The Hindu Texts, the Vedas, Rig Veda ,Atharva Veda speak about the nature of electricity.
Military / Warfare usage of Electrical Energy in Atharva Veda
The Veds are a limitless store of true knowledge and skills. A very comprehensive, wide and huge store of the Vedic literature existed in India, but it was destroyed by foreign aggressors and thus was lost, even then, a lot of it was protected by great Rishis. It is said in the Veds: O human! Know about all those things and substances in numerous forms present in all the Loks and in the skies and water and the earth with the help of knowledge. (Rig. 5-52-7).
Westerners are given the credit for discoveries and inventions in modern times. The intellectual development of our life was completely blocked because for a very long time, we were an occupied nation by some foreign power or the other. And a subjugated people can’t have the liberty of even dreaming. Very slowly but surely, we were made to forget our glorious past and history, including the Vedic knowledge. Now that the shackles are broken, we can once again study and teach and learn our ancient Veds. Electricity is needed in life as much as all the other things, which is why The Veds contain knowledge about it, so that man can lead his life without problems.
Fire is its original form. The Sun is its ultimate form. Water produces it. (Taitiriya A. 7-3-2, Taitiriya U. 1-3-2). The electricity resides in the sun. (Taitiriya A.1-9-2) Thus, a number of sources for generation of electricity are explained. Fire, sun as well as water are considered as sources of electricity.Though the use of the sun is relatively new and to a much lesser extent, in the future, it will be possible to generate sufficient electricity from the solar power. Electricity is an atomic process. And so, as newer and newer substances are discovered which produce electricity, more and more electricity will be generated with atomic fission with the help of more and more modern machinery.
The aeronautical science by Bharadwaj Rishi included a number of machines and systems which ran on electricity. Even the television is described clearly in it. Combining spirituality and philosophy with science, let us make our coming generations capable of spreading this divine knowledge from the Veds all over the world.We consider it our prime duty to explain about electricity on the basis of the Veds.
(Rig. 1.32.13). To begin with, there is the description electricity which forms in the clouds in the form of lightning. Though it has tremendous power, it does not interfere with the solar power. However, Lord Indra can vanquish Vritra with the help of lightning.
(Rig. 1.23.12). We get electricity which emits blinding light, which we use for all kinds of tasks. Together with electricity, winds also bring us happiness.
(Rig. 1.6.5). This Mantra describes generation of electricity with the help of machines run on wind power. Electricity can be easily produced where winds are strong. (Rig. 1.64.9) This Mantra instructs about use of electricity in aeroplanes. It also describes land vehicles driven with electrical power.
(Rig. 8.64.29). Many kinds of jobs are performed with the help of electricity, using attraction, retraction, vaporization, freezing, air circulation, as well as generation of new substances. The universal cycle runs because the Almighty has kept the atoms and molecules moving. Electricity presents itself on the earth so that man can perform all kinds of useful tasks with its help.
(Rig. 1.168.8). When rains pour down on the earth from clouds, water in rivers gets agitated. Generation of electricity with the help of this agitated water brings smiles all around, meaning that the earth gets lighted up with lights run on electricity. God, you are great! What extraordinary knowledge you have provided in the Veds!.
(Rig. 3.1.14). Intelligent people combine life and soul. Similarly, electricity and fire are combined on the earth, and this knowledge is worth attaining for getting our wishes fulfilled. (Rig. 5.52.6). Wise and learned persons should attain enlightenment of knowledge about electricity etc, just as the armed forces bring lights into the life of people by protecting the nation.
(Rig. 5.54.11). This Mantra describes the equipment soldiers should carry. They must have sufficient arms, food, high quality airplanes, glinting armors to guard their bodies, helmets to protect their heads, powerful electrical rays that can destroy the enemy planes. This clearly means that there is a description of power electrical beams of waves or rays to be used by armed forces in the Veds.
ï¿½(Rig. 5.86.3). This Mantra advices kings and emperors that just as the sun uses its powerful rays to destroy clouds and causes rains on the earth which brings happiness to the people, the kings and emperors too should use the power of electricity to destroy enemies and bring happiness to their subjects.
(Rig. 5.87.10). This Mantra describes that we can clearly listen to our speech elsewhere, with the help of vibration of electrical waves.
All these Mantras describe the electrical science in the Mantras. Today, foreigners are making money very small gadgets with the help of electrical shells (cells). We are as yet behind in this race of science, but we can safely assume that we can attain our rightful place at the top in the field of science and knowledge, on the basis of our glorious past.
(Yaju. 32.2) This is a Mantra from the Yajurved. Physically, electricity generated is intended for the betterment and benefit of mankind, but it depends on man’s tendencies whether to use it constructively or destructively. The Almighty is seen in the form of electricity. It (He) creates the cycle of time. It cannot be captured in physical form anywhere. Thus, all good work can be performed only because of the might of the Almighty (electricity).


Overview of Italian Lettuce
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is an annual flower of the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is usually grown as a leaf vegetable, but its stem and seeds are sometimes harvested too. Although lettuce is mainly used for salads, it may also be found in other types of food, such as soups, sandwiches, and wraps; it can also be grilled.
More to love in Italian Lettuce:
- A type of chicory, this large, crisp leafy green has a mildly bitter taste
- As a result of its popularity in Italian cuisine, it is often paired with soups and beans
- An excellent green vegetable that is used for salads, cooked in vegetable dishes
- And it is most commonly used as a tasty and crunchy sandwich filler
Benefits of Italian Lettuce
When harvesting, look for lettuce with fresh leaves, and select those without wilted or discolored leaves. Salads are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which benefit your health. Providing a significant amount of nutrients, Italian lettuce is an integral part of any salad. Lettuce's watery nature also helps to flush out toxins from the body. The lettuce contains the same amount of water as cucumbers.
How to Sow and Care for Italian Lettuce Seeds
Growing Italian lettuce is easy. When the ground is workable, direct sowing in the garden is ideal. Seeds can also be started indoors a month before your last frost date if you want an earlier crop. Seeds can be sown once the soil reaches 4°C, but lettuce germinates best between 13 and 18°C.
It usually takes a week to ten days for seedlings to appear. Afterward, suppose the transplants have been properly hardened off. In that case, they can be planted two to three weeks before they are started indoors to have a continuous supply of lettuce and to plant other seeds every two weeks after the initial planting.
It would be helpful to fertilize the plants three weeks after transplanting them. Compost, plenty of nitrogen, and organic matter are essential for lettuce to flourish. Consider organic alfalfa meal or slow-release fertilizer. Maintain moist but not too wet soil. Ensure good drainage. Lettuce will know when it needs to be watered.
Water wilting leaves at any time, even in the heat of the day, to keep them cool and slow down transpiration. They can also be used for protecting lettuce from drying out in the sun, in addition to row covers. In the summer, an organic mulch keeps soil temperatures cool, conserves moisture, and suppresses weeds.
Note: This Overview is intended as a guide only since cultural practices and climatic conditions may vary.
- Product type: Italian Lettuce Seed
- USDA Zone: 5 Above
- Feature: Cold Tolerant
- Soil: Fertile, Well Drained
- Harvest Season: Spring
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Clade: Tracheophytes, Angiosperms, Eudicots, Asterids
- Order: Asterales
- Family: Asteraceae
- Tribe: Cichorieae
- Genus: Lactuca
- Species: L. Sativa
- Uses: Salads, Sandwich, etc
At PLANT-MY-SEEDS, we aim to offer top-notch seed products and unmatched customer service. We take pride in delivering an outstanding experience to our valued customers—from purchase to product retirement. Feel free to reach out with any inquiries or assistance.
Our dedicated team is here to provide guidance and support. Our top priority is your satisfaction, and we are committed to making your experience with us exceptional.
Delivery time: 3-8 working days
Shipping cost from: 3.50 EUR
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Shipping cost from: 4.45 Euros
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What Is STEM?
STEM is an acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM is a teaching philosophy that integrates the four closely related fields in theory and practice.
Students studying STEM do not learn one specific subject in isolation. Instead, STEM students use their knowledge of several areas, combining curricula to resolve complex real-world problems.
An exploratory education in STEM encompasses the practical application of academics to propel innovation, launching learners into compelling, creative, and creditable careers.
What Are the Benefits of STEM Education?
A STEM education:
- Better equips students for a rigorous college education,
- Encourages experimentation as learners work their way through lessons instead of mesmerizing facts,
- Establishes connections between community, school, work, and the global economy,
- Fosters adaption, ingenuity, and resilience,
- Prepares students for future employment that will drive the nation’s economy, and
- Teaches critical thinking, project management, and teamwork skills.
Although, CTRA isn’t a STEM themed high school — science, innovation, and technology are at the forefront of our teaching. Our environmental science and technology curricula creates an innovative and hands-on learning environment for students. Students at Connecticut River Academy also have access to advanced machinery, state of the art laboratories, high-tech software, and more.
Interested in Connecticut River Academy for your child? Visit Connecticut River Academy (Grades 6 through 12).
Magnet Schools Offer Several Benefits Including:
- Academic success that prepares students for a lifetime of achievement
- Diverse student body that encourages respect, empathy and collaboration
- Family and community involvement that instills a passion for learning and growth
- Flexible and innovative curriculum centered around a unifying theme


