Writing Homework Three Student One
1. The best vegetible is Asparagus. But in public school most kids eat candy rather then good food. Eating better will make you healthier than them.
The best vegetable is asparagus. Since in public school most kids eat candy rather than good food, if you eat better, you will be healthier than they.
- Superb corrections of the errors, but the "Since in ..., if ..." structure is very awkward. (Minus 1).
2. Congres's problem it is to weak. Worrying so much about what the public think, Washington D.C. does us all a diservice.
Congress' problem is that it is too weak. Since Congress worries so much about what the public thinks, Congress does all of us a disservice.
- Good corrections again, but repetitious use of "Congress" in the second sentence. Also, it's better to limit use of "since" to its temporal meaning.
3. The most unique day of the year is Easter. Lets face it; neither July 4th or New Years Day are as special of a day.
Easter is the best day of the year. Let's face it: neither the Fourth of July nor New Years Day is as special as Easter.
- Excellent but changing "most unique" to "best" does change its meaning. Better: "most unique" -> "unique". (Minus 1).
4. Someone needs to clean up this mess, and they had better do it before the owner gets here. "Get you're garbage out of hear now," he wrote in a note.
Since the owner wrote in a note, "Get your garbage out of here now," someone needs to clean this mess up before the owner gets here.
- Nothing can be done about the "get" in the quote, but that imprecise slang should not be used again later int he sentence. (Minus 1).
5. I am detirmined to catch all the errors this time ..... I am not going to make any more mistakes no more! Do you think I like being rideculed like this?
I am determined to catch all of the errors this time....I am not going to make any more mistakes! Do you think I like being ridiculed like this?
- Need a space after the dots, before the beginning of the next sentence. (Minus 1).
6. These two things i know are true; good writing is priceless, and poor writing will hurt your career. That is why I want to be a better writter than him.
Because I know that good writing is priceless, and poor writing will hurt my career, I want to be a better writer than he.
Nature or Nurture? The Key to Success
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." This classic quote from William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" captures the nature of success perhaps better than any seven-hundred word essay can. Even so, I will, in this essay, try to "stand on the shoulders of Giants," and see a little further.
In beginning this essay, I enter with thoughts of futility and determination. My work ethic, I may say, is useless. This essay will not be perfect, nor will it, possibly, have any new insight. I will work on this for a long time, and yet maybe nothing new and interesting will come of it. If I were to give this topic to Freud, Paine, Jefferson, Cicero, Isaiah or even Glenn Beck, they could probably return to me in half my time with a well[NEED HYPHEN HERE]written flawless, original essay, so did my work ethic help? Maybe this essay can answer the question for me.
Throughout the ages many natural geniuses have led the world in their fields appearing to lead them almost carelessly[POORLY WRITTEN FIRST SENTENCE FOR A PARAGRAPH, WITH REPETITIOUS USE OF THE SAME VERB]. Abraham Lincoln is supposed to have authored perhaps one of the greatest speeches, the Gettysburg Address, the night before he delivered it [NOPE, THAT CLAIM IS NOT TRUE]. Tennis legend Andre Agassi said that he disliked the game that he, for so many years, dominated. Isaac Newton, the progenitor of Classical Physics, discovered his breakthrough of gravity upon seeing an apple fall from a tree. The jazz legend Thelonius Monk was a "self educated" piano genius, and even though he was not willing to spend hard work learning piano technique (if you watch him play it becomes easily apparent) he lives in our memories as one of the greatest musicians in history. So obviously, genius can come naturally and if you aren't brilliant you have no chance, right?
Wrong. [SUPERB TRANSITION FROM THE PRIOR PARAGRAPH, ALTHOUGH UNCONVENTIONAL] Many living in our memory live on only because of their devotion and hard work rather than natural talent. Thomas Edison said genius is "99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration", and he certainly lived his proverb. Edison spent years developing the perfect electric light bulb, and his work, as becomes clearly apparent to one who reads the story of his invention, demanded tremendous "perspiration". Business tycoon Andrew Carnegie worked industriously for years from his humble position as a factory worker, to become one of the world's richest and most philanthropic people. Benjamin Franklin painstakingly took the time to read and understand other great writers so as to model himself after them. Franklin had been ostracized and laughed at for his intense desire to learn, but in the end his learning proved vital to the success of America. Playwright William Shakespeare supposedly traveled to Italy for years to gain a full understanding of Western Culture. The acclaimed film trilogy "Lord of the Rings" was filmed in New Zealand and required multiple years and much patience on the part of director Peter Jackson. Even the greatest film maker cannot make a film in a day, nor can the greatest author write a complete novel in one sitting; a great musician cannot compose a symphony in a day, nor can a thinker revolutionize our world in a night. [GOOD USE OF A SEMICOLON]
Although Abraham Lincoln may have written the great [OVERUSE OF "GREAT" - NEED TO EXPAND THE VOCABULARY USED] address the night before his actual speech, his thoughts and education go back years before. Lincoln was also known for his desire to learn and his "perspiration" in reading and educating himself. Even after his election to president, he devotedly sought to understand the nature of the "Sectional Conflict" in which he led the union. Truly his address is just a culmination of his tireless work ethic. Maybe Agassi's real legacy is in his perspicacity [GOOD VOCABULARLY USE HERE] and his hard work in spite of his lack of interest. Newton certainly did not in a moment understand the order of the cosmos, but just as a well-laid fire can be lit in a second with a single match, his well-educated mind was excited by a single thought.
Greatness has been, and always will be, given to those who achieve it not only by brilliance but just as much by hard work and education. I am sure if I were to work hard enough at learning how to write, then one day I would be able to write a far superior essay to this. [CLEVER, EFFECTIVE ENDING]
- Comments in CAPS above. This is a fine essay. Substance: 9.7. Technical score: 9.6.--Andy Schlafly 19:38, 25 February 2012 (EST)


THE WHITE HOUSE AT WORK
Wednesday, April 16, 1998
SHARED VALUES AND INTERESTS WITH THE AMERICAS
Today, President Clinton travels to Chile for a state visit and the Santiago Summit of the Americas. These events are part of a focused approach to the Americas, which included state visits to Washington by Presidents Frei and Chretien in February 1997; the President's trip to Mexico, Central America and Caribbean in May 1997; and the President's trip to Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina in October 1997. This visit will build on President Clinton's message that he began in Miami in 1994, with the first Summit of the Americas, to bring the Americas together around democracy, open markets, and cooperation against common threats.
Embracing Democracy And Free Markets. President Clinton has recognized the quiet revolution that is taking place in the Americas. Today, 34 of the 35 nations in this hemisphere embrace democracy and free markets. After decades of civil wars and unrest has given way to peace and stability. U.S. exports to this region are growing faster than to any other region, indeed 42% of all U.S. exports went to Free Trade Area of the Americas ( FTAA) countries in 1997. The region is becoming a cornerstone for U.S. security and prosperity in 21st century.
Ensuring That Democracy And Open Markets Deliver. The people of Latin America have chosen democracy and open markets. Now, for democracy and markets to endure, they must deliver for all -- moving beyond basic building blocks of elections and market economies to "second generation" reforms in education, rule of law, health care, worker rights, and anti-corruption. These are the reforms that give everyone a chance to participate and prosper. The Santiago Summit will focus on bringing these reforms forward, including:
Pursuing Economic Integration. The Miami Summit set forth a vision of bringing the Americas together around open markets through a Free Trade of the Americas Agreement by 2005. In Santiago, leaders will launch comprehensive negotiations and direct trade ministers to make concrete progress toward this goal by 2000. It will establish a mechanism to allow labor, environment and other civil society groups to contribute to FTAA process. It also will pursue commitments to strengthen bank regulation and market oversight to promote stability of financial markets.
- Providing good schools and training, so every child can succeed in the global economy;
- Reducing poverty through micro-enterprise loans, property registration, expanded access to health care, women's rights, and workers rights;
- Strengthening the rule of law, independence of judges, professionalism of the police so the justice system is fair, efficient and honest;
- Attacking corruption, so public contracts are awarded on merit, not bribes to make the climate more attractive for investment;
- Bolstering freedom of the press through the creation of full-time hemispheric press advocate;
- Establishing secure financial systems that permit stable growth;
- Reaching out to all sectors of society to ensure participation in shaping the future;
- Up to $45 billion in Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank and USAID resources will be made available to support these goals over the next two years.
Highlighting Chile's Achievements. The state visit to Chile will give the President an opportunity to spotlight Chile's impressive achievements. The Chile of today has emerged from a turbulent past to become a vibrant democracy, working to ensure that all its citizens share in the fruits of open market economy. Success can be seen in broad-based prosperity, reduced poverty and universal access to improved educational opportunities.


American Civil Engineering History
The Pioneering Years
Edited by Bernard G. Dennis, Jr., Robert J. Kapsch, Robert J. LoConte, Bruce W. Mattheiss, and Steven M. Pennington
2003 / 568 pp.
Soft Cover - In Stock
$72.00 List / $54.00ASCE Member
Stock No. 40654 / ISBN: 9780784406540
Proceedings of the Fourth National Congress on Civil Engineering History and Heritage at the 2002 ASCE Civil Engineering Conference and Exposition, held in Washington, D.C., November 2-6, 2002. Sponsored by the History and Heritage Committee of ASCE; National Capital Section of ASCE.
This collection contains 22 papers marking ASCE's 150th Anniversary with original history and heritage papers that document the emergence and growth of civil engineering in America. From John Smeaton, who first sought to raise the stature of the engineer to a professional level, to Benjamin Wright, who is considered the father of American civil engineering, to the origins and early years of the American Society of Civil Engineers, you'll witness the birth and early development of the civil engineering profession in America.
This early development is poignantly illustrated through excerpts from the diary of a young civil engineer visiting the United States in 1837. His diary provides a glimpse of the new frontier where America's rapid growth and expanding boundaries defined a unique engineering approach not found in England or continental Europe. The marvelous efforts of three prominent engineers—Latrobe, Jervis, and Meigs—in the design and development of water distribution systems in Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, DC, are documented. Transportation history is covered with stories of the Potomac Canal, the C&O Canal, the National Road, and the B&O Railroad. Important discoveries in material science, such as hydraulic cement and reinforced concrete, are also discussed. Preservation case studies include special insights into structural renovations to the U.S. Capitol and the geology of the monumental core in Washington, DC. An expanded module of civil engineering education history is included, along with the history of analytical modeling, and the development of testing and monitoring tools.


