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Why do people turn to drugs? There is a definitive reason that cause all the dimensions that play a role in our current Drug Culture as either cause/effect, but a common thing is definitely the root and cause of WHY people turn to drugs. We all know the usual things, for example: to escape from oneself, to hide, to run away from the mind, to stop the abhorrent self-experience, to avoid taking responsibility for one's life and relationships, self-loathing, etc. – but, have we asked why do we have these problems? One can say: family problems, relationship problems, issues with one's 'flawed self,' physical issues, lack of self esteem, heritage, cultural trends, traditions, religions, survivalism in clans/ mafias/ brotherhoods, spiritual beliefs, shamanism, environmental contingencies, availability of narcotics due to associations/ alliances, legal drugs due to psychological conditions, and the list may go on – However, behind all of this one must see one common thing: human conditions that have lead to all of these problems/ issues/ separations and sectarianism that stems from a basic problem in our society: a lack of support for all living beings to have a dignified living that creates a proper environmental condition where All beings would be able to live without having to worry about not making it through the next day, not having to tolerate the injustice and abuse that is accepted and allowed within a system that only caters for some– that's it.
And that's what we know in common sense and what can also be watched in all the various documentaries* about drugs that are affecting our societies wherein there is simply an absolute boredom, menial jobs for the working class – or no job opportunities at all – and a general dissociation from wanting to have anything to do with a 'shitty world/ shitty system that doesn't give a fuck about life!' hence turning to have an alternate reality where 'everything is fine, a heaven in one's mind for a moment, a harmful momentary high that turns into a lethal habit that leads to a living condition that is mostly deplorable in most of the cases, as well as leading to any other 'sudden deaths' out of the usual ODs and other negligence that stems from lacking any form of precaution when ingesting/ inhaling/injecting/smoking a drug. It is even common to have people that do this on a regular basis become 'icons' in our society, our 'role models' which can already point out what type of 'human quality' we've become fanatics of.
It is also interesting how drug-culture became mainstream to a point now wherein one can watch a "music video" and there's people smoking weed, one can watch a movie and get all the specifics on how people shoot themselves heroin and even all the withdrawal processes in a explicit manner, like in Trainspotting which is probably one of the most popular and obliged reference about drugs for many people that even learned how to do drugs through watching the movie. I will tell more about that in following posts.
The reason why this is an important topic is because drugs as any other form of escapism, represents the aspect we hold on to the most, as it is a self-created intricate relationship we form with only Experience as an Energetic physical experience induced by chemicals in the physical body – the reason why I find it so important to expose is because it's ubiquitous nowadays for people to be aware of all types of drugs and ways to get high or even self-harm to get a moment of absolute adrenaline –rush/drug of the mind . That's becoming a children's game and I'm referring to what I became aware of today as the salt and ice challenge – I mean, this is how kids age 10 or even less can get used to having a way to get this absolute pain and fear that are the most 'powerful' self-experiences created at a mind level when inducing pain along with the 'challenge' aspect – where kids will mostly broadcast themselves doing so to 'prove' to others they are able to 'handle it,' and what mostly happens is kids then will turn to seek for more 'intense experiences' like that. Even our words and vocabulary is pointing out blatantly what it is that we are inducing within ourselves: that was Intense! all energy based, and if you've been reading these series, you would be aware by now of how energy operates within the physical body through consciousness as a system that we believe is 'who we really are,' which is comprised of all our thoughts, emotions and feelings that we whole-heartedly have believed is 'what living is for' and if not.
This Grave mistake of identifying ourselves with all the drama, excitement and high-intensity of any self-experience is what is mostly leading us to an actual death wherein we disregard actual life/living just for a 'little piece of heaven.'
And this is what's leading humanity to a certain end if a single pattern of addiction continues without any definitive decision to STOP.
Please read the series to catch up to this point:
220. Drug Culture: Mad Society as a Lifestyle
I had made a pause in these series due to the impending 'doomsday' that I decided to write about due to my inherent responsibility in having participated pretty much in that type of doom-mentality or gloomy-self-experience as we've called it – and what is left is pretty much ourselves, having to face what we have become and as such, take the wheel of our reality in all levels, in all ways and have a look at how we've become what we've become, which is also another form of escapism through the mind to evade the responsibility we all have here.
Drug Culture is quite a common topic virtually everywhere in the world, no matter if it's a high-energy-hyped society like many places in Europe and America or a third world/ poor country in Africa, or under developed regions like South America – everyone's got the same 'epidemic' which is drugs which includes alcoholism as main problems that maim the ability for any being to realize and take self responsibility, because drugs imply one single point: a giving up experience that is now turned into an addiction, a need, a fascination and obsession wherein people are literally willing to give all their money, all their life just for one single initial 'rush' that any drug can give them. While observing this, it is impossible to not create a parallel to what we understand now of how the mind works, wherein we create our own fixations in order to fuel and satisfy this idea of ourselves that we've simply copied, absorbed and 'become/ embodied' without a question, and that includes addictive patterns of seeking this 'greatness' as an energetic experience that is able to be obtained with drugs, pretty much flushing your entire life down the toilette for a single self belief of you being 'perfectly fine/ in control / able to quit any time' and all of the people that have been severely enrolled in hardcore addictions mostly find it very hard if not impossible to actually live out that belief of being able to stop and quit at any time.