from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. The act of beating or pounding.
- n. Law The unlawful and unwanted touching or striking of one person by another, with the intention of bringing about a harmful or offensive contact.
- n. An emplacement for one or more pieces of artillery.
- n. A set of guns or other heavy artillery, as on a warship.
- n. An army artillery unit, corresponding to a company in the infantry.
- n. An array of similar things intended for use together: took a battery of achievement tests.
- n. An impressive body or group: a battery of political supporters.
- n. Baseball The pitcher and catcher.
- n. Music The percussion section of an orchestra.
- n. Electricity Two or more connected cells that produce a direct current by converting chemical energy to electrical energy.
- n. Electricity A single cell, such as a dry cell, that produces an electric current.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A device that produces electricity by a chemical reaction between two substances (Wikipedia).
- n. The crime or tort of intentionally striking another person.
- n. A coordinated group of artillery.
- n. An array of similar things.
- n. A set of small cages where hens are kept for the purpose of farming their eggs.
- n. The catcher and the pitcher together
- n. Two or more major pieces on the same rank, file, or diagonal
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The act of battering or beating.
- n. The unlawful beating of another. It includes every willful, angry and violent, or negligent touching of another's person or clothes, or anything attached to his person or held by him.
- n. Any place where cannon or mortars are mounted, for attack or defense.
- n. Two or more pieces of artillery in the field.
- n. A company or division of artillery, including the gunners, guns, horses, and all equipments. In the United States, a battery of flying artillery consists usually of six guns.
- n. A number of coated jars (Leyden jars) so connected that they may be charged and discharged simultaneously.
- n. An apparatus for generating voltaic electricity.
- n. A number of similar machines or devices in position; an apparatus consisting of a set of similar parts
- n. A series of stamps operated by one motive power, for crushing ores containing the precious metals.
- n. The box in which the stamps for crushing ore play up and down.
- n. The pitcher and catcher together.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of battering; attack or assault, with the view of beating down, as by a battering-ram or by ordnance.
- n. In law, the unlawful beating of another. The least degree of violence, or even the touching or spitting in the face of another, in anger or insolence, constitutes a battery. Every battery includes an assault, though an assault does not necessarily imply that it must be such as to threaten a battery. See assault.
- n. The instrument or agency employed in battering or attacking: as, a battery of guns; a battery of abuse. Specifically
- n. Milit.: A body of cannon for field operations, consisting generally of from 4 to 8 guns, with complement of wagons, artillerymen, etc. The armament of a ship of war: as, the Colorado's battery consists of 46 nine-inch guns.
- n. The personnel or complement of officers and men attached to a military battery.
- n. In fortification, a parapet thrown up to cover the gunners and others from the enemy's shot, with the guns employed; a fortified work mounting artillery.
- n. In base-ball, the pitcher and catcher together: as, the work of the battery was excellent.
- n. In frictional elect., a number of Leyden jars usually arranged with their inner coatings connected together, and their outer coatings also connected, so that they may all be charged and discharged at the same time.
- n. In voltaic elect., a voltaic cell, or more properly a number of voltaic cells (see cell) arranged together so as to give a powerful current of electricity.
- n. In optics, a series of lenses or of prisms, as in the spectroscope, combined in use.
- n. In machinery, an assemblage of similar constructions or parts: as, a battery of boilers; a battery of stamps in a stamping-mill; a battery of sugar-kettles.
- n. In the manufacture of nitric acid, a combination of large bottles and carboys serving as a condensing apparatus for the acid vapors.
- n. In hat-making, a large open boiler containing water to which some sulphuric acid has been added. It is surrounded by planks which slope toward the center, and is used in felting.
- n. Metals, or articles of metal, especially of brass or copper, wrought by hammering; hammered metals or utensils; especially, apparatus for preparing or serving meals; all metallic utensils of service for the kitchen. Compare batteria.
- n. An oblong box submerged to the rim in the water, used as a boat, and for concealment, by persons engaged in shooting wild fowl; a sink-boat.
- n. In coal-mining: A structure built of timber, to keep the coal in the breast or prevent it from sliding down the shute. A platform on which miners stand while working in thin and steeply pitching beds of coal.
- n. In lumbering, two or more donkey-engines for dragging logs, set at intervals on along skid-road.
- n. In indigo-manuf., a series of vats which are conducted as a unit. They may be either steeping-vats or beating-vats. See vat.
- n. A set of stamps in a stamp-mill, comprising the number which fall in one mortar.
- n. In cœlenterates, a group of stinging-cells.
- n. A shield or shelter designed to hide the shooters in a grouse-drive; a butt used on English and Scotch moors. They are usually formed of blocks of peat or turf, cut with a spade and built up in the form of a wall, circular, horseshoe, or semicircular in shape.
- n. In harpsichord music, an effect produced by striking a chord in quick repetition for greater sonority. It was indicated by prefixing a vertical curve to the notes of the chord.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target
- n. a device that produces electricity; may have several primary or secondary cells arranged in parallel or series
- n. a unit composed of the pitcher and catcher
- n. group of guns or missile launchers operated together at one place
- n. a series of stamps operated in one mortar for crushing ores
- n. an assault in which the assailant makes physical contact
- n. a collection of related things intended for use together
In the arrangement of Figs. 11 and 12 the battery has no metallic connection with the line, so that it is called a _local battery_.
If BNP IS met i will throw in a d60 battery grip+ one 3rd party battery+ Lowre 180 ex bag
[U3] der engineer Don Jaime, employed in continuing the communication to the gallows battery, and fix hundred on that battery, and ftrengthening the ground of the mortar battery*
this also means that the 9-volt is the only battery in the grocery stores that is actually a *battery*, i.e. a plurality of separate cells working together, rather than a single cell. you can make a lot of friends in the world by saying, "i don't like to be pedantic, but that AA really isn't a battery, you know; just a cell."
The term battery is frequently applied to a single voltaic cell, but this term is more properly used to designate a plurality of cells joined together in series, or in multiple, or in series multiple so as to combine their actions in causing current to flow through an external circuit.
It has, however, become common, though technically improper, to refer to a single cell as a battery, so that the term battery, as indicating necessarily more than one cell, has largely lost its significance.
Sunday, March 29 2009 yeah the app must be open all the times. the battery is a drain. wait and see how it sucks up power.
And it may not be just for vehicles - the battery is also being tested for use in wind and solar applications.
Even when the battery is at 100% - it still says “charging”.
Power for charging the battery is another problem.


The General Paper is one of the most important subjects in the ‘A’ level curriculum — it is a necessary component Universities look at when deciding whether or not to admit you. Moreover, mastering the GP also helps your essay-based exams like economics and other humanities.
It is never too early to begin improving your GP, however, like all language subjects, obtaining a distinction requires consistent practice. It is not a subject where students can ‘burnt the midnight oil’ to memorise essays and expect to ace the GP paper the next morning.
Doing well in GP is not difficult, but it requires a lot of reading, correct analysis of the text (often termed critical analysis skills), and know how apply the paragraphing formats correctly — topic sentence structures, arguments, examples, etc.
Exam Preparation Skills
Most students take tuition to do well in the exams. We understand this. That’s why our private tuition syllabus closely follows the syllabus of the G.P. Exam Classes, with the additional benefit that 1-to-1 tutors usually are able to move at a faster pace. For Paper 1, we train students to break-down and evaluate the question, draft a mind-map, hash out ideas and issues, formulate an argumentative strategy, and then do paragraph planning. In Paper 2, we teach you critical reading methods. We also show you how to correctly paraphrase “in your own words”, how to write concise summaries, and how to write a correct response to the AQ.
Reading is the most important factor in improving your language proficiency. Our teachers will train you to read critically, and think analytically. Reading casually allows us to glean information presented by the text. In contrast, critical reading is the ability to evaluate a piece of text for its argumentative flow, its logical premise, as well as to decipher the author’s bias(es) and motivations. Our teachers coach students into intelligent critical readers. We walk students through opinion articles, comprehension passages, and scholarly journals. Students who practice critical reading skills almost always score above their peers in the examinations.
FUN FACT: By learning speed reading, students are able to read at up to 450 words per minute. It takes a proficient student just 3 minutes to read a whole comprehension passage. And the taken to re-read the passage for the summary and AQ is even shorter, at about 2 minutes each.
Argumentative and Persuasive Writing
Writing is the ability to project and assert your own ideas. The ability to write proficiently and persuasively is invaluable. To perfect your essay, our tutors will guide you in the use of grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, transitional phrases, and paragraphing. Learn to write concisely yet accurately to score at the short questions. Your summary and AQ will be content rich and grammatically flawless. With better students, we may impart advanced writing skills similar to those taught in graduate school.