This document explores the shift from industrial food systems to sustainable food systems and how this might happen in Northland. Options identified include food hubs, developing a regional food plan and working at influencing food related policy.
Our Food Story identifies the links between components of Northland’s food system and surfaces exciting opportunities to reshape the system to generate clear economic and social benefits for the region.
This document explores the imperatives for food system reform. It anticipates redesigning these systems to create an environment more supportive of local growers that in turn helps to reinvigorate rural communities, make local food more readily available. Better health outcomes will follow as fresh local quality food is more readily available.
The Whangarei Growers Market is a community asset. Its turnover of $3.66 million creates an additional $5.84 million dollars of activity for the Northland economy. Ninety people are directly employed with a further 22 through downstream impacts. These economic impacts are perhaps less significant than the social impacts of the market.
Customers appreciate the quality of food on offer, including its freshness and the availability of spray free or organic produce. The “atmosphere” of the market is also appreciated. With the growing awareness of the contribution of fresh fruit and vegetables to health, the market provides a resource regarded as a vital component of the local health network.


It’s that time of year. The resolutions fly back and forth, the company incentive packages and community weight loss programs are rolling out. Your gym is about to become a lot more crowded with people looking to burn off the holiday pounds and jump into the new year leaner and meaner and healthier, ideally.
But this year, consider making a resolution for not just a healthier you, but a healthier planet, too. Here are a few ideas for projects to take on. Commit to one (or all) and move the needle a little closer to cooler future temperatures, lighten the load on landfills, and strengthen our local economy.
Resolve to get involved with your local food supply.
If you want to get hands on, plant a garden in your backyard or an herb garden and a pot of tomatoes in your apartment. Learn to grow sprouts in a jar. Celebrate the joy of fresh, home-grown food. Or, pick a local farmer to support by participating in a CSA (2012 shares are already on sale). Build a community at that farm, build a relationship with those farmers, and bring home local produce week after week. You’ll have healthy food and spare the planet the carbon costs of having vegetables shipped from one continent to the next.
Resolve to avoid disposables.
If you can remember your cell phone, you can remember your cloth grocery bags.
Pack a kit for yourself that includes a reusable coffee cup (paper cups are often made of virgin paper bleached in a process that releases toxic chemicals), a glass to-go container for your lunches and picking up leftovers at a restaurant, a reusable water bottle, a reusable bag and reusable utensils. Really, you’re more likely to get a round of applause than a weird look for busting out your own supplies for eco-friendly living. Check out ecocycle.org/ecostore for supplies.
Resolve to minimize your garbage.
We’re going to assume you already recycle, because why wouldn’t you? Bins are now prevalent, as is curbside pickup. But if you don’t, start now.
Meanwhile, work on reducing your food waste by composting. Reducing biodegrading products in the landfill cuts their emissions of methane gas, a major contributor to climate change. Start a container in your back yard, or if you’re in limited space in an apartment, consider employing a few hundred worms to eat through your food refuse and soft paper products, including paper towels and newspapers, and produce quality fertilizer.
Resolve to get rid of junk mail.
Eco- Cycle runs a program to stop junk mail for good. Each year, 109 billion pieces of junk mail are delivered in the U.S., requiring more than 100 million trees to create (that’s the size of Rocky Mountain National Park every four months). Trees in the Canadian forest are cut at a rate of two acres a minute, 24 hours a day, to produce paper products. Production and disposal consumes the energy of more than 3 million cars. You can proactively engage by asking the companies that you give your address to not to sell, rent or trade your name and address, contact the charities you donate to and ask them to only send one request per year, and call 1-800-NO THANKS about catalogs you receive but don’t want.
Resolve to eat less meat.
Renewing the World War II-era campaign for meatless Mondays could reduce your carbon footprint and improve your health.
The meat industry generates one-fifth of the greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. A single pound of beef also requires 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water to produce and uses more than 18 times the amount of fossil fuels required to produce one pound of plant protein.
Visit www.meatlessmonday.com for more information on temporary vegetarianism.
Resolve to contribute to cleaner oceans.
The less we put into our water system, the less someone downstream has to filter out of it. Trade out your chemical-based cleaners for natural products. Swap your bottled shampoo for baking soda and apple cider vinegar. (No, really. It works.) Make sure your batteries, house paint, car oil and other items that leach chemicals into land fills and eventually into the ground water are getting properly disposed of.
Resolve to drive one less day a week.
Use bike paths and buses. Finagle a way to work from home. When you must drive, carpool.
Resolve to change in increments.
Those nutters who do the quantified self projects, who track every beer consumed, every mile walked — the lesson they pass on to the rest of us is that true change comes in small steps, not giant leaps. Tackle one at a time and expect your progress to be small, but incremental.


Dr. Corinne Masur
In a recent New York Times article, a question was asked: What is this recent violent news cycle doing to us? I will take the question one step further and ask, what is the violent news cycle doing to us as parents?
That article suggests that we’re all affected by exposure to violence in news that we receive from constant social media blasts, and the author cites a study that found that extroverts, “those described with outgoing personalities,” were found to be more vulnerable to the violent imagery than others. Moreover, the article states that the greater the exposure, the greater the effect.
So what can we parents do to protect ourselves, to protect our parenting abilities, and to protect our children from the powerful effects of overexposure to violence in the news?
Our ability to function in the present can be damaged by anxiety, including worry over violence in our own neighborhoods and cities and in our world in general. Anxiety causes us to be preoccupied and less emotionally available. And we all know that parenting well requires that we be emotionally available and responsive to our children in the moment.
We are less effective as parents, as partners, and as workers at our jobs when we are worried and stressed. And when we are exposed to repeated reports of violence, we are prone to becoming preoccupied regarding our own safety and that of our children. We may worry about whether it is safe to go out, safe to fly in an airplane, safe to go to a large gathering, or just safe to be in our own homes. Our children may notice our worried expressions and our lack of emotional availability, and they are likely to wonder why we are feeling this way. Furthermore, our worry may be contagious. Our children look to us for their security. If they sense that we are anxious, they are likely to feel less safe and more anxious themselves.
So, again, the question is, what can we do to manage our own anxiety so that we can be available to our children, avoid transmitting our anxiety to our children, and feel safe enough in our world to be good parents?
This is an extraordinarily difficult challenge right now.
We cannot completely ignore world events. Unfortunately we cannot protect ourselves from the reality of what is happening in our communities, our country, and our world. We cannot control the violence that occurs.
And one thing that is known, is that the inability to control negative stimuli is one of the most anxiety producing situations for human beings.
So if we cannot control the violence in the world, is there something that we CAN control? The answer is yes. We can control our consumption of social media if we choose. If it makes us feel less anxious and less stressed, we can cut back on our media intake by checking our phones and our computers less frequently each day. We can take a day each week for a news blackout, when we don’t check our social media for what’s going on in the world. We can turn off CNN and we can watch or listen to the news once a day rather than constantly.
And as for our parenting, during these stressful times, we can set aside “dedicated time” to spend with our children. As unpopular as this may be initially, we can insist they put away their phones and iPads and computers for a few hours each weekend day and for a few hours each weekday night – AND WE CAN DO SO OURSELVES. We can plan activities to do with our children to reassure ourselves that enjoyment is possible, even in this difficult time. And specifically, we can dedicate some time each day to talk with our children about what’s going on in the world. Starting at around age 5 and continuing through adolescence, our children have an awareness of events in the community and the world. We can find out what they know, we can ask their opinions, and we can talk to them about better and worse ways to handle the problems facing our communities. We can monitor their media diets and, with older children and young adolescents, we can be present when they watch or listen to some news stories. Cutting back on media exposure, being listened to, and engaging in discussions can help children and parents alike feel more in control and less anxious.


1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/All Saints, Festival of
ALL SAINTS, FESTIVAL OF (Festum omnium sanctorum), also formerly known as All Hallows, or Hallowmas, a feast of the Catholic Church celebrated on the 1st of November in honour of all the saints, known or unknown. In the Roman Catholic Church it is a festival of the first rank, with a vigil and an octave. Common commemorations, by several churches, of the deaths of martyrs began to be celebrated in the 4th century. The first trace of a general celebration is in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost, and this custom is also referred to in the 74th homily of St Chrysostom (407). The origin of the festival of All Saints as celebrated in the West is, however, somewhat doubtful. In 609 or 610 Pope Boniface IV. consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, and the feast of the dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Martyres has been celebrated at Rome ever since on the 13th of May. The idea, based on the medieval liturgiologists, that this festival was the origin of that of All Saints has now been abandoned. The latter is possibly traceable to the foundation by Gregory III. (731-741) of an oratory in St Peter's for the relics “of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors, of all the just made perfect who are at rest throughout the world.” So far as the Western Church generally is concerned, though the festival was already widely celebrated in the days of Charlemagne, it was only made of obligation throughout the Frankish empire in 835 by a decree of Louis the Pious issued “at the instance of Pope Gregory IV. and with the assent of all the bishops,” which fixed its celebration on the 1st of November. The festival was retained at the Reformation in the calendar of the Church of England, and also in that of many of the Lutheran churches. In the latter, in spite of attempts at revival, it has fallen into complete disuse.


