Population size changes as a result of four processes: Birth, death, immigration, and emigration.
- Nt = Population size at time t
- B = Number of births
- D = Number of deaths
- I = Number of immigrants
- E = Number of emigrants
Individuals can move from one population to another, and population size can change from one time period to the next.
Population dynamics: The ways in which populations change in abundance over time.
Populations exhibit a wide range of growth patterns, including exponential growth, logistic growth, fluctuations, and regular cycles.
These four patterns are not mutually exclusive. A single population can experience each of them at different times.
- Population increases by a constant proportion at each point in time.
- When conditions are favorable, a population can increase exponentially for a limited time.
- Species such as the cattle egret colonize new regions by long-distance or jump dispersal events.
- Local populations then expand by short-distance dispersal events.
- Some populations reach a stable size (equilibrium) that changes little over time.
- These populations first increase, then fluctuate by a small amount around the carrying capacity.
- Plots of real populations rarely match the logistic curve exactly.
- “Logistic growth” is used broadly to indicate any population that increases initially, then levels off at the carrying capacity.
- In all populations, numbers rise and fall over time.
- Fluctuations can be erratic, or deviations from a growth pattern, e.g., the Tasmanian sheep population.
- Sometimes the number of individuals can increase rapidly, causing a population outbreak.
- Some populations have alternating periods of high and low abundance at regular intervals.
- Populations of small rodents, such as lemmings and voles, typically reach a peak every 3–5 years.
- Delayed density dependence: Delays in the effect that density has on population size.
- Delayed density dependence can cause populations to fluctuate in size.
- Predators vs. Prey lag delay. The population of predator growth will lag behind that of the prey.
At intermediate levels, (0.368 < rτ < 1.57), damped oscillations result.
When rτ is large (rτ > 1.57), the population fluctuates indefinitely about the carrying capacity. This pattern is called a stable limit cycle
- The risk of extinction increases greatly in small populations.
- Fluctuations in growth rate, population size, and chance events can affect a population’s risk of extinction.
- The geometric growth equation can include random variation in the finite rate of increase (λ).
- Random variation in environmental conditions can cause λ to change from year to year (good years and bad years for growth).
- When variable environmental conditions result in large fluctuations in growth rate, the risk of extinction increases.
- Small populations are at greatest risk.
- If the simulations are repeated using larger initial population sizes, there are fewer extinctions.
- Demographic stochasticity—chance events affect survival and reproduction of individuals.
Allee effects: At low densities, individuals have difficulty finding mates, so growth rate decreases as population density decreases.
Allee effects can reduce small population size even further.
Environmental stochasticity: Unpredictable changes in the environment that can cause extinction of small populations.
Environmental stochasticity—change in average birth or death rates from year to year because of random changes in environmental conditions.
Demographic stochasticity—birth and death rates are constant, but the actual fates of individuals differ.
Natural catastrophes (floods, fires, etc.) can eliminate or greatly reduce even large populations, and play a role in extinctions.
Metapopulations: For many species, suitable habitat exists as a series of spatially isolated patches, resulting in isolated populations. (So some of isolated populations may go extinct but the species continues to live on in other patches)
Extinction and colonization of patches (Levins 1969, 1970):
- p = Proportion of habitat patches occupied at time t
- c = Patch colonization rate
- e = Patch extinction rate
The equation makes several assumptions:
- There is an infinite number of identical habitat patches.
- All patches have an equal chance of receiving colonists.
- All patches have an equal chance of extinction.
- Once a patch is colonized, its population increases to carrying capacity faster than colonization and extinction rates (allows population dynamics within patches to be ignored).
Levins’ research impacts key issues:
- Factors that influence patch colonization and extinction.
- Importance of the spatial arrangement of patches.
- How the landscape between patches affects dispersal.
- Whether empty patches are suitable habitat.
- Habitat fragmentation: Large tracts of habitat are converted to isolated patches, resulting in a metapopulation structure.
- As patches get smaller and more isolated, colonization decreases and extinction rate increases.
- If e/c becomes >1, the metapopulation will go extinct.
- Real metapopulations often violate the assumptions of Levin’s model.
- Patches vary in size and ease of colonization; extinction and colonization rates can vary greatly among patches.
- More complex models are now used.
- Research on skipper butterflies in the United Kingdom highlighted two important features of metapopulations:
- Isolation by distance—when patches are too far apart.
- Patch size—small patches may be hard to find and have high extinction rates.
- Isolation by distance can affect the chance of extinction—a patch that is near an occupied patch may receive immigrants repeatedly.
- High rates of immigration that protect a population from extinction is known as the rescue effect.
- Bottom-up control—increased nutrient inputs caused eutrophication and increased phytoplankton biomass, decreased oxygen, fish die-offs, etc.
Top-down control—top predators control the abundance of populations


Lets have a charged particle at a distance x at the beginning with velocity v away from a current carrying wire with current I. So, what will be the maximum distance of the particle from the wire? (only consider magnetic field)(wire is of infinite length) There are two ways of solving the problem. One is: Find forces in x and y axis at a given time, get diff. equations, and solve em, and integrate tem. Another is: We consider strips of magnetic field with 'dx' thickness, and integrate the deviation 'dθ' of the charged particle over all these strips from 0 to ∏/2. But in this case, i end up integrating sin(dθ). If i integrate sin(θ) dθ instead, i get the correct answer as so derived from the first way. But i wanted to ask, is there any problem with the logic of the second way?


Well & Good
Forget the damage to your waistline - over-indulging at Christmas could take its toll on your brain cells, too.
Eating a diet loaded with saturated fat and sugar may have an immediate effect on the brain's cognitive ability and cause memory loss, a University of New South Wales study has found.
''We know obesity causes inflammation in the body, but we didn't realise until recently that it causes changes in the brain,'' said Margaret Morris, the head of pharmacology at the University of NSW.
The study examined memory in rats and found that exposure to junk food over just six days reduced spatial recognition - or ability to notice when an object had been moved to a new location.
Professor Morris said the speed with which the deterioration occurred was alarming, with a spatial memory loss appearing long before any weight gain.
''After consuming a high sugar and fat diet for one week, we found that the hippocampus, the brain structure which is critical for learning and memory, had increased inflammation,'' said Professor Morris.
''Our preliminary data also indicates that the damage is not reversed when the rats are switched back to a healthy diet.''
In humans, spatial memory is essential in navigation and recalling where everyday items are, such as car keys, wallets or mobile phones.
The study, in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity, showed some aspects of the rats' memory was preserved, regardless of diet.
Professor Morris said while it was difficult to project rat data on to humans, there is evidence that short-term exposure to junk food could affect human memory.
- Daily Life
Do you believe eating superfoods makes you healthier?Related story: (See story)


Three researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research have published a working paper showing how increasing temperatures over the next century could mean fewer babies born–because, to paraphrase Cole Porter, it’ll be too darn hot.
Nicolas Belmonte—Technical Lead for Data Visualization at Twitter—has created an impressive interactive 3D visualization of the world's temperature anomalies since 1800 using data from NASA. It's like a deformed monster bloating and about to explode.
When you decorate a room you're stuck with a single color palette all year round that doesn't necessarily reflect the changing seasons outside. So maybe we should look to Siren Elise Wilhelmsen's color-changing rug for inspiration on designing a room that reflects, or contrasts, the temperatures outside.
Our intrepid reporter Mr. Mat Honan spent some time in Kentucky this past week, and he said the weather was incredibly, unseasonably hot. It was in the 80s in March. Not normal. What the heck?
The Midwest is suffering through a record heat wave. Parts of Oklahoma have climbed above 100 degrees for 40 straight days; Texas is on day 33. On Wednesday, Dallas saw its mercury climbing to a whopping 113.


By Dr Kris Lewonowski
Chronic pain is any pain that lasts, on and off, for more than three months. Poor posture, sitting most of the time, sports injuries, aging – especially in women – and lifting heavy objects can cause mechanical and soft tissue injuries, leading to low-back and neck pain in people of all ages.
Herniated disc (sciatica if in the low back): The jelly-like center of a herniated disc can irritate the nerves as they exit the spine on their way to the extremities. Mechanical compression by the protruding disc can also create severe pain. An epidemic of neck pain is a result of spending more time on our smart phones and computers, while back pain is aggravated by excessive sitting and obesity.
Facet Joint Dysfunction: There are two facets at each vertebrae to facilitate the movement of the spine. The facet joints have cartridges that can be worn out, causing severe pain. The majority of these conditions can be treated without surgery.
Degenerative disc disease (DDD): When we age, the loss of hydration decreases the space between each vertebra, causing compression of the exiting nerves. Many cases can be treated with physical therapy and injections such as PRP and stem cells.
Spinal stenosis: The disc can also collapse, causing stenosis of the spinal canal and serious compression of the spinal cord in one or multiple levels. The only solution for advanced cases is decompression surgery.
Spondylolisthesis: One vertebra can slip over the following one, causing instability of the spine and can only be fixed with fusion of the affected vertebrae.
Physical therapy is the best place to start, provided it is under a doctor’s supervision and is individualized to your anatomy and specific injury. Injections using safe doses of steroids, or effective doses of PRP or stem cells, are growing in popularity, provided they are done by experienced practitioners under precise ultrasound guidance.
The only time you need to rush to surgery is when you have signs of severe spinal cord compression such as loss of bladder or defecation control, or rapid progression in weakness of your extremities.


