WASHINGTON - Amid old bones, chants and invocations in Spanish and a nearly forgotten Native American tongue, Pope Francis canonized 18th century Spanish missionary Junípero Serra a saint Wednesday, opening a misty window into the conquest of the American West.
The Mass before some 30,000 worshipers on the steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception gave Hispanic-Americans their first Roman Catholic saint, and made the "Apostle of California" the first person to be declared a saint on American soil.
But Serra's elevation to sainthood by the popular Latin American pope certainly wasn't universally embraced.
Even as the church holds up the Franciscan friar as a protector of native people and spreader of the faith from Mexico to California, he remains a contentious figure among Native American groups who protested bitterly against his elevation to sainthood.
"It's a day of mourning for us," said Valentin Lopez, chairman of California's Amah Mutsun tribal band, who presented a petition to Vatican officials in New York this week. "The church continues to not recognize the humanity of our ancestors and all indigenous people."
Native dialect used
At Wednesday's Mass, Vatican officials, who have long sought to atone for the injustices of the church against native people, blended traditional Latin liturgy with Old Testament verses read in Chochenyo, a dialect of the Ohlone language spoken by the Bay Area tribes that Serra evangelized.
Serra's physical remains - bones - were held in an ornamental reliquary presented to Pope Francis by Andrew Galvan, an Ohlone Indian whose ancestors became Christians at Mission Dolores in San Francisco.
To Galvan, participation in the canonization ceremony represented healing and reconciliation.
"I see this as a wonderful opportunity for the Catholic Church to reach out to native people, me included," said Galvan, a curator at Mission Dolores and one of Father Serra's advocates. "The legacy of Junípero Serra's canonization is that native people who have felt ostracized, excluded, left out from the story of the California missions, are invited in."
The strains swirling around Serra's canonization surrounded the 78-year-old pontiff even as he celebrated the open-air Mass under a late-afternoon sun glinting off the blue and gold tiles of the Basilica's massive dome.
Before the pope stood Vincent Medina, assistant curator at Mission Dolores, who read from a specially prepared translation of the prophet Isaiah in the Chochenyo dialect, a language he is helping revive.
Medina had publicly opposed Serra's canonization, but agreed to participate in the ceremony to honor his ancestors and lend visibility to his people.
Pope Francis addressed the native concerns in his homily: "Junípero sought to defend the dignity of the native community, to protect it from those who had mistreated and abused it. Mistreatment and wrongs which today still trouble us, especially because of the hurt which they cause in the lives of many people."
Serra's canonization took place hours after President Barack Obama greeted Pope Francis at the White House, and on the eve of his historic address to Congress on Thursday.
But administration officials steered clear of Serra and other social controversies, even as Vice President Joe Biden, the first Catholic vice president, attended the Mass.
"The pope sets his own agenda, speaks his own mind, and has his own pastoral mission," Obama adviser Ben Rhodes said in a briefing on the papal visit. "We would not in any way want to create any expectation that the Pope is going to be a voice in U.S. domestic political issues."
Other political figures were on hand, including Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, a convert to Catholicism, the religion of his Mexican-born wife, Columba.
The sanctification of a Hispanic priest by the first South American pope also brought throngs of Latin American Catholics to the Basilica - the nation's largest Catholic edifice.
"His support gives us a lot of hope," said 26-year-old Miguel Buleje, a "Dreamer" from San Antonio, whose undocumented parents brought him to the United States from Peru when he was 14.
Entire families lined the street outside the Basilica, clogged with worshipers who didn't have tickets. "He speaks our language. I am in heaven," said Maureen Morales, a 33-year-old Costa Rican immigrant from Virginia who stood outside the grounds with her mother and eight other family members.
Cause for reflection
But the canonization was also an occasion for reflection and vigils for many Native Americans across the U.S. who have protested and signed petitions opposing Serra, whom they see as a symbol of European colonialism.
"Father Serra was responsible for the deception, exploitation, oppression, enslavement and genocide of thousands of Indigenous Californians, ultimately resulting in the largest ethnic cleansing in North America," read an online petition that was signed by more than 10,000 around the world.
Lopez and other native activists - including members of the American Indian Movement - traveled to Washington and New York, where they met briefly with Vatican officials.
Among the activists was Norma Flores, who works with the Kizh Nation Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians in Los Angeles. "They said they're not canonizing the missions," Flores said of church officials. "They're canonizing the man and the good things he did."
Pope Francis has gone to lengths to apologize for the Catholic Church's treatment of indigenous people during colonialism. During a visit to South America in July, the pope acknowledged that "many grave sins were committed against the native peoples of America in the name of God."
Serra's critics contend he was a key player in the Spanish colonial system that decimated California's native tribes and their way of life.
"For me, Junípero Serra was the beginning of the end of who we were as a people," said Corrina Gould, a San Francisco activist who claims Karkin and Chochenyo Ohlone ancestry. "I think the pope has made some great leaps and bounds. He's been forward thinking about a lot of issues in the world, but he's really off the mark with this one."
Serra's defenders portray him as a man of his era - subject to human imperfection, but certainly more benevolent toward indigenous people than others in the Spanish colonial system.
"As others considered them savages, he considered them as human beings who deserved to know about God's goodness and love," said Rev. Kenneth Laverone, a Sacramento pastor who ritually recounted the missionary's life story as part of the canonization Mass. "That was his motivation. Unfortunately, there's always side effects that come with colonization."
Serra was born and educated on the idyllic Spanish island of Mallorca. In canonizing him without the usually required two miracles, Pope Francis credited the priest with giving up what certainly would have been an easier life had he not sailed off to Mexico in 1749. Serra worked his way up the West Coast until he arrived in present-day California, learning local languages and customs along the way.
In one sense, he was a Mexican immigrant.
"For those of us from America, the canonization holds a rich symbolism and spiritual significance," said Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, speaking at a Serra conference in May. "It is even more powerful and more personal for those of us who are Hispanic and Mexican."
Serra's legacy is built mostly around the last 15 years of his life in California, where he founded nine missions between San Diego and Sonoma. Native critics say the Spanish missions were inherently coercive and brutal, akin to forced labor camps.
But those who venerate Serra say he cannot be blamed for the larger history.
"There's no denying that the missions for the California Indians were an unmitigated disaster," Galvan said. "But I think what's happening now is Junípero Serra is getting the credit or the blame for all the things, good, bad or indifferent, that happened at the California missions in his time."
Record is mixed
This historical record is mixed.
Mission life in California was neither a "bucolic Arcadia" nor Auschwitz, according to Serra biographer Robert Senkewicz.
While there are letters suggesting that Serra upheld the practice of whippings, there is no evidence of his participation, and there are some documented instances where he tried to protect his charges from Spanish justice.
Like other Europeans of his era, Serra took a paternalistic view of Native Americans. "There is considerable evidence that he thought that coercion was an inevitable and important part of mission life, and that Indians should be punished for transgressing mission norms," Senkewicz said.
Native people were likely drawn to the missions for a variety of transitory reasons - protection, food, shelter - without necessarily knowing that from a Catholic theological point of view, once they were baptized it was a one-way street.
"You were not allowed to leave," Senkewicz said. Those who did leave the community without permission were subject to capture and punishment by Spanish soldiers.
But whatever the historical record, Senkewicz sees the debate over Serra being driven by more contemporary concerns. Separately from the canonization, California lawmakers have been debating whether to replace his statue in the U.S. Capitol with one honoring astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.
"Canonization is never wholly about the past," Senkewicz said. "There are reasons that at particular times, particular people get canonized. You don't have to read the pope's mind to understand that what they think they're doing is calling attention to the increasingly multi-cultural, Latin American nature of American Catholicism."


Those of us that can think back to Psych 101 recall the name Gestalt and his cognitive theory but educators focus on further work in this area put forth by Atkinson and Shiffrin that delves more into memory and how to place knowledge within the mind to make it more accessible. Have you ever driven past a bulletin board on the freeway and it showed an image of a dock and you were immediately brought back to a summer time memory - perhaps a family vacation? Your brain is at work! Just like a computer's filing system...so is the brain. I have an external hard drive that I use for photography. When I move photos from my camera to the drive i label them under a file for the event but then I also place images in folders I have named after specific people, like my daughter. If it is a family event I move that folder under the family name so I can find those events faster if a family member asks for pictures. When I have a photo under a person’s name, under the event label and then in a larger folder for family I'm able to locate that image easier.
That same theory works for information we place in our minds. The more connections I have attached to that piece of knowledge the easier it will be to retrieve it because I have built a solid network and moved it to long-term memory (Orey). If a person has interest in a topic than information makes many connections and can be located quicker. In this facet, different practices are recommended for educators to pique interest and stimulate thought. Teachers can ask inferential or analytic questions. Different organizers like; expository, narrative, graphic and skimming all offer different pathways. If a student can create a memory or pull from their own experiences that means they are pulling from their episodic memory which is a very powerful tool.
Dual coding theory proposes that visuals such as political cartoons and propaganda and even maps have word associations that can be attached to them so that students can file that information away in multiple areas of the brain. If teachers utilize graphic organizers or organizing software that presents these opportunities provide an added depth for the student.
Note taking can also be used to help information move from sensory input to long term memory. My students have worked collaboratively through Google Docs, Prezis, Wikis, as well as power-point. Through those experiences, they were taking the information in - synthesizing it and producing something new and creative with that knowledge. With that experience students not only tap into episodic memory when they go to retrieve it but they also rely upon declarative memory (facts) and procedural memory (how-to) when I offer them the opportunity to use any of those learning tools in the future. I recently started working with 7th graders in a literacy class and they are building their own webpages as well as creating their first Prezi. I know that both of those applications will be needed in two years when they reach the high school. The more we can create meaningful experiences for our students within our classrooms the more successful our students will be in actually recalling and using the knowledge that we want them to know.