Invisible but dangerous and treacherous bacteria and viruses lie in wait in the most unexpected places.
U LIGHT 40 is a sterilizer used to suppress the vital activity of viruses and microorganisms. The principle of operation of the device is based on exposure to ultraviolet radiation and ozone. It destroy the DNA of microbes and kill them in this way.
UV sterilization principle
Ultraviolet C band destroys the DNA of bacteria and viruses by irradiating of microorganisms, making them lose vitality and fecundity, thus acheeving the sterilization effect.
Ozone sterilization principle
Ozone is good for better sterilization and disinfextion. It can disinfect areas blocked out to UVC radioation and can remove formaldehyde from air by dissociation of it to oxigen, water and carbon dyoxide.
U LIGHT 40 turns on few seconds after pressing the power button. This allows you to safely place the UV lamp as necessary and leave the room before disinfection process begins.
U LIGHT 40 has 4 time modes: 5 min (4 m2), 15 min (10 m2), 30 min (20 m2), 60 min (40 m2).
|Power Input||~ 220 V|
|Max. sterilizing space||40 m2|
|Sterilization modes||5 min (4 m2), 15 min (10 m2), 30 min (20 m2), 60 min (40 m2)|
|Attention! People and animals should not be indoors while the U LIGHT 40 lamp is on!|


Paperback, 506 pages, 5.7x8
by Beijing Languages Institute
This is a new textbook prepared by the Beijing Languages Institute and intended for foreign learners in a course of modern Chinese at universities or secondary schools. the beginning level consists of two volumes with 50 lessons and a vocabulary of 1,000 basic words.
The situations provided in this textbook center around two foreign students who study Chinese first in their own country (Book I) and then in China (Book II). Priority is given to everyday expressions concerning clothing, food, housing, communication, entertainment, social intercourse, etc. And the learners may also get some useful background information regarding China's culture, history, local customs and present-day conditions.
Basic Chinese phonetics and grammar are delt with in a way that best solves the specific difficulties of foreign students. Each lesson is supplemented with a wide and varied selection of exercises.


Issue#30 - Dedication Theme:
Freedom of Information in the Genetically Modified Age
Lack of transparency might be the worst problem of genetically modified foods
AN OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION
"The consequences of genetic pollution in the environment and
in our bodies are far from understood."
Written & Illustrated by Julie MARDIN
For The Light Millennium
Our Chemical Addiction
[Lightmillennium.Org] While the Post-2015 Sustainable Millennium Development Goals stress the need for sustainable agriculture, with a reduction in the use of water, chemicals and energy, and the United Nations has actually declared this the decade of biodiversity, the release of genetically modified (GM) foods might trump all of these commendable goals.
It is said that these technologies were very successful in reducing chemical usage in their first years, but as a report published in Environmental Sciences Europe cites, after the sixth year this trend started to reverse. Between 1996 and 2011 we have seen an increase of 527 million pounds of herbicides on crops that were designed to be herbicide tolerant, namely ‘Roundup Ready crops,’ meant to be used with Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup Ready. There has been a reported 123 million pound decrease in pesticides sprayed on crops that were designed to express their own pesticide, mainly ‘Bt crops’-which incorporate the gene for the toxin from the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. But the report also points out that the amount of toxin that is leached by the GM plant is greater in most cases than what would have normally been sprayed, as it is expressed in every cell of the plant, all the time.(1)
To this day these techniques are hailed as an answer to Global Warming, and yet both the Bt and the Roundup Ready system have engendered greater and greater pesticide and herbicide dependence, and thus greater reliance on fossil fuels. Due to these types of resistance, companies are continuing to devise ways to vary and stack the genetically altered traits in the plants, as well as pushing for alternatives to Roundup or glyphosate, which is Roundup’s active ingredient. Namely they are pushing for the use of dicamba, and 2, 4-D, the ‘less toxic’ half of Agent Orange. And all this with barely any increase, and sometimes even a decrease in yield.(2) It is beginning to seem that these chemical companies have come up with methods not to feed the hungry, or farm more sustainably, but to ensure their chemical sales.
"10 multinational corporations currently hold approximately two-thirds of global commercial seed for major crops."
The Center for Food Safety also outlines the rise in price of growing these crops per acre, due to the rising costs of chemical inputs, as well as the greater and greater consolidation of seed companies. 10 multinational corporations currently hold approximately two-thirds of global commercial seed for major crops. Monsanto controls 60% of the global corn and soy bean seed market. These companies are poised to dominate the entire food supply as they introduce one GM crop after another, which leads to a complete loss in the biodiversity of their conventional counterparts, through various means of carelessness or intentional neglect. Via cross pollination, or seed that blows from farm to farm, or off trucks, or in seed cleaning facilities, the contamination ruins the livelihoods of organic and conventional farmers, and will leave us with no choice but vast patented monocrops.
Even though they are full of problems, by now most of us who try to avoid genetically modified organisms or GMOs know that they are in 80% of processed foods in the United States. That if you're buying corn, soy-based products or canola, you have to beware, as in the US, up to 93% of these crops are genetically modified. Some foods that are now waiting in the sidelines for USDA approval are GM sweet peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, wheat, and salmon. GM flax and rice have been approved, but have not appeared on the shelves yet. Others, though they are not GMOs have been known to be contaminated because of close relatives that are, such as table top beets, chard, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale.(3) It seems like every other day you wake up and there are three or four more of your favorite foods on the list of things to be watchful for. Please visit the Non GMO Project to keep up to date on their monitoring. http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/what-is-gmo/
It is practically assured that we will soon have to proceed with caution with a plethora of foods. Because really there is no way to control the spread of this spliced genetic material.
WHY BE CONCERNED?
"The consensus on the safety of these foods is far from settled,
despite all the assurances of industry."
Aside from the fact that this is all being done under the radar of most Americans, the consensus on the safety of these foods is far from settled, despite all the assurances of industry. Back in 2003 when the human genome project was completed, we learned that there are 22,000 genes to make 100,000 proteins, that genes collaborate with each other, and in a far more complex way than we have imagined. And yet biotech scientists are still stuck in the one gene one protein paradigm, and still don't consider what the effect of additional, "rogue" proteins might mean. The basis that the technology was founded upon is outdated, and perhaps dangerously so.
The whole process is said to be highly problematic by a growing number of independent scientists,(4) from the tissue culture or cloning phase, where 100s if not 1000s of mutations occur in the DNA of plant cells, to the process of splicing foreign material into host DNA, which creates something called ‘insertional mutations.’ The desired trait is piggybacked onto a bacterial or viral vector, or delivered with a 'gene gun'. Often an anti-biotic resistance gene is combined as well, which gives the bioengineer a way to test if the cells have taken up the foreign information. Despite industry claims that it is all very precise, it is an unpredictable process on multiple points of the chain, that will inevitably disrupt the gene order and functions of the plant host. Genes can be inadvertently turned on or off, scrambled, deleted, or changed.
As the process itself can never be standardized, the only way to test for the toxic effects of each of these foods is to do long term animal feeding studies, or human feeding studies. And these, for a very long time, had not been done, and not by independent sources, despite what industry would lead you to believe.
The FDA’s own scientists had called for more testing...
'The majority of studies done determine that these foods are safe for human consumption,' has been the industry mantra, and repeated throughout the major media. But what is never delved into is the quality of those studies. Pro-industry, or even self-proclaimed neutral voices, even as they might deplore the lack of labeling and the propensity towards monocultures of these foods, they neglect to stress a few crucial things. What we really need to know is that it is very difficult to get independent studies done, as these are all patented seeds. You have to get a license from the company, and be very closely vetted. We need to remember that the FDA doesn't even require that these foods get tested pre-market, that it is mostly left up to the manufacturers. And most shocking of all, we need to be aware that the FDA's own scientists had called for more testing when these foods were first being introduced, and that their calls were never followed up on.(5)
"[...] make you feel that what these chemical companies have come up with is not a food, but actually some kind of bio-chemical weapon."
We are also shielded pretty well from all the independent studies that are slowly managing to get done, mainly outside of the US, that have raised questions, alarming questions, that make you feel that what these chemical companies have come up with is not a food, but some kind of bio-chemical weapon, and that they should be monitored closely by the Defense Department, in addition to the FDA, EPA and USDA! It is the lack of control over the technology and the the lack of concern that is so shocking. In addition to the risk of uncontrolled spread of GM information through cross pollination or wind, there is also the instability of the transgene itself to be concerned about. Transgenic DNA is by design meant to jump into genomes, and there is no saying that it can’t do that again out of the host plant, into the soil bacteria, or the gut bacteria of those who eat those plants. In one of the rare human feeding studies done in 2004 this was in fact what seemed to be the happening.(6) This would mean that we are perpetually expressing these GM traits within our own bodies, whether it be releasing Bt pesticide, expressing antibiotic resistance, or a host of other unnamed unstable metabolic functions. Could this be one explanation for the rise in various ailments, from allergies to chronic inflammatory bowel disease in humans and farm animals, and other serious illnesses? We are left with more questions than answers.(7)(8)(9)
It is not only the bio-engineered aspect of the foods, but, as was touched on earlier, the chemical addiction that it draws farmers into, that are creating tragic situations around the world.
There are twenty nine other countries who are currently growing GMOs, with not great news:
- in Brazil 5 million farmers are engaged in a lawsuit with Monsanto over unfair collection of royalties.
- in Argentina, farmers have initiated a law suit due to the rise in birth defects in their communities; Argentine doctors are saying their case loads, not laboratory studies, are showing an apparent correlation between rising rates of cancer and the introduction of this intense industrial agriculture.(10)
- Its presence in India has coincided with an epidemic of farmer suicides, particularly in the Bt cotton growing region.(11)
- In Canada, three strain of GM canola have combined to create superweeds all across the western provinces, that require at least three chemicals to control; Saskatchewan uses one third of the nation’s pesticides and has the highest rates of breast and prostate cancer; organic or conventional canola is now impossible.(12)
- China has just recently rejected a shipment of US corn, which contained a banned GM variety, said to cost the US Agriculture industry $2.9 billion. They have decided to develop their own varieties, perhaps in what can be assumed is a kind of new cold war, based on food and life patents.
In other countries it is being rejected outright, the most poignant example in Haiti, where even in the depths of its despair after the earthquake, the people refused the Roundup Ready seeds Monsanto sent as aid and set them on fire. This is not a product that is readily accepted, and yet it is being foisted on the world, and inserted in many ways like a Trojan Horse, so that royalties can then be extracted from all corners.
64 countries require labeling
While we have no transparency here in the United States, 64 countries around the world do have labeling requirements, and thus they do not offer a great market for the transnationals, as people don’t seem to want to buy the foods if they know they contain GMOs. And that is why the industry puts up such a fight each time a state in the United States tries to institute a mandatory labeling law.
"GMOs [...] should not have been allowed without full disclosure,
transparency and democratic discussion."
But the consensus is far from settled as to the safety of these foods, and the consequences of genetic pollution in the environment and in our bodies are far from understood. What we can be sure of is that the release of GMOs into the environment was a far more momentous decision than has ever been acknowledged, and should not have been allowed without full disclosure, transparency and democratic discussion. And so we are invoking the call for Freedom of Information and Freedom of Expression as one of the universal Human Rights, declared by the United Nations in 1948, as a framework around which to discuss genetically modified foods.
* * * * *
This website will be a place to convene over this issue over the next few months. We need your help!
Please send us your thoughts, expertise, accomplishments, or your frustrations in dealing with this overwhelming topic.
Please send all submissions to email@example.com
To be continued.
Please watch for my second article which will discuss more in depth the intimidation of scientists and farmers alike.
1) Benbrook, Charles, Environmental Sciences Europe, Vol. 24:24 doi:10.1186/2190-4715-24-24, 28 September 2012.
2) Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops. Doug Gurian-Sherman.
Union of Concerned Scientists, April 2009, p. 13
6) Netherwood, T., Bowden, R., Harrison, P., O’Donnell AG, Gockling S, Graham J, Mathers JC and Gilbert JH.
Assessing the survivalof transgenic plant DNA in the human gastroinstestinal tract. Nature Biotechnology
2004; 22: 204-209
7) Pediatrics. 2009 Dec;124(6):1549-55. doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-1210.
Epub 2009 Nov 16. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19917585
Updated on June 10, 2014.


