You know George Washington and John Hancock as founding fathers. But what about George Washington, successful whiskey distiller? Or John Hancock, fortified wine importer?
Turns out some of that patriot spirit came in bottles.
“I was surprised at how much people drank,” says Corin Hirsch, who chronicled the drinking habits of colonial-era Americans in her recently released book “Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England: From Flips and Rattle-Skulls to Switchel and Spruce Beer.”
“People were starting their days with alcohol and ending their days with alcohol,” says Hirsch. “It was woven into the culture in fundamental ways.”
Take John Adams, second president of the United States and father of the sixth, who started each day with a tankard of cider.
Adams also served as lawyer for Hancock, who got into a kerfuffle in 1768 when the British seized his sloop, the Liberty, in Boston Harbor, claiming – charges that didn’t stick – that Hancock had avoided paying duties on most of his shipment of Madeira, a fortified wine.
Madeira made sense as a New World drink because it developed its character through being exposed to heat and sloshing around in barrels at sea. Sherry, also fortified, was also popular.
The one thing colonials weren’t likely to drink was water, considered a very dubious beverage.
Where there are spirits there must be mixology. A simple colonial cocktail was rum dropped into cider, known as a Stone Wall or Stone Fence, says Hirsch.
“Flip” was the artisanal cocktail of the day, generally a mix of beer, rum, eggs, spices, sometimes cream, served warm and blended by being poured from one pitcher to another until creamy and silky. To finish, a hot poker was plunged in, imparting a charred flavor and creating a froth and steam on par with today’s bartending pyrotechnics.
Beer was the drink of the early immigrants. One of the reasons the Mayflower landed in Massachusetts rather than continuing south was because beer was running low, notes David Sipes, cider maker at Angry Orchard.
But colonists didn’t have much success raising barley to make beer, so they turned to apples, which did grow well, and made hard cider. Alcohol levels were probably fairly low, in the 4 percent to 5 percent range, notes Sipes.
Today’s ciders are a bit different. Angry Orchard, for instance, uses a mix of regular apples, known as culinary apples, and traditional cider (bittersweet) apples and clocks in anywhere from 5 to 10 percent alcohol.
If you’re looking for a sparkler to break open on July 4, Angry Orchard has a new cider called The Muse, inspired by slightly sweet sparkling wines, which is made from apples from Italy and France, comes in a cork-caged bottle and is just under 8 percent alcohol.
On the hard liquor side, Americans turned away from rum after the revolution and domestic whiskey production increased, says Steve Bashore, manager of trades at the distillery and gristmill site of Mount Vernon, Washington’s estate in Virginia.
Most farmers had at least a small still and some made larger quantities. Washington got into the business in 1797 when he returned from the presidency and hired farm manager James Anderson, a Scottish immigrant with extensive distilling experience.
Washington had all the ingredients for the whiskey business, including a water-powered grist mill and cooperage. He started with two stills in the cooperage, later built a distillery and by 1799 production was 11,000 gallons, likely the largest U.S. distillery of the time, says Bashore.
An astute businessman, Washington “ran a pretty tight ship at Mount Vernon,” says Bashore, and the tradition continues today with workers at the estate making whiskey the old-fashioned way in small batches from grain ground at the mill, all done by hand, including carrying water by bucket.
The research team worked through the ledgers from 1798 and 1799, noting the types of grain delivered to the distillery to develop the recipes – or “mash bill” – for Washington’s whiskey, which is 60 percent rye, 35 percent corn and 5 percent malted barley. About half the whiskey is unaged, or “white” whiskey, as it would have been in Washington’s time, and the rest is barrel-aged, with all bottles available only through in-person purchase at the estate.
The latest batch of aged George Washington Straight Rye Whiskey will go on sale over the July Fourth weekend.


It is estimated that there may be as many children who grow up learning two languages as one. Despite this, childhood bilingualism is poorly understood by many and regarded with skepticism by others. Because of lack of familiarity with or knowledge about childhood bilingualism, parents, educators, and early childhood specialists may express doubts about childhood bilingualism and they may expect negative consequences to result from children learning two languages during the preschool years. Such concerns are especially common in communities where most children grow up monolingual and, as a result, adult members of the community come to view monolingualism as normal and bilingualism as abnormal.
In recent years, researchers have been actively involved in studying bilingual acquisition and, although all the research evidence is not yet in, we now have a more detailed description of important aspects of bilingual development than previously. Bilingual acquisition is complex. In comparison with monolingual children who usually learn language from their parents, bilingual children may depend not only on parents but also on grandparents, playmates, or childcare and daycare workers to learn their languages. Bilingual children may learn their languages primarily in the home, like monolingual children, or in the daycare, or neighborhood. Bilingual children's exposure to their languages can also differ greatly, as, for example, if the child is learning one language from a parent who works at home and the other from a parent who works outside the home. Their language exposure can fluctuate greatly over time, if, for example, the parent who is the primary source of one of the languages takes a job in another city and is only home on weekends.
Here are responses to some concerns that are commonly expressed by parents and child care professionals about bilingual acquisition in early childhood.
Learning two languages in childhood is difficult and can result in delays in language development.
Children who have regular and rich exposure to both languages on a daily or weekly basis from parents and other caregivers exhibit the same milestones in language development and at roughly the same ages as monolingual children. It is important to remember that there are large individual differences in language acquisition — some children acquire their first words or use complex utterances much earlier than other children. Delay in the emergence of these milestones does not necessarily mean that there is something seriously wrong; in most cases it simply means that the child has taken longer to reach this stage. The same kinds of differences are characteristic of bilingual children.
It is important that parents of bilingual children provide systematic exposure to both languages all the time and that they avoid radical changes to the language environment of the child. Such changes can disrupt language development and create difficulties for the child.
Bilingual children have less exposure to each of their languages than monolingual children. As a result, they never master either language fully and, compared to monolingual children, they never become as proficient.
Bilingual children can acquire the same proficiency in all aspects of their two languages over time as monolingual children even though they usually have less exposure to each language. Bilingual children acquire the same proficiency in the phonological and grammatical aspects of their two languages as monolingual children do in their one language, provided they are given regular and substantial exposure to each. Bilingual children may have somewhat different patterns of development in certain aspects of language in the short term. Vocabulary is one of those areas. Sometimes, young bilingual children know fewer words in one or both of their languages in comparison with monolingual children of the same age. This is probably because all young children have limited memory capacities, and bilingual children must store words from two languages, not just one. As well, because bilingual children learn words in each language from different people, they sometimes know certain words in one language but not in the other. When the vocabulary that bilingual children know in both languages is considered together, they generally know the same number of words and have the same range of vocabulary as their monolingual peers. Most importantly, when and if differences like these occur, they are short term and are likely to disappear by the time the children begin school.
Interpersonal communication is another area where bilingual children sometimes differ. The ways of communicating in certain social situations or of expressing certain meanings can be quite different in some languages. If bilingual children are acquiring such languages and they have not had full exposure to one or both of them, then they may not have acquired the ability to express these meanings or they may not be proficient in certain social situations. Given adequate and appropriate experience with their languages, most bilingual children quickly acquire all of the social language skills and ways of expressing themselves they need.
Generally speaking, bilingual children's overall proficiency in each language reflects the amount of time they spend in each. Thus, a child who has just returned from a visit to a grandparent where only one of the languages was used, may prefer to use only that language for awhile and, thus, may appear to have lost some proficiency in the other language. This is usually a short term, temporary shift in preference that is corrected once the child is exposed to the neglected language. It is important not to overreact to these temporary fluctuations in proficiency since they are usually temporary.
Parents can best ensure that their children achieve full proficiency in both languages by providing rich experiences with each and especially with the language that might otherwise not get strong support in the extended community; for example, a minority language such as Spanish or Chinese in North America. It is important in this regard that parents who do not speak the majority language of the community continue to use their native language so that they expose their child to varied and rich ways of using language. This is difficult to do if parents use a language that they are not proficient in. It is also important for parents to maintain use of heritage languages in the home because it is part of the family culture and an important part of the child's developing identity. It helps them feel unique and connected to their families.
Young bilingual children can't keep their languages separate; they use both at the same time; they are obviously confused.
At some stage, most bilingual children use sounds and words from both languages in the same utterances or conversations even though the people talking with them are using only one language. Some parents and early childhood educators are concerned when they hear this because they believe that it means that the child is confused and cannot separate the two languages. Research shows that this is not true. The main reason for children mixing their languages in these ways is because they lack sufficient vocabulary in one or both languages to express themselves entirely in each language. Thus, they borrow from the other language. Indeed, this is an effective communication strategy in most families because parents and other adults who care for bilingual children usually understand both languages and may mix the languages themselves when talking with the child.
Bilingual adults in some communities mix their languages extensively. Research has shown that the most proficient bilinguals mix the most and in the most sophisticated ways without violating the rules of either language. It is normal for children growing up in these communities to mix their languages extensively because they are simply learning the patterns of communication that are common in their community.
In any case, mixing languages is a natural and normal aspect of early bilingual acquisition, even among proficient adult bilinguals. Parents should not try to stop their children from mixing. Bilingual children will naturally stop doing it, unless of course mixing is a frequent form of language use in the community.
Using both languages in the same sentence or conversation is bad. Parents can discourage and even prevent their children from doing this by making sure that each of them uses one and only one language with their child at all times. The same goes for other adults who interact with the child.
Research has shown that most bilingual children mix their languages sometimes no matter how much their parents mix, for the reasons mentioned earlier. As well, most parents mix their languages when talking with their young children because it is a natural and effective way of communicating with one another and their children. Because mixing languages is common among people who are bilingual, it can be difficult and unnatural, if not impossible, to keep the languages completely separate. If most people in the children's wider community use only one language, then there is probably no reason to worry about how much parents or children mix; the children will eventual learn the monolingual patterns.
What are the most important things for parents or early childhood educators to know about early childhood bilingualism?
- bilingual acquisition is a common and normal childhood experience
- all children are capable of learning two languages in childhood
- knowing the language of one's parents is an important and essential component of children's cultural identity and sense of belonging
- bilingual acquisition is facilitated if children have sustained, rich, and varied experiences in both languages
- proficiency in both languages is more likely if children have sustained exposure in the home to the language that is used less extensively in the community; the language that is used more widely will get support outside the home
- parents can facilitate bilingual proficiency by using the language they know best and by using it in varied and extensive ways