A jawbone discovered in a Tibetan cave turned out to be that of a Denisovan who had lived and died there about 160,000 years ago (see: Denisovan on top of the world; 6 May, 2019). That discovery owed nothing to ancient DNA, because the fossil proved to contain none that could be sequenced. But the dentine in one of two molar teeth embedded in the partial jaw did yield protein. The teeth are extremely large and have three roots, rather than the four more common in modern, non-Asian humans, as are Denisovan teeth from in the Siberian Denisova Cave. Fortunately, those teeth also yielded proteins. In an analogous way to the genomic sequencing of nucleotides (adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine) in DNA, the sequence of amino acids from which proteins are built can also be analysed. Such a proteomic sequence can be compared with others in a similar manner to genetic sequences in DNA. The Tibetan and Siberian dentine proteins are statistically almost the same.
At present the most ancient human DNA that has been recovered – from an early Neanderthal in the Sima de los Huesos in Spain – is 430,000 years old (see: Mitochondrial DNA from 400 thousand year old humans; December 2013). Yet it is proving difficult to go beyond that time, even in the cool climates that slow down the degradation of DNA. The oldest known genome of any animal is that of mtDNA from a 560–780 thousand year old horse, a leg bone of which was extracted from permafrost in the Yukon Territory, Canada. The technologies on which sequencing of ancient DNA depends may advance, but, until then, tracing the human evolutionary journey back beyond Neanderthals and Denisovans seems dependent on proteomic approaches (Warren, M. 2019. Move over, DNA: ancient proteins are starting to reveal humanity’s history. Nature, v. 570, p. 433-436; DOI: 10.1038/d41586-019-01986-x). Are the earlier Homo heidelbergensis and H. erectus within reach?
It seems that they may be, as might even earlier hominins. The 1.8 Ma Dmanisi site in Georgia, now famous for fossils of the earliest humans known to have left Africa, also yielded an extinct rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus). Proteins have been extracted from it, which show that Stephanorhinus was closely related to the later woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis). Collagen protein sequences from a 3.4 Ma camel preserved in the Arctic and even from a Tanzanian 3.8 Ma ostrich egg shell show the huge potential of ancient proteomics. Most exciting is that last example, not only because it extends the potential age range to that of Australopithecus afarensis but into tropical regions where DNA is at its most fragile. Matthew Warren points out potential difficulties, such as the limit of a few thousand amino acids in protein sequences compared with 3 million variants in DNA, and the fact that the most commonly found fossil proteins – collagens – may have evolved very little. On the positive side, proteins have been detected in a 195 Ma old fossil dinosaur. But some earlier reports of intact diosaur proteins have been questioned recently (Saitta, E.T. et al. 2019. Cretaceous dinosaur bone contains recent organic material and provides an environment conducive to microbial communities. eLife, 8:e46205; DOI: 10.7554/eLife.46205)


The Burns Supper and its history
The earliest recorded Burns Supper was held in Alloway, Ayrshire in July 1801 when nine friends of Robert Burns met for dinner to celebrate his life and works. Dinner consisted of haggis, washed down with wine and ale and the friends spent the evening reciting and singing some of Burns’ works. Their dedications to Rabbie Burns evolved into what we now know as The Immortal Memory.
After the success of that first evening, the Burns Supper became a bi-annual event which was emulated by other informal groups of men who appreciated the works of the Bard. By 1809, the Burns Supper was a well established tradition but, from that year, it became an annual event held on the anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns on 25 January as this was a quieter time in the agricultural calendar.
In 1806 the Burns Supper began its global journey with the first event being held outwith Scotland. A group of Glasgow students introduced the celebration to Oxford University where it grew in popularity. Well educated Scots travelled and worked across the world, enjoying their traditional Burns Suppers wherever they went.
In 1817 Dumfries Burns Club made arrangements for a dinner in celebration of Burns’ birthday. Although not the first, this Burns supper can be counted amongst one of the earliest. Sir Walter Scott was one of the honorary members of the Dumfries Burns Club.
‘To The Immortal Memory’
A Burns Supper may be a very grand banquet or a few friends around the kitchen table. Whatever format it takes, you can be sure to enjoy tasty haggis, entertaining and humorous poems, recitals and music and to raise a generous toast to the genius that is Robert Burns.
The Order of Events at a Traditional Burns Supper
The Burns Supper is an important annual event in the Scottish calendar. The birth of our National Bard is celebrated each 25th January at Burns Night events across the country and can range from an informal gathering of friends to a grand, formal dinner full of pomp and circumstance.
At a formal supper, guests are welcomed by a piper who will continue to play until the high table is ready to be seated. Less formally, where there is no high table, the host may simply bang on the table to mark the start of the evening. At smaller events, traditional music may be played.
The host welcomes the guests and introduces the evening’s entertainment.
Before the meal can be enjoyed, the Selkirk Grace – also known as Burns’s Grace at Kirkcudbright – must be read.
Piping In the Haggis
Guests now stand to welcome the star attraction which should be delivered on a silver platter by a procession comprising the chef, the piper and the person who will address the Haggis. A whisky-bearer should also arrive to ensure the toasts are well lubricated.
During the procession, guests clap in time to the music until the Haggis reaches its destination at the table. The music stops and guests are seated in anticipation of the address to the haggis. (Click the image below to view a video of The Address to a Haggis)
The honour of the recitation goes to one who will offer a fluent and entertaining rendition of ‘To a Haggis’.
Knife poised at the ready, he cuts the haggis casing ensuring the hot, tasty contents spill out. (It is wise to make a small cut in the haggis before it is piped in to avoid the potential explosion of hot haggis onto the guests!)
At the last line of the recital, the haggis is raised in triumph to ‘Gie her a haggis!’ and the guests cheer rapturously.
The host or speaker now makes a toast to the haggis and glasses are raised to the shout of ‘The Haggis!’. At formal affairs, the haggis may be piped back out to the kitchen to applause from the guests.
Burns Night – January 25th
The Burns Supper is traditionally held on 25 January, the anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns.
January 25th is sometimes called Robert Burns Day or Burns Night (Burns Nicht), as the Burns Supper is usually the focus of a celebratory event held in the evening.
Address to a Haggis.
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin’-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang’s my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect sconner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit:
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.
Ye Pow’rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thankit.
Haggis, neeps & tatties
(Haggis wi’ bashit neeps
an’ champit tatties)
Clootie Dumpling or Typsy Laird
(fruit pudding or Scottish sherry trifle)
Cheeseboard with bannocks (oatcakes)
Wine or ale should be served with the meal. Whisky may be added to the haggis.
After the meal, a fine malt is offered by the host.
Entertainment to follow the Burns Supper
Burns Night entertainment begins in the form of a singer or musician performing a traditional Burns song. This is followed by speeches, songs and poems, starting with the Immortal Memory.
A spell-binding, dramatic and witty delivery of the colourful story of the life of our beloved Robert Burns. The conclusion is a heartfelt toast ‘To the immortal memory of Robert Burns!’
A Burns poem or song may be introduced at this point, followed by a Toast to the Lassies.
This should be humorous and preferably include reference to present guests.
Reply to the Toast To The Lassies
Once the speeches are complete the evening continues with songs and poems.
These should be a good variety to fully show the different moods of Burns’ muse. Favourites for recitations are Tam O’Shanter, Address to the Unco Guid, To a Mouse and Holy Willie’s Prayer.
The host stands to thank his guests, speakers and entertainers for a wonderful evening and invites guests to stand for a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne prior to closing the evening.
Old Lang Syne
Auld Lang Syne.
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I’ll be mine,
And we’ll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin auld lang syne.
And there’s a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.


As the parent of a child who is blind, I feel that it's important that my daughter is comfortable and proud of herself. It is key that she develops the skills to talk about her blindness and share the tools she uses with others. It will help her develop self-advocacy skills and build her self confidence.
I always let her make the decision on what and how she shares with others. We both really like opportunities where she can demonstrate how much fun Braille is.
Abby is 10 years old and attends a mainstream 4th grade public school where naturally there are a lot of questions about her reading and writing in Braille.
For the past three years Abby has been asked by her school to have her own table at their annual school health fair where she writes the children's names in braille on cards.
When I visited her this year she had a long line and the kids loved it. All children are innately curious about braille. Braille is fun and kids love secret codes. It's great because the kids get to see braille in action and also get a chance to ask questions.
Do you want to help your child share braille in their school too?
This can be done on a small scale (single classroom) or large scale (school wide like at the health fair). I have seen Abby on the fly do this when friends come over to the house to visit and during her birthday parties. Braille is an essential tool for my daughter since literacy is a vital piece of the puzzle that is her future, so it's important that she share it with her friends and classmates.
All you need are the following items for a child who is blind or visually impaired to share the joys of Braille:
- Colorful cardstock to braille names on.
- A Perkins Brailler or two. A Perkins SMART Brailler is always a party pleaser.
- Stickers of all kinds. Foam stickers work great because they are also tactile.
- Examples of different Braille books. Twin vision books, math textbook and maybe a book with great tactile graphics like Humpty Dumpty and Other Touching Rhymes from National Braille Press.
- Braille alphabet cards and other tools your child may use including a slate and stylus, magnifiers, abacus and white cane.
- Optional: Things are better in twos. It may be helpful to have two Perkins Braillers with two people brailling. My daughter's para-professional has helped every year (her para-professional may have more fun than Abby does).
- Optional: a fun braille t-shirt.
It really is that simple.
And yes, the kids really do love it!
For more ideas, check out an article from Carol Castellano, Bringing Blindness Awareness to the Sighted Classroom.