That is One single dimension of the addiction: the energetic experience that we are familiar with the moment we accept emotions and feelings as 'who we are' and what drugs do is an overall enhancement of this relationship within the 'who we are' as the mind, which implies that we are completely hooked on absolute self abuse, since any energetic experience – as anything that requires energy – is not 'for free,' it is an actual process of consumption of the very physical tissue/ fabric that provides the necessary resources for any drug to function properly – this is why the deterioration of the physical takes place in drug addicts/ consumers – among other various dimensions that involve the living conditions that hard-core long-time addicts end up living in or are born in, which is also another aspect that leads to drugs – all in all: stems from lacking actual living support in all ways to live in a sound and healthy environment where life could be actually honored = hence it is a matter of Collective Responsibility, since we are all responsible for continuing fueling a system that is not providing a sound environment for us to develop our expression to our utmost potential.
The purpose of these blogs will be to point out main factors that lead to drug consumption, the reasons behind that and how to support oneself to Prevent drug-addictions, referencing the usual ways in which one picks up this belief of drugs being the 'greatest thing ever' as well as gathering enough strength to realize there IS a solution to this world, there IS a way to support ourselves to stop seeking to ESCape from reality and instead, sober up and stand up to support the actual change we all dreamed of, it's in our hands, so we must clean our act before we can establish ourselves in the actual world we have all wanted to live in, and within this, also paving the way for the children to come and ensure they do have the absolute opportunities to Live and express themselves, and never again resort to any form of escapism through the mind to manifest a self-abusive 'heaven' in the mind.
"Erroneously – those that Profess to be 'Souls', will Claim that the Body of Flesh is a temporary Illusion. And they would base it on the Experience they Generate through Mind Systems, which Follows the Design of the System where: the Search for Meaning and Reason, would Follow through the Combination of Predesigned Platonic Solids as Key Parts to Systems that produce Energy and Visual Input which the Person Align with, So Intensely that they Believe that it is Real, and they Disregard the Simple Reality of a Breath and Food and Bodily Functions that Keeps them Alive.
In this, these 'Souls' End-up Acting like Vampires in the Physical Reality, Seeking to Consume everything in their Path for the Self-Interest of the 'Feeling' that Produce, according to them, the 'Experience of Happiness'. The fact that this 'Happiness' is Produced at the Cost of the Suffering of Uncountable Living Beings – Simply is Ignored or Seen as 'Collateral Damage' of an Illusion that will 'Suddenly, Magically' Disappear." – Bernard Poolman +
Self Support to Begin your Journey to Life is Here:
Desteni Lite Process
Desteni I Process
Desteni Forum
Equal Money System to equalize ourselves at a physical level where life is no more sold for money as the delusional values we've imposed upon life.
+Day 258: Vampires in the Soul of Sacred Geometry – ADC – Part 105
Day 257: Reincarnation and Secret Geometry – ADC – Part 104
Documentaries/ Videos suggested that present the context of what Drug Culture implies– Viewers discretion suggested: NSFW


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We're doing some research on a new social communication platform and need your help. More specifically – we need you and three friends you communicate with regularly online.
It's a bit of an extended research project and you'll need to be available for an interview in London between 17-20 December, and then again in the new year on the 7th or 8th of January and once more between 16-18 January.
We'll make it worth your while though – there's £120 in it for each of you and you'll get to play with a new social communication tool and help shape its development before it is released publicly.
You need to be somewhere between 21-40yrs old, and you'll need to be back from the Christmas break and doing whatever you usually do (work, study etc.) by 8 January.
If this sounds like something you're interested in and you think you can rope in some friends and/or family, contact me ASAP at leisa.reichelt at gmail.com for more information.
PS. if this is not for you but you know someone who may be interested, pls feel free to pass on the details. Thank you!

subset: commoncrawl


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Gunman jumps counter, threatens teller during bank robbery
Surveillance video captures robbery at Centrix Bank
A gunman jumped a counter and threatens a teller Friday during a bank robbery in Manchester.
Authorities said the robbery happened at the Centrix Bank at Hooksett Road and Webster Street about 5:15 p.m. and was captured on surveillance video.
Investigators said a man wearing a red sweatshirt walked into the bank with a handgun hidden in his front pocket as security cameras followed his every move.
"He had a dark-colored bandana partially covering his face. He walked to the teller (and) passed a note demanding cash," Manchester Police Department Sgt. Joseph Mucci said.
Police wouldn't reveal what the note said, but moments later, the robber jumped the counter and ordered the female teller to the back of the bank at gunpoint.
