"Know more about MDGs" Vol. 2
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Children's House in Steung Meanchey, Cambodia
By Miyuki Asano (Kikuna Church, Yokohama Diocese)
Children's potential will be raised by the surrounding environment and the education. When we think about the education for the better future, there are a lot of problems and challenges before the children in Russey Village. The attendance rate at primary school in Cambodia is considered high, but many children drop out of school half way. The reasons are varied such as parents' financial problem and lack of understanding about education and problems in Cambodian educational system.
Many children in Steung Meanchey do not have an access to the educational institution due to the poverty of their families. As the children want to help their parents, they do not go to school but work at the refuge dump to contribute to their families' income. Families must have cash income to get their children to receive the education but some of them waste money on alcohol and gambling.
The parents of the children in Children's House were farmers in the country. They came to cities as they could not earn enough money to support their families. They did not have opportunities to receive the education due to the long-lasting civil war and they are now busy making their living. To them their children are the important labor power and the children have to help the house work and look after their younger brothers and sisters. Some of the parents understand the importance of their children's education but they have no choice but to depend on their children's labor. In their houses there are no toy, picture book and other educational material for their children.
Problems and challenges of Cambodian schools also make the children to be away from schools. As the teachers' salary of the public schools is so low that teachers cannot make their living unless they work part-time elsewhere, they are not serious about teaching. They do not go to school on rainy days. To earn more, they collect money for the supplement classes. As the exam is about what teachers have taught in the supplement classes, children have to attend the supplement classes to pass the test. Upper the grade is, the higher the fee. The parents who cannot afford to pay the fee do not want their children to go to school and the children drop out of school and start to work to help their families. All the children enter school at the age of six in Japan, but in this area some children enter school at ten or eleven due to the financial problem of their families. But it is not easy for them to continue their study because of higher age, so they tend to choose to work rather than study. It is very important for children to make it custom to go to school since young.
JLMM opened Children's House in 2003 and provide the place for children to learn the foundation of life customs so that the children can understand what they are taught in school and like school. As a bridge to school we give basic life training to the children.
In Children's House eighty children of the age form three to fourteen are divided in three classes and study health, morals, Khmer literacy, numerals, crafts, coloring, etc. in the morning from Monday to Friday. We also accept those who have difficulties in catching up on the school class or want to study more. Some children come to Children's House to study only crafts and coloring as these subjects are not available in public primary school.
JLMM has such system that the children who are busy helping their parents can come at any convenient time and any child can study. Teachers try to design classes for children to enjoy and feel pleasant.
Some children here have very complex family problems. The teachers who understand family backgrounds of the children settle their problems with cooperation of other NGOs but many cases are beyond their control. Two girls in House for Big Children are fourteen years old but have never entered school yet. Their parents divorced when the girls were small. Lina could not stand DV of her new father and came to Phnom Penh from countryside depending on her elder sister who made her living by collecting recyclable items. She helps her elder sister in the refuge dump and come to House for Children to study when she is free. Saam' parents divorced when she was seven years old and came to Phnom Penh depending on her relatives. She lost contact with her parents and have never met them since their divorce. In accordance to the girls' wish we made an arrangement to get scholarship for them to enter primary school at the beginning of the term. As they will be twenty years old at their completion, I thought it would be better for them to start apprenticeship of dressmaking or hair-dressing than entering primary school which does not have good quality of education. But I accepted their idea to enter primary school. I worry about their future and hope that they will at least be able to read and calculate even if not to complete school.
Education is important to break a cycle of poverty. However, many children cannot receive the education in Russey Village. You may think that you cannot do anything for it because you are away from the area but we need to make efforts to build the society where there is no war, think about correcting the economic system causing poverty, make sure that the support from Japan reaches to the poor without being spent for the corruption by politicians and so on. We will work hard, continue to hold mothers meeting and home visit and let the children enter and complete school.
We will present "Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women" in the next issue. The articles will be on Thailand and Cambodia.


When you read about initiatives like Stanford University’s new Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, it’s difficult to think of too many other places on Earth where more exciting — and potentially life-changing — work is being done.
Opened in September, the 25,000-square-foot facility is currently attacking a number of the world’s most challenging medical problems. As laboratory director Dr. David DiGiusto puts it, it’s all about “curing the incurable.”
“Many diseases cannot be cured with conventional therapies that are palliative only in nature,” laboratory director DiGiusto told Digital Trends. “Other diseases have no effective treatments at all. Our mission is to develop and test cures for incurable diseases using cell and gene therapy. We are currently working on cancer, monogenic disease (i.e., SCID, sickle cell, and other immune deficiencies), and regenerative medicine [like] dermatology, neurosciences, and cardiovascular medicine.”
The lab is currently carrying out a range of exciting projects in its “clean rooms.” These include sheets of genetically corrected skin that can be given as skin grafts to patients suffering from the blistering skin disease epidermolysis bullosa, in which layers of skin don’t adhere properly to the body. There are also projects to regenerate corneal cells in the eye, repair mutations in blood cells, genetically engineer immune system T cells to fight cancer, and more.
As DiGiusto points out, these efforts have the possibility to “end great suffering if ultimately successfully commercialized.”
While there are other laboratories around the U.S. working on projects like cell-based approaches to cancer, what is impressive about Stanford’s efforts is the massive scale. A bit like legendary research facilities such as Xerox PARC — where much of the technology behind the personal computer revolution was invented — there are so many interesting projects being carried out at the Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine that it’s difficult to name them all.
Suffice it to say that if you hadn’t heard of the lab before now, that will almost certainly change over the coming years.
“There are now quite a few academic manufacturing facilities supporting [similar] efforts but most are working on only two or three products,” DiGiusto said. “Stanford has a broad portfolio of candidate cell and gene therapies that we will likely have eight to 10 products in the queue at all times. Because Stanford has the basic science, translational, and manufacturing capability, and 2 hospitals focused on clinical research — Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital — we have a tremendous infrastructure in place to develop and test a wide array of candidate therapies. The magnitude of the effort is quite significant.”


Seventh-grade students in U.S. communities that have set up scientifically validated programs to reduce juvenile delinquency have a significantly smaller chance of engaging such behavior than do children in towns that have not adopted such programs.
Students in 12 Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Oregon, Utah and Washington towns that installed such prevention programs were 27 percent less likely to be involved in delinquency than were students in 12 matched towns in those states that didn't set up programs, according to a new University of Washington study recently published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
The early finding comes from the Community Youth Development Study that is tracking the behavior of more than 4,400 students for five years in the 12 pairs of small-to moderate-size towns. The data come from the third year of the study, which is continuing.
"This finding is very important because early initiation of delinquent behavior in children before the age of 14 is a predictor of later substance abuse, chronic criminal behavior and mental health problems," said J. David Hawkins, lead author and director of the study. "It is exciting because we didn't expect to find these community-wide effects until about five years. The seventh grade is still pretty young and this may bode well for other behavioral outcomes."
The study is being conducted by the UW's Social Development Research Group, a part of the School of Social Work, with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Mental Health and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
At the start of the study, all fifth-grade students in the 24 cities filled out questionnaires that included questions about delinquent behavior, asking for example whether they had stolen anything worth more than $5, purposely damaged or destroyed property that didn't belong to them or attacked someone with the intent of causing seriously harm. The questionnaires administered again when the students were in the sixth and seventh grades.
The study is an experimental test of the Communities That Care program developed by the Social Development Research Group. To set up the study, the researchers recruited and matched 12 pairs of cities by population, racial and ethnic diversity, crime rates and other factors. One city in each pair was randomly chosen to test Communities That Care and received training over the first year in how to implement it and build a supportive community coalition.
Part of the training included a process for each town to identify its risk factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency. Once these were identified, the communities were asked to select between two and five of them as their top priorities. After that they were given information about tested programs that addressed each priority risk factor, selected programs they would implement and were trained in how to implement these programs. The other cities were given no assistance.
"Communities That Care is designed to empower communities to collect and use data on the risks their children face, and also on strength of the community, and then use this information to choose prevention and early intervention programs that have been tested and shown to be effective," said Hawkins.
"Historically, this country has believed in building coalitions to deal with youth problems in a community, but they haven't been shown to be effective. What's exciting is that this demonstrates that if you provide a community coalition with the skills and tools of prevention science, that coalition can help its kids actually avoid delinquent behavior. We can use the resources of a community to solve its problems by working smarter."
Data from the study showed the intervention community's programs had little effect in reducing the number of children who began using cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and other substances by the end of the seventh grade. This was expected, according to Hawkins, because most young people initiate substance use at an older age.
Coauthors of the study are Social Development Research Group scientists Eric Brown, Sabrina Oesterle, Michael Arthur and Richard Catalano and educational psychology professor Robert Abbott.
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| Encyclopedias &|
Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 250)
m. (ttha = stha) on which monkeys dwell, Feronia elephantum MBh. Suśr. &c.; a particular position of the hands and fingers; (am) n. the fruit of Feronia elephantum Suśr. VarBṛS. &c.
Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 3728)
viḷā: 01 Wood-apple, m. tr., Feronia elephantum
02 A turn or round in ploughing
Dymock, Warden, Hooper: Pharmacographia Indica (vol. I, pp. 281-282)
Feronia elephantum, Rutaceae
Fig.- Wood Apple (Eng.), Pommier d' âlâphant (Fr.)
The Wood apple, or Elephant apple, so called because the fruit is like an elephant's skin, in Sanskrit Kapittha (on which monkeys dwell) and Kapipriya (dear to monkeys), is met with throughout India, and is cultivated for the sake of the fruit, which is edible. The Hindus consider the unripe fruit to be a useful astringent in diarrhoea and dysentery, and prescribe the ripe fruit in affection of the gums and throat. It is called Dadhiphala in Sanskrit, as its taste is compared with that of Dadhi or coagulated milk. The leaves are aromatic and carminative. The author of the Makhzan-el-Adwiya says that the leaves are very astringent, and have the taste and odour of Tarragon. He describes the fruit as cold and dry in the second degree, refreshing, astringent, cardiacal and tonic, a useful remedy in salivation and sore throat, strengthening the gums and acting as an astringent; sherbet made from the fruit increases the appetite, and has alexipharmic properties. The pulp applied externally is a remedy for the bites of venomous insects; if not obtainable, the powdered rind may be used. Ainslie mentions the use of the fruit, leaves and gum. He says that the latter supplies the place of gum Arabic in Lower India and is prescribed by Tamool practitioners to relieve tenesmus in bowel affection. The Feronia elephantum is the Balong of the Portuguese. It is mentioned in the Bengal Dispensatory and Pharmacopoeia of India, but no further information as to its properties is to be gathered from these works. The fruit when cultivated, attains a diameter of four inches. The gum forms part of the country gum which is sold in the bazaars. It is the Dadhittha-rassa of Sanskrit writers. Under the name of Pancha-kÄpittha, or five products of the Feronia, the Hindus prepare a medicine, which contains the flowers, bark, root, leaves and fruit of the tree. The country people pound the leaves with curds and apply the mixture to the whole body as a remedy for heat of blood supposed to be caused by bile.
Commerce.- The gum, or rather the mixed gums of which Feronia gum forms a part, is known as Ghati gum. In London these mixed gums are known as Amrads, and the term Ghati is applied to the gum of Conacarpus latifolia. The term Amrad is unknown in India, and appears to be of African origin, and to be applied to coloured Acacia gums.