In reading Steven Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature” and I’ve been shocked at the cruelty in earlier centuries. Particularly striking are the broad range of torture techniques and the widespread use of torture (chapter 4).
What is torture? What is cruelty? I’ll propose definitions:
- Torture: a technique designed to inflict pain and suffering on a subject
- Cruelty: Intentional induction of pain and suffering on a subject.


Mobility (the ability to be moved freely and easily) is a characteristic of many popular digital technologies used abundantly today. The idea is simple; digital gadgets are more useful when you can take them with you. We are no longer confined by the limitations of traditional “location-based” technologies, like desktop computers. Their size and weight take up too much space. Not to mention, you can only benefit from using a desktop computer when you are near it. Mobile technologies, such as Smart Phones and E-Readers, can go with us anywhere. They are small, lightweight, and full of functionality and convenience.
Smart Phones, such as iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry, are far more than just cell phones. They are designed to be multi-purpose, and have a seemingly unlimited number of uses. Regardless of the Smart Phone you choose, there are a few functions you’ll find in every model. With the telephone function, you can store all your loved ones contact information in one place, no need for an address book. It has built in voicemail, which allows you to receive messages from your missed calls when you’re on the go. There is even a hands free mode, that allows you to use headphones or the built in speaker instead of holding the phone up to your ear… which is now required when driving in many areas.
Smart Phones can also connect to the Internet, so you can check email and search Google when you’re out and about. This can be helpful when you need to refer to your email to get an address, or if you need to do some quick research on a medication someone recommended. Whatever you can do on your home Internet connection, you can now do on a Smart Phone too. The Internet connection on a Smart Phone is called 3G. In some places, 4G Internet is available, which is faster. Smart Phones can also connect to the Internet using WIFI (wireless Internet), so you can get online while walking around your retirement community.
Another convenient function of all Smart Phones is the built in picture and video camera. You can take digital pictures and videos of what you’re doing and who you’re with, so you can reminisce about the memories later. With the built in 3G Internet connection, you can even share the images you capture on Facebook and Email! And for those who enjoy music, Smart Phones can also play your MP3s, so you can keep hundreds of songs with you to the gym or out in the garden. Talk about neat stuff… and all from a device you carry in your pocket.
Like Smart Phones, E-Readers are a mobile technology with many conveniences, specifically designed for people who love to read. E-Readers, such as Kobo and Kindle, are able to store hundreds of books at one time, allowing you to keep virtually your entire library in your hand bag. The lightweight design of E-Readers make them comfortable to use and the text size displayed on the screen can be adjusted to a large size for those who like it better that way. Some E-Readers are back lit, which means the screen has a built in light. You can read a back lit E-Reader in a dark room. E-Readers that are not back lit must be used with the lights on.
Also similar to Smart Phones, E-Readers can access the Internet using WIFI and 3G, depending on the model. This makes email and Google searching possible on an E-Reader too. But, not all E-Readers can do this, so be sure to investigate if this is a function you want.
There are many classic ebooks, such as Little Women, and Tom and Huck that are “public domain”, which means they are free to download and read. Once you have an E-Reader, between free books available online and a few visits to your local library website, you’ll have access to all the books you can handle.
It’s important to take advantage of mobile technologies because of the opportunities they create. Smart Phones and E-Readers are a great way to get started using technology, regardless of your past experiences. With a little practice, any curious senior can get high-tech in no time.


Why were Lie algebras called infinitesimal groups in the past? And why did mathematicians begin to avoid calling them infinitesimal groups and switch to calling them Lie algebras?
I don't know anything about the actual history, but you might want to look at this blog post by Terry Tao. Terry defines a "local group" to be something that looks like a neighborhood of the identity in a topological group and a "local Lie group" to be something that looks like a neighborhood of the identity in a Lie group.
He then defines a "group germ" to be an equivalence class of local groups, where the equivalence relation should be thought of as "become the same under passing to a sufficiently small open neighborhood of the identity". Thus, the group germ remembers all the information which can be seen on an arbitrarily small neighborhood of the identity. I think this is a very good modern rigorous analogue of the notion of an infinitesimal group. Terry then proves Lie's Third Theorem (Theorem 2 in his notes): Germs of local lie groups are in bijection with Lie algebras.
If you prefer algebra to analysis, the corresponding idea is a formal group. Again, it is a true but nontrivial theorem that formal groups in characteristic zero are equivalent to Lie algebra.


Answer simple quiz at the end of the blog post and –
Every day one winner from India will get Joes 2 Pros Volume 3.
Every day one winner from United States will get Joes 2 Pros Volume 3.
From yesterdays post we learned that the clustered index is the placement order of a table’s records in memory pages. When you insert new records, then each record will be inserted into the memory page in the order it belongs.
Rick Morelan’s SSN (555-55-5555) belongs with the 5’s, so his record will be physically inserted in memory between Jonny Dirt and Sally Smith. Is there enough room in this page to accommodate his record without having to move other record(s) to a new page? Yes there is, and afterwards the first memory page is full. If you insert a new record(s), it is inserted into the memory page in the order it belongs.
Next, we have another new record coming in, Vince Verhoff. His record belongs in sequence after Irene Intern, so he will begin occupying the next page of memory.
The clustered index is the placement order of a table’s records in memory pages. When you insert new records, then each record will be inserted into the memory page in the order it belongs.
Page splits arise when records from one memory page are moved to another page during changes to your table. Here we see another new record (Major Disarray) being inserted, in sequence, between Jonny and Rick. Since there’s no room in this memory page, some records will need to shift around. The page split occurs when Irene’s record moves to the second page.
Page splits are considered very bad for performance, and there are a number of techniques to reduce, or even eliminate, the risk of page splits.
Next we’ll see this data entered into the HumanResources.Contractor table, which contains a clustered index on the SSN field.
Notice from the figure above that SSN is set as a primary key. A primary key is a constraint which ensures non-nullability and uniqueness (i.e., no duplicate values) in a field. Only one primary key per table is allowed. When you create a primary key, SQL Server creates two objects: the primary key and an index (which by default is clustered). The data in this table will be physically ordered by SSN. Now insert the first three records into the table.
Let’s use our same assumption that four records fit into a page of memory. These three records would all occupy the same memory page.
So that means there is room in the same memory page for an INSERT to add one additional record to this table, for a total of four records.
In our example, the first memory page is now full, since it contains four records. The second memory page is empty. The layout in the memory page is depicted with the fourth record (highlighted) added between Jonny Dirt and Sally Smith. The two bottom records (Sally Smith and Irene Intern) shifted down to make room for the “Rick Morelan” record to be inserted in proper sequence, according to the value of the clustered field (SSN).
The next insert (for Vince Verhoff – see figure below) goes straight into the second memory page and does not cause a page split. Now look at the SSN values in the table. Now the SSN value of the next record to be added will tell us whether there will be a page split. Any subsequent INSERT with an SSN value within the range 888-88-8889 through 999-99-9998 would go into one of the three available rows in the second memory page.
Any SSN value below 888-88-8888 will cause a page split. The 444-44-4444 Major Disarray value must be inserted in Page 1 between Jonny and Rick, a page split is caused and Irene Intern’s record must move to Page 2. Notice that it won’t take long before almost every insert causes a page split.
NOTE: Please note that this is Level 100 explanation and how the rows are ordered and B Trees are organized are out of the scope of this article.
NOTE1: This article is just a introduction and not a deep dive into the storage structure. Here is the MSDN page for complete reference.
Note: If you want to setup the sample JProCo database on your system you can watch this video. For this post you will want to run the SQLArchChapter4.2Setup.sql script from Volume 3.
When do page splits happen?
- When records from one memory page are moved to another page during changes to your table.
- When records from one memory page are collapsed into fewer pages from excessive deletes.
- When you insert records in order by the clustered index and you table needs to claim more memory space.
Please leave your answer in comment section below with correct option, explanation and your country of resident.
Every day one winner will be announced from United States.
Every day one winner will be announced from India.
A valid answer must contain country of residence of answerer.
Please check my facebook page for winners name and correct answer.
Winner from United States will get Joes 2 Pros Volume 3.
Winner from India will get Joes 2 Pros Volume 3.
The contest is open till next blog post shows up at which is next day GTM+2.5.
Reference: Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
In the Middle Ages, Greek Empire can refer to:
The term can also refer to any individual Byzantine successor state that was formed after the first fall of Constantinople in 1204:
|This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title.|
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.