Over the last few weeks, some children in school have set themselves challenges. These have included card tricks, feats of memory and juggling. As a result, we have decided to set up the Scotholme Book Of Records (similar to the Guinness Book Of Records). To be published over the half term holiday (February 13th - 21st), the first edition should open the doors to more amazing attempts to astound from our children. If you're feeling like breaking some records, get practising and think about our 5 Learning Habits and how you can show them in your record attempt (Collaboration, Curiosity, Discipline, Imagination and Resilience)!
If you've ever read Elmer, then you might know what an elephant parade is. If you haven't, look at the amazing photos and you'll see one! The parade needs to be seen to be believed - each class was challenged to build an elephant and after a lot of resilience, collaboration, discipline, imagination and curiosity, here they all are! Come back soon for more information about the elephants and look out for them in new homes in September!
Since 1st February 2017, Scotholme Primary is part of the Shine MAT.
KS2 Lead/ Website Maintained by:
Who's Who @ Scotholme
Click here to take you to the SumDog log in page.
Log into Active Learn (formerly Bug Club) to read at home! Ask your teacher for your username and password if you've forgotten it.
School code: jgcx
Log in to Discovery Coding for tasks you can do at home!


It's an ecosystem of products and services that prevents and reduces food waste creating an environmental conscious community.
Biogrün it’s composed of four Units and an App. The Conservation Unit to prevent waste, consists of five modules, the first is the Life Module that serves for the gestation of plants before being able to move them to Crop Unit. The Freshness module stores fruits and vegetables that don’t need too low temperatures, using evaporative cooling.The Dehydration module extends shelf life of fruits and vegetables creating a new product. The Fridge and Freezer module are for highly perishable foods and they use smart ethylene detectors for detecting early spoiling in stored foods and self registration to follow up on the expiration date.
The Organic Material Processing Unit, promotes domestic waste sorting and compost production to cultivate food in the Crop Unit, designed to facilitate urban agriculture, and conformed by a smart greenhouse system, self watering pots and a health sensor to follow up and facilitate the plants growing. It also consists of three modules adaptable to 3 kind of users (beginner, intermediate, expert) to cultivate and obtain harvest based on their experience. It helps the user to meet specific cultivation requirements for different crops (herbs, vegetables, tubers respectively) for a healthy cultivation process.
These units along with Distribution Units and the Mobile App facilitate the trade or sell of the obtained products like compost, vegetables and dehydrated fruits. All of them are connected to create a social network of people, public and private organizations, products and services in order to develop communities as well as sustainable cities.


Faxinalipterus was a pterosaur, a type of flying reptile. It was not a dinosaur, though it lived during the same period. Faxinalipterus lived during the Late Triassic and resided in South America. The first Faxinalipterus fossil was discovered in 2010.
Quick facts about Faxinalipterus:
- Existed from 228 million years ago to 208.5 million years ago
- Lived in a terrestrial habitat
- Only one specimen has been found by paleontologists
All the Faxinalipterus illustrations below were collected from the internet. Enjoy and explore:
- G. Brea and J. F. Bonaparte. 2005. A new specimen of Guaibasaurus candelariensis (basal Saurischia) from the Late Triassic Caturrita Formation of southern Brazil. In A. W. A. Kellner, D. D. R. Henriques, and T. Rodrigues (eds.), II Congresso Latino-Americano de Paleontologia de Vertebrados, Boletim de Resumos. Museum Nacional/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro


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Welcome to Sensory Direct
Gross Motor Skills involve the large muscles of the body that enable functions such as walking, sitting upright, lifting, and throwing a ball.
The development of this is important for major movement functions such as walking, balancing, coordination, jumping, reaching and more. We've found a great selection of products to develop these skills whilst integrating play.


Fifth Grade Curriculum
Fifth graders work hard on projects and tasks that require them to draw on the skills and strategies they have been learning in previous grades. Schoolwork becomes more advanced. Teachers will challenge students with long-term projects that require planning and organization. Additionally, fifth graders are preparing for Middle School, and special attention is given to making sure the students are ready for the changing expectations.


With the right skills, eating healthy can be affordable and delicious. Share your skills and your strength with families living on tight budgets.
While 85% of families living on a tight budget see healthy eating as important, only about half are able to prepare nutritious meals most nights of the week. Food skills taught in Cooking Matters, like smart shopping, meal planning and healthy cooking, can help make healthy eating a daily reality.
What You Can Expect
As a Cooking Matters volunteer, you’ll:
- Connect with a network of peers who share your passion for healthy food and community service
- Share your expertise in hands-on settings - the kitchen and the grocery store.
- Learn from the incredible families who participate in Cooking Matters.
- Draw from and contribute to a collection of chef-developed recipes which prove that healthy food can be delicious.
- Want to come back (98% of volunteers are willing to teach another course).
Cooking Matters at the Store Tour Leaders offer interactive, guided grocery store tours that help participants learn to make healthy purchasing choices on a limited budget. Using our guide and support resources, these leaders organize tours in their own communities – recruiting participants, choosing the tour location, and planning and leading the tour. Potential leaders might include registered dieticians and community nutritionists, culinary professionals, Cooperative Extension agents, and staff of community agencies who are interested in helping low-income families make the most of their food resources.
Cooking Matters Six-Week Cooking Course Instructors
- Culinary Instructors teach adults, kids, and teens how to cook and shop for healthy, low-cost foods. They combine their own knowledge and experience with the lesson plans and recipes provided in the Cooking Matters curricula. Culinary volunteers are usually either graduates of or enrolled in a two-year culinary training program or have at least two years working as a cook or chef.
- Nutrition Instructors teach adults, kids, and teens how to make healthy choices. They use the lesson plans and instructional materials provided in the Cooking Matters curricula, along with their own expertise. Nutrition volunteers are typically graduates of or enrolled in dietetics programs or have at least two years working in a nutrition or dietetics position.
Cooking Matters Six-Week Cooking Course Assistants help before, during and after classes. Duties may include shopping for food, handing out and collecting class materials, engaging reluctant participants, helping with set up and clean up, taking photos or collecting stories during class to help record the Cooking Matters course experience.


To measure liquids, you should always use liquid measuring cups and spoons. Liquid measuring cups are usually glass or plastic, and most have a spout for pouring. Avoid dry measuring cups when measuring liquids. They will not be as accurate and could make a difference in the outcome of a recipe, which is especially important for baked goods.
Remember that the fluid ounces marked on the outside of the liquid measuring cups are not necessarily the same as ounces.
The fluid ounces are a measurement of volume while ounces are a measure of weight. Water and stock will be about the same weight in fluid ounces and weight ounces, but most liquids will be different. For instance, 1 cup of water or butter will be 8 ounces either way, but 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk will weigh around 11 ounces, and 1 cup of honey will weigh about 12 ounces.
Some scales have a liquid measuring feature for fluid ounces or milliliters. That would give you the option of adjusting the density of the liquid you are measuring.
|Fluid Ounces to Metric|
Tips for Measuring Liquids
Set the liquid measuring cup on a flat surface.
Bend or scooch down so you are eye level with the cup so that you can clearly see when the liquid is level with the measurement markings on the sides.
Measuring spoons, made to measure both dry and liquid ingredients, are not as accurate for liquid ingredients.
Since measuring cups don't measure such small increments, measuring spoons must be used for teaspoons and tablespoons of liquid (or, in most cases, anything under two fluid ounces). Be sure to fill the measuring spoon right to the rim for the best measurement.