The American Turkey
Please note: The photos and images on this page have come from clipart CD's which allow use on the internet (educational) and in school projects or they have been contributed by viewers. The information has come from my research.
You are free to use all of it in book reports or for your personal website.
See KidZone Bibliography for more information.
The turkey is one of the most famous birds in North America. In fact, Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the wild turkey, not the Bald Eagle, the national bird of the United States!
The turkey's popularity comes from the American people's love of eating the bird for special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Photo of a domestic turkey
thanks to Steven for sending this in!
The wild turkey we usually see in photos or pictures is not the same as the domestic turkey that we serve at Thanksgiving.
Domestic or tame turkeys weigh twice what a wild turkey does and are raised on farms for profit.
Most domestic turkeys are so heavy they are unable to fly.
Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) live in woods in parts of North America and are the largest game birds found in this part of the world. They spend their days foraging for food like acorns, seeds, small insects and wild berries. They spend their nights in low branches of trees (yes, wild turkeys can fly!).
thanks to Steven for sending this in!
Tom Turkey's Tale of a Tail
Peacocks aren't the only birds who use their fancy tails to attract a mate. Each spring male turkeys try to befriend as many females as possible. Male turkeys, also called "Tom Turkeys" or "Gobblers" puff up their bodies and spread their tail feathers (just like a peacock).
They grunt, make a "gobble gobble sound" and strut about shaking their feathers. This fancy turkey trot helps the male attract females (also called "hens") for mating.
After the female turkey mates, she prepares a nest under a bush in the woods and lays her tan and speckled brown eggs. She incubates as many as 18 eggs at a time. It takes about a month for the chicks to hatch.
When the babies (known as poults) hatch they flock with their mother all year (even through the winter). For the first two weeks the poults are unable to fly. The mother roosts on the ground with them during this time.
Wild turkeys are covered with dark feathers that help them blend in with their woodland homes. The bare skin on the throat and head of a turkey can change color from flat gray to striking shades of red, white, and blue when the bird becomes distressed or excited.
Where did the turkey get its name?
Have you ever wondered what Turkey (the country in the Middle East) and the American bird have in common? A case of mistaken identity resulted in the American Turkey being named after the country. When the Spanish first found the bird in the Americas more than 400 years ago they brought it back to Europe. The English mistakenly thought it was a bird they called a "turkey" so they gave it the same name. This other bird was actually from Africa, but came to England by way of the Turkey (lots of shipping went through Turkey at the time). The name stuck even when they realized the birds weren't the same.
Caruncle - brightly colored growths on the throat region. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship.
Gizzard - a part of a bird's stomach that contains tiny stones. It helps them grind up food for digestion.
Hen - a female turkey.
Poult - a baby turkey. A chick.
Snood - the flap of skin that hangs over the turkey's beak. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship.
Tom - a male turkey. Also known as a gobbler.
Wattle - the flap of skin under the turkey's chin. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship.
Scientific genus and species: Meleagris gallopavo
Other Fun Hands On Turkey Activity Links:


What is a mealybug destroyer and are mealybug destroyers good for plants? If you’re lucky enough to have these beetles in your garden, do everything you possibly can to ensure they stick around. Both larvae and adults will help keep mealybugs under control.
Mealybugs are destructive pests that wreak havoc when they suck the juices from a variety of plants, including certain agricultural crops, garden vegetables, ornamentals, trees, and your prized houseplants. If that isn’t bad enough, mealybugs also leave sweet, sticky waste that attracts ugly, black mold.
Take a look at the following information on beneficial mealybug destroyers. Most importantly, learn how to tell the difference between mealybug destroyer beetles and actual mealybug pests.
Mealybugs or Beneficial Mealybug Destroyers?
Adult mealybug destroyer beetles are smaller and primarily blackish or dark brown lady beetles with a tan or rusty orange head and tail. They have healthy appetites and can power through mealybugs fairly quickly. They can lay up to 400 eggs during their two month life span.
Mealybug destroyer eggs are yellow. Look for them among the cottony egg sacks of mealybugs. They hatch into larvae in about five days when temps reach about 80 degrees F. (27 C.) but don’t reproduce well when the weather is cold or extremely hot. The larvae enter a pupal stage in about 24 days after they go through three larval stages.
Here’s where things get confusing: mealybug destroyer larvae look a lot like mealybugs, which means mealybug destroyers can sneak up on their prey. It is estimated that mealybug destroyer larvae can eat up to 250 mealybugs in the nymph stage. Unfortunately, their almost identical appearance also means that mealybug destroyer larvae are targets of pesticides intended for the bugs they feed on.
How to determine which is which? Mealybug destroyer larvae are covered with waxy, white material, substantially more than actual mealybugs. They measure about ½ inch (1 cm.) in length, about twice the length of an adult mealybug.
Also, mealybug destroyers have legs but they’re difficult to see because of the white, curly covering. They move around a lot more than mealybugs, which are sluggish and tend to stay in one spot.
If you have a heavy infestation of mealybugs and mealybug destroyer beetles aren’t quite up to the job, don’t resort to pesticides. Instead, target-spray insecticidal soap. Do your best to spare mealybug destroyer eggs, larvae, and adults.


A screening colonoscopy is important for detecting early colon polyps and cancer, but at what age should you stop getting them? Find out what a new study shows.
More people are choosing to get a screening colonoscopy these days as it becomes clear that lives can be saved by catching pre-malignant polyps and cancers early when a cure is possible. Most guidelines recommend a screening colonoscopy in people over the age of fifty, unless there’s a family history of colon cancer which makes earlier screening important. But what about the other end of the spectrum? At what age should screening colonoscopies be stopped?
What Are the Guidelines?
Previously, it’s been recommended that adults get a screening colonoscopy up to the age of seventy-five. Some experts have argued for screening into the eighties since the number of cases in this age group is on the rise. Now, a new study suggests that it may not be necessary to screen for colon polyps and cancers after the age of seventy. This study, which was published in Family Practice News this month, suggests that not only is a screening colonoscopy in people over the age of seventy not cost effective, it may not prolong life expectancy because colon polyps can take many years to become cancer. The risk of complications from screening colonoscopy is also higher in the older age group with the risks of puncturing the colon or hemorrhaging from the procedure almost double.
Is a Screening Colonoscopy the Only Way to Screen?
Some doctors are recommending testing the stool regularly for microscopic blood as a means of detecting polyps and colon cancer. Although this is a safe, low cost way to screen, blood may be in the stool for a variety of reasons unrelated to cancer such as the presence of hemorrhoids. Finding blood in the stool on screening could still end up requiring a colonoscopy to rule out colon cancer.
Should People Over Seventy Still Get a Screening Colonoscopy?
Colon cancer becomes increasingly more common with age, and not screening people over the age of seventy will result in some treatable colon cancers being missed; but there is also the small risk of perforating or tearing the colon which can be life threatening. For those who have been regularly screened up to the age of seventy with no abnormal polyps or cancers, it may be safe to stop screening colonoscopies since any polyp that appears after that time will take a long time to develop into a cancer. In people who are at high risk of colon cancer because of family history, continued screening is advisable. For those who choose to stop screening colonoscopies, screening could continue on a yearly basis with stool testing for microscopic blood.
Of course, these are all issues that should be discussed with a personal family doctor who is aware of any family history and other issues that might increase the risk of colon cancer. Not even the experts can completely agree on this issue.


I once believed wealth meant having the resources to use as I wanted. I had entirely bought into the consumer culture. I lived paycheck to paycheck, and I owned lovely worthless objects. The weird thing is — I felt wealthy. I was healthy, I was loved by and love my family and friends. I read somewhere that, “The poorest man is he whose only wealth is money.” Sounds like something said by a person with money. Bottom line, feeling wealthy is not being wealthy. Health is essential. And family and friends are indispensable to living a full life. But let’s be clear, without financial resources life in the modern age isn’t worth living.
At various points between 1999 and 2009, I owned, literally paid off a “96” Dodge Stratus, “99” Cadillac Seville STS, “02” Cadillac Deville DHS, “04” Volkswagen New Beetle, and “04” Mercedes-Benz C230 Sport Kompressor. The cars are just half of the story; I financed a lifestyle that made me feel good and entertained but kept me from genuinely building financial wealth. I had a financially lost decade.
In 2005, I began to manage my finances. It took me five years, 2005 to 2010, to become solvent and stable financially.
A Wikipedia entry describes wealth as the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions.
The Wiki entry continues with a brief description of wealth as it applies to sociology, informing, social class is not identical to wealth, but the two concepts are related. This leads to the combined concept of Socioeconomic status. Partly as a result of different economic conditions of life, members of different social classes often have different value systems and view the world in different ways. As such, there are different conceptions of social reality, and different aspirations and hopes and fears. The way the various social classes in society view wealth vary and these diverse characteristics are a fundamental dividing line among the classes.
- The Upper Class. Upper-class values include higher education, generational transfer of wealth, interest and relationships with other the wealthiest people, the maintenance of wealth, social networks, and the power that accompanies such networks. Children of the upper class are typically schooled on how to manage this power and channel this privilege in different forms.
- The Middle Class. The middle class places a greater emphasis on income. The middle-class views wealth as something for emergencies and it is seen as more of a cushion. This class comprises people that were raised with families that typically owned their own home, planned ahead and stressed the importance of education and achievement. They earn a significant amount of income and also have significant amounts of consumption. There is very limited savings and investments beyond retirement pensions and home ownership. They (the middle class) have been socialized to accumulate wealth through structured, institutionalized arrangements. Without this set structure, asset accumulation would likely not occur.
- The Lower Class. Those with the least amount of wealth are the poor. Wealth accumulation for this class is to some extent prohibited. Most of the institutions that the poor encounter discourage any accumulation of assets.
- a great quantity or store of money, valuable possessions, property, or other riches: the wealth of a city.
- an abundance or profusion of anything; plentiful amount: a wealth of imagery.
- Economics: all things that have a monetary or exchange value; anything that has utility and is capable of being appropriated or exchanged.
In answering the question today, I affirm wealth means having health — physical and mental, family, friends, and enough resources.
I was born into the “lower class” where the consumer culture discourages the accumulation of wealth and strongly encourages us who can least afford it to keep up with the celebrities. I’ve earned my way into the middle of the “middle class” and increased my consumption accordingly, bought a house, and began contributions to my retirement plan. I had bought into the institutional arrangements established for the middle class.
Don’t be defined by a class. I could be defined as middle class, but I consider myself wealthy. I am not under any illusions about my net worth. I am not Oprah wealthy, I’m not President Obama rich, and their financial achievements aren’t my goals. However, I do have and am pursuing “upper class” values.
I am wealthy because I do have my health — physical and mental. I’m wealthy because I have a great family and great friends. I am wealthy because I have resources to live a modest life compared to that of Oprah, and an extravagant life compared to that of the homeless. I am wealthy because I have the resources to live a respectable life based on my value system. I’m wealthy because I enjoy the fruits of my labor within my means based on my reality, not that of the expectations set by others. I save, I invest, and I will provide resources to aid my children as they become adults to prevent them from starting from scratch. I will provide assets that can be passed down from my children to their children. Hopefully, they will build on what I offer and by the fourth generation be wealthy members of the upper class financially and socially.
The definition of wealth is open to interpretation. A monetary value is not the only way to define wealth. Someone is living right now that earns $1 million and spends $1 million and are living million-dollar paycheck to million-dollar paycheck and are one paycheck away from being broke.
Are you wealthy?
What does wealth mean to you?