The Taming of the Grasshopper
– Try something new, experiment. First attempts are the only way to find questions and challenges that you can pass along to your TA, your classmates, your teacher, the Grasshopper Forum, or the Primer. So many resources!
– Use the primer as a reference, not necessarily as something to study. (It can be quite wordy and overwhelming.)
– Here is a set of tutorials, including the primer. The video tutorials can be useful but sometimes overly simplified.
– Right click a component, choose help to find the Grasshopper Help menu about that component. This will tell you what it wants, what it does, and what it returns.
– Use the preview tool to decipher how a definition is built.
Navigation in the land of the Grasshopper:
– Set up your screen as a two-part view. Grasshopper window on the right, Rhino at full extension below. Use a 3view layout in Rhino to see a perspective, plan and section simultaneously. This will help you understand how things are being built in 3d space.
– Double-click the grasshopper menu bar to hide the GH canvas and vice versa.
– Use the View menu to adjust properties of the view such as Draw Icons and Remote Control Panel.
– Toggle preview from the beginning of a definition to see how it was constructed.
– Use the toolbar to navigate and organize your canvas:
– Hover over components, inputs, outputs, etc. to discover what kind of information being given and received.
– Use the Panel component (sticky note-looking icon) found under Params>Special to view information from outputs.
– Analyzing tree and list structures can be tricky, but have no fear, there are some resources: The Secret Life of Branches, Analyze a List Structure, Rearranging Branches…
– Again, the primer has a chapter that explains tree structure.
– Use the list item component with a slider attached to determine the order of a list:
From Robin: The definitions that we have posted on the weblog can at first seem overwhelming but this need not be the case. I would suggest a strategy of starting with the first module on the right of the canvas to see what it is actually doing. Since GH advances its actions on prior actions by copying the prior module and then moving it, rotating, etc., you are always left with the initial module hanging around and getting in the way. The remedy is to click on the center of the module and uncheck the PREVIEW command. This keeps the command active computationally but removes it from view. So when you are looking at a definition you would need to do the reverse (turn on the preview) in order to understand what you are looking at. So if you simply move one by one through the chain of modules, turning on and off the preview so see what happens, then by the time you arrive at the conclusion you have a good sense of what went on. This is an excellent way to learn from the work of others. Of course during this process you also might decide to make an intervention to see what happens. This is encouraged.
I cannot over emphasize the value of the sketch diagram that shows the relationships you are hoping to achieve. A series of these describing a sequence of action can help you then relate your intentions to the more obscure operations of the various GH components. As part of this you might try to describe your hoped for outcomes in terms of actions that will ultimately relate to those GH components.


Another day, another autism diagnosis media storm. Last week, it was speech patterns. Before that it was urine. Today's story is that researchers in London have found a way to diagnose autism by performing multi-dimesional analyses of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans.
So what did they actually do? And how close really are we to being able to use brain scanning to diagnose autism?
Christine Ecker and her colleagues at the Institute of Psychiatry tested a group of 20 high functioning adults with autism, who were assessed the traditional way using either a structured interview with the parent (the ADI-R) or by video-recording a structured interaction between the person with autism and the experimenter and then coding their behaviour (the ADOS). The authors note that many of the people with autism could be considered to have Asperger syndrome but they didn't attempt to explore this issue further due to the small sample size.
The 20 adults with autism, together with 20 control adults, all underwent a 15-minute MRI scan. The set-up would have been something like the picture below.
From the scans, the authors extracted five different dimensions for each hemisphere of the brain that they thought might differentiate between the two groups.
One of these factors, left hemisphere cortical thickness, did a pretty good job. If the thresholds were set optimally, the algorithm could achieve a 90% accuracy. In other words, based on cortical thickness, 18 of the 20 people with autism were correctly classified as having autism and only 2 of the controls were incorrectly classified as being autistic. Other measures fared slightly less well and in general the right hemisphere measures were much worse at differentiating between the two groups. They also looked at combining all the different factors, but this didn't actually improve the discrimination performance.
The authors conclude their paper by stating that this is a "proof of concept". It shows that it is feasible to use these kinds of analytic techniques to investigate differences in the autistic brain.
So what are the challenges to be overcome in order to go from this to an MRI-based diagnostic protocol? Here are a few off the top of my head:
Does it generalise to new populations? In the current study, the choice of measures and weights were optimised to provide the best discrimination between the two groups of people in the study, whose diagnoses were already known. But we need to know that the MRI algorithm works just as well when it's given data from new people it hasn't seen before. To address this issue, the authors removed one person from each group, and optimised the MRI algorithm using data only from the remaining 38 people, so the two people removed were effectively new subjects. They then looked to see whether the two 'new' people were still correctly 'diagnosed'. They did this 20 times, removing a different pair each time and showed that they were statistically above chance at classifying the 'new' people. However, it's not clear (to me at least) how much better than chance.
Does it work with kids? The participants with autism in this study were aged between 20 and 68. A diagnostic tool for autism that only works with adults is obviously of limited use. The authors are confident that the MRI strategy will work as well if not better with children, but this needs to be demonstrated. It's also worth bearing in mind that brain scanning young children (especially autistic children) is far from straightforward and often has to be done when the child is asleep or sedated. The quick and easy 15 minute scan suddenly becomes less of a reality.
Can it discriminate between autism and similar disorders? Here is the crux. The 90% accuracy headline figure is in comparison to typically developing brains. I don't think the authors are really suggesting that we should screen the entire population for autism using MRI. Apart from the cost and ethical issues, it wouldn't be at all effective. Given that 10% of non-autistic people are classified as having 'autistic brains' and that only 1% of the population have autism, this means that in a random sample, most of the people identified as having 'autistic' brains wouldn't actually have autism.
More useful, perhaps, would be if people who were already suspected of having autism could be given a brain scan to confirm or deny the diagnosis. People tend to think of autism as being a clear cut condition, but in truth it's a messy affair, with much overlap between different disorders and fuzzy boundaries. A 'brain' test could be really useful, but it would have to pass a much more stringent evaluation process. This would involve comparing two groups of people suspected of having autism - those who go on to have their diagnoses confirmed and those who are not ultimately diagnosed with autism. If these two groups differed consistently in their brain structures then MRI might prove to be a useful diagnostic tool.
Ecker and colleagues make a step in this direction by applying their algorithm to adults with ADHD. It does OK, but still mis-diagnoses 21% of them as having autism. And there's no suggestion that anyone ever thought these people might have had autism.
So why bother looking at brains?
Overall, I have to question whether there really is any value in trying to use brain scans to diagnose autism. Ecker et al.'s paper begins by acknowledging the fact that autism is a highly heterogeneous disorder and should perhaps be referred to as 'the autisms' rather than a single condition. As I've mentioned before, two people can get the same diagnosis by ticking completely different boxes and recent research only goes to strengthen the impression that there are many different causes of autism at the genetic level. So does it then make sense to try and find a brain 'fingerprint' for autism? Probably not.
Where I think this kind of approach might well come in useful in the future is in identifying subgroups within autism. There are already a huge number of autism brain scans that have been collected over the years and it might be possible to run similar analyses and identify clusters in multi-dimensional 'brain space' that correspond to meaningful subgroups.
Perhaps one day, it will be possible for a child newly diagnosed with autism to undergo a brain scan which will indicate what subtype of autism they have. The outcome of this could help determine what intervention strategies and support are likely to be the most beneficial. If and when that day arrives, the media excitement will truly be justified.
Ecker C, Marquand A, Mourão-Miranda J, Johnston P, Daly EM, Brammer MJ, Maltezos S, Murphy CM, Robertson D, Williams SC, & Murphy DG (2010). Describing the brain in autism in five dimensions--magnetic resonance imaging-assisted diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder using a multiparameter classification approach. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 30 (32), 10612-23 PMID: 20702694
Download a free copy of the original article from the Journal of Neuroscience
- Bishop Blog
- Trust the evidence
- NHS Choices
- Ian Wacogne
- The Mouse Trap
-
- Autist's Corner
Journal of Neuroscience have just published a 'Journal Club' response from Jennifer Stevenson and Kristina Kellett - two members of Morton Gernsbacher's lab. It covers many of the points raised in my post and the other blogs linked to above, but also raises some further salient issues. The authors note that other similar studies of autism have found different patterns of group differences in the regions identified by Ecker et al as discriminating between autistic and non-autistic brains. For example, whereas Ecker et al found reduced cortical thickness in the parahippocampal gyrus, Jiao et al 2010 reported increased cortical thickness in the same region. And to further complicate matters, a cross-sectional study by Raznahan et al (2010) suggests that other regions show developmental changes in the direction of 'abnormality' in autistic brains.
In another recent development, Nicholas Lange and colleagues claimed that they could differentiate between autistic and non-autistic brains using DTI (another form of MRI). I've only had a very quick look at the paper, but it seems as though many of the concerns raised about the Ecker paper are also relevant here. (22/12/10: There's a write-up of the Lange study at Biology Files, which does indeed raise similar concerns about the prospects for MRI-based diagnoses).