"During the commission of the robbery, he actually leaps the counter and follows the bank teller to the back room," Mucci said.
Police didn't release video from that portion of the robbery, but the bank robber did have access to cash and emerged less than a minute later, walking out the front doors of the bank and disappearing with the stolen money.
Police said the bank teller was shaken up but not hurt.
Despite a busy time of night, investigators said no customers were in the bank during the robbery.
Detectives said they're studying the surveillance video and hope someone recognizes the bank robber or spotted something suspicious.


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Thank you!
We will contact you soon. If you cannot wait, our phone number is 561-265-3340.
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Analytical Software Packages
The ASP Story
ASP Develops Proprietary Content Management System Written in Java
- Written in Java and Uses XML for Source Data
- Creates Static HTML instead of PHP Code
- Creates over 300,000 Pages
- Populates over 125 Sites
Analytical Software Packages (ASP) was founded in 1985 by Robert Heath. Since then, ASP has created a Content Management System (CMS) which is used to create hundreds of thousands of web pages for the travel industry, has worked on projects focused on improving performance of software and hardware for desktop and server computers, has developed application software for Geotechnical Engineers, and worked on various other projects.
ASP Works with IBM on Performance Analysis
- Helped Write 486/Pentium Simulation Model
- Validated 486/Pentium Simulation Model
- Wrote WindowsNT Device Driver and Application to Monitor Internal Pentium Performance Registers
ASP developed a proprietary CMS in the Java programming language that is used to create websites for over 125 domains, which collectively have over 300,000 web pages. The CMS creates web pages from an XML data source using Java and XML technologies that creates static html files. Web pages created by the CMS use proprietary Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques. Example websites created by this CMS include, Visit New York City, Visit San Francisco, Visit Los Angeles, Visit San Diego, and Visit Washington, DC.
ASP Develops Suite of Geotechnical Software
- Automates Data Reduction - Report Generation Process
- Creates Typeset Quality Reports
- Reports Created Using Proprietary Curve Fitting Algorithms
ASP and Robert Heath have worked with IBM on several projects, including some pertaining to performance analysis for both hardware and software. Among those projects include developing and validating a software simulation model modeling the 486/Pentium processors. Another project involved writing Windows NT device drivers and application that monitors and analyzes data acquire from the Pentium performance registers and counters within the Pentium processor.
ASP created a suite of application software used by Geotechnical Software Engineers to automate the process of creating graphical reports for various tests performed by these engineers. The applications were written in the programming language C and makes use of curve fitting algorithms and printer device drivers in producing typeset quality reports in a fraction of the time needed by traditional report generation techniques.
ASP has employed many software development technologies including C/C++, Java, various assembly languages, XML/XSL/XSLT/XSD, HTML/XHTML, CSS, Flash, Joomla! in developing software. Our primary development applications are for internet applications, device drivers, and real time embedded systems.
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Java Software Development
ASP Develops Proprietary Content Management System Written in Java
- Written in Java and Uses XML for Source Data
- Creates Static HTML instead of PHP Code
- Creates over 300,000 Pages
- Populates over 125 Sites
Java is an ideal programming language for developing cross platform applications for a network environment. Java was developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and Java 1.0 was released in 1995. Gosling adopted a syntax similar to C/C++. Since then, a substantial network of developers has developed around the world.
Advantages of Using Java
- Ideal for network or WWW applications
- Ideal for cross platform applications
- Java developed under open architecture
- Support for mobile, wireless, network, and desktop devices
Support exists for many platforms and classes of computing devices with a unified Graphical User Interface (GUI). Support exists for network applications, desktop applications, mobile devices, wireless devices, and world wide web applications. Desktop support exists for the various versions of Windows, Apple, and Unix operating systems. Java makes use of an open architecture, making use of features and applications developed by independent corporate and individual developers around the world. A large portion of Java's source code has been released under free software/open source distribution terms.
Java Facts
- Java uses syntax similar to C/C++
- Java compiles to byte codes that requires a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to translate byte codes to instructions for the underlying computing platform
- Open architecture allows development by developers around the world
- Has established a large network of developers developing Java tools
The Java syntax is very similar to the syntax of C/C++, which has a huge network of developers around the world, which enables migration from the C/C++ development platform to the Java development platform easier. Instead of compiling to a native machine language, like most high level languages, the Java compiler compiles to a bytecode, which is translated by a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to the platform specific processor's machine language. JVMs have been developed for most of the most popular computing platforms in existence which requires a program to be compiles a version specifically for each platform. This Java strategy allows the compiled version of the source code to be ported to other platforms unlike compile versions of C/C++ and most high level languages. However, there is a performance penalty in having the intermediate JVM layer. As processor's become faster and faster such performance penalties may be difficult to detect when encountering delays caused by input and output (I/O) especially when that I/O is on the order of hundreds of milliseconds, which is typical in a network or internet environment.