When it comes to investments—philanthropic, environmental, and technological—even the so-called “Oracle (News - Alert) of Omaha,” Warren Buffet, trusts Bill Gates with his money. And usually, Gates’ instincts are in the right place. But, in the case of the traveling wave reactor, the Microsoft (News - Alert) founder has gone astray, according to a new report just released this week.
The research study, produced by the nonprofit, Washington, DC-based think tank, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), finds that the traveling wave reactor (TWR) concept championed by TerraPower— a nuclear reactor design spin-off company of Intellectual Ventures that is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., and in which Bill Gates (News - Alert) is a key investor—is likely to be a commercial failure.
According to the study—entitled “Traveling Wave Reactors: Sodium-Cooled Gold at the End of a Nuclear Rainbow?”—about $100 billion already has been invested by over half a dozen countries over more than six decades in an unsuccessful commercialization effort. Over that time, there has been essentially no demonstrable learning curve: The most recent sodium-cooled demonstration reactors in France and Japan have among the worst reliability records.
Unproven to Date
The “traveling wave reactor,” first conceived in 1958, has been intensively investigated only since about 2006. It represents a new—and unproven— type of nuclear reactor, called a sodium-cooled fast reactor, that does not use enriched uranium exclusively for fuel. Instead, TerraPower’s reactor uses the waste byproduct of the enrichment process (or waste uranium).
At the beginning of the process, the TerraPower-designed reactor requires a small amount of enriched uranium, but then it continues to operate on the waste product and can make and consume its own fuel. The benefits are that the reactor doesn’t have to be refueled or have its waste removed until the end of life of the reactor (a century or more). Using waste uranium reduces the amount of waste in the overall nuclear life cycle, and extends the available supply of the world’s uranium for nuclear by many times.
What’s more, using sodium as a coolant is theoretically an advantage, because the liquid metal coolant has a high heat capacity which provides thermal inertia against overheating. However, a disadvantage of sodium is its chemical reactivity, which requires special precautions to prevent and suppress fires. If sodium comes into contact with water, it explodes, and it burns when in contact with air.
This was the case at the Monju Nuclear Power Plant, a Japanese sodium-cooled fast reactor located in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture. The reactor went online in April 1994, but an accident in December 1995, in which a sodium leak caused a major fire, forced a shutdown. A subsequent scandal involving a cover-up of the scope of the accident delayed its restart until May 2010–however, three months later, another accident shut the plant down again.
Sodium handling at the now-shuttered Monju plant in Japan (courtesy Monju).
Thus, the new study, conducted and authored by Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., nuclear engineer and president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, concludes:
- The sodium-cooled reactor experience does not bode well for TWRs—Makhijani notes, “Sodium-cooled fast reactors have a checkered history. Some have operated well, while others have done poorly. The most recent commercial demonstration reactors belong in the latter category. The French demonstration reactor, Superphénix, operated at an average capacity factor of less than 7 percent over 11 years before being shut in 1996….The Japanese Monju reactor, commissioned in 1994, and connected to the grid in 1995, had a sodium leak and fire in 1995. It was closed until May 2010, when it was restarted for testing, but suffered another accident in August 2010. It has not been restarted since.”
- Power produced by TWRs would not be affordable or competitive—Again, the author points out, “Even apart from the poor reliability in many cases, sodium-cooled breeder reactor capital costs have been very variable and have not decreased over time. Fermi I, built in the 1960s, cost about $4,000 per kilowatt; while the Fast Flux Test Facility, operational in 1980, cost over $10,000 per kilowatt. Superphénix cost, commissioned in 1986, was priced at about $4,800 per kilowatt; but Monju, commissioned nearly a decade later, cost over $20,000 per kilowatt [all in 1996 dollars].”
Not Convincing, Even on Paper
Makhijani notes, “Given the reactor development that remains, it is highly unlikely that such reactors could help significantly alleviate the problem of fossil fuel generation in the next few decades, when it must be solved. TWRs are likely to be economically obsolete before there are commercialized.”
Report reviewer M.V. Ramana, Ph.D., Nuclear Futures Laboratory and Program on Science and Global Security, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, agreed: “Sodium cooled fast neutron reactors have been pursued by several countries around the world. The lesson from the many decades of such pursuit has been that these reactors are expensive, are prone to operational problems and sodium leaks, and are susceptible to severe accidents under some circumstances. There is no evidence that TWR will overcome any of these. It is not convincing even on paper.”
Edited by Alisen Downey


Public schools in Sweden are open to everyone, including expats. These schools follow the Swedish national curriculum.
Public schools in Sweden take steps to accommodate non-Swedish speakers, with classes known as ‘preparatory classes’ which assist new arrivals in learning Swedish. Preparatory classes run alongside regular lessons – the goal is for students to reach a certain point of proficiency that allows them to be fully integrated into regular school classes. This usually takes around six to 12 months. In addition, some public schools offer expat students special classes to help them maintain mother-tongue proficiency.
Swedish schools are administrated by the local municipality in which they are located. These institutions are taxpayer-funded and charge no fees for students from the age of 3 to a maximum age of 20.
School is only compulsory for students aged six to 15, however. All nine years of compulsory education are undertaken at a comprehensive school (grundskola). Following this, students wishing to continue their education move on to upper secondary school.
Upper secondary school (gymnasieskola) is more specialised, and students must choose their path from a number of national programmes. Some are vocational and others prepare students for entry to higher education. There are also a handful of introductory programmes available to assist students who don’t yet qualify for a national programme. This includes a Swedish-language programme for newcomers to the country who aren’t proficient in Swedish.
Swedish schools generally have high standards and offer a good standard of education. As such, most local children in Sweden go to public schools. However, many expats choose to forego public school in favour of international schools.