Frederiksberg is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, but is typically treated as a part of Copenhagen. and had a population of 103,192 in 2015.
Frederiksberg is an enclave surrounded by Copenhagen Municipality and there is no clear border between the two. Some sources ambiguously refer to Frederiksberg as a quarter or neighbourhood of Copenhagen. However, Frederiksberg has its own mayor and municipal council, and is fiercely independent.
Frederiksberg is considered to be an affluent, or "posh", area. and is characterised by its many green spaces, such as the Frederiksberg Gardens and Søndermarken. Some institutions and locations that are widely considered to be part of Copenhagen are actually located in Frederiksberg. For example, Copenhagen Zoo as well as several stations of the Copenhagen Metro are located in Frederiksberg. The Copenhagen S-train system also has several stations in Frederiksberg, including Peter Bangs Vej station and Flintholm station.
This uses material from Wikipedia which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.


Using discipline to inculcate good behaviour is an important part of parenting. Parenting is a constant struggle and parents need to use a broad range of strategies and methods to help children imbibe good behaviour and alter behaviour when it is less than perfect. It is important to mould and be flexible in your ways to shape your child’s behaviour. The methods you use must be in line with contemporary learning and child care methods. Gone are those days when you could just give a tight slap to your child and get them on track. Well, it is time you accepted that you have to spare the rod yet not spoil the child. Children do not have multitasking abilities nor do they have the maturity to comprehend things and understand the magnitude of their actions. It is important to get down and connect at their level rather than compete for attention. Read on to find out what are the best ways to reverse your child’s behaviour.
10 Effective Tips to Get Children to Behave
Raising well-behaved children has become an arduous task for most parents of today. Parents have a busy lifestyle and find it hard to balance their personal and professional commitments. A hectic work culture leads to less time being spent with children and very little time to sit and interact with them to stress the importance of developing a strong character for a secure future.
How to get children to behave? Why does my son not behave appropriately around people? How to teach a child to behave in a school? These are few glaring questions that parents dart at child psychologists. Well, it is not rocket science to get kids to behave well and neither does one need to visit a doctor unless the situation is out of control. The tips below will help you discipline your child and behave in an impeccable fashion at all times. You could also win some brownie points for being a great parent!
1. Use an Assertive Tone
Never yell, shout or scream when you have to make a point. It is important to be assertive and stress the importance of the matter. It will immediately get their attention.
2. Acknowledge their Feelings
It is very important to accept their feelings and not disregard them. For example: if your kid is angry if you have taken his toy then give an explanation for your action. Don’t try to ignore them or calm them down.
3. Use Motivation
A reward chart works wonders when disciplining your kid. Invest in one and have stickers handy to highlight good behaviour. Sell the idea of behaving well with an incentive that will be received on gaining a certain number of points.
4. Change the Concept of Discipline
The word discipline originates from the Latin word “to teach”. Ditch punishment for reiterating the importance of good behaviour. Keep using reassuring words and motivational gestures to induce good behaviour. Model yourself on the same line for them to follow.
5. Give Options
Explain to your child that good behaviour will fetch them a reward and appreciation, however, bad behaviour will only lead to time in the naughty corner. Ask them what they would prefer. This gives them time to think and decide what they want. It also empowers them to distinguish between right and wrong and follow that principle always.
6. Offer Feedback
Never fail to respond or acknowledge their actions. If your boy has been good at tidying up their room, then make sure you say “Thank You”, “What a wonderful display of a sense of responsibility”. Positive words feel good to their ears and they have a sense of accomplishment.
7. Reorganise your Thoughts
Try to understand that your child is not being hard or difficult on purpose. They just don’t understand the importance of it all. So instead of saying, “You are behaving very badly lately” trying telling them “You seem to be having a hard time. Is there anything I can do to help?”. Remember that your child is struggling to express themselves and only you hold the key to help them vent their feelings.
8. Teaching Gratitude
A very important attitude to be taught to kids today who have lost touch with personal connections with the influence of technology. The best way to teach them to grateful is to set a small prayer routine either in the morning or at bedtime, thanking the Almighty for what you have. This will automatically filter through other aspects of life and every occasion- be it a birthday party, wedding or even in school.
9. Send Gentle Warnings
Don’t make any abrupt endings to anything that your kids do. Kids hate it when they are not given a prior warning of what is coming up. For example, if you want them to stop watching TV, then give a “5-minute warning” signal before it is time to switch off. This way they will be mentally prepared for what they can expect.
10. Practice Yoga or Meditation
Yoga and meditation exercises have been proven remedies to tackle stress in adults. They have amazing benefits for kids when practised on a regular basis. Engage your kids in meditation or yoga asanas (tree pose, child pose) to calm their senses. By practising yoga and meditation, kids especially ones with special needs develop a composed mind and thereby adopt a calm approach to dealing with any situation.
There is no proven technique to inspire good behaviour which will weave its magic like a wand on your kid. The most important thing is to lead by example. Let your child see how you care for people around you, hear the kind words you use and see you doing your duty irrespective of being told. This alone will suffice to enthuse an empathetic behaviour at home and school. Build your repertoire of techniques, tools, methods and language to motivate good behaviour and gain maximum cooperation from your kids. Ditch the drama and bring in engaging dialogues and discussions to strike that healthy balance.
Effective Ways to Teach Your Child About Respect
Simple Ways to Teach Responsibility to Kids
Good Manners to Teach Your Kids