Today, the enormous network of developers around the world are constantly enhancing the Java development platform with new features which automate common development platforms and requirements, thus accelerating the development of new and more useful Java applications which operate in a platform independent environment.
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C/C++ Software Development
C/C++ Projects that We Have Started and Completed
- Wrote Suite of Seven Geotechnical Software Applications
- Helped Write 486/Pentium Simulation Model for IBM
- Wrote WindowsNT Device Driver to Monitor Internal Pentium Processor Performance Counters
- Wrote Linux CGI Routines
Dennis Ritchie developed the C programming language while working for Bell Labs in 1972. C was developed for use as the primary compiler for use with the Unix operating system which was also developed by Bell Labs. In 1978, Ritchie and Brian Kernighan published the landmark book, The C Programming Language, commonly called K&R.
C was developed using the same semantics and syntax of predecessor programming languages such as B, Algol, Fortran, and PL/1, and was used as a foundation for successor programming languages like C++, Java, PHP, and Perl. Semantics and syntax of C encourages a "structured" programming style. The simplicity of C allows the compilation of code to machine language with excellent performance characteristics, approaching the performance of machine language produced by assembly language programs.
In 1979, Bjarne Stroustrup began work on the C++ compiler, which initially was named, "C with Classes." In 1983,the language was renamed to C++ using the C iterator operator, ++. The first edition of The C++ Programming Language was released in 1985. To the C programming language, C++ added the new features abstract, public, and private classes, multiple inheritance, operator overloading,virtual functions, templates, exception handling, and other features. Semantics and syntax encouraged an Object Oriented Design methodology. Since then C++ has become a widely used programming language.
Device drivers, embedded systems, real time applications and other software requiring high performance can be written in C or C++.
C/C++ does not include garbage collection which is available in other programming languages like Java. Porting of code from one platform to another requires a program to be recompiled and may also require resolution of idiosyncrasies specific to a given platform. However, programs will run natively, with machine instructions specific to a given platform, thus eliminating the need for an intermediate layer of software like the Java Virtual Machine, which is necessary for Java programs.
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Fortran Software Development
Fortran Programming Language
- First introduced by IBM in 1950s
- First commercially successful high level language
- Initially developed to support mathematical, engineering, and scientific applications
- Over 40 compilers developed by 1960s supporting various hardware platforms
- In use today producing highly efficient software
Fortran was first introduced by IBM in April, 1957. Fortran was invented by a team of IBM employees led by John Backus. Fortran was developed specifically for the development of mathematical, scientific, and engineering applications, and to rid the developers of the minutia and complexity of learning assembly languages and writing assembly language software. Thus the developer's need, to concern themselves of the idiosyncrasies of a specific processor when developing software, was reduced.
Fortran was a significant, ground breaking compiler. It was the first successful, commercially available high level language, and the basis for most high level languages that followed. The development team was lead by John Backus and included Sheldon Best, Harlan Herrick, Peter Sheridan, Roy Nutt, Robert Nelson, Irving Ziller, Richard Goldberg, Lois Haibt and David Sayre.
As Fortran gained in popularity, other computer manufacturers began to support the Fortran language with their own version of a Fortran compiler. By 1963, over forty compilers had been released for various computing platforms. As deviations arose between the various compilers, the first standardization effort was completed in the early 1970s. The net result was that Fortran programs could be written and easily ported to other computer architectures.
Over the years Fortran standards have evolved to take advantage of new evolving programming techniques employed by other programming languages. Numerous releases of Fortran have occurred over the years, including Fortran I, Fortran II, Fortran IV, Fortran 66, Fortran 77, Fortran 90, and Fortran 95. Well over 50 years after it's first release Fortran is still in use and remains a very efficient compiler in developing high performance software.


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Welcome to Faulk & Foster
We represent buyers and sellers of residential property throughout Northeast Louisiana. We are dedicated to providing our clients with the best in friendly and professional service available in the Monroe – West Monroe area marketplace. As you search our online residential listings, our professional agents are here to assist you in making your real estate dreams come true.
Contact us today to find out what a local, service oriented company does differently to help you buy and sell your home.


text:
Thirteen British companies and the U.K. Minister of Defence Equipment, Support and Technology participated in a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Industry Recognition Event during the DSEI tradeshow today. Over the next 40 years, British industry will continue to play a vital role in the F-35's global production, follow-on development and sustainment, bringing strong economic benefits to the kingdom.
"The F-35 is the largest defence programme in the world," said U.K. Minister of Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Philip Dunne. "The U.K.'s involvement will generate billions of pounds and tens of thousands of jobs for the British economy for decades to come, with over 500 suppliers across the U.K. already contributing to the production of the F-35. Backed by this government's strategic vision for U.K. aerospace, the F-35 programme allows us to continue to build on the strengths of our nations avionics, systems and sensors industry."
Steve O'Bryan, vice president, F-35 Business Development, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics added, "Our suppliers here in the U.K. are essential to the success of this program. Together, they will produce 15 percent of each one of the more than 3,100 F-35s planned for the global fleet. We are leveraging their proud legacy of innovation in aerospace to deliver this unprecedented capability to the warfighter."