Do you think you have a pretty good idea of what the world looks like? Most people can draw a general globe or map, with some blue bits for the water, and some patchy green bits for the land. But have you ever wondered what the world looked like 300 million years ago?
You couldn’t have thought that it would look exactly the same, right? After years and years of climate change and development, the planet’s appearance will change. Over the past few years, the color and look of the planet have changed drastically.
But 33 million years ago, the planet looked drastically different. Rather than different continents scattered and boarded by water, the earth was actually one big mass of land.
Artists have drawn maps to show what this may have looked like. There’s even a detailed map that shows exactly where everything would line up.
Although this may sound like something out of a fantasy, it’s actually quite scientific. The land mass is known as Pangaea, and it’s defined as a supercontinent that existed in the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras.
It was the most recent supercontinent to have formed and the first one to be pieced together by geologists.
Supercontinents, and the fact that they break up, seem to be a cyclical aspect to earth’s history. Several other Pangeas have existed in the past and it’s safe to say that one could form again.
As well as the shapes of the continents matching up like a puzzle, there was also fossil evidence found with matching particles existing on land that is now great distances apart from each other.
Click on the ‘Next Page’ to see the Pangea maps. Don’t forget to SHARE with your friends on Facebook.


What Is the Flu?
The flu is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. The flu is not the same as a cold, although they share many of the same symptoms. The cold is caused by a different virus, and it tends to have milder symptoms than the flu. Colds are also less likely to cause serious complications.
When the influenza virus gets into the body, it moves into the respiratory tract. Once there, it binds to the surface of cells. The virus then opens and releases its genetic information (RNA) into the cell's nucleus. The nucleus is where the cell's genetic information (DNA and RNA) is stored. The virus replicates, or copies itself, and takes over the functions of the cell. The copies of the virus move to the cell membrane until the cell finally dies and releases them out into the body, where they go on to infect other cells.
The respiratory tissues swell up and become inflamed (the inflammation usually heals within a few weeks). As the virus moves through the respiratory tract and into the bloodstream, the first symptoms begin to emerge. The replication process continues for up to several days, until the body's immune system begins to fight the virus off.
Flu symptoms can include any or all of the following:
- Body aches
- Runny nose and congestion
These symptoms, although uncomfortable, are generally not dangerous. But the flu also weakens the immune system, leaving it vulnerable to more serious infections. High-risk individuals (see Who Is at Risk?) in particular are susceptible to serious complications, such as:
- Bacterial pneumonia
- Sinus problems and ear infections (primarily in children)
- Worsening of preexisting conditions, such as asthma or diabetes


The importance of rest during your postpartum period is wisdom as old as time. Indigenous cultures all around the world believe in practicing 40 days of rest after giving birth. In these cultures, birthing people and their babies are cooked for, massaged, and generally taken care of for the first six weeks after birth. People know that giving birth is the most intense, tenderizing act—and having a new baby so transformative—that this period of life deserves the utmost respect and care.
In our modern, Western society, we have none of this wisdom. Birthing people are expected to get right back to everything they did before giving birth. Back to work. Back to cleaning. Back to Target.
In my opinion, as a midwife, this is why our country has such high rates of postpartum depression (about one in every seven birthing people experience postpartum depression, and about 80% experience a milder form colloquially known as the “baby blues”). People are so open (physically, emotionally and spiritually) after giving birth, and they need time to be cared for and come back together. Babies, too, have just exited their quiet, warm environment in the womb. The world—with all its bright lights, loud noises and cold breezes—is a lot for their little nervous systems to handle.
Preparing for 40 days of rest in the postpartum period is the most powerful choice that any parent can make for their new family. Here are some specific reasons why it’s so important.
1. It will help you emotionally
We already know that birthing people in the U.S. have a one in seven risk of developing postpartum depression (PPD). This number increases if they have a history of mental illness or depression.
In my midwifery practice, I have seen firsthand the emotional differences between my clients who rest and receive support during their postpartum period and those who don’t. Research also shows that having strong social support during the postpartum period can reduce the risk of PPD. The ones who don’t receive as much support or take the necessary time to rest often feel more overwhelmed, more anxious and more depressed. And too often, they blame themselves for these feelings.
When you rest, you save your energy for your internal healing. The postpartum period should be all about you and your baby, and not about cleaning the kitchen or traveling to a distant relative’s house so they can meet the baby. Pregnancy and postpartum are the perfect time to hone your boundary skills and say no to things that won’t nourish you—your emotional health depends on it.
Got more questions about postpartum healing and the fourth trimester? Motherly created the perfect postpartum wellness class. Learn more about navigating this wild new world by signing up for our digital class here.
2. It will help you physically
Giving birth is the single most physically intense experience any human can willingly go through. First, we grow a human from scratch inside our uterus. Then when it gets to be about the size of a large butternut squash, we go through hours to days of contractions, then either push it out of our vaginas or undergo surgery. No matter how you birth, it is wildly intense on your physical body.
That’s not all—after giving birth to your baby, your placenta is born. The attachment site inside your uterus is then a newly formed wound the size of a dinner plate, actively bleeding and healing, for three to six weeks. If you had a wound the size of a dinner plate on the outside of your body, you would be resting to make sure it healed properly. But because we can’t see the placental wound, it’s easy to ignore it.
Rest is essential for physical healing.
People who rest after giving birth stop bleeding from that wound generally between two to three weeks postpartum. People who don’t rest often bleed for closer to six to eight weeks. Our bodies tell us what they need, but it’s our choice whether or not to listen.
3. It will help you spiritually
I don’t think there is anything more transformative than giving birth. Not only are you bringing another human into the world, your whole self changes.
When I gave birth for the first time, I became a different person. The first two weeks, I felt like a caterpillar in my cocoon—mushy and without protection. When people came into my room, I needed them to speak in quiet voices and not make any sudden movements. My brain slowed down. I cried regularly out of love for my new baby and grief that the world isn’t an entirely safe place for anyone.
Being pregnant, giving birth and having a child is a spiritual act. You go through a portal that you can never go back through. It takes time—and space—to process these profound changes.
4. It will help your baby feel calmer and less fussy
In our culture it’s common to forget that babies are actually having their own experiences of the world. Try to think about your baby’s perspective: They have grown inside a warm, dark womb for their entire lives, and all of a sudden, they are pushed into the outside world—colder, louder and completely unknown.
It’s a lot for a baby to process.
It’s important to give our infants time to process their own transformation and to keep their environments as still and womblike as possible.
If you feel overwhelmed going to the grocery store, your baby will too. If you feel like you need to rest, so does your baby.
There have been so many studies about skin-to-skin contact helping babies regulate their temperature, their moods and improving breastfeeding relationships as well as deep connection between parent and child.
Resting for six weeks after birth doesn’t only support your mental, emotional, and physically health—it also supports your baby’s.
5. It will shake up patterns in your life and in your relationships (in a good way)
When I gave birth, my wife, who is also a midwife, took amazing care of me (and our other two kids). But it was hard for me to let her. I’m someone who wants my food prepared a certain way. Who feels vulnerable if I can’t do everything for myself. Who wants to be in control.
After giving birth, I had no choice but to succumb to being taken care of. I lost a lot of blood after my baby was born and the first few days I couldn’t even walk to the bathroom by myself. For someone used to handling everything, that dependence was very hard for me to stomach.
But my relationship benefited from it. Where before I felt like I had to handle certain things, my partner started doing them. And she did them well. Instead of feeling like I needed to do everything myself, I began to see that my partner was also very competent, and that I could trust her to handle everything from feeding me to washing the diapers to doing our taxes.
It’s always a gift to get a change of perspective. Many of us feel like we need to do everything ourselves. But it’s healthy to let patterns change. Our partners (or parents or friends) might even surprise us.
Rest is a privilege
There is no doubt that there is privilege in being able to rest and receive care at any time in one’s life. Some people have no maternity leave and no choice but to return to work two weeks after giving birth, which is an abomination. But most people have someone in their life—a parent, partner, friend, relative or hired help—who can support them in some way after having a baby.
We need to educate the people in our lives about what we need after giving birth. Since this is not a common cultural practice in our society, many don’t understand how much their support is needed in the postpartum period. If you are preparing to give birth, share this information with your inner circle. Sometimes we have to teach others how to be there for us.
Making the choice to rest in the postpartum is a huge contradiction to the messages that we receive from society. It’s OK to rest. It’s OK to prioritize our own well-being and that of our babies. We don’t need to always be productive. And if you think about it, growing a human is the most productive thing in the world.
Corrigan CP, Kwasky AN, Groh CJ. Social Support, Postpartum Depression, and Professional Assistance: A Survey of Mothers in the Midwestern United States. J Perinat Educ. 2015;24(1):48-60. doi:10.1891/1058-1243.24.1.48
Ni PK, Siew Lin SK. The role of family and friends in providing social support towards enhancing the wellbeing of postpartum women: a comprehensive systematic review. JBI Libr Syst Rev. 2011;9(10):313-370. doi:10.11124/01938924-201109100-00001