William Alexander Bustamante Facts
William Alexander Bustamante (1884-1977) was a Jamaican labor leader who became Jamaica's first chief minister under limited self-government and the first prime minister after independence in 1962.
William Alexander Bustamante, perhaps Jamaica's most flamboyant and charismatic politician, was born William Alexander Clarke on February 24, 1884. His father, Robert Constantine Clarke, a member of the declining white plantocracy, was the overseer of a small, mixed-crop plantation called Blenheim, in the parish of Hanover on the then-isolated northwestern coast of the island. By virtue of the second marriage of Elsie Hunter, his paternal grandmother, to Alexander Shearer, he became distantly related to both Norman Washington Manley and Michael Manley, as well as to Hugh Shearer— all of whom were to be chief ministers or prime ministers of Jamaica. His mother, Mary Wilson, descended from the sturdy, independent Black peasantry of rural Hanover.
Bustamante is the surname which he formally adopted in September 1944, although he had been using that name regularly since the 1920s. Bustamante's own apochryphal explanation of the name is that it derives from the Spanish mariner who adopted him at the age of five, taking him to Spain where he was sent to school and where he saw active military service. However, Bustamante did not leave Jamaica until 1905, when he was 21 years old—and he left as part of the early Jamaican migration to Cuba, where employment opportunities were expanding in the sugar industry.
Of Bustamante's early life little is known. He attended elementary school in rural Hanover, once even in his mother's native village of Dalmally. Those few who recall his youth remember him as a fine horseman, who even as a teenager owned his personal horse and raced regularly with his numerous male cousins and others. He was restless, extremely extroverted and gregarious. Although intelligent, he had little formal education beyond the elementary level in Jamaica and resisted the apprenticeship which would have led him to succeed his father as an overseer of the Jamaican landed interests.
Between 1905 and 1934 Bustamante lived outside of Jamaica, returning to his homeland for only brief visits. Most of this time was spent in Cuba, where he eventually gained employment in the security police of Presidents Alfredo Zayas and Gerardo Machado in the 1920s. Earlier he had spent nearly ten years in Panama (probably between 1908 and 1919) working as a traffic inspector. There he met Mildred Edith Blanck, the widow of an English consulting engineer, whom he married in the Kingston Parish Church on December 12, 1910, while on one of his short visits to the island.
The Jamaica to which Bustamante returned in 1934 was a cauldron of social and economic discontent. The decline of the old colonial system, hastened by the enormous difficulties which Great Britain had encountered during World War I and during the Great Depression, had saddled Jamaica with a type of politics and a bureaucracy which could not respond to the many problems which the island encountered. Wages and working conditions had declined steadily, and the government had consistently refused to provide relief. Workers were being organized and militantly politicized not only by the race and color conscious supporters of Marcus Garvey but also by the articulate socialist-oriented committees of Norman Manley, Frank Hill, Ken Hill, Arthur Henry, Richard Hart, Allan Coombs, Wills O. Isaacs, and Noel Nethersole. To this situation Bustamante brought great charisma, an attractive, empathetic eloquence spiced with rapier-like humor, carnival-like flair, boundless enthusiasm, energy, and an unflagging support for the working classes and the underprivileged. Along with his famous half-cousin Norman Washington Manley he became the dominant political figure in Jamaica until his retirement in the late 1960s.
After his return to Jamaica, Bustamante established himself as a money-lender in modest offices on Duke Street, then the desired cachet for all business addresses in Kingston. He installed Gladys Longbridge as his private secretary, and she was to accompany him for the rest of his life as confidante, assistant, companion, and, finally, after September 6, 1962, his second wife. Bustamante described himself as a dietician and businessman with North American experience, but while he might have returned with some wealth to the island, his formal training and experience were mostly his own fantastic fabrication.
Spokesman for Labor
He began his political involvement by writing long, almost daily letters to the press, especially the venerable Daily Gleaner, the island's leading newspaper—then more than a century in continuous publication—and its smaller rival, The Jamaica Standard. He wrote on many subjects, but most had to do with the conditions of the lower orders of the working classes and the political ineptness of the local administrators. Gradually he became involved in the protest marches and other demonstrations of the urban masses. He was interned briefly for this activity. The widespread labor disturbances of the years 1937 and 1938 provided the opportunity to establish himself as the foremost labor leader in the island. He combined the oratory of Marcus Garvey with the modified messianic spirit of the former millenialists Alexander Bedward and Solomon Hewitt, but he made the new movement his own instrument.
On January 23, 1939, he registered the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union over the opposition of the governor and others who declared that a union should not possess the name of an individual. Within four years the union represented more than 80 percent of all organized workers in Jamaica, mainly among the rural agricultural workers. The constitution of the union made Bustamante president for life, with unrestricted control of its finances.
Between September 8, 1939, and February 8, 1942, Bustamante was imprisoned by the governor of Jamaica, Sir Arthur Richards, under wartime emergency powers for incitement to riot for addressing a group of longshoremen on the Kingston waterfront. The internment made a political martyr of Bustamante and enhanced the position of his union among the masses. During Bustamante's internment Norman Manley and his followers rebuilt and expanded the organization of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union. The eventual release of Bustamante from prison derived from the unceasing efforts of Manley, who had earlier founded the People's National Party as the political instrument for forging a new nationalism in Jamaica. And indeed, it was through the efforts of the People's National Party, modeled after the British Labor Party, that Jamaica gained a new political status in 1944 with universal adult suffrage and an elected legislature with limited self-government.
Working for an Independent Jamaica
Immediately after his release Bustamante broke with Manley, reorganized the union, and formally launched the Jamaica Labor Party on July 1943 to rival the People's National Party and the Jamaica Democratic Party in the first general elections held in December 1944. The Jamaica Labor Party won 23 of the 32 seats in the House of Representatives, with 41 percent of the votes, and Bustamante became Jamaica's first chief minister.
Along with being head of the government, Bustamante served as mayor of Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation in 1947. His Jamaica Labor Party won re-election in the national elections of 1949 with a reduced parliamentary representation. More significantly, the party gained less popular votes than the opposition People's National Party. Although Bustamante lost the general elections of 1955 and 1959, he remained leader of the opposition in the Jamaican Parliament until 1962. His was a prominent voice and effective presence in the political life of the country. He established the vital link between the trade union base and the political party and made this combination the most effective instrument of political operation in Jamaica.
Bustamante virtually single-handedly destroyed the West Indian Federation, established in 1958 to unify and order the political evolution of the English West Indian territories. His decision not to participate in the federation and to orchestrate the Jamaican opposition to it in a 1961 referendum led to the demise of the federation in 1962, the year in which Bustamante's party, riding the crest of its successful campaign to withdraw Jamaica from the federation, won the general elections once more and made Bustamante the prime minister of independent Jamaica.
In 1967 he retired from politics, having reduced his participation during the previous three years because of failing health. The following year the Jamaican Parliament honored him by declaring him a national hero. He died on August 6, 1977, at the age of 93 and was buried in the shrine for prime ministers of Jamaica in the national park in Kingston.
Further Reading on William Alexander Bustamante
An excellent balanced account is Alexander Bustamante and Modern Jamaica by George Eaton (1975). Unflattering synoptic portraits can be found in Paul Blanshard, Democracy and Empire in the Caribbean (1977) and Personal and Controversial: An Autobiography (1973). Norman Manley's portrait is more insightful in The New Jamaica: Selected Speeches and Writings, 1938-1968, edited with notes and introduction by Rex Nettleford (1971).
Additional Biography Sources
Hamilton, B. L. St. John, Bustamante: anthology of a hero, Kingston, Jamaica: Produced for B. St. J. Hamilton by Publication & Productions, 1978.
Hill, Frank, Bustamante and his letters, Kingston, Jamaica: Kingston Publishers, 1976.
Ranston, Jackie, From we were boys: the story of the magnificent cousins, the Rt. Excellent Sir William Alexander Bustamante and the Rt. Excellent Norman Washington Manley, Kingston, Jamaica: Bustamante Institute of Public & International Affairs, 1989.


Learn to Draw > Subject matter for mixed technique
The artist who uses the mixed technique must feel drawn toward it and be willing to forego the somewhat facile charm of impasto paint with a plastic texture. He must also use a smooth ground. As only the best ground will do for such meticulous work, you will undoubtedly take canvas-covered board. The canvas must be finely and smoothly woven, however, and the primer must be polished with sandpaper, producing a ground as smooth as paper, whose linen texture will in time be completely obscured.
Hence, the mixed technique is absolute painting, the method which rejects any external material appeal. It is the method which gives precedence to content, what the picture is about, over means, how it is done. The tendency to value these nonessentials at the expense of the subject is one found in all fairly recent paintings.
The subject matter of a picture painted in mixed technique is brought out by rich color effects, not by striking mannerisms. The color effect is based on a gray brought about partly by optical color mixture, which in turn consists partly of an additive light mixture. The glaze is like colored glass through which reflected light shines strongly at different angles of refraction; this brings out interfering colors such as exist in genuine pearls. Thus it is impossible to copy a picture painted like this in oils, using alia prima technique. Anyone who has attempted to do this will have discovered how primitive any kind of alia prima technique is when compared with mixed technique.
So far scientific research into painting methods has been able to ascertain, mixed technique was discovered by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and they are among the select few, the greatest painters of all time. They do not owe this to their technical ability alone, to which the amazing state of preservation of their works bears such eloquent testimony.
If the mixed technique is out of favor at the present time, one does not need to be a prophet to predict that in the changing cycle of fashion it will again playa great part. That is, of course, unless technical progress provides us with a further simplified medium with allembracing artistic potentialities. The first step would be the discovery of a completely foolproof binding agent, capable of making the paint layers into a homogeneous whole and liable to no further change.
Synthetic materials are constantly being improved and might in time make such a discovery possible. From a technical viewpoint, the mixed technique rests essentially on the contrast between the use of resinous glazes and lean tempera colors thinned with water, i.e., an "O-W" emulsion: it lies embedded like trellis work between the films of resin.
When once you have grasped this notion, you will see how worthless would be the use of a fatty "W-O" emulsion in mixed technique. An unnecessary layer of fatty paint would result. The same is true of casein tempera. The strong binding power of its glue constituent renders it unsuitable for painting in several layers. Casein tempera is a good binder for a weather-proof "O-W" tempera applied in a single layer.
An artist can tackle these problems only against a background of wide practical experience, and he must know what his aim is. He will then find his way by means of systematic experiments. All that can be given here are basic ideas, but these can be subtly adapted to any and every form of painting.


by Dr. Amos Brown, NAACP National Board Member
*Noting the 50th anniversaries of Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ACSblog is hosting a symposium including posts and interviews from some of the nation’s leading scholars and civil rights activists.
In the 1950s, the winter of the civil rights movement in Mississippi, I worked alongside many brave black youth who actively fought racism and segregation, long before the press from northern communities ever arrived. Their heroic efforts and stories of courage in the face of staunch resistance in the 1950s are untold and unacknowledged.
I organized the first youth council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Mississippi in the fall of 1955, after being deeply impacted by the mutilated head of Emmett Till on the cover of Jet Magazine in August of that year. At only 15 years old, I asked my mother for permission to travel with Medgar Evers from Mississippi to San Francisco to attend the National Convention of the NAACP. At this convention, I was deeply inspired by the dream shared by a 26-year old Martin Luther King Jr.. This speech, given on the Wednesday night of the Convention, got my young peers and I fired up. We all agreed to return to our respective communities and become more involved.
In 1958, under the NAACP, what was then called a sit-down was organized in Oklahoma Cityand led by Barbara Posey, a young woman who had served as the president of the youth council and engaged youth from elementary school through high school. This lunch counter sit-down was a success in its attempt to break down segregation. After this, there were a number of other successful youth led sit-downs around the country, in cities such as Wichita and Louisville.