The following British companies were recognized at today's event:
- BAE Systems designed and manufactures the aft fuselage, horizontal tails and vertical tails for the F-35.
- Cobham designed and manufactures the refueling probe for the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) and the F-35C carrier variant (CV).
- EDM produces components for the weapons load trainer system and the ejection seat maintenance trainer for the F-35.
- GE Aviation produces the electrical power management system, the remote input/output unit, standby flight display, and the backshop battery charger for the F-35.
- Honeywell developed and produces the F-35's power thermal management system. Additionally, Honeywell is a provider of the F-35's life support system.
- Martin-Baker designed and manufactures the F-35 ejection seat.
- MBDA produces the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM), which can be installed within the weapons bay and on external wing stations of the aircraft. MBDA is also working with Lockheed Martin and the U.K. Ministry of Defence to integrate the Meteor missile into a future upgrade of the U.K.'s F-35 fleet.
- RE Thompson produces casings for batteries onboard the F-35.
- Rolls-Royce provides the lift system for the F-35B STOVL, which consists of the lift fan, the three-bearing swivel module, the roll post modules and the lift fan vane box. These components are essential for STOVL operations.
- Selex ES Ltd designed and builds the lasers that are the key component for the Electro Optical Targeting System.
- Survitec Group provides all pilot flight equipment for every F-35 pilot around the world.
- Ultra Electronics produces suspension release equipment for the F-35.
- UTC Aerospace Systems produces the weapons bay door drive system, utilities actuation and uplock components for the F-35.
The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least ten other countries.
Source/ Author: Lockheed Martin


text:
The Mountain Fire in Idyllwild is 92 percent contained, with full containment expected Friday.
Firefighters plan to continue cutting a line around the 27,531-acre blaze and dousing hot spots today. There are 146 firefighters assigned to the fire, U.S. Forest Service officials said.
The fire began July 15, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents.
Reach Melissa via email or call her at 909-386-3878.
Get the latest crime and public safety news on Twitter @IECrime.


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CDC: Hepatitis C Testing Requires Both Antibody Screening and HCV RNA Follow-up
- Details
- Category: HCV Testing & Diagnosis
- Published on Tuesday, 07 May 2013 00:00
- Written by Liz Highleyman
Half of all people who receive an initial hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody screening test never return for follow-up viral load testing to determine if they are still infected, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study. Confirmatory testing is needed to link people with chronic hepatitis C to appropriate care and treatment. "You may not remember what you did in the 60s and 70s," said CDC director Thomas Frieden,"but your liver does."
Approximately 3 million people in the U.S. have hepatitis C, but experts estimate that 3 out of 4 are unaware they are infected. Even among those who take the first step of testing, 51% do not receive necessary follow-up, according to the latest Vital Signs report in the May 7, 2013, advance edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Frieden and John Ward, director of the CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis, discussed the importance of the findings in an accompanying media briefing.
An HCV antibody test indicates that a person has been exposed to HCV infection and produced antibodies in response. A follow-up test for HCV genetic material tells whether the virus is still present in the body. About 20% of infected people (or less, if they are coinfected with HIV) can clear HCV on their own without treatment, but the majority develop chronic or long-term infection.
Hepatitis C is most common among "Baby Boomers" in the U.S. -- individuals born between 1945 and 1965. Many young people were infected during the 1960s and 70s, often via occasional drug experimentation, and are only now reaching the stage of serious liver disease.
Over years or decades chronic HCV infection can lead to severe complications including liver cirrhosis (scarring), hepatocellular carcinoma (a type of primary liver cancer), end-stage liver failure, and death. According to Frieden and Ward, about half of people with chronic hepatitis C will develop cirrhosis and one-third will die of liver-related causes. Hepatitis C is the most common reason for liver transplants and the leading cause of liver cancer, which is the fastest-rising cause of cancer death in U.S.
Fortunately, it is possible to stop the progression from HCV infection to severe liver disease. Hepatitis C treatment is now better than ever, with more effective and tolerable interferon-free regimens expected in the next 2-3 years. Being aware of infection can also prompt people to take other steps to protect their liver, including limiting alcohol consumption and getting vaccinated against hepatitis B.
"Not everyone with hepatitis C will need treatment, but everyone should be linked to care to determine whether treatment is needed," Frieden said. "Care and treatment could really save your life." Healthcare providers should implement "automatic systems" for complete testing to ensure that people don't fall through the cracks, he urged.
Accompanying the Vital Signs report, the May 7 MMWR also includes updated hepatitis C testing guidance for clinicians and laboratories. The update reinforces guidelines issued last year, which recommend that everyone born between 1945 and 1965 get tested for HCV at least once, regardless of traditional risk factors, but it underscores the need for follow-up testing to determine current infection.