5.10 Estimate Based on Engineer's List of Quantities
The engineer's estimate is based on a list of items and the associated quantities from which the total construction cost is derived. This same list is also made available to the bidders if unit prices of the items on the list are also solicited from the bidders. Thus, the itemized costs submitted by the winning contractor may be used as the starting point for budget control.
In general, the progress payments to the contractor are based on the units of work completed and the corresponding unit prices of the work items on the list. Hence, the estimate based on the engineers' list of quanitities for various work items essentially defines the level of detail to which subsequent measures of progress for the project will be made.
Example 5-15: Bid estimate based on engineer's list of quantities
Using the unit prices in the bid of contractor 1 for the quantitites specified by the engineer in Table 5-2 (Example 5-3), we can compute the total bid price of contractor 1 for the roadway project. The itemized costs for various work items as well as the total bid price are shown in Table 5-14.
TABLE 5-14: Bid Price of Contractor 1 in a Highway Project
5.11 Allocation of Construction Costs Over Time
Since construction costs are incurred over the entire construction phase of a project, it is often necessary to determine the amounts to be spent in various periods to derive the cash flow profile, especially for large projects with long durations. Consequently, it is important to examine the percentage of work expected to be completed at various time periods to which the costs would be charged. More accurate estimates may be accomplished once the project is scheduled as described in Chapter 10, but some rough estimate of the cash flow may be required prior to this time.
Consider the basic problem in determining the percentage of work completed during construction. One common method of estimating percentage of completion is based on the amount of money spent relative to the total amount budgeted for the entire project. This method has the obvious drawback in assuming that the amount of money spent has been used efficiently for production. A more reliable method is based on the concept of value of work completed which is defined as the product of the budgeted labor hours per unit of production and the actual number of production units completed, and is expressed in budgeted labor hours for the work completed. Then, the percentage of completion at any stage is the ratio of the value of work completed to date and the value of work to be completed for the entire project. Regardless of the method of measurement, it is informative to understand the trend of work progress during construction for evaluation and control.
In general, the work on a construction project progresses gradually from the time of mobilization until it reaches a plateau; then the work slows down gradually and finally stops at the time of completion. The rate of work done during various time periods (expressed in the percentage of project cost per unit time) is shown schematically in Figure 5-9 in which ten time periods have been assumed. The solid line A represents the case in which the rate of work is zero at time t = 0 and increases linearly to 12.5% of project cost at t = 2, while the rate begins to decrease from 12.5% at t = 8 to 0% at t = 10. The dotted line B represents the case of rapid mobilization by reaching 12.5% of project cost at t = 1 while beginning to decrease from 12.5% at t = 7 to 0% at t = 10. The dash line C represents the case of slow mobilization by reaching 12.5% of project cost at t = 3 while beginning to decrease from 12.5% at t = 9 to 0% at t = 10.
Figure 5-9: Rate of Work Progress over Project Time
The value of work completed at a given time (expressed as a cumulative percentage of project cost) is shown schematically in Figure 5-10. In each case (A, B or C), the value of work completed can be represented by an "S-shaped" curve. The effects of rapid mobilization and slow mobilization are indicated by the positions of curves B and C relative to curve A, respectively.
Figure 5-10: Value of Work Completed over Project Time
While the curves shown in Figures 5-9 and 5-10 represent highly idealized cases, they do suggest the latitude for adjusting the schedules for various activities in a project. While the rate of work progress may be changed quite drastically within a single period, such as the change from rapid mobilization to a slow mobilization in periods 1, 2 and 3 in Figure 5-9, the effect on the value of work completed over time will diminish in significance as indicated by the cumulative percentages for later periods in Figure 5-10. Thus, adjustment of the scheduling of some activities may improve the utilization of labor, material and equipment, and any delay caused by such adjustments for individual activities is not likely to cause problems for the eventual progress toward the completion of a project.
In addition to the speed of resource mobilization, another important consideration is the overall duration of a project and the amount of resources applied. Various strategies may be applied to shorten the overall duration of a project such as overlapping design and construction activities (as described in Chapter 2) or increasing the peak amounts of labor and equipment working on a site. However, spatial, managerial and technical factors will typically place a minimum limit on the project duration or cause costs to escalate with shorter durations.
Example 5-16: Calculation of Value of Work Completed
From the area of work progress in Figure 5-9, the value of work completed at any point in Figure 5-10 can be derived by noting the area under the curve up to that point in Figure 5-9. The result for t = 0 through t = 10 is shown in Table 5-15 and plotted in Figure 5-10.
TABLE 5-15 Calculation of Value of Work Completed
5.12 Computer Aided Cost Estimation
Numerous computer aided cost estimation software systems are now available. These range in sophistication from simple spreadsheet calculation software to integrated systems involving design and price negotiation over the Internet. While this software involves costs for purchase, maintenance, training and computer hardware, some significant efficiencies often result. In particular, cost estimates may be prepared more rapidly and with less effort.
Some of the common features of computer aided cost estimation software include:
A typical process for developing a cost estimate using one of these systems would include:
- If a similar design has already been estimated or exists in the company archive, the old project information is retreived.
- A cost engineer modifies, add or deletes components in the project information set. If a similar project exists, many of the components may have few or no updates, thereby saving time.
- A cost estimate is calculated using the unit cost method of estimation. Productivities and unit prices are retrieved from the system databases. Thus, the latest price information is used for the cost estimate.
- The cost estimation is summarized and reviewed for any errors.
5.13 Estimation of Operating Costs
In order to analyze the life cycle costs of a proposed facility, it is necessary to estimate the operation and maintenance costs over time after the start up of the facility. The stream of operating costs over the life of the facility depends upon subsequent maintenance policies and facility use. In particular, the magnitude of routine maintenance costs will be reduced if the facility undergoes periodic repairs and rehabilitation at periodic intervals.
Since the tradeoff between the capital cost and the operating cost is an essential part of the economic evaluation of a facility, the operating cost is viewed not as a separate entity, but as a part of the larger parcel of life cycle cost at the planning and design stage. The techniques of estimating life cycle costs are similar to those used for estimating capital costs, including empirical cost functions and the unit cost method of estimating the labor, material and equipment costs. However, it is the interaction of the operating and capital costs which deserve special attention.
As suggested earlier in the discussion of the exponential rule for estimating, the value of the cost exponent may influence the decision whether extra capacity should be built to accommodate future growth. Similarly, the economy of scale may also influence the decision on rehabilitation at a given time. As the rehabilitation work becomes extensive, it becomes a capital project with all the implications of its own life cycle. Hence, the cost estimation of a rehabilitation project may also involve capital and operating costs.
While deferring the discussion of the economic evaluation of constructed facilities to Chapter 6, it is sufficient to point out that the stream of operating costs over time represents a series of costs at different time periods which have different values with respect to the present. Consequently, the cost data at different time periods must be converted to a common base line if meaningful comparison is desired.
Example 5-17: Maintenance cost on a roadway
Maintenance costs for constructed roadways tend to increase with both age and use of the facility. As an example, the following empirical model was estimated for maintenance expenditures on sections of the Ohio Turnpike:
C = 596 + 0.0019 V + 21.7 A
where C is the annual cost of routine maintenance per lane-mile (in 1967 dollars), V is the volume of traffic on the roadway (measured in equivalent standard axle loads, ESAL, so that a heavy truck is represented as equivalent to many automobiles), and A is the age of the pavement in years since the last resurfacing. According to this model, routine maintenance costs will increase each year as the pavement service deteriorates. In addition, maintenance costs increase with additional pavement stress due to increased traffic or to heavier axle loads, as reflected in the variable V.
For example, for V = 500,300 ESAL and A = 5 years, the annual cost of routine maintenance per lane-mile is estimated to be:
C = 596 + (0.0019)(500,300) + (21.7)(5)
Example 5-18: Time stream of costs over the life of a roadway
= 596 + 950.5 + 108.5 = 1,655 (in 1967 dollars)
The time stream of costs over the life of a roadway depends upon the intervals at which rehabilitation is carried out. If the rehabilitation strategy and the traffic are known, the time stream of costs can be estimated.
Using a life cycle model which predicts the economic life of highway pavement on the basis of the effects of traffic and other factors, an optimal schedule for rehabilitation can be developed. For example, a time stream of costs and resurfacing projects for one pavement section is shown in Figure 5-11. As described in the previous example, the routine maintenance costs increase as the pavement ages, but decline after each new resurfacing. As the pavement continues to age, resurfacing becomes more frequent until the roadway is completely reconstructed at the end of 35 years.
Figure 5-11: Time Stream of Costs over the Life of a Highway Pavement
- Ahuja, H.N. and W.J. Campbell, Estimating: From Concept to Completion, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1987.
- Clark, F.D., and A.B. Lorenzoni, Applied Cost Engineering, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1978.
- Clark, J.E., Structural Concrete Cost Estimating, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1983.
- Diekmann, J.R., "Probabilistic Estimating: Mathematics and Applications," ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 109, 1983, pp. 297-308.
- Humphreys, K.K. (ed.) Project and Cost Engineers' Handbook (sponsored by American Association of Cost Engineers), 2nd Ed., Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1984.
- Maevis, A.C., "Construction Cost Control by the Owners," ASCE Journal of the Construction Division, Vol. 106, 1980, pp. 435-446.
- Wohl, M. and C. Hendrickson, Transportation Investment and Pricing Principles, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1984.