I finally got around to reading this book. I buy far too many books. My To-Be-Read pile is growing exponentially.
I am really surprised there haven’t been more books written on the topic of prejudice in the wizarding world. I think this is the single most important issue in the book because prejudice is the reason why everything in this series transpired.
Brown tackles the issue of prejudice fearlessly. I say this because for some strange reason people still tip toe around the idea of prejudice. Perhaps it is due to the “politically correct” movement of today. Or perhaps society has deluded itself into thinking that the issue does not exist as much because society is “tolerant.” Granted I may be cynical to the issue of prejudice as I am an attorney and have worked on a number of discrimination suits.
In her book, Brown defines prejudice as
A feeling, favorable or unfavorable, toward a person or thing prior to, or not based on, actual experience.
-Brown, page 6.
Using this definition, Brown critiques the Harry Potter series. She notes that J. K. Rowling does not just merely use the characters readers expect to be evil, but rather she predominantly uses the “good guys” to show exactly how pervasive prejudice in society is. She uses the beloved Ron Weasley as an example.
Brown goes on to summarize each of the seven novels concentrating on the incidences of prejudice revealed in the book. Then she defines the social hierarchy in the wizarding world as well as discusses the concept “humanity.” In the next chapter, Brown discusses how social hierarchy is maintained through ignorance, indifference, insecurity, and intolerance. She illustrates her point by citing the treatment of giants, goblins, and elves by wizards in the book. Of all these magical races, she spends devotes a whole chapter to the house-elf using sociological principles to determine how the wizards managed to enslave the elfs. She also goes on to discuss how the enslaved perpetuate the oppressors ideology in the future generations by way of the mother. She notes that it is the female elfs (Winky) reinforcing the wizards thoughts about house-elfs, while the males (Dobby and Kreacher) constantly buck against the social structure in place.
Leaving no stone unturned, Brown next considers the prejudice towards the disabled in the magical community: Squibs and Werewolves. Now Brown seems to feel that the wizarding community has in the past as well as present done something wrong in its treatment of Squibs. She points to Deathly Hallows as showing that in the past, Squibs were encouraged to integrate into the Muggle world and that in the present (and undoubtedly past as well) that Squibs were denied magical education. I disagree slightly. Squibs have little to no magic whatsoever. Yes they are able for instance to see Hogwarts and the Leaky Cauldron, but they don’t have enough magical ability to pull off transfiguration. While I don’t think forcing Squibs into Muggle society is necessarily the right course, I don’t think I can blame them for not letting them into Hogwarts. Really what would be the point? They wouldn’t be able to function. Now that’s not to say that there shouldn’t be any education for them; but what would be the effect on the children of being placed in a school were they will always fail? Now werewolves are a different matter entirely, except for their once a month affliction there is nothing that stops them from honing their magical skills as evidenced by Prof. Lupin in the series.
One of the most interesting chapters in the book is Chapter 5 entitled “What’s Wrong with Hermione Calling Herself a ‘Mudblood’?: Examining the Politics of Naming and Self-Naming in the Series.” She goes into detail regarding the social reasons that Voldemort changed his name and also forbade his name from being spoken and how that can on one hand empower an individual and other the other hand render and individual impotent. You’ll have to read that for yourself.
She also considers the role parenting plays in prejudice. I highly recommend every parent to at least read that chapter. Then she discusses the differences in rule breaking evidence between Harry and Lord Voldemort.
As a further point of interest, Brown does reconcile the Epilogue in Deathly Hallows. I know many people didn’t like it because the characters (Ron) in particular still evidenced prejudice. However as Brown notes in her book, eliminating prejudice that has spanned generations will take generations.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book! I found it thought provoking. Brown pointed out instances of prejudice that I hadn’t even seen in the book. I think it is an excellent corollary for our own world. As an attorney who has worked on discrimination suits, I can tell you that those who believe that race, gender, religion and like are not issues anymore are sadly mistaken. We still have a very long way to go. I think the book does an excellent job of showing the mindsets that lead to prejudice. My feeling has always been that if you can understand why you are doing something that is the first step in making a change.


The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Venus. The evening stars are Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Mercury and Neptune.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Roman Catholic St. Thomas Aquinas in 1225; Canadian Prime Minister and statesman Alexander MacKenzie in 1822; British explorer Henry Morton Stanley in 1841; Cuban revolutionary and poet Jose Marti in 1853; French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette in 1873; concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein in 1887; abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock in 1912; sculptor Claes Oldenburg in 1929 (age 84); actor Alan Alda in 1936 (age 77); former Liberian leader Charles Taylor and ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, both in 1948 (age 65); former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 1955 (age 58); singer Sarah McLachlan in 1968 (age 45); comedian Mo Rocca in 1969 (age 44); actors Susan Howard in 1944 (age 69) and Elijah Wood in 1981 (age 32); and singers Joey Fatone in 1977 (age 36) and Nick Carter in 1980 (age 33).
On this date in history:
In 1547, Henry VIII died and 9-year-old Edward VI became king of England.
In 1782, the U.S. Congress authorized creation of the Great Seal of the United States.
In 1813, "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen was published.
In 1878, the first commercial telephone switchboard began operation in New Haven, Conn.
In 1958, The Lego Group received a patent for its toy building blocks.
In 1965, Canadian Parliament accepted a new national flag design which included a red maple leaf in its center.
In 1974, Israel lifted its siege of Suez City and turned over 300,000 square miles of Egyptian territory to the United Nations, ending the occupation that had begun during the October, 1973 war.
In 1982, kidnapped U.S. Army Brig. Gen. James Dozier was rescued in Padua, Italy, after 42 days in the hands of Italian Red Brigades militants.
In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds after blastoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crewmembers, including civilian teacher Christa McAuliffe.
In 1993, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled that the U.S. military's policy against homosexuals was unconstitutional because it was "based on cultural myths and false stereotypes."
In 1995, the United States and Vietnam agreed to exchange low-level diplomats and open liaison offices in each other's capital cities.
In 1997, five former police officers in South Africa admitted to killing anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko, who died in police custody in 1977 and whose death had been officially listed as an accident.
In 2000, the U.S. government admitted that workers making nuclear weapons were exposed to radiation and chemicals that led to cancer and early death.
In 2003, at least 42 passengers burned to death when a luxury tourist bus collided with a truck carrying paints and chemicals in India's eastern state of West Bengal.
Also in 2003, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Likud Party retained power in Israeli parliamentary elections.
In 2004, the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq told Congress "we were almost all wrong" in believing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and called for an outside independent investigation of the apparent intelligence failure.
In 2005, Condoleezza Rice was sworn in as the 66th U.S. secretary of state. She was the first African-American woman to hold the office.
Also in 2005, European scientists confirmed the first known case of "mad cow" disease in a goat.
In 2007, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed a reported 300 enemy fighters in a major battle near Najaf in southern Iraq. The U.S. military death toll for the month was 84.
Also in 2007, British researchers warned effects from climate change would be irreversible in 10 years without "serious reductions in carbon emissions."
In 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush delivered his final State of the Union address, focusing on the Iraq war, the uncertainty of the economy, a proposed tax rebate and another warning for Iran.
In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a nearly $900 billion economic stimulus plan.
Also in 2009, more than 3,000 people died of cholera during an outbreak in Zimbabwe, the World Health Organization said.
In 2011, Tunisia's interim government issued an arrest warrant for ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali who fled to Saudi Arabia after massive demonstrations chased him from office.
In 2012, the U.S. gross domestic product grew at a rate of 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with 1.8 percent during the previous quarter.
Also in 2012, the Arab League suspended its monitoring mission in Syria because of a sharp spike in violence on the same day opposition activists reported almost 100 deaths.
A thought for the day: Edward George Bulwer-Lytton said, "Talent does what it can; genius does what it must."
Notable deaths of 2014 [PHOTOS]
UPI Almanac for Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014


Plain language (also called Plain English) is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it.
Plain language is defined by results—it is easy to read, understand, and use.
Written material is in plain language if your audience can:
- Find what they need;
- Understand what they find; and
- Use what they find to meet their needs.
Strategies for Writing in Plain Language:
- Omit unnecessary words
- Write short sentences
- Write short paragraphs
- Avoid smothered verbs
- Avoid elegant variation, which invigorates creative writing but can confuse readers when they’re trying to understand instructions or regulations; use the same standard terms each time you refer to them.


Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is a gastrointestinal disorder that can often be mistaken for other digestive problems, such as lactose intolerance. Knowing the difference between the disorders is important for finding effective treatment and thus comfort.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a reaction similar to a food allergy. There are a number of potential causes, but in many people, IBS is triggered by certain foods. Irritable bowel syndrome affects people in different ways. For instance, some people have mild IBS, while others experience severe IBS. Episodes tend to come and go, and can be aggravated by stress. Irritable bowel syndrome affects about one in five people, with most cases developing sometime between the ages of 20 to 30. In most situations, IBS symptoms are chronic, meaning, you have them for life. On the upside, there are periods of long remission, and symptoms can turn from severe to mild over several years.
Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest a substance called lactose, a sugar found in milk and dairy products. A deficiency of an enzyme called lactase (produced in the small intestine) is often responsible for lactose intolerance. Many people who have low levels of lactase can still digest milk products without having any problems. However, people who are truly lactose intolerant experience symptoms shortly after they eat dairy foods.
Is it IBS or lactose intolerance?
Perhaps, you are having stomach problems and don’t know what to make of it. Let’s look at IBS vs. lactose intolerance.
Milk can sometimes trigger IBS, so this can throw people off, but it is clear to gastrointestinal specialists that sensitivity to milk is directly linked to lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is definitely not IBS, and can be dealt with swiftly and easily. When people think they are lactose intolerant, cut out all dairy products, and still have digestive problems, they should be examined to see if they have IBS.
The difference between irritable bowel syndrome and lactose intolerance may seem to be simple, but much of the difficulty is in the fact that we have very busy lives, so it can be hard to keep track of what we are doing and what we are eating every day. Both of these conditions require careful attention to food consumption. The other issue is that IBS and lactose intolerance share some of the same symptoms, as you will read later in this article.
IBS vs. lactose intolerance: U. S. prevalence
The International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders reports that every year between 2.4 and 3.5 million people visit a doctor for IBS in the United States alone. Approximately 40 percent have mild irritable bowel syndrome, 35 percent suffer moderate symptoms, while 25 percent have a severe case of IBS. Doctors say that even though IBS is so prevalent, many people don’t recognize the symptoms.
Understanding the signs and symptoms and knowing how to keep the condition under control is important not only for the wellbeing of the individual, but also for the country. The cost to society in terms of medical expenses and productivity loss due to work absenteeism is huge. Some estimates put it in the range of about 20 billion annually.
When it comes to lactose hypersensitivity, you have likely heard people mention that they are intolerant, yet the medical community has had difficulty establishing statistical data on the condition. This is because lactose intolerance can be hard to define and many people do not report their condition. What we do know is that about 75 percent of the world’s population, including 25 percent of those living in the United States, lose their lactase enzymes when they are babies. These people are considered “lactase deficient” until they are officially diagnosed lactose intolerant.
IBS vs. lactose intolerance: Signs and symptoms
If you have IBS, you may experience flare-ups from time to time. The symptoms may improve for a few days, weeks, or months, and then come back. There are even some cases where the symptoms subside for several months at a time.
Here are some of the common signs and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome:
- Cramping in stomach
- Diarrhea or constipation
- Bloating and swelling of stomach
- Excessive gas
- Urgency (need to go to toilet suddenly)
- Passing mucus from your bottom
Some people with IBS can experience other problems, including a lack of energy, back pain, bladder problems, and pain during sex. IBS symptoms can have a big impact on daily life, leading to depression and anxiety as well.
Symptoms of lactose intolerance are usually experienced after eating or drinking foods that contain lactose. These foods include milk, ice cream, cheese, butter, cream sauces, yogurt, whipping cream and coffee creamers, puddings or custards, and cream soups.
Here are some common signs and symptoms of lactose intolerance:
- Abdominal cramping
While lactose intolerance is not dangerous, it can be very uncomfortable and stressful.
Difference between irritable bowel syndrome and lactose intolerance causes
Just what causes IBS? Well, that is still not fully understood. Years ago, medical scientists thought it was simply stress, but now they believe that while stress can aggravate irritable bowel syndrome, it is actually caused by some sort of disturbance in the way the brain and stomach interact.
Our gastrointestinal tract is a complex system, involving nerves that exchange information among organs, the spinal cord, as well as the brain. The colon reacts to the information by either contracting or relaxing muscles. Under normal circumstances, strong contractions move waste through the body after nutrients have been absorbed. However, in people with IBS, the nerves controlling those muscles are unusually active. Ordinary stimulators, such as eating certain foods, getting stressed out, taking certain medications, and going through hormonal fluctuations seem to trigger a response that causes spasms. Sometimes those spasms cause stools to move rapidly leading to diarrhea, and sometimes they do the opposite – the stool remains in the colon causing constipation.
The difference between irritable bowel syndrome and lactose intolerance is that we have a much better grasp on what is causing the latter. After eating or drinking something containing lactose, it goes into the stomach where it is digested. Lactase in the small intestine breaks down the lactose. When there isn’t enough lactase, unabsorbed lactose moves through the stomach and into the colon, where fatty acids and gas is produced. The breakdown of lactose in the colon leads to the intolerance symptoms.
Irritable bowel syndrome vs. lactose intolerance: Risk factors
A lot of people without IBS can experience symptoms that are similar to irritable bowel syndrome. You are more apt to get diagnosed with IBS if you are under the age of 45. Statistics show that this is a condition that strikes the younger population. While we don’t know why, it seems that about twice as many women as men get IBS. Other risk factors include a family history of IBS and a history of depression or anxiety.
It is important to note that people who suffer from IBS and have diarrhea are at risk of weight loss, dehydration, and malnourishment. Those who suffer from constipation can also suffer malnourishment if they remove a lot of foods from their diet and don’t get enough of the nutrients their body needs.
The risk factors linked to lactose intolerance include increasing age, ethnicity (it is more common in people of African, Asian, Hispanic, and American Indian descent), any diseases affecting the small intestine, and certain cancer treatments.
Diagnosing IBS vs. lactose intolerance
When diagnosing irritable bowel syndrome, the doctor will ask a lot of questions and start ruling out other conditions first. Researchers have created two sets of diagnostic guidelines for IBS – both based on symptoms once other conditions have been ruled out. One criteria are called “Rome”. Under this guideline, you must have certain symptoms before a doctor will diagnose IBS. These symptoms include abdominal pain and discomfort that lasts at least three days a month in the last three months and are associated with two or more of the following: defecation, altered frequency of stool, or altered consistency of stool. The other set of criteria is called “Manning”. This focuses on pain relieved by defecation, incomplete bowel movements, mucus in the stool, and changes in stool consistency.
When diagnosing lactose intolerance, your doctor will suggest trying to eliminate dairy products. Often, maintaining a diary of food consumption helps keep people on track. Other tests are needed to confirm the diagnosis of lactose intolerance. One of the tests is called the hydrogen breath test. This is a test that requires the patient to blow in a balloon-like bag so that their breath can be tested to see how much hydrogen is present. Following a drink of lactose solution, the breath is tested again and again (every 15 minutes) for a few hours. At the end, if results show the breath has a lot of hydrogen, the patient will be deemed lactose intolerant. A lactose tolerance test can also be given by simply getting the individual to drink a lactose solution and then taking a blood sample from the arm. The blood is tested to see how much glucose it contains. A person who is lactose intolerant will have blood sugar levels that will rise slowly, or not at all.
Treatment options for irritable bowel syndrome and lactose intolerance
In mild cases of IBS, most people are successful in treating themselves by avoiding or learning to cope with stress, as well as making lifestyle changes, including diet adjustments. Avoiding foods that can trigger symptoms, getting a good night’s sleep, drinking plenty of fluids, and exercising have all proved to be helpful to those who suffer from IBS.
Some of the foods that many IBS sufferers have difficulty with are raw fruits, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, chocolate, fried or fatty foods, spicy foods, carbonated drinks, and alcohol.
In some situations, lifestyle adjustments aren’t enough. Some people who have moderate to severe IBS have had to turn to fiber supplements in cases where constipation is the issue, or antidiarrheal medications in cases where constant bowel movements are the problem. Other medications to help relieve painful spasms are also available. When people become overwhelmed with the condition and experience depression, counseling or antidepressant medications can be prescribed.
People who suffer from IBS are advised to eat at regular intervals to help regulate bowel function. Drinking a lot of water every day is also highly recommended. Experts warn that you should use antidiarrheal medications and laxatives with caution. Your body can become dependent on them.
Neither IBS nor lactose intolerance is pleasant. Both can be painful and distressing. Getting a proper diagnosis can help sufferers bring these conditions under control. While there is no cure for either IBS or lactose intolerance, it is good to know that there are many simple ways to lessen the symptoms and bring about some level of relief.