"Persons with current infection who are not identified as currently infected will not receive appropriate preventive services, clinical evaluation, and medical treatment," the guidance reads in part. "Testing strategies must ensure the identification of those persons with current HCV infection."
"The most important question is, 'Am I still infected?'," said Ward. He noted that the sooner follow-up testing is done, the better, "but there's no time limit beyond which it's no longer helpful."
Below is an edited excerpt from a CDC press release describing the study and the updated testing guidance in more detail. A summary fact sheet and infographic are also available online.
Study Suggests Only Half of Americans with Hepatitis C Receive
Complete Testing for the Virus
CDC reinforces need for appropriate follow-up testing for current infection
Only half of Americans identified as ever having had hepatitis C received follow-up testing showing that they were still infected, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of data from a multi-area study published today in the CDC report Vital Signs.
"Many people who test positive on an initial hepatitis C test are not receiving the necessary follow-up test to know if their body has cleared the virus or if they are still infected," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH. "Complete testing is critical to ensure that those who are infected receive the care and treatment for hepatitis C that they need in order to prevent liver cancer and other serious and potentially deadly health consequences."
Testing for hepatitis C includes a blood test, called an antibody test, to determine if an individual has ever been infected with the virus. For people with a positive antibody test result, a follow-up test -- called an RNA test -- should be given to determine whether they are still infected so they can get needed care and treatment.
A small number of people with antibody-positive tests will have cleared the infection on their own, but most people with hepatitis C (about 80 percent) remain infected and can go on to develop significant health problems.
For the Vital Signs study, researchers looked at data from eight areas across the nation funded by CDC to conduct enhanced surveillance for hepatitis C virus infection. Of the hepatitis C cases reported in these areas (i.e., those cases with antibody-positive results), only 51 percent of the cases also included a follow-up (RNA) test result that identified current infection. Without follow-up testing, the other half are likely unaware if they are currently infected and therefore cannot get appropriate medical care.
Data included in this analysis also underscore the severe impact of hepatitis C among baby boomers. In the eight areas studied, 67 percent of all reported cases of current infection were among those born from 1945 through 1965. Deaths among people with hepatitis C also were more common among those born during these years (accounting for 72 percent of all reported deaths).
"Hepatitis C has few noticeable symptoms, and left undiagnosed it threatens the health of far too many Americans -- especially baby boomers," said John Ward, MD, director of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis. "Identifying those who are currently infected is important because new effective treatments can cure the infection better than ever before, as well as eliminate the risk of transmission to others."
Overall, approximately 3 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C and up to 3 out of 4 do not know they are infected. The vast majority of those affected are baby boomers, or those born from 1945 through 1965. Left untreated, hepatitis C can cause serious liver damage, including liver cancer. Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer and the most common indication for liver transplants. In fact, liver cancer is the fastest-rising cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Deaths from hepatitis C have nearly doubled over the past decade, now accounting for more than 15,000 deaths each year.
In light of increasing evidence that many patients are not receiving the follow-up test, as well as recent changes in testing technologies and the availability of new effective treatments for hepatitis C, CDC is issuing updated guidance for health care providers on hepatitis C testing. These guidelines reinforce the recommended process for hepatitis C testing and underscore the importance of providers conducting follow-up RNA testing for all patients with a positive antibody test result in order to help ensure people infected with hepatitis C are properly tested and identified.
CDC recommends that everyone in the United States born from 1945 through 1965 be tested for hepatitis C. CDC also recommends that other populations at increased risk for hepatitis C get tested, including those who received blood transfusions or organ transplants before widespread screening of the blood supply began in 1992, or those who have ever injected drugs.
This Vital Signs coincides with Hepatitis Awareness Month and National Hepatitis Testing Day on May 19.
K Bornschlegel, D Holtzman, M Klevens, J Ward, et al. Vital Signs: Evaluation of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Testing and Reporting -- Eight U.S. Sites, 2005–2011. Morbity and Mortality Weekly Report 62:1-5. May 7, 2013 (Early release).
J Getchell, K Wroblewski, A DeMaria, J Ward, et al. Testing for HCV Infection: An Update of Guidance for Clinicians and Laboratorians. Morbity and Mortality Weekly Report 62:1-4. May 7, 2013 (Early release).
Other Sources
CDC National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. Study Suggests Only Half of Americans with Hepatitis C Receive Complete Testing for the Virus. Press release. May 7, 2013.
Hepatitis C: Testing baby boomers saves lives. CDC Vital Signs. May 2013.


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By the time we descend into the arena and get to our courtside seats, it's a safe bet that thousands of people are aware that the pop star is seated among them. Her hair is the opposite of a disguise; indeed, it is a neon beacon in a sea of color and noise. Before long the cameramen find her, and within seconds her face is on the Jumbotron, sending a wave of murmurs—rihannarihannarihanna—rippling through the rows. When she realizes she is glowing huge on the screen above us, she takes off her sunglasses, flashes that sweet smile, and waves to the cheering fans.
