and winning in both, but continued to list himself solely as American Labor Party.
In 1944 a New York State redistricting made possible a new attempt to defeat him by removing part of his old district and adding to the new 18th Congressional District the thickly populated community stretching from 59th to 99th Street. In spite of this radical change in his constituency he again won both major party primaries. Since he was also the American Labor Party candidate he carried the district by a majority of 66,390.
An article in the April issue of Harpers, commenting on the redistricting before the 1944 primaries, said:
The Twentieth Congressional District no longer exists. the New York Legislature, dominated by upstate Republicans who have nothing to fear from Marcantonio, has reapportioned the state and tried to gerrymander Marcantonio out of office. In the new Eighteenth District, he will still have most of his East Harlem Spaniards and Italians but life will be complicated by the addition of vast German and Irish hordes from the adjoining Yorkville area."
For the campaign in his greatly enlarged district Marcantonio had opened another office in a loft above a Five and Ten Cent Store in the very heart of Yorkville First Avenue near 77th Street. This remained a permanent headquarters to assist the people of the community. Soon the numbers who came to 1484 First Avenue for advice and help exceeded even the crowds at his uptown East Harlem Club. Two articles, published in the spring and fall of 1944 by magazines which were sharply opposed to Congressman Marcantonio politically, report visits to his two headquarters.
Richard Rovere, writing in the April Harpers, begins:
"The scene in the La guardia Club after one o'clock on Sunday looks like nothing so much as a busy day in the clinic of a great city hospital. Marcantonio and three or four secretaries sit at desks on a platform in the front of the main hall. Before them on wooden camp chairs are about a hundred constituents, many of them cradling infants in their arms ... as many as four hundred may come and go in an afternoon .... They speak in Spanish, Italian, English, and various mixtures of the three. Marcantonio can always answer in kind, throwing in a little Yiddish if the need arises. Mostly their problems concern money or jobs. During the depression, the majority were relief applicants.
Today the same people are back for army dependency allotments. Many want... war plant jobs. Some need legal aid.
Marcantonio sees personally about thirty thousand ... in the course of a Congressional term."
And Walter Davenport, in the October 14 issue of Collier's presents an even more vivid eye witness account:
"For an hour before the Honorable Vito Marcantonio trots into the F. H. La guardia Political Club in East Harlem, New York City, the hail reeks with woe. But not hopeless woe. Marc will listen. Marc will know the answers.
In at least six languages the crowd compares troubles ... in Italian, Spanish, Polish, Yiddish, Hungarian and English the latter in a wide assortment of dialects: Irish, native Negro, West Indian Negro, New York.
When Congress is in session, he spends Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in Washington, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays are spent in his two New York offices .... His office hours are plainly marked on the doors from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. However, he seldom leaves until seven or eight. When Congress is in recess he is at these offices daily .... Gas bills, landlord complaints, complaints against landlords. Naturalization. Sickness. Wayward children. O.P.A. [Office of Price Administration] violations. Nonsupport. Pensions. Army allotments. Jobs.... Like this for hours.
Somehow, along about seven o'clock the lists are exhausted. So are the Congressman and his aides. The chairs are empty. Three hundred and twenty-seven of Vito Marcantonio's constituents have been heard, advised, helped. Tomorrow it will start all over again. It's quiet for a few minutes and then the Congressman ... and the rest of the staff compile and catalogue the disposition of the day's cases.
'What do you make of it?' the Congressman asked us.
We said that a couple of days like that would drive us nuts.
'Well,' said he, 'it's what I get ten thousand a year for. It's their dough!"
In 1946, Marcantonio won in the Democratic primary and ran on the American Labor Party and Democratic tickets. Newsweek, reporting the election in its issue of November 25, 1946, stated:
"Despite an all-out Republican effort to unseat him, synchronized with a vigorous anti-Marcantonio campaign conducted by leading newspapers he won by 5,500 votes... [in the year of] a GOP landslide."
The 1946 effort to defeat Marcantonio had attracted nation wide attention. The conservative Saturday Evening Post ran an article in its issue of January 11, 1947, entitled "They Couldn't Purge Vito." In this Sidney Shallet, who had covered the campaign for the magazine, explained the failure to unseat Marcantonio in terms of his personal relationship to the people of his district, saying in part:
What matters to them is not whether Marcantonio is red, pink, black, blue or purple, but that he is 'their' Congressman a ... tireless fighter for the man on the streets of East Harlem.
He is willing to live in their slums, rub elbows with the best and the worst of them, work himself to the thin end of a frazzle for them. He spends his dough on them, takes up their battles against the landlords .... On occasions ... the Congressman even has carried scuttles of coal personally to heatless tenements. Anyone who wants to see him...can do so.
The Marcantonio system of personal service is unique. Whereas some congressmen pride themselves on developing routines for dodging troublesome constituents, Marcantonio insists almost fanatically that no constituent, however lowly or troublesome, get the kiss-off...."
Mr. Shallet concluded his article with an account of the final election eve rally:
"All previous campaign color was eclipsed on election eve when Marcantonio made his traditional appearance at his 'Lucky Corner' 116th Street and Lexington. This was La guardia's 'Lucky Corner' when the Little Flower was active in New York politics. Marcantonio inherited it along with the La guardia seat in Congress.
A fifteen-foot electric sign, LUCKY CORNER -- REELECT MARCANTONIO, blinked down on the crowd of 10,000. There was no mistaking the crowd's wild admiration for their Champion. The Hymn of Garibaldi greeted his appearance, and the crowd, predominantly Italian American, erupted for three full minutes. Flowers, songs, and tri-lingual tributes were lavished on the candidate. Then Marc made the same campaign speech, but again it was the man, not the words, that mattered."
In 1947 the New York State legislature passed the Wilson-Paula law prohibiting any candidate not enrolled in a political party from running in that party primary without the official approval of the party's county executive committee or other designated officers. This kept Marcantonio from entering himself in either or both of the major parties' primaries as he had done in the past. He was, nevertheless, reelected in 1948 on the American Labor Party ticket alone by a majority of 5,067, in the face of high-powered and virulent campaigns by the Democratic and Republican organizations.
Marcantonio's opposition in the 81st Congress to both major parties on such fundamental issues as foreign policy, labor relations and civil liberties had become so outstanding that extraordinary measures were taken to prevent his reelection. A three party coalition of the Democratic, Republican and Liberal parties, supported by every major newspaper in New York City, backed a single candidate against him. The New York Times, for example, ran a series of editorials on three successive days urging his defeat. Nothwithstanding this concentration of forces Marcantonio won over 40% of the votes in the 18th congressional district, exceeding the Democratic vote for his opponent by 10,880, the Republican by 17,065, and the Liberal by 30,892. The combination was, however, sufficient to defeat him by 13,353.
After his defeat he maintained his two neighborhood offices. Thousands came to see him every year just as they had when he was their elected Representative. To his neighbors he was still "the Congressman" -- the man everyone called Marc -- close to their problems, ready to help them as lawyer and advisor, warm and understanding friend.
During this period, as an individual and as a leader of the American Labor Party, his main concern was what it had been in Congress to secure world peace. In a speech delivered in 1952, during the presidential election campaign, he said:
"Tragically, after 27 months of killing in Korea, with 119,000 American casualties, some of us accept the Korean conflict as we do the flowing of the Hudson River. After 14 months of talk at Panmunjom some have come to feel that this so-called "police action" or "little war" is something with which we can live. They have forgotten that war in our time is like cancer if it is not stopped it spreads. If this Korean war is not stopped now, it too will spread.
The overwhelming majority of Americans, no matter how they are divided on other issues, are united on the objective of cease fire in Korea.
The resolving of every other issue, civil rights, labor, civil liberties, agriculture, the economic well-being of the American people, depends on cease fire in Korea."
Marcantonio was among the first in our country to call for acceptance of the resolution presented to the United Nations in January, 1951, by the delegation from India, as a solution for the Korean conflict.
He directed the energies of the American Labor Party in a many-sided effort to bring pressure on Washington to negotiate a truce and then settle the one remaining question, the return of war prisoners, without further bloodshed. Thousands of posters appeared in the streets of New York with the slogan "The Best Defense of America is Peace with China." Leaflets asking support for the proposal of Senator Johnson of Colorado, which called on the United Nations to seek an armistice, were widely distributed. The American Labor Party conducted a "peace ballot," obtaining the signatures of tens of thousands of New Yorkers to a petition urging a cease fire in Korea.
While peace was his major interest Marcantonio and the A.L.P. acted on many other issues. Noteworthy were the intense though unsuccessful fight to halt the "legal" lynching of Willie McGee, executed in Mississippi on a charge of rape, and continuation of the long struggle to win greater representation for the Negro people in public office at all levels.
In 1950 the American Labor Party nominated the first Negro candidate for United States Senator from New York. In 1951 Marcantonio placed in nomination the first Negro to be designated for the post of Borough President of Manhattan. This then became the office on which the Negro people concentrated their efforts for a breakthrough in New York City. In 1953 all parties named Negroes for the position, and the first Negro Borough President of Manhattan was elected in that year.
But despite the New York State vote of 509,559 for Henry Wallace in the 1948 presidential election, and the impressive tally of 356,626 for Marcantonio in the 1949 New York City Mayoralty campaign, many began to question the feasibility of independent political action by a third party. This became especially true when the earlier American Labor Party policy of backing some major party candidates for local or national office was no longer practicable, either because the nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties would not accept minimum planks of the A.L.P. or because they were not permitted to accept its endorsement.
In 1952 many independent voters felt it might be necessary to support what Marcantonio called "the alleged lesser evil." In a series of debates with I. F. Stone in the New York Daily Compass, and in a pamphlet "The Other Evil," published during the last weeks of the campaign, Marcantonio vigorously upheld the need for a third party. He said:
"... [A vote for the Progressive Party in 1952] is a vote as valuable as that cast for the Liberty Party in 1840 against slavery, and for the Free Soil Party in 1848 and 1852 against extension of slavery. It is a vote similar to the one that made up the one million votes for Eugene V. Debs in 1920, which in turn led to the four million votes for LaFollette in 1924 and for victory for Roosevelt in 1932.
Great causes were never won by sacrificing a real fight and substituting for it the seeming lesser evil...
In the New York Mayoralty race of 1953 a considerable section of the American Labor Party leadership opposed, at preconvention meetings, the nomination of an independent candidate for mayor. Marcantonio argued for a full slate of A.L.P. candidates. His position finally won the almost unanimous vote of the delegates at a party convention which chose American Labor Party nominees for all citywide offices.
As the campaign progressed it became clear that there was still a fundamental divergence of opinion between Marcantonio and many other leaders of his party on the question of full independent political action. Division on this basic question weakened support for the ticket and lessened the effectiveness of the campaign. After the election, in November 1953, Marcantonio resigned from the American Labor Party. In resigning he said, in part:
"I shall continue to strive as an independent for the things for which I have striven so hard. I shall continue to do so as an independent endeavoring for the political realignment which is inevitable. It is as inevitable as the failure of the Republican and Democrat foreign policy and the economy that is based upon it." In the early months of 1954 Marcantonio began to canvass opinion in his district and by spring he had decided he could run successfully for his former congressional seat, even though a coalition against him remained in force. In June he announced his candidacy as an independent. On Monday, August 9 when, hurrying to his office, he died of a sudden heart attack, he had on his desk the first stack of nominating petitions with which he was to open the actual campaign for his reelection to Congress in November.
Reporting his death the World-Telegram and Sun which had opposed him in 1950, indicated the probability of his victory in 1954. It said, in part:
"Death claimed the fiery little lawyer-politician as he was planning a campaign to regain the Congressional post from which he was ousted in 1950.
There had been signs of a rift in the Democratic-Republican coalition and observers saw a good chance that Mr. Marcantonio could succeed."
His death elicited extraordinary tributes from former associates and political opponents in Congress, as well as from many other public figures. Expressions of regard by Representatives of both parties appear in the Congressional Record of Tuesday, August 10, 1954.
Congressman John A. Blatnik, (D. Minnesota) said:
" ... . Many Members of this body have disagreed with the political principles held by Vito Marcantonio. However, I am sure that of those who have known him including those who disagreed with him most strongly will all admit that he was a most honest, courageous, sincere and warm-hearted person who served his constituents well in the Halls of Congress.
During the 80th and 81st Congress I came to know Marc very well. I liked him personally very much, and I respected him for his courage and for his willingness to stand up on an issue even when he stood alone. It is always a simple matter to take a position when one is part of the majority, but it takes real conviction to stand up and be counted when you are by yourself or with only a small minority. Vito Marcantonio was a man of such convictions who never hesitated to fight for that in which he believed ....
Vito Marcantonio was a real friend of mankind who always fought for the underdog. Few Members of this distinguished body were his equal as a parliamentarian and floor strategist .... He fought the good fight and did it well."
Congressman Emanuel J. Celler (D. New York) said:
"One may have disagreed with him but one could never find any fault with his method of disagreement. He was a Member of this House who always fought hard for what he deemed right. He always fought fair. He had great courage and determination, a determination as firm as a rock you hold in your hand and a courage as fierce as lightning. He brought to bear upon his services in this House erudition, keen intelligence, hard work, and what to him was a sincerity of purpose .... He ever stood for the preservation of fundamental liberties, and, using the words of our distinguished Chaplain this morning, he always sought the enhancement of human rights and human welfare."
Congressman Herman R. Eberharter, (D. Pennsylvania) said:
"... Of his many sterling attributes, what impressed me most in my personal contacts with him was his true concern for the oppressed, for those who were among the less fortunate, his ever-ready sympathy for the poor and downtrodden.
I believe that he was possessed of a good heart and a pure soul, and our memory of him, as we saw him in action on the floor of this House will be to many of us an inspiration, for without doubt he possessed exceptional ability coupled with immense strength of character..."
Congressman Clare Hoffman, (R. Michigan) said:
"He not only knew the parliamentary procedure which governed the House, but he never lacked the courage to use that knowledge to further the legislative program to which he adhered.
He was so far to the left that I could not go along with his views. Perhaps I was too far to the right. However that may be, no Member of the House, so far as I know, ever doubted his sincerity, ever failed to recognize his ability or his effectiveness.
Our colleague served the people of his district vigorously, consistently, and sincerely."
Congressman Eugene J. Keogh, (D. New York) said:
"... Mr. Speaker, while one might disagree with his philosophy of government, all who observed him and served with him had to respect the indefatigability and application to duty of our late colleague, Vito Marcantonio, whose death occurred under such tragic circumstances. He was often alone on the floor of the House, but his sudden death was a shock to us all. He worked hard and he lived hard, and literally died while at work ...
Congressman Arthur Klein, (D. New York) said:
"...Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that I am somewhat overcome by emotion, but what I really wanted to say was that 'Marc' was my friend, even though some people thought it was politically unwise to admit such friendship because of his political views. I differed with him many times in the past. I said on many occasions in speaking about him during his lifetime that I would undoubtedly disagree with him in the future. I cannot say that any more. As the gentleman from New York [Mr. Celler] pointed out, when he thought he was right there was no way of changing his views. He was consistent, he was hard working, and represented his constituents ably. Many of us will miss him. I know that every Member of this House who knew him respected him and liked him, although I suppose not many will get up here and say so. No one can find fault with his personal life, even though we disagreed with him politically..."
Congressman Eugene J. McCarthy, (D. Minnesota) said:
"Mr. Speaker, I would like to join with my colleagues in saying a word in regard to the gentleman from New York, concerning whose death we have just received notice. I think most of us know that on many occasions his name was made a kind of byword; the fact that one had voted with him was used as argument that one was unfit to serve in the Congress. I knew him during only one term in this Congress, and I judge him only by his actions on the floor of this House and by things he said while I was a Member here with him. And I say quite frankly that never did he support anything on the floor of this House or advocate anything which any good American allowing for the great differences of opinion among Americans, might not have advocated and any Christian might not have advocated..."
Congressman Abraham J. Multer, (D. New York) said:
"Mr. Speaker, many of us had our differences with our late colleague, Vito Marcantonio. Many on my side of the aisle, when he first came here in 1934, having been elected to this House as a Republican, members of my party, differed with him politically. I did, too. Later when he led the American Labor Party, many of us on both sides of the aisle differed with him politically. But he was truly a good American. Despite his differences politically with us, he was always honest in his convictions. He was fair in his political warfare. As a man, we respected him in life and it is fitting that we pay tribute to his memory today.
There were few who were as good parliamentarians in this House as was Congressman Marcantonio when he was with us. But, knowing all of the intricacies of parliamentary law, he never took unfair advantage of any one; he always gave due notice of what he intended to do, and when he gave his word it was his bond."
Marcantonio would have valued even more the silent tributes by the endless stream of anonymous mourners who came for three days to pay their last respects to him in the small neighborhood funeral chapel. For, as he said in his memorial to La guardia a few years before:
"His funeral was attended by the great in all walks of life. However, that was not what impressed me. The line of thousands upon thousands of common people who came to pay their respects ... was the most impressive tribute .... The people who stood in line were workers, storekeepers and of the professions. They were New York City."
THE PRESENT VOLUME IS, in a sense, a partial political autobiography. The material presented here has been chosen from the exceptional number of arguments, debates and comments Congressman Marcantonio made on the floor of the House during his fourteen years as a Member, and from the radio addresses, public speeches, letters and other documents he thought important and relevant enough to have inserted in the Congressional Record.
There is, therefore, no material included from the years before Marcantonio's first election to Congress in 1934, and none from even such major non-Congressional activities as his New York City Mayoralty campaign of 1949. Nevertheless these pages do, we believe, give a comprehensive picture of his political philosophy and his stand on the important issues which faced the people of the United States from 1934 to 1950. To indicate the nature of some of Marcantonio's work during the last four years of his life there are, in the appendix, substantial excerpts from four of his legal cases.
A passionate concern for the dignity and well being of man and an unabashed and genuine patriotism are evident in Marcantonio's speeches from his earliest term in Congress to his latest. The very first words which appear in the RECORD on February 19, 1935, are an indignant inquiry, addressed to a speaker who wished to reduce immigration by forbidding the extra-quota admission of resident aliens' wives and minor children:
"Does the gentleman believe it is wrong for families to be reunited, and unAmerican and detrimental to the economic welfare of this Nation?"
And sixteen years later Marcantonio reaffirmed his fundamental faith that no inhuman policy could be good for America, saying:
"the difference between me and those who want to repress people is that I have faith and confidence in the intelligence of the American people .... Those who are against them say they want this kind of repressive legislation."
This tireless concern for human rights and American democratic traditions was expressed on many different issues in many different ways. But it is possible to see Marcantonio's work in Congress as falling into three more or less homogeneous periods, each with its own predominant central problems. These roughly coincide with the prewar, war, and postwar years of his congressional service.
DURING THE PRE-WAR DEPRESSION YEARS OF 1935-1940 Marcantonio's major preoccupation was, of course, welfare, the economic needs of the one-third of the nation which was ill-fed, ill-housed and ill-clothed.