Forty pairs of breeding Red-faced Warblers (Cardellina rubrifrons) were observed in 1992 and 1993 on the Mogollon Rim, Arizona. Intrusions by extra-pair males, interactions between pair members, and other pair interaction behaviors were recorded. The majority of intrusions occurred during the building stage of the nesting cycle. Males responded to intrusions during nest building by decreasing intra-pair distance. Males maintained shorter intra-pair distances by following the female when she initiated movements and by not initiating pair movements themselves. Intra-pair distances were as short or shorter during the incubation period as during nest building, and were shorter during incubation than during egg laying. Males continued to follow females beyond the expected fertile period. Possible explanations for continued mate following include: males guard their mates against predators, males guard their paternity for future nesting attempts, and males respond to extra-pair male intrusions, which continue during incubation.


The information below is presented in collaboration with our GIJTR partner the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa, who kindly supplied the material. For more information, visit them here.
Sleep Regulation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
There are many reasons you might be struggling with your sleep during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting lockdown. A lack of exposure to natural light, a lack of physical activity, stress, the general fear that the world is ending and everything is awful – all that and more plays a role, making it harder to drift off, stay asleep, and get good quality sleep.
Even working from home can destabilize our sleep routine – especially if we work from our beds. The good news is that there are steps we can take to tackle all the fresh new sleep issues that have arisen during a lockdown.
- Get some natural light: Even just standing in the window as the sun shines for a few minutes in the morning can help to wake you up and send those signals to your body about when it’s time to work and when it’s time to rest.
- Divide up work time and rest time: when you’re working from home it’s hugely important to send signals to your brain to clearly demarcate when it’s time to work and when it’s time to rest. This is essential for boosting your productivity during the day and for making sure you can get to sleep at night. Have a designated workspace, change out of your pjs to work, and stick to clear working hours rather than dipping in and out.
- Have a tech curfew: In the evening we might be tempted to work late or keep watching our favourite TV show; this means we continue to expose ourselves to light and feed our mind with more information (exciting or scary, both are stimulating). To counter this and sleep well and feel refreshed, try to set a curfew for using your phone and laptop and give your mind the opportunity to settle down before going to bed.
- Stick to regular mealtime: You’re not alone if working from home has made you into an all-day snacking machine. Try your hardest to stick to regular mealtimes to keep a proper schedule and thus keep your body’s natural sleep signals on track. Being home might lead to more snacking on comfort foods (which have more sugar and are high in fat) and irregular meal-times. Caffeine and other stimulants affect your alertness and make falling asleep harder if consumed later in the day.
- Reduce stress: Stress and anxiety are major contributors to sleep issues, whether it’s making it impossible to drift off or causing you to toss and turn throughout the night. Make sure you have a toolkit for dealing with stress and anxiety when they arise – that might mean mindfulness, breathing techniques, or talking through your worries with a friend or counsellor. Making the effort to reach out and make contact using old and new formats – email, phone, chat apps and so on are all great ways to offset gloomy feelings.
It is totally normal to feel unsettled right now – this is a new situation for all of us and there’s no ‘right’ way to react. Do what you need to feel comfortable and get the rest you need. These are uncertain and stressful times, nobody exactly knows the immediate and distant future.
Most importantly be gentle and kind to yourself during these uncertain times. Check out this video for further tips to help you while you STAY AT HOME.


Ebola could hit Britain before end of the month
Scientists have used Ebola disease spread patterns and airline traffic data to predict a 75pc chance the virus could be imported to France by October 24, and a 50 percent chance it could hit Britain by that date.
Those numbers are based on air traffic remaining at full capacity. Assuming an 80pc reduction in travel to reflect that many airlines are halting flights to affected regions, France's risk is still 25pc, and Britain's is 15pc.
"It's really a lottery," said Derek Gatherer of Britain's Lancaster University, an expert in viruses who has been tracking the epidemic.
The virus has killed more than 3,400 people since it began in West Africa in March and has now started to spread faster, infecting almost 7,200 people so far.
Nigeria, Senegal and now the United States - where the first case was diagnosed on Tuesday in a man who flew in from Liberia - have all seen people carrying the Ebola haemorrhagic fever virus, apparently unwittingly, arrive on their shores.
France is among countries most likely to be hit next because the worst affected countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - are French speaking and have busy travel links to France, while Britain's Heathrow airport is one of the world's biggest travel hubs.
The scientists' study suggests that more may bring it to Europe not knowing they are infected.
"If this continues to rage on in West Africa and indeed gets worse, as some have predicted, then it's only a matter of time before one of these cases ends up on a plane to Europe," said Gatherer.


The betrothal ceremony called Guo Da Li is one of the most important events in conventional Chinese weddings. This takes place at about one to three weeks prior to the D-day. This is that day when the bride’s and groom’s respective families exchange bridal gifts to show their blessings for the upcoming union.
Guo Da Li essentials include the following:
- Long Feng Zhu or the dragon and phoenix candles
- An even number of oranges (eight or twelve is often preferred)
- Champagne or wine
- Dried longans, dried lotus seeds or dried red dates
- The bride price
What Is the Bride Price?
Also referred to as bride token or bride wealth, this is the amount (monetary or property) that is paid by the groom’s family to the bride’s family. This is comparable to the dowry which is paid instead to the groom or is used by the bride when setting out for a new home life. The bride price, as opposed to known beliefs, is not the amount that reflects the approximate value of the woman.
A lot of cultures practice paying the bride price. Here are some of the nations that observe this unique wedding culture:
- Ancient Mesopotamia
- Ancient Greece
- The Jews
- African countries
The Economics of Bride Price
The prevalence of bride price payment is closely intertwined with China’s female shortage. The amount has constantly gone up since the ‘80s as more and more males are having difficulty finding a suitable wife.
The concern here is that poverty may prevent a man from seeking a spouse. One’s inability to pay the bride price has forced many to postpone their marriage dates just so they could save some more money.
But do not think that bride price is all about scrimping for the said amount. Just think of it this way – in modern times, the bride price can be seen as a means of sustenance for the wife in case of marriage breakup or if the husband cannot adequately provide for his wife. Among the Chinese, the bride price represents the bride’s family that is losing a daughter and the groom’s family that is soon to gain one.
The bride price is the groom’s parents’ sign of respect which also aims to establish goodwill between the families that are about to be joined. This price also serves as a symbol of the bride’s worthiness to be included in the groom’s family.
The amount given by the groom’s family is often discussed in the middle of wedding negotiations. The parents of the bride may also choose to leave the decision to the groom’s family.
But how much is a fair bride price?
Average income families can pay the bride price from RM800 to RM8,000. But these amounts can easily go up to five digits such as RM10,000 or more. For well-to-do families, the amount can skyrocket to RM24,000 or even higher.
It is, of course, good to practice sensitivity when it comes to money matters. It is important to keep everyone contented by conducting appropriate discussions. Both families – the bride’s and the groom’s – must be pleased with the agreement.
There is also a need to keep the bride price at an even number. This is, again, taken from the Chinese culture where even digits symbolize prosperity and good luck. Therefore, the most popular amounts given as bride prices range from RM1,888 to RM8,888.
If the bride and the groom also decide to hold a wedding banquet, it is likely that the bride price would also include some tables during the said banquet. The gifts or ang pows that will be collected from these tables will be given to the bride’s family and not the groom’s.
Presentation of the Bride Price
Bride prices are properly presented to the family of the bride before the wedding takes place. Both families choose a lucky day when they can all meet up. This is when the betrothal gifts are given.
The bride price is placed inside a red packet and is presented to the bride’s family. For parents that are more traditional, they wrap the bride price in red cloth. To imply that the groom and his family are generous, the parents often prepare a bride price that is a little higher than the amount that was agreed upon.
As tradition and ethics would dictate, the family of the bride will return a portion of this amount to the husband-to-be. For instance, a bride price of RM1,888 means her family gets to keep about RM1,200 while they return the rest to the groom’s parents. Once again, this is a sign of goodwill as the bride’s family also indicates that the groom and his family have been overly generous. Returning the balance also implies that the bride’s family is not avaricious.
The bride price can also be paid in the form of livestock or a parcel of land.
Advantages of the Bride Price
Looking at the positive effects of presenting the bride price, it has been observed that this amount has stabilized a more loving and open relationship between the bride’s and groom’s families. Also, this has fostered acceptance on both sides where they learn to sit down, discuss and come up with a decision as one, big, unified family – a set up that rarely happens among couples that get married minus the bride price.
The bride price is also a form of religious expression in some nations. It also proves the young groom and how much he is willing to give up just to be married to his most desired woman.
The tradition of giving the bride price may seem archaic to some nations but Malaysians continue to value its cultural and religious functions.
More and more families, these days, actually just present the newlyweds with a certain amount of money as a gift. This amount is then used by the new couple as a means to start their life as husband and wife – nothing can be more beautiful yet simple as this.