Click here for Rihanna's most fashionable red-carpet moments.
All eyes may be on Rihanna, but during breaks in the game—in which she is deeply engrossed, cheering loudest for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade—she herself turns her laser beams on the crowd. A woman in a fur walks by, and I get a gentle elbow in the ribs. "Check her ouwt," she says, one eyebrow cocked in bemusement, her Barbadian accent suddenly very pronounced. "Do you really think she needs to be wearing a full-length fur coat to a basketball game when it's 70 degrees outside?"
Rihanna creates an instant conspiratorial intimacy as she shares her big tub of popcorn and dissects the crowd. During a break, she draws my attention to a security guard on the court. "This poor guy looks so worried." And then: "Let's try to make him laugh." She stares at him long and hard, and when he finally catches her eye he looks startled at first. Is she looking at me? But then slowly, a bashful smile creeps across his face, which quickly gives way to laughter. Score!
Rihanna points out three women sitting together who have identical blonde hairstyles and quickly reads them: "That one's the mother," she says. "The one next to her is her daughter, and then next to her is the daughter's best friend." She sneaks another look. "The daughter got the haircut first, and the other two copied her." Pause. "They're like three matching Barbies." And then, out of nowhere, she switches into a dead-on omigod Valley Girl accent.
Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of Rihanna's cover shoot with Annie Leibovitz.
"I love reading people," she tells me later. "I really enjoy watching, observing, and being able to figure out a person, the reason they wore that dress, the reason they smell the way they do." Her perceptiveness in some ways acts as a shield, because as provocative as Rihanna can be, there is something tough and guarded about her. As her label chairman and CEO, L.A. Reid, says, "She became a star before she became an adult. Her nature is to protect herself." Here at the game, for instance, what the cameras and fans can't see is the very fine gold chain around her neck with a teeny-tiny charm dangling from it that says F*** YOU.
It is exactly this aspect of her personality—the playful badass—that landed Rihanna her first acting gig, a role in Battleship, the $200 million summer action movie based on the Hasbro game and directed by the actor turned director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights). Also starring Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgård, and Brooklyn Decker, the film follows an American fleet that encounters an armada helmed by aliens and engages in a no-doubt totally awesome, save-the-world battle at sea. (Not scheduled to be released until May 2012, it is already making waves: Avatar director James Cameron has said that its board game–based premise "degrades the cinema." When I ask Berg about that criticism, he replies, "I'm a huge fan of James Cameron, and as always, I thank him for his support.")
Berg was looking for an actress who could play the "tough, urban, scrappy, funny" naval officer Cora Raikes, and "for some reason," he says, "Rihanna popped into my head." He was initially intrigued by her video persona. "But when you meet her," he says, "there's absolutely no resemblance to the sexy superdiva that you see in the videos. It's a complete act, in my opinion. I am not saying she's not a very sexy girl, but there's so much more to her than that. She is clearly playing around with a character." And then he saw the hilarious Saturday Night Live "Shy Ronnie" skit in which she appeared with Andy Samberg last year, gamely sending up her own image. "I thought, Wow, this girl is just an inherent performer," Berg says. He believes his gamble will pay off. "She has a very strong presence—people are going to be surprised," he says. "Let's put it this way: She kicks ass."
Click here for the slideshow of musicians in Vogue throughout the years.
To play a gun-toting ammunitions specialist, Rihanna had to look like she knew a thing or two about how to fire an M4, not to mention be comfortable filming on a barge fourteen hours a day off the coast of Hawaii. "She had to get into an eighteen-foot inflatable raft and sit behind a machine gun for six hours at a time in seven-foot swells," says Berg. "We had rescue swimmers on Jet Skis and armed shark spotters because there were quite a few sharks out there."
Rihanna enjoyed every scary minute of it. "There were all these people, cameras, and huge cranes out in the middle of the ocean," she says. "And I got to do some stunts, which was incredible. I loved it—especially diving into the ocean."
Needless to say, Rihanna had to get in the best physical shape of her young life. She is no longer the sixteen-year-old ingenue who can eat whatever she wants (which, if left to her own devices, would be junk food and pasta). But luckily her trainer, Ary Nuñez, a Nike-sponsored athlete with several black belts, is there to keep those multimillion-dollar "guns and gams" camera-ready. Nuñez parked the pop star—whose figure she describes as "Nicole Kidman meets J.Lo"—on a RealRyder (a spinning bike with handlebars that move laterally) to strengthen her core. Nuñez also strapped weights to Rihanna's hands so she could multitask. The trainer's main strategy was to change it up because, as Rihanna admits, "I hate going to the gym and doing it the old-fashioned way. I hate anything that's too straightforward, too routine, too familiar. I get bored really, really quickly."
Though Rihanna has the kind of Amazon body some women would kill for, she says she has only recently become content with her shape. "Over the holidays, and even during filming, I realized that I actually like my body, even if it's not perfect according to the book. I just feel sexy. For the first time, I don't want to get rid of the curves. I just want to tone it up. My body is comfortable, and it's not unhealthy, so I'm going to rock with it."