Osteoarthritis is becoming increasingly common with more than 4.4 million people in Canada living with osteoarthritis; with hip osteoarthritis affecting approximately 3% to 8% of the general population.
If you have osteoarthritis, know that you are not alone. With the appropriate care, many people live meaningful, productive, and pain free lives despite this diagnosis.
The hip joint connects the thigh bone (femur) to the pelvis. This connection occurs between the head of the femur, which is shaped like a ball and the acetabulum of the pelvis, which is shaped like a cup. The acetabulum is a cup-like depression on the pelvis. It is found on either side of the lower pelvis and faces away from the body. The cup is deepened by a cartilage rim – called the labrum which helps with load distribution and stability in the hip.
The head of the femur and acetabulum are covered in smooth articular cartilage, allowing the hip joint to move freely and smoothly. Articular cartilage is thicker at the places of weight bearing providing a low friction environment and cushion.
The hip joint is surrounded by a thick joint capsule and several ligaments. They help provide stability to the joint. The joint capsule releases synovial fluid which helps to lubricate the joint surfaces.
Finally, muscles from the trunk and thigh cross the hip joint providing movement and stability.
Osteoarthritis of the hip involves changes to all the tissues in the joint, including cartilage, joint fluid, and bone. These changes can sometimes (but not always) lead to pain, stiffness, and decreased mobility. While these joint changes aren’t necessarily reversible, with the right treatment and lifestyle changes, many people are able to take control of their symptoms and significantly improve their quality of life.
What are the symptoms of hip osteoarthritis?
- Hip pain
- Hip swelling
- Sensations of stiffness in the hip joint
- Decreased range of motion in the hip joint
- Sensation or audible grinding/clicking/a “noisy” joint
- Decreased function that limits your ability to participate in daily activities
Does hip imaging tell me how much pain I will have?
You may be surprised to know that when it comes to hip osteoarthritis, we can’t look at an x-ray and know how much pain you will have or if you are going to have pain at all.
Sometimes a person will have severe pain but very minimal changes to their hip on their x-ray.
In other cases, someone will have significant changes on their x-ray but have no hip pain whatsoever.
The key here is that, in many cases, you can improve your pain, symptoms, and quality of life without changing how your hip looks on an x-ray.
How is hip osteoarthritis diagnosed?
Hip osteoarthritis is typically diagnosed by your healthcare provider by taking a detailed clinical history (i.e., asking you a variety of questions), performing a physical exam (i.e. feeling how your hip moves and watching you move), and by getting weightbearing x-rays of your hip.
Should I get an MRI?
Research has shown that relatively inexpensive x-rays provide enough detailed information for doctors to confirm the diagnosis of hip osteoarthritis, determine its severity, and make appropriate treatment recommendations.
Believe it or not, rarely do more expensive MRIs provide any additional information to manage your osteoarthritis.
Why did I develop osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis can develop because of several contributing factors.
These are some of the most common reasons individuals develop osteoarthritis:
- Sex (females are more likely to develop osteoarthritis than males)
- Increased age
- Past injury or surgery to the hip joint
- Substantial weight gain or obesity
- Joint alignment
- Movement and physical activity
Managing Hip Osteoarthritis
There are many options to begin to treat your osteoarthritis and optimize your joint heath, but it is important to understand that not all options are created equally.
Some treatments are proven to be more effective and worthwhile than others, and some options are recommended to be explored first before others are trialed.
Think of managing your hip osteoarthritis as a personal lifelong journey. The individual journey may look quite different for each person, but there is an ideal pathway to optimize your joint health.
Patients should first receive osteoarthritis education, exercise therapy, appropriate diet and weight loss if needed, and lifestyle education.
Additional use of supportive devices (gait aids, knee braces, etc.) may be beneficial. When these strategies no longer offer acceptable pain relief, drug therapies (painkillers and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are considered the next step.
Lastly, joint injections may be recommended to you by your healthcare professional.
Kristen Barton, MD, PhD, MSc, BSc (Hons), CSEP-CEP
Orthopaedic Surgery Resident, Western University
Adjunct Research Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary
Founder, Joint Management


- The level switch consists of a microswitch inside a plastic box, covered by a flexible membrane.
- The level switch is used for indicating, controlling, and regulating the level of granulated or powdered dry materials with a grain diameter up to 30 mm and a density of 0,3 to 2,5 g/cm3, flowing through a silo, hopper or conduit.
The device must be mounted so that the flexible membrane is exposed to the product whose level should be controlled, in such a way that the product, if present, can press the membrane. When this membrane becomes covered up by the product, it moves under the product pressure, thereby working the microswitch. The device must be connected to control signals or to mechanisms driving the product transportation systems, like feeding, unloading, etc.


- Heli Luokkamäki, Project Manager
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What is it all about?
Teachers' professional skillsets require constant updating due to the changing world around us. Teachers are the ones who teach students how to face the changing world. They are the ones who are required to learn new things so that they can use them in class.
Digitalization is a rapidly evolving phenomenon affecting people and their environment. A world with more and more technology requires teachers to become familiar with ICT, adopt it and develop their own skills to use it. This is the only way to update teaching to the present day according to requirements and in a pedagogically meaningful way.
Learning new skills requires energy and time, as well as courage. There are also preconceptions towards digital teaching methods and their introduction that it will be difficult and pointless for many teachers. Teachers should be provided with accessible, multi-level training, as well as support in developing their ICT skills and incorporating them into their teaching.
Teacher peer coaching is an excellent way to develop the pedagogical ICT skills of the teaching staff. In teacher peer coaching, ICT skills are taught by other teachers, their peers. These tutors are trained teachers, who have the pedagogical understanding and knowledge of what the challenges and opportunities found in everyday classrooms are. Learning is also easier when the teacher is your peer instead of an outsider who might not understand how classrooms work.
In addition to the actual training, the tutoring teacher will assist teachers in facing unexpected technical problems and provide ideas for using digital tools pedagogically. As a result of sharing ideas and training, a teacher does not have to spend so much time on studying new technologies from scratch.
This innovation shows you how to implement peer coaching both in your local area (e.g. the municipality or school district) and in your school on the more practical level.
The steps include the main stages of getting started and organizing the activity, which can be modified for your area or school. The examples described come from peer coaching in the city of Vantaa.
The innovation combines peer teaching, user training and support for the use of digital devices in an interesting way.Impact
Information and communication technologies are incorporated into teaching in a genuinely useful way.Scalability
The innovation can be used in any school which has ICT resources and the time to put aside for the project.


This course aims to prepare students to discuss major themes in Conservation Biology, critically examine a range of sources to draw informed conclusions, and creatively develop solutions for the future. The course has three main parts. First, it provides students with an understanding of the precepts of Conservation Biology – the distribution and importance of biodiversity, evidence as to the extent to which biodiversity is in decline, and reasons why it is in decline. Second, it considers whether decreasing biodiversity matters, philosophically and practically. Finally, using a range of case studies, it explores how biology can be harnessed to identify potential solutions. Case-studies will cover a range of approaches that combine socioeconomic and biological insights, for example, ecological restoration, sustainable harvesting, agrienvironment schemes, and marketing of ecosystem services.


New Species Of Prehistoric Giants Discovered In The Sahara
|ScienceDaily (Dec. 17, 2008) — Dinosaur hunters on a month-long expedition to the Sahara desert have returned home in time for Christmas with more than they ever dreamed of finding.
They have unearthed not one but two possible new species of extinct animals. Their success marks one of the most exciting discoveries to come out of Africa for 50 years.
The team have discovered what appears to be a new type of pterosaur and a previously unknown sauropod, a species of giant plant-eating dinosaur. Both would have lived almost one hundred million years ago.
The palaeontologists discovered a large fragment of beak from a giant flying reptile and a more than one metre long bone from a sauropod, which indicates an animal of almost 20 metres (65 feet) in length. The discovery of both is extremely rare.
The expedition was composed of scientists from the University of Portsmouth, University College Dublin (UCD) and the Université Hassan II in Casablanca and was led by UCD palaeontologist, Nizar Ibrahim.
Ibrahim, who is an expert on North African dinosaurs, said: ““Finding two specimens in one expedition is remarkable, especially as both might well represent completely new species.”
Dr David Martill, a reader in Palaeobiology at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Plant eaters are uncommon in this deposit, extremely rare in this region and to find one this large is very exciting. It’s a major discovery.”
For Martill it was also significant because it marked a successful conclusion to a quest begun almost 25 years ago. In 1984, driven back by sandstorms, his original mission to find a sauropod came to a halt just 20 miles away from the area of desert he had pinpointed as ripe for excavation. He returned empty handed but was left itching to retrace his steps.
A quarter of a century later he unearthed the dinosaur that eluded him so long ago, together with fellow enthusiast, Ibrahim to whom he is passing the baton.
Ibrahim will undertake the detailed analysis of the sauropod bone, which both scientists expect is a new species and genus of the sauropod family.
“From our initial examination on site, we’re almost certain that we have a new species on our hands,” said Ibrahim, who will spend the next six months examining all of the fossils and writing about them for his PhD thesis.
He will also examine the pterosaur remains which are particularly uncommon because their bones, optimised for flight, were light and flimsy and seldom well preserved.
He said: “Most pterosaur discoveries are just fragments of teeth and bone so it was thrilling to find a large part of a beak and this was enough to tell us we probably have a new species.”
The team spent a month in the desert and travelled over five thousand miles by Landrover in an epic overland trip which has taken them through the Atlas mountains and has seen them battling sandstorms and floods in an Indiana Jones-style quest.
Having discovered the giant sauropod bone they had to return to the nearest town to get more water and plaster with which to protect it, a trip which involved crossing flooded rivers in their Landrover at night with water coming in through the doors.
During their fieldwork they were cut off from civilisation for 4 days when heavy rain in the Atlas mountains flooded the river Ziz. To retrieve the bone they had to manhandle the fossil in its plaster jacket down the side of a mountain, clearing thousands of stones to make a safe path to carry it on a wooden stretcher.
“There was a point when we wondered if we would make it out of the desert with the bone, but we had worked so hard to find it so there was no way I was leaving it behind. It took us 5 days to get the bone out of the ground and down the mountain – and that was not the end of our problems,” said Ibrahim.
Dr Martill added: “When we had managed to get the bone in the Landrover the extra weight meant we kept sinking in the sand dunes and on several occasions everybody except the driver had to walk while we negotiated difficult terrain. Our journey home was equally eventful. While crossing the Atlas mountains we got caught in a snowstorm and total whiteout. But it’s all been worth it.”
The team were also excited to discover some rare dinosaur footprints, including some that record several animals walking along the same trail.
As well as discovering hundreds of dinosaur teeth, they also unearthed bits of giant crocodiles and some new species of fish.
Ibrahim said: “It’s amazing to think that millions of years ago the Sahara was in fact a lush green tropical paradise, home to giant dinosaurs and crocodiles and nothing like the dusty desert we see today. Even to a palaeontologist dealing in millions of years it gives one an overwhelming sense of deep time.”
The team also included Moroccan scientists Prof Samir Zouhri and Dr Lahssen Baidder as well as Portsmouth researchers Dr Darren Naish, Dr Robert Loveridge and Richard Hing.
Prof Samir Zouhri, head of the Department of Geology at the Université Hassan II in Casablanca said: “Nizar Ibrahim is a very determined researcher and I knew that he would have success on this trip, but these fossils exceeded our expectations. It is wonderful that we have made these siginficant discoveries and that they will return to Morocco for display after study in Dublin.”
The sauropod and the pterosaur were found in south-east Morocco, near the Algerian border.
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The study also found that if a child has been breastfed for at least four months, introduction of solid foods does not increase any obesity risks for the baby.
Viewing all articles about breastfeeding
Based on the barriers or troubles mothers may experience, Dr. Regina Benjamin, the U.S. Surgeon General, is working to make breastfeeding an easier process for women.
Researchers explain that babies who remain entirely on a breastfed diet for the first six months of life notice higher risks of being iron-deficient and for developing food allergies.
Mothers who did breastfeed their children appear much less likely to have diabetes than mothers who did not breastfeed.