Dr. Beach's Water
Tracer is a method of detecting surface water currents, especially
life-threatening rip currents at surf beaches, has been developed. The
water tracer is biodegradable and non-toxic.
Photo: Water Tracers (Dye balls), which can
easily be thrown tens of feet, are orange in solid form.
Water currents are often difficult to
discern, especially dangerous rip currents at surf beaches. Coastal
scientists use water tracers by adding concentrated dye in powder or
liquid form to water and then wading into the ocean and pouring it into
the water (see video: Beach Rips: Dangerous Currents). A much more
convenient and safer way for beachgoers to use a water tracer is by
having the dye in the form of a ball that can be thrown from shore.
The YMCA kids at South Beach called them
“magic rocks” when Dr. Leatherman threw a fluorescent, orange-colored
dye ball into the water and it dissolved to form a beautiful green plume
of water. This really got their attention because the fluorescent dye
was so visual, and the brightly-colored plume immediately began moving
in the longshore current. Waves are apparent, but currents are largely
invisible. Many beachgoers do not even realize that there are currents
at oceanic beaches, much less dangerous ones. Great Lakes beaches are
also subject to rip currents, especially the southern end of Lake
Beachgoers presently have no direct means of
detecting rips and other dangerous currents. Red flags are used on many
U.S. beaches to warn the public of marine dangers, such as big waves,
rip currents, sharks, and other hazards. Signs are often posted at beach
entrances with idealized diagrams of a rip current, but rips take many
forms so that they are often not recognized by the general public. In
addition, rips are not always visible or readily apparent (even to
trained lifeguards) so that beachgoers enter the water with little to no
knowledge of the presence or strength of a life-threatening current.
Photo: The floating dye ball quickly
dissolves in marine waters, releasing a plume of dye that is shown
tracing the tidal current in Biscayne Bay, Florida.
Photo: Large dye ball plume traces the
longshore current at Miami Beach, Florida.
The dye ball is
neutrally buoyant in water so that it floats at the surface.
Rip currents are the most serious hazard that
threatens bather safety on most of the world’s surf beaches. It is
estimated that 100+ people drown each year on U.S. beaches and perhaps
thousands worldwide. Statistics from the US Lifesaving Association show
that approximately 80 percent of all lifeguard rescues (more than 50,000
yearly) at surf beaches are the result of rip currents. Put into
perspective, rip currents are responsible for more deaths than floods,
hurricanes or tornadoes on an annualized basis according to the National
Beach Safety Facts:
• Rip currents are the most dangerous aspect
of surf beaches; in the United States, more than 100 people drown
annually, and lifeguards rescue 10,000s of people each year that are
caught in these powerful, seaward-flowing currents.
• Rip currents are hard to detect and common
on many beaches; there can be many rips on a beach, and alongshore
currents can move you along the beach into a rip current.
• The seaward pull of the water is often felt
in knee-deep water. At waist depth, the current can make it difficult to
maintain your footing in even moderately strong rips.
• Many beachgoers are drowned on sunny days
when the waves are only 2-3 feet high.
• Rips are difficult to predict because these
currents can be produced both by strong onshore winds or an offshore
storm when there is no wind at the beach.
• Rip currents are most prevalent on Pacific
coast beaches, but many drownings occur along the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts. Florida has the highest number of rip drownings because it has
hundreds of miles of great beaches, sunny weather, and warm water.
• During the summer of 2010, 25 people
drowned in rips in the Great Lakes.
Understand the Dangers of Rip
• View the short video “Beach Rips: Killer
Currents” at www.ripcurrents.com or www.DrBeach.org before going into
• Consult the United States Lifeguard
Association web site (www.usla.org) for further information.
Rip Currents are Often
Invisible--Signs, if present, vary by location and may include:
• Change in water color from the surrounding
water—lighter color and murkier from bubbles and sediment or darker
because of an underwater channel where the rip flows.
• Gap in breaking waves where the rip is
forcing its way seaward through the surf zone.
• Agitated (choppy) water that extends beyond
the breaker zone.
• Floating objects moving steadily offshore.
• Rip currents are especially hard to detect
during times of strong onshore winds and confused sea conditions.
• This is not a check list. If you are not
sure, then don’t go into the water.
Email us at firstname.lastname@example.org with your
comments and rip photos


Burns are painful, and they damage your toddler's skin. Here's what you can do to help prevent them:
- Keep the handles of hot pots and pans turned towards the inside of the hob at all times, even when you think your child's not around.
- Cover or barricade exposed heaters and heater grates.
- Screen or barricade fireplaces, grills and any other place in your house that has a hot surface.
- Set your hot water heater to 48 °C or lower to avoid accidental scalds.
- Test the temperature of the bath water with the inside of your wrist or elbow before you put your toddler in.
- Get locking taps to prevent your child from giving herself a rinse with too-hot water.
- Get electrical cables out of the way. If your child bites them, she can get a terrible burn.
If your child does get burnt and develops blisters, she has a second-degree burn. Take her to your healthcare provider for proper treatment. Burns on your toddler's hands and face also need special attention, so don't hesitate to have them looked at, even if they're small.


Our organs of sight are possibly both the most vulnerable and most precious parts of our bodies. Luckily, our instinct is always to protect our head and eyes above all in the event of a blow or trauma of any kind.
This minimises the danger, but unfortunately it cannot be removed completely, and eye injuries do often occur. This article explains the most common ones, and how they can be treated.
Treatment of common eye injuries
According to the NHS, the most common injuries to eyes are corneal abrasion, traumatic uveitis, cuts, and ocular chemical burn. Corneal abrasion can occur when something, perhaps a small piece of metal, wood, or a broken shard of contact lens, becomes stuck in the eye, causing tiny tears to occur on its surface.
The eye will often expel the foreign body through its own mechanism without the need for treatment, but if the object is more difficult to shift, a visit to A&E might be necessary. Traumatic uveitis occurs when a blow is delivered to the eye. This causes the eye to swell, but again treatment is not usually necessary unless the blow was particularly severe.
Cuts and ocular chemical burn are more serious injuries. Don’t attempt to do anything to your eye if you see that it is bleeding. Proceed straight to A&E. The same is true if you see that you have something stuck in your eye; never attempt to remove it yourself. If your eyes are irritated through the use of chemicals, wash them out using an eye-bath and saline solution (or tap water if no saline is available) for 20 minutes. If the irritation remains, go straight to A&E.Open Claim Calculator
Protecting the eyes
When using harmful chemicals, always make sure the area is well ventilated and that any spray-nozzles are pointed away from your eyes. It’s also important to wear protective eye-wear when conducting any tasks that could potentially damage the eyes, when cutting wood or metal for example, when there is a high risk of small fragments entering the eye.
Your employer should always provide adequate protection for your eyes in the workplace. If you have received an eye injury that wasn’t your fault, you may be entitled to personal injury compensation.
Call Accident Advice Helpline to discuss your case with a trained adviser who will be able to tell you whether or not your claim is likely to be successful, and explain the claims process in detail.


Edit moving images on film, video, or other media. May edit or synchronize soundtracks with images.
- Visual Effects Editor (VFX Editor)
- Video Tape Transferrer
- Video Tape Editor
- Video Tape Duplicator
- Video News Editor
- Video Effects Editor
- Video Editor
- Television Producer
- Television News Video Editor
- Discuss the sound requirements of pictures with sound effects editors.
- Estimate how long audiences watching comedies will laugh at each gag line or situation, to space scenes appropriately.
- Develop post-production models for films.
- Study scripts to become familiar with production concepts and requirements.
- Collaborate with music editors to select appropriate passages of music and develop production scores.
- Conduct film screenings for directors and members of production staffs.
- Program computerized graphic effects.
- Manipulate plot, score, sound, and graphics to make the parts into a continuous whole, working closely with people in audio, visual, music, optical or special effects departments.
- Supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in film editing, assembling, and recording activities.
- Piece sounds together to develop film soundtracks.
People who work in this occupation generally have the interest code: AIE.
This means people who work in this occupation generally have Artistic interests, but also prefer Investigative and Enterprising environments.
People who work in this occupation generally prize Independence, but also value Achievement and Recognition in their jobs.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
In 2013, the average annual wage in Washington was $54,480 with most people making between $30,200 and $79,670
During 2008, this occupation employed approximately 390 people in Washington. It is projected that there will be 440 employed in 2018.
This occupation will have about 5 openings due to growth and about 15 replacement openings for approximately 20 total annual openings.
- Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
- Audio-Visual and Multimedia Collections Specialists
- Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
- Directors- Stage, Motion Pictures, Television, and Radio
- Program Directors
- Technical Directors/Managers
- Music Composers and Arrangers
- Musicians, Instrumental
- Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
- Audio and Video Equipment Technicians
- Broadcast Technicians
- Sound Engineering Technicians
- Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Motion Picture
- Desktop Publishers
onetPoets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
collegeUniversity of California-Los Angeles
collegeCalifornia Institute of the Arts
collegeUniversity of Southern California
majorCinematography and Film/Video Production
majorRadio and Television