Treatment of bad breath
Treatment of bad breath depends on its cause. Generally, the most effective treatment is improving the dental hygiene and sticking to it.
Following are the ways by which halitosis (bad breath) can be treated.
Improving dental hygiene
Improving the dental hygiene is essential for keeping bad breath away. It means that the mouth should be properly cleaned every single day. Mouth cleaning is done in a number of steps which are:
Flossing between teeth
Proper flossing removes plaque and other food particles from places where a toothbrush cannot reach easily like between the teeth and under the gum line. Plague, if build up, can cause tooth decay and a lot of gum related disease and contribute to bad breath. Therefore, flossing on a daily basis is recommended by a dentist.
Brushing gums and teeth
For healthy teeth and gums, brushing is necessary. With proper care, teeth and gums can remain healthy throughout the life. The healthier the teeth and gums are, the less risk they are for decay and cavities.
Tips on how to brush your teeth
Below are listed some tips on how to brush teeth effectively:
- Choose a medium sized toothbrush with soft bristles
- Brush twice a day each time for at least two minutes
- Cover all areas paying special attention to the part where teeth and gums meet
- After drinking an acidic drink, avoid brushing for 30 minutes
- Avoid brushing for half an hour after eating
- After brushing, rinse the mouth with a mouthwash
Just like teeth, bacteria also build upon the tongue. The bacteria and other debris collected on the tongue can cause bad breath and a white coloration on the tongue. Cleaning the tongue is as important as cleaning the teeth. The tongue can be cleaned in two ways:
Brushing: Brushing the tongue involves scrubbing the tongue gently from back to tip with a moistened brush. It can be done after brushing the teeth and before rinsing the mouth. It involves cleaning the tongue, cheeks and the roof of the mouth.
Scraping: Scraping the tongue involves cleaning the tongue with a tongue scraper. It is done with a device which is designed to glide along the surface of the tongue. It takes off the layer of mucus and all the debris and bacteria accumulated on the tongue. It is placed at the back of the tongue and moved towards the tip of the tongue with an even pressure.
Use of fluoride toothpaste
Fluoride helps in strengthening the tooth enamel and makes it more resistant to tooth decay and cavities. It also reduces the amount of acid produced by bacteria on teeth. Fluoride toothpaste is highly recommended for people suffering from halitosis.
Use of anti-bacterial mouthwash
People with halitosis are often advised to use an antibacterial mouthwash. These mouthwash are beneficial because:
- they fight bad breath
- are helpful in reducing the build-up of plague
- they fight gingivitis (periodontital disease)
- they loosen up hidden food particles
They also protect the mouth from infections and irritation.
Toothpaste and mouthwash containing oxygenating compounds
In order to prevent bacteria from producing bad odors, oxygenating compounds are introduced to the oral environment. It is because oxygen is the natural enemy of bacteria that cause this problem.
These bacteria are anaerobic and cannot function in the presence of oxygen. Using toothpaste and mouthwash containing oxygenating compounds stop these bacteria and eventually help to fight the bad breath.
Dentists usually recommend mouthwashes and toothpastes containing oxygenating compounds such as sodium chlorite or chlorine dioxide. These compounds neutralize volatile sulfur compounds and help to control the odor-causing bacteria.
Saliva substitute for dry mouth
People with halitosis often experience mouth dryness. They are recommended a saliva substitute by their dentists. These saliva substitutes help moisten the mouth throughout the day. Aloe Vera, green tea and tea tree oil are some of the natural substitutes.
Treating gum conditions
Sometimes, bad breath is caused due to gum conditions. The odor causing bacteria can lead to gum disease. Unhealthy gums provide a platform for these bacteria to breed and multiply.
Gingivitis is a condition of red and swollen gums which may cause bad breath. If a person experiences any such condition related to gums, their dentist can either treat the disease or refer the person to a periodontist. A periodontist is a dentist who treats especially gum conditions.
Dentist visit for regular check-ups
Regular dental check-up ensures that the patient's teeth remain cleaner, lasts longer and can prevent painful conditions from developing in future.
Home remedies for bad breath (halitosis)
Home remedies are the self-care techniques which help in reducing the bad breath. There are several things which can be done at home:
Proper oral care
This is the most important part in treating bad breath. This includes:
- Regular teeth brushing, flossing and scraping at least twice a day
- Soft toothbrush is highly recommended as to not damage tooth enamel and gums
- Tongue should also be cleaned regularly along with teeth
- Mouth should be properly rinsed after eating anything that can be the reason for tooth cavities
- Dentures should be cleaned on a daily basis as it will help prevents the bacteria from building up
- Toothbrush should be changed every 2-3 months
Advanced oral care products
Use oral care products (toothpaste and mouthwashes) that are effective in fighting bad breath.
Stimulate the saliva
Dry mouth can be prevented by chewing gums and mints that are sugar-free. Eating citrus fruits like orange can stimulate the salivary glands and encourage the flow of breath freshening saliva.
Drinking adequate water helps in keeping the breath fresh. Drinking water will serve two purposes:
- It will wash away some of the bacteria that causes bad breath
- It will stimulate saliva production
Treatment with ingredients from the kitchen
Bad breath can be treated with some ingredients easily available in the kitchen. They are:
- Fennel – excellent mouth freshener
- Cinnamon – reduces amount of bacteria in the mouth
- Fenugreek – highly effective when bad breath is caused by catarrhal infections
- Cloves – freshens the breath, antibacterial properties help to fight the bad breath
- Parsley – contain chlorophyll that helps neutralize the bad breath
- Lemon juice – acidic content prevent bacterial growth, strong pleasant smell helps masks the bad odor
- Apple cider vinegar – have pH balancing effects
- Baking soda – balance the levels of acid and fights oral bacteria that cause bad breath
- Tea tree oil – have antiseptic properties and acts as a powerful disinfectant for the mouth
- Herbal tea – have antioxidant polyphenols that stop the growth of bacteria
Eat fibrous fruits and vegetables
Eating an apple a day keeps the bacteria away from the mouth. It also helps to keep the mouth moist. Green vegetables have chlorophyll which helps in neutralizing the bad breath.
Take a dietary supplement
Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Vitamin B are effective at eliminating the excess mucus and toxins from the body naturally.
Avoid alcohol and tobacco
Alcohol and tobacco dehydrate the mouth and eventually contributes to bad breath.
Maintain diet accordingly
Onions, garlic and spicy foods contribute to bad breath. Sugary foods are also linked to bad breath. Coffee should also be avoided. Instead, including rough foods can help clean the back of the tongue.
If breath odor still persists, it is recommended that an individual visits a doctor for further tests and diagnosis and to check for other conditions that may be causing the bad breath.


“If the bees disappeared, then man would only have four years left to live. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more man.”
“Colony collapse disorder is the subject of this environmental documentary. As bee colonies around the United States disappear, scientists and beekeepers struggle to find the reason why and ascertain the impact on humans and the planet. Longtime beekeepers and newcomers alike are faced with economic ruin as they try to keep their hives healthy and prevent this crisis from wreaking havoc on a world that depends on pollination to sustain agriculture.”
Vanishing of the Bees says, “another way to help the bees – dance!”
“Please join us this Sunday July 3rd to learn why our project to get urban beekeeping approved in Los Angeles is so critical! Meet Chelsea and Rob McFarland and others from Backwards Beekeepers at the MVCC Green Booth at the Mar Vista Farmers Market from 9AM to 2:00 PM. Get the info on our July 16th screening of Vanishing of the Bees!
Over the last three years, more than one in three honeybee colonies collapsed nationwide, a phenomenon now called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. According to the USDA, about one-third of our food is thanks to the work of bees, making CCD a huge food security issue. And while there is no one smoking gun causing CCD, scientists now widely agree that it is a result of a combination of factors, made manifest by industrial beekeeping which involves artificial insemination of queen bees, trucking thousands of hives great distances to pollinate crops, exposing bees to countless pesticides, and interfering with the species natural defenses by treating them with miticides and antibiotics and feeding them high fructose corn syrup. This deadly cocktail has made bees incredibly vulnerable and on the brink of collapse. That is, only if we fail to act, if we fail to recognize this disaster in the making and don’t take strong action to counter the slow march to extinction.
Mar Vista is actively working toward becoming a more sustainable place to live. Los Angeles currently outlaws beekeeping, and the city’s policy is to exterminate all feral bees. With worldwide bee populations threatened with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and urban beekeeping more popular than ever, this policy needs to change. Feral bees, being subject to natural selection but not to the rough treatment and chemicals of commercial beekeeping, are far more robust than their commercial cousins. As commercial colonies collapse at an alarming rate, it is crucial that this population be protected.
Luckily the Mar Vista Community Council is conducting a feasibility study for a Urban Beekeeping Pilot Project.”
Kickstarter: “BEE”: Short Film (Narrative)
by Raphael Hitzke
Fund raising ends Jul 01, 03:30pm EDT (only 3 days left!!)
Click below to donate!
Help Legalize Beekeeping in Mar Vista! Please sign our petition on Change.org!
Honey tube as wedding favors from their local honey farm
Solar Beeswax Melter
I have a bunch of beeswax from cut-outs…so what to do? I came up with this design based on a few I’d seen online and was able to pull together most of the material from around the house. The concept is pretty simple – sun heats up metal, melting wax into a trough.
Seemed to be working well, though I think it needs a full day of sun to fully melt the wax. It got warm enough today to melt the wax into piles, though not warm enough to make it run into the trough. We’ll see tomorrow after it gets full sun all day.
“Mar Vista tripleheader”
Today, Roberta of Backwards Beekeepers and I cut-out three hives from my neighbor’s garage. John contacted BB after what sounds like a few bungled removals. What started as one hive in his wall splintered into three robust hives, taking up residence in various parts of the garage.
John’s daughter Catherine, a biology student at UCSB, helped us throughout the whole ordeal. I suspect we have a newbie beek in the making. She was really impressive.
The first hive we tackled was in a window frame and was fully exposed after removing a sheet of plywood that was installed after the previous removal.
We were able to easily cut out the comb and tie it into frames. Look at all that brood!
Next up was a hive that set up in a wine box left behind to trap stragglers from the previous removal. The thought was that it was better to have them living in the box than in the wall.
Unfortunately, they quickly got over-crowded and sent out at least two more swarms, which set up shop in the window and wall. Makes me wonder if this is where the swarm that showed up in my yard originated. If so, I have John to thank for my good fortune. The good news was that the box made for a really simple cut-out.
We tied all the comb into 5 frames and dropped them into a nuc box I just built. We obviously got the queen because the rest of the crew was eager to get inside.
And finally, after a ton of sawing and brute demo work, we were able to cut-out the swarm in the wall. They really spread out throughout the wall, so it took a ton of coaxing to get them all. And by coaxing, I mean busting the hell out of the wall and brushing and vacuuming like a mad man. And though I’m no fan of the bee vac, I’ve found it to be essential in some of the hairier cut-outs. Going to try to build one this weekend, stay tuned for how that turns out.
Special thanks to John and Catherine for helping rescue many thousands of honeybees, and to Roberta for the mentoring.
Help us save the honey bees!!
Your contribution directly supports the educational outreach, community action and advocacy efforts to protect the health and well-being of honey bees. HoneyLove is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Your donation is 100% tax-deductible.


GREEN POLICY AT GLASGOW BAKERS
We are committed to minimising the impact of our activities on the environment.
The key points of its strategy to achieve this are:
Minimise waste by not using, where avoidable, single-use plastic products and avoiding the distribution of any product containing single-use material.
Reduce toxic emissions through the selection and use of any vehicles used and the source of its greener energy suppliers.
Actively promote recycling, both internally and amongst our customers and suppliers.
Source and promote a locally grown range of ingredients to minimise the environmental impact of both production and distribution.
Source and promote a British made product range to minimise the environmental impact of both production and distribution.
Actively support local food waste initiatives to ensure we minimise any and all food waste material.
Promote healthier attitudes towards food, its production and the environment.