This guest blog is from Paul Hemphill, a private college admissions coach and financial aid specialist.
He has created six DVDs and written two books about strategies that make students stand out in the college application process. They are available from Amazon. This post offers Paul's perspective on preparing for the college admissions process.
- Begin the admissions process no later than the 9th grade. That is, start speaking about college. And sparingly. This is no time for so-called "boot camps" for college admission that do nothing more than create stress for the student and line the pockets of enterprising admission gurus. Occasionally mention college as an inevitable future experience. Mention something productive of your own college days as a hint of the good things that can be expected of the college experience. In other words, begin creating the culture of college as an expectation of new discoveries to be embraced. It's aging well, teen-style.
- When your child’s applications arrive in the room of the admissions committee four years later, it’s Showtime: the decision to admit your student will take no longer than 30 minutes. “Today, it’s a complicated and prolonged dance that begins early,” says J. D. Britz, dean of admissions and financial aid of Kenyon College...“there is little margin for error: A grade of C in Algebra II/Trig? Off to the waitlist you go.”
- Olympic athletes begin practicing their sport four years before their Showtime, which takes a lot less than 30 minutes, with very little margin for error. Your student’s preparation for admission success will take the form of fatigue, long hours, boredom, and little recognition until their qualifying moment arrives. The difference is that your student will more likely win the gold, which means admission to college.
- A student should specialize in one activity; texting isn't one of them. As an Olympic athlete must practice for only one event with total commitment, a student should specialize in one activity or talent that demonstrates a real interest, passion, or the student’s uniqueness. Limiting focus will allow for more time to study and to improve grades. Creating a limited but strong profile - a theme - gives the colleges what they desire.
For example, if the student enjoyed working on political campaigns, his theme would be politics; if she enjoyed ballet, her theme would be dance; if it were playing the guitar, the theme would be music; if it were soccer, sports is the theme.
- The student’s mission is three-fold: to get good grades, good test scores, and to demonstrate a theme.
- Commitment is the operative word here. Ideally, colleges like to see evidence of leadership. But if you were never a captain or a president, a college admissions committee wants to see how you’ve managed your time and focused your efforts. Colleges want to see evidence of your passion for something. They want you to be part of a mosaic they are creating for a new freshman class.


This is an icon. The purpose of this image is to help us practice our faith. The picture has text that names each person. This is because the painting is not supposed to be beautiful, it is supposed to guide us, to help us understand our relationship with Mary and the Catholic Church. An icon has a very clear, concrete, meaning. Our Lady of Perpetual Help shows us that Mary is always here to comfort and protect us, just as she comforts the baby Jesus when he sees how he will die. Can you remember some of the ways the icon shows this?
We also looked at Sengai’s “Circle Triangle Square.” This painting is also like an icon, but it comes out of a different religious tradition, Zen. The image is very abstract. It expresses and idea for us to try and understand ourselves. The Catholic icon presents us with an image to pray to and venerate.
Both images are painted on gold. Gold shows the special, holy, nature of the subject of the paintings. Gold also allows the paintings to glow in the dim light of a church or temple. Because of their special purpose these images are supposed to be seen in special places, not our homes but “god’s home.”
Unknown. (13th Century). Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Rome. Esquiline Hill.


A failure of bladder control it is a common and often embarrassing problem in the urinary incontinence. The severity ranges from rarely leaking of the urine when you sneeze or cough to having an urge urination that will be so sudden and strong. It may happen to anyone, but it is more common with aged women and men. Women who experience UI more often than men.
Some people may experience rare and minor leaks of urine. Others may wet their clothes very often.
There are 4 main types of incontinence:
Urge incontinence is due to overactive bladder – patients who are having this problem may have a sudden, intense urge urination following by an automatic loss of urine. You may need to urinate frequently, throughout the night.
Stress incontinence by a poor closure of the bladder – leakage of urine when you may put exert pressure on the bladder by lifting or exercising, coughing, laughing, sneezing.
Overflow incontinence by either poor bladder contraction or blockage of the urethra- You may experience frequent or stable dribbling of urine because of the bladder that doesn’t empty totally.
Functional incontinence because of medications or health problems making it hard to reach the bathroom.
The most frequent causes are: central diabetes and nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, polyuria, primary polydipsia (too much fluid drinking), diabetes mellitus. Enlargement of prostate gland is the main common cause of incontinence in men above the age of 40, Disorders such as Parkinson’s disease multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, strokes and spinal cord injury may also interfere with nerve function of the bladder.
Urinary incontinence was diagnosed by physical examination like if tumor that blocks the urinary tract, poor reflexes or sensations and stool impaction which may be confirmation of a nerve-related cause. A test that is performed frequently to measure the bladder capacity and residual urine for indication of poorly functional bladder muscles and blood tests, stress test, urinalysis, ultrasound, cystoscopy, Urodynamics.


Anyone who has tried to lose weight has heard the age-old formula: eat less, exercise more. This is intended to create a calorie deficit, where the body is using up more than it's taking in. The idea is to coerce your body into burning stored fat, but for many people low-calorie dieting ends up burning them out long before the fat is gone. This is not because of a lack of self-control or willpower. It happens because the very fundamentals of low-calorie dieting are downright wrong.
For people trying to lose weight by cutting calories, food suddenly becomes the enemy instead of a means to genuine health. Hunger pangs become a sign of success instead of a sign the body is craving nourishment. This kind of twisted reality - a world where we desire starvation to maintain a healthy weight - is contributing to modern disease and misery.
No one can actually say a certain amount of calories is right for everyone. There are many factors that can influence how many calories you need, such as genetics, lifestyle, exercise habits, etc. It's interesting to note the World Health Organization declared that starvation begins to occur under 2,100 calories per day, a number far more than most dieters assume they need. While we work so tirelessly to end starvation in third-world countries, in Western society we are starving ourselves on purpose.
To avoid the disaster of low-calorie dieting, we must define the term "low-calorie." It has come to have different meanings over the years. Not long ago, 1,200 calories per day was the standard number for dieting, and 800-calorie diets were not uncommon (900 calories, by the way, was the typical diet fed to prisoners in concentration camps during the second World War). These very-low-calorie diets still exist today. So many people cut back to 1,600 calories per day and assume this is not low-calorie dieting. This is an illusion. If you are eating less than your body needs to function at its best, then you are low-calorie dieting. When you are eating less than you need, your body perceives it as a signal of starvation. It is a simple, biological fact.
The idea of calories in versus calories out is a complete myth. The body is far more complex than that. There are hundreds upon hundreds of activities performed in your body at any given time - it needs fuel to perform these functions. If your body is not receiving the materials it needs from your diet, then it has no choice but to take from its only other source - itself. Most people assume your body will only use its stored fat for its various needs, but this is not true. Your body will also draw from your bones, muscle tissue and organ tissue. You may lose some fat, but it will be at the sacrifice of vital living tissues. This is not a good state to be in, so your body slows down your metabolism to prevent its own destruction. After all, your body has one natural instinct - to survive.
Many people who have been on low-calorie diets experience side effects like fatigue, depression, hair loss, dry skin, poor memory, difficulty concentrating, mood swings, irregular menstrual cycles and a lack of interest in sex. Over time symptoms worsen and the body weakens until illnesses and allergies become frequent, and eventually degenerative diseases are more likely to occur. This deterioration may be fast or slow, depending on how extreme your diet is.
Another side effect of low-calorie dieting: when people focus on slashing calories, usually fat is the first to go - because fat has nine calories per gram, compared to four calories per gram in protein and carbohydrates. It may seem like a logical choice, but it's a poor one. The body treasures its dietary fat, which is used to coat every cell and is required for countless functions in the body. Getting plenty of healthy fats also satiates the appetite and prevents food cravings, so cutting them out does nothing but hinder weight loss efforts. Eliminating healthy, natural fats seems to exacerbate and accelerate all of the above-mentioned side effects of low-calorie dieting.
Eventually most people find it difficult to maintain a low-calorie diet, and after their diet many find they must eat fewer calories to avoid weight gain than before. Others continue on the low-calorie bandwagon, usually hitting a plateau which triggers them to "buckle down" and cut even more calories or exercise excessively to cause the coveted calorie-deficit. The body feels the effects of starvation even more, and fights back. At this point it often feels like your body is working against you - and you're right. It's fighting you with everything it has. The body will stop clinging so desperately to stored fat when it no longer fears starvation because it's receiving proper nourishment from food.
The idea of eating hundreds more calories every day may seem unusually generous to some, but it is not permission to eat irresponsibly. What's most important is making sure the foods you eat are natural, nutrient-dense choices. Choose whole foods - your body understands how to use these foods to their full advantage. Eat foods in the most natural state possible, and implement traditional practices like soaking grains, beans and nuts overnight before eating or cooking them. Avoid processed foods like refined grains, sugar, alcohols, aspartame, saccharin, monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrates and nitrites, and the rest of the gamut of food additives. These impair the body and prevent real nutrients from being utilized properly.
It's time to rethink the tired theory of low-calorie dieting. It's time to consider the fact that the body will quit hanging on to stored fat when it is properly nourished with healthy, natural foods it can use to rebuild. It's time to stop resisting food and realize it is the only path to healing.


Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare
Grammardog Teacher's Guide contains 16 quizzes for this Shakespearean play classified as a history. All sentences are from the play. Figurative language is as colorful as the character Falstaff ("as hot as molten lead," "It rained down fortune," "pluck drowned honor by the locks"). Allusions include mythology, religion and folklore (Phoebus, Diana, Hercules, Mars, Saint Nicholas, Adam, Merlin, Maid Marian, fairy, griffin, dragon).
An Easy Way To Support and Check Analytical Thinking and Reading!
Perfect for Distance Learning or Homeschooling.
These multiple choice questions based on text sentences from Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare are excellent teaching tools, providing the basis for thoughtful, engaging activities for your students.
This PDF downloadable Grammardog Guide for Henry IV, Part I contains 16 analytical multiple choice quizzes with a total of over 250 questions covering:


The Paris climate deal and Africa
Africa’s development and climate change experts are confident that the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change that was unanimously adopted last December in Paris will be a win for the continent. At the Paris summit, 195 countries agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and enhance adaptation in a way that will keep global temperature increase to “well below 2° C” and, more optimistically, to attempt to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
For Africa, the sweet spot in the deal is an agreement to allocate money to the adaptation and climate mitigation needs of developing countries. African negotiators had urged rich countries to build on the promise by developed countries to ramp up climate financing by $100 billion by 2020 for developing countries, in line with the 2012 Cancún commitment. They got their wish, plus more, because the Paris deal stipulates that the $100 billion commitment will be revised upward from 2025.
According to the deal, however, while the rich countries will dig deeper into their pockets, developing countries are required to make some contribution too. The second Africa Adaptation Gap Report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says African countries must raise up to $3 billion per year between 2016 and 2020. To ensure transparency, the climate deal calls for prospective financing information to be communicated every two years.
Prior to the Paris Conference, 189 countries — including every African country, submitted a national climate plan, known as the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, that spells out what they will do to address climate change, and what they will further do if financing is available. In Paris, countries agreed that they will submit updated plans every five years which will detail ongoing activities and efforts to achieve the goals in the Paris Agreement. Each plan is expected to be more ambitious than the preceding one.
Considering Africa’s comparably negligible emissions over the years, while climate change will impact Africa more than many other continents, the Paris Agreement’s adaptation financing plan and its strong review mechanism convey powerful statements of intent. The goal is for African countries to tap existing opportunities in adaptation and mitigation and to consequently achieve sustainable industrial development with minimal to zero emissions.
For example, tapping the continent’s vast renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind, could bridge the energy gap, support climate change adaptation and unlock income opportunities in Africa, according to the International Policy Digest, an independent foreign policy publication. The Digest advises African leaders to enhance agro-value chains through Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EBA) approaches, including agro-forestry, efficient irrigation and conservation
agriculture, in which soil is managed in ways that do not destroy its structure and biodiversity.
The 2015 Africa Progress Panel (APP) report, issued by a group of 10 distinguished Africans that includes former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, advocates for sustainable development in Africa and reinforces the need for a focus on renewable energy. The report states that sub-Saharan Africa’s energy poverty is high, with over 60% having no access to electricity while 80% lack access to clean cooking facilities. In the rural areas, where 70% of Africa’s poor reside, access to grid electricity is estimated at between 1% and 8%. Still, people in these areas pay 20 times more (estimated to be $10 billion annually) for unclean lighting sources, mostly kerosene lamps, than rich households connected to the grid spend on lighting, which further entrenches poverty.
In addition, Africa spends $50 billion yearly on oil subsidies, which mostly benefit the richest 40% of households. Considering that $50 billion is 5.7% of Africa’s GDP, which exceeds spending on health, redirecting such funds to low-carbon initiatives could go a long way toward improving living standards and even lead to environmental sustainability. Investments in clean energy such as solar and wind are the most economical for electrification in remote areas, and such investments enhance household savings and create jobs, maintains the International Policy Digest.
On solar, representatives from governments, business and civil society announced many new initiatives and commitments in Paris that included plans to mobilize up to $1 trillion per year—the so-called Clean Trillion—in solar investments worldwide, which is more positive news for Africa. In 2015 the renewable energy sector created 7.7 million jobs globally, an 18% increase from 2014. Though its share of renewable energy is still paltry, Africa can create a thriving electricity industry in addition to adding an estimated 2.5 million temporary and permanent jobs, according to the McKinsey Report, a global management consulting firm.
Africa has abundant sunshine, yet over 600 million Africans are energy poor. Demand for solar home systems (SHS) should continue to increase. Bangladesh’s example is inspiring: despite being one of the least-developed countries, Bangladesh’s SHS sector has created over 115,000 direct jobs and an additional 50,000 indirect jobs through investments in solar in rural areas. Africa’s governments can emulate Bangladesh by providing financial and technical support to renewable-energy businesses.
In addition, Africa’s poor households can save up to $8 billion annually through access to renewable options such as solar. By switching to clean energy, sub-Saharan African can lift between 16 million and 26 million people out of poverty, according to the APP report.
Clean energy benefits the environment. Leading up to 2040, Africa could achieve a 27% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, according to various projections. The Paris Agreement provides a policy framework as well as technical and investment support for the continent’s emissions-reduction efforts.
Given that the climate deal hammers on the need to restore no fewer than 127 million hectares of degraded land in Africa and Latin America, mostly through agro-ecosystems, the net gain for Africa could be increased agricultural productivity leading to food security, climate adaptation and income and job creation. Agriculture employs about 64% of all Africans, providing livelihoods for 70% of the rural poor, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Ecosystem-Based Adaptation–driven approaches enhance agricultural productivity and ensure that ecosystems are not damaged but continue to provide water, soil formation, insect pollinators, hydrologic regulation and other benefits. Applying these techniques in farming can boost yields by up to 128%, enhance ecosystems capacity and climate adaptation, lower climate-induced crop failure risks and increase farmer incomes.
Experts suggest that by providing farmers who practice Ecosystem-Based Adaptation with affordable financing, reliable and efficient access to markets and clean energy, agro-industrialization can be spurred to create as many as 17 million jobs and boost Africa’s agricultural sector, projected to be worth $1 trillion by 2030. The World Bank states that a 10% increase in crop yields translates to approximately a 7% reduction in poverty in Africa, and that agricultural growth is at least two to four times more effective in reducing poverty than commensurate growths in other sectors.
Implementing the deal
While commending the Paris Agreement, Africa’s development experts also acknowledge that the continent’s implementation record hasn’t been stellar. However, the general consensus is that Africa appears determined to implement the agreement. To start with, the African Union Commission (AUC) and UNEP have already established the Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly (EBAFOSA) as a policy and an implementation platform. This platform is expected to promote and support agro-value chains through an EBA-driven agriculture approach. To achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, countries will be urged to integrate these techniques in their agricultural policies and implementation.
Overall, the consensus is that the Paris Agreement is a win for all. For Africa in particular, it presents a unique opportunity to create and implement strategies that use new approaches and technologies to realize the dream of an environmentally sustainable and economically flourishing continent.
Richard Munang is an Africa climate change and development policy expert. Robert Mgendi is an adaptation policy expert. They are both with UNEP.