By Dr. Gregory Myers, USAID Division Chief, Land Tenure and Property Rights
On July 30, I had the pleasure of joining Landesa President Tim Hanstad at Global Washington in Seattle for a rich discussion of the Global Farms Race: Implications of Food Security, Poverty, and Foreign Investment.
At the heart of this conversation are the rights of communities and individuals to decide for themselves how to use and profit from land. Do they possess clear and documented land and resource rights? Who has the power to make decisions? According to a recent World Bank report, up to 90% of the land in Sub-Saharan Africa is undocumented, which makes it extremely difficult to determine who has a right to what land and resources. Consequently, decisions are being made for individuals and communities, rather than by them. This is unsustainable and will undermine the objectives we seek to achieve, particularly improved food security and nutrition.
Two of the biggest policy challenges are the lack of good data and out-of-date laws. In many countries in which USAID works, decades of civil war, fairly recent independence, and repeated changes in government have resulted in land records that are non-existent, incomplete, or overlapping – making it very difficult to figure out who owns what and how much land has been sold or leased to whom. Combine this with laws and policies that do not recognize the property rights of many citizens, and it spells potential disaster for smallholders around the world.
In the global farms race, the rush to purchase or lease agricultural land to feed the world’s growing population tends to overshadow the slower process of determining ownership and boundaries. Governments sell or lease what is legally public land to investors for agricultural export. However, the purchaser/lessor may find smallholders on the land. Frequently, commercial investors do not know that the land has been grazed or farmed by local people for centuries. So, who is the “bad guy” in this deal? Who is responsible for ensuring that local, indigenous and customary rights are recognized, or that they have land on which to make a livelihood? There are few “bad guys” in this scenario, but many bad decisions. It should be those who occupy the land, who in fact have property rights, who are responsible for making decisions about what happens with the land and who benefits.
Because these issues are so fundamental to global development goals, USAID is partnering with country governments around the globe to invest in programs that improve land governance systems. Together with our partners across Europe and in many bilateral organizations such as the World Bank, IFAD and FAO, we are encouraging governments to recognize that occupants indeed have property rights and that is a fundamental requirement for economic development and sustainable resource management. One of the most important tools to address the lack of clear land tenure is the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, which were adopted by the UN Committee on Food Security in May 2012. The Voluntary Guidelines provide a framework that policy makers can refer to when creating laws and policies to strengthen land tenure and resource rights. Improved access and rights to land create incentives for better agricultural productivity, which leads to better food security and nutrition.
In Ethiopia for example, a USAID-supported land certification program has helped to transform property rights, enhance agricultural productivity, and limit resource degradation. In the area where the land certification program was implemented, crop yields have increased between 11 percent and 40 percent per acre over three years with no other inputs. When people have land certificates, they are more inclined to conserve land, water, and wildlife and invest in productivity.
Secure property rights are also extremely important for women. We know when women do not have property rights, their home and land may be taken by relatives. There is a greater likelihood that their health and security are jeopardized and their children may be forced to work or marry at an early age instead of attending school. When women have more secure rights to land and resources, they are more likely to invest in agricultural inputs, produce food to feed their family, participate in household decision making, earn income, and access credit.
USAID is seeking to expand the knowledge and data on the impact of land rights programs and large-scale land acquisitions through a new Evaluation, Research and Communication (ERC) project, launched in May. Follow me on Twitter @Gregorywmyers where I share results and engage in the growing global dialogue on land and resource governance.


A building’s first line of defense in controlling the consumption of energy is its roof. Solar reflective coating dramatically lowers a roof’s surface temperature, resulting in greater indoor comfort and less demand on an air conditioning system. This, in turn, means reduced energy costs.
Solar reflective roof coating is typically white – as seen in this picture:
The coating consists of a polymeric binder mixed with pigments and special additives such as silver, aluminum and pigment flakes to provide its reflective properties. In addition to lessening the demand on air conditioning and saving energy costs, solar reflective roof coating provides extra protection to the roof membrane – ultimately extending its lifespan.
A dark roof absorbs the sun’s heat, while a white roof reflects it away. That’s the key behind solar reflective technology. A test was conducted on a sunny day with an ambient temperature of 100 degrees F. The surface of a roof with a black membrane reached a whopping 180 F, and a gravel roof reached 145 F. In comparison, a roof with solar reflective coating was remarkably cooler at 90 F, reducing the cooling demand by 15%.
The entire building industry is taking steps to go green because the codes have become more stringent. This has created a need to make products that don’t have an adverse impact on the environment. Reflective roof coating is one such product. It can either be applied at the factory or after a roof installation.
NB: Reflectivity isn’t the only important consideration in a roofing material. It should also have high “infrared emittance” to help the roof discard heat by re-radiation.