Many power plants already have equipment to slash mercury
Cross-posted from the Center for American Progress. This post was coauthored by Valeri Vasquez, special assistant for energy policy at the Center for American Progress, and Stewart Boss, an intern with the Energy Team at American Progress.
Coal-fired power plants shoot 772 million pounds of airborne toxic chemicals into the sky every year — more than 2.5 pounds for every American man, woman, and child. In March, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to dramatically reduce mercury, lead, acid gases, and other toxics from more than 400 plants in 46 states.
Some of the nation’s largest utilities — including the Southern Company [PDF] and DTE [PDF] (formerly Detroit Edison) — have publicly and privately lobbied to delay, weaken, or block these safeguards. They claim, as such polluters usually do, that cutting emissions of mercury, arsenic, lead, acid gases, and other cancer-causing pollutants from coal-fired power plants will cause economic hardship. History has taught us such claims about pending public health protection measures are nearly always wrong.
Analyses from the Center for American Progress (CAP) and others have found that many power plants have already installed or have under construction the pollution-control technologies that can significantly reduce mercury as well as other pollutants. Plants in 17 states are already required to address their mercury pollution, regardless of federal requirements. These measures vary in stringency, with some of them imposing more protective mercury-emissions limits on coal-fired power plants than the EPA has proposed.
Many of the power plants in these states have already installed the equipment necessary to reduce mercury pollution, although most state safeguards have yet to take effect. A CAP analysis of the coal-fired power plants in these 17 states found that more than half of their total electricity-generation capacity has pollution controls that can reduce mercury.
A variety of technologies can capture point-source or smoke-stack mercury [PDF] emissions from coal-fired power plants. Scrubbers, which are most often installed to control sulfur oxide, or SOx, and acid gas emissions, can also capture mercury. “Wet” scrubbers capture oxidized mercury (mercury that has chemically bound with oxygen) while “dry” scrubbers enable a simple fabric filter to trap mercury. The EPA [PDF] estimates that scrubbers can capture 36 to 90 percent of the mercury produced by burning bituminous coal, and 15 to 66 percent of mercury from sub-bituminous coal. (The mercury capture rates depend on the type of scrubber, and whether there are controls for NOx and particulate matter, or soot.) A CAP analysis found that scrubbers are installed for 54 percent of the electricity-generation capacity of the 353 coal-fired units in states with their own mercury-pollution measures.
Activated Carbon Injection, or ACI, is the primary control technology for mercury reduction. Activated carbon — which is highly processed, extremely porous carbon — absorbs mercury in its gaseous form and converts it to a particulate that can then be captured. As an added benefit, “an ACI system is relatively simple and inexpensive,” according to a report prepared for the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management [PDF], or NESCAUM. Units with low SOx emissions could meet all their reduction obligations using ACI, eliminating the need for more expensive scrubbers. There are ACI systems in one-sixth of the electricity-generation capacity in states with mercury programs.
According to the Brattle Group [PDF], an independent consulting firm, the capital costs for scrubbers and activated carbon injection technology are up to $120 million and $30 million, respectively, to install on a 300-megawatt (MW) power plant. EPA has larger projected costs for scrubbers but lower costs for ACI. Plants that have already installed either or both of these control technologies may be able to comply with EPA’s proposed standards without undertaking any further capital expenditures, which means a significantly lower impact on electricity rates.
NESCAUM case studies: ACI controls
In response to a 2006 Minnesota state mercury law, Xcel Energy agreed to install an ACI system on the 900 MW Unit 3 at its Sherburne County plant. The unit, which burns low-sulfur western coal from Montana and Wyoming, already had a dry scrubber operating to reduce SO2 emissions. Once tuned to the unit’s operational specifications, the ACI system should reduce the plant’s mercury emissions by about 90 percent. The system was completed in December 2009 for a total capital cost of $3.1 million, or $3.46 per kilowatt.
Wisconsin Power and Light installed ACI controls at its Edgewater Generating Station. The system was operational in the first quarter of 2008. Edgewater Unit 5 is a 380 MW plant that fires sub-bituminous western coal and employs an “electrostatic precipitator” to capture fine particles. The total installed costs of the Edgewater Unit 5 ACI system were approximately $8 per kilowatt, or approximately $3.04 million.
Both of these power plants installed these controls to comply with the Minnesota and Wisconsin mercury-reduction laws. These plants should find it relatively inexpensive to meet the pending federal standards.
Embracing pollution controls
The large number of plants that have already installed pollution controls explains the recent finding that many coal-fired power plants are already meeting the proposed mercury reduction standard. The Clean Energy Group [PDF] — an electric company coalition that has nearly 100,000 megawatts of the United States’ total fossil-fuel electricity-generation capacity — conducted an analysis that found that:
Nearly 60 percent of all coal fired boilers that submitted stack test data to EPA are currently achieving the Utility Toxics Rule’s proposed mercury emissions standard. This translates to more than 100 boilers (out of a total of 178). These power plants are meeting the proposed standard with a wide variety of pollution control systems and configurations (e.g., wet scrubbers, dry scrubbers, bag houses, and carbon injection systems).
This level of mercury reduction from plants that already have the appropriate pollution controls reinforces that EPA’s proposed safeguards are cost-effective, technology-achievable standards that many utilities have already met.
Some utilities began compliance efforts several years ago. Edison International’s President and CEO Theodore Craver told investors during a call on 2011 first-quarter earnings that the company “installed the necessary equipment back in 2009 and [is] already achieving these [mercury] limits.”
Gale Klappa, chairman, president, and CEO of Wisconsin Energy, says his company anticipates “very little impact on customer electric rates or our capital plan between now and 2015 as a result of all the new EPA regulations that have been proposed.” And by the fourth quarter of 2010, the head of PPL Generation, William Spence, had already equipped “96 percent of [the utility’s] competitive coal generation” with scrubbers.
Old, inefficient units already scheduled to close
Despite the fact that many coal-fired plants across the nation have installed the pollution-control equipment to reduce their mercury pollution, some utilities are still digging their heels in the fight to block or delay the proposed EPA rules.
Many plants without this pollution-control equipment will soon be retired due to their age and inefficiency. A CAP review found that utilities plan to shut down at least 80 of these aging units-closures announced before the EPA proposed the air toxics reduction rules. These plants are 52-years-old on average, with the oldest unit built during World War II. Many of these units have little or no pollution controls, are relatively small, and utilized infrequently.
In the ongoing debate over the proposed mercury rules, some utilities have cited the pending mercury-reduction rules as the reason to shut down some of these old power plants, even though their retirements were previously made public, some as part of Clean Air Act enforcement agreements. A New York Times editorial noted that “Blaming the rules [for plant closures] is a transparent scare tactic designed to weaken the administration’s resolve while playing to industry supporters on Capitol Hill.” (See attached list of plants scheduled for retirement.)
Another tactic some recalcitrant utilities are pursuing is advocating the delay of the air toxics protections. MidAmerican Energy, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., testified to the Senate last week in favor of delaying the air toxics rule:
MidAmerican, like many utilities, is concerned about the costs and timetables for the implementation of these EPA rules.
If the timetable of the rules remains unchanged, compliance costs will be shouldered by our customers in the form of higher rates. … these increases will dramatically increase production costs for industrial plants and could result in job losses.
NESCAUM found that pollution-control technology can be added within the proposal’s timeframe:
EPA estimates that the total time needed to complete the design, installation, and testing of a wet FGD [scrubber] system at a typical 500 MW power plant with one FGD unit is 27 months, and longer if multiple boilers or multiple absorbers are necessary. Actual installation times will vary based upon the specifics of the plant, the need to schedule outages with FGD hook up, and other factors.
Plants with scrubbers can install ACI in a year if there is already a bag house. These installation times suggest that utilities will have ample time to install pollution controls. Those that do not can seek an extension from EPA.
Delaying implementation of the air toxics reduction measures would actually disrupt compliance with the standards by injecting more uncertainty into the final requirements and deadlines. This would upset the efforts by many utilities to comply with the standards. On June 15, the Clean Energy Group [PDF] wrote EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to urge her to:
… proceed with finalizing the rule. Companies have begun to prepare for a 2015 compliance deadline, and the electric power markets are factoring in the capital expenditures that will be required to comply with the rule. Any delay would threaten to undermine those decisions.
MidAmerican also claimed in its June 15 testimony that the 2015 compliance deadline could lead to shortages of equipment and labor to install the necessary pollution-control technologies. This claim, however, was debunked last year. On Nov. 3, 2010, the Institute of Clean Air Companies [PDF] — the trade association of pollution-control suppliers — wrote Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) that:
We are extremely confident in the ability of the industry to deliver and satisfy, as we have so successfully in the past, the labor, materials and resources needed to meet the demand. … EPA’s efforts to move forward expeditiously with the proposed interstate Transport Rule and the upcoming utility MACT [air toxics] rules will be helpful in this regard.
Delays in issuing the air toxics rule would harm, not help, companies reduce their mercury, lead, and other toxic air pollution.
The benefits of reducing air toxics
Efforts by Southern Company, DTE, MidAmerican, and other big utilities to block or delay the air toxics reduction rules for coal-fired power plants ignore the overwhelming benefits of pollution reductions to Americans. Coal-fired power plants are the “largest human-caused source of mercury emissions in the United States,” according to Senate testimony by Jerome Paulson of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Power plants [PDF] spew 40 percent of mercury emissions in the United States. Mercury causes severe developmental disabilities, deafness, and blindness in cases of prenatal and infant exposure. The chemical can lower fertility rates and raise chances of heart disease in adults.
These new rules would also slash significant amounts of the three-quarters of a billion pounds of airborne toxic chemicals shot into the skies annually. These contaminates include lead, which causes learning disabilities in children as well as organ failure. Arsenic — used for rat poison — would also be reduced. And the proposed standards would reduce the millions of pounds of “acid gases” that trigger “irritation to skin, eye, nose throat, [and] breathing passages,” according to the American Lung Association [PDF]. Three-quarters of these gases come from power plants.
The EPA [pg. 25,090 of PDF] projects that once the air toxics safeguards are implemented in 2016, the pollution reductions will have annual benefits that in
… [up to] 17,000 fewer premature mortalities, 4,300 fewer cases of chronic bronchitis, 10,000 fewer non-fatal heart attacks, 12,000 fewer hospitalizations (for respiratory and cardiovascular disease combined), 4.9 million fewer days of restricted activity due to respiratory illness and approximately 830,000 fewer lost work days.
We also estimate substantial health improvements for children in the form of 110,000 fewer asthma attacks, 6,700 fewer hospital admissions due to asthma, 10,000 fewer cases of acute bronchitis, and approximately 210,000 fewer cases of upper and lower respiratory illness.
In addition to alleviating this pain and suffering, the total net economic benefit of the air toxics rule is $48 billion to $130 billion in 2016 alone [pg. 24,979 of PDF].
The Clean Air Act of 1990 included measures to reduce emissions of airborne mercury and other toxic chemicals to protect public health. Twenty-one years later, we are on the cusp of final adoption of essential cleanup standards that protect children, seniors, and other Americans from cancer-causing and smog-forming pollution from coal-fired power plants. CAP’s analysis of electricity producers in states with their own mercury rules found that a majority of their coal-fired generation capacity already has the pollution-control equipment necessary to reduce mercury. Congress must ignore the arm twisting and campaign contributions from the big utilities that want to continue to spew these poisons into the skies — and our lungs, waters, fields, and wildlife. Instead, senators and representatives should urge the Obama administration to promptly issue and enforce these long-delayed safeguards.
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The ability to communicate with words is one thing that sets mankind apart from all other creatures. God is the Author of language, and no one has ever used language as precisely as God does in the Bible, including His use of figures of speech, of which there are more than 200 varieties in Scripture. When most people say, “a figure of speech,” they are speaking in general terms of something that is not true to fact. However, genuine “figures of speech” are legitimate grammatical and lexical forms that add emphasis and feeling to what we say and write. In the Bible, God uses figures of speech to emphasize things that He wants us to see as important. Many people who read the Bible never think to ask themselves, “How do we know what God wants emphasized in His Word?” God uses figures of speech to put emphasis where He wants emphasis, so it is important that we recognize and properly interpret the figures of speech in the Bible. Knowing the figures of speech God uses in the Bible helps us to understand the true meaning of Scripture and enables us to more fully enjoy its richness.
The figure of speech we are going to study in this issue of The Sower is “idiom.” An idiom is the use of a word or words in a way that is peculiar to a language or group of people in that it has a meaning that cannot be derived from the literal meaning of the word or words. An idiom is a legitimate figure of speech that is used for emphasis, although sometimes the idiom becomes such an imbedded part of the language that it is no longer considered an idiom but becomes an accepted meaning of the word, and the emphasis is lost. Idioms are so common that sometimes it can be hard to communicate without using them. Idioms have to be individually learned because the meaning of the words is not literal, but assigned by the culture.
Every language has thousands of idioms, and some idioms are common enough to human experience that they exist in many cultures. Both the Bible and English, for example, speak of the “face” of the earth despite the fact that the earth has no “face.” There are many idioms in the Bible, and if we are going to understand it, we must understand them. Some idioms in the Bible are individual words or phrases, while some involve the way nouns or verbs are used.
The sun of righteousness
An idiomatic phrase in the Bible is the “sun of righteousness.” God is referred to as “light” in the Bible. It makes perfect sense, then, that the Son of God, who revealed the Father and brought light to the world, would be idiomatically called “the sun of righteousness” and the “sunrise from on High.”
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
I can remember reading this verse as a new Christian and knowing that it referred to Jesus Christ, but not knowing why he was called the “sun” and not the “son.” The answer is that in the biblical idiom, Jesus was the sun because he brought the light of his Father to the world. Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, referred to Jesus as the rising sun.
because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
This verse makes no sense if you do not know the idiom. How can the “rising sun” come from heaven? The sun comes from below the horizon and rises up into heaven. However, when we know the idiom, that the “rising sun” is the Messiah, the verse makes perfect sense.
The Prophetic Perfect
An idiom that we of Spirit & Truth Fellowship have spent considerable time writing about is the “prophetic perfect.” In that idiom, a future action that is certain to occur is spoken of in the past tense as if it had already occurred. Doing this emphasizes the certainty of the event happening. For example, speaking of the return of Jesus Christ, the NASB quite literally translates Jude 1:14 as, “the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones.” Of course saying a future event has already occurred can be confusing to the beginning Bible student. Thus, some translators try to make it easy for the Bible student by translating the verse into English as a present or future tense (cp. the NIV, “the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones).
Hebrew active verbs can express an attempt
The way the Hebrew language views verbs, an active verb does not have to mean the action is accomplished, but only attempted. This seems very strange to the Western mind, and makes some verses confusing.
Exodus 8:16-18 (KJV)
(16) And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
(17) And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice…all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
(18) And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not…
The difficulty in the verses above is that the magicians “did so,” but they “could not.” What we need to understand is that the verb “did so” can idiomatically mean, “tried to do so.” The NIV in Exodus 8:18 translates the idiomatic use of the verb right into the verse, making it easier for us: “But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.” Another example of this idiomatic use of active verbs is in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 24:13 (KJV):
…because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged…
The King James Version translates the verbs in a straightforward manner, but it is confusing. How can God purge the people, but they are not purged? The NIV translates the idiomatic use of the verb into the English so we can understand the verse better: “…because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed…”
Idioms of the language are one reason that simply having a lexicon and concordance will never be enough to fully understand the Bible. At some point we must read and understand the original languages as they were spoken. Thankfully, we have many very good resources such as critical commentaries to help us more completely understand the Bible.
 For a much more thorough explanation of this important idiom, see “The Prophetic Perfect,” in our book by John Schoenheit, The Christian’s Hope: The Anchor of the Soul (Christian Educational Services, Indianapolis, IN, 2004), Appendix E, pp. 223-240.
 This is also a use of metaphor, a comparison by representation.
 The “wings” are actually the “borders,” and thus it was foretold that Jesus would have healing in the borders of his garments, something fulfilled in his ministry (Cp. Mark 5:27-29, 6:56).