Here as always he showed an unusual ability to present a long-range program of sweeping fundamental reform without ever losing sight of the comparatively small immediate gains which might be won through persistent day by day demand. His farsighted plan to meet the needs of the unemployed, his strong support of the Frazier-Lundeen social security bill, and his opposition to "placing the burden of caring for the poor on the shoulders of the poor" were all integrated with his pressure for increased W.P.A. and relief appropriations, additional housing, and enforcement of minimum labor standards.
He was also most vigilant in guarding against measures which threatened to deprive those on relief of their right to organize or to engage in political activity in defense of their economic interests. He characterized an amendment to the Hatch Act, which would have barred W.P.A. workers from participation in politics, as "a step in the direction of government by the rich and well-born" and repeatedly defended such organizations of the unemployed as the Workers Alliance.
The use of "the red herring... to conceal the lack of pork chops" was a frequent target of his scathing criticism. Effective examples are his defense of the National Youth Congress and the Federal Music Project. In the spring of 1940 the Project had arranged for participation by young musicians from its rolls in an orchestral tour of South America, to be financed almost entirely by private sponsors and led by the renowned conductor, Leopold Stokowski. Although only $3,500 was to be spent by the Project itself for incidental costs in the selection of those who were to comprise the orchestra, several Congressmen made an attempt to have the entire appropriation for the Music Project unfavorably reconsidered because of its participation in "such subversive activities" as the tour. Marcantonio ironically remarked:
"I want to say the gentleman is absolutely correct with regard to Stokowski and alien subversive activities. What does his orchestra play? Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi absolutely alien and subversive ... "
The bitter competition for jobs during the '30s made a climate of opinion in which it was easy to attack the foreign born, and many a demagogue posed as a friend of labor in sponsoring legislation to bar resident aliens from work relief and subsidized housing projects.
Marcantonio fought these demagogues with a variety of weapons. Sometimes he used logic, analyzing such attacks on the alien worker and showing them to be part of a strategy aimed at the organization of labor and at all American workers. Sometimes he used ridicule, as in his sarcastic comment on a bill to prevent non-citizens being elected to union office:
"I do not believe the amendment goes far enough. I believe... we should restrict leadership of American unions to the descendants of those who came over on the Mayflower." (Laughter and applause)
It is not surprising that the son of Italian immigrants, whose father was a carpenter, should have realized the identity of interest between native born and foreign born workers. But it is, perhaps, surprising that this son of the city streets, who had lived his entire life in East Harlem, should have been equally aware of the unity of interests between farmers and workers.
In 1935, during Marcantonio's first term in Congress, spokesmen for organized labor, including William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor, opposed a bill to prevent foreclosure of family farms by refinancing mortgages at lower interest rates, on the grounds that this would lead to inflation and thus lower real wages. Many of the urban pro-labor Members of the House in arguing against the bill, cited a letter sent to all Congressmen by Mr. Green. But the junior Member from New York supported the farm relief proposal with a clear statement of the need for farmer-worker unity. After speaking of his own pro-labor voting record he concluded:
"I have followed Mr. Green on matters of labor legislation when I felt that his position was in the best interests of the American workers; but when Mr. Green attempts to throw the weight of the organized workers of America on the side of the Liberty League and the Economy League and other reactionaries who are opposed to this bill, then I refuse to follow Mr. Green's leadership and shall vote my conscience ... "
During his second term in Congress Marcantonio urged the same truth of the need for farmer-worker unity from another angle in his successful appeal to Representatives from the farm areas for their support of a city slum clearance project.
This independence of approach quickly won a degree of interest from his colleagues not often accorded to a freshman Congressman. For example, in June 1935 Marcantonio noticed that a Rear Admiral had an article in the Washington Herald over a byline which gave his name and rank without including the required statement that the views expressed were not those of the United States Navy. When he brought this to the attention of the House the following discussion took place.
Mr. Marcantonio: "... the Navy Department should not permit admirals of the United States to violate the regulations and go around making jingoistic statements advocating war with a friendly nation, a nation we have recognized. I think the Navy Department should take action and discipline this admiral, otherwise we shall have set a vicious precedent. If it had been an enlisted man who had violated the regulations, he would have been disciplined ... (Applause)
Mr. Vinson: [Georgia] The gentleman has no apprehension that the Navy Department will not require the admirals as well as enlisted men to live up to its rules and regulations?
Mr. Marcantonio: They have to show me.
Mr. Vinson: Well, suppose we cross that bridge when we come to it.
Mr. Marcantonio: I am going to cross that bridge when I come to it, and the date is on Monday, because I am going to call on the Navy Department and see whether or not they have taken any disciplinary action in this matter."
When Marcantonio returned to take his seat in the 76th Congress in 1939 he found in existence the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities, then better known by the name of its chairman as the Dies Committee, and he soon became one of its leading opponents. Several of his speeches on the committee are included in the text.
Another important fight Marcantonio made in these prewar years was the one against the Hobbs anti-alien bill, which he called the "concentration camp" bill. This was defeated in the Senate, but was reintroduced into the House in several succeeding Congresses, and Marcantonio continued to campaign against it successfully until similar legislation was finally passed in 1950 by the 81St Congress.
In 1939 and 1940 Marcantonio resisted every step which seemed likely to involve the United States in the war in Europe. On July 9, 1940, he said:
"Our entry into it will bring no gain to the American people, but only the loss of the lives of American youth and of our free institutions ... . I am not a pacifist, I am willing to fight for the defense of my country and in any war in which the interests of our American people are involved. The present war is no such war and I am therefore resolved not only to oppose our entry into it but to warn my fellow countrymen against that scheme of things which will make our entry unavoidable."
The alien registration law which required the fingerprinting of non citizens., the proposal for peacetime conscription, and efforts to deprive "labor of its economic and social rights by the ripping up of labor's magna charta, the National Labor Relations law," all strengthened Marcantonio's determination to preserve American neutrality in the Congressional session of 1940-41.
During the summer of 1941, however, he examined new factors which entered the international situation, and came to the conclusion that these had changed the character of the war. In October 1941, after much discussion with his constituents, he made a definitive analysis of the change in a speech on the floor of the House. Here he said:
"What are the reasons which lead me to believe that a war which was predominantly imperialist has become essentially a war of national defense for the people of the United States?
The first reason is one of geography. A look at the map will demonstrate that a conquered Soviet Union would place a Nazi military bridgehead within a rowboat distance of our own northwestern shores, Alaska .... Secondly, in the world of 1940 and the early part of 1941 Hitler could not move against the Western Hemisphere. We were not in military danger as long as Hitler had on his eastern boundary a powerful well-armed Soviet Union. The defense interests of the United States and the Soviet Union were interdependent. The existence of a Soviet Union depended on an unconquered United States. The existence of the United States depended on an unconquered Soviet Union. A Hitler conquest of either made a Hitler conquest of the other almost a certainty.
In supporting these very measures which I have opposed in the past, I am supporting them for the same reasons which motivated my opposition, namely defense of our nation and its liberties .... The character of the war has changed and I have no other consistent course to follow but to support a war of defense as vigorously as I opposed a war of imperialist aggression."
AFTER WE WERE ATTACKED AT PEARL HARBOR, Marcantonio was most effective in winning Congressional approval for vital war measures. The organizational role he played from 1942 to 1945 in mustering support for F.E.P.C. [Fair Employment Practices Committee], anti-poll tax bills and Federal soldier vote legislation, for example, is difficult to illustrate by direct quotation but it is indicated by the comments of colleagues and reporters.
Although Marcantonio once remarked, "I would like to make a political speech [from the floor of this House] but realizing that I am a one-man party here I find myself at a terrific disadvantage," yet he was an unofficially acknowledged leader of the most advanced group of President Roosevelt's supporters there during the war.
The 1944 Harper's article, referred to previously, said:
"At forty-two Marcantonio is well on his way to becoming a first-class national figure, though one of the most unorthodox sort. Heretofore, his influence in the Congress has been that of a gadfly, not a leader ... . Lately however, he has shown real genius in turning his liabilities into assets, in playing the political interstices for all they are worth."
The Collier's article, quoted earlier, spoke of the important part Marcantonio had taken as a leader in supporting the most progressive New Deal legislation in the House, and also explained the lack of official recognition in terms of Committee appointments.
"In Congress, Mr. Marcantonio has invited and received the deep disregard of all Southern Members. His fight to abolish poll taxes, to strengthen the Fair Employment Practices Committee and to enact tough anti-lynch legislation has made him so many enemies.
In 1943, the House Committee on Committees designated Mr. Marcantonio for the Judiciary Committee ... With one accord, the Southern members plus a large number of Northern Democrats ... vetoed that designation and Mr. Marcantonio was rejected..."
Perhaps even more telling and certainly more interesting are the many emphatic statements made in the heat of debate by angry colleagues giving Marcantonio full credit or blame for specific pieces of legislation, particularly civil rights measures.
On October 12, 1942, when Marcantonio had succeeded in forcing the first anti-poll tax bill on to the floor of the House, Congressman Cox of Georgia who had been leading the opposition, said:
"Let me make one statement, and to you, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Marcantonio], I salute you, sir. I salute you for having at least attained that burning ambition which you carry in your soul of becoming for one moment in your life the master of this House. You bring it to you, Sir, on its knee and, again, I congratulate you."
On December 14, 1943, Congressman Rankin of Mississippi objected to:
"the gentleman from New York [Mr. Marcantonio] backing up this rump organization known as the Fair Employment Practice Committee that is harassing the white people of the Southern States."
Four days later in the course of debate on a federal soldier vote bill Congressman Rankin said:
"Mr. Speaker, on yesterday, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Marcantonio] in his attack on southern Democrats and the Southern States generally, accused me of leading the Republicans. I do not know whether any Republicans are following my leadership or not, but I do know the Democrats are not following the gentleman from New York .... He does not represent any real Democrats."
On the same day Congressman Hoffman of Michigan (R.) discussed the situation in which New Dealers, with some Republicans, found themselves opposing a bipartisan coalition of conservative Democrats and Republicans. He said that he, at least, would never accept Marcantonio's leadership:
"Now, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Marcantonio] last night, I think it was, I noticed it in the RECORD said I was a 'Rankin Republican.' ... I will say this, at least, if I am a Rankin Republican, at least there are two of us, which is one more than the party which the gentleman represents has in Washington. I will say another thing, we have been talking a long time, some of us have, some people in this country, about a coalition. Now the parties are beginning to line up. It is no longer, as has been said here so often, Republicans against Democrats or Democrats against Republicans.
There has been a sort of New Deal, a New Deal Party which has taken over the Democratic Party, and perhaps there has been some disagreement on our side along certain lines .... Now if the time comes when I must make my choice, and I think it has, as between Democrats from the South, West, or the North, who believe in the Old Constitution and in the customs and practices of America as we have known them for the last one hundred and sixty-odd years, if that day comes when I must make a choice to go along with those men or to join with that group of new dealers or bureaucrats and wild, woolly and fuzzy headed individuals or whatever you want to call them, professors, then I will not hesitate one minute, not one minute, I will go with the Democrats who believe in the Constitution if I am forced to make a choice. And if I am forced to choose, as the gentleman seems to think I am, between the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Rankin] and the gentleman from New York [Mr. Marcantonio] much as I hate to make the choice, great as my grief may be, weeping as I make that choice, I will go with the man from Tupelo, the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Rankin]."
Most surprising of all, the Senate also took cognizance of the situation in which a "Member of the House of Representatives who is neither a Democrat nor a Republican" had assumed leadership, for the anti-poll tax fight, of the majority forces in the lower house.
On May 9, 1944, the anti poll tax bill, which had passed the House, was presented on the floor of the Senate, and Senator Connally of Texas challenged Senator Mead of New York, who was sponsoring it, to name the author of the House bill. When Senator Mead replied: "There were several, perhaps," Senator Connally persisted: "Marcantonio was one." Senator Mead answered: "And there were several others." Senator Connally then exclaimed:
"...Marcantonio! The rules of the Senate as to comity between the two bodies of the Congress prohibit me from discussing any individual members of the House. However, I cannot forget the part a similar name played in Roman history."
Two days later on May 11, 1944, Senator Bankhead of Alabama took the floor to prove that Congressman Marcantonio was really responsible for the passage of an anti-poll tax bill in the House of Representatives. The summary description which follows is one of the most explicit statements to be found in the Congressional Record of "the leadership of Mr. Marcantonio" in organizing support for civil rights legislation. Senator Bankhead said:
"Yesterday a good deal was said about the authorship of the pending bill. It was directly charged by Senators on the floor of the Senate that a man by the name of Vito Marcantonio, of New York, was the author of the bill. The junior Senator from New York [Mr. Mead] apparently did not want him to have that position so he insisted that three or four Representatives from the State of New York had introduced the bill .... Yesterday I telephoned the Clerk of the House of Representatives and was informed that Mr. Marcantonio was the first one to introduce the bill. There were others who subsequently introduced similar bills.
I assume that other Members of the House of Representatives and they were chiefly from the State of New York wished to follow the leadership of Mr. Marcantonio, so they proceeded to obtain copies of his bill and introduced it in their own names.
A little later this same Member of the House of Representatives, who is neither a Democrat nor a Republican, in fact, I do not know what his politics may be, Mr. Marcantonio, filed a petition with the Clerk of the House of Representatives to require the Committee, under the House rules, to report the bill. When he obtained a sufficient number of signers to the petition of discharge, he made a motion to discharge the Rules Committee and to send the bill to the calendar.
The result of that situation is that it is clearly shown that Mr. Marcantonio, and I am not criticizing him, he had the right to do what he did, is the leader of this program, this bill, this measure, this assault, as we call it, upon the Constitution of our Country. The thing that is surprising to me is that he found so many men who would follow his leadership on a constitutional question."
Senator McKellar of Tennessee then added:
"Yesterday I called attention to the fact that the bill was passed by the House, word for word, line for line, with the dotting of 'i's' and the crossing of 't's' all the way through just as Mr. Marcantonio had written it."
On May 15, 1944 Senator Barkley of Kentucky, in an unsuccessful attempt to get a vote on the anti-poll tax bill, introduced a motion to close the debate. He concluded:
"Much has been said here in criticism and in sarcasm regarding the name of the author of the bill, and regarding the organizations which support it. Mr. President, I hope that no Senator will vote, either on the motion which I have made to close debate, or ... on the bill itself, because of any prejudice against anyone who has a name which does not meet his particular favor, or against any organization which he does not happen to like.
Two years later in 1946, when F.E.P.C. legislation was passed in the lower House and presented to the Senate, Senator Bankhead again made Marcantonio his target.
"... Mr. President, the next development [after the first wartime executive order for F.E.P.C.] was the introduction of a bill in the House of Representatives by Representative Marcantonio.
He is not a Democrat; he is not a Republican. I do not know whether he is a Socialist. Of late, since the American Labor Party was organized, he has belonged to it. I do not know what his record was prior to that time. However, he is the author of the first legislative bill which was introduced on this subject in the Congress of the United States. It is surprising to see so many able strong Members of the Congress, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, following the leadership of Mr. Marcantonio on this subject.
Now let us consider the record. Mr. Marcantonio introduced his bill on July 20, 1942. It is House Bill 7412. I ask unanimous consent that it may be printed at this point in the RECORD as a part of my remarks.
[The Bill in full was then included in the RECORD.] ... Mr. President, I wish to call attention to the similarity between Senate Bill 101 and the Marcantonio Bill. I ask students of the subject to compare section 1 of the Marcantonio Bill with the corresponding section of the pending bill. I ask them to compare section 3 of the pending bill, Senate Bill 101, which defines unfair employment practices, with section 3 of the Marcantonio Bill.
[Senator Bankhead continued with a series of similar comparisons between 7 more sections of the two bills.]
Then following the introduction of Mr. Marcantonio's Bill, Mr. Scanlon introduced his Bill [in the House]. It is exactly like the one we are now considering, Senate Bill 101. Mr. Scanlon was a Democrat.
Then along came Mr. Dawson. On the day after Mr. Scanlon introduced his Bill, Mr. Dawson introduced exactly the same Bill. He is a Democrat from Illinois.
Then came Mr. LaFollette. On the same day he introduced House Bill 4005. He is a Member of the House of Representatives and is a Republican from the State of Indiana. The Bill he introduced follows the real pattern in fashion set in the Marcantonio Bill.
Then came the first Chavez Bill on June 23, 1944 .... That Bill was the one which was introduced by the Senator from New Mexico [Mr. Chavez] and other Senators, the same authors as those of the pending Bill [Senate Bill 101] ....
Mr. President, the authors of those Bills comprise about six Republicans and about six Democrats. It looks as though there were a scramble of Representatives to secure a good position on this subject ... ."
Marcantonio's effectiveness in winning such backing long remained vivid in the memory of Congress. In 1950, during the brief debate on the McCarrart Bill, Congressman Carroll of Colorado, one of the 20 who voted against it, disassociated himself from Marcantonio who was leading the fight against the bill. Congressman Carroll said:
"... The voting record of not only myself but other Members of the Democratic Party of the North and West with reference to international affairs is, on every important issue, separate and distinct and in opposition to the voting record of the gentleman from New York [Mr. Marcantonio]."
Congressman Cohner of Mississippi objected:
"if we are going to make comparisons and count noses, when the philosophy of the gentleman from New York [Mr. Marcantonio] was being opposed, before it was popular to do so, and when there was a little group in this House that consistently followed him, it was not the southern group ... "
One of the reasons Marcantonio was able to achieve the organization of a bloc in support of key progressive legislation during the war years of 1942-45 was his willingness to allow more conservative colleagues the major part in House debates. Thus during the years of his greatest influence in Congress we find him speaking there less than at any other period.
The liberal attitude which had generally characterized the nation and the federal government during these years, and made possible the phase of Marcantonio's legislative activity just described, showed some signs of deterioration even before the war ended. With victory in Europe in sight, and President Roosevelt's death, the deterioration became more rapid. The Congressional election of 1946, in which the Republicans won a majority, saw all but a few members of the "progressive bloc" defeated. The January 11, 1947 Saturday Evening Post article "They Couldn't Purge Vito" said, considering the new Congress and Marcantonio's position there:
"... In the last and preceding sessions of Congress, he was an effective gadfly in the interest of a number of pet causes and in opposition -- often victorious -- to what he would describe as 'Fascist' - that is, anti-labor, and so on - measures. His opponents respected him as a tireless and shrewd fighter; he knew the parliamentary tricks well, and he knew how to marshal every available vote [in the House].
The energy he will expend as a gadfly will be undiminished in the new Republican Congress, but many of the liberals and the more arrogant left-wingers who formerly would vote in his phalanx now are gone. His opponents claim he cannot count definitely on more than a dozen votes now...
IN THE POST WAR CONGRESSES Marcantonio did find himself more isolated each year in his uncompromising attempts to preserve real international cooperation and aid through U.N.R.R.A. and the United Nations instead of unilateral United States action in his continuing efforts to protect the status of organized labor and to maintain and extend the wartime gains made by the Negro people; and in his lonely rear guard fight to protect the Bill of Rights against erosion by Democratic "loyalty orders," Republican "loyalty bills" and the unconstitutional power of Congressional investigating committees.
It became increasingly necessary for Marcantonio to take the floor day after day -- sometimes even two or three times in a single day -- to carry on a dogged fight for the absolute repeal of Taft-Hartley; for civil rights; against the contempt citation of witnesses who had invoked the Fifth Amendment; in opposition to aid for Chiang KaiShek and Franco.