“As if hell were needed when every sin brings along with it its own bitter punishment.”
The Merry-Go-Round, an early and largely forgotten novel from W. Somerset Maugham is not considered his best, but it’s one of my favourites. The Merry-Go-Round was written in 1904 following Mrs Craddock (another great favourite) in 1902. The main character in Mrs Craddock is Bertha Ley, and she’s the niece of Miss Mary Ley, the main character in The Merry-Go-Round.
Set in Edwardian England, The Merry-Go-Round concerns the troubled relationships between several people. The central character is Miss Ley, a fifty-seven-year-old spinster who inherits a comfortable sum of money from a cantankerous elderly aunt. Independent and strong-willed in her youth, in middle-age Miss Ley has very definite ideas about male-female relationships. As a keen observer of people, her sardonic, practical view of the foibles and vanities of human nature establish Miss Ley as a witty hostess. Soon her friends become involved in various relationships and mesalliances that put Miss Ley’s theories about life, love and marriage to the test. Miss Ley rather unexpectedly finds herself becoming a confidant, an advisor and also “a censor of morals.”
Shortly after the novel begins, Miss Ley invites a handful of acquaintances to dinner, and this event introduces the main characters and kickstarts their stories, dramas and tragedies. Guests for the evening include: Mrs. Castillyon (whose husband is a member of parliament), Basil Kent, Dr. Frank Hurrell, Reggie Bassett and his overbearing mother Mrs. Barlow-Bassett, the attractive widow Mrs. Murray, Miss Ley’s cousin, Algernon Langton, Dean of Tercanbury and his middle-aged daughter Bella.
Over the course of the book, these characters plunge into love affairs and marriages for a variety of reasons and with a range of results. Barrister Basil Kent, a promising writer, although attracted to Mrs Murray, decides to do the honourable thing and offer marriage to the beautiful barmaid Jenny. Dr Frank Hurrell, a man whose “passions were of the mind rather than of the body” chafes at his career in Harley Street and longs for something unknown. Mrs. Castillyon, bored with her marriage, abandons herself in a destructive affair with Reggie Bassett, and Bella Langton at age forty falls in love with a twenty-year-old bank clerk named Herbert Field.
Maugham explores the relationships between unequals in his masterpiece Of Human Bondage. It’s obviously a theme that fascinated Maugham and in The Merry-Go-Round, there are three such inequitable relationships (one I shan’t mention due to spoilers). Bella Langton marries Herbert Field–a man considered her social ‘inferior’ and Basil marries Jenny against Miss Ley’s advice. The marriages have different results, and while Bella and Herbert love each other, there are additional factors which impact their relationship. Basil imagines a Pygmalion scenario–with himself, naturally, as the purveyor of culture and education, and Jenny as the eager, lowly and grateful pupil. After marriage, however, Jenny’s charms are lost on Basil and he quickly finds himself bored with his wife and ashamed to introduce her to his friends. He stashes her at home and then attends his social functions alone. Jenny of course, hasn’t essentially changed since Basil first cast eyes on her; Basil’s infatuation simply dies, and with his sexual enthrallment satiated, he loses interest. In doing the so-called honourable thing, and meeting the moral obligations he feels are demanded of him, Basil becomes unintentionally cruel and tragedy results.
It’s been more than 100 years since Basil’s creation, but many of us will still identify with his decision to ‘do the right thing.’ But just what is the ‘right thing’ is a question for some debate. Miss Ley is vehemently opposed to the match and she expresses her feelings unreservedly. In her view, Basil has already caused Jenny considerable damage which will only be compounded by marriage–an act she feels is motivated from “selfishness and cowardice.” Here’s Miss Ley giving Basil her opinion:
“Are you sure you don’t admire a little too much your heroic attitude?” she asked, and in her voice was a stinging coldness at which Basil winced. “Nowadays self-sacrifice is a luxury which few have the strength to deny themselves; people took to it when they left off sugar because it was fattening, and they sacrifice themselves wantonly, from sheer love of it, however worthless the object. In fact, the object scarcely concerns them; they don’t care how much they harm it so long as they can gratify their passion.”
In Basil’s case, Miss Ley sees the misguided passion as Basil’s drive to “sacrifice” himself by marrying Jenny. Basil is motivated by the desire to not seem like his mother, the one-time notorious Lady Vizard whose affairs (Basil imagines) scandalized society–when in fact prissy Basil was the only person outraged. Basil tends to place impossibly high standards of behaviour on people and is perhaps destined to be disappointed in his relationships:
“Basil had not the amiable gift of taking people as they are, asking no more from them than they can give: but rather sought to mould after his own ideas the persons with whom he came into contact.”
The relationship between Reggie Bassett and Mrs Castillyon remains, for me at least, the most fascinating relationship in the novel. While the vast social differences in Basil and Jenny’s marriage are certain to leave bitter recrimination, it’s uncertain just who is going to be the casualty in the twisted relationship between the shallow, spoiled, selfish, petulant Reggie, and the bored superficial Mrs Castillyon. Socially, Reggie is used to prostitutes and at first can’t believe his luck at discovering a ‘loose’ woman of his own class (a woman, he assumes, who will pay her own way). Reggie fails to understand that Mrs Castillyon is mainly a tease and initially has no intention of becoming his mistress. The scenes detailing the first steps in the affair between Reggie and Grace Castillyon are especially delightful. Invitations to tea and to the theatre mask elaborate games in which Reggie and Grace test and exploit each other’s boundaries.
Miss Ley doles out advice when asked and sometimes when she isn’t asked, and throughout the novel, she is also an observer of the silliness and hypocrisy of others. Lady Vizard’s compulsion to drop the occasional French word into conversation provides just the right degree of snobbery and pretension to the upper class set, and this develops into scorn when she discovers Basil’s marriage to Jenny. Some of the narrative is stiff, and the novel seems a little unkind to most of the working class characters who either steal (Jimmy Bush), get drunk (Bridger) or get “into trouble” (Fanny Bridger, Jenny Bush). On the other hand, the upper classes suffer from priggishness (Castillyon, Basil) and selfishness induced by boredom (Grace Castillyon, Reggie).
The first time I read The Merry-Go-Round many years ago, I thought that Maugham’s novel preached virulently against marriages between different classes. Now, however, I find myself moving away from that opinion. While Basil’s marriage to Jenny is disastrous, the third, completely unexpected, marriage that takes place between two characters may or may not be successful. Miss Ley seems to think that the marriage could well be the making of the weaker, shallow character–in spite of the class differences between the newlyweds. Perhaps it is safer to say that a marriage that begins as a “favour” to the other person or as a “sacrifice” is doomed to failure, and that at the very least, respect, if not affection must be present in order for the union to have a chance of success.
Maugham’s characters share a great capacity to make themselves unhappy, and Miss Ley realizes that most of this stems from humans’ failure to understand their deepest motivations. So much unhappiness could have been spared these characters if they’d only understood themselves a little better. Here’s Basil blaming his mistakes on society:
“In this world we’re made to act and think things because others have thought them good; we never have a chance of going our own way; we’re bound down by the prejudices and the morals of all and sundry….The world held up an ideal, and I thought they meant one to act up to it; it never occurred to me that they would only sneer.”
I don’t buy Basil’s theory that his actions were dictated by society–in his case it was rather the opposite. Everyone advised him not to marry Jenny. But it is that vast dichotomy that exists in most of us–the gap between who we think we are and who we really are–that trips up Basil. He thinks he can marry Jenny and make the best of it when in reality he patronizes her, is deeply ashamed of her and imagines that she “drags him down” to her level.
So at the end of the novel, The Merry-Go-Round has stopped. Some characters alight and some continue with their delusions. Some fortunate characters get a second chance at life, and some…do not.


Fish Oil And Brain Health
Fish Oil And Brain Health — Food For Thought!
Fish really is brain food. And the oil in fatty fish contains concentrated amounts of the essential ingredient which benefits your brain.
In this article, I will explain what component of fish oil makes it critical for brain health and how that component affects both brain development and brain function.
That’s right. Fish oil is “food for thought.”
Fish Oil Contains DHA And EPA Fatty Acids And Both Are Critical For Your Brain Health
Just like a machine, your brain needs oil to function. Not motor oil, of course, but fish oil. Or at least a nutrient which is a major component of fish oil.
Fish oil contains high concentrations of Omega 3 fatty acids. More specifically, fish oil contains the two primary “long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids,” EPA (Eicosopentaenoic Acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid).
DHA and EPA (especially DHA) are building blocks, which means that they are part of the cell membranes throughout your body. (All of them, estimated to be between 50 million and 100 trillion!) However, DHA and EPA are found in highest concentration in the retina, brain, and sperm.
Omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial because they provide fluidity to cell membranes and improve communication between brain cells. That is, Omega 3s are believed to benefit the neuro-transmitters that carry messages from one part of the brain to another and to other parts of the body. Low levels of Omega 3 impair these “Pony Express riders” and keep the signals from getting through, resulting in various medical problems.
Omega 3s Are Critical For Brain Development
For a fetus’ brain to develop properly, it needs a great deal of DHA and EPA fats, particularly DHA.
To develop properly, the fetus’ brain needs polyunsaturated fats, especially the long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, EPA and DHA.
Omega 3s are also critical for fetal vision development.
Having sufficient Omega 3s are most important during the last 3 months of fetal development, when the fetal brain grows threefold.
After birth, Omega 3 continues to be particularly critical for the infant’s brain development during the first several months of life.
Omega 3s Are Critical For Brain Function
Deficiencies in Omega-3 fats have been linked to:
- Mood Swings
- Bipolar Disorder
- Postpartum Depression
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- And others
Research has shown that patients suffering from these disabilities have abnormally low levels of Omega 3s in their blood.
Let’s look in more detail at some of these brain functioning problems and how they are affected by Omega 3s.
Studies have shown that people with depression often have low levels of the EPA and DHA and that depression decreases as levels of Omega-3 increase. More Omega 3 = less depression.
A 2009 report published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that adding fish oil supplements to standard care appears to benefit people with major depression.
In another 2009 research study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, investigators reviewed 28 studies and found that use of fish oil supplements was linked to significant improvement in major depression (and bipolar disorder).
A Canadian study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry is the largest double-blind, randomized control trial ever conducted on Omega 3 and depression. The researchers found that the men and women who had depression without an anxiety disorder showed a statistically significant benefit from fish oil supplements.
A more recent study, published in the February 2011 issue of European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, concluded that there was a significant reduction in the symptoms of depression by participants who took daily Omega-3 supplements over a period of six months.
Another study involved evaluating Finnish men and women for depression (and suicidal tendencies). The researchers concluded from their study that the individuals who consumed fish at least twice a week had a 35 percent lower risk of being depressed (and a 43 percent lower risk of having suicidal tendencies).
The results of the Finnish study were consistent with still another larger study, conducted in Japan, that followed 265,000 subjects for up to 17 years. This study connected a decreased risk of suicide with the daily consumption of DHA-laden fish.
As you see, the connection between fish oil and brain health is clear where depression is concerned.
In one study, researchers gave magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests to study participants who recorded everything they ate during the test period.
The study concluded that the more DHA a person consumed, the more gray matter there was in three areas of the brain linked to mood: the amygdala, the hippocampus and the cingulate.
In 2006 the Omega-3 Fatty Acids Subcommittee, assembled by the Committee on Research on Psychiatric Treatments of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) stated the following: “The preponderance of epidemiologic and tissue compositional studies supports a protective effect of omega-3 EFA intake, particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in mood disorders.”
Although study results are inconsistent, taking fish oil along with the usual treatments for bipolar disorder seems to improve symptoms of depression and increase the length of time between episodes of depression. (However, there appear to be no fish oil health benefits on the manic symptoms of people with bipolar disorder.)
Preliminary clinical evidence suggests that people with schizophrenia may have an improvement in symptoms when given Omega-3 fatty acids.
There are also studies showing that proper intake of these essential fats may help ward off postpartum depression.
Scientists at Tufts University have discovered that patients with Alzheimer’s have a lower blood plasma level of DHA.
By analyzing the blood samples of a group of 899 men who were free of dementia at the beginning of the study, researchers were able to show that those with higher levels of DHA in their blood had a 47% lower chance of developing dementia, and a 39% lower chance of developing Alzheimer’s Disease, as compared with patients with lower levels.
In another study, researchers at the Kaolinska Institute in Stockholm discovered that supplementing patients with a DHA-rich fish oil capsule slows down the progression of mild Alzheimer’s disease.
Other studies have shown that even if you don’t have any of these conditions, memory and focus can improve with consistent use of fish oil supplements. Research has even shown that people who eat oily fish or take fish oil supplements score higher in IQ tests!
Improve Brain Function With A Molecularly Distilled Fish Oil Supplement
With the connection between fish oil and brain health being so clear, I recommend that you consider taking a daily fish oil capsule (or two). Make sure that the supplement you take has been molecularly distilled to rid it of all impurities.
To learn about the fish oil supplement product I recommend, click here.