Os - OsmiumSee metal norms for Osmium
|Chemical Element||Osmium||Melting Point °C||3054|
|Chemical Symbol||Os||Boiling Point °C||5027|
|Atomic Number||76||Density g/cm3||22.6|
|Atomic Weight||190.23||Oxide||OsO4, OsO2|
Osmium is a lustrous, bluish–white metal belonging to the platinum group. Osmium is the 81st most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, making it extremely rare. Of all the known elements, osmium is the densest, closely followed by iridium. Osmium is unaffected by water or acids, but dissolves in molten alkalis. Pure osmium is difficult to obtain, therefore it is often fabricated as a powder, which is then formed into a solid by heating.
An Englishman, Smithson Tennant, is credited with the discovery of osmium in 1803. He came across it whilst analysing a specimen of crude platinum. This crude platinum was dissolved in dilute aqua regia, and the outcome was that not all of the metal went into solution; some remained as a powder. This powder was then tested by using a combination of acid and alkali treatments, eventually separating into two new metals which Tennant called osmium and iridium.
Osmium can be found as an un-combined metal, but is mainly found in nickel and platinum bearing ores and in alloys with iridium. These alloys are either known as iridosmine or osmiridium. Osmium ores are very rare but deposits can be extracted from ores in countries such as Russia, Canada, South Africa and the USA. Overall, less than 100kgs of osmium are produced each year.
Some former uses of osmium are no longer in demand, such as fountain pen tips, compass needles, clock bearings and gramaphone needles, where its extreme hardness and corrosion resistance prevented wear from long-term use. Today it is used as a catalyst in industry, and in the development certain anti-cancer drugs. Osmium metal has very little use in itself, as it is very rare and therefore expensive to acquire, and also the gas of its oxide is poisonous making it an impractical substance. More often than not, osmium as an alloying agent is quite safe and is used to make hard alloys with metals such as platinum and iridium.
- Emsley, John. Nature’s Building Blocks, An A-Z Guide to the Elements, New Edition, Oxford University Press, 2011
- Gray, Theodore. The Elements, A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc, NY, 2009
- Stwertka, Albert. A Guide to the Elements, 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2012


Please boost your Plan to download papers
Non-word Assignments example - XML-Based Project
Logic & Programming
Pages 12 (3012 words)
This document gives an overview of the project work and states the reasons behind the design decisions taken during the course of the project. It also illustrates the importance of XML technologies in various application areas. …
Extract of sample
Thereafter, using the transformation language XSLT, the information from within the XML document was to be extracted and presented differently depicting different scenarios. Oxygen XML Editor was used for the project.
3. Discussion A total of 7 webpages were taken from the Internet for the project. This section presents the reasons that motivated the various decisions that were taken during each stage of the project.
4. The Material Chosen The site is an informational site that lists down the companies falling in different application areas and where jobs can be hunted. The material chosen for the project were taken from the same site so there is a hierarchy in between the different web pages. Furthermore, the content on each page also follows a hierarchal structure that can be translated into relations. This would facilitate the markup language. The selected webpages covered the most commonly used elements of informational sites (i.e. headings, text, links, paragraphs, lists, etc.). This presented an opportunity of learning to encode the different elements into XML. Besides possessing a hierarchal structure of the selected pages, a repeating structure is also present in each page. ...
Not exactly what


It is said that the formula for Tabasco Sauce is a secret, and that the ingredients remain “virtually unchanged” since it was first made in 1868. This is of course a challenge for curious hot-pepper sauce-lovers, and I understand that many attempts have been made to reproduce this famous condiment.
The original recipe was certainly not a secret. Edmund McIlhenny received a patent for an ‘improvement in pepper-sauce’ in September 1870, and it seems reasonable to assume this was the condiment under discussion, it being unlikely that McIlhenny was simultaneously working on two sauces made from Tabasco peppers. We don’t know the extent of the tweaking that may or may not have gone on, but this original recipe seems like a good place to start for anyone wanting to make Mock Tabasco, does it not?
It is not possible to patent a recipe nowadays, and one wonders how the law could have been policed in 1870 – particularly since McIlhenny makes it clear in the patent document that the instructions are for others to use. I wonder when the secrecy started?
Here it is, the recipe for pepper-sauce made from Tabasco peppers, from U.S Patent Number 107,701 (September 1870.)
Be it known that I, Edmund McIlhenny, of New Iberia, in the parish of Iberia, and the State of Louisiana, have invented a new and improved Pepper-Sauce; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same.
This invention relates to a new process of preparing an aromatic and strong sauce from the pepper known to the market as Tabasco pepper. This pepper is as strong as Cayenne pepper but of finer flavor.
My method of preparing the sauce is as follows:
The ripe fruit is mashed to a pulp and mixed with fine vinegar and rock salt, in the proportion of one pint of vinegar and one handful of salt to every gallon of pulp.
The receptacle containing this mixture is closely covered, and the latter macerated for about six weeks, when the pulp is worked through a sieve that is just fine enough to not permit the seeds to pass. About one drop of bisulphate of lime is then added to every ounce of mixture, for preventing fermentation.
The skin and seeds not passed through the sieve are potted for about twenty-four hours, with an ounce of alcohol to each pound of the residue.
This mixture is thoroughly agitated and then placed under a press, by which the remaining pulp and juice are forced out.
A drop of bisulphate of lime is added to every ounce received from the press. The two mixtures thus prepared are now put together, and the whole compound worked through a fine flour sieve. The sauce is thus completely prepared and ready for use.
One or two drops of it will be sufficient for any dish.
Having thus described my invention,
I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent –
1. The pepper-sauce prepared of the ingredients herein set forth, substantially in the manner specified.
2. The herein-described process of preparing pepper-sauce from the ingredients, in about the proportions set forth.
Now, off you go and make your own Tabasco!