Less than a year after the war ended, during a miners' strike, Marcantonio spoke of "the same 'lynch labor' spirit being engendered here that I witnessed at the time this House rushed through the Smith-Connally Bill" [in May, 1943] Under the guise of attacking John L. Lewis you direct your attack against the men who are engaged, and have been engaged for the better part of their lives, in the production of coal."
Two weeks later, on May 25, 1946, Marcantonio was one of the few who objected to President Truman's request for drastic emergency legislation to force the striking railroad workers back on the job. The emergency was over before the Senate acted on President Truman's proposals, but other anti-labor action was urged in the House almost immediately. Marcantonio worked energetically to defeat the Case Bill: "The purpose of this legislation" he said, "is to destroy labor's right to strike."
For the rest of his time in Congress he was out in front with a small group, striving to hold the advances won by labor since the La guardia Anti-Injunction Act.
In a speech against the Labor Management Act of 1947 -- later substantially embodied in the Taft-Hartley Act -- Marcantonio asserted: "The whole philosophy of industrial relationship based on equality of bargaining is destroyed by this legislation."
On April 27, 1949, he cautioned labor that the "promises and pledges" made in the campaign of 1948 for the repeal of Taft-Hartley were "being washed out through a series of diabolical deals and compromises." A week later he assessed the substitute measure finally enacted as constituting "Taft-Hartley all over again."
From then on, in and out of Congress, Marcantonio took every opportunity to advocate "the outright repeal of Taft-Hartley and the reinstatement of the Wagner Act," even though the climate of opinion made his stand seem almost Utopian.
It is true that in the 80th and 81st Congresses Marcantonio rarely managed to win a majority on the floor of the House, but his appeals to the conscience of his colleagues almost always rallied a few more votes, and always encouraged many groups and individuals outside Congress to demand that their Representatives act to protect the peace, freedom and welfare of the people of the United States. And he himself never lost hope. In the darkest days of his Congressional career he repeatedly expressed his faith in ultimate victory in such statements as the one he made on the Mutual Defense Assistance Pact in August, 1949:
"It is abhorrent that in the United States today one's patriotism is subjected to attack when one stands up and fights for peace.
But let us see how history has passed judgment on those who refused to follow ... the program of the thirties in Italy and Germany.
Who were the real patriots, those who said yes, and those who followed, or were the real patriots those who refused to follow and faced the firing squads and were placed in concentration camps?
We are asked to forget everything everything that brought about the last World War.
When will this insanity cease? I know -- it will stop when the American people learn the truth."
Again, in speaking on F.E.P.C. in January 1950, he said:
"We may as well face it, gentlemen, irrespective of the maneuverings that are going on in this House, the American people are going to have their way with respect to F.E.P.C. The majority of the American people want it. All attempts to negate their will will fail because on this issue more than on any other issue the American people will make themselves heard. The people will win this fight despite the Truman double talk and the maneuvers of the leaderships of the Democratic and Republican parties."
And opposing the Internal Security Act of 1950 in August, he declared:
"The day is not far off when Americans will act as they have at other periods when we have had similar situations. Remember the Alien and Sedition Acts .... The American people rose up and defeated the tyranny of those days .... They have always thrust through to keep this democracy alive".
THESE POSTWAR CONGRESSIONAL YEARS also saw a new high point in Marcantonio's efforts in behalf of the independence of Puerto Rico and the well-being of its people, both on the island and here on the mainland of the United States.
During his first term in Congress he had introduced a bill for the genuine independence of Puerto Rico. In his second term he said to the House: "Puerto Rico is part of the United States and until its status is changed it is our duty to give as much attention, as much care, as much sympathetic treatment to Puerto Rico and its problems as we do to the problems of any of the people of the United States."
Marcantonio did his best to get Congress to fulfill this duty. Time and again he urged adequate relief appropriations, enforcement of the minimum wage law, changes in the coastwise shipping laws as they affected the island, and revision of the Sugar Act to improve Puerto Rico's economic situation.
He called the attention of Congress to every evidence, great or small, of "colonialism" as it affected the Puerto Rican people, and opposed not only the government of the territory by the United States, but also "... the rough hand of certain misguided Puerto Rican leaders [which] cloaks the direction that comes from the American financial and sugar interests on the mainland."
As early as August 1939, in describing an open denial on the island of civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, Marcantonio warned: "There is no place in America for political prisoners... When we ask ourselves: 'Can it happen here?' the Puerto Rican people can answer, 'it has happened in Puerto Rico.'"
By 1949 the demands of the Puerto Rican people for independence had reached a point which forced a congressional committee to consider the matter and in March 1950 they presented H.R. 7674, a bill for "the Puerto Rican Constitution." Marcantonio called this a "reaffirmation of the status quo in Puerto Rico under the guise of a meaningless self-government."
In his fight against H.R. 7674, Marcantonio made a complete analysis of its significance. Failing in his attempt to secure hearings on the bill in Puerto Rico, he placed in the RECORD evidence of the "profound opposition" to it by all kinds of organizations, publications and individuals on the island, most of whom were unable to attend the hearings in Washington.
ONE FURTHER ASPECT of Marcantonio's work in the House requires mention. Both friends and enemies agreed that he was altogether unsurpassed and almost unequalled in his mastery and daring application of the minutiae of House rules. Some remarks made by his congressional colleagues on his ability as a parliamentarian have already been quoted. As Congressman Celler said:
"He was one of the most skilled debaters in the Congresses he attended. He was an adept, artful parliamentarian. No one knew the rules better than he and he used that parliamentary knowledge and art with telling effect."
The RECORD contains innumerable examples of Marcantonio's use of this art. For instance, he often raised a point of order to prevent the passage of legislation tacked on to an appropriations bill; he was frequently the only one alert enough to call "no quorum" when there was an attempt to rush through some reactionary piece of legislation; he repeatedly called for the "yeas and nays" to induce Members, whose individual votes would then be recorded, to stand by their election pledges. On at least two occasions his surprise request for "an engrossed copy of the bill" on a Friday gained a two day postponement which allowed time for constituents at home to bring pressure to bear on their Representatives in Washington. In the spring of 1947 a bill for universal military training was defeated by a very narrow margin after such a delay. On March 16, 1949, the Herald Tribune headlined a Washington dispatch, "MARCANTONLO BALKS 70-GROUP AIR FORCE VOTE." It read in part:
"In the House, Representative Vito Marcantonio, American Laborite, of New York, used the parliamentary ruse of calling for reading of an 'engrossed copy' of the seventy-group bill just before the measure was to be called up for a vote. Since the bill was not in this final form and could not be so prepared until Monday, further consideration of it had to be postponed until that time under House rules. Representative Carl Vinson, Democrat, of Georgia, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and sponsor of the Bill, said that Marcantonio was 'within his rights' in his delaying tactics but predicted that the measure would pass 'almost unanimously.' He added that the New York Representative's 'real hope and strategy' had been to get the bill recommitted so that he could add an amendment -- which he has tried to tack on to numerous other measures -- to bar racial discrimination in the armed forces and in the industries supplying their equipment..."
The RECORD also reveals many occasions when Marcantonio took the floor to explain to his colleagues complicated parliamentary maneuvers which were being used in an attempt to defeat popular legislation. He showed them how these might be counteracted. To some extent he even succeeded in popularizing his parliamentary knowledge for his constituents. The best example of this is probably his newspaper article entitled, "Truman Can Pass or Kill F.E.P.C."
WITH THE EXCEPTION of the appendix, the material in this book has all been chosen from the 206 volumes of the Congressional Record which cover Marcantonio's congressional career. Hundreds of his bills, thousands of his votes and millions of his words are printed there.
In selecting from this wealth of material we have made every effort to give as full a picture as possible of Marcantonio's activities as a Representative of the people in the 18th Congressional District and the entire United States.
There is a great preponderance of extemporaneous debate and comment in the following pages. These vividly recall Marcantonio's personality, his ability to seize the essential point at issue with extraordinary rapidity, and to express himself on it at once. A good example is the impromptu speech in which he alone, of all those present who resented Congressman Rankin's slighting reference to Congressman Celler as "a Jewish gentleman," succeeded in organizing his thoughts quickly enough to protest immediately.
There are, of course, also a number of his longer, more definitive prepared speeches included. Many of these, like the criticism of the Hobbs bill, the analysis of the United States "foreign aid" program, and the opposition to an alliance with Franco's Spain, are examples of a closely reasoned, well-knit, complete argument where the logical structure succeeds in dealing with a multiplicity of details and presenting them in a unified and apparently simple manner.
However, the informal arguments show an even more revealing picture of the processes of Marcantonio's thought than do prepared talks or documents. They illustrate the way in which he could cut through formal logic to give the real meaning and weight of the matter under consideration. His discussion of F.E.P.C. and his summation to the jury in the defense of William Patterson' are examples of his skill in clarifying the essential implications of an issue for his audience.
Marcantonio was a serious student of American history as well as of current events but his concern in speaking was always the practical impact of his knowledge and understanding upon those who heard him, whether his audience stood about him on a street corner, sat before their radio and television sets at home, or faced him on the floor of the House.
That he had a strong feeling for the judgment history would pass on contemporary questions is amply illustrated by such statements as the one with which he concluded his argument on the European Recovery Plan on March 31, 1948:
"Mr. Chairman, I realize the effort we are now making is a futile one .... I know that nothing I can say or anyone else can say here this evening will change the course of events in this House. However, in the final analysis, our efforts are not futile because we believe that judgment on this matter will not be finally rendered here today. Final judgment on this far-reaching issue will be given by time and events and the American People. So as to have the record complete, and so that the record will demonstrate that efforts have been made by some of us to preserve the peace of the world, I have offered this substitute."
He cared very little, however, for the literary quality of his speeches, or for any admiration he might win by originality or variety of expression. Thus when he found an apt and popular phrase for a program or policy like "housing with an eyedropper," or a telling historical analogy, he would use it over and over. Marcantonio never forgot the time-tested rule learned early in street speaking: first tell them what you're going to say; then say it; then tell them what you have said.
Even for those who never heard him, the stylistic disadvantage such repetition presents in reading seems slight when weighed against the effect of immediacy and personal involvement these informal talks achieve. As for those who did know him, they may well, in many of these pages, again hear the characteristic inflections of sarcasm or emphasis, and see the quick gestures with which he punctuated his speech.
There is practically no subject on which Marcantonio spoke in the House that is not represented in the selections which follow, and there is, generally, a rough proportion between the number of times he spoke on a specific topic and the number of such speeches included.
To achieve this representative quality it has been necessary to give many speeches in part rather than in full. All omissions have been indicated by the customary ... and often substantial cuts are also marked by a bracketed statement of the nature of the material omitted.
The only other changes in the text are occasional corrections in punctuation. The RECORD is, essentially, a stenographic transcript; proofs are printed immediately after each day's session and the Members then have only three hours in which to make any necessary corrections in the reports of their speeches. Often this process leaves uncorrected obvious errors in punctuation all of which was, of course, supplied by the stenographer. Where these errors seemed simply to interfere with ease of reading they have been corrected, but wherever there was a possible ambiguity of meaning they have been left unchanged. Similarly a number of verbal errors have been kept as they stand in the RECORD, and the few such corrections which appeared really necessary have been indicated by placing the changed or inserted word in [ ]. Annotations brief explanations, additions of a proper name or geographical designation, and so forth -- are also placed in brackets.
With the exception of the material on Puerto Rico, everything is arranged in chronological order. Each of the seven Congresses constitutes a chapter with a table of contents in its opening pages. The speeches, letters and bills dealing with Puerto Rico are listed in order of date in these tables of contents but the material itself will be found in a separate section immediately after the 81st Congress.
The section on Puerto Rico thus presents a more continuous story of the island and its people. This topical arrangement also shows consecutively Marcantonio's activity over a period of 16 years on one of the general subjects which were of major concern to him. Those who wish to follow the development of his thinking on Labor, Peace, Equality, Civil Liberties or Welfare in a similarly continuous manner can do so by checking these headings in the index.
To conclude the selections in this volume with Marcantonio's final speech in Congress just after his defeat in the election of November, 1950, would have ignored his continued active concern, during the last three and a half years of his life, for the fundamental questions of state to which he had devoted himself with intensified earnestness in the 80th and 81st Congresses. A mere summary or descriptive statement would have detracted from the essentially "autobiographical" and documentary nature of this volume. To give some documentary account of the public activity of his last years we have, therefore, included parts of his own statements in four major legal cases. These constitute the appendix.
His long fight for peace on the floor of the House is reflected in his successful defense of Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, chairman of the Peace Information Center; his struggle against the misuse of contempt citations, and for the equality of the Negro people, appears in another form in his victorious defense of William Patterson, executive secretary of the Civil Rights Congress; his effort to secure repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act is recalled by his defense of Ben Gold, then president of the International Fur & Leather Workers Union; and his opposition to the Internal Security Act of 1950 is continued in his defense of the Communist Party, in an effort to have that Act declared unconstitutional.
Dr. DuBois was kind enough to permit quotation from the two chapters of his in Battle for Peace, in which he describes Marcantonio's conduct of his trial and quotes the argument for a dismissal, addressed to the judge who granted it. The William Patterson and Ben Gold trials are both represented by Marcantonio's summations to the juries. The defense of the Communist Party is represented by substantial excerpts from the brief which Marcantonio prepared for submission to the Circuit Court of Appeals, but did not live to argue.
LIKE THADDEUS STEVENS, the Congressman he so much resembled, Marcantonio's character and position were widely misrepresented during his lifetime. For those who knew him personally, or who really followed his activities in Congress, he needed and needs no defense.
Those who never knew him, or knew him only through the distortions of political opponents and a prejudiced press, will, we hope, be able to judge him for themselves through these selections from the official record of his life's work. This bears out his own declaration on the floor of Congress in his last term there:
"I have stood by the fundamental principles which I have always advocated. I have not trimmed. I have not retreated. I do not apologize, and I am not compromising ..." | <urn:uuid:f8500853-ab09-4552-8635-6c728f05a529> | {
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December 16, 2013
Senator Daniel Inouye remembered in telescope naming ceremony
Solar telescope reflects his forward-thinking commitment to scientific education, research
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) have renamed the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope under construction in Maui, Hawaii, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. The name memorializes the late senator's profound commitment to fundamental scientific research and discovery, particularly in astronomy.
When completed in 2019, the Inouye telescope will be the world's premier ground-based solar observatory – more powerful than any other in the world. Armed with this new instrument, astronomers will be equipped to glean new insights into solar phenomena and discover new information for understanding how our nearest star works, and for protecting the nation's vital space-based assets, the power grid and communication and weather satellites.
The four-meter aperture of this instrument being constructed on Haleakalā is unprecedented for a solar telescope. It will be able to provide incomparable data that allow researchers to see more clearly into the heart of sunspots, flares and other manifestations of solar activity. It will be the premier ground-based platform where academics, industry, NASA centers and other national and international partners can collaborate to answer challenging questions of global impact. Befitting the legacy of Senator Inouye, the telescope will be pivotal in training the next generation of solar physicists and instrument builders as it hosts undergraduate and graduate opportunities and imparts curriculum development for local schools.
"Over five decades of national public service Senator Inouye was a strong proponent of American science and innovation," said NSF Acting Director Cora Marrett. "This remarkable facility in his native state of Hawaii will expand our knowledge and advance our nation's scientific leadership over many decades to come."
"The Senator's enthusiastic support for our nation's science and technology enterprise was unwavering," said William Smith, AURA president. "AURA is confident that the facility that will bear his name will result in scientific discoveries that will vastly expand our knowledge of the sun and its interactions with earth and our atmosphere."
AURA, which operates the National Solar Observatory on the site of the University of Hawaii's Haleakalā Observatory, is building and will operate this NSF-owned, state-of-the-art instrument. The Inouye telescope is located on the summit of Haleakalā, an important site sacred to Native Hawaiian people. The use of this site, in consultation with the Native Hawaiian Working Group, is gratefully acknowledged.
"$300M telescope renamed to honor late Sen. Inouye's decades of service
" - Maui News, December 17, 2013
Ivy F. Kupec
National Science Foundation
William S. Smith
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
University of Hawaii, Institute for Astronomy
Jennifer Sabas, William Smith, Irene Inouye, David Lassner, James Ulvestad and Valentin Pillet unveil Plaque naming the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope | <urn:uuid:362f2870-c015-4e4b-8042-ab2b2dfcdafe> | {
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The surname Crowe has two distinct possible origins, one English and the other Gaelic Irish. In the first instance, the derivation is from the Middle English "crowe" (Olde English "crawa"), meaning "crow", and originally given as a nickname to someone thought to bear a fancied resemblance to the bird, perhaps someone with particularly dark hair. The surname from this source first appears on record in the latter part of the 12th Century. In Ireland, the surname Crow(e) is used as an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic patronymic "Mac Enchroe" from an earlier "Mac Conchradha", "son of Conchradha", a personal name containing the element "con", hound.
Variations: Craw, Crow | <urn:uuid:edcacf11-2902-4c26-a85e-0802c2220c4f> | {
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Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy stay with the Professor at his house in the country during the school holiday. Presumably, the children are to be presented with an alternative education to supplement the one provided by their schools. The Professor gives Peter and Susan a strange yet valuable lesson in logic when he suggests that Lucy may be telling them the truth about Narnia. Additionally, the Professor repeatedly expresses his exasperation with the school system, lending credence to the possibility that Lewis himself was frustrated with the English educational system. The increasingly negative personality that Edmund has been exhibiting at school worries Peter and Susan. Their quest in the world of Narnia, however, leads the children through a process of spiritual transformation that is particularly significant for Edmund.
In Narnia, the children are exposed to crucial lessons about friendship, loyalty, good judgment, forgiveness, faith, courage, and self-sacrifice. The reader is invited along on this journey, but learning these lessons requires imagination and a willingness to trust in the simple, clear logic that suggests that a world like Narnia might actually exist. The universe that Lewis presents to his readers becomes a vehicle through which he offers an alternative means for learning the crucial elements of personal and spiritual growth.
Logic and Faith
When Peter and Susan approach the Professor with their concerns about Lucy and her story about Narnia, the Professor leads them through a simple exercise in logic, in which they take what they know to be true (Lucy is a truthful girl) and what they have observed (Lucy has not gone mad) in order to reach the logical conclusion. This conclusion, the Professor suggests, is that the story of Narnia is true. Acceptance of this logical conclusion, however, requires a significant amount of faith. In this manner, Lewis constructs the scaffolding for a narrative that will enable the reader to believe in the existence of a place like Narnia.
The skepticism that detracts from the possibility that Lucy's story about Narnia is true is expressed through the character of Edmund, who questions the benevolence of the robin, Mr. Tumnus, and Mr. Beaver. The White Witch herself also expresses skepticism about whether or not Aslan will keep the promise he has made to her. In each of these cases, there is a logical argument that can be made in support of faith, yet the skeptics exhibit little willingness to accept the goodness of the other characters.