Pomegranates are a delicious, nutritious winter treat.
Behold the luscious, red pomegranate—it is a fruit rich in flavor and nutrients and is a delectable wintertime treat. A symbol of abundance and fertility throughout history, the pomegranate has achieved superfood status in recent years. It offers a wide array of nutritional benefits and adds a delicious, colorful element to any meal.
The pomegranate is a rich, red fruit about the size of an orange. The outer husk of a pomegranate is inedible; however, inside the fruit are hundreds of tiny seeds called arils. These tiny red seeds are loaded with antioxidants. Some people consume the seeds whole, while others prefer pomegranate juice.
The pomegranate was originally native to Iran and Northern India; however, it has been cultivated in the northern hemisphere for centuries. Its peak season is between September and February.
Health Benefits of Pomegranates
Rich color in fruits and vegetables indicates a concentration of nutrients. Pomegranates are a vibrant, red color, so it’s no surprise that they are loaded with nutrients.
Pomegranates are rich in:
Pomegranates have been found to have many health benefits, including:
That’s a tall order for such a tiny seed. Researchers are scrambling to evaluate the benefits of pomegranates in scientific studies. Although numerous studies have identified strong health benefits associated with the consumption of pomegranates, it’s important to remember that pomegranate is no substitute for medical treatment. However, daily consumption of pomegranate seeds or juice can’t hurt and just might help promote health.
Pomegranate seeds and juice are a wonderful addition to the menu.
Tags: Fruits and Vegetables


“The mission of Talento Bilingüe de Houston is to educate all by preserving, presenting and promoting Latino culture. Founded in 1977 as a small troupe known as “Teatro Bilingüe de Houston” (Bilingual Theater of Houston), this non-profit organization has evolved into a Latino Cultural Arts Center that offers a year-round series of performing arts and […]
Tag Archives | Mexican Americans
During the 1990s, conservative forces in the country initiated a campaign to eliminate or replace state and local bilingual education policies with English only ones. Proponents of bilingual education challenged these efforts in policy-making arenas, in the courts, and in the streets.
Sometimes life takes on an unexpected journey. Tatcho Mindiola, Jr., director of the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) and associate professor of sociology at the University of Houston, started out studying to be a businessman. Fortunately for the many students whose lives he has impacted, his own life took a different turn.
Second Ward was home to the extremely wealthy and extremely poor, bartenders and brewers, renters and ranchers, priests and politicos. The residents lived in a variety of situations ranging from traditional neighborhoods to suburban ranches. The area boasted one of Houston’s first churches, several early park and recreational areas, and the city’s first suburb.
Confronting Jim Crow Vol. 8, No. 1 (Fall 2010) Download PDF Letter from Editor 2 Guardians Against Change: The Ku Klux Klan in Houston and Harris County, 1920-1925 by Casey Greene 6 Illinois Jacquet: Integrating Houston Jazz Audiences . . . Lands Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie in Jail by Aimee L’Heureux 9 […]
To read the full text of this article by Ernesto Valdés that appeared in the Fall 2005 issue of Houston History, download the pdf version.
To read the full text of this interview by Jaun Manuel Galván that appeared in the Fall 2005 issue of Houston History, download the pdf version.
To read the full text of this article by Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez that appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of Houston History, download the pdf version.


(GETTYIMAGES)If your child has asthma, it can seem like youre fighting an invisible enemy. Youngsters with asthma often seem perfectly healthy, just like any other kid. But things most children can shrug offa simple cold or a bout of exercisecan land the asthmatic child in the hospital if the respiratory disease is not well controlled by medication.
Whats so maddening, as a parent, is not knowing if you have a lid on asthma. When that trigger comesbe it mold, pollen, dust, a cold, or pet catwill your childs asthma escalate out of control?
The bottom line is, its hard to tellbut not impossible. Your child may be coughing at night, but there are ways to tell how much coughing is too much. And, sure, your child may need to use a rescue inhaler, but if he or she needs it too often, its an indicator that he or she could be edging into the danger zone.
If your child is ages 5 to 11, you can use this assessment tool to help determine if his or her asthma is under control. (This tool, which was adapted from asthma guidelines issued by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in 2007, is not designed to replace a consultation with a doctor. Nor should it be used for children under age 5 or 12 and older.)
1 . My child has asthma symptoms such as coughing or wheezing:
A. No more than two days each week and never more than once a day (+1 point)
B. Several times a day on at least two days a week, or more than two days each week (+2 points)
C. Throughout the day (+3 points)
2 . My child has coughing or has wheezing that wakes him or her up at night:
A. Once a month or less (+1 point)
B. Twice a month or more (+2 points)
C. Twice a week or more (+3 points)
3 . My child needs to use his or her rescue inhaler or nebulizer:
A. Two days a week or less (+1 point)
B. More than two days each week (+2 points)
C. Several times per day (+3 points)
4 . When it comes to my childs daily life, asthma symptoms:
A. Never limit his or her activities (+1 point)
B. Cause some limitation (+2 points)
C. Extremely limit activity (+3 points)
5 . My child has had asthma symptoms so severe he or she needs a course of oral corticosteroids:
A. One time per year or not at all (+1 point)
B. More than twice per year (+3 points)
If your score is 5 points:
Based on symptoms alone, experts would consider your childs asthma to be under control. You should make sure your child continues to take medication carefully and correctly, and be sure to see your doctor within one to six months. Another way to measure asthma control is to check peak flow, which can be done at home with a peak flow meter. If peak flow is more than 80% of your childs personal best, asthma is under control. If its 80% or less, asthma is not well controlled.
If your score is 6 points or more:
Based on symptoms alone, your score suggests that your childs asthma is not as well controlled as it could be. Talk with your doctor as soon as possible to see if your child is taking the right amount and type of medication. Another way to measure asthma control is to check peak flow, which can be done at home with a peak flow meter. If peak flow is more than 80% of your childs personal best, asthma is under control. If its 80% or less, asthma is not well controlled.


The Environmental Protection Agency issued its latest report on the Methane to Markets program intended to encourage industries to capture “fugitive” emissions of the one heat-trapping greenhouse gas that is a valuable fuel, methane. (Nearly all of natural gas is methane.) The illustration above shows the emissions captured so far in international partnerships and those identified but not yet pursued. The gains are substantial, and — as we reported recently — often profitable. But there is still huge untapped potential for capturing emissions from gas wells, oil tanks, coal mines, landfills, livestock operations and other sources. If you missed it the last time around, click on the video here to see these leaks, which are normally invisible but are clearly revealed thanks to infrared photography. Michael Schlesinger, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, noted when he saw the images how they powerfully illustrated just how potent methane was as a greenhouse gas. The opacity to infrared wavelengths that makes it visible to such cameras is the property that causes it to trap radiation that would otherwise head toward space. In essence, this technology is kind of akin to the thought experiment in which I mused on whether the climate challenge would be easier to grasp if CO2 were pink.
While the Obama administration has delayed issuing rules requiring oil and gas companies to tally the amount of methane escaping around the country, other forces are likely to start pressing industry to move more aggressively to cut such emissions. One is pressure from lawmakers who have increasingly realized that the federal government is losing royalty payments when gas extracted on federal land is lost to the atmosphere.
At the behest of two congressmen, the Government Accountability Office has begun an analysis of federal revenue lost when natural gas produced on federal lands either escapes to the atmosphere or is burned in flares. The new study builds on one published in 2004 that pointed to the lack of decent estimates of such losses. In this case, the emitted gas is not only a climate threat and a lost source of company income, but also a loss to taxpayers, Dan Haas, a G.A.O. spokesman, told me. “Since it’s your asset and mine, you want to make sure they do it right,” Mr. Haas said. Watch for more here when that study is completed.
There is one last point about the untapped potential to capture this gas worth touching on here. A question that came up repeatedly during my reporting for the recent methane article was this: If it is such a no-brainer to catch the gas, why isn’t aggressive action already the norm instead of the exception?
There is strong evidence that the difference lies in corporate culture and leadership as much as technology. Some E.P.A. officials and employees of BP told me the importance of pressure from a company’s leadership is illustrated by BP’s changed operations at 2,300 gas wells in the southern San Juan basin, a rich region of gas deposits centered in northwestern New Mexico.
In the late 1990s, while many other oil and gas companies were still questioning science pointing to a dangerous human influence on climate, BP pledged to cut its direct emissions of such gases 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2010. By 2001, it had already met that internal goal, but the company kept pressing for more reductions.
Around that time, in its New Mexico fields, BP began shifting to systems that constantly monitored operations done periodically to purge liquids that can accumulate in a gas well and impede the flow of gas.
As with some 150,000 wells around the United States, most of the company’s 2,300 wells in that region are fitted with “plunger lifts,” small devices that periodically drop to the bottom of a well and then rise, carried by the pressure of gas below, forcing out liquids that are shunted to tanks at the surface.
Most plungers around the country operate on a set cycle, which can release large amounts of gas to the atmosphere. But BP started trying to fine-tune the liquid removal by adjusting software, hardware and standards to minimize releases.
Emissions declined sharply but leveled off around 2004. That was when Gene Desaulniers, the company’s climate change specialist for its operations in the western hemisphere, focused on the basin’s wells.
Working with the regional crew devoted to emissions reductions, Mr. Desaulniers found fresh ways to tweak operations so that by 2007, emissions had dropped to less than .01 billion cubic feet per year from 4 billion cubic feet a year.
He and other BP staff members have given presentations through the E.P.A. Gas Star program and say other gas-field managers seem eager to adopt the practices, which BP estimates return three times as much money as they cost.
But without a strong push from above, and a new culture pushing for stanching avoidable losses, they and E.P.A. officials say it will be hard to turn awareness into change in the country’s fast-spreading gas fields.