A modem is a network device that both modulates and demodulates analog carrier signals (called sine waves) for encoding and decoding digital information for processing. Modems accomplish both of these tasks simultaneously and, for this reason, the term modem is a combination of "modulate" and "demodulate."
The most common use for modems is for both sending and receiving of the digital information between personal computers. This information used to be transmitted over telephone lines using V.92, the last dial-up standard, to an analog modem that would convert the signal back to a digital format for a computer to read.
Now, access to the Internet more commonly takes place using high-speed broadband modems.
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National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is an opportunity for all of us to reflect, and explore how each of us, individually and collectively, can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
Each year, Reconciliation Australia selects a new theme to celebrate NRW. The 2020 theme was In This Together. In this activity, educators will support children to explore the meaning and purpose of the theme. They will also consider practical opportunities for bringing the theme into physical and virtual classrooms, around the school and with the community during NRW and beyond.


Doctors want to 3D print transplantable organs from your own stem cells, but now they might be able to replace a bum hip, too. A team of scientists in St. Louis and Durham used stem cells to grow cartilage on a 3D “scaffold” that can be molded into the exact shape of a patient’s hip joint. It could then be implanted onto the surface of the bone, replacing the regular cartilage that acts as a “lubricant” for the ball and socket-style joint. Since it would be made from your own stem cells, there’s no chance of rejection.
The 3D scaffold is made from a woven material that can bear up to 10 times a patient’s weight, letting them to exercise and otherwise live normally. It can even solve the original cause of the program, which is usually osteoarthritis. Using gene therapy, they genetically programmed the joint to release anti-inflammatory molecules on demand to keep the arthritis at bay. “Our hope is to prevent, or at least delay, a standard metal and plastic prosthetic joint replacement,” says Washington University Professor Farshid Guilak.
Lest you protest that this potential treatment is reserved for your elders, think again. “We envision in the future that this population of younger patients [aged 40-55] may be ideal candidates for this type of biological joint replacement,” says researcher Bradley Estes. That’s because doctors are often reluctant to perform joint-replacement surgery on patients younger than 50, because they’ll need a second operation when they’re older and more at risk for infection and other issues.


How to Fight Stress-Related Diseases
No one can avoid all stress -- and a certain amount actually is good for you. But it's always best to keep unhealthy levels in check when possible.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a condition that often follows a terrifying physical or emotional event—causing the person who survived the event to have persistent, frightening thoughts and memories of the ordeal.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
A person with IBS has a colon that is more sensitive and reactive than usual, so it responds strongly to stimuli that would not affect other people.
Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema)
Atopic dermatitis is a hereditary and chronic skin disorder that mostly affects infants and young children, but may last until a child reaches adolescence or adulthood.
Stress Can Pack on Pounds
Many people hunger for sweets, salty snacks, and other processed foods when they are stressed. One solution: Reach for healthy high-fiber snacks with a bit of the tastes you crave.
Insomnia, the term for having trouble sleeping at night, is one of the most common sleep complaints. About one in three adults has bouts of insomnia that last a few days at a time.
A heart attack occurs when the blood supply is cut off from the heart muscle, usually because of a blood clot. Without blood and oxygen, the muscle cells are damaged and die.


best wee trips
Abbey Craig, Hillfoots Rd, Stirling FK9 5LF
Completed in 1869 | Architect J.T Rochead
The National Wallace Monument is one of Scotland’s most celebrated landmarks, and commemorates Scotland’s national hero, Sir William Wallace.
Completed in 1869, the monument was the winning design of an architectural competition to build a monument to a celebrated Scottish hero.
The architect J.T Rochead, designed a tower 67 metres high. Set over four levels, visitors can explore the life of William Wallace, and take in the spectacular panoramic views from the ‘Crown’.
For visiting information: http://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/


You may not own an electric car or have a compost pile in your yard, but no contribution to protecting Earth’s natural resources is too small. You can make little differences every day that eventually become a way of life while setting an example for your children.
Eco-friendly pledges like solar panels on residential roofs and paper straws distributed in restaurants are everywhere. More take-out food is available in bio-degradable carriers in lieu of traditional styrofoam. Plastic grocery bags have given way to re-usable cloth ones with sturdy, woven handles.
Even the fashion industry has put its best foot forward. The relatively new shoe design company, Rothy’s, boasts a tagline: “From bottle to beautiful.” As of this writing they have transformed almost 35 million plastic bottles “destined for landfills and repurposed them into timeless, durable flats.”
No matter your commitment to slowing the depletion of natural resources, today, if there’s something you want to do, you can do it.
Environmentally Friendly Swimming Pools
As far as your outdoor life, backyard swimming pools can be built and designed as another dimensional statement about your pledge to sustainability and to making alternative healthy choices for your family.
There are many options to consider. This enterprise, Sustainability for All outlines the means to use naturally occurring elements to keep your pool clean.
In this model, the pool must be originally designed to utilize this method. (More later on ways to convert your pool’s ecosystem!)
Like a more traditional pool outfitted with swim up bars and Baja Benches, natural swimming ponds require a similar attention to engineering. They are divided into separate zones; one for swimming, the other for water purification.
An alternative to chlorine, Sustainability for All recommends using plants and stone or sand to purify the water. “This emulates the natural filtration which takes place in rivers.” So how does it work?
- Water must be in motion, so it is necessary for the swimming pool to be built on a certain slope.
- This motion is generated by a power pump – which can be derived from a solar power supply in order to save even more energy.
- The plants, placed in another space separate from that meant for swimming, are responsible for filtering waste.
- Stones and sand are also natural filters that naturally remove those impurities and bacteria found in water.
- Water saving (there is no need to empty and refill them; you just have to replenish the part that evaporates).
- Energy saving (filter systems are not necessary).
- Additive saving (they do not use chemical products. They do not harm your skin, eyes and mucus health).
According to EcoHome, there are three types of plants that will provide some natural cycle regulation in the swimming pond scenario:
- Floating plants: Water lilies and other floating plants rooted in the bottom provide shade and protect micro-organisms from UV rays.
- Oxygenating plants: By absorbing nitrates and phosphates, submerged and free-floating plants contribute to the ecological balance of the pool and play an important role in slowing the growth of algae.
- Biological filters: As water passes through the fibrous root structure of plants, micro-organisms concentrated on the root system act as a natural filter, removing contaminants and excess nutrients from the water.
In the natural swimming pool scenario, the surrounding aesthetics are also key. You’ll want to edge this relaxation center in the trappings of a natural setting, so the cool refreshment of your “pool pond” is organic to the space.
Saltwater Swimming Pools
The advantages of these installations include:
- Fewer chemicals
- Lower cost of upkeep
- Minimal maintenance
Saltwater swimming pools are also much gentler on your eyes, skin, and hair and even go a little easier on allergy and asthma suffers.
While traditional pools require the manual addition of chlorine on a consistent basis, the saltwater pool relies on a regenerative process to create the chlorine. They may employ salt to generate chlorine, but once generated the chlorine breaks back down into salt.
Because the storage and handling of chemicals is a task necessitating caution, another plus of course is the in-water production of the substance that maintains your pool’s water in a safe, healthy and algae-free condition.
Although more expensive on the front end, you will, in most pool installations, recoup that cost after a few years due to the reduced operating expenses. Overall, a more cost-effective system considering the chlorine versus salt expenditures.
Converting To a Saltwater Pool
If you already have a pool you love, it is fairly straightforward to convert from one whose maintenance is fueled by chlorine to one fueled by salt.
However, like anything else there’s the quick way or the right way. As much as you may pride yourself on your DIY dexterity, your pool is the jewel of your outdoor entertainment center. To run the risk of damaging any component could wind up being more expensive than hiring a reputable pool contractor to oversee the conversion process.
Swim University advises that draining the pool is not necessary unless an antibacterial agent is in use. While you can burn this agent out of the water, it will require a high dose of chlorine to sort of shock it out.
A multi-step process, the pool will need to be drained (or not), the water rigorously tested, and precautions taken to protect your pool’s lining. Considering the corrosive nature of salt, attention must be paid to water-adjacent metal trim.
Finally, there’s selecting and installing the saltwater chlorination system. According to Swim University, “A saltwater chlorination system works by passing an electrical current through salinized water, causing a chemical reaction via electrolysis that creates chlorine from salt molecules. The two main parts of a salt chlorinator are the cell and the control board: the cell is where electrolysis takes place to create chlorine; the control board allows you to adjust how much chlorine is generated.”
Additionally, before converting, you will want to consult with your pool pro to inspect for metal objects outside or beneath water level as they will endure galvanic corrosion over time. You’ll also want to make sure certain plants are not within splashing distance as repeated exposure to saltwater can damage them. As far as concrete coping and surrounding stonework, they should first be properly sealed and hosed down after use as part of your pool’s routine maintenance.
Home improvement financing solution experts since 1979, we’ve seen extraordinary advancements in pool design and its contribution to keeping our beautiful world, beautiful. At Lyon Financial we are proud of the difference we can make for your family by providing something that puts years of memories within reach. Call 877-754-5966 for more information.