Download the exclusive Rihanna cover app here.
Along with the killer body (and of course that bewitching voice), it is Rihanna's daring—and unerring—sense of style that has catapulted her out of the ranks of interchangeable one-name R&B singers. I see it for myself a couple of nights after the game, when Rihanna meets me in Beverly Hills for dinner at Scarpetta, a scene-y Italian restaurant she loves. She is wearing a tight, short salmon-colored dress from Topshop that has strategically placed cutouts with those same nude Louboutins. In other words, she looks like the Only Girl (in the World).
For her first two albums, Rihanna was styled like the beautiful island girl she is, in faded jeans and embroidered linen blouses. She was pretty but in a generic way. It wasn't until she cut her hair short and dyed it black in 2007 that the entire fashion world sat up and took notice. It reminded people of Linda Evangelista (whom Rihanna admires) chopping off her hair in the late eighties and becoming an overnight sensation. "When I cut my hair, the whole sound changed, my style changed," she says, referring to the fact that she started dressing more punk and futuristic, a little Mad Max. And then she began switching her hair color from black to blonde to red, as casually as most women buy a new pair of shoes. As one fashion person put it to me recently, "There are very few women who can dye their hair Bozo the Clown red and still look so cool, so beautiful." (Not surprisingly, it now has a name: Rihanna Red.)
"It's been more of a challenge to figure out looks that are going to work with the hair and not compete with it," says her stylist Mariel Haenn, with whom she's been collaborating since 2006. Her solution has been to move Rihanna toward something completely soft and feminine, and away from "the tough, hard look that kind of got imprinted as her signature style," says Haenn.
Rihanna has become nothing less than a fashion It girl. Bloggers and editors go crazy over her looks, whether it's the fuchsia cropped sweater she paired with tangerine pedal-pushers in London or the Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo with wildly exaggerated shoulders she chose to wear to the Met Costume Institute gala. "She's very inspiring," says Haenn. "She has a very strong idea of what she wants. And there is always some sort of, for lack of a better word, cool factor. But because of her confidence, it never looks like a costume—it seems effortless."
Rihanna figured out that style mattered to her early on. "When I was fourteen and first started going out, I always wanted to be the opposite of everyone else," she says. "So I would go to the club in a polo T-shirt and pants and sneakers and a hat on backward, just so I would not be dressed like other girls. And I got desperate for things that weren't available in Barbados. I would cut things out of magazines. I was obsessed with creating a visual with clothing, and the way things are combined." How does she think about fashion now? "It's become more about taking a risk. When I am putting looks together, I dare myself to make something work. I always look for the most interesting silhouette or something that's a little off, but I have to figure it out. I have to make it me. I think that's the thrill in fashion."
For the complete Rihanna cover story, buy the April issue of Vogue.


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The Great Stalingrad Sniper Duel is Alternative History
Could there be a more dramatic war story? No—considering it's probably not true.
Here's What You Need To Remember: So why the legend of Zaitsev versus Konig? Because propaganda is as formidable and useful a weapon as a rifle or tank. In the hands of a skilled writer such as Vasily Grossman, who wrote that Zaitsev had never hurt a living creature until motivated by hatred of the German invaders, the Soviet people could find a hero to inspire them in the long and bloody struggle against Nazi Germany.
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In the blazing ruins of Stalingrad, where men hunted men with such savagery that even the dogs fled howling into the night, occurred the greatest sniper duel in history.
Too bad it's more myth than history.
On one side was Vasily Zaitsev, the Soviet army's deadliest sniper, with some 400 kills. On the other was one "Major Konig," the head of the German army's sniper school in Berlin, whom the Nazi high command had dispatched to Stalingrad to hunt down Zaitsev. They met on a fateful afternoon—two marksmen stalking each other on the battlefield. Only Zaitsev survived. Or so the popular retelling would have you believe.
This epic contest between two supersnipers has been immortalized in numerous books and most famously in the 2001 movie Enemy at the Gates. In his autobiography Notes of a Russian Sniper, Zaitsev himself describes how he carefully studied the battlefield until he deduced that Konig was hidden under a sheet of iron surrounded by a small pile of bricks, in the no-man's-land between the German and Soviet lines.
Mindful that Konig had already picked off several of his fellow snipers, Zaitsev baited a trap with his friend Kulikov.
Kulikov fires off a blind shot. We have to arouse the sniper's interest. We decide to sit out the first half of the day; light reflecting from the scopes could give us away. In the afternoon our rifles are in the shade while the direct light of the sun falls upon the German's position.
Something sparkles by the edge of the sheet. Is this a piece of glass that just happens to be there, or is the telescopic sight of a sniper's rifle? Very carefully, as only the most experienced sniper would do, Kulikov starts to raise a helmet. The German fires. Kulikov raises himself for a brief moment, shouts loudly and falls.
It was then that Konig paid for his final