Food price inflation has been an important subject of debate internationally since 2008. This sharp increase in food prices experienced during 2008 lead to intense research into the causes, dynamics and responses to this particular instance of food price inflation. The international literature attributed food price inflation to such factors as climate change, increases in energy costs and speculative activity in financial markets for agricultural commodities. This research report undertakes a review of the measurement of food price inflation in South Africa, broadly assessing how it is to be linked to the poor in South Africa. The research report focuses on the work of institutions concerned with the measurement of food price inflation in South Africa. Different methodologies of identifying foods as food staples are looked at. Food prices and trends are analysed using CPI data from January 2008 until October 2008, using selected consumer price index series from Statistics South Africa. The research report finds that the institutions studied show evidence of that higher food price inflation is correlated with demographic markers of poverty, although the traditional measure, the CPI, does not suggests that this is very extensive. This, it is argued, is due to the calculation methodologies used in the published CPI, and the data period. The research report then ends with an overview of the political economy of food in South Africa, thereby makes recommendations as to why the measurement of food price inflation is important for the poor.


Horace Bristol is one of the original
Time/LIFE photographers and the impetus for John Steinbecks Pulitzer Prize-winning epic The Grapes of Wrath. His images of WWII are some of the best known and most revealing war
photographs taken during the 20th Century.
Bristols celebrated career began when he was invited to be one of the original LIFE Magazine
photographers. His work was published in conjunction with such photographers as Margaret Bourke-White
and Alfred Eisenstaedt. Assignments granted to the young 28-year-old Bristol led to numerous LIFE
covers and spreads and included such honors as covering the construction of Coulee Dam, the untouched
and fairly unknown islands of Bali, the famed violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and more.
In 1937, Bristol began making his numerous expeditions to Californias Central Valley with
renowned FSA photographer Dorothea Lange. Lange shared Bristols interest and compassion
for the plight of the Central Valley migrant workers and the unemployed in San Francisco during
The Great Depression. With a story submission in mind for his employer Time Magazine, Bristol
persuaded John Steinbeck to collaborate on the story, who then accompanied Bristol on subsequent
trips to Central Valley. There they met, photographed, and interviewed the real migrant workers,
Tom Joad, his Ma and Pa, Little Ruthie, Winfield, and others, who would become the namesakes of
Steinbecks characters in The Grapes of Wrath. [This year happens to be the 100th
anniversary of John Steinbecks birth. Click Grapes of Wrath image to see series.]
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, Bristol was recruited by Edward Steichen, the most
influential photographer of the 20th Century, to be one of five photographers to document World
War II under his U.S. Naval command. Bristol, like a true magazine and newspaper man, captured
images of patriotism and heroism with the human interest story as the visual focal point. His
most recognized image from this time is of a young PBY Blister Gunner nude at his post after rescuing
a fellow officer [click on image].
Bristols career led him to Asia following World War II, where he spent 25 years documenting
the rapid modernization of Japan, Korea, China, Burma, and Formosa (now Taiwan). He returned to
the states with his new bride and two children and lived in Ojai, California, until his death
from Life: The Photography of Horace Bristol
Bristol: An American View
Angels (Picture This) [contributor]
Images courtesy of The Stephen Cohen Gallery.
Special thanks go to the Horace Bristol Estate and
Madeleine Huttenbach of The Stephen Cohen Gallery.


Class, race and gender
Race Rebels points out the hard work of poor and unorganised black working class people who have contributed to the identity of African American racial groups in America. The term way way below indicates the contribution of millions of poor people who struggled on their own at workplace without resisting the oppressive culture through organisations or specific political movement but resisted the situation in their own way. These working class poor people are the ones who have gained the racial identity and the changes in the national policy stand testimony to the power of the work of these unidentified poor working class black people(Smith.1996).
Kelley narrates that all African American history has taken shape from the lower strata of the society. This is where the importance of class arises. The political alignment of the black working class people is described as less important with respect to race but stresses that the political philosophy is a combination of gender, class and race.
Kelley also denounces the idea that radicalism, politics and revolt are referred to organization and institutions. Race Rebels is a narrative about the history of black working class written in three parts: significant part of culture in resistance, hidden history of resistance and the role of working class in redefining communism on their terms. The fundamental idea of the author is to bring to the light, the hard work of black working class who contributed, changed and caused an affect on politics and struggle that leads to various other significant assertions and themes. In the initial chapters, the traditional method of struggle through institution, unions and workplace has been replaced by struggle in public space. With the mention of change of the arena of struggle to public space, Kelley takes the reader to experience struggle in everyday affairs and the short but continuous resistance that occur daily and are allowed to occur for the success of resistance movements.
Through the introduction of public space as a place of struggle, Kelley shows that black people wanted a space of their own and did not want to mingle with the whites and the use of public space for revolt enabled them to escape quickly and made it complex for the police to hold them up. Therefore resistance found a new face of anonymous and unorganized move that encouraged more working class people to participate in the movement against racism.
Kelley also challenges political movements and the contribution of marginalized people. He also indicates that the working class stayed in their terms and did not look forward to meet higher standards. Thus the black working class did not transform to suit the communist party but transformed the party to suit to their needs. Kelley then stresses on the importance of culture in resistance and revolt of the black working class (Hoerger. 2004).
Kelley asks readers not to compare the struggle and resistance of black people with the self degrading personality like Malcolm X. Accordng to him there are gangsta rappers but they should be related to politics and rebellions and viewed as a subculture of the society (Smith.1996).
Race Rebels indicates how a cultural world can turn into a political way of resistance. African American working class often felt at odds with racist whites and the black middle class but these women and men followed the strategies of revolt against the status quo. The resistance was followed even by sub cultures who did not participate in the mainstream black politics. They stood against racist oppression and race politics of the middle class whether it was the masking acts of organizational sabotage or the comments of a white conductor in a street car. Kelley has given the attention and recognition which black race rebels of America deserve for their work from the period of Jim Crow to the current scenario. The extent of agitation through revolting movements like civil rights and communism and shift of rebellion to public space, workplace and home and then the revolt that took its place in fashion and gangsta rap all determine the role of individualized resistance. In short, Race Rebels has brought out the hidden stories of the poor working class people who in fact are the real day to day heroes who have resisted racism through unseen and unknown weapons. The significance of black working class has obtained a new perspective with Robin D.G.Kelley’s Race Rebels (Zenosbooks.com. 2008).
Hoerger, M. 2004. Available: http://www.boxcarbooks.org/index.php?name=Reviews&req=showcontent&id=34 . Accessed on November 28, 2008
Smith, D.E.1996. Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class. Available: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1546/is_1_11/ai_61525030. Accessed on November 28, 2008
Zenosbooks.com. 2008. Available: https://www.zenosbooks.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=79. Accessed on November 28, 2008


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Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
Syro–Phoenicia, or Phoenicia Proper, called Syro or Syrian Phoenicia, from being included in the Roman province of Syria. It includes that part of the coast of Canaan, on the borders of the Mediterranean, in which the cities of Tyre and Sidon were situated; and the same country, which is called Syro-Phoenicia in the Acts, is in the Gospels called the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. The woman also described as Syro-Phoenician in , is in called a Canaanitish woman, because that country was still occupied by the descendants of Canaan, of whom Sidon was the eldest son.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Syro-Phoenicia'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/s/syro-phoenicia.html.


SIUE researchers debunk misconceptions about teens in new book
‘Great Myths of Adolescence’ dedicated to teens
For The Intelligencer
EDWARDSVILLE — In a new book dedicated to “teens everywhere who are working to understand who they are and how they fit in the world,” two Southern Illinois University Edwardsville psychology professors use evidence-based science to shed light on 50 widely held misconceptions related to adolescence.
“Great Myths of Adolescence” offers important guidance for teenagers, parents, psychologists, educators and others by shattering stereotypes and exploring myths related to sex, technology, drugs and self-control.
Among the myths debunked: Greek life has a negative effect on college students academically; The millennial generation is lazy; Peer pressure only causes teens to make bad decisions.
Myth busting psychology professors Jeremy Jewell, PhD, and Stephen Hupp, PhD, co-wrote the book along with professors at two other universities — Michael Axelrod, PhD and Mitch Prinstein, PhD. The book presents the latest research intertwined with pop culture references from movies and television shows like Mean Girls, Twilight, Glee and South Park.
“Many adults in society have an ‘us versus them’ bias toward teens and assume that ‘teens these days’ have many more problems than they did when they were that age,” said Jewell. “But in reality, teens have a great many strengths and at times have fewer problematic behaviors than adults. For example, sexting and marijuana use is much more common in middle-aged adults compared to teens.”
“This is the type of information we’ve been teaching in our Clinical Child and School Psychology graduate program for years,” said Hupp. “We thought it was time to help a broader audience learn how to separate fact from fiction when it comes to adolescence.”
Expert in emerging adulthood Jeffrey Jensen Arnett acknowledges humans’ persistent desire to believe appealing stories regardless of factual evidence. It’s that “immutable attraction” that makes works like Great Myths of Adolescence essential, he says.
“I hope other readers will find, as I did, that even though it is never pleasant to have to admit you were wrong, there is satisfaction to be had in discarding false beliefs in favor of the facts,” Jensen Arnett wrote in the book’s foreword. “By shattering many of these stereotypes, this book offers a sympathetic, encouraging and — most important of all — reality-based portrayal of today’s adolescents.”
“Great Myths of Adolescence” is a sequel to Jewell and Hupp’s first book, “Great Myths of Child Development,” both part of the Great Myths of Psychology series. The book is available now on Amazon.com.