The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is one of the world’s largest and most active popular music research centers and the world’s largest repository of country music artifacts. Early in the 1960s, as the Country Music Association’s campaign to publicize country music was shifting into high gear, CMA leaders determined that a new organization was needed to operate a country music museum and to carry out research and education activities beyond CMA’s scope as a trade organization. Read More
From approximately 1400-1475 A.D., the land that would later be known as Travellers Rest was a Native American village during the pre-historic Mississippian period, the last of the four major cultural periods before first contact with white settlers. In 1796, the remains of a palisade wall, home sites and burials from that settlement were present when Judge John Overton acquired the property.
Just nine years later, in 1805, the first of many archaeological investigations began on the site, and the story of the earliest residents of Travellers Rest first began to be documented. Investigations continued at Travellers Rest throughout the 19th century as the emerging profession of archaeology and its first practitioners visited the site. The exact boundaries of this Mississippian village are yet to be determined, but it is speculated to have been between 10-12 acres and was clearly home to a people with advanced social, agricultural and artistic skills.
In 1920 William Myer, while exploring the Middle Tennessee area for the Bureau of American Ethnology, contracted to have this map made of the Travellers Rest site. It supports the description recorded by Dr. Rush Nutt in 1805 upon visiting Travellers Rest.


Hope for Bay Oysters and Blue Crabs?
By Emmy Nicklin, CBF Staff
The Little Oyster that Could
A DNR study released earlier this year showed higher levels of oyster reproduction and a lower mortality rate for the Chesapeake Bay oyster, reaffirming CBF's extensive restoration efforts.
Photo credit: Tom Pelton/CBF Staff
The Algonquin Indians who gave our Chesapeake its name (meaning "great shellfish Bay"), would be saddened today. Since colonial times, the Chesapeake has lost more than 98 percent of its oysters. Gone are the days when oyster reefs posed navigational hazards to Chesapeake Bay explorers or watermen pulled 17 million bushels of oysters each year. In the past 30 years alone, Maryland and Virginia watermen and the seafood industry have lost $4 billion in income. But as recent studies find, all hope is not lost.
A two-month Maryland Department of Natural Resources survey conducted earlier this year revealed higher levels of oyster reproduction and a lower mortality rate. In fact, Chesapeake Bay oysters seem to be growing heartier and more robust. Given that each adult oyster filters and cleans up to 50 gallons of water per day—gobbling up algae, and removing dirt and nitrogen pollution—that's good news for the health of the Chesapeake Bay and for us.
After a devastating bout with disease in the mid 1980s combined with decades of overharvesting, habitat destruction, and water pollution, the oyster was hanging on by a thread. "That was a turning point really," says CBF Fisheries Director Bill Goldsborough, "because up until then for the previous 100 years, oysters had supported the most valuable fishery in the Chesapeake Bay."
Now, thanks to increased awareness, extensive restoration efforts, and preventing the introduction of a non-native oyster species, there is hope for the mighty oyster yet.
For more information on CBF's oyster restoration efforts, visit cbf.org/oysters.
Because of restrictions placed on the Bay's blue crab harvest in 2008, this year's dredge survey revealed a total of 460 million crabs in the Bay—the second highest recording since 1997. The results show that for the first time since the early '90s, the crab population has remained at sustainable levels for three straight years.
Photo credit: Damon Fodge
Perhaps the same hopeful future holds true for the Chesapeake Bay blue crab. Also known as "beautiful swimmer," the blue crab is inextricably linked to the oyster. With the drastic decline of the Bay's oysters in the 1980s, watermen focused more and more on the blue crab. A decade later, the fishery neared collapse. Not only was the blue crab itself threatened, but so too were the oyster reefs and underwater grasses that provide it with food, shelter, and oxygen.
It took bi-state restrictions on catching female crabs in 2008 to bring the beautiful swimmers back. The 2010 winter dredge survey conducted at 1,500 random sites throughout the Bay revealed promising news: The number of blue crabs had doubled from the previous year.
This year's dredge survey counted a total of 460 million blue crabs in the Bay—the second highest recording since 1997. Though down from last year (mostly due to weather), the results still show that for the first time since the early 90s, the crab population has remained at sustainable levels for three straight years. That's good news for the blue crab, the Bay, and the people that depend on it. However, Goldsborough still cautions: "We can't declare victory yet. Mother Nature is telling us that even our hardiest Bay critter still needs a helping hand, so we must stay the course."


Heavy rains that began on December 20, 2016, caused severe flooding in the province of Mersin, southern Turkey, on December 29, 2016. Two people died and many were wounded as a result. The flood increased the amount of microplastics pollution in Mersin Bay by 14 times.
It is widely known that climate change has a negative impact on life in many ways. In particular, catastrophic floods following heavy rains that are caused by climate change introduce a significant amount of anthropogenic stressors to aquatic ecosystems.
As we all know, plastics are one of the most unwanted anthropogenic stressors. However, we do not think that there can be a relationship between global climate change and plastics pollution. When someone talks about global climate change, the first things that come to mind are drought, melting glaciers, and, of course, polar bears, not plastic pollution.
The link between climate change and plastic pollution is based on some basic principles: cause and effect! If there is deforestation, unplanned urbanization, and inadequate infrastructure, excessive rainfall can cause flooding. Sure, floods can occur even if everything is properly done. But, this is not really related to the topic of this article.
A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is generally dry and carries materials (micro or macro) uncontrollably from one point to another. And plastics form a great part of these materials.
We clearly observed this phenomenon during the examination of consequences of excessive rainfall which affected the northeastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey (especially Mersin) between December 2016 and January 2017.
Now is the time to say some words about the size and causes of the flood.
The Mersin province has undergone a rapid population growth due to internal migration within the last 30 years. Rapid population growth has brought the problems of unplanned urbanization. The distorted infrastructure, which occurs in connection with unplanned urbanization, can lead to floods during any rainfall, not necessarily heavy rains.
Floods invite dramatic consequences. The flood that occurred on December 29, 2016, in the province of Mersin is a perfect example of these dramatic results. Heavy rain that started on December 20 caused severe flooding in Mersin. It is reported that two people died and many were wounded as a result.
The heavy rains that started on December 21-22, 2016 continued until January 1, 2017, and a total of 346.8 kg/m2 rainfall occurred within those 9 days. Mersin has a long-term rainfall average of 129.8 kg/m2 in December and a long average annual rainfall of 579.7 kg/m2. These figures show that with those 9 days, Mersin received 60% more rain than typical annual expectations! This inevitably led to a disaster.
This level of rain and the subsequent disaster not only caused damage to the terrestrial environment but also affected the marine environment. Floods in coastal cities like Mersin carry things from terrestrial environment to sea. The fact that many pollutants including plastics were transported to the marine environment helps us establish a link between global climate change and plastic pollution.
The Mersin Bay could be called quite polluted, even before the floods carried polluters. Before the flood (November 2016), an average of 539,189 MPs/km2 particles were detected.
This was the third-highest microplastics (MPs) concentration in the Mediterranean Sea followed by Israeli coasts and Iskenderun Bay, again in Turkish waters. The flood has increased that value 14 times and made the Mersin Bay the most polluted region of the Mediterranean Sea, with a value of 7,699,716 MPs/km2. This situation supports the expression, “plastic soup,” that was previously used for the Mediterranean Sea.
Flooding can lead to an increase in the number of MPs as well as a decrease in the size of MPs. For example, the mean size of MPs measured in Mersin Bay before the flood was 2.37 mm, while it decreased to 1.13 mm post-flood. This has many negative effects. Smaller particles mean smaller organisms, such as fish larvae, mussel, and shrimp, can ingest these particles and transfer them into the food chain. As it stands, floods can make the plastic pollution problem even more complex.
Serious agricultural activities are being carried out around Mersin Bay. Currently, plastic pollutants of agricultural origin in Turkey (mulching material, plastic greenhouse covers, irrigation pipes, pesticide bottles, etc.) pose a grave problem. In terrestrial areas, it is possible to see these pollutants in uncontrolled states. Floods can help transport these uncontrolled pollutants to the sea. In particular, polyethylene plastic films used as cover materials constitute a serious risk. The increase in the amount of polyethylene covering materials in Mersin Bay after the flood reveals that this risk is worse than initially thought.
Additionally, Ethylene/Methacrylic Acid Ionomer (EMA), Ethylene/Propylene Copolymer (EPC), Ethylene/Propylene/Diene Terpolymer (EPDT), Polyamide-6/Nylon-6 (PA-6), Phenoxy Resin (PR), and Poly (Styreneco-2-Acrylamido-2-Methyl Propane Sulfonic acid) (PSAMPSA)-type polymers that were not found before the flood were present afterwards, and PAAC and SAAC-type polymers that showed a significant increase post-flood were all polymers that are heavily used in electronics, medical equipment, food packaging, toys, construction materials, and similar industries. Debris caused by the flood itself and any loose plastic waste left in the land were carried by floods directly to marine environments, increasing the polymer variety of marine plastics.
Excessive rainfall and flood are results of global climate change, and plastic pollution is a result of excessive plastic consumption and unsustainable waste management. The reason for both of them is human behavior.
These findings show us that plastic pollution is a serious problem. What’s more, plastic pollution becomes unbearable when it is combined with other kinds of human activities.
These findings are described in the article entitled, How microplastics quantities increase with flood events? An example from Mersin Bay NE Levantine coast of Turkey, recently published in the journal Environmental Pollution. This work was conducted by S. Gündoğdu, C. Çevik, and S. Karaca from Cukurova University, and B. Ayat and B. Aydoğan from Yildiz Technical University.
- Gündoğdu, S., Çevik, C., Ayat, B., Aydoğan, B., & Karaca, S. (2018). How microplastics quantities increase with flood events? An example from Mersin Bay NE Levantine coast of Turkey. Environmental Pollution, 239, 342-350.