Is it possible to be an ethical tourist?
Yes. Although the concept is still new to most people, ethical tourism is quickly spreading across the travel industry as an ideal. As tourism rises, it also places increased responsibility of an area to host tourists, which can lead to negative effects in the destination’s delicate ecosystem.
What does it mean to be an ethical tourist?
Ethical tourism and responsible tourism mean thinking about the consequences of your actions as a tourist on the environment, local people and local economy. Some places in the world really benefit from tourism and for some communities the tourist trade is the main source of income and jobs.
What are ethical issues tourism?
Major ethical issues in tourism. Distribution of income. Access to services and facilities. Exploitation of children. Exploitation of women.
What is the importance of ethical tourism?
Ethical tourism simply means keeping in mind the effects of one’s actions as a traveler on the environment and local community. Geared towards consumers as well as the industry, ethical tourism aims to avoid participation in activities that contribute to or support negative ethical issues.
What ethical standard should you uphold as a tourism practitioner?
Tourism practitioners should safeguard the environment and natural heritage, preserve resources, and avoid waste production, ideally by agreeing to limitations on their activities in highly sensitive areas.
How does culture influence ethical behavior?
Culture reflects the moral and ethical beliefs and standards that speak to how people should behave and interact with others. … They act as prescriptions for correct and moral behavior, lend meaning and coherence to life, and provide a means of achieving a sense of integrity, safety, and belonging.
What does it mean when something is ethical?
Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. … “Being ethical is doing what the law requires.” “Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts.”
What is the importance of ethics in hospitality and tourism industry?
EA then discuss that ethics are especially important in the hospitality industry because workers are faced with a broad range of ethical dilemmas. Hospitality workers and professionals often have the opportunity to do something against an ethical value, such as taking food because it’s” no big deal.


Fun Learning > Traditional Learning
The possibility of fun in learning can be a hard one to get a handle on. Do you recall the last time you sat down just to discover some new information or improve your skills at work? In spite of the fact that the possibility of self-improvement is energizing, the procedure is typically somewhat dull. There's a ton of hard, exhausting work to do before you can receive the benefits. At times it's difficult to motivate yourself
Winston Churchill stated, “Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught”.. This is the means by which the greater part of us see learning and improvement. That is on the grounds that the way to deal with preparing hasn't developed since Churchill was yawning at the back of a classroom. The prospect of getting to an internet learning stage most likely doesn't fill you with a feeling of wired satisfaction. If that’s the case, why is corporate training so… well… corporate?
The Science of Fun in Learning
Fun positively affects inspiration levels, figuring out what we realize and the amount we hold. Learning is certifiably not an irregular occasion. It requires redundancy and commitment. If the experience is fun, learners will stay curious and keep coming back for more.
On the off chance that the learning isn't fun, it won't be successful. That is not only a sneaking doubt – it's a chilly, hard, and logical reality.
An examination in the diary, College Teaching, found that students could recall a statistics lecture more easily when the lecturer added jokes about relevant topics.
In her book, Neurologist, Judy Willis demonstrated how fun encounters increment dimensions of dopamine, endorphins, and oxygen – everything that advance learning.
In an examination for the Journal of Vocational Behavior, Michael Tews found that representatives are bound to attempt new things if their work condition is fun.
These are only three precedents from the majority of investigation into the effect of fun in workplace learning. Though it’s a small sample, it’s clear to see, the effect that fun can have on learning viability, memory maintenance and in advancing self-drove learning.
Engagement is the key!
Fun, delight, excitement – call it what you will, the fundamental fixing in any training endeavour is engagement. When it comes to talent management, if you don’t spend the time to make the learning experience a compelling and enjoyable one, how can you expect your learners to spend any time on it?


The most recent measurements of iodine-131 in sewage sludge from Chiba prefecture indicate the highest amount of I-131 since August. The last measurement was actually made on Dec. 3. It is the third highest measurement since May 2011.
Iodine-131 from Gunma prefecture remained relatively low, as of Nov. 26.
Iodine measurements are affected by wind patterns and rainfall, as well as Fukushima emissions. Chiba is south of Fukushima, and a north wind would blow this way more often in the winter. Gunma is west or southwest of the plant. East winds prevail more often in spring and summer.
Iodine-131 is associated with criticalities. Fukushima Diary has a story about groundwater rising at the plant, and appearing at ground level. Water slows neutrons down and makes criticalities more likely, for any corium on or near ground level.
UPDATE: I have added Tokyo measurements below. These are the maximum concentrations of I-131 in sludge incineration ash detected in all Tokyo facilities at each reporting period. A value of zero means the amount was less than the minimum detectable amount.


1. The Cottingley Fairies 1917
The Cottingley Fairies are a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins living in Cottingley, near Bradford, England, depicting the pair interacting with faries.
Elsie was the daughter of Arthur Wright, one of the earliest qualified electrical engineers. She borrowed her father’s quarter plate camera and took photos in the beck behind the family house.
When Mr. Wright, upon developing the plates, saw fairies in the pictures, he considered them fake. After the taking of the second picture, he banned Elsie from using the camera again. Her mother, Polly, however was convinced of their authenticity.
In the summer of 1919, the matter became public and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes) wrote an article for a leading magazine claiming that they were authentic.
However in the early 1980s the sisters who took the photographs admitted that the first four pictures were fakes.
Speaking of the first photograph in particular, Frances has said: “I don’t see how people could believe they’re real fairies. I could see the backs of them and the hatpins when the photo was being taken.”
Both of the girls claimed, right up to their deaths, that the fifth photo was, in fact, authentic
2. Piltdown Man
The Piltdown hoax is perhaps the most famous archaeological hoax in history.
It consisted of fragments of a skull and jawbone collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, a village near Uckfield, East Sussex.
The fragments were thought by many experts of the day to be the fossilised remains of a hitherto unknown form of early human. The specimin was even given the Latin name Eoanthropus dawsoni “Dawson’s dawn-man”, after the collector Charles Dawson.
It was exposed in 1953 as a forgery, consisting of the lower jawbone of an orangutan combined with the skull of a fully developed, modern man.
The identity of the Piltdown forger remains unknown, but suspects have included Dawson, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Arthur Conan Doyle as well as numerous others.
3. Alien Autopsy 1995
In 1995 Ray Santilli claimed he had uncovered footage of an alien autopsy performed by the U.S. military shortly after the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.
Santilli invited media representatives to watch the film at the Museum of London that year and then released a film which allegedly showed pictures of the crash site and interviews with experts.
However in 2006 Santilli and fellow producer Gary Shoefield announced that their film was only partially real and the remaining scenes had been recreated.
According to Santilli, a set was constructed in the living room of an empty flat in Rochester Square, Camden Town, London. J
John Humphreys, an artist and sculptor, was employed to construct two dummy alien bodies over a period of three weeks, using casts containing sheep brains set in jelly, chicken entrails and knuckle joints.
4. Fiji Mermaid 1842
The mummified body of a creature dubbed the Feejee Mermaid was first displayed by circus emprasario PT Barnum in 1882 and toured around the United States.
The exhibit has since been acquired by Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and is currently housed in the museum’s attic storage area.
In reality, the mermaid was the work of an Indonesian craftsman using either papier-mâché and materials from exotic fish, or the tail of a fish and a torso of a baby orangutan, stitched together with the head of a monkey
5. The Cardiff Giant
The Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous hoaxes in American history, was a 10-foot-tall “petrified man” uncovered on October 16, 1869 by workers digging a well in Cardiff, New York.
The find was put on display by Barnum but was later discovered to have been created by tobacconist George Hull.
It was carved out of gypsum and stained wtih acid to appear old and weather beaten. Hull then bured it and arranged for it to be dug up after a year.
On February 2, 1870 the were revealed as fakes in court. The judge ruled that Barnum could not be sued for calling a fake giant a fake.
Bill Gates buys the Catholic Church
In 1994 a press release began circulating around the internet claiming that Microsoft had bought the Catholic Church. The release quoted Bill Gates saying that he considered religion to be a growth market and that, "The combined resources of Microsoft and the Catholic Church will allow us to make religion easier and more fun for a broader range of people." Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft would acquire exclusive electronic rights to the Bible. Microsoft had to issue a formal denial of the release on December 16, 1994. The authors of the hoax remain unknown.
Bill Gates wants to give you money
Another early internet hoax involving the Microsoft founder emerged in 1997 when a letter claiming that Bill Gates Wants to Give you Money started landing in email inboxes around the world. Sadly, it was a hoax – forwarding the chain letter as part of the beta test for a new Microsoft-powered email tracking program won't result in a nice fat cheque landing on your doorstep.
In 2006 thousands of internet users fell for an elaborate April Fools Day prank by Briton Dan Baines who claimed to have happened upon the corpse of a "fairy". His website received more than 20,000 hits in one day and even after Mr Baines, a professional prop-maker, revealed that the story was a hoax, some conspiracy theorists refused to believe him and accused him of a cover up. "I've had all sorts of comments including people who say they've seen exactly the same things and one person who told me to return the remains to the grave site as soon as possible or face the consequences," he told the BBC.
Giant camel spiders
Slightly more believable was the 2004 hoax involving "giant camel spiders" in Iraq. The prank originated in an email asking the public to be sympathetic to troops in Iraq, not because they have to be away from their families or because war zones are dangerous, but because they have to deal with absolutely prehistoric spiders. The email repeated claims from the first Gulf War in 1993, that the spiders could run 25 miles per hour, could jump several feet in the air, and could grow 8-10 inches in length and were accompanied by a photograph showing the oversized arachnids. However, even though camel spiders are fairly large and fast, they're nowhere near as big as the photo makes it seem nor as fast as the email claims. The photo itself was just taken from an angle that makes the spider seem bigger than it really is.
A ban on drunk surfing
Another April Fool's Day-related hoax was sparked by PC Computing magazine by columnist John Dvorak in 1994. Dvorak claimed that the US Congress was considering a bill that would make it illegal to surf the internet while drunk, or to discuss sexual matters over a public network. Of course the bill would be passed, wrote Dvorak, because, "Who wants to come out and support drunkenness and computer sex?" The hoax was so convincing that it generated a slew of angry calls to congress, resulting in Senator Ted Kennedy issuing a statement denying rumours of the supposed bill.
Kittens in jars
No list of hoaxes is complete without the bonsai kitten. A university student managed to convince the world via the website bonsaikitten.com that it was possible – or desirable – to grow a kitten in a jar and mould the bones of the kitten into the shape of the jar as the cat grew, much like a bonsai plant is shaped via trimming. The website generated furore after members of the public complained to animal rights organisations, who stated that "whilst the site's content may be faked, the issue it is campaigning for may create violence towards animals", according to the Michigan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA). The hoax was so successful that the *FBI investigated the founders of the site to question them about animal cruelty.