A long closed, and little know section of Central Park has reopened to the public, the New York Times reports. Known as the Hallett Nature Sanctuary, this four-acre section that wraps around the Pond at the southeast corner of the park, was largely overlooked and overrun by weeds starting in the 1930s.
When Robert Moses took over as NYC Parks Commissioner in 1934, he closed off this space to make it a bird sanctuary. Known as “the Promontory” by the Park’s designers Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Moses’ idea to convert it into a bird sanctuary never quite took off — the birds did arrive, but the plants selected for the area were all invasive species. Wisteria in particular caused the area to be completely overrun.
It was part of a $40 million project known as the Woodlands Initiative to restore parts of the 843-acre Park. What also helped towards the opening of the Promontory was the contribution of benches by New Yorker Sima Ghadamian, which now sit at the top of the Promontory.
The Conservancy added new pathways and a rustic gate as part of the restoration, and it’s now open to the public, three days a week until June 30, 2016 and four days a week there onward until August 31, 2016.


Nearly all school nurses participating in a national survey (96 percent) reported that staff at their school received training on handling severe allergic reactions to food. Over 80 percent asserted that their school had an emergency epinephrine auto-injector on hand to stop a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. The study findings, published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, also underscore the dire need for these policies, with over one-third of the school nurses reporting at least one severe allergic reaction to food at their school in the last academic year.
“We were encouraged to see high rates of epinephrine availability in schools,” says senior author Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, who also is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “This is significant improvement over the last decade. We also saw that epinephrine was available more often when schools had full-time nurses. Greater nurse presence appears to be an important factor in implementing food allergy policies in schools.”
Currently, no standardized food allergy protocols exist for schools. However there are evidence-based resources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Schools and Early Care and Education Programs and the online toolkit from the National Association of School Nurses.
The survey revealed that among the least implemented policies were labeling of school lunch items with allergen information (31 percent), specific food policies for after-school activities (29 percent) and having emergency epinephrine that travels with groups during activities outside of school (28 percent).
“Listing allergen information on foods sold during lunch at school is critical to protect kids with food allergy from accidental ingestion. The top eight allergens, including peanut, tree nuts, milk, eggs, shellfish, finfish, soy and wheat, must be listed clearly on all food products,” says Dr. Gupta. “We also know from previous studies that up to 19 percent of life-threatening allergic reactions to food during the school day may occur outside of the school building or on field trips. Given this high risk, we need to promote the availability of emergency epinephrine to keep children with food allergies safe during these situations.”
The survey included 242 respondents, representing schools from all regions of the U.S. The majority were nurses who worked at a public school (88 percent), primarily at an elementary or middle school (90 percent).
“Future research needs to examine the effectiveness of specific policies in improving the safety of children with food allergies during the school day,” says Dr. Gupta. “With one in three nurses reporting an allergic reaction in the past year, we need to continue working together with families and schools to develop feasible policies that protect children with food allergies.”


Growing up, you might have been told time and time again that you should ditch certain habits that are bad for you. It turns out that many of them are not at all that bad, especially when you look at the brighter side of things. Go ahead and defy some of them not because you are now a grown up, but because they are actually good for you after all.
What makes chewing gum beneficial is it promotes the production of saliva, something which washes bacteria off your teeth. It also helps make your breath fresher, keeping you from offending someone. Chewing gum can help ward off hyperacidity because of its impact on salivary production. Experts say that it can even help you focus more.
Your parents may have told you that coffee isn’t good for you because it will keep you from growing tall and give you a heart attack. Scrap those ideas because so many researches have identified the numerous positive benefits of coffee to your health due to its loads of antioxidants. In fact, having 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day is very good for you.
It’s true that burping in public can be offensive. However, there is no reason for you to suppress that burp because letting gas escape through your mouth is good for the digestive tract. Otherwise, excess gas in your stomach may cause the sphincter separating it from the esophagus to relax, causing you to experience the symptoms of acid reflux.
Allowing gas to pass down there is also just as good for you as burping. Excess gas in the gut is usually caused by swallowed air while you’re eating and drinking. It’s also produced by the action of bacteria in your intestinal tract on food. If you don’t let it escape, it will cause distention of the gut, leaving you with uncomfortable abdominal pain.
Sugar rush and tooth decay are some of the reasons why the consumption of chocolates are said to be bad. The fact is chocolates are made from cacao beans that are packed with so many plant-based compounds that do so many health wonders. However, it’s a good idea to opt for chocolates that are at least 70% cocoa to avoid unhealthy ingredients.
This habit is often associated with being bored, disrespectful or inability to focus. People who told you that fidgeting won’t do you good are wrong. Especially if you wish to slim down or maintain your ideal weight, go ahead and fidget. It helps you burn a few excess calories. When trying to lose unwanted pounds, every form of calorie-burning activity counts.
Not Showering Daily
Provided that you don’t smell, feel free to give in to the urge of not stepping foot in the shower. Too much showering can cause excessive skin dryness, especially when you use hot water and soap with strong chemicals. Showering a lot can remove good bacteria on the skin that keep in check the bad ones that can cause various skin conditions.
Skin cancer and various premature aging signs giving sunbathing a really bad rep. Provided that you do it in moderation and you dodge the sun between 10 am and 4 pm, it’s a good idea to let your skin be touched by sunlight. Aside from giving you a healthy glow, sunbathing also produces vitamin D that lifts your mood and promotes calcium absorption by the bones.