In this online Flash game, learners experiment with an ecosystem, trying to find a balance between weebits, their plant food source, and the right climate to keep the plants growing. Weebits are small creatures that live on plants. When they get big enough, they divide, making two weebits. Learners try to produce the largest number of weebits by feeding them plants and making sure the plants have water. This game has three levels (easy, not so easy, not at all easy) which learners can master.
Keywords:Agricultural Engineering,Informal Education,Data Analysis,NSDL,energy,Data Representation,Earth system science,NSDL_SetSpec_ncs-NSDL-COLLECTION-000-003-112-056,Problem Solving,Mathematics,Energy Flow and Chemical Cycles,Social Sciences,Materials science,Chemistry,Upper Elementary,Populations,oai:nsdl.org:2200/20110926122052344T,Biosphere,Atmospheric science,Ecology, Forestry and Agriculture,Life Science,Weather and Climate,Plants,rainfall,Middle School,Early Elementary,food,Reasoning and Proof,water,Education,Technology,food web,Ecosystems,Representation,Biological science,Physics,Computing and Information,population,Ecology,ecosystem,Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering,General,Engineering,Elementary School,budget,balance,Agriculture,Geoscience


The U.S. Constitution authorizes the federal government to collect various types of taxes from you.
The U.S. Constitution authorizes the federal government to collect various types of taxes from you. No one enjoys paying taxes, but without them, the government could not afford to provide you with the benefits and services it offers. Each form of taxation is governed by separate and distinct bodies of law; however, they all generally charge you tax when you either receive or give money or property.
The most common form of federal taxation is the income tax. The income tax rules allow the government to collect taxes from any person or business that earns money during the year. The tax rules provide a broad and sweeping definition of taxable income to include all property you receive, regardless of whether you earn it at work, through a business or from making good investments. Although this can seem overwhelming, the rules also provide a wide range of credits, deductions and exclusions that reduce the amount of tax you must pay.
Although not as common as the income tax, the federal government does impose a tax when you make certain gifts to another person or entity. Gifts generally cover situations where you do not expect anything in exchange, such as when you give your children birthday gifts. But rest assured the government is not looking to tax those small gifts you make for birthdays, weddings and other special occasions. The tax only applies to large or high-value gifts you make.
Similar to the income tax, the rules governing these transfers allow you to reduce or eliminate the possibility of paying tax with credits, exclusions and deductions. For example, the annual gift exclusion allows you to make an unlimited number of gifts if the value per recipient is below a certain value. A unified credit is also available to every taxpayer. Essentially, this credit lets you make additional tax-free gifts when you use up an annual exclusion, but you do have to file a gift tax return.
The federal estate tax applies to gifts you make at death, rather than while you are alive. This covers the money and property you leave to your heirs in a will, trust or through some other method. Only the value of your estate that exceeds the exemption amount for the year of your death is subject to taxation. Although there is some overlap between the gift and estate tax, the exemption works in the same way as for gift tax, but has historically been larger than $1 million.
Revenue that the federal government raises through the imposition of employment taxes provides the necessary funds to operate social welfare programs such as Medicare and Social Security. If you are an employee, you will see these taxes deducted from your paycheck in addition to your federal income tax withholding.
As of 2018, you are responsible for paying 6.2 percent of your first $128,400 of earnings to fund Social Security, and 1.45 percent on all earnings to fund Medicare. Your employer is also responsible for paying an equal amount on your behalf, but this does not come out of your earnings.
Get every deduction
TurboTax Deluxe searches more than 350 tax deductions and credits so you get your maximum refund, guaranteed.


Cognition and Emotion
Individuals' thoughts and feelings are tied inherently to their communication. The cognitions people have and the emotions they feel both affect, and are affected by, social interaction. Our research examines cognition and emotion from a variety of theoretical perspectives. We use qualitative and quantitative methods to study cognitive structures and processes, lay theories of cognition and emotion, different types of emotions, and the thoughts that people have about their own and others' affective experiences. Our recent work looks at the associations between communication and both cognition and emotion in a variety of contexts ranging from the family to the workplace and examines cognition and emotion as conveyed via face-to-face and virtual interactions.
CMS 386S Communication, Cognition, and Emotion
CMS 386P Stereotyp/Prej in Interpersonal Communication
CMS 386P Perceptive Taking
Aronson, J., & McGlone, M. S. (2009). Social identity and stereotype threat. In T. Nelson (Ed.), Handbook of Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination Research (pp. 153-178). New York: Psychology Press.
Hampel, A. D., & Vangelisti, A. L. (2008). Commitment expectations in romantic relationships: Application of a prototype interaction-pattern model. Personal Relationships, 15, 81-102.
McGlone, M. S., & Aronson, J. (2007). Forewarning and forearming stereotype-threatened students. Communication Education, 56, 119-133.
McGlone, M. S., & Pfiester, R. A. (2009). Does time fly when you're having fun, or do you? Affect, agency, and embodiment in temporal communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 28, 3-31.
McGlone, M. S., Beck, G. A., & Pfiester, R. A. (2006). Contamination and camouflage in euphemisms. Communication Monographs, 73, 261-282.
McGlone, M. S., Bortfeld, H., & Kobrynowicz, D. (2007). Laying it on thin: Analogical cue frequency in the manipulation of choice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 721-731.
Peña, J., & Hancock, J. T., & Merola, N. A. (in press). Avatar priming effects in virtual settings. Communication Research.
Peña, J., Walther, J. B., & Hancock, J. T. (2007). Effects of geographic distribution on dominance perceptions in computer-mediated groups. Communication Research, 34, 313-331.
Shapiro, M. A., Peña, J., & Hancock, J. T. (2006). Realism, imagination, and narrative video games. In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing computer games: Motives, responses, and consequences (pp. 275-289). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Stroud, N. J. (2008). Media use and political predispositions: Revisiting the concept of selective exposure. Political Behavior, 30(3). 341-366.
Vangelisti, A. L. (2006). Hurtful interactions and the dissolution of intimacy. In M. A. Fine & J. H. Harvey (Eds.), Handbook of divorce and relationship dissolution (pp. 133-152). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Vangelisti, A. L. (2007). Communicating hurt. In B. H. Spitzberg & W. R. Cupach (Eds.), The dark side of interpersonal communication (2nd ed., pp. 121-142). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Vangelisti, A. L., Maguire, K. C., Alexander, A. L., & Clark, G. (2007). Hurtful family environments: Links with individual, relationship, and perceptual variables. Communication Monographs, 74, 357-385.
Vangelisti, A. L., & Hampel, A. D. (2010). Hurtful communication: Current research and future directions. In S. R. Wilson & S. W. Smith (Eds.), New directions in interpersonal communication research (pp. 221-241). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Vangelisti, A. L. (Ed.). (2009). Feeling hurt in close relationships. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Vangelisti, A. L. & Hampel, A. D. (2012). Hurtful interactions as feedback. In R. M. Sutton, M. J. Hornsey, & K. M. Douglas (Eds.), Feedback: The communication of praise, criticism, and advice (pp. 153-168). New York: Peter Lang.
Ph.D. Dissertations and M.A. theses
Hampel, A. D. (2006). Commitment expectations in romantic relationships: An application of a prototype interaction pattern model.
Hsu, L. H.. (2009). Identity integration and intergroup bias in the communication behavior of Asian Americans.
Jang, S. A. (2006). Understanding uncertainty, communication efficacy, and avoidance following the discovery of a relational partner's deception.
Mann, T. M. (2006). Cooperative and competitive co-parenting: Relations to marital quality across the transition to parenthood and predictive of children's emotional development.
Merola, N. (2009). Infrahumanization in communication: Linguistic denial of human emotions in the abortion debate.
Middleton, A. V. (2008). Standards and parent-child relationships: An exploratory and quantitative examination of adult children's relationship standards and satisfaction.
Pfiester, R. A. (2009). Stereotype threat in mixed sex dyadic communication.
Department of Advertising
Department of Human Ecology
Department of Psychology
School of Nursing
EDP 382L Motivation and Emotion
EDP 382L Cognition and Behavior
EDP 385 Child and Adolescent Social and Cognitive Development
PSY 387N Fundamentals of Perception
PSY 387R Fundamentals of Cognition
PSY 394N Fundamentals of Cognitive Development
PSY 394U Seminars in Cognition and Perception


The UK government wants to commission a space-based solar power station to provide flexibility in the power load of its electrical grid. There was a time when the idea of transmitting solar energy as a form of usable energy seemed science fiction, with everyone doubting its practicality.
According to SolarDaily, the space-based solar power station will use very large solar power satellites to collect solar energy, convert it into high-frequency radio waves, and safely beam it back to ground-based receivers connected to the electrical power grid.
The UK aims to investigate the economic and technical feasibility of such a large-scale station. It is crucial to note that this project has never been done before at this scale in the world. The main challenge that researchers have faced with it is how they can solve the assembling of the massive satellites in orbit.
Historically, the cost of rocket launches and the weight that would be required for a project of this scale made the idea of space-based solar power unfeasible. But the emergence of private space ventures has brought the cost of launch down dramatically in the last decade, according to SolarDaily.
Did you know? Solar Edition publishes Monthly the most efficient solar Panels list based on Power Density and Efficiency for 60 and 72 cells panels? Click here to learn more …


Dissolved Gas Analysis
Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) is the single most broadly used test available today. This test is also the most effective test used to determine whether a transformer's operation is normal or not. Likewise, this test will determine all fault conditions. In conjunction with other tests, analyses and inspections DGA is crucial in determining the operating conditions of transformers.
When an oil sample is analyzed, dissolved gases are extracted from it. The gases are then separated and quantitatively indentified through gas chromatography. When a gas develops, it is due to temperature degradation of transformer oil and insulating materials. Transformer faults occur in internal environments of the insulating oil or in near proximity to cellulose insulation. In the event that a fault is active, the degradation rate can or will be substantial. Each fault, however, consists of various mixtures of degradation gases. Any of these mixtures can identify potential problems that one should avoid.
DGA (ASTM 3612-D) pinpoints the presence and levels of the following gases: Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Carbon Monoxide, Oxygen, Methane, Carbon Dioxide, Ethane, Ethylene, and Acetylene. The concentration level of these gases is measured in parts-per-million.