- change ups
Cleaning up Plaster Creek will take 'watershed-wide effort'
Plaster Creek is considered the most polluted creek in West Michigan, according to Gail Heffner, a faculty member and director of community engagement at Calvin College. It covers 14 miles and traverses agricultural, suburban and urban landscapes in its journey from Caledonia/Dutton to downtown Grand Rapids, where it empties into the Grand River near Market Avenue.
“It’s a long urban creek that is in a highly degraded state,” Heffner said. “It’s in bad shape. It’s considered the most polluted creek in West Michigan, for a variety of reasons.”
Heffner said E. coli is present in the river at 50 times higher than what is considered safe for human contact. In addition, chemicals and toxins have made their way into the river. The pollutants come from agriculture, vehicles, lawn upkeep and many other sources.
Due to the high levels of contaminates, Plaster Creek poses a serious health risk to the community surrounding it. It also has the potential to devalue property and hurt businesses in the area due to flooding and its less-than-enviable state.
The Plaster Creek Stewards, which includes members of Calvin College, West Michigan Environmental Action Council, other environmental organizations and neighborhood churches, are hoping to change that through cleanup efforts and educating the community within the watershed area.
Late last month the group held a workshop, “Love Thy Downstream Neighbor: From Plaster Creek to the St. Lawrence River,” that involved an education component and the planting of two rain gardens upstream as part of its ongoing cleanup efforts.
Much of the pollution in the creek arrives there from runoff following large rain events; rain gardens are one way of helping suburban and urban environments prevent runoff by keeping the water onsite and helping the ground absorb it.
“When you have the landscape covered in concrete, whether it’s for roads or parking lots or strip malls — anything that is covered in concrete, water can’t be absorbed into the ground,” Heffner said. “It runs off. When you have a heavy rain event and you have a large amount of water running off (and) getting in storm drains, it causes a lot of flooding. So what is better to do is to try and manage water on site.”
Suburban and urban areas are not the only areas where runoff can occur.
“Runoff can occur in agriculture areas as sheet or gully erosion,” said Connie Redding, district administrator for the Kent Conservation District. “Sheet erosion moves water over the surface of soil, and gully erosion is runoff which wears a path through the soils. Both types of runoff result in erosion and can be caused by several factors, including soil type, slope, over-irrigation and plowing practices.
“Proper irrigation and equipment, along with conservation practices including cover crops, filter strips, grassed waterways and increasing crop residue, will slow the excess water and allow it to infiltrate the ground. It is in the best economic interest of the farmer to keep his water and his soils.”
The cleanup event was made possible due to a $4,000 Fulbright Eco-Leadership Program grant that was awarded to former Calvin College professor and current Gordon College Provost Janel Curry. The grant provides former Canadian Fulbright scholars with money to use in their local communities.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality also recently allocated $375,000 to the Plaster Creek Stewards for cleanup efforts and education, and the U.S. Environmental Protection agency has given the group $58,500.
But that is a minimal amount in comparison to what is needed for the substantial cleanup required. Heffner said that she expects it would take 20 to 30 years of concerted effort and was hesitant to put a dollar amount on what would be needed to achieve a clean Plaster Creek.
She was not hesitant, however, in suggesting ways in which a clean creek would impact the economy of the area. She pointed to property values as a key impact opportunity, noting the creek can be both an asset for homeowners and a problem if a house is located in one of the flood-prone areas.
She noted that businesses have the ability to aid cleanup efforts through the creation of their own rain gardens and landscaping choices. Known as green infrastructure, rain gardens, vegetation choices, green roofs, rain barrels and permeable pavements all are options with a positive environmental impact and good for a business’s bottom line, directly or indirectly. They are also ideas that have been around for a while.
Heffner mentioned Catalyst Partners as a business that is doing it right in terms of reducing stormwater runoff. She also noted that both Pioneer Construction and Cascade Engineering have been involved in cleanup efforts.
“Plaster Creek is a long-neglected community asset,” said Chris Beckering, Pioneer Construction’s director of business development. “It is actually a quite beautiful, natural refuge in the heart of a largely industrialized area. Our team members volunteer twice a year to clean up the area from the U.S. 131 overpass to Buchanan. Since we began our effort four years ago, we’ve noticed a real improvement.
“When we first started, we pulled thousands of pounds of garbage out of the creek and its banks. We found everything from shopping carts to tires to car parts. It was essentially being used as a garbage dump. As the creek has been cleaned up, I think people are now treating the area with greater respect. We now see walkers and bikers including families and young children enjoying the creek.
“Our efforts to date have focused primarily around cleanup. We are in the process of evaluating measures we can take to reduce runoff from our properties and working with Calvin College to educate people who live and work in the watershed area about the impact of their activities. In 2009, we received the Associated Builders and Contractors’ green contractor certification. The certification process evaluates environmental impacts of our headquarters operations and helps us establish benchmarks and plans for improvement. It’s going to take a watershed-wide effort to restore Plaster Creek to health.”
Plaster Creek has a long way to go before it will be clean enough for human contact, but its potentially hazardous health and economic impact means there are many people and businesses with a vested interest in seeing the cleanup efforts succeed.


Long Island is made up of a series of sand and gravel aquifers. All of Long Island's water supply comes from underground water held in aquifers. An aquifer is a geologic formation, which can hold, transmit and yield water in usable quantities. Clay layers between certain aquifer layers act to retard some water movement beneath the island. Stacked one on top of the other like layers in a cake, three major and one minor aquifer make up the Long Island aquifer system.
- Long Island Hydrology: How Groundwater Flows
- Myths and Facts About Long Island Groundwater
- CCE Testimony for NYS Assembly Hearing on Long Island Drinking Water Protection
Nitrogen Pollution from Sewage
All of Long Island's drinking water, whether from public or private wells, comes from underground. Groundwater also feeds all of the lakes, streams, bays, and harbors throughout the Island. Unfortunately, groundwater contamination is increasing, threatening drinking water quality and waterways. One of the biggest culprits: excessive nitrogen from sewage.
Long Island Groundwater Resources
"Water Worries" - a report summarizing reactions to the draft of the Suffolk County Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan by some of Long Island's leading environmental groups, including Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Group for the East End, Long Island Pine Barrens Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Peconic Baykeeper.
Long Island Groundwater
In sequence from shallowest to deepest, the LI aquifers are: the Upper Glacial, the Magothy and the Lloyd Aquifers. A minor aquifer, the Jameco, lies beneath the Upper Glacial, along the western south shore of Long Island. All of the aquifers slope downward toward the southern portion of the island. This causes the deepest parts of the aquifers and the groundwater system to reside along the southern shore of Long Island, and extends out into the subsurface material beneath the ocean floor.
The aquifer formations beneath Long Island were deposited at different times in the area's geologic history. The deepest aquifer layer, the Lloyd, rests on a bed of consolidated bedrock, primarily igneous and metamorphic. The bedrock was laid down in the Precambrian Era, making it older than 600 million years. The sand deposits of the Lloyd Aquifer were laid down in the Cretaceous Period, about 80-100 million years ago. The sand and gravel of the Magothy aquifer was deposited in the upper Cretaceous Period, about 50-80 million years ago. The youngest aquifer formation, the Upper Glacial, was laid down during the last ice age, 10-15 million years ago. It contains course sands, pebbles, rocks and occasionally boulders, carried to Long Island and left behind by the glaciers. The water table, or the top of the groundwater system, is found in the Upper Glacial aquifer.
A thick deposit of clay (100-200 feet thick) called the Raritan Clay exists between the Magothy and Lloyd aquifers. The Lloyd sands and the clay bed above it are together known as the Raritan Formation. The Lloyd aquifer is found along the north shore of Long Island at depths averaging 200-300 feet. Along the southern shoreline the Lloyd aquifer is approximately 1,500 feet below the land surface. Along the south shore a second clay bed separates the Upper Glacial aquifer from the Jameco aquifer. It is called the Gardiners Clay. Clay units have very low permeability and act as aquitards, minimizing water exchange between the layers
All Long Island aquifers receive their fresh water from precipitation. Long Island receives, on average, about 44 inches of precipitation a year. Of this, about half of the precipitation, or approximately 22 inches of rain, percolates into the ground and is recharged into the groundwater system. The remaining precipitation is either evaporated, taken up by plants, or runs off into creeks, bays and estuaries. In areas where the water table and the ground surface meet, streams, ponds and wetlands are formed. In an undisturbed natural setting, (e.g., before human activities) all of Long Island's groundwater would ultimately reach the coast where the groundwater would mix with and the ocean. Due to human activity, this process has been significantly changed so that not all water in the groundwater system is returned to the ocean.
Today, groundwater is withdrawn from the system constantly. Over 138 billion gallons of water is taken each year from beneath Nassau and Suffolk Counties. In coastal areas, as water is drawn up for use, less groundwater is available to be discharged into the estuaries. The resulting loss of water and pressure allows saltwater from the ocean to flow into the aquifer, causing the groundwater to become saline, resulting in a condition called "saltwater intrusion".
New water from precipitation is constantly recharging, or replenishing, the aquifers. Unfortunately, as water recharges the system, it can easily carry contaminants with it into the groundwater. Since it is the shallowest and closest to most sources of contamination, the Upper Glacial aquifer is the most heavily contaminated of the three. The next most seriously contaminated aquifer is the Magothy, which is the layer below the Upper Glacial. The Magothy aquifer supplies over 90% of the water used in Nassau County and about 50% of all water used in Suffolk County.
Although water can flow from one aquifer to another, groundwater on Long Island generally travels in a easterly direction. This horizontal movement offers some protection for deeper aquifers, however pollutants can still contamination aquifers below the Upper Glacial.
CCE works to Protect the Long Island Aquifer System
VICTORY! On September 26, 2008, the Long Island Lloyd Aquifer Protection Bill was signed into law. This important legislation ensures continued protection of Lloyd Aquifer. The legislation also ensures that NYC will not be able to pump or store water from the Lloyd Aquifer for their drinking water needs.
Thank you to all our members who made phone calls and wrote letters to the Governor asking him to sign the legislation.
Long Island has been designated as a sole-source aquifer region by the U.S. EPA. This means that 100% of our drinking water supply comes from underground. The almost 3 million residents on our island are completely dependent on groundwater as our fresh water supply.
The Lloyd aquifer is the deepest and cleanest source of drinking water on Long Island.
Yet, NYC was aggressively seeking to use Long Island’s aquifer as a storage facility for their own drinking water.
Their plan was to initiate a pilot program beginning with the injection of 300-400 gallons of water per day into the Lloyd Aquifer. This would then lead to a large scale project of injecting 50 million gallons per day into the Lloyd aquifer in Queens. After 5 years, the artificially recharged Lloyd Aquifer would be tapped to supply up to 200 million gallons a day for two years back to NYC.
This critical legislation takes necessary steps to safeguard the Lloyd Aquifer, an irreplaceable drinking water resource, and stop any proposals that would permit the misuse of this resource. Thanks again to all our members who have taken time to voice your concerns. Our voices were heard and our oldest and deepest source of drinking water is forever protected from risky proposals.
Updated by amclelland 8/21/13