This story can be read as a children's story, and Lewis certainly makes use of this genre, as the form is essentially that of a fairy tale. However, more can be said about childhood in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Lucy, the youngest, is the first to express curiosity about the wardrobe. Without her pure, innocent curiosity, the children would never have traveled to Narnia. Throughout the story, Lucy is depicted as the most observant of the characters. In the end, even as she takes the throne, she maintains a delightful, childlike quality.
Through Lucy's innocence, Lewis shows the importance of clinging to what one knows to be true, loyalty, friendship, and genuine faith. If one possesses these attributes, he appears to believe, there is no place for skepticism.
Lewis was clearly influenced by his Christian beliefs when he wrote this story, though it can also be read as a simple tale of human growth. The stories of the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection of Christ are reflected in the character of the lion Aslan, who is the son of the deified Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Aslan arrives in Narnia to save it from the White Witch. His decision to allow himself to be killed by the witch in Edmund's place echoes Christ's willingness to die for the sins of mankind. Both Christ and Aslan walk to their deaths filled with a heavy sadness, fearful of the pain and the suffering that they are about to endure, and struggle to maintain their faith that they will indeed be brought back to life. In a scene recalling the crucifixion of Christ, Aslan is tied down to the Stone Table and slain with a knife. After some time, Aslan returns to life, and is more magnificent than ever. His resurrection inspires wonder in Susan and Lucy, who both witnessed his death.
Peter and Edmund both come of age by translating their specific skills into remarkable acts of courage, particularly in battle. Peter exhibits his valor by killing the grey wolf, and Edmund shows his courage by making the most of the clean slate he has been given, smashing the White Witch's wand during the last battle. Aslan knights both boys in order to reward their bravery. Aslan is another example of a courageous character, because he faces death without turning his back on his promise.
When Edmund is rescued from certain death at the hand of the White Witch, he has a long talk with Aslan, the contents of which no one knows except for the lion and Edmund. Edmund is forgiven by Aslan, as well as his brother and sisters, all of whom agree that the past is the past. The supreme act of forgiveness and self-sacrifice is made by Aslan, who accepts death at the hand of the White Witch in Edmund's place. He believes that Edmund's life is worth dying for, in spite of his past actions. Lewis appears to believe that forgiveness for past mistakes is the way that relationships heal and strengthen. It is also the foundation for a strong community.
Friendship and Loyalty
Lucy and Mr. Tumnus, the faun, are the first true friends that we see in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Lucy gives away her handkerchief, and Mr. Tumnus refuses to turn his new friend in to the White Witch. Friendship is later exemplified in the characters of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who lead the children to the Stone Table, where they find Aslan. Mr. Beaver shows Lucy's handkerchief as a sign that he is a friend of Mr. Tumnus's and, therefore, a friend of Lucy's. Lucy's show of loyalty to Mr. Tumnus is also a driving force behind the story, in that the characters do all that they can to save Mr. Tumnus.
Lucy's lunches with Mr. Tumnus and the wholesome meal prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Beaver stand in stark contrast to Edmund's endless appetite for the Turkish Delights given to him by the White Witch. The meals with Mr. Tumnus and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are accompanied by friendship and useful conversation, including stories about the forest, and information about Aslan. The White Witch's gift of Turkish Delights, however, is purely evil and intended to create in Edmund an unhealthy, insatiable appetite for more, thereby transforming him into her slave.
The tea tray that Father Christmas presents to the Beavers and the children, along with the breakfast in the forest that the White Witch and Edmund stumble upon, reveal that meals can serve as celebrations of good cheer, friendship, and family. The White Witch, however, calls the meal sheer "gluttony", and changes the creatures consuming it into stone. The fact that the White Witch herself is never seen eating suggests that she is different from the other, "good" creatures.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Questions and Answers
The Question and Answer section for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a great
resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
Time passes; daylight comes, and the Witch halts her sledge at the sight of a merry party of a squirrel, his wife, their children, two satyrs, a dwarf, and a dog-fox, all gathered around a table set with holly, eating plum pudding. The Witch asks...
The professor invites them into his study and listens to their story from beginning to end, without interruption. When they are finished, the Professor, to their surprise, asks them why they are so certain that Lucy's story isn't true. He asks...
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. | <urn:uuid:3b1fbc55-ac60-4764-abd2-f7eaad78ff82> | {
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Charging a dead car battery is more than simply hooking up a charger if you want to do this job safely. You should know which terminal to remove first if you have to remove the battery, which terminal to hook up first on the charger, how long to charge a dead car battery and more.
Getting Ready to Charge
Before we get into how to charge a car battery at home, you need to know how to prepare to charge the battery. It is very easy to get a good shock if the battery does have some juice. Before you even get started, if you have to remove the battery from the vehicle to charge it, be sure you have the tools for the job. Some batteries are easily accessible; however, some are under or in the fender and some may even be in the trunk or under the seat depending on the make and model of your vehicle.
How to Jump a Car Battery
Be sure all accessories are off and the lights, including the interior light, are off. If you have anything on, it could cause the battery to arc while you are working with it.
Once you get down to the battery, remove the negative or ground cable first. This is always the black cable unless someone replaced the cables with the wrong colors. If you look on the top of the battery, you can see which is which – the ground cable will have a negative (-) sign and the power or positive cable will have a plus (+) sign.
Clean the battery terminals with a terminal cleaning brush and a mixture of baking soda and water to neutralize the battery acid. If the battery terminals and posts have a lot of acid buildup, wear eye protection and a mask so the airborne corrosion does not contact your eyes, nose and mouth. Don't touch your face until after you've washed your hands.
If the battery has removable caps, carefully pry the caps off and check the level of the water. If any of the cells looks low, add distilled water only; and take care to not overfill the battery. Most batteries today are “maintenance-free” so you won't be able to open them to check the acid level.
Hooking up the Battery Charger
Follow the instructions for your particular charger. Basic instructions for most chargers include:
Make sure the charger is off.
Hook-up the positive cable on the charger to the positive terminal on the battery.
Hook up the negative cable on the charger to the negative terminal on the battery.
Set the charger to the slowest charge rate.
Turn on the charger and set the timer.
When removing the charger, turn it off first, then remove the positive then negative cable.
How Long Should You Charge a Car Battery?
If the battery voltage is below 11.85 and your charger is putting out a 5-amp charge rate, it will take about 12 hours to fully charge a battery with 400 to 500 cold cranking amps. The same battery will take about 6 hours to fully charge if the charge rate is 10 amps. The lower the open circuit voltage in the battery and the more cold cranking amps, the longer it will take to charge the battery.
If a cell is bad, the battery won't hold a charge. In this case, bring your battery or your vehicle with your battery to a local Meineke Car Care Center and we will change your vehicle's battery. | <urn:uuid:3f81d39e-4329-40f2-b36a-15391098a8fb> | {
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Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are characterized by similar geographic distributions.
Dr Amnon Sonnenberg and colleagues used a large database of pathology reports to analyze the geographic distribution of microscopic colitis and compare it with those of Culcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
The team noted that a population of 671,176 individual patients with colonic biopsies was studied stratified by gender and state of residence.
The occurrence of each diagnosis microscopic colitis, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn's disease, was expressed as proportional rate per 1000 colonoscopies with biopsies from each individual state.
The researchers found that ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease tended to be common in states in the Northeast or North Central regions of the USA, and relatively rare among several southern states.
|Ulcerative colitis tended to be common in states in the Northeast |
|Inflammatory Bowel Diseses|
Microscopic colitis appeared to follow a somewhat inverse pattern, as it was most common among some states from the Southwest and other states of southern latitude, such as Florida, Georgia, California, but relatively uncommon among states in the Northeast.
The research team found that the geographic distributions of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease were significantly correlated with each other.
No significant correlation was observed between microscopic colitis and ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease.
Dr Sonnenberg's concluded "The differences in epidemiologic behavior point at a dissimilar set of risk factors that shape the occurrence of microscopic colitis as opposed to ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease." | <urn:uuid:195f18cc-1178-4f31-a5c5-791b9ed33805> | {
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Cucullia mcdunnoughi (Henne, 1940)
Cucullia mcdunnoughi is a relatively small Cucullia (FW length 16 - 18 mm) with a streaky silver-gray wing patterned with dark on the distal costa, between the spots, and an anal dash that flies in steppe and dry forest east of the Cascade and Coast Ranges. The forewing is relatively short and less pointed for the genus. As in other Cucullia the patagiae can be raised into a pointed "hood" that is most apparent when the moth is resting and is variably present in preserved specimens. The forewing ground color silvery light gray. The veins are black, and gray lines are present between the veins on the distal wing. The color is much darker gray areas on the costa distal to the antemedial line, in a triangular area on the distal wing below the apex, and on the entire trailing margin. The cell is dark gray to black between the spots. A black dash bordered anteriorly by light gray is located in the fold on the outer third of the wing. The dark gray antemedial line forms an oblique mark from the costa to the orbicular spot and is faintly visible as zigzag mark near the trailing margin. The postmedial line is nearly completely absent, usually reduced to a small dark mark on the costa and sometimes also barely visible near the trailing margin. The terminal line is a series of gray spots between the veins on most of the wing and a black line near the anal angle. The fringe is the same gray as the ground color with faint longitudinal barring. The orbicular and reniform spots are positioned near each other, occasionally touching, and have double dark gray outlines filled with lighter gray, and are filled internally with dark gray. The orbicular spot is round and the reniform spot is large, broadly kidney-shaped. The other lines and the claviform spot are absent. The hindwing is medium brownish gray, darker toward the outer margin, with a faint gray discal spot, veins, and terminal line. The hindwing fringe is two-toned gray basally and white distally, paler near the anal angle. The head and base of the collar are medium gray striped with dark gray. The edge of the collar and the rest of the thorax are pale whitish gray with darker barring. A short tuft of dark gray scales are present on the posterior thorax. The male antenna is filiform.
This species can be identified from other Cucullia species by its small size and with mottled pale and dark gray forewing with distinct spots and absent postmedial line in combination with gray hindwing. It is most similar to Cucullia basipuncta, a rarely collected species that has only been found in extreme southeastern Oregon in the Northwest. Males of this species are readily told from C. mcdunnoughi by their white hindwings, but females of C. basipuncta are best distinguished by the presence of a postmedial line.
This species is widely distributed in dry, open desert habitats of western North America. In the Pacific Northwest, it is usually rare and sporadic in dry grasslands at low elevations east of the Cascades, but may be locally common.
Cucullia mcdunnoughi is found in the dry southern interior of British Columbia as far north as the vicinity of Lillooet. It is more widespread in the dry interior steppes of Washington, southeastern Oregon, and southern Idaho.
This species is found in California and the western Great Basin to the south of the Pacific Northwest. It has been recorded from Nevada and Arizona east of California.
This species is a foodplant specialist feeding on desert herbaceous Asteraceae such as Stephanomeria species.
The flight period of C. mcdunnoughi is late spring and summer. Records from the Pacific Northwest span mid-May to early August but are most common in June. This species is nocturnal and comes to lights. | <urn:uuid:8ddbcaf3-b5fc-4001-800c-ee51f7acf8fc> | {
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Mineral sorting and grading. X-ray is a powerful technology for the sorting and grading of minerals, according to size or composition. Dual-energy X-ray technology enables ore to be graded and sorted according to its composition.
Conveyor belt inspection. Steel cord conveyor belts are widely used in mines, seaports, construction and cement plants. These belts may operate continuously at high speeds, carrying heavy loads over long distances. Conveyor belt breakages are very costly, often resulting in heavy damage and even loss of life. X-ray technology enables the automatic and continuous inspection of conveyor belts to give warning of belt damage which could lead to breakage. | <urn:uuid:1280564e-28c3-4821-bf98-09f202cd74ae> | {
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Adopted as a norm at the United Nations World Summit in 2005 the Responsibility to Protect - known as R2P - refers to the obligation of states towards their populations, and towards all populations at risk of genocide and other large-scale atrocities.
The R2P commitment is outlined in three pillars;
- Pillar 1:The sovereign states have an obligation and carry the primary responsibility to protect their citizens from mass atrocities
- Pillar 2:The International Community has the responsibility to assist states in capacity building to fulfill this responsibility to prevent mass atrocities before, during and after conflict
- Pillar 3:If the state in question fails to act appropriately, the responsibility to do so – in a timely and decisive matter either diplomatically, humanitarianly, peacefully and as a large resort by stronger measures - falls to a larger community of states.
R2P works on the premise of three additional elements;
- The Responsibility to Prevent:The obligation to prevent mass atrocities, develop early warning systems and address the root causes of conflict
- The Responsibility to React:A commitment of measures which should be taken in the face of mass atrocities
- The Responsibility to Rebuild:The obligations of the International Community post-intervention to rebuild and prevent the reoccurrence of mass violence. | <urn:uuid:eadb402e-00ae-4823-b35a-ec1a0662bee2> | {
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The Mendocino motor is a solar-powered magnetically suspended electric motor. It floats in the air with virtually no friction thanks to the magnetic suspension. The solar cells on the outside of the motor drive solenoids inside the motor, which, combined with another magnet in the lower frame, allow for zero-friction rotation around the motor’s axis.
image/text credit: Wolfram Glatthar
The rotor block has two sets of windings and a solar cell attached to each side. The shaft is positioned horizontally and has a magnet at each end. The magnets on the shaft provide levitation by repelling magnets in a base under the motor. This air friction bearing is required because a Mendocino motor uses Lorentz force without iron core.
There is an additional magnet that sits under the rotor block and provides a magnetic field for the rotor. Other motors hide the base magnet in a tube.When light strikes one of the solar cells, it generates an electric current thus energizing one of the rotor windings. This produces a magnetic field, which interacts with the field of the magnet under the rotor.
This interaction causes the rotor to turn. As the rotor rotates, the next solar cell moves into the light and energizes the second winding, creating a current in an opposite direction to the first, thus maintaining the rotation. This process repeats as the motor spins. | <urn:uuid:dd086e07-188b-4dc4-bd11-7f03c033cfc8> | {
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Chuck, I hear that not getting enough sleep can make one gain weight. Ever heard of that? And what natural means do you recommend to slumber better and more? – Tom V., Arkansas
Men’s Health recently reported that a new study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that if you don’t get enough sleep, you could be eating an extra 300 calories per day. Combined with new studies also revealing that one-third of Americans aren’t getting enough (eight hours) sleep, that’s challenging news.
The sleep-weight study was conducted by Temple University researchers who monitored people ages 30 to 49 who normally slept for seven to nine hours nightly. When they deliberately restricted the sleep of half the participants to only four hours each night, the researchers found that those participants’ appetites increased considerably. At the same time, both groups burned just about the same number of calories despite their amount of sleep.
Two primary factors likely caused the intensified hunger. First, researchers already know that sleep deprivation triggers the production of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin and decreases the appetite-satiating hormone leptin. What that means is that insufficient sleep can slow down one’s metabolism, to the tune of 10 pounds of weight gain in a year.
Secondly, Gary D. Foster, Ph.D., director of Temple University’s Center for Obesity Research and Education, explained that inadequate sleep reduces your self-control, and less willpower can, in turn, easily result in binge eating.
Foster said: “A TV commercial, chips in your kitchen and people around you can all trigger eating. It really comes down to how on top of your game you are.”
Of course, weight gain is only one potential problem among those who don’t get enough sleep. Clinical studies also show that those who are sleep-deprived are three times likelier to get a common sickness such as a cold or the flu. Additionally, they run increased risks of memory loss, bad reaction time, depression, mood disorders, substance abuse, diabetes and heart disease, to name a few.
As reported in The New York Times, risks of cancers may even increase for those who have chronic sleep problems. A Japanese study of nearly 24,000 women ages 40 to 79 and a study of 1,240 people by researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that those who slept less than six hours nightly were likelier to develop breast cancer or potentially cancerous colorectal polyps.
No wonder Dr. Michael J. Twery, a sleep specialist at the National Institutes of Health, told The New York Times, “Sleep affects almost every tissue in our bodies.”
In his book “The Seven Pillars of Health,” Dr. Don Colbert says that getting adequate amounts of sleep is necessary if you expect to function properly and remain healthy. A good night’s sleep restores, repairs and rejuvenates the body. It is vital for the immune system and slows the aging process.
If you’re one of the 100 million Americans who need more shut-eye, there is hope. Experts say there are some natural alternatives and strategies to prescription sleep aids, such as exercising more regularly (which releases natural endorphins), eating more sleepy-time foods toward the end of the day, getting counseling for worrisome issues, learning to manage stress better, napping in early (not late) afternoons – if you nap at all – creating a sleep-conducive bedroom (including no electronics), progressively turning down and off inside house lights and electronics each evening, creating nighttime rituals that help you rest (such as praying or meditating before you go to bed) and taking herbal supplements containing melatonin. (Additional tips for increased slumber among each age group can be found at http://www.menshealth.com/spotlight/sleep/snooze.php.)
A high-starch, high-tryptophan and serotonin-producing snack an hour before bedtime might also be a remedy for your sleeplessness, according to a 2007 Australian study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Carbohydrates (particularly complex ones) make the brain produce more serotonin – one of the most important brain chemicals for regulating good sleep patterns. Foods with ample amounts of complex carbohydrates include potatoes, corn, rice, legumes, bread, pasta and cereal.
Another way to boost serotonin levels is to eat foods high in the amino acid tryptophan, which include pumpkin seeds, eggs, turkey, chicken, milk and salmon. Tryptophan also can be found in smaller amounts in peas and other legumes.
Eating those foods will also help you sleep your way to skinniness, as they are far better options than the high-saturated-fat and high-calorie sugary desserts that rev up your mind and body.
Lastly, as one article from The Hartford Courant exclaimed, “Let a prayer be your pillow.” In it, researchers reported about how giving concerns to God can be a nighttime ritual that helps us relax.
Dr. Daniel McNally, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center, noted: “It’s part of the actions that signify to me that I’m going to bed. Prayer or meditation or relaxation techniques, they are relaxing, and (sleepers) learn to associate that set of behaviors with going to sleep.”
The Rev. James Wiseman, a Benedictine priest and associate professor of theology at the Catholic University of America, explained that in ancient monastic times, three psalms from the Bible (4, 91 and 134) were “chosen for their references to peaceful trust in God during the night.”
That gives a whole new meaning and purpose to these words in Psalm 4: “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.”
Write to Chuck Norris with your questions about health and fitness. Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at ChuckNorrisNews.blogspot.com. | <urn:uuid:97a1447a-4554-485c-af33-9556c367339b> | {
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Back to Index
London Times October 22 1997
BY NIGEL HAWKES, SCIENCE EDITOR
SCIENTISTS in Scotland have urged caution in the introduction of genetically modified crops after discovering that they could harm ladybugs (called ladybirds in Europe).
Nick Birch and a team from the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee found that female ladybugs that ate aphids that had fed on genetically modified potatoes laid fewer eggs and lived only half as long as the average. The team tested a potato plant that had been modified to produce a natural insecticide that discouraged aphids from feeding on them.
The team found that the modified potatoes did indeed suffer reduced attack but the cut, of 50 per cent, was insufficient on its own, so it was important that ladybugs also did their work.
The team says in the institute's annual report that the ladybirds continued to eat the aphids but the effects suggested that such crops could have unexpected consequences.