Most often, data units stored in a database will have a unique identifier. This unique identifier makes it easy to pinpoint one specific data unit when working with many records.
They act like human names, except no two people will ever have the same name.
Use Cases and Examples
Primary keys can be created and assigned to a data unit, or an existing part of the data can be used as a primary key.
Most databases will create one since it's predictable and controlled by the database. Most relational databases assign counting numbers to data units when they are stored in the database. This ID serves as a primary key, which means the first data unit will have an id of 0, the next 1,2,3,4, onward.
Let's say you have a database full of student records. Each student will be assigned a unique ID. This part of the data can also be used as a primary key.
Some databases use primary keys to help speed up the search of data units during querying.
Here is another article for you 😊 "5 terms to know as a technical writer [part 3]"


Okay, so how do we use augmented matrices and row operations to solve systems? Now, the counterpart of eliminating a variable from an equation in the system is changing one of the entries in the coefficient matrix to zero.
Such a matrix corresponds to a system of equations which has no solution. However, the only way to change the -2 into a zero that we had to have as well was to also change the 1 in the lower right corner as well. If your device is not in landscape mode many of the equations will run off the side of your device should be able to scroll to see them and some of the menu items will be cut off due to the narrow screen width.
This shows that instead of writing the systems over and over again, it is easy to play around with the elementary row operations and once we obtain a triangular matrix, write the associated linear system and then solve it.
Due to the nature of the mathematics on this site it is best views in landscape mode. In that case you will get the dependence of one variables on the others that are called free. Adding a multiple of an equation to another equation.
Once the augmented matrix has been reduced to upper triangular form, write down the corresponding set of linear equations and use back-substitution to complete the solution. This is called the coefficient matrix of the system.
Continue this process for all rows until there is a 1 in every entry down the main diagonal and there are only zeros below. The previous example shows how Gaussian elimination reveals an inconsistent system.
But practically it is more convenient to eliminate all elements below and above at once when using Gauss-Jordan elimination calculator. Use row operations to obtain zeros down column 2, below the entry of 1.
Use row operations to obtain zeros down the first column below the first entry of 1. We add the last one to the third to get This is a triangular matrix.
Likewise, the counterpart of adding a multiple of one equation to another is adding a multiple of one row to another row. Regardless of its size or the number of unknowns its equations contain, a linear system will have either no solutions, exactly one solution, or infinitely many solutions.
To convert these operations in our matrix language, we first associate with a linear system an augmented matrix The augmented matrices corresponding to equations 5.The reduced row echelon form of a system of linear equations is agronumericus.com the system of equations corresponding to the given matrix.
Use x, y; or x, y, z; or x1, x2, x3, x4 as variables. solving a system of equations. STUDY. PLAY. step 1) set up augmented matrix 2) use elementary row operations to find the reduced row echelon form 3) re-write as a system of equations 4)use algebra to solve for the variables 5)re-write as a matrix.
what are elementary row operations. Mar 28, · How to Write an Augmented Matrix. Skip navigation Using Gauss-Jordan to Solve a System of Three Linear Equations patrickJMT 1, views.
Convert a linear system of equations to the matrix form by specifying independent variables. This is useful when the equation are only linear in some variables. For this system, specify the variables as [s t] because the system is not linear in r. In order to solve a system of linear equations (a)Write the augmented matrix of the system.
(b)Use steps of the row reduction algorithm to obtain an. If you need to, review matrices, matrix row operations and solving systems of linear equations before reading this page.
Menu. About Academic Tutoring A system of linear equations can be represented in matrix form using a coefficient matrix, So we can write the variable matrix as [ x y ].


As the population ages in the United States and around the world, social isolation of older adults, especially older adults who live alone, is a crucial challenge that requires attention. Community and social support programs are essential means to address this challenge. However, technology-based solutions should be considered to supplement or augment these methods to help ensure that older adults remain connected to their friends, family, and community.
The sizeable portion of older adults living alone is alarming given the harmful effects of social isolation – a reduction in social connectedness as measured by satisfaction derived from social ties – can have on the health of older people. Social isolation is associated with negative health effects including chronic health conditions, a weakened immune system, and depression and anxiety. Having services and supports in place to meet the needs of older adults living alone and experiencing the harmful effects of social isolation is vital.


A common sense perspective on GMOs
Over the years, I have tried to manage my own health and general wellness, as well as the development of the products we offer at Nova Scotia OrganicsTM, with an educated and well researched but very common sense approach. In addition to accepting the pure and organic bounty from Nature, we embrace what science has to teach us. The study of soil, for example, has provided horticulturists around the world with so much insight on the structure and requirements of a healthy growing medium for all of the plants that provide us with the fundamentals of good nutrition. The complex and utterly vital role of pollinators has also become better understood and valued due to the dedicated efforts of scientists in many countries.
It has been only in the last few decades that a ‘new’ subject has been introduced, impacting horticulture—and therefore private and commercial agriculture—animal husbandry, research into animal and human disease, and so much more. That subject is genetically modified organisms, or ‘GMOs’. Simply stated, a genetically modified organism is any organism that has had its genetic material altered by using new and still evolving genetic engineering. Elements of DNA from one organism can be added to the genetic makeup of another, resulting in a new, modified organism.
For example, the genetic attributes that color a pansy bright blue have been added to the genetic makeup of a rose, resulting in the first commercially grown and available truly blue rose. Researchers have even been trying to modify the genetic makeup of some breeds of cattle, attempting to produce a cow’s milk with properties very close to human breast milk, the better to help provide compatible, non-chemical nutrition to human newborns whose mothers are unable to breast feed. The subject is complex and will likely continue to evolve for many, many years before we fully understand all of the potential benefits and possible negative impacts.
Commercial agriculture has been quick to adopt some of applied practices of this science. Many crops have been developed using plants genetically modified to be more resistant to the herbicides used to suppress weeds, or to be less susceptible to viruses that can devastate a crop, even to inhibit bacterial growth that begins the moment a fruit or vegetable is picked, or to permit some plants to be grown outside of their natural climate ranges. On the surface, some of these applications appear to have benefits.
However, as is often true, the concerns around GMOs are less about the science itself, than in how the application of this science is being influenced by commercialism, by pressure to increase profit margins, to make big agri-business ever more efficient, and to increase our food industry’s tolerance for risk taking.
A plant with a genetically modified increased tolerance for herbicide application may thrive in the field, grove or planting bed. But what of the human who eats that ear of corn potentially contaminated with this more potent herbicide? This is but one example of troubling questions many have. Genetically engineering the DNA of a single strain of orange tree to possess a greater frost tolerance may provide a simple, cost effective solution with little chance of short term crop failure to the citrus industry, but should we be concerned that this may make species diversity a thing of the past? How would our citrus industry recover if some as yet unknown problem developed with this single strain of genetically modified orange tree and it had become the only predominant variety used in the majority of citrus groves across the world?
Despite broad scientific consensus that genetically modified crops pose no greater risk than conventionally produced foods, some opponents question the objectivity of regulatory agencies and the rigor of the regulatory process. Regardless, all admit we know little about the long term effects of GMOs on the environment and on Nature.
At Nova Scotia Organics, here is what we do know for certain. If we look to Nature, and study natural practices and progress, impacted by the checks and balances of centuries of evolution, and oblivious to the pressures of profitability and business operational efficiency, we cannot stray too far off a healthy path. We embrace science as well as the mind-body traditions of many global cultures, and know that our learning curve will never end. But until we have a much better comfort level with the possible impacts of GMOs, to us and to our environment, here at Nova Scotia Organics we’ve chosen to follow the wisdom of the greatest scientist, researcher, and gardener of them all— Nature itself.
All products offered by Naturally Nova Scotia Organics are 100% GMO free. Period.
It’s your body. Run it well. TM
“…for me, the concerns around GMO are less about the science itself, than in how the application of this science is being influenced by commercialism, by pressure to increase profit margins, make big agri-business ever more efficient, and to increase our food industry’s tolerance for risk taking.”
- GMO seeds may be grown using conventional or organic methods.
- Foods or ingredients claiming to be 'natural', 'whole food' or 'made with organic ingredients' may have ingredients made with genetically modified organisms, unless claimed and verified otherwise.
- All products offered by Nova Scotia Organics are USDA Certified Organic, and none contain GMO ingredients.