Presentation on theme: "Presenter: Scott Dobson. Formed due to anger at 1832 Reform Act and 1834 Poor Law Arguably the world’s first mass labour movement June 1836- London Working."— Presentation transcript:
Formed due to anger at 1832 Reform Act and 1834 Poor Law Arguably the world’s first mass labour movement June 1836- London Working Men’s Association- small but influential 1838- Publication of the People’s Charter- too moderate?
Suffrage for all adult males Equal-sized parliamentary constituencies Secret Ballot at elections An end to the property qualification to Parliament Pay for MPs Annual parliamentary elections
Considered too moderate by some radicals, but found a very large audience. Up to 300,000 attended meeting on Kersal Moor, Salford Convention established to co-ordinate petition of Parliament June 1839- MPs vote not to receive petition Abandonment of nonviolent tactics?
William Lovett and other founders committed to nonviolence Parliamentary supporters also supported moral force ‘Informing the mind’ V ‘Captivating the senses’ Success through discussion, public meetings, pamphleteering and petitioning 1840s- Apparent failure, powers questioned
Joseph Rayner Stephens and Feargus O’Connor Upset at the questioning of their methods, Lovett and Attwood retired from public life O’Connor: “willing to die for the cause” and to “lead people to death or glory” Warned of violence if the six points were not met quickly Founded the Northern Star and East London Democratic Association
“If Abraham was ready to kill his only child, shall we falter when God commands us to draw the sword and never to sheath that sword until it is sheathed in the hearts of his enemies? God wills the death of no man; neither is it the will of God that a Poor Law Commission, of the kind that now curses England, should ever be established. I pray God to cast them all to hell.”
John Frost and the Newport Rising, 4 November 1839 Frost planned to march on Newport and then, through passive protest, prove the scale of public of opposition to imprisonment of Henry Vincent- events spiralled out of control, 20 men killed The Plug Riots, August 1842 Industrial disruption, but denounced by O’Connor
O’Connor attempted ‘moral force’ tactics by arranging a petition and a big meeting It was claimed there were over 5.7 million signatures on the petition, but inspection by parliament showed there were less than 2 million with many forgeries Accused of destroying credibility of the movement
Kennington Common fiasco damaged the movement, but pockets of strength remained- into the 1850s there were well attended meetings in London, Birmingham and Leicester But, Chartist candidates did very badly at 1852 General Election and sales of the Northern Star dropped considerably Tactics of mass mobilisation still impressive


Gaok from Kulur Village, Majalengka has already exist since Islam spread in Majalengka. At that time, Islam was spread through Wawacan manuscript, an Islam manuscript, that was vocal as Gaok. Basically, Gaok tells about Java literature and it is played on baby’s gratitude. Gaok also contain of Moslem value.
Gaok is from ngagorowok, means yelling. In Gaok, the player alternately chanting pupuh (Kinanti, Sinom, Asmarandana, and Dangdanggula) with a loud sound (yell) like echoing the Adzan. The Gaok player wear traditional Sunda clothes, which are Kampret cloth and headband. Besides Islam value, Gaok also contain Sunda’s ancestor culture, which is an offerings ceremony before they do the Gaok.
There are some rules that have to be held when doing the Gaok. For example, the Wawacan Manakib/Layang Syeh manuscript, which is a manuscript that tells about Syeh Abdul Qodir Jaelani, is read, the audiences are forbidden to talk, smoke, and eat. So, they have to listen the Gaok carefully. The offerings, or nyuguh karuhun, also must be available, snacks to main dishes.
The nyuguh karuhun includes:
- Parawanten, or various ancestor’s favorite dishes, such as puncak manik (an egg above tumpeng), rurujakan (coconut rujak, banana, and tamarind), red and white porridge, fruits, bitter and sweet coffee, dawegan, kupat leupeut, tangtang angina, and cara (serabi cake).
- Pangradinan, or ancestor’s cosmetic tools, such as parfume, whiting, coconut oil, flowers, mirror, and womb.
- Parupuyan, or fireplace.
- Additional equipment, such as accompanist, buyung and songsong, which function as melody to end the last sentence of song/pupuh, or also known as madakeun/ngagoongkeun.


Whey Protein Facts
Whey protein is a high quality powder made from cow's milk. Cow's milk is made up of two proteins - casein (80%) and whey (20%). The whey is called the Gold Standard of protein as it is scientifically proven to be the most nutritious protein available. It is also more soluble than casein and has a higher quality rating.
Whey protein is not a by-product of making cheese as originally thought, but rather, it is a co-product of the cheese-making process. Whey protein isolate is the most pure form of protein there is, containing almost no fat or lactose. Whey protein is a high-quality complete protein, with all the essential amino acids. Whey protein is also the richest known source of naturally occurring branched chain amino acids.
It promotes weight loss by enabling a dieter to reach a feeling of fullness faster than consuming any other form of protein. Whey protein is a very high-quality complete protein with rich amounts of all the essential amino acids. Whey protein isolate is the purest form of whey protein, which is why it is absorbed so quickly and efficiently into the body.
Whey protein is a nutritionally complete protein. It contains bioactive ingredients, like immunoglobulins and lactoferrin, which help support the immune system. Athletes prefer whey protein to soy protein due to its rich abundance of branched-chain amino acids and its quick absorption rate. These are important to help repair and rebuild muscles after a workout or competitive event.
Whey protein has a fresh, neutral taste and will not change the taste of foods you add it to. Whey protein does not contain isoflavones or any other components with potential hormonal effects. Compared to other proteins, on a gram-to-gram basis, whey protein isolate delivers more essential amino acids to the body but without the fat or cholesterol. Nutrition experts recommend a diet with a variety of protein foods but for optimal results make sure that one of them is whey protein.
Whey Protein Info provides detailed information about whey protein powder, drinks, concentrate, and best whey protein, as well as the benefits of whey protein and other helpful whey protein facts. Whey Protein Info is the sister site of Home Gyms Web.
How to Know if You Need Vitamin Supplements
Taking vitamin and mineral supplements is perhaps one of the most controversial issues regarding healthy living. The lack of vitamins in your diet can be unhealthy, but too many vitamins can also put your health in danger.
Know Your Bodybuilding Supplement - L-Arginine
Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid that the body cannot make naturally. It is found in nuts, seeds, chocolate and raisins.
Mineral Supplement: Minerals in Your Diet!
The food is the raw material for the body. Minerals are one of the important components of human nutrition.
What is HGH?
Hormones are chemical messengers made up of amino acids and produced by the endocrine glands to be sent all over the body to stimulate certain activities. Growth, digestion, reproduction and sexual functions in the human body are all triggered by hormones.
Creatine Supplementation for Increased Performance and Building Muscle
Creatine is an amino acid that is in meat and fish. It is produced by the body in the liver and kidneys and converted in the muscles to creatine phosphate to resupply them with their source of energy.
Vitamin Supplements - A Pill is Not Always the Answer
Vitamins are organic compounds that our bodies use, in very small amounts, for a variety of metabolic processes. Taking vitamins 'just in case' is not a habit that anyone should get into and it is always recommended that vitamins are taken through wholesome and quality food.
Are Bodybuilding Supplements Really Necessary?
Bodybuilding supplements generally fall under the classification of dietary supplements, therefore they are not regulated by the FDA. There is absolutely nothing guaranteeing the purity of body building supplements, or the safety of using them.
Selenium: Activates Antioxidant Glutathione for Protection of Cells
Selenium is a type of trace mineral which supports healthy activity within your immune system, functions as an important part of the potent antioxidant glutathione, and is necessary for good thyroid health. This formula uses SelenoPure high, yeast free selenium for ultimate immune support.
Research on Hyaluronic Acid Knee Injections
Hyaluronic acid, a key component of human tissue, aiding the body's flexibility, mobility and moisture retention is a popular component of many anti-aging products but can also provide a wealth of benefits in the medical sphere. Recently, in an attempt to find effective treatment methods for arthritis, scientists have found a strong association between levels of Hyaluronic acid and severe knee and hip arthritis known as osteoarthritis or OA.
3 Steps to Identify Supplements that Lack Scientific Evidence
You read about a supplement that allegedly "Boosts your mood and motivation!" That sure sounds good so your surf over to the company's web site.The web site looks official--it's even got footnotes citing scientific journals.
Glyconutrients Will Be Revolutionary In Future Medicine - A Health Supplement (Part Two)
PART TWOFor those of you that read my previous article about Glyconutrients, the Essential Sugars for Good Health, you will perhaps have realised that I am very passionate about them and the benefits that they can and have, already given to so many people around the world.I am passionate about them, not just because we can sell a product and make money, but, because we can help so many people to improve their health, wellbeing and lifestyle, and this makes us feel good too.
Health Benefits of Taking Spirulina Daily - Real Health Part 5
As I mentioned in Part 4 of my Real Health diet series, I believe that taking green foods, particularly spirulina and chlorella, is very important to your health. This article will focus on why you should take spirulina.
Vitamins and Minerals for Healthy Hair
A lot of people actually pay a good deal of money just to make themselves look more attractive and feel better about themselves, but what they don't know is that they can actually achieve this easily by keeping fit and staying healthy. Having lustrous and shiny, full hair is not always due to extremely expensive salon treatments but of impeccable hygiene and a good diet.
What Are Nutraceuticals and Why Are the Drug Companies Upset?
If you break the word apart, Nutra has to do with nutrition, and Ceuticals has to do with drug companies - pharmaceuticals. So what is the big deal? Nutraceuticals are god-given nutrients that are readily available for our good health, but drug companies want to make them illegal to buy and use - unless they can sell them to increase their bank accounts.
Vitamin Supplement Ratings - Proof Of Popularity
Vitamin supplement ratings quite clearly show just how popular nutritional care and supplement products have become over recent years. For many vitamin and herbal products, vitamin supplement ratings seem to indicate that consumers are becoming more and more concerned with their health, and increasingly keen to protect themselves against health problems.
Supplements and Vitamins - Can They Enhance Your Weight Loss Goals?
Nutritional supplements can play a key role in the health of children and adults. Many people feel that they don't get enough vitamins and minerals through their daily intake of food and, therefore, turn to supplements to fill in the gaps.
Fetuses and infants simply must get enough omega-3 oils for ideal brain development. In a research study of premature babies, those who were fed breast milk had eight points higher IQ at age eight than those fed a standard bay formula.
A Mothers Fish Tale
Sometimes I used to look at my son Shawn and ask: who is this little monster I gave birth to? Of course I did love him, but he was an absolute terror. If "terrible 2" had a dictionary definition, Shawn's picture would definately be there.
Using Natural Remedies For Constipation
There are two basic types of constipation - organic and functional. Organic constipation is a result of some physical change, obstruction, or distortion in your colon.
HGH - Avoid Getting Ripped Off
HGH is an exciting new phenomenon, which aspires to help us defy age, build muscle, increase vitality, and improve our quality of life in ways we have not yet discovered. Understandably, the public desperately needs and wants these benefits and is spending large amounts of money on growth hormone products.