==================** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes. **
By Claire Gilbert, Ph.D. © 1997
HALF MOON BAY, California, October 24, 1997 -- Some ladybugs in Scotland have become very important this week because they may be the first proof that non-target species can be harmed by transgenic crops. Transgenic bio-engineering involves inserting genes into one species from another in order to gain some advantage.
Ladybugs -- or "ladybirds" if you are European -- have always been considered friendly insects in the garden and on the farm. They eat many insects that are harmful to crops and flowers. Ladybugs are part of the natural system.
The lifespan of ladybugs was reduced to half when they ate aphids that had fed on genetically altered potatoes in Scotland, according to a London Times article (10/22/97) by Science Editor, Nigel Hawkes. The ladybugs also laid fewer eggs.
Fears of genetic engineering critics were fanned by the news that ladybugs were damaged by eating insects feeding on altered potatoes.
Among the critics' concerns are: that non-target organisms may be affected by pesticide genes put into plants; that beneficial insects might be harmed; that unknown consequences may occur; and that ecosystems may be damaged.
Richard Wolfson, Ph.D., of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, says that genetically engineered potatoes and corn produce their own pesticide. These vegetables, now on the market, contain a bacterial gene normally found in soil, called "bacillus thuringiensis," or Bt. In altered potatoes and corn, Bt creates a toxin in the plant itself to kill insects.
Agronomists are concerned that by making Bt an integral part of plants, the evolution of Bt resistant insects will speed up enormously. When used alone, as it occurs in nature, Bt is considered among the safest insect controllers.
The effects on humans of eating altered crops which contain Bt is unknown. The companies which have pioneered in inserting foreign genes into plants have successfully made the claim to regulatory agencies that the food plants are substantially equivalent to unaltered ones. The companies have been able to fast track their products to market, bypassing lengthy safety testing.
Scientists in Scotland now urge caution in the introduction of genetically modified crops after discovering that they could harm ladybugs. Nick Birch and a team from the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee are responsible for discovering the reduced fertility and lifespan of the ladybugs.
The potato plant in question had been altered to produce a natural insecticide that deterred aphids from eating them. Non-potato genetic material is inserted into potatoes. While this did indeed discourage aphids, the reduction was not complete. The number of aphids on the potatoes was reduced by only 50% so that ladybugs were needed to eat the remaining aphids.
With the large number of transgentic crops being planted in the U.S. and the rest of the world, many unforseen consequences may be released. In the annual report of the Institute, the team that worked on the ladybug research said the deleterious effects on the ladybugs suggested that genetically altered crops could have unexpected consequences.
Claire Gilbert may be contacted at [email protected]
Blazing Tattles. Indonesian & Brazilian fire updates: http://www.concentric.net/~Blazingt . Limited time sample: Send #10 envelope w/32 cent stamp on it; non-U.S. get postal coupon; to P.O. Box 1073, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019, USA. Phone: (650) 712-0772
London Sunday Times October 26 1997
by Lois Rogers Medical Correspondent
[forwarded from MichaelP [email protected] via [email protected] genetic engineering newsgroup]
DOCTORS are using genetically engineered animal organs to keep humans alive. Twenty people are to be connected to pig livers despite fears that they could be infected by unpredictable animal viruses.
The experiments are being conducted by three American hospitals that are competing to perfect the introduction of human genes into pigs so that their hearts, kidneys and livers can be used in humans.
Surgeons involved in the research disclosed last week that the first operations have taken place. All patients suffer from liver failure that would otherwise have been fatal and most have lapsed into a final coma. Relatives had to give consent.
In each case, a tube is attached to a vein in the patient's leg. The blood is artificially oxygenated, pumped through the pig liver and back into the body through a neck vein. The freshly removed pig liver is stored in a plastic container beside the patient and remains functioning because of the regular supply of human blood.
The livers come from herds which have been bred to contain two human genes which prevent the organs being recognised as foreign tissue.
A key indicator of whether a pig liver is working will be its ability to manufacture bile. Humans need up to two pints a day of this vital liver product to keep the digestive system functioning. The livers will also have to manufacture new blood cells.
"The project is principally a way of our helping to keep these people alive, but it also gives us more information about the rejection process," said Jeffrey Platt, professor of experimental surgery at Duke University in North Carolina, who is leading one of the groups conducting the research.
Platt was partly prompted to experiment with transgenic pig organs after surgeons at the university successfully used normal pig livers to save Eric Thomas, a 22-year-old student. In his case, doctors used five successive pig livers in an experiment to filter his blood. Each was rejected within hours, but they provided sufficient time for a human organ to be found.
In Britain, at least 6,000 people are waiting for organ transplants. Thousands die while on the waiting list, but British doctors have resisted pressure to conduct human experiments with genetically engineered animal organs. There are fears that viruses in animal organs could jump the species barrier and infect patients.
Last week British scientists announced in Nature, the scientific journal, that they had found two pig viruses capable of infecting human cells.
"We are taking a cautious approach and trying to answer as many questions as we can about safety before we move on to man," said Corinne Savill, chief executive of Imutran, a Cambridge-based company trying to develop safe transgenic organs. Imutran is confident it will eventually be able to breed virus-free pigs.
Safety is not the only ethical dilemma facing scientists. "Obviously the liver technique is a potential life-saving therapy," said Savill. "But there is a question of whether the patients can give informed consent when they are unconscious and don't know what the procedure is, or its potential risks and benefits."
Claire Corps, 29, from Ripon, North Yorkshire, was an immunologist researching liver failure when she discovered she had the condition herself.
She has already been waiting eight months for a transplant organ. "I would say not enough is known about pig livers. Things are getting worse for me and the liver is gradually going down," she said. "If I were nearer the end, I might think differently."
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes. **
The Irish Times October 28, 1997
The mainstream food culture is morally bankrupt and unconcerned with the health of its customers, according to a leading food writer, Mr John McKenna.
At the annual meeting of the Association of Health Stores in Limerick yesterday, Mr McKenna said the introduction of genetically modified organisms ( GMOs) represented a departure from a holistic and humane approach to food.
GMOs are microbes, plants or animals in which genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally through mating or natural recombination.
Mr McKenna said that the use of GMOs represented the "most extreme example" of adulteration in the food production process, a process which it was the role of the Government to police. Last week a conference in Dublin on the regulation of GMOs heard that EU directives were currently being strengthened to improve risk assessment and a better labelling of foods containing GMOs.
Mr McKenna also accused supermarkets of being unconcerned about the sources of their food or how it got onto their shelves and said that mulinational producers were more concerned about profit than issues of public concern, such as the treatment of food with artificial preservatives and the impact of extensive farming practices on the environment.
(Biotech stocks are worst investment) (UK)
The Daily Telegraph October 28, 1997, Tuesday BYLINE: Edited by Nils Pratley
ALONG with football clubs, biotechnology stocks share the award for the worst investments of the year. Wild enthusiasm has given way to deep scepticism and, to hammer the point home, British Biotech, the biggest of the biotech babes, sank to a 12-month low yesterday. It has now fallen from 326p to 113 1/2 p in a little over 15 months.
For investors, the question is whether optimism could return as quickly, offering a chance to pick up some bargains. Do not believe it. The big four - British Biotech, Biocompatibles, Celltech and Scotia Holdings - have all made disappointing announcements this year, which looks nothing more than the arrival of reality.
The fact of life in drug development is that only about 20pc of the compounds that enter clinical trials make it to the market. The proportion rises as the drugs progress through the labs but the risk of outright failure (as with Celltech's septic shock drug) remains. At some point, the potential rewards will mean that the risk is worth taking. But British Biotech, for example, is still worth pounds 750m. The only thing that would move its share price in the short-term would be positive results from the final stage of clinical trials on marimastat - but that is over a year away.
In the background is another worry. Biotech stocks usually underperform at the end of the year as big investors try to lock in any profits from these high-risk stocks. The profits are obviously scarcer this year but there may well be venture capitalists, who were there in the early days, still looking to sell their rump holdings. The sector should still be avoided.
© 1997 Telegraph Group Limited
By Matthew Gledhill and Peter McGrath
The public image of genetically engineered crops--which are already viewed with deep suspicion in many European countries--may be about to get worse.
Agricultural botanists in France have now shown that genes for herbicide resistance engineered into oilseed rape can persist for several generations in hybrids between the transgenic rape and wild radishes. Meanwhile, British researchers have found that potatoes engineered to resist attack by aphids can also harm ladybirds, the pests' natural predators.
While experts stress that neither finding poses a major environmental threat, industry sources fear that the new results will further undermine public acceptance of genetically engineered crops.
The escape of genes into wild plants has always been the main worry surrounding transgenic crops. To study this, Anne-Marie ChŠvre and her colleagues at INRA, France's national agricultural research agency, based near Rennes, planted plots of wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum, next to transgenic oilseed rape, Brassica napus. The rape was engineered to carry a gene for resistance to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium and did not produce pollen.
The researchers had found previously that the rape produced hybrids carrying 28 chromosomes, 19 from the rape, 9 from the radish. In this week's Nature (vol 389, p 924), they describe experiments in which the hybrids were planted surrounded by wild radishes, and followed through four generations.
Subsequent generations of the hybrids had variable numbers of chromosomes--anywhere between 20 and 60. "We never found a stable variety," says Frédèrique Eber, the team's chromosome specialist. Even in the fourth generation, however, 20 per cent of the hybrids retained the gene for herbicide resistance.
Although the results suggest that the gene might be lost eventually, botanists note that the hybrids studied by the French team are more persistent than many crosses between different species, which frequently don't survive beyond the first generation. "Often things will die out at that stage," says Philip Dale of the John Innes Centre in Norwich.
John Beringer of the University of Bristol, who chairs Britain's Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, believes that there is no cause for public alarm. But hybrid weeds could remain in fields and sprout despite herbicide spraying. "It is more of a problem for farmers than an environmental problem."
There is already a climate of public opposition in Europe to imports of American soya beans and maize engineered to produce the bacterial insecticide Bt. Industry sources fear the French findings could delay approval for transgenic crops currently awaiting the green light in Europe, which include five separate strains of herbicide-resistant oilseed rape. "We've had a whole spate of bad news recently," says David Bennett of the European Federation of Biotechnology, based in The Hague. "I can only assume the European Commission will react badly."
More bad news for plant biotechnologists comes from Nick Birch of the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee and Mike Majerus of the University of Cambridge. They fed two-spot ladybirds, Adalia bipunctata, for two weeks on peach-potato aphids, Myzus persicae, that had fed on sap from potatoes engineered to carry a lectin from snowdrops--a protein that interferes with insect digestion.
The engineered potatoes were made by John and Angharad Gatehouse of the University of Durham, and in greenhouse tests they killed off significant numbers of the aphid pests. But in experiments to be reported in a future issue of Molecular Breeding, Birch and Majerus found that female ladybirds fed with aphids from the engineered potatoes lived half as long as those fed on aphids from normal potatoes. Males given lectin-containing aphids lived for an average of 46 days, 5 days less than those in the control group.
In mating studies, up to 30 per cent fewer viable eggs were laid when one of the parent ladybirds was fed aphids from lectin-transformed potatoes. "But these effects on ladybird reproduction wear off after three to four weeks," says Birch.
This is the first time that such a knock-on effect on a beneficial predator species has been seen. While it adds to the concerns about the safety of transgenic crops, Birch notes that the engineered potatoes should require less insecticides. "It may become a question of balancing the risks of transgenic plants with the risks of chemical applications," he says.
By Kurt Kleiner, Washington DC
farmers in mississippi could lose millions of dollars following the partial failure of a new genetically engineered cotton crop.
The cotton, produced by Monsanto, contains a gene for resistance to the company's herbicide glyphosate, sold as Roundup. It should simplify weed control by allowing farmers to apply the herbicide directly to their fields without harming the cotton.
Some 320 000 hectares across the US were planted with the cotton this season, its first on the market. Most farmers are happy with the results. But in Mississippi, and to some extent in Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana, entire fields have shed their bolls--the fluffy part harvested for fibre--or have developed small, malformed bolls.
Robert McCarty, director of Mississippi's Bureau of Plant Industry in Starkville, says that only Monsanto plants seem to have failed, over an area totalling 12 000 hectares. "Cotton right across the road of a different variety was not affected," he says.
Monsanto maintains that only a few thousand hectares are involved, and argues that malformed bolls have also been seen with other varieties. But Lisa Drake, a spokeswoman at Monsanto's headquarters in St Louis, Missouri, accepts that plants that have dropped bolls look similar to those damaged in tests involving very large doses of herbicide. She speculates that an abnormally cold, wet spring in Mississippi stressed some plants and reduced their herbicide tolerance.
Charles Merkel, a Mississippi lawyer representing about a dozen cotton farmers, accuses Monsanto of trying to play down the problem. He claims that his clients' losses alone may total millions of dollars. From New Scientist, 1 November 1997 © Copyright New Scientist, IPC Magazines Limited 1997 see http://www.newscientist.com/cgi-bin/pageserver.cgi?/ns/971101/ncrops.html
The first full length documentary on British television covering the genetically engineered (GE) foods issue is to be aired by BBC2 Bristol on 13th November 1997 at 7.30pm as part of their "Close Up West" series. The programme will be entitled "Frankinstein's Food". Those living in the BBC South (Gloucester, Wiltshire, Devon, Somerset...) area please look in and record the programme
Nikkei English News via Individual Inc. : TOKYO (Nikkei)--The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration will send a delegation to Japan to assuage concerns about bioengineered agricultural products by holding seminars in Tokyo, Sapporo and Fukuoka in December.
The move follows rising concerns about the safety of such food and calls for clear labelling. Some in Japan and Europe want to ban imports. U.S. acreage devoted to such products is expanding yearly, and it is a major exporter.
==============** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes. **
by Miguel Altieri, PhD University of California at Berkeley
[distributed by Ricarda Steinbrecher [email protected] through Reclaim The Streets [email protected]
But the Reality is ...
Biotechnology seeks to "industrialize agriculture" even further, converting agriculture into a branch of industry
Biotechnology is capital intensive and increases concentration of agriculture production in the hands of large - corporate farms
As with other labor saving technology, by increasing productivity biotechnology tends to reduce commodity prices and set in motion a technology treadmill that forces out of business a significant number of farmers, especially small scale.
Given that time and labor saving technology have been substituted for farmers and farm workers for over 200 years, the most probable outcome is that US farmers will be displaced by biotechnology.
Removal of constraints to growing the same crop in the same field every year and eliminating need for mechanical weed control will enable a given number of people to farm more acres and thereby facilitate a system of bigger and fewer farms.
Biotechnology will further concentrate power in the hands of few MNCs, which in turn will enhance farmers dependence and force them to pay inflated prices for seed-chemical packages
But the Reality is ...
If green revolution technology bypassed small and resource-poor farmers, biotechnology will exacerbate marginalization even more as such technologies are under corporate control and protected by patents, are expensive and inappropriate to the needs and circumstance of indigenous people.
Biotechnology products will undermine exports from Third World countries especially from small-scale producers.
70,000 farmers in Madagascar growing vanilla were ruined when a Texas farm produced vanilla in biotech labs.
Fructose produced by biotechnology captured over 10% of the world sugar market and caused sugar price to fall, throwing tens of thousands of sugar workers in the Third World out of work
Nearly 10 million sugar farmers in the Third World may face a loss of livelihood as laboratory-produced sweeteners begin invading world markets.
Expansion of Unilever cloned oil palms will substantially increase palm-oil production with dramatic consequences for farmers producing other vegetable oils (groundnut in Senegal and coconut in Philippines)
The Third World should worry that the massive penetration of transgenic crops will not only pose environmental risks and foreclose rural employment opportunities, but will doom traditional agriculture and its native genetic diversity.
But the Reality is ...
Biotechnology is profit driven rather than science and need driven.
Biotechnology research serves the desires of the rich rather than the needs of humanity, especially the poor
Biotechnology is primarily a commercial activity, a reality that determines priorities of what is investigated, how it is applied and who is to benefit. While the world may lack food and suffer pesticide pollution, the focus of MCNs is profit, not philanthropy.
Investors design GMOs for new marketable quality or for import substitution, rather then for greater food production.
Biotechnology companies are emphasizing a limited range of crops for which there are large and secure markets, targeted to relatively capital-intensive production systems. It is difficult to conceive how such technology will be introduced in Third World countries to favor masses of poor farmers
The thrust of the biotech industry is not to solve agricultural problems as much as it to create profitability, Why HRCs are not being develop for parasitic weeds (Striga) in Africa? instead HRC corn and cotton is being produced although there is myriad herbicides available to control weeds in these crops.
Why isn't the scientific genius of biotechnology turned to develop varieties of crops more tolerant to weeds rather than herbicides? or why aren't more promising products of biotechnology, such as N fixing and tolerant plants being developed?
But the Reality is ...
The Third World is now witnessing a "gene rush" as governments and multinational corporation aggressively scour forests, crop fields and coasts in search of the new genetic gold
Indigenous people and their biodiversity are viewed as raw material for the MCNs
Corporations have made billions of dollars on seeds developed in US labs from germplasm that farmers in the Third World had carefully bred over generations.
Peasant farmers go unrewarded for their millenary knowledge of what to grow, while MNCs stand to harvest royalties from Third World countries estimated at billions of dollars
Patenting laws prevent farmers from freely reproducing patented livestock and seeds. Biotech companies offer no concrete provisions to pay Third World farmers for the seeds they take and use
Patenting of plants and animals means that farmers must pay royalties to the patent holder each time they breed their stock (saving seed is not possible with hybrid crops, farmers must buy fresh patented seed each year)
Indigenous farmers can lose rights to their own original seeds and not be allowed under GATT to market or use them.
As bans and regulations delay tests and marketing in the North, GMOs will increasingly be tested in the South to bypass public control (Vaccine application program in India). The Third World will evolve from chemical and nuclear waste disposal to genetic dump site.
But the Reality is ...
Although biotechnology has the capacity to create a greater variety of commercial plants and thus contribute to biodiversity, this is unlikely to happen. MNCs strategy is to create broad international markets for a single product. The tendency is towards uniform international seed markets.
The agricultural systems developed with transgenic crops will favor monocultures characterized by dangerously high levels of genetic homogeneity leading to higher vulnerability of agriculture to biotic and abiotic stresses.
As the new bioengineered seeds replace the old traditional varieties and their wild relatives, genetic erosion will accelerate in the Third World.
The push for uniformity will not only destroy the diversity of genetic resources, but will also disrupt the biological complexity that underlies the sustainability of traditional farming systems.
But the Reality is ...
We can be sure of the economic outcomes of biotechnology (especially for MNCs) than we can about its health or environmental comes.
There are many unanswered ecological questions regarding the impact of the release of transgenic plants and microbes into the environment. Approaches must be developed and employed for assessing and monitoring future predictable risks.
Biotechnology will exacerbate the problems of conventional agriculture and will also undermine ecological methods of farming such as rotation and polycultures.
Transgenic crops are likely to increase the use of pesticides and to accelerate the evolution of "superweeds" and resistant insect pest strains.