Notary Public Authority
We often ask questions about authority to signing agents, and the results are horrifying. Most Notaries do not know who is in charge of what. So, this article will sum it up clearly.
A Notary Public is a state appointed state official who is paid by customers, but whose “boss” or authority is the state Notary division. Many Notaries Public seem to be confused as to who their boss is, the one paying them or the one commissioning them. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the ones paying them often pay them for more than just Notary services as travel, pick up, drop off, and supervision of non-notarized signatures and packages seem to be part of the deal if you are a Signing Agent.
The Notary is the sole authority regarding what goes in a Notary certificate such as an Acknowledgment, Jurat, etc., what goes in the journal, what is allowed or not allowed, and how a notarization should be done.
It is common that Notaries have questions during a loan signing and direct those questions to the Lender or Title representative. This is okay for Title or Lending questions, but not for Notary questions where the Notary may only turn for help to their state Notary division, official Notary handbook, or perhaps the NNA hotline.
Notaries should NOT ask the Lender for Notary advice because:
1. The Lender is probably not a Notary
2. If the Lender is a Notary they might be in a different state
3. If the Lender is a Notary and in the same state they might not be knowledgeable.
4. If the Lender is a Notary, in the same state, and knowledgeable, they might (are likely to) give you advice that would make the job go more smoothly for them, yet have tremendous liability for you.
5. You are the one appointed to the job, so even if the person you are asking for advice is a Notary, they are not the one whose commission number gets put on the certificate, and you are the one going to jail if something goes wrong. Therefor, you have to know your laws and what you can and cannot do, etc.
Who can initial and where?
Any initials on a Notary certificate are done exclusively by the Notary Public. It looks like tampering if the borrower or anyone else makes marks on a Notary certificate. The borrower may initial documents, but not the Notary certificate or Notary section in or attached to a notarized document
The Lender is the “boss” of what happens with loan documents. If the Lender authorizes a change, initialing, cross outs, etc., on an actual loan document that is NOT in the notary section, that is up to them and they are the authority on that matter, not the Notary. The minute the issue becomes with a Notary certificate, then the authority swings over to the Notary (even if the Notary doesn’t have a clue what to do.)
The Title Officer
The appointed Title company might be a good source of information about how to handle any issues that might come up with Title documents or recorded documents. You can ask them if you have questions, but don’t let them answer Notary questions.
Issues of Preference can be asked to the Lender
Sometimes there is more than one legal way to handle a situation. If there is an error on a preprinted Acknowledgment, and your state allows a choice of crossing out & initialing vs. using a fresh Acknowledgment form, you have a choice. The Notary has the right to make that choice on his/her own and choose the option that he/she feels is more prudent or ask the Lender. However, this is a situation where the Notary can ask the Lender not for advice, but for preference. If the Lender would prefer a loose Acknowledgment stapled on to the document rather than crossing out & initialing the original form, the Notary can proceed accordingly.
The borrower has the right to sign, not sign, tell you where to park and more. Their preferences matter as well.
Your state Notary division decides what the laws are in your state, how they are explained or document in your official Notary handbook, etc. They are your boss, so you do whatever they say. Additionally, if you are weak on your Notary knowledge, that can lead to ending up in court as a witness, having your commission revoked, suspended or terminated. Additionally, it is possible to be convicted of a crime if you are thought to be involved in property related fraud, or if you filled out a form stating that an Oath was taken when in fact it was never taken which is a daily fraud that most Notaries engage in that is unacceptable.
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Editor’s Note: In British Logistics on the Western Front, 1914–1919 (Praeger, 1998), Ian M. Brown documents the problems of maintaining an army in the field; throughout that war, supply lines were strained to get food, equipment and ammunition forward. Early problems of adequate supplies were replaced by an inability to get the items from depots to where they were required. Some of these latter problems were blamed on “establishments” and other force-structure problems caused by stripping logistical-support units to meet the manpower needs of the fighting units. The decision to dramatically reduce the size of the BEF divisions in France helped reduced pressures. By stripping a battalion out of each brigade, and using the men freed as replacements, the BEF maintained its paper strength in divisions (though, in fact, the strength went considerably down) and, more importantly, also reduced its overall logistical requirements. But, as Brown writes:
The Canadian Corps successfully resisted this “downsizing” as its commander opposed the reduction vehemently. In fact, he managed to increase the effective size and strength of his divisions by using the manpower from the two [sic] Canadian divisions forming in Britain. This gave Haig a single very strong corps—four overstrength divisions amounting to some one hundred thousand men (forty-eight thousand infantry)—but it also gave his administration a supply problem, since the standard divisional pack could not supply a Canadian division. In spite of this trouble, it did not appear to cause great difficulty on the lines of communication. Indeed, it gets no mention in either the QMG’s or AG’s diaries.... (pp.165-166)
Buried in this passage lay two secrets. The four-battalion brigades perhaps (too simply?) explain the use of the Canadian Corps as Haig’s “shock troops.” But as Brown notes, how the Canadians maintained these larger formations is not clear from British sources (p. 177). The answer to this secret must be sought elswhere. One answer in F.R. Phelan’s “tumpline.”
"Army Supplies in the Forward Area and the Tumpline System: A First World War Canadian Logistical Innovation,"
Canadian Military History: Vol. 9
, Article 4.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol9/iss1/4