VIDAURRI, SANTIAGO (1809–1867). Santiago Vidaurri, a powerful caudillo in northeastern Mexico, son of Pedro Vidaurri and Teodora Valdés de Vidaurri, was born in Lampazos, Nuevo León, Mexico, on July 25, 1809. In his youth Vidaurri worked as a clerk for the police in Nuevo León. In 1837 he became the chief assistant to Governor Joaquín García, and in the 1840s he served as a secretary for Governor Manuel María de Llano. The young bureaucrat traveled to Texas in 1841 to spy on Mirabeau B. Lamar's Texan Santa Fe Expedition. Throughout the 1840s and early 1850s he worked for conservatives in the Mexican government. After Mexico's loss to the United States in 1848 (see MEXICAN WAR), Vidaurri and other young politicians became dissatisfied with conservative politics. Denouncing the regime of Antonio López de Santa Anna under a plan labeled "Restaurador de la Libertad," Vidaurri captured Monterrey on May 23, 1855, and was installed as governor and military commander of Nuevo León. His army moved rapidly into the neighboring states of Coahuila and Tamaulipas, consolidating control throughout northeastern Mexico. To procure weapons and other military supplies, he turned to merchants north of the Rio Grande. When charged with an attempt to establish the "Republic of Sierra Madre," Vidaurri insisted that his was a federalist movement in the best of liberal traditions. He cooperated with United States and Texas authorities in punishing Indians who raided the frontier, but clashed with Texan raiders of the Callahan expedition (who crossed into Coahuila in September 1855 to pursue hostile Indians and fugitive slaves), protesting the violations of Mexican territory.
Vidaurri annexed Coahuila on February 19, 1856, decreeing the formation of the combined state of Nuevo León y Coahuila. For the next two years he controlled this vast territory virtually as an independent nation. Many Liberals in the government of Benito Juárez distrusted the chieftain, but were forced to seek the assistance of his Army of the North in the vicious War of the Reform. In September 1858, however, the northern caudillo suffered a major defeat at the hands of the conservatives near San Luis Potosí, and retreated to Monterrey to rebuild his forces. He continued to give lip service to the national liberal government, but kept his army out of battle. Furthermore, he retained all revenues collected at the Rio Grande customshouses. National liberals, including Benito Juárez, denounced him; and some of the most able officers of Nuevo León defected to the national cause.
When Texas in 1861 seceded from the United States and joined the Southern Confederacy in the Civil War, a Yankee naval blockade soon closed off all Gulf ports, including those of Texas. Confederate agents established alternative trade routes through northern Mexico, thus allowing European goods to flow from Tampico and Matamoros into Texas, and a vast quantity of cotton to move in the other direction. Vidaurri controlled much of the region in which this lucrative trade developed. By 1862 his hold on the fiefdom seemed stronger than ever, as he extended cooperation and warm friendship to Jose Agustín Quintero, the able Confederate agent who resided in Monterrey. At the same time, the Texas Rangers under John S. (Rip) Ford helped to protect trade north of the river. When United States forces seized Brownsville in 1863, the commerce shifted upriver to Laredo and Eagle Pass.
Meanwhile, the army of Napoleon III invaded Mexico and installed Maximilian on the throne. In 1863 Benito Juárez once again fled from the capital, reaching Nuevo León the next February. Vidaurri at first refused to allow him to enter Monterrey. Fearing rebellion by his own people, however, the governor abandoned his fiefdom and took refuge in Texas. When Juárez moved to El Paso in August 1864, a French army occupied Monterrey, and Vidaurri returned. On September 7, 1864, the caudillo offered his services to Emperor Maximilian. He did not remain in Nuevo León, however, but moved to central Mexico, where he became an effective member of the imperial government. When the Empire collapsed in June 1867, the army of Porfirio Díaz occupied Mexico City. A squadron arrested Vidaurri and executed him without a trial as a traitor to the Mexican nation.
The caudillo's wife, Juana María Vidaurri de Vidaurri, died in 1865. His son Indalecio Vidaurri served in the militia of Nuevo León and in the imperial army. Vidaurri's daughter Pudenciana married a prominent Irish merchant, Patricio Milmo, who profited greatly from the border trade during the Civil War. The Milmo family continued to play a prominent role in the commercial growth of Monterrey during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Edward H. Moseley, "Santiago Vidaurri: héroe de la reforma," Humánitas 11 (1970). Frank Lawrence Owsley, King Cotton Diplomacy: Foreign Relations of the Confederate States of America (2d ed., rev., University of Chicago Press, 1959). Santiago Roel, ed., Correspondencia particular de D. Santiago Vidaurri, gobernador de Nuevo León (1855–1864) (Monterrey: Universidad de Nuevo León, 1946). Ronnie C. Tyler, Santiago Vidaurri and the Southern Confederacy (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1973).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Edward H. Moseley, "VIDAURRI, SANTIAGO," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fvi24), accessed March 08, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Modified on March 8, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.


Hi everyone! One of the most important reference books you will use during MS2 to study for USMLE Step 1 is First Aid. An important consideration when annotating this book is making sure you are keeping it as a high-yield reference book that it is! You don’t want to dilute the important information with random, low-yield facts. You also want to keep it easy to read. Here are the tips I have for how to best annotate First Aid.
Develop a color-coding system
This is the one I used:
- Blue: Genetic associations and risk factors of the disease
- Pink: Pathological causes to diseases
- Yellow: Clinical presentation
- Orange: Relevant lab values and imaging findings
- Green: Treatment and management
This system really helped me quickly identify the most important information! I used this system in all my notetaking through medical school.
Do NOT over highlight.
Remember this is a high-yield book. You should highlight very sparingly. I’ve seen books that have 99% of the material highlighted, at which point the highlighting becomes useless. Try to prevent that! You shouldn’t be highlighting more than 50% of the content.
“Annotate” with relevant information from B&B
Realistically, most of the B&B information is verbatim from FA. I sometimes felt like listening to B&B was listening to FA in an audio format. For that reason, you really don’t need to write most of B&B in FA. Things that I made note of were helpful charts or tables, which I wrote on a piece of paper or sticky note and included it in that section. I personally annotated Pathoma content into the Pathoma book and liked to keep them separate, but some students preferred to also include those notes in their FA.
Draw in useful diagrams
Anytime I felt like I found a useful figure, diagram or chart that helped me conceptualize the information better, I drew it into the my FA or onto a sticky note. See below!
Don’t annotate with lecture material!
Most of your school’s lecture material will not be high-yield. While your lecture material is useful to learn and understand concepts, it usually goes in much more detail than what is high-yield for Step 1. If you still want to write some notes in there, use a sticky note. Once you get to dedicated, you’ll probably end up removing those since you’ll have a better grasp of the material.
Use fine tip pens and highlighters that won’t bleed through pages
Questions or comments? Leave them below, I’d love to hear from you!


Solar powered device that attracts, captures & kills insects
Unique Key Features
Based on insects’ phototaxis, the broad spectrum of light wavelengths (320-680nm) is designed to effectively attract insects:
- long-wavelengths attract insects from various distance to the light, and
- short-wavelength causes “dizziness” to insects and makes them fly irregularly around the light and hit the light
The element then either captures the insects in a container, or kills the insects through high voltage electrostatic wires.
Benefits (People, Planet, Profit)
Use Less Pesticides
- Pesticide reduction by 30-50% or more
- Human health benefits
- Cleaner environment benefits
- Studies and observations have confirmed positive results using less pesticide.
- Pay-back in approximately 3 years, depending on current cost and number of pesticide applications
- Material and labor saving from pesticide use
Natural and Fundamental
- A natural and fundamental approach for insect control while still maintaining ecosystem.
In Chinese reports of one large break-out 1 light can capture 2-4kg of insects in 1 night.
Reduce use of pesticide by 30-50% or more
Can broadly be used in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, aquaculture and sports grounds.
Kill adult moth to reduce number of eggs laid, to effectively reduce future insects population.
Based on Chinese studies the beneficial insects captured is between 0.8% – 6%, with the majority reported in the range of 1 – 2%.
Based on studies the Insect Zapper can target 1,500+ types of major common insects.
Depending on the size of the unit used, the device can cover 10,000 – 20,000 sq mtr area.