Major environmental risks associated with genetically engineered plants are the unintended transfer to plant relatives of the "trangenes" and the unpredictable ecological effects
But the Reality is ...
The demand for the new biotechnology has emerged out of the change in plant laws and the profit interests of chemical companies of linking seeds and pesticides. The supply emerged out of breakthroughs in molecular biology and the availability of venture capital as a result of favorable tax laws
Plant breeding research is shifting form the public to the private sector. As more universities enter into partnerships with corporations, serious ethical questions emerge about who owns the results of research and which research gets done.
A great deal of the basic knowledge underlying biotechnology was developed using public funding.
The trend to secrecy by public funded scientists in government and universities is not in the public interest.
A professor ability to attract private investments is often more important than academic qualifications. Applied and alternative agricultural sciences such as biological pest control which do not attract corporate sponsorship are being phased out.
The economic and political domination of the agricultural development agenda has thrived at the expense of interest of consumers, farm workers, small family farms, wildlife and the environment
Citizens should have earlier entry points and broader participation in technological decisions
The domination of scientific research by corporate interest must be dealt with more stringent public control.
It is not biotechnological science that needs scrutiny, it is its exploitation by narrow business interests.
CGIAR will have to carefully monitor and control the provision of applied non proprietary knowledge to the private sector so as to protect that such knowledge will continue in the public domain for the benefit of the rural poor.
Mechanisms should be in place to reverse the privatization of biotechnology and challenge the direction of current privately led research. The CGIAR could assume the historic and ethical responsibility in the development and deployment of socioeconomically and environmentally desirable biotechnologies.
But the Reality is ...
Biotechnology emerges in an area when there is widespread concern about the long-term sustainability of our food production systems. Many scientists raise questions about the growing dependence of farming on non -renewable resources, the depletion of soils through erosion and the heavy reliance on chemicals which are costly but also raise questions about food and environmental quality.
Agroindustrial's model reliance on monoculture and inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers impacts the environment and society: topsoil has been lost, biodiversity has eroded, and toxics have damaged wildlife, soil and water. As biotechnology requires reliance on monocultures these negative trends will become exacerbated.
Worldwide, 2.5 million tons of pesticides are applied each year with a purchase price of $20 billion.
In the US, 500,000 tons of 600 different types of pesticides are used annually at a cost of $4.1 billion.
The cost to Latin America of chemical pest control is expected to reach US $ 3.97 billion by the year 2000
An investment of $4 billion dollars in pesticide control saves approximately $16 billions in US crops. But indirect environmental and public health costs of pesticide use (reaching $8 billion each year) need to be balanced against these benefits.
By weight of active ingredients, herbicides now constitute 85% of all pesticides applied to field crops. Monsanto alone sold $1 billion worth in 1982.
Biotechnology treats agricultural problems as genetic deficiencies of organisms, and treats nature as a commodity.
Biotechnology is being used to pursue to patch up problems that have been caused by previous technologies (pest resistance, cost of pesticides, pollution, etc.) which were promoted by the same companies now leading the bio-revolution
Transgenic crops for pest control follow closely the pesticide paradigm of using a single control mechanism which has proven to fail with insects, pathogens and weeds. As such, they do not fit into the broad ideals of sustainable agriculture.
The "one gene - one pest" resistance approach is rather easy to be overcome by pests which are continuously adapting to new situations and evolving detoxification mechanisms.
As with pesticides, biotechnology companies will feel the impact of environmental, farm labor, animal rights and consumers lobbies
Miguel A. Altieri, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
ESPM-Division of Insect Biology
201 Wellman-3112 Berkeley, CA 94720-3112
Phone: 510-642-9802 FAX: 510-642-7428
Location: 129 Giannini, Berkeley campus
Campaign for Mandatory Labelling and Long-term Testing of all Genetically Engineered Foods
Natural Law Party, 500 Wilbrod Street Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N2 Tel. 613-565-8517 Fax. 613-565-1596 email: [email protected] Our website, http://www.natural-law.ca/genetic/geindex.html contains more information on genetic engineering. To receive regular news on genetic engineering and this campaign, please send an email message with 'subscribe GE' in the subject line to [email protected] To unsubscribe, please send the message 'unsubscribe GE'
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This week’s topic for Open Thread Thursday is:
Over the next few years – with the sesquicentennial of the United States Civil War – there will be more of a focus on ancestors who fought in the conflict as well as those ancestors who supported certain causes and movements such as states’ rights or the abolition of slavery.
It is said that history is written by the winners. However, with the advent of blogging and the ability for almost anyone to have a platform where they can write and express their opinion, the stories of those on the losing side of these causes and movements are being told.
How do you handle telling such stories, especially if your ancestor was pro slavery or, for example, anti women’s suffrage? What if there is no evidence as to their opinions or positions yet they fought for the losing side in a war, such as World War II?
Is there, in fact, a “wrong side” of history?
This is a difficult topic to discuss but one that I bet we’ll see more and more over the next few years. Please take some time to ponder this topic with your ancestors in perspective and their role in history.
* * *
Please either post on today’s topic of “The Wrong Side of History” at your own blog and then post the link here in the comments or simply add your two cents in the comments section.
This is a great topic for this week’s Open Thread Thursday! And please, if you have a topic you’d like to see discussed among your genealogy blogging colleagues, please contact us and we’ll take it under consideration.
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Henry Craik, ed. English Prose. 1916. Vol. II. Sixteenth Century to the Restoration
By Thomas Hobbes (15881679)
From the Leviathan
CURIOSITY, or love of the knowledge of causes, draws a man from the consideration of the effect to seek the cause; and again, the cause of that cause; till of necessity he must come to this thought at last, that there is some cause, whereof there is no former cause, but is eternal; which is it men call God. So that it is impossible to make any profound inquiry into natural causes, without being inclined thereby to believe there is one God eternal; though they cannot have any idea of Him in their mind, answerable to His nature. For as a man that is born blind, hearing men talk of warming themselves by the fire, and being brought to warm himself by the same, may easily conceive, and assure himself, there is somewhat there, which men call fire, and is the cause of the heat he feels: but cannot imagine what it is like, nor have an idea of it in his mind, such as they have that see it: so also by the visible things in this world, and their admirable order, a man may conceive there is a cause of them, which men call God: and yet not have an idea, or image of Him in his mind.
And they that make little or no inquiry into the natural causes of things, yet from the fear that proceeds from the ignorance itself, of what it is that hath the power to do them much good or harm, are inclined to suppose, and feign unto themselves, several kinds of powers invisible; and to stand in awe of their own imaginations; and in time of distress to invoke them; as also in the time of an expected good success, to give them thanks; making the creatures of their own fancy, their gods. By which means it hath come to pass, that from the innumerable variety of fancy, men have created in the world innumerable sorts of gods. And this fear of things invisible, is the natural seed of that which every one in himself calleth religion; and in them that worship, or fear that power otherwise than they do, superstition.
And this seed of religion, having been observed by many; some of those that have observed it, have been inclined thereby to nourish, dress, and form it into laws; and to add to it of their own invention, any opinion of the causes of future events, by which they thought they should be best able to govern others, and make unto themselves the greatest use of their powers. | <urn:uuid:c004c559-08ff-4108-ba9d-23de7ec7101e> | {
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The term barrier islands might conjure images of beaches, boardwalks, and vacation homes for some, but barrier islands function as more than just areas for tourism and recreation. As the first line of defense during storms that threaten coastal communities, barrier islands are very important for reducing the devastating effects of wind and waves and for absorbing storm energy. They are also important marine habitat that supports commercially important fish species, as well as birds, sea turtles and other wildlife species.
Barrier Island Habitat Zones
Barrier islands are long, narrow, offshore deposits of sand or sediment that run parallel to the coastline. They are separated from the main land by a shallow sound, bay, or lagoon and are often found in chains along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. The islands themselves are separated by narrow tidal inlets.
A barrier island is made up of the following habitat zones:
- Salt marsh—Low-lying area on the sound-side of a barrier island that is stabilized by cord grasses and flooded by daily tidal activity. Helps purify runoff from main land streams and rivers.
- Barrier flat (overwash)—Formed by sediment pushed through the dunes by storms and stabilized by grasses. Often flooded daily during high tide.
- Dunes—Sand carried and deposited by winds and stabilized naturally by plants and sometimes artificially by fencing. Can be flooded during storms.
- Beach—Ocean side of the island with sand deposited by wave action. Covered by salt water twice daily. | <urn:uuid:028e56ca-654f-4ff5-8395-fc4981c1143c> | {
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As explained by historian Stephen Davies, after defeating James II in 1690, protestants subjected Irish Catholics to harsh restrictions on land ownership and leasing. Most of Ireland’s people were thus forced to farm plots of land that were inefficiently small and on which they had no incentives to make long-term improvements. As a consequence, Irish agricultural productivity stagnated, and, in turn, the high-yield, highly nutritious, and labor-intensive potato became the dominant crop. In combination with interventions that obstructed Catholics from engaging in modern commercial activities – interventions that kept large numbers of Irish practicing subsistence agriculture well into the 19th century – this over-dependence on the potato spelled doom when in 1845 that crop became infected with the fungus Phytophthora infestans.
To make matters worse, Britain’s high-tariff “corn laws” discouraged the importation of grains that would have lessened the starvation. Indeed, one of Britain’s most famous moves toward laissez faire – the 1846 repeal of the corn laws – was partly a response to the famine in Ireland.
Had laissez faire in fact reigned in Ireland in the mid-19th century, the potato famine almost certainly would never had happened.
Archive for December 2013
I thought this was a useful simple picture from Arnold Kling, vis a vis countries and their economies:
|Low Creation||High Creation|
|Low Destruction||Corporatist Stagnation||Schumpeterian Boom|
|High Destruction||Minsky Recession||Rising Dynamism|
He suggests the US may currently be in the lower-left quadrant. Europe and Japan in the upper left. My sense is that China is in the upper right, not the lower right (too much of the economy is controlled by the politicians in power for any real destruction to occur).
Once a government gains powerful tools for economic intervention, it becomes politically almost impossible to allow destruction to occur, no matter how long-term beneficial it can be. The US is one of the few countries in the world that has ever allowed such destruction to occur over an extended period. The reason it is hard is that successful incumbents are able to wield political power to prevent upstart competition that might threaten their position and business model (see here for example).
It takes a lot of discipline to have government not intervene in favor of such incumbents. Since politicians lack this discipline, the only way to prevent such intervention is by castrating the government, by eliminating its power to intervene in the first place. Feckless politicians cannot wield power that does not exist (though don't tell Obama that because he seems to be wielding a lot of power to modify legislation that is not written into my copy of the Constitution.).
I find it almost impossible to keep up with all the great music that has been enabled by digital distribution. So I end up waiting for year-end best lists and then binge listening for a few days. One of the lists I have come to trust as fitting my tastes pretty well is from LA writer and Coyote Blog reader Steven Humphries. Here is his 2013 list. I will echo that I really enjoyed the new Steven Wilson album,which I have had for a while based on his recommendation. But I had never heard of Vertical Horizon and particularly enjoyed their album on the list.
By the way, this is not 2013-related, but if there are those of you out there who are 60's, 70's, 80's classic rock guys who struggle to engage with rap, a fantastic gateway drug is Girl Talk. Their All Day album can be downloaded free. This is the only modern album in my household that migrated from me to my kids rather than vice versa.
The media tends to talk about the growth of the Chinese economy as if it is something new and different. In fact, there probably have been only about 200 years in the history of civilization when China was not the largest economy on Earth. China still held this title into the early 18th century, and will get it back early in this century.
This map from the Economist (via Mark Perry) illustrates the point.
Of course there is a problem with this map. It is easy to do a center of gravity for a country, but for the whole Earth? The center in this case (unless one rightly puts it somewhere in the depths of the planet itself) depends on arbitrary decisions about where one puts the edges of the map. I presume this is from a map with North America on the far left side and Japan on the far right. If one redid the map, say, with North America in the center, Asia on the left and Europe on the right, the center of gravity would roam around North America through history.
I missed this editorial from back in April, but it is a classic. If you want one of the greatest illustrations of the phrase "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail", here is is.
UNTIL we fully understand what turned two brothers who allegedly perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings into murderers, it is hard to make any policy recommendation other than this: We need to redouble our efforts to make America stronger and healthier so it remains a vibrant counterexample to whatever bigoted ideology may have gripped these young men. With all our warts, we have built a unique society — a country where a black man, whose middle name is Hussein, whose grandfather was a Muslim, can run for president and first defeat a woman in his own party and then four years later a Mormon from the opposition, and no one thinks twice about it. With so many societies around the world being torn apart, especially in the Middle East, it is vital that America survives and flourishes as a beacon of pluralism....
So what to do? We need a more “radical center” — one much more willing to suggest radically new ideas to raise revenues, not the “split-the-difference-between-the-same-old-options center.” And the best place to start is with a carbon tax.
Scratch "consumer" protection laws and you will almost always find the laws are really aimed a protecting incumbent businesses and traditional business models. This time from France:
To the surprise of virtually everyone in France, the government has just passed a law requiring car services like Uber to wait 15 minutes before picking up passengers. The bill is designed to help regular taxi drivers, who feel threatened by recently-introduced companies like Uber, SnapCar and LeCab. Cabbies in the Gallic nation require formidable time and expense to get their permits and see the new services -- which lack such onerous requirements -- as direct competitors.
This is the interesting political ground where the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Tea Party have a lot of overlap. That is why the Chamber of Commerce, which represents all these incumbent businesses, is working with both parties to keep the cozy corporatists in power against challenges from the Left and Right. If you are a business owner, eschew the Chamber and join the NFIB and support the IJ.
I have no data on it, but "Dust" must be up there somewhere. Was looking for a book of that name and found five zillion different ones on Amazon.
Reading about the Golden Dawn fascist party in Greece, I thought, "wasn't that the made-up terrorist group mentioned in Die Hard?" It turns out I was wrong, it was Asian Dawn, but others have made this same mistake, and someone on the Internet was nice enough to write a whole article clearing this up. Alan Rickman's eurotrash terrorist Hans Gruber is still one of my favorite movie bad guys.
You have heard of the Atlantic triangle trade in school. It is always discussed in terms of its economic logic (e.g. English rum to African slaves to New World sugar). But the trade has a physical logic as well in the sailing ship era. Current wind patterns:
Seriously, click on the real time link. Even if you are jaded, probably the coolest thing you will see today. One interesting thing to look at -- there is a low point in the spine of the mountains of Mexico west of Yucatan. Look at the wind pour through it like air out of a balloon.
I won't repeat the analysis, you need to see it here. Here is the chart in question:
My argument is that the smoothing and relatively low sampling intervals in the early data very likely mask variations similar to what we are seeing in the last 100 years -- ie they greatly exaggerate the smoothness of history and create a false impression that recent temperature changes are unprecedented (also the grey range bands are self-evidently garbage, but that is another story).
Drum's response was that "it was published in Science." Apparently, this sort of appeal to authority is what passes for data analysis in the climate world.
Well, maybe I did not explain the issue well. So I found a political analysis that may help Kevin Drum see the problem. This is from an actual blog post by Dave Manuel (this seems to be such a common data analysis fallacy that I found an example on the first page of my first Google search). It is an analysis of average GDP growth by President. I don't know this Dave Manuel guy and can't comment on the data quality, but let's assume the data is correct for a moment. Quoting from his post:
Here are the individual performances of each president since 1948:
1948-1952 (Harry S. Truman, Democrat), +4.82%
1953-1960 (Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican), +3%
1961-1964 (John F. Kennedy / Lyndon B. Johnson, Democrat), +4.65%
1965-1968 (Lyndon B. Johnson, Democrat), +5.05%
1969-1972 (Richard Nixon, Republican), +3%
1973-1976 (Richard Nixon / Gerald Ford, Republican), +2.6%
1977-1980 (Jimmy Carter, Democrat), +3.25%
1981-1988 (Ronald Reagan, Republican), 3.4%
1989-1992 (George H. W. Bush, Republican), 2.17%
1993-2000 (Bill Clinton, Democrat), 3.88%
2001-2008 (George W. Bush, Republican), +2.09%
2009 (Barack Obama, Democrat), -2.6%
Let's put this data in a chart:
Look, a hockey stick , right? Obama is the worst, right?
In fact there is a big problem with this analysis, even if the data is correct. And I bet Kevin Drum can get it right away, even though it is the exact same problem as on his climate chart.
The problem is that a single year of Obama's is compared to four or eight years for other presidents. These earlier presidents may well have had individual down economic years - in fact, Reagan's first year was almost certainly a down year for GDP. But that kind of volatility is masked because the data points for the other presidents represent much more time, effectively smoothing variability.
Now, this chart has a difference in sampling frequency of 4-8x between the previous presidents and Obama. This made a huge difference here, but it is a trivial difference compared to the 1 million times greater sampling frequency of modern temperature data vs. historical data obtained by looking at proxies (such as ice cores and tree rings). And, unlike this chart, the method of sampling is very different across time with temperature - thermometers today are far more reliable and linear measurement devices than trees or ice. In our GDP example, this problem roughly equates to trying to compare the GDP under Obama (with all the economic data we collate today) to, say, the economic growth rate under Henry the VIII. Or perhaps under Ramses II. If I showed that GDP growth in a single month under Obama was less than the average over 66 years under Ramses II, and tried to draw some conclusion from that, I think someone might challenge my analysis. Unless of course it appears in Science, then it must be beyond question.
...This is the sensation of the moment, from Barack Obama's Twitter account (apparently real and not a spoof)
Expect this to be the most photo-shopped image of the next 24 hours. My guess is that this is the new punishment for not being insured -- they send this guy to your house to watch MSNBC with you all day.
Somehow I screwed this up before. Here is the offer (pdf): Ballet Arizona Nutcracker - Up to 50% off
I had a percent sign in the URL which screwed everything up, I think.
If You Don't Like People Saying That Climate Science is Absurd, Stop Publishing Absurd Un-Scientific Charts
Kevin Drum can't believe the folks at the National Review are still calling global warming science a "myth". As is usual for global warming supporters, he wraps himself in the mantle of science while implying that those who don't toe the line on the declared consensus are somehow anti-science.
Readers will know that as a lukewarmer, I have as little patience with outright CO2 warming deniers as I do with those declaring a catastrophe (for my views read this and this). But if you are going to simply be thunderstruck that some people don't trust climate scientists, then don't post a chart that is a great example of why people think that a lot of global warming science is garbage. Here is Drum's chart:
The problem is that his chart is a splice of multiple data series with very different time resolutions. The series up to about 1850 has data points taken at best every 50 years and likely at 100-200 year or more intervals. It is smoothed so that temperature shifts less than 200 years or so in length won't show up and are smoothed out.
In contrast, the data series after 1850 has data sampled every day or even hour. It has a sampling interval 6 orders of magnitude (over a million times) more frequent. It by definition is smoothed on a time scale substantially shorter than the rest of the data.