Parsha Beshalach is an important chapter in the Jewish story. It chronicles the events of the first few weeks in the Wilderness, the “honeymoon” between God and the Jewish People. The key players in the story are the Israelites, God and Moses.
So here’s the story:
The Israelites leave Egypt after the final plagues force Pharoah to surrender; however, once they have left their slavery, Pharoah has a change of heart and decides to chase after them with his army. The Israelites come to the Sea of Reeds, but are able to cross on dry land after God parts the waters, which then come together and drown the pursuing Egyptian army. Moshe sings his "Song of the Sea," and Miriam leads the women in dance and rejoicing. Still, the people are dissatisfied with conditions in the wilderness, and repeatedly complain, despite the fact that God provides them with "manna" and water. At the end of the parsha, there is a dramatic battle with the nation Amalek.
The important aspects of the parsha are:
The Song of the Sea, manna, the developing relationship between God and Moses and The Battle with the Amalekites.
The Song of the Sea
Moses spontaneously composes a Song of the Sea and the Israelites exclaim “I will sing to God, for he has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. God is my strength and my might. He has become my deliverance. This is my God and I will enshrine Him.” (Ex. 15:1-2)
The ultimate declaration of obedience to God comes from the Song of the Sea: “Adonai Yimloch L’olam Vaed” – “God will reign for ever and ever.” (Ex. 15:18) This is still an important part of our liturgy. Of course, this declaration of Kingship was prompted by the defeat and destruction of Pharaoh and his entire army at the Sea of Reeds. There, God “battles” for the Israelites, and “gain[s] glory through [the defeat of] Pharaoh and all his warriors, his chariots, and his horsemen” (Ex. 14:18) by hurling the Egyptians into the sea.
The Hebrew people have escaped to freedom in the wilderness only to find that there is no food or water in the desert; they complain and even nostalgically recall the food they ate in Egypt as slaves. They seem to blame Moshe for their troubles; he, in turn, reminds them that it was God who took them out of Egypt. God responds that He will provide food from heaven- the "manna"- as much as each person needs, with a double portion on Fridays so that the people do not need to gather on Shabbat. Each day the manna will fall, and whatever is left over will go bad; the people must collect their portion every day, and not attempt to hoard it. "God said to Moshe: 'See here, I will rain down for them food from heaven, and the people will go out and collect a daily portion every day. Thus I will test them, whether they will follow My Torah or not.'" (Exodus 16:5)
The Israelites aren’t always keen on following exact directions. The Torah tells us: “they paid no attention to Moses; some of them left of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and stank.” (Ex. 16:20) “Yet some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather and they found nothing.” (Ex. 16:27) Finally, God loses his cool and lays it on the line: “Know that God has given you the Sabbath; therefore, He gives you two days food on the sixth day. Let everyone remain where he is; let no one leave his place on the seventh day.” (Ex. 16:29) This time the Israelites get the message and fall back into line.
The Developing Relationship Between God and Moses
It’s also interesting to examine the evolving relationship between God and Moses. Initially when the Israelites are encamped next to the Reed Sea and Pharaoh is about to regret his earlier decision to let them leave Egypt, God speaks with Moses and reveals to him what will happen next. When the Israelites become frightened by the advancing Egyptians, Moses tells them not to fear: “God will battle for you; you hold your peace!” (Ex. 14:14) God responds by asking Moses “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. And you lift up your arm and hold your rod over sea, and split it.” (Ex. 14:15-16) Here God is, in effect, coaching Moses, helping him see to the opportunity in front of him and to take appropriate action.
Of course, after the Israelites cross over, God again coaches Moses to drown the Egyptians: “Hold out your arm over the sea that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.” (Ex. 14:26) Always the faithful servant, Moses follows directions.
Later, after the Israelites travel for three days in the wilderness of Shur, they arrive at Marah, where the water is bitter and not drinkable. Again they start grumbling against Moses asking “what should we drink?” Moses becomes exasperated and cries out to God, who responds patiently by showing Moses a special tree. Moses gets the message, throws wood into the water, and the waters become sweet and drinkable. This is, of course, a nice story for the Shabbat before Tu B’Shvat. Note how Moses now needs only a helpful hint, rather than a direct command, before dealing with the situation.
Still later, the Israelites grumble again, this time about a shortage of food. God responds by revealing his plan to Moses to “rain down bread from the sky”, six days a week. After hearing this, Moses, with some help from Aaron, is able to ease the people’s fears and to convince them that God has heard them, has not abandoned them, and will meet their needs. Moses has finally come to “find his voice” by taking God’s coaching to heart.
Finally, at the end of the Parshah, when Amalek arrives, Moses responds by immediately telling Joshua to “pick some men for us and go do battle with Amalek. I will station myself on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” (Ex. 17:9) With help from Aaron and Hur, Moses is able to hold the rod up until sunset, channeling divine power and enabling Joshua to defeat the Amalekites. We see that Moses is now able to take charge without God’s coaching. He has also learned to allow other Israelite leaders to help him accomplish his mission. At the very end of the Parsha, God comes back into the picture and instructs Moses to pass on the story of Amalek’s defeat to posterity, by creating a written record of the events of the day and, then, placing it “in Joshua’s ears”, so that Joshua might understand the spiritual dimension of his battlefield experience. Moses has definitely matured as a leader.
Big Ideas (most essential points, themes, etc)
The idea of transformation – the idea of changing as individuals and ultimately as a people from being slaves to becoming free human beings. Not an easy process. After all, a slave doesn’t have to think or make decisions or ponder or make choices. A slave’s life is mapped out for him – his daily existence is an uncreative, tedious repetition of the day before and the day before that with no rest, no break, no day off, no vacation. Over time, a slave loses his ability to dream. He becomes a machine, a robot, nothing more than a cog in the wheel of his master’s plan. The Israelites had lived in this reality for 400 years. Roughly 10 generations. Imagine that you are a slave and your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents were slaves. Most of us cannot even trace our families back that far – so you can imagine the mentality of the slave that evolved over this very difficult period of time.
Stripped of all creativity, all imagination, all vision the Israelite slaves were a blank slate – a tabula rasa, as the philosophers say. And after the final plague, the death of the first born, Pharaoh finally relented and let them leave the mud pits of Egypt with their new leader Moses. God had a very specific plan for these people. He had Moses lead them into the desert. And here we identify another important theme of the parsha and that is the desert.
Why the desert? What is it about the desert that provides the ideal setting to become a nation? what are its qualities that make it the place where spirituality is inevitably born? The desert is a place that pits humanity against the absence of comfort; it is a place where one stands alone against the harshest of realities. It is the ultimate test of mettle, of character, of strength. It is also a metaphor for the slave’s mentality – it is a place stripped of all materialism, all distractions – there is only the human brain and human will against an unforgiving, barren, tedious environment with nothing to divert one from its stark reality. The desert is a blank slate – also a tabula rasa. There is nothing there. And anyone who has ever been in a spiritual desert – a place with no hope, no faith, no future – knows that this place, this state of mind is as low as you can go.
The desert epitomizes loneliness and it is a metaphor for spiritual barrenness. It is a place where one's own life force can be amplified or even sensed for the first time in the desperate silence and the infinite distances that stretch across the harsh land. These two features alone, silence and infinity, are a clear reflection of the soul of humankind which is spiritually infinite but ultimately alone. Every major religion of the world has made recourse to the desert as a crucial aspect of spiritual awakening. By virtue of its material desolation, the desert offers a means of spiritual purification and salvation. The desert in terms of the slaves who left Egypt offered a way to purify their slave mentality – to rid themselves of the psychological chains that kept them as slaves.
Ultimately it took 40 years of wandering in the desert to purge the slave mentality from the hearts and minds of the Israelites. The original generation that left Egypt had to die off - so deep was the slave mentality ingrained in their hearts and minds. It was only their children who had not experienced slavery, that were able to enter the Promised Land.
What is the significance of manna? Is it a test?
The 15th century Sephardic Torah commentator R. Yitzhak Abravanel (d.1508) notices a fundamental problem with this verse: when we say that someone is being "tested," we assume that they are going to have to do something difficult. The classic example from the Torah is in Genesis 22, when God "tested" Avraham by asking him to bring his son Yitzhak as a sacrifice. However, as Abravanel points out, God's beneficence in providing the miraculous "food from heaven" seems like an act of lovingkindness, not a difficult challenge! What kind of test is it to provide someone with food and water that they simply collect without any trouble at all? Nevertheless, the plain meaning of the verse is that God is giving Israel some kind of temptation or challenge. Rashi interprets the phrase "follow my Torah" as applying specifically to the instructions pertaining to the manna. Thus, for Rashi, the test that God gives the Israelites is whether they will follow the specific commandments not to leave the manna over till the next day, and not to go out collecting it on Shabbat. (See verses 16:19-27) Other commentators understand the test in broader terms. Ibn Ezra understands the test in light of the first part of our verse, which says that one's portion of manna must be collected every day. Ibn Ezra imagines God saying that the test is "so that they will rely on Me every day." Similarly, Ramban writes a long commentary on this verse, in which he expounds the drama of the Israelites' situation. They were in the desert wilderness, a "wilderness of snakes and scorpions," taken there out of slavery by an unfamiliar ancestral God, who each day provided a strange food that neither they nor their ancestors had ever seen before. The people didn't know if this invisible God would in fact provide food every day; they only received it one day at a time, with no assurances for the future. Under those circumstances, writes Ramban, the test is whether they would follow God even if they only had one day's supply of food. Philosophically, then, Rashi sees the test as one of obedience, whereas Ramban sees the test as one of faith. However, either approach answers Abravanel's question- yes, providing the Israelites with sustenance is an act of beneficence, but these too can be tests. To put it another way, the test of the Israelites was not a test of endurance or sacrifice, but a test of character under conditions of plenty. Freed from the need to work hard every day just to eat, would they grow spiritually, or would they become spiritually lazy? Different aspects of this challenge can be inferred from the different commentator's interpretations. Ibn Ezra says that the test for the Israelites was to rely on God every day; turned around, we can understand this as the challenge of practicing gratitude, of becoming alive to the wonder of our continued existence. Every day we can wake up and be thankful for what we have--or we can take our situation for granted, and forget the Source of All Life. Following Ramban, we can ask ourselves how willing we are to take spiritual risks when the future is not assured--do we follow a Godly path despite the detours and unfamiliar terrain such a journey must inevitably entail? Do we demand absolute predictability--which, after all, is the one thing the Israelites had as slaves in Egypt--or are we willing to take things "one day at a time," opening ourselves to faith? Another commentator, Hizkuni (France, d.1250) quotes an interpretation that the test was to see if the Israelites would use their time to study Torah*, now that they had leisure time on their hands. That question applies as directly to our age as it does to the Torah story under consideration. What do we do with all the time saved from our modern 'time-saving devices? Do we watch another episode of ER, or use the time to make the world a better place or to grow spiritually?
*Remember Torah is not necessarily in proper, logical order.
Finally, returning to Rashi, we can infer that gifts carry with them responsibilities. The manna was a gift from God, but God asked that it be treated with respect and reverence. Do we, in fact, appreciate with reverence the gifts we have been given, and act accordingly? If the manna was symbolic of the sustenance we all too often take for granted, we can ask ourselves if we give back to God, through acts of charity and compassion, some of what has been given to us.
On Yom Kippur, prior to reciting the public confession of sins, we chant a lovely piyyut which lists the many ways we relate to God. It starts off, “Ki Anu Amecha v’Ata Elohenu.” - “For we are Your people, and You are our God. We are Your Children and You are our father. We are Your servants, and You are our master. We are Your congregation, and You are our portion.” I believe that the purpose of the piyyut is to remind both ourselves and God that, as we have seen in Parsha Beshalach, our relationship is multidimensional. If one aspect of the relationship is troubling, then we can find other aspects that are comforting. This perspective should help to provide us with the strength needed to both seek and to find forgiveness.
Let us be mindful that all of our relationships have many facets and present many opportunities for personal and spiritual growth.


1. A simple markup language intended for quick conversion of existing text to hypertext.
2. A method of marking common words to call attention to the fact that they are being used in a nonstandard, ironic, or humorous way. Originated in the fannish catchphrase "Bheer is the One True Ghod!" from decades ago. H-infix marking of "Ghod" and other words spread into the 1960s counterculture via underground comix, and into early hackerdom either from the counterculture or from SF fandom (the three overlapped heavily at the time). More recently, the h infix has become an expected feature of benchmark names (Dhrystone, Rhealstone, etc.); this follows on from the original Whetstone (the name of a laboratory) but may have been influenced by the fannish/counterculture h infix. [Jargon File]