This article features ‘flying geese’. These are made up of a central quarter-square triangle – the ‘goose’ – squared off by a half-square triangle as the background or ‘sky’ on either side.
The proportions of a flying geese unit are consistent: based on the finished measurements (seam allowance not included) where the width is twice as long as the height. Flying geese can be made using a variety of construction techniques from traditional piecing where the exact shapes are cut out and sewn together, to using two squares and a rectangle to make a single goose (see the Flying Geese block below) and even a ‘no waste’ method where four geese are created at a time!
Flying Geese Quilt Block
Finished block size 12” square. This block is made up of eight flying geese and uses a corner square triangle construction method. Finished size does not include the seam allowance so the unfinished size is 12½” square. Seam allowance is ¼” throughout.
You will need
- One fat quarter for background – I used a light print.
- Four differently coloured fat eighths to contrast with the light fabric. I used navy and other dark prints. There will be lots of fabric left over for other blocks!
Background fabric: Cut sixteen 3½” squares.
Coloured fabrics: Cut two 3½” x 6½” rectangles from each of the four different coloured fat quarters giving eight rectangles in total.
On the wrong side of each background square, draw a line diagonally corner to corner using a soft pencil or disappearing fabric marker.
Place a background square on one end of a coloured rectangle, right sides together and with the background square on top so the diagonal line is visible. The placement needs to be precise!
Sew from corner to corner following the diagonal line. Press the seam. Place a quilt ruler on top of the seam and use a rotary cutter to trim off the excess leaving a ¼” seam allowance. Open out the background fabric and press the seam towards the darker fabric.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 with another background square at the other end of the same rectangle to make your first flying geese unit! It should measure 3½” x 6½”. Repeat to make a total of eight flying geese units.
Arrange your flying geese units in pairs following the diagram. This is a good time to play around with your layout and colours; I changed mine around for the finished block! Sew each pair of geese together taking care at the point of each goose where the layers of fabric are bulky.
Join the squares of geese together to make two rows. Join the rows together to complete the block.
This corner square triangle method does waste a little fabric but it is accurate and straightforward, especially for a beginner and allows you to change to the colours of the ‘geese’ and the ‘sky’ for each unit.
Sawtooth Star Quilt Block
Finished block size 12” square. This block is made up of squares in two sizes as well as four flying geese units sewn using a ‘no waste’ construction method. Finished size does not include the seam allowance so the unfinished size is 12½” square. Seam allowance is ¼” throughout.
You will need
- One fat quarter for background.
- Two fat eighths in contrasting colours– I am using a red floral as fabric A and a white large floral as fabric B, all from Katarina Roccella’s Recollection range for Art Gallery Fabrics.
Background fabric: Cut four 3½” squares for the block corners. Cut one 7¼” square for the ‘flying geese’.
Colour fabric A: Cut four 3 7/8” squares. These will make the star points or ‘sky’ section of the flying geese.
Colour fabric B: Cut one 6½” square for the block centre
On the wrong side of each fabric A square, draw a line diagonally corner to corner using a soft pencil or disappearing fabric marker.
Take two fabric A squares and place on opposite diagonal corners of the 7¼” background square with right sides together and with the smaller squares on top so the diagonal lines are visible. The placement needs to be precise! The squares will overlap at the centre. Pin in place.
Sew ¼” away from the diagonal line and through all the layers. Repeat on the other side of the line. Cut along the pencil line so that there are two sections.
Working on one section, open the smaller squares out to make half-square triangles. Place one of the remaining fabric A squares in the corner with the diagonal line pointing towards the half-square triangles; it will overlap slightly.
Sew ¼” away from the diagonal line through all the layers. Repeat on the other side of the line. Cut along the diagonal pencil line.
Open out the fabric A squares to make half-square triangles and press. You should have two flying geese units each measuring 3½” x 6½” – you may need to trim them slightly and remove the dog ears. Repeat with remaining section from step 3 and the last two fabric A squares. You should now have four flying geese units.
Arrange the flying geese units with the background and centre squares into three rows following the diagram.
Sew the rows together: the seams should ‘nest’ at the points where seams meet. Press the row seams open. Your block is complete.
The advantage of the ‘no waste’ method is that it quickly creates four identical units with no fabric wastage. However, if you want to have different colours of geese or sky, the squares and rectangles method is very effective.
To make flying geese using the corner square triangle method, the calculations are straightforward. You need to know the finished size you would like your Flying Geese unit to be. Note that the ½” additions are for the seam allowances. For each Flying Geese unit, you will need:
One goose rectangle: (the width of the finished unit + ½”) x (the height of finished unit + ½”)
Two sky or background squares: (height + ½”) x (height + ½”)
For the ‘no waste’ method, again you need to know the finished size of your flying geese. To make four identical flying geese units, you will need:
One goose square: (width + 1¼”) x (width + 1¼”)
Four sky or background squares: (height + 7/8”) x (height + 7/8”)
Rita of Red Pepper Quilts often combines simple and traditional quilt blocks with an eye-catching mix of different fabrics and colours in her quilts to great effect. In her A Flock of Flying Geese quilt, she uses half-square triangle units to create flying geese and the shot cotton half-square triangles shine brightly! In Flock of Flying Geese II she uses the standard flying geese unit to great effect using mainly solids for the sky but with occasional floral and text prints too so that the eye is constantly drawn to unexpected bursts of colour.
Next time we move on to foundation paper pieced blocks and I’ll take you step-by-step through this useful precision piecing technique! You can find me, my sewing adventures, tips, quilt-alongs and tutorials at verykerryberry.blogspot.co.uk


The Travels and Adventures of Edward Brown, published in 1739, describes impressions of the Jews of Abyssinia.
As for the Jews I am at a Loss what to say of them; for if we consider the several sorts of them who live in and round Abyssinia, and the Custom of the Abyssines themselves, to observe the Sabbath strictly, to circumcise on the eighth Day, to use the Levitical Purifications, to abstain from forbidden Meats, to send away their Wives on every slight Occasion with a Bill of Divorce, and to boast as they do that their Monarch is the Lion of the Tribe of Judab; I say when one considers all this, one might be tempted to say they are all Jews. But to avoid giving Offence, after seperating the Abyssines, who are a kind of Christian Jews, the remainder may be divided into Jews, properly so called, and into those who are Jews only by Descent. Of the first there are great Numbers in the Kingdom of Dambea; these were formerly very troublesome, pretending to live in an independent manner, without yielding either Tribute or Submission to the Abyssinian Emperors. These Princes for a Time wink'd at this, till an Opportunity serv'd for reducing them, against which, tho' to no Purpose, the Jews made a vigorous Resistance. Since then, many of them are turned Christians, and incorporated with the Abyssines, but the remainder of them now very numerous, are the most industrious Mechanics and Traders in the Abyssian Empire. On the very Borders of this Country, on the other Side of the Nile, and among the barbarous People, there are many independent Colonies of Jews, of whose Government and manner of living very little Account can be given, except that they have the Scriptures of the old Testament in Hebrew, speak themselves that Language corruptly, and most bitterly hate the Christians.This is an earlier account than the one mentioned in the Jewish Virtual Library that claimed that the first modern contact came in 1769.
As to those who are Jews only by Descent, they are the famous Nation of the Gaus, Gallas or Chalks, which last I take to be their true Name, at least so themselves pronounce it. It signifies white Men, and yet these People are black. However that they were once white is plain enough, for they have most of them them Roman Noses, thin Lips, and comely Features. They are tall, robust, well limb'd Men, very brave, but withal very cruel, and most abominable Thieves, It is not above an hundred Years that they have vexed the Abyssinian Empire, or indeed that they were ever heard of there; but in all probability it will be at least another hundred Years before the Abyssinian get fairly rid of them, for they are now settled up and down all the West Borders of the Empire. They live like the ancient Patriarchs, on the Product of their Herds and Flocks, never cultivating any Land, or Building any Thing more than Cabbins to cover them from the Weather. They worship one God, circumcise, and vehemently abhor Idolatry ; but as for any other religious Tenets, it does not appear what they hold. When their Children are young, their Fathers regard them no more than Dogs ; but when they are grown big enough to hunt, and to sight, then they treat them with all imaginable Kindness and Affection. These People are most justly accounted the most dangerous Enemies in the World; in offensive Wars they are generally Victorious, and when they act on the defensive are always so. When they sight they either conquer or die ; when they are attacked by a superior Force, they drive away their Cattel, and retire so quick, that their Pursuers are quickly involved in their inhospitable Country, where there is neither House, plow'd Field, or any Thing which can furnish Subsistance ; so that there is a Necessity of retiring Re infecta; and it is well if these People do not incommode their Retreat. Their Armies are composed of Horse and Foot, the former are the more numerous, but the latter arc the better Troops.