Cardinal Symbolism: Spiritual Meaning, Totem, Spirit, & Omens
Table of Contents
Cardinal Symbolism: All You Need To Know
When a red rose is used to signify romantic love or a white dove to symbolise peace, between earth and heaven, and a ladder as a symbol of this relationship it is an example of symbolism in action. Our understanding of the world has always been enhanced by the use of symbols.
In nature, we are presented with an unlimited number of possibilities to understand what it is attempting to convey to us. We, on the other hand, tend to overlook most of these possibilities as we get more engrossed in our daily routines. That trance may be broken with the assistance of bird symbols.
In addition to walking and swimming on land and water, these animals can also fly in the air, unlike humans. As a result of their liberation, they serve as a bridge between the heavenly and terrestrial realms.
Similar to this, we may learn a lot about various mysteries via the use of cardinal symbolism. The importance of cardinal symbolism cannot be overstated, from overcoming the worldly obstacles that keeps us bound, to connecting with our departed loved ones.
Cardinal Symbolism and Meaning
Colour, singing, and distinctive features all contribute to the Cardinal’s meaning. In Latin, the Latin word for “pivot” or “hinge” refers to a key moment in a person’s life. This finch represents a wide range of emotions, from passionate love to tenacious leadership.
Most birdwatchers characterize the song of the passionate Cardinal as a joyfully exuberant and life-affirming song amid tough conditions. Additionally, Cardinal symbolism has long been held in high regard, particularly in the Christian faith. As a result, they serve as a metaphor for both harmony and discord.
Cardinal Native American Symbolism
Native Americans think that cardinals are messengers of the spirits because of their deep links to their ancestors. In Native American tradition, cardinals are most often connected with love, romance, and monogamy. However, certain tribes, like as the southeastern tribe, believed that cardinals were the bringers of rain.
What Do Cardinals Represent in Native American?
It’s no secret that cardinals are passionately in love with one another. When a cardinal finds a partner, the relationship is meant to last a lifetime. This couple has a peaceful, musical, and healthy marriage. Duets between the male and female cardinals are sometimes sung by shouting out similar tunes to one other during difficult moments.
As a result of this, the indigenous legend held that seeing a cardinal in your path meant that you were about to get into a love connection. People in committed relationships should anticipate a revitalized sense of romance if they come across the red bird of marvels.
Some believe that the cardinals are a symbol of fidelity for those who have been unfaithful in their marriages. Because of the romantic mythology surrounding the lady and the red bird, the locals consider cardinals to be a message of love.
This lovely girl had many qualities, according to folklore, and a cardinal came upon her one day. It saw how lonely the damsel was and recalled this. The Cardinal came into a courageous Indian as he continued his quest.
It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to make friends with the bright youngster and persuade him into following them. The red neck escorted the lovely young man right to the maiden’s house, where she was waiting for him. Both the young lady and the young guy were fortunate enough to cross paths and instantly fell in love.
The Native American, Cardinal and the Number 12
For the Native Americans, the number 12 was considered auspicious. Because cardinals typically lay 12 eggs in their nests, the number 12 became connected with the birds. The fact that cardinals are year-round residents means that you can view them at any time of year, regardless of the calendar year.
If you happen to meet paths with a cardinal, the Native Americans think that good fortune will come your way during the following 12 hours, 12 days, or at 12 noon or 1 a.m.
Cardinal Christianity Symbolism
Many people believe that cardinals have a special link to Christianity. Because of the striking similarity between the red robes worn by the Catholic Church’s highest officials, known as cardinals, and the colour red, this might be the case.
Cardinals are seen as both a symbol of Christ’s blood and a message from our departed loved ones, depending on who you ask. There are whole books, journals, book clubs, and even websites devoted to this subject.
Studies on the matter have failed to show that the term “cardinal” appears anywhere in God’s word directly. Regardless of whether or whether the cardinals are a symbol of our ancestors’ love or the blood of Jesus, they are magnificent birds of God.
In the tale from Matthew, God tells us not to worry about what we’ll eat, drink, or wear. Every time we see a cardinal, we should remember this. In the Bible, a red cardinal is a symbol of God’s provision for those who put their trust in Him and follow His commandments.
Cardinal Celtic Symbolism
Because the Celts never saw the red Cardinal in the course of their everyday lives, they had no way of ascribing any significance to it. As a result, we know little about the Celtic cardinal symbology.
Cardinals in Dreams
When cardinals appear in our dreams, we are able to let go of our earthly constraints. They allow us to soar freely to the depths of our own selves, where there are no limits or restrictions. These birds were thus considered the closest to heaven by ancient and primitive societies.
How Will You Know If You Are Dreaming Of A Cardinal?
It is common for dream specialists to define the scenario as a good condition that you either don’t believe or are unaware of. This means that you will be astonished or stunned when you see a cardinal in your dreams and something fantastic happens that you didn’t anticipate.
What Does It Mean When God sends Cardinals in your dreams?
Our ideas and spiritual growth are symbolized by the presence of Cardinals in the air. They serve as a visual representation of the exchange of ideas and information. As a result, seeing a cardinal in a dream is often seen as a sign of hope.
Good things are likely to come your way, and you’re encouraged to pursue your goals. Cardinals have been interpreted by some dream interpreters as communications from the dead. Some dream interpreters believe that seeing a cardinal in your sleep signifies the dawning of fresh hope and love, since they are symbols of compassion.
Passion is symbolized by their brilliant red hue. A cardinal will appear in your dreams if you are ready to embark on a new romantic relationship.
Cardinal Encounters and Omens
By now, you should know that cardinals are a symbol of good fortune. Signs, on the other hand, are distinct from omens. While the red bird is a symbol of hope, the way it looks has a huge impact on its connotation.
When cardinals fly into your window, some believe it is a terrible omen and typically indicates the death of a family member. In contrast to signs, omens appear out of nowhere, with no prior warning or desire on your part. They lead us by surprise practically every time.
Because of this, they are very uncommon and of considerable importance. If an omen is out of the ordinary, like the vivid red hue and intriguing song of a Cardinal, you’ll notice it immediately away.
What Does It Mean When You See A Cardinal?
Seeing a cardinal is both strange and significant. It’s imperative that you keep an eye on where the Cardinal is resting or perching. A utility box, electricity line, or even firewood near one of these signifies that you need to start making adjustments and taking more effort than normal.
It is possible that the spirits are encouraging you to follow your heart’s desires if you observe cardinals flying over a body of water, such as a puddle. Spending more time on your creativity may be in order for you.
Cardinals Mythology and Folklore
The phoenix is often associated with the red cardinal in mythology and folklore. Among the many myths and legends about the phoenix is the Egyptian version of the red Cardinal or phoenix, a red bird that lives in the Arabian Desert.
The phoenix or the Cardinal were considered to be the birds of the sun by the Greeks. According to them, the sun would halt to listen to the exquisite music of the birds as they sang. Listening to the lovely music of the Greeks makes us feel a connection to them.
The Cardinal’s songs have a way of lifting our spirits and filling our hearts to overflowing. Natural tunes have the capacity to re-energize us when we need it most, but there are only a few of them. The Cherokee also thought the red Cardinal to be a favourable omen, based on its association with the sun.
According to Cherokee folklore, the first red bird was described as the sun’s daughter. The cardinal bird, they reasoned, was a metaphor for accurate weather forecasts. The book Flights of Fancy: Birds in Myth, Legend & Supremacy has a plethora of red bird meanings, myths and folklore.
Cardinal Spirit Animal
An extraordinary bird, the red cardinal is a rarity in the wild. Love is the most fundamental spiritual concept. When you’re about to embark on a new romantic relationship or any other life-altering event, the crow will appear as a message from the heavens.
According to some sources, the cardinal spirit animal appears to expectant parents at the beginning of their pregnancy as a guidance. The red bird serves as a reminder to value our individuality, be loyal to who we are, and appreciate the strength we possess inside.
The spiritual significance of a cardinal is a battle against fears. In this way, a loved one from “beyond” encourages and supports you as you work to achieve personal empowerment and success. People who struggle with anxieties benefit greatly by the presence of the cardinals.
Cardinal Totem Animal
Totem animals have a wide range of symbolic connotations throughout cultures, traditions, and time periods. Red cardinals, on the other hand, are a great option for a totem since they represent a person’s love of life, vitality, and joy.
Cardinals, in contrast to other birds, do not move south for the winter. Instead, they stand up and proud in the face of adversity and emerge stronger than before. Those who have the cardinal as their totem animal turn to them when they are feeling blue or down during the winter months.
All the wonderful things to come are symbolized by their vivid hues, which serve as a reminder of how light may always shine through the gloom of winter. Your totem animal is likely to leave you feeling out-of-place in whatever situation you find yourself in.
Your distinctiveness is symbolized by the use of the cardinal animal totem. There are two ways to stand out from the crowd: you either prefer to wear bright colours or you have a unique voice that attracts attention and can’t be ignored.
Cardinals also have a strong sense of respect, and those with a cardinal as a totem animal appreciate their house. Regardless of how tough a setback you encounter, you will always rise from the ashes. Whatever “it” is, you’ll stay with it to the finish since you’re innovative and dedicated.
In addition to having a strong sense of place, you’re also quite possessive of it. A person with a cardinal animal totem is a unique individual who is well worth getting to know.
Cardinal Power Animal
Cardinal is often referred to as a power animal for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s a new area to live or a new career, many find that cardinals are a fantastic way to navigate their way about. Because of Cardinal’s protective nature, humans may use that power to defend their region just as successfully as they would.
Cardinal is a year-round companion for those who are prone to mood fluctuations. The cardinal power animal aids individuals in a variety of health and well-being-related endeavours, including helping them better cope with life’s ups and downs.
People who are nervous about approaching a prospective spouse find cardinals reassuring. The power animal’s dedication and romanticism inspire the proper song in their hearts to assist them attract their ideal lover. Goals of distinctiveness, clarity, increased communication, responsibility, and readiness are also supported by a cardinal power animal.
Cardinal Tattoo Meaning
There are several meanings associated with the cardinal tattoo, and each one is as unique as the person who has it, as well as the design and location of the tattoo itself. Red cardinals, on the other hand, symbolise hope, love, passion, renewal, family, grace, and grandeur, among other things.
Cardinal tattoos are most often done in a naturalistic manner, although they may also be done in an abstract or watercolour style. Because of the vivid colours, many people like the abstract design. When done well, these tattoos may be rather ferocious.
It’s a symbol of family and territorial pride to have a cardinal bird tattoo in this realistic style. Even a simple pattern is difficult to miss when splashed with such a striking shade of red.
A lot of thought should go into what you want your tattoo to signify, how it will be obtained, and so on before having it. A bad design’s location might be as detrimental as the design’s flaws.
Cardinal Symbolism Conclusion
Cardinal birds are quite amazing. Many of the qualities that we humans strive for may be found in the animal kingdom. These include commitment and hope as well as strength, leadership and pride.
The cardinal sign is a strong animal spirit, but it is also a symbol of benefits for us humans. It’s as if God has given every one of us a unique source of inspiration and motivation. Be glad whenever you see this gorgeous creature.


Southern Violence During Reconstruction
Q&A: Southern Violence During Reconstruction
Historians describe the violent conditions that prevailed in the American South after the Civil War, as freed slaves and their former masters struggled to develop and control new social, political, and economic relationships.
What caused violence in the South after the war?
Eric Foner, Historian: Violence is endemic in the South, from the end of the Civil War onwards. There's sporadic local violence in 1865-65: contract disputes, disputes over etiquette. A black guy doesn't tip his hat to a white and suddenly people are shooting each other. People refuse to get off the sidewalk to let someone else pass. All sorts of local incidents produce amazing outbreaks of violence. The Freedman's Bureau in Texas has a register of murders with over a thousand in 1865-66 -- and they try to give the reason, you know. "Black man didn't tip his hat so I shot him." Things like that. And this is a sign of the instability of the whole racial system, and the fact that people are claiming new rights and others are resisting that.
Then, with the radical Reconstruction, you get political violence... You get organized groups -- the Ku Klux Klan and others, like the White League in Louisiana, the Knights of the White Camelia... whose purpose is to obstruct and destroy Reconstruction government, to assassinate or intimidate black and white Republican officials, to use violence to prevent people from voting. And this is quite widespread throughout the South. It's not a central organization. It's local groups all over the place. But they have the common goal of restoring white supremacy -- politically speaking, but also in many other areas. Blacks who get into contract disputes with their employers are often victims of the Klan. School teachers are victims of the Klan, people like that. In other words, they're trying to use violence to restore a system of white supremacy that's been disrupted by the coming of Reconstruction.
What kinds of violent things were happening ?
David Bligh, Historiant: [The Ku Klux Klan] would take people out of their houses or their cabins in the dark of the night, strip them out in a road, make them run down the road, make them sometimes lie on a rock where they would be whipped, where men would line up to whip them. Sometimes they would burn parts of their bodies.
These were sadistic tortures, the intention of which was -- we know this from testimony -- to stop these people from engaging in politics, to stop these people from trying to be independent economic actors, to stop these people from trying to get educated, from trying to be citizens.
The basic goal of the Ku Klux Klan was not this kind of sadism. It wasn't even murder. It was to put black people back into their place as the labor force of the South, and not much beyond, and to drive out of business the political force, the Republican Party, that was trying to take them to higher places.
...This is a part of American history that isn't easy to face. It tells us that we had a moment in our history when our politics broke down, our society broke down, our police power broke down; the government wasn't functioning sufficiently enough to protect one group of citizens from another who simply engaged in wanton vigilante violence of the worst kind. We don't like to face that. We don't even want to know about it. We like to believe we are a society of security and progress and improvement. Reconstruction makes us face an era when we were something else.
Who did the violence target?
Clarence Walker, Historian: The violence in the South... was directed at white Southern Republicans. It was directed at black people. It was directed even at people who were not ostensibly political... this was a war of terror, aimed at not only the suppression of black voters and black politicos, but also at whites deemed to be "race traitors."
In the South, any association with the Republican Party became a mark of social pariah-ness, to such a degree that people were terrified, because you had horrendous acts of violence against these Southern white Republicans: people being shot and lynched, and people having their homes burned...
I think we have to understand that the South was not monolithic, in some ways, about the process of Reconstruction governments; that there had been some white Southerners who had been active participants in this, but they were to pay now a terrible price as the federal government relaxed restraints upon other elements in Southern society.
Was there retaliatory violence against whites?
Dana Nelson, Historian: There was a growing awareness among the whites of the possibility that there could be an organized military resistance to their attempt to dominate the workers. They were living in counties where they were seriously outnumbered, at the polls and in their neighborhoods, by African Americans... [Fan Butler is] always being warned by friends in the North about the dangers, and she does understand there could be an insurrection, and for that reason she sleeps every night with a pistol by her pillow.
But, she says, she has enough confidence in the loyalty of the people who work for her that she really believes that if there was an insurrection, someone would tip her off and she would be able to get out of the way before she came to any harm. So she professes never to be seriously worried by this.