In addition, these two data sets use entirely different measurement techniques. The modern data comes from thermometers and satellites, measurement approaches that we understand fairly well. The earlier data comes from some sort of proxy analysis (ice cores, tree rings, sediments, etc.) While we know these proxies generally change with temperature, there are still a lot of questions as to their accuracy and, perhaps more importantly for us here, whether they vary linearly or have any sort of attenuation of the peaks. For example, recent warming has not shown up as strongly in tree ring proxies, raising the question of whether they may also be missing rapid temperature changes or peaks in earlier data for which we don't have thermometers to back-check them (this is an oft-discussed problem called proxy divergence).
The problem is not the accuracy of the data for the last 100 years, though we could quibble this it is perhaps exaggerated by a few tenths of a degree. The problem is with the historic data and using it as a valid comparison to recent data. Even a 100 year increase of about a degree would, in the data series before 1850, be at most a single data point. If the sampling is on 200 year intervals, there is a 50-50 chance a 100 year spike would be missed entirely in the historic data. And even if it were in the data as a single data point, it would be smoothed out at this data scale.
Do you really think that there was never a 100-year period in those last 10,000 years where the temperatures varied by more than 0.1F, as implied by this chart? This chart has a data set that is smoothed to signals no finer than about 200 years and compares it to recent data with no such filter. It is like comparing the annualized GDP increase for the last quarter to the average annual GDP increase for the entire 19th century. It is easy to demonstrate how silly this is. If you cut the chart off at say 1950, before much anthropogenic effect will have occurred, it would still look like this, with an anomalous spike at the right (just a bit shorter). If you believe this analysis, you have to believe that there is an unprecedented spike at the end even without anthropogenic effects.
There are several other issues with this chart that makes it laughably bad for someone to use in the context of arguing that he is the true defender of scientific integrity
- The grey range band is if anything an even bigger scientific absurdity than the main data line. Are they really trying to argue that there were no years, or decades, or even whole centuries that never deviated from a 0.7F baseline anomaly by more than 0.3F for the entire 4000 year period from 7500 years ago to 3500 years ago? I will bet just about anything that the error bars on this analysis should be more than 0.3F, much less the range of variability around the mean. Any natural scientist worth his or her salt would laugh this out of the room. It is absurd. But here it is presented as climate science in the exact same article that the author expresses dismay that anyone would distrust climate science.
- A more minor point, but one that disguises the sampling frequency problem a bit, is that the last dark brown shaded area on the right that is labelled "the last 100 years" is actually at least 300 years wide. Based on the scale, a hundred years should be about one dot on the x axis. This means that 100 years is less than the width of the red line, and the last 60 years or the real anthropogenic period is less than half the width of the red line. We are talking about a temperature change whose duration is half the width of the red line, which hopefully gives you some idea why I say the data sampling and smoothing processes would disguise any past periods similar to the most recent one.
Update: Kevin Drum posted a defense of this chart on Twitter. Here it is: "It was published in Science." Well folks, there is climate debate in a nutshell. An 1000-word dissection of what appears to be wrong with a particular analysis retorted by a five-word appeal to authority.
Update #2: I have explained the issue with a parallel flawed analysis from politics where Drum is more likely to see the flaws.
The American Studies Association has voted to initiate an academic boycott of Israel ostensibly to protest its denial of civil rights to Palestinians in the occupied territories. Forgetting for a moment Israel's unique security concerns (what would the US do if Mexico routinely lobbed rockets and artillery shells into US border towns), the implication is that the Palestinians in Israels have it worse than any other group in the world, since this is the first and only such boycott the ASA has ever entered into. Is it really worse to be a Palestinian in Israel than, say, a woman anywhere in the Arab world** or about anyone in North Korea? Do academics in Cuba have more ability to write honestly than they do in Israel? I doubt it.
The only statement the ASA makes on the subject that I can find is in their FAQ on the boycott
7) Does the boycott resolution unfairly single out Israel? After all there are many unjust states in the world.
The boycott resolution responds to a request from the Palestinian people, including Palestinian academics and students, to act in solidarity. Because the U.S. contributes materially to the Israeli occupation, through significant financial and military aid - and, as such, is an important ally of the Israeli state - and because the occupation daily confiscates Palestinian land and devastates Palestinian lives, it is urgent to act now.
A couple of thoughts. First, I am not sure why US material aid is relevant to choosing a boycott target. I suppose the implication is that this boycott is aimed more at the US than at Israel itself. But the question still stands as to why countries like Saudi Arabia, which receives a lot of US material aid as well, get a pass. Second, the fact that Palestinian academics can seek international help tends to disprove that their situation is really the worst in the world. I don't think the fact that the ASA is not hearing cries for help from liberal-minded academics in North Korea means that there is less of a problem in North Korea. It means there is more of a problem.
I am not a student of anti-semitism, so I can't comment on how much it may explain this decision. However, I think it is perfectly possible to explain the ASA's actions without resorting to anti-semitism as an explanation. As background, remember that it is important for their social standing and prestige for liberal academics to take public positions to help the downtrodden in other countries. This is fine -- not a bad incentive system to feel social pressure to speak out against injustice. But the problem is that most sources of injustice are all either a) Leftish regimes the Left hesitates to criticize for ideological reasons or b) Islamic countries that the left hesitates to criticize because they have invested so much in calling conservatives Islamophobic.
So these leftish academics have a need to criticize, but feel constrained to only strongly criticizing center-right or right regimes. The problem is that most of these are gone. Allende, the Shah, Franco, South Africa -- all gone or changed. All that's left is Israel (which is odd because it is actually fairly socialist but for some reason never treated as such by the Left). So if we consider the universe of appropriate targets -- countries with civil rights and minority rights issues that are not leftish or socialist governments and not Islamic, then the ASA has been perfectly consistent, targeting every single country in that universe.
** To this day I am amazed how little heat the gender apartheid in the Arab world generates in the West in comparison to race apartheid in South Africa. I am not an expert on either, but from what I have read I believe it is a true statement to say that blacks in apartheid South Africa had more freedom than women have today in Saudi Arabia. Thoughts?
Update: I twice emailed the ASA for a list of other countries or groups they have boycotted and twice got a blurb justifying why Israel was selected but with no direct answer to my question. I guess I will take that as confirmation this is the first and only country they have ever targeted. They did want to emphasize that the reason Israel was selected (I presume vs. other countries but they did not word it thus) had a lot to do with he fact that Israel was the number one recipient of US aid money (mostly military) and that it was this American connection given they represent American studies professors that made the difference. Why Pakistan or Afghanistan, who treat their women far worse than Israel treats Palestinians, and which receive a lot of US aid, were not selected or considered or mentioned is not explained. Basically, I would explain it thus: "all the cool kids are doing it, and we determined that to remain among the cool kids we needed to do it too". This is a prestige and signalling exercise, and it makes a lot more sense in that context, because then one can ask about the preferences of those to whom they are signalling, rather than try to figure out why Israel is somehow the worst human rights offender in the world.
By the way, by the ASA logic, it should be perfectly reasonable, even necessary, for European academic institutions to boycott US academic institutions because the US government gives aid to such a bad country like Israel. This seems like it would be unfair to US academics who may even disagree with US policy, but no more unfair than to Israeli academics who are being punished for their government's policies. I wonder how US academics would feel about being boycotted from European events and scholarship over US government policy?
Glen Reynolds brings us this bit from a letter to the WSJ about the IRS and 501c4's:
For example, if an IRS official subjects citizens to incredibly burdensome demands for irrelevant information just to harass them for their political or religious beliefs, no 501(c)(4) group could later criticize that official’s nomination to be IRS commissioner, without engaging in restricted activity. That’s because the IRS’s proposed regulation defines even unelected government officials, like agency heads and judges, as “candidates” if they have been nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation. The IRS’s proposed rules are an attack on the First Amendment that will make it easier for the government to get away with harassing political dissenters and whistleblowers in the future.
The part about classifying Senate-confirmed officials as "candidates" seems to be part of the same initiative as the changes to the filibuster to make it easier for the President to confirm controversial judges and administrators. I wonder if this is a general effort or battlespace preparation for a specific confirmation battle.
Less than 12 hours after CBS aired is horrid, uncritical infomercial for the NSA, a federal judge has ruled that the NSA likely violated the Fourth Amendment with its domestic wiretapping and data gathering.
This weekend our family dog, the world's largest Maltese at over 12 pounds but still a small dog, was attacked by a coyote. They redid the golf course nearby into a links course and ever since we have had an enormous pack of coyotes out there -- the other night I saw a dozen hanging out together.
Yesterday the coyote got into a fenced area and grabbed Snuggles (please no name jokes today) in its jaws and was carrying her off when my daughter saw it and screamed and yelled until it dropped our dog and went away. If my daughter had had a gun, that coyote would have been blown away -- my daughter was in total mama bear mode.
We took the dog to the emergency animal hospital, and eventually to their surgery center. Snuggles was put on oxygen and an IV and within a few hours had a surgeon operate on her chest, stitching closed holes in her chest wall on both sides of her body. So that is how we spent our weekend.
Today she is doing OK, but is still sluggish and won't eat. We are hoping for the best, and that she will beat the odds (most dogs this size are DOA from coyote attacks). Here she is with her pink bandages, still in the oxygen tent.
Postscript: It was interesting to go through the process of getting emergency care in the veterinary world. At each step of the process we got a detailed cost estimate in advance of the charges we could expect. We were able to request her medical records at any time, and they were both detailed and impressive. Every step was documented. We saw her x-rays and got pictures and video from the surgery to show us exactly what damage had to be repaired and how they did it. The two locations we have been to (the local hospital and the surgery center) both are part of VCA, It has not been cheap, but the care has been impressive.
One odd conclusion to this is that there is something to be said for the old-style communal hospital ward vs. the private rooms of today. One of the reasons I feel good that they are keeping an eye on Snuggs (as the men of the household call her to avoid embarassment) is that all the critical animals are essentially in cages and enclosures in the same room, where someone always is there to see immediately if they are in distress.
Update: Got the bill today for the surgery. Pretty much exactly what they promised in advance. Not cheap -- I think I am going to rename this dog Steve Austin
Update #2: I don't really blame the coyote - nature red in tooth and claw and all that. Anger at the coyote is just cover for my personal guilt that we did not make things safer for her. We are making changes right now to give her a safer area to run around and do her business.
One thing I think I have never mentioned before on this site is that in college, I was a fanatical bridge player. I developed this odd social life of bridge in the afternoon and beer pong at night. When I got tired of playing other students, my friend and I would go into town and play the local residents, who were sharks.
Anyway, people new to bridge are always intimidated by bidding, and certainly there is a learning curve there (which I made worse by using the Precision rather than the Goren standard system). But with some time, bidding becomes rote. Only perhaps in one in ten or twenty hands is the last increment of bidding expertise really useful, and then usually only when playing duplicate where even a few extra points really matter.
Once your bidding is mostly up to snuff, the game is all about card play. A good player will play out the entire hand, with guesses as to which cards are held by which players, before the first card is led.
The single best book I have ever read on card play is Card Play Technique by Mollo and Gardener. Thirty years ago there was about one source for this often out-of-print book and I bought a dozen copies, slowly giving most of them away over time. Now, however, it is back in print. If you play bridge, you have probably read this book, but if not, buy yourself a copy for Christmas.
When people ask me about my business, one of the things that is hard to explain is just how deep and visceral the skepticism of private enterprise can be. I constantly have people take single words I might have uttered in the immediacy of a live TV interview and try to craft straw man positions for me out of them**. Sometimes it is not even something I said, but something where some lazy journalist has poorly paraphrased my position.
Here is a great example, where a Flagstaff writer (who by the way knows me and my phone number quite well but did not bother to interview me) tries to take my opposition to the government shutdown to paint me with some sort of entitlement. She lectures me that I don't actually own the land on which I operate, as if that is somehow news to me. You can read my comments if you are interested, but the issue with the shutdown was the lawlessness of Administration officials, not any sense that I am entitled to the land any more than my lease contract allows me to be. (As an aside, she seems to be expressing a strong theory of landlord rights, that my landlord (the US Forest Service) should have the absolute right to shut me down whenever they want. Why is it that I don't think she has the same position vis a vis other tenants and landlords?)
By the way, compare her straw man to my actual position on public land, which is likely to the Left of many of my readers:
In my history of public discussions on private operation of public parks, it is no surprise that I run into a lot of skepticism about having any private role at all. But I also run into the opposite -- folks who ask (or demand) that the government sell all the parks to private buyers. So why shouldn't privatization of parks just consist of a massive land sale?
The answer has to do with profit potential. Over time, if in private hands, a piece of land will naturally migrate towards the use which can generate the highest returns. And often, for a unique piece of land, this most profitable use might not be a picnic area with a $6 entrance fee -- it might instead be something very exclusive which only a few can enjoy, like an expensive resort or a luxury home development (think: Aspen or Jackson Hole). The public has asked its government to own certain unique lands in order to control their development and the public access to them.
Public ownership of unique lands, then, tends to have the goal of allowing access to and enjoyment of a particular piece of land for all of the public, not just a few. Typically this entails a public agency owning the land and controlling the types of uses allowed on the land and the nature and style of facility development. I call these state activities controlling the "character" of the land and its use. (One could legitimately argue that private land trusts could fulfill the same role, and in fact I have personally been a supporter of and donor to private land trusts. However, I am not an expert in this field and will leave this discussion to others).
Having established a role for the government in setting the character of the lands we call "parks," we can then legitimately ask, "does this goal require that government employees actually staff the parks and clean the bathrooms?"
** Postscript: A couple of years ago I was asked to do an interview with Glen Beck on my proposal to keep open, via private operation, a number of Arizona parks slated for closure. It was the first time I ever did live TV, and a national show to boot. I had never seen his show but he had the reputation of being freaky and unpredictable, which just made me more nervous. Anyway, during the interview I said that typically an agency would contract with us for a group of parks, instead of just one, so the stars could help cover the cost of the dogs. This terminology is from a framework many business school students learn early, often called a BCG matrix (named after the Boston Consulting Group). It is a two by two matrix with market share or profitability on one axis and market growth on the other. Anyway, the profitable high revenue units within a company are stars and the unprofitable stagnant ones are called dogs (the profitable stagnant ones were cash cows and I can't actually remember what was in the fourth box). You can see this nomenclature is so established they actually put little pictures of stars and dogs in the boxes.
Anyway, it was a poor choice of wording, but the nomenclature is wired do deep in my now it just came out. The context of the entire interview was that I cared deeply about the parks and that I was offended that the legislature was going to let them close when there was an easy solution at hand. No matter. The #2 guy at Arizona State Parks took the video and make the rounds of the state park staff, highlighting my use of the word "dog" and inflaming their rank and file that I thought their parks were bad places and I was bent on destroying them, or something. Anyway, none of the Arizona Park Staff I have ever talked to has ever seen an operations manual for their parks but they have all seen the video of me saying "dogs."
Postscript #2: Don't ever think that consulting is different from any other business. When I was an McKinsey, we had piles of frameworks we used (the 7S organization framework being perhaps the most common and actually fairly useful, as its intent was to take focus away from structure alone in organizational work). Anyway, McKinsey had to have a growth-share matrix, but to try to differentiate this product a bit they had a 3x3 matrix rather than a 2x2.
Since I am somehow oddly onto a consulting tangent here, the single most useful thing I garnered from McKinsey was the pyramid principle in persuasive and analytical writing. I have talked to a lot of other ex-McKinsey folks, and almost all of them wonder why the pyramid principle is not taught in high school. I am not a believer in business books -- I am looking around my office and I don't think I see even one here. But if I had to offer one book for someone who wanted a business book, this is it.
Many in New York’s professional and cultural elite have long supported President Obama’s health care plan. But now, to their surprise, thousands of writers, opera singers, music teachers, photographers, doctors, lawyers and others are learning that their health insurance plans are being canceled and they may have to pay more to get comparable coverage, if they can find it.
They are part of an unusual informal health insurance system that has developed in New York in which independent practitioners were able to get lower insurance rates through group plans, typically set up by their professional associations or chambers of commerce. That allowed them to avoid the sky-high rates in New York’s individual insurance market, historically among the most expensive in the country....
The predicament is similar to that of millions of Americans who discovered this fall that their existing policies were being canceled because of the Affordable Care Act. Thecrescendo of outrage led to Mr. Obama’s offer to restore their policies, though some states that have their own exchanges, like California and New York, have said they will not do so.
But while those policies, by and large, had been canceled because they did not meet the law’s requirements for minimum coverage, many of the New York policies being canceled meet and often exceed the standards, brokers say. The rationale for disqualifying those policies, said Larry Levitt, a health policy expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation, was to prevent associations from selling insurance to healthy members who are needed to keep the new health exchanges financially viable.
Siphoning those people, Mr. Levitt said, would leave the pool of health exchange customers “smaller and disproportionately sicker,” and would drive up rates.
Alicia Hartinger, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said independent practitioners “will generally have an equal level of protection in the individual market as they would have if they were buying in the small-group market.” She said the president’s offer to temporarily restore canceled polices applied to association coverage, if states and insurers agreed. New York has no plans to do so.
Donna Frescatore, executive director of New York State of Health, the state insurance exchange, said that on a positive note, about half of those affected would qualify for subsidized insurance under the new health exchange because they had incomes under 400 percent of the poverty level, about $46,000 for an individual.
I still do not understand how anyone could consider it a "positive" that 50% of people who were previously self-reliant now become wards of the state.
I am not sure the exact date it started, but our embargo on Cuba is over fifty years old. At what point do we declare failure?
Sure, the communists and Castro and Che Guevara all suck. But how much longer are we going to punish Cuba's leaders by making their citizens miserable? History has shown that communist countries become less communist by interacting with the (quasi) capitalist democracies. The most stable dictatorships (think North Korea) are those who are the most obsessive in masking alternatives from their citizens. How much longer are we going to continue doing the Castros' work for them?
Open up our relations with Cuba, not because they have somehow gotten better or deserve our respect but because this is the only way they are going to get better.
About one-fourth of the people who have entered their income information on their applications were deemed eligible for subsidies on the exchanges (about 900,000 out of about 3.6 million), which is lower than the number we saw in October alone and remains really far from what was projected. The CBO projected that just 1 million out of the 7 million people to enroll in the exchanges in the first year would be ineligible for subsidies, so the ratio is way off from what was expected (15–75 vs. 75–25). I had some thoughts on that surprising fact a month ago, and I’ll add a couple now: Unsubsidized customers (basically, those above the national median income) are generally savvier and more likely to have the resources to enroll and make their payments ahead of time, so maybe this is understandable and doesn’t say anything about who will eventually enroll. On the other hand, it may demonstrate that the people to whom insurance was supposed to be expanded — the uninsured, who tend to be low-income and not well educated — aren’t getting to the exchanges at all, and covering them will be a much longer term project.
There is a huge, enormous analytical problem with this-- they are looking at entirely the wrong numbers. Incredibly, Meghan McArdle makes this same mistake, and I generally respect her analysis of things. I am going to pull out my summary chart of the Exchange numbers to try to make things clear (click to enlarge):
There are 3 major mistakes, each worse than the one before.
MISTAKE 1: The 3.6 million total applicants number is in line 3 (3,692,599). This is the wrong number. The number he should use is line 4, the number of people who have had their eligibility processed. So the denominator should be 3.1 million, not 3.6 million.