3 MINUTE READ
After my first week as a resident on a palliative care rotation, three patients for whom I had cared died within hours of one another. A staff member on the palliative care unit nodded knowingly, saying, “Death always comes in threes.” While I have been unable to find peer-reviewed evidence supporting this phenomenon, it does seem to be a widely-held belief; perhaps an urban myth due to humanity’s innate desire for pattern recognition, and our propensity to be swayed by confirmation bias. In that, once one is aware of this superstition, given a flexible timeframe, any set of 3 misfortunes can be shoehorned into a triad.(1)
Veracity of tripartite tragedy notwithstanding, the concept did remind me of another general rule: The Rule of Threes in writing.(2) Three is a satisfying number. It is at once a synecdochal way of saying a lot (“three’s a crowd”), or saying a little (the well-known phrase, “Three is less than infinity”). Throughout story-telling history, three has weaselled its way into society’s consciousness as a Good Amount For Things To Be. Whether they be Billy Goats Gruff, Little Pigs, Weird Sisters, Musketeers, Stooges, dimensional characters, Wise Monkeys, Laws of Robotics, or even (albeit scripturally-unsupported) Messiah-visiting magi, those who have told stories throughout the ages return (and return often) to Three.
In a similar vein, Three is also a stalwart in comedy and joke-telling. Classic joke structure is dictated by Rule of Threes, seen in “An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman walk into a bar…”, or “A blonde, a brunette and a redhead walk into a barre…”. The first two characters will establish a pattern – building tension. The third character will invariably subvert the pattern in a punchline – bringing release. This nicely helps us to understand how a particular theory, known as the ‘incongruity-resolution model of humour’, plays out.(3)
In order to appreciate humour, one must connect the surprise of the punchline with the pattern established by the first examples in the set-up. Resolving the incongruous punchline is a problem-solving exercise which involves frontal lobe activity. As with all physiology, this can dysfunction with certain frontal lobe strokes, and lead to an ‘up the garden’ pathology known as Witzelsucht.(4) This translates as “joking addiction”, and results in an inappropriate jocular affect, where sufferers of Witzelsucht cannot refrain from constant punning and the perpetual construction of jokes, even at inopportune times.(5)
The tension that builds into a dark cloud as one is forced to ponder difficult thoughts of increasing frailty and approaching death, is silver-lined; punch-lined with a cloudburst of mirth – bringing release.
At first glance, Witzelsucht would appear homologous with humour in the palliative care setting; a time when patients and their families come inescapably face-to-face with mortality: an elderly couple coming to grips with the fact that she cannot support his needs at home and must start to confront the idea of a residential facility; a man with metastatic cancer who is coming to realise he may never again be without pain; a previously fiercely independent woman who can no longer walk herself to the bathroom and is mourning the loss of autonomy.
In this environment, where patients are processing such massive themes every day, joking would appear to be inappropriate – even disrespectful. However, just as Three can represent large or small numbers, so too can seemingly small flashes of humour impact the burden of pondering these large concepts. The husband still makes his wife laugh by exaggeratedly checking his wallet and, finding it empty, accuses her of cleaning him out. The man with cancer regales with hilarious tales of how he got his nickname. The lady who struggles to mobilise to the bathroom confides with a wink that her plan for the evening involves nipping down to the disco.
The tension that builds into a dark cloud as one is forced to ponder difficult thoughts of increasing frailty and approaching death, is silver-lined; punch-lined with a cloudburst of mirth – bringing release. Regardless of whether death comes in threes, laughter comes, and frees.
BIO: Dr Tim Wiles is a resident at Bendigo Hospital in Bendigo. He attends Bendigo Baptist Church. In fact, if the venue is prefixed with Bendigo, he might be there. Often called Ned Kelly, he is unsure yet whether this is due to his pattern of ruddy hirsutism or his tendency to stage highway robberies. He is interested in the intersection of faith, work and humour.
- Allen, J. Why Do We Believe That Catastrophes Come in Threes? ABC News, 5th July 2009. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCounting/story?id=7988416&page=1
- Clark, B. How to Use the ‘Rule of Three’ to Create Engaging Content. Copyblogger, 10th September 2015. https://www.copyblogger.com/rule-of-three/
- Buijzen, M., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2004). “Developing a Typology of Humor in Audiovisual Media. Media Psychology. 6(2): 147-167
- Shammi, P., & Stuss, D. T. (1999). Humour appreciation: a role of the right frontal lobe. Brain, 122(4), 657-666.
- Granadillo, E., & Mendez, M.F. (2016). Pathological Joking or Witzelsucht Revisited. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 28(3):162-167.
Back to issue: Laughter


1. In bed.
5. Lacking in light.
8. (Scotland) A small loaf or roll of soft bread.
11. An informal term for a father.
12. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).
13. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.
14. Having an eye or eyes or eyelike feature especially as specified.
15. A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter.
16. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.
17. (British) Your grandmother.
19. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.
22. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.
23. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.
24. A group of followers hired to applaud at a performance.
27. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.
29. Dissociative disorder in which a person forgets who who they are and leaves home to creates a new life.
31. A metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables.
32. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.
33. A hard brittle blue-white multivalent metallic element.
34. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.
36. An early form of modern jazz (originating around 1940).
42. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.
44. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.
47. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.
48. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.
49. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.
50. An associate degree in applied science.
51. God of love and erotic desire.
52. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.
1. Chief port of Yemen.
2. Common Indian weaverbird.
3. Any place of complete bliss and delight and peace.
4. An informal term for a father.
5. Dip a foot or hand briefly into a liquid.
6. One of the most common of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.
7. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.
8. Any of various edible seeds of plants of the family Leguminosae.
9. A unit of dry measure used in Egypt.
10. A genus of Ploceidae.
18. A disdainful pouting grimace.
20. Type genus of the Caricaceae.
21. Short and fat.
25. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.
26. How long something has existed.
28. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.
30. Being one hundred more than three hundred.
35. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.
36. The habitation of wild animals.
37. A city in the Asian part of Russia.
38. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.
39. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.
40. A small cake leavened with yeast.
41. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.
43. Any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes.
45. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).
46. Having undesirable or negative qualities.
47. A young woman making her debut into society.


Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder characterised by persistent or intermittent muscle contractions, which force certain parts of the body into abnormal sometimes painful, often repetitive, movements, postures, or both. The movements are usually patterned and twisting, and may resemble a tremor. Dystonia is often initiated or worsened by voluntary movements, and symptoms may “overflow” into adjacent muscles.
Dystonia is classified by:
1. Clinical Characteristics (including age of onset, body distribution, nature of the symptoms, and associated features such as additional movement disorders or neurological symptoms).
2. Cause (which includes changes or damage to the nervous system and inheritance). Doctors use these classifications to guide diagnosis and treatment.
Dystonia can affect any part of the body including the arms and legs, trunk, neck, eyelids, face, or vocal chords. It is a complex order because of its causes, treatment, progression, and variability of symptoms.
There are multiple forms of dystonia, and dozens of diseases and conditions may include dystonia as a symptom. Dystonia may affect a single body area or be generalised throughout multiple muscle groups. It may result from a hereditary condition or as a result of brain injury.
Dystonia affects men, women, and children of all ages and backgrounds. It is the third most common movement disorder after Parkinson’s disease and tremor affecting an estimated 3,000 people in Ireland. Dystonia causes varying degrees of disability and pain, from mild to severe. There is not yet a cure, but multiple treatment options exist and scientists around the world are actively pursuing research toward new therapies.
Although there are several forms of dystonia and the symptoms may outwardly appear quite different, the element that all forms share is the repetitive, patterned, and often twisting involuntary muscle contractions. Dystonia is a chronic disorder, but the vast majority of dystonias do not impact cognition, intelligence, or shorten a person’s life span.