Jet Plane is an aircraft that uses jet engines as a source of propulsion. The jet engine used by the jet aircraft makes the aircraft fly forward by the recoil effect of the high-speed backward jet of gas generated during fuel combustion, which can make the aircraft obtain greater thrust and fly faster.
Due to the different operating principles of engines, jet aircraft need to reach the best propulsion efficiency at an altitude of 10000 to 15000 meters. In addition, in order to coordinate with the reduction of air pressure during high-altitude flight, most jet airliners are equipped with pressure cabin, while pilots of jet military aircraft need to wear flight suits and flight masks with pressure function.
Captain Makeni of France and Henry Koanda of Romania were the first people in the world to put forward the theory of jet propulsion. Koanda also trial produced the earliest jet aircraft around 1910 and produced a prototype aircraft.
Jet Tattoo with Shark Teeth on Forearm
Paper Jet Tattoo on Forearm
Cool Jet Tattoo on Upper Arm
Geometry Jet Tattoo on Forearm
Pretty Jet Tattoo on Shoulder
Pretty Paper Jet Tattoo on Forearm
Small Jet Tattoo Underbreast
Cool Jet Tattoo on Arm
Fast Jet Tattoo on Back
Unique Jet Tattoo on Arm


Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859 in Edinburgh. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and began to write stories while he was a student. Over his life he produced more than thirty books, 150 short stories, poems, plays and essays across a wide range of genres. His most famous creation is the detective Sherlock Holmes, who he introduced in his first novel A Study in Scarlet (1887). This was followed in 1889 by an historical novel, Micah Clarke. In 1893 Conan Doyle published 'The Final Problem' in which he killed off his famous detective so that he could turn his attention more towards historical fiction. However Holmes was so popular that Conan Doyle eventually relented and published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901. The events of the The Hound of the Baskervilles are set before those of 'The Final Problem' but in 1903 new Sherlock Holmes stories began to appear that revealed that the detective had not died after all. He was finally retired in 1927. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died on July 7, 1930.


Miguel de Güemes Day, observed every year on June 17, is a public holiday in the Latin American country of Argentina. It is a holiday dedicated to celebrating a famous son of the land who fought for the liberation of his country from foreign powers seeking to colonize it. Not only did Miguel de Güemes fight against the menacing Spanish troops, but he also fought against the crooked royalists occupying government posts in Argentina. Thus, the brave soldier not only took part in the emancipation of his country from Spanish colonialism but also became an armed activist against his own government’s exploitation.
History of Miguel de Guemes Day
Nearly 200 years after his passing, Argentinians decided to immortalize one of their own, who bravely fought for the nation’s freedom from Spanish colonists. The 19th-century military commander, Martín Miguel de Güemes, has been celebrated in Argentina, and particularly in his hometown of Salta, since 2006. Typical of Argentinians, known for enthusiastically expressing their emotions for their national figures, the day sees a lot of them coming out in their thousands to join the procession of Gauchos, depicting Güemes’ soldiers.
After the Argentine Revolution against the Royalist Peru and their loyalists, Güemes joined the military and was assigned to an army unit, which he eventually commandeered and fought against the Spanish with. Charged with defending the northwestern region of the nation, where his hometown of Salta was located, Güemes made sure that no Spanish forces succeeded in taking his hometown. He was appointed the governor of Salta in 1915, until those who were loyal to the royalists, connived and rebelled against him.
Military-wise, Güemes is credited with weakening the Spanish army on his front — an achievement that gave his superiors at Buenos Aires the time they needed to organize a large troop that fought and won battles in Chile and Peru. In 1820, Argentinian military warlords and royalists began to exploit each other’s weaknesses. The governor of Tucumán in the north struck a deal with landowners in Salta. With their help, Güemes was ousted from power and forced to flee. While escaping, he was shot in the back but managed to make it to his military camp, where he died 10 days later. Motivated by his last words, his soldiers retook Salta from the royalists exactly one month after his death. The choice of June 17 as Miguel de Güemes Day is because the hero died on that day.
Miguel de Guemes Day timeline
Güemes is born in his hometown of Salta.
The young man starts his military career by taking part in the defense of Buenos Aires against the British.
Güemes joins the army unit that would later fight Spanish troops in Upper Peru.
Güemes retakes Humahuaca from the royalist Marshal Jose de La Serna.
Güemes dies after suffering a fatal shot to the back while fleeing.
Miguel de Guemes Day FAQs
What caused the Argentine Revolution?
The Argentine Revolution was sparked by Argentinians’ hatred for Spanish colonialism and the loyalist government, which unfairly treated its people.
Why is the Argentine Revolution important?
The Argentine Revolution is important because it deposed corrupt government officials from power and paved the way for the true independence of the nation from the Spanish and their loyalists.
When did Spain invade Argentina?
Spanish forces took control of Argentina in the 16th century.
How to Observe Miguel de Guemes Day
The best way to celebrate this day is to commemorate the life of the Güemes. This can be done in any way that one feels like.
Recount his story
Today is a good opportunity to learn the story behind the brave Güemes. Observe the Day by retracing his history from birth to death.
Organize exhibitions depicting Güemes' life
Whether it’s a military parade, a short play about the battles, or a simple procession, organize an event that showcases the life of the hero. Hang posters and Argentinian flags.
5 Interesting Facts About Argentina
Home to southern hemisphere extremes
Mount Aconcagua and Laguna del Carbon — both in Argentina — are, respectively, the highest and lowest points in the southern hemisphere.
Shocking cow population
Alongside four other countries, the number of cows in the country exceeds that of people — a feature that makes Argentina the nation with the best steak in the world.
Pioneer of animated films
”El Apóstol,” produced in Argentina, is the first animated feature film to be produced in the world.
Reverence for football
Argentinians love football and their domestic legends such as Diego Armando Maradona, who has a church and religion dedicated to him — The Iglesia Maradoniana.
A special exception
There is a ban on naming a child ”Messi” in Rosario, Argentina.
Why Miguel de Guemes Day is Important
It celebrates a national hero
The holiday honors the achievements and life of a national hero, immortalizing him. Every Argentinian celebrates the memory of Miguel de Güemes.
It reminds us of historical moments
The day reminds us of some of the most important moments in the struggles of Argentina for freedom and stability. Remembering Miguel de Güemes’ legacy is central to this.
It makes Argentinians proud
Argentinians, especially Saltans, feel super-proud on this day. The day commemorates and celebrates an iconic son of the land, who fought for the country's liberation from colonialism.
Miguel de Guemes Day dates


DN: 2004: Monarawila Keppitipola Dissawe or Kepppitipola, the great, was a leader of the national insurrection of 1818. The life story and his services are recorded in the history of Sri Lanka and the war records of the British Colonial Government.
Monarawila Keppitpola Dissawe lived in his own ancestral residence at Monarawila near Pallepola and later that residence was converted into a Buddhist shrine.
As a very responsible officer at the king's palace of Kandy, he had to travel once a week or more to Kandy for his official work.
Therefore he had built another residence at Hulangamuwa, Matale to rest and change the horses for his cart, on his way from Monarawila to Kandy and return from Kandy to Monarawila off Pallepola, in the Matale district.
According to family records he had built this Manor according to the instructions of the royal astrologer, "Ratrangedera Devendra Mulachariya" of Kotmale. The astrologer used "Maya Mathaya" as his hand book.
After the horoscope of the founder was checked, the soil was tested for porosity, colour, compactness, smell and taste etc. The foundation stone was laid by Monarawila Keppitipola Dissawe at the auspicious time.
This house was built in three stages and stage one facing the east, was built with stone and clay by Keppitipola the great. Thick walls and small window openings have a majestic look.
The second part of this mansion has been built by his grandson Muthu Banda Keppitipola Dissawe. This is a two storeyed building with all the facilities. This was built with brick and lime mixture. The height of this portion is 40 ft and the width of a wall is 16 inches. It is noteworthy that cement has not been used for this building.
The roof and all the windows are made of expensive wood. There are two staircases for the upper floor, one is from the front and the other staircase is fixed on the rear side.
There are two front entrances made in the shape of a horse shoe. There is another couple of entrances with portable doors from the verandah to the drawing room. The floor of the upper story has been made of expensive wood. There are two balconies and wooden fences fixed on the rear balcony as well as front balcony.
It is said that the elephants of Maha Dissawe came into the dining hall and Dissawe treated them with bananas and rice cakes.
The manor house is roofed with ancient Sinhala tiles and the reefs, rafters, and laths are not similar to any of the contemporary mansions in the upcountry.
The third stage of this mansion too, is a two storeyed portion, built by Muthu Banda Keppitipola Dissawe, the grandson of Keepitipola the great. Specially he had made that portion for the wedding of his son, and later he had used this part as a court of law for the villagers.
Many British officers have visited this manor during the colonial rule of Sri Lanka. So, the traditional manor house of Monarawila Keppitipola Dissawe is a unique place.
- Dr. Mirando Obeysekere