MISTAKE 2: He leaves out the Medicaid piece. Seriously, if we looking at numbers that are partially subsidized, why leave out numbers (Medicaid and CHIP) that are entirely subsidized? This means the applicants eligible for subsidy are 803,077 + 944,531 or 1,747,608 which is 56% of the processed applicant pool. The subsidy number may be lower than expected but I get the sense that the Medicaid percentage is higher than expected.
MISTAKE 3: They are looking at the application pool, not the sign-up or enrollment pool. That is understandable, because the Administration refuses to give the subsidy percentage breakdown of those who have selected a plan (a number which they certainly must have). My guess is that people are putting in applications just to see if they are eligible for subsidies. If not, they quit the exchange process and go back to their broker. That is what I will probably do (out of curiosity, I would never accept taxpayer money for something I am willing to pay for myself). The people who actually sign up for coverage are almost certainly going to skew more towards subsidized than does the applicant pool.
Making reasonable assumptions about the mix of subsidies in the "selected a plan" group, one actually gets numbers of 80-90% Medicare and CHIP and subsidies in the enrollment pool.
I do think McArdle is correct in saying that the uninsured numbers were both exaggerated and mis-characterized. I have been saying that for years.
I can understand the man bites dog appeal of a story about the press turning on Obama. But seriously, their biggest problem with this President's transparency is that he does not allow enough pictures of himself?
I may have mentioned in the past that my wife is on the Board of Ballet Arizona. Phoenix has a reputation as a cultural wasteland, but our Ballet is certainly an exception to this. Our artistic director Ib Andersen is fabulous, garnering top reviews even from the fussy New York press. We have several young dancers, including one young lady who recently defected from Cuba, who are astonishing and whom you should frankly come see now before they are lured away to the bright lights of New York or Washington.
Anyway, they have a promotion running for the Nutcracker this holiday season and have allowed me to offer this same promotion to our readers, with discounts up to 50% on tickets. See this pdf for details: Link Fixed to Ballet Arizona Offer. | <urn:uuid:54c1d1f4-f2f2-497c-8073-3f5dd22fb5d4> | {
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Financial literacy refers to the basic skills people need to manage money and make financial decisions. People are said to be financially literate when they understand money, income and taxes, budgeting, banking, saving, investing, credit, insurance, retirement planning, and managing money for economic self-sufficiency and to build wealth. The average student who graduates from high school lacks basic skills in the management of personal finance affairs. Many are unable to balance a checkbook and most lack the insight into the basic survival principles involved with earning, spending, saving, and investing. Several young people fail in the management of their first consumer credit experience, establish bad financial management habits, and stumble through lives learning by trial and error.
Due to these facts, the Connecticut State Department of Education has endorsed personal finance education and through these efforts most of our high schools offer at least one half year personal finance course. To assist educators, a personal finance model curriculum has been developed by administrators and teachers from across the state. Use the links above to access each unit as well as resources and middle school curriculum.
We welcome teachers to submit lesson plans to be added to this curriculum. Please use the same template as the model lesson plans and submit your lesson to: Lee C. Marcoux, Education Consultant. [email protected]
Lee C. Marcoux, Consultant
Phone: (860) 713-6768
Facsimile: (860) 713-7018
7-12 Business and Finance Technology Education
CT FBLA State Director
National Board Teacher Certification
Investing and Personal Finance Grant Manager
Carl D. Perkins Compliance Review Program Manager | <urn:uuid:b39e3c67-0c19-4219-963b-89097a09588b> | {
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Ani, Farid Nasir (2008) Sustainable carbonaceour solid waste research for biofuel and other related applications. In: Advances in Thermo-Fluids. Penerbit UTM, Johor. ISBN 978-983-52-0541-5
Official URL: http://www.penerbit.utm.my/bookchapterdoc/FKM/book...
The use of biomass as renewable energy and material resources are important for countries where there is limited supply of fossil fuel reserves. Biomass is unique in the sense that it is the only renewable source of carbon which provides the basic building block for fuel and chemical industries. The cultivation of large area of agricultural plantation like rubber and oil palm trees help to absorb excess atmospheric CO2 thus reducing the green house effect as to maintain the desired ecological balance. Generally, biomass also provides flexibility in shifting usage from food to energy and to material applications when desirable, has well been demonstrated at large scale production. Sustainable carbon cycle diagram as shown in Figure 14.1 shows the continuous process of carbon mass transfer into various states of utilization. There are several of biomass solid wastes available in Malaysia. The agro-industrial sector of Malaysia generates a significant amount of oil palm solid wastes, rubber wood wastes, timber wastes and rice husk. Biomass residues from oil palm plantation in Malaysia, have the potential usage for utilization as energy and other applications. This is due to the ease of collection of biomass residues at the oil palm mills in huge amount.
|Item Type:||Book Section|
|Uncontrolled Keywords:||Solid Waste, biomass|
|Subjects:||T Technology > T Technology (General)|
T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
|Deposited By:||Fazli Masari|
|Deposited On:||02 Aug 2012 00:38|
|Last Modified:||02 Aug 2012 00:38|
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Explore the possibilities of writing for fun and publication. Practice specific writing skills that enhance descriptive language usage, story telling, and exposition. Classroom activities include discussion of styles, grammar usage, and imagery as well as the art of writing for fun. This is an individualized course designed to meet the needs of the beginning or advanced writer. Weekly assignments for critique expected.
This course focuses on understanding the medium of film regarding mise-en-scène, character dialogue, and the story arc. Significant emphasis is placed on character development, film treatments, the use of conflict, multiple storylines, high concept vs. low concept storytelling, and "the pitch."
There often comes a time in our life when we feel compelled to tell our stories. The catalysts for this are many: chronicling family history, healing old wounds, discovering our voice, understanding our lives, or just a desire to write. The objective of this course is to explore the genre of memoir through in-class writing exercises, take home writing assignments, the workshopping of student work, as well as reading established memoirists in order to learn about craft and technique.
Are you thinking about writing a book? Have you written a book that you want to publish? In this course, students will learn how to format a manuscript to meet specifications for publishing a book in print or as an ebook, and in particular, how to format interior and exterior files using Microsoft Word. Students will learn some marketing tips while exploring the pros and cons of self-publishing a book and learn how to avoid some of the pitfalls of the publishing world.
This course teaches students how to produce short documentaries for the web. Students will learn how to operate video cameras, microphones and tripods before shooting their own video stories. They will learn how to interview others and use narration for their video stories. Students will then learn how to use Mac computers and video editing software for the editing process of these stories. No knowledge of camera equipment or video editing software is needed prior to enrollment. This class is limited to students aged 11-15. Video equipment will be provided.
You want to be a writer but you don’t know where to start. What kind of writer can you be and what skills do you need? What is it like to be a successful professional writer? We can help you with that. Contact [email protected]
To register, obtain the 5-digit class number from the links above and phone (608) 258-2301.
If you have never taken a class here before, you can facilitate enrollment by creating a student account before trying to register. | <urn:uuid:7ef4b492-25a6-402e-b8c0-1ef3d68e99a6> | {
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Gout is a musculoskeletal disorder affecting the muscles and bones around the joints of the bird.
Symptoms and Types
There are two types of gout. Which type the bird suffers from depends on the body parts affected:
- Visceral gout – this occurs in the tissues of the internal organs.
- Articular gout – this chronic form of the disease which occurs when uric acid and urates are deposited in the ligaments and tendons, but more commonly in the legs or wing joints. The joints become swollen, red, tender swell, and warm to touch.
A bird with articular gout prefers to sit on a flat surface instead of perching because of the pains. If forced to walk, the bird becomes noisy due to discomfort. It may also be depressed and dehydrated, with greenish diarrhea. In addition, the bird will look dull, its feathers ruffled and the vent moist.
Male birds are susceptible to articular gout, and the common age for this affliction is four months and above.
Gout is mainly due to damaged kidneys (nephropathy). When they stop functioning normally, it results in an accumulation of uric acid and urates in the muscles and joints. Kidney damage leading to gout can be due to the following reasons:
- High calcium and vitamin D3, with low phosphorus amounts in food
- High amount of sodium bicarbonate in food
- High amount of salt (more than 0.3 percent) in food
- High amount of protein (more than 30 percent) in food
- Not enough water in the diet (dehydration)
- Consumption of water with a high amount of minerals (i.e., calcium and copper sulfate)
- Viral infection (i.e., avian nephritis)
- Antibiotics like gentamycin, nitrofurosones, and sulfonamides
- Poisoning by disinfectants (i.e., cresol and phenol)
A medical condition in which the kidney becomes inflamed
A medical condition in which the body has lost fluid or water in excessive amounts
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In this article
What is sickle cell disease?Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disorder that's passed down through families. Both parents need to carry the sickle cell gene for their baby to have sickle cell disease (NHS Choices 2012a,b). It's most common in people of Black African or Black African-Caribbean origin (NHS Screening 2012).
There is a national testing programme for newborns, and it finds about 300 babies with sickle cell disease each year in the UK. Between 12,000 and 15,000 people living in the UK have the condition (RCOG 2011).
Sickle cell disease causes the body to sometimes make abnormal haemoglobin. This is an iron-rich protein in red blood cells, which carries oxygen to all parts of the body.
The haemoglobin in normal red blood cells makes them soft, round and flexible, and able to move easily around the body.
At times when people with sickle cell disease produce abnormal haemoglobin, the red blood cells become hard, sticky and sickle-shaped (like a crescent). These sickle cells get stuck in the blood vessels, blocking the flow of blood, which can be really painful (NHS 2012a,c, RCOG 2011).
When this blockage happens, it's known as a sickle cell crisis.
Sickle cells can get stuck in the spleen, too. The spleen is an organ that filters the blood for infections. This means people with sickle cell disease are more prone to illnesses. Sickle cells die off more quickly than normal red blood cells, which can cause anaemia. This results in a low number of red blood cells, meaning less oxygen can get around the body. Anaemia causes tiredness and breathlessness (NHS 2012a,c).
Sickle cell disease is a lifelong condition that can have serious complications. Sadly, there is not a cure yet, but specialist sickle cell teams in the NHS know how to manage the condition well. You can also get lots of encouragement from the specialist team and sickle cell support groups. And it may help to know that most people with sickle cell disease do not have symptoms all the time, and can get on with life when they feel well.
How do people get sickle cell disease?Sickle cell disease is hereditary, which means it's passed down through families. For your baby to have it, both you and your partner must carry the abnormal haemoglobin gene responsible for sickle cell (NHS Choices 2012 a,b). This can happen if you have sickle cell disease yourself, or if you are a carrier of the gene, without symptoms.
The diagram above shows that for each pregnancy, there is a one in four chance of the baby having sickle cell disease, if both parents are carriers (NHS 2012a,b). This does not mean that one in four babies born to this couple will have sickle cell disease. The risk is reset with each pregnancy.
Here is an example that helps to explain. The chance of having either a boy or girl is about one in two. But we all know families that have all boys or all girls. The same thing happens with inherited conditions, so one family may have more than one baby with sickle cell, or none with the disease.
How do I find out if I'm a carrier of sickle cell?You will need to have a blood test to find out if you carry the sickle cell gene, ideally before you are pregnant or early in your pregnancy (NHS Screening 2011, RCOG 2011).
Depending on where you live, you will be offered a blood test for sickle cell as part of your antenatal care. You may be asked some questions first to see if you are at risk because of your family origins (NHS Screening 2011, NHS 2012a,b, NICE 2010). If you carry the sickle cell gene, a blood test will be offered to your baby's father, too (NHS Screening 2011, NICE 2010).
What should I do if I'm pregnant and I have sickle cell?If you have sickle cell disease and you're trying to conceive or you're pregnant, see your doctor as soon as you can. Your doctor will refer you to a specialist sickle cell care team at the hospital. It's important to have expert care, as you may have more episodes of pain during pregnancy and your anaemia may become worse (Guy's & St Thomas' 2012).
Taking extra folic acid, eating a healthy diet and drinking plenty of fluids can help. You also need to get plenty of rest, keep warm, and avoid infections by taking your regular antibiotics and having vaccinations as advised (Guy's & St Thomas' 2012, RCOG 2011).
Your doctor may also adjust your treatment. Some of the drugs you may have been taking before to control your symptoms may not be safe to take during pregnancy (RCOG 2011).
The team will monitor you and your baby throughout your pregnancy, to keep you both as well as possible. Sickle cell disease can mean a higher risk of complications, such as miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, premature labour or your baby being small for your stage of pregnancy. But good care can make all the difference in reducing these risks (Guy's & St Thomas' 2012, RCOG 2011).
Your doctor may advise having your baby early, either by having your labour induced or by having a caesarean section (RCOG 2011).
How do I find out if my baby has sickle cell?If there's a chance your baby could inherit sickle cell your doctor will refer you to a genetic counsellor (RCOG 2011). The counsellor will give you all the information you need about sickle cell disease. This will help you to make informed decisions about how you want your pregnancy to progress.
There are three ways of finding out if your unborn baby has sickle cell:
- Chorionic villus sampling (CVS): Your doctor can take a small sample of the placenta for DNA testing from 11 weeks of pregnancy.
- Amniocentesis: This tests a sample of the amniotic fluid surrounding your baby, between weeks 16 and 20 of pregnancy.
- Fetal blood sampling: Later in pregnancy, your doctor can take some blood from the umbilical cord for testing. (NHS Screening, no date)
All newborn babies are screened for sickle cell, so if your baby isn't tested during pregnancy it can be picked up after she's born (NHS Screening 2011, 2012). Your midwife will prick your baby's heel and take a tiny amount of blood to be tested for sickle cell and other conditions.
Finding out your baby has sickle cell disease can come as a shock. You may feel frightened and that you don't know what to expect. You may feel responsible for your baby's condition, too, but neither you nor your baby's dad is to blame.
Where can I get help and support?There are support groups available for people with sickle cell disease, and it can really help to talk to someone who understands what you're experiencing. For more information visit:
- Sickle Cell Society
- Organisation for Sickle Cell Anaemia Research (Bristol)
- Organisation for Sickle Cell Anaemia and Thalassameia Support (OSCAR Birmingham)
You can read our article on sickle cell in babies, and share your experiences and find support in the BabyCentre community.
To read more about sickle cell disease testing, visit NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Programme.
Last reviewed: July 2013
ReferencesGuy's & St Thomas's. 2012. Pregnancy and sickle cell disease. www.guysandstthomasnhs.uk [pdf file,accessed May 2013]
NHS Choices. 2012a. Sickle cell anaemia: Introduction. NHS Choices, Health A-Z. www.nhs.uk [Accessed May 2013]
NHS Choices. 2012b. Sickle cell anaemia: Causes. NHS Choices, Health A-Z. www.nhs.uk [Accessed May 2013]
NHS Choices. 2012c. Sickle cell anaemia: Symptoms. NHS Choices, Health A-Z. www.nhs.uk [Accessed May 2013]
NHS Screening. 2011. NHS Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia Screening Programme: Standards for the linked antenatal and newborn screening programme. sct.screening.nhs.uk [pdf file, accessed May 2013]
NHS Screening. 2012. Information for healthcare professionals. NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Programme. sct.screening.nhs.uk [pdf file, accessed May 2013]
NHS Screening. No date. Further testing during pregnancy. NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Programme. sct.screening.nhs.uk [Accessed May 2013]
NICE. 2010. Antenatal care. London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, Clinical guideline 62. [pdf file, accessed May 2013]
RCOG. 2011. Sickle cell disease in pregnancy. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Green-top guideline 61. London: RCOG press. [pdf file, accessed May 2013] | <urn:uuid:83057d14-71cf-4f97-8cb5-a27913c6cdec> | {
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A web search engine is a type of website that helps a computer user find information on the Internet. It does this by looking through other web pages for the text the user wants to find. The software that does this is known as a search engine.
To use a search engine you must enter at least one keyword in to the search box. Usually an on-screen button must be clicked on to submit the search. The search engine looks for matches between the keyword(s) entered and its database of websites and words.
Quickly after a search is submitted the results appear on screen. This is called a search engine results page (SERP). The SERP is a list of webpages that contain matches to the keywords that were searched. The SERP usually shows web pages names, short demretsaxaonescriptions and a link for each matching web page. The user can click on any of the links to go to one of the websites.
Search engines are some of the most advanced websites on the web. They use special computer code to sort the web pages on SERPs. The most popular or highest quality web pages will be near the top or the list.
When a user type words into the search engine, it looks for web pages with those words. There could be thousands, or even millions, of web pages with those words. So, the search engine helps users by putting the web pages it thinks the user wants first.
Search engines are very useful to find information about anything quickly and easily. Using more keywords or different keywords improves the results of searches.
A search service may also include a portal with news, games, and more information besides a search engine. Yahoo! has a popular portal, and MSN Search is part of the MSN portal, while Google has a simple design on its front page. Search services usually work without charging money for finding sites, and are often supported with text or banner advertisements. | <urn:uuid:f9810b79-a5b4-476b-96c1-2cd1120cda75> | {
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Oswald Davidson Durant was born in 1895 in a community called Paxville just outside of Sumter, South Carolina. The son of a farmer and postmaster who had likely been born into slavery, Oswald attended Morris College in Sumter. He was working as a waiter at a hotel called The Oakes north of Pittsburgh in June 1917 when he completed this draft card.
Oswald was drafted to serve in the First World War and assigned to the 371st Infantry in the still segregated U.S. Army. The 371st had white officers and African American draftees, the majority of whom were from South Carolina.
By the time they sailed for Europe in April 1918, Oswald had been promoted to the rank of sergeant. Sergeant Durant and nearly 3,000 other members of the 371st were brigaded under the French and were issued French rations and equipment, including the distinctive French combat helmet, which would become their symbolic shoulder patch.
During their service with the French 157th Division, these brave African American draftees earned the respect of the French military, as well as many white U.S. officers. The regiment saw extensive combat and lost a third of its men, earning the respect of the French who honored them with the Croix de Guerre. They returned home in early 1919.
Officers commissioned this bronze commemorative medallion, which reflects the service and heritage of the brave men who served with the 371st.
After the war, Durant enrolled at Meharry Medical College in Nashville and became an honor student. He earned his medical degree in 1926 and set up practice in Alexandria. In 1942 he completed this draft card but was not called to serve.
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Factor fearlessly, conquer the quadratic formula, and solve linear equations
There's no doubt that algebra can be easy to some while extremely challenging to others. If you're vexed by variables, Algebra I For Dummies, 2nd Edition provides the plain-English, easy-to-follow guidance you need to get the right solution every time!
Now with 25% new and revised content, this easy-to-understand reference not only explains algebra in terms you can understand, but it also gives you the necessary tools to solve complex problems with confidence. You'll understand how to factor fearlessly, conquer the quadratic formula, and solve linear equations.
- Includes revised and updated examples and practice problems
- Provides explanations and practical examples that mirror today's teaching methods
- Other titles by Sterling: Algebra II For Dummies and Algebra Workbook For Dummies
Whether you're currently enrolled in a high school or college algebra course or are just looking to brush-up your skills, Algebra I For Dummies, 2nd Edition gives you friendly and comprehensible guidance on this often difficult-to-grasp subject. | <urn:uuid:af896369-c603-4dbe-a00a-86e8a9405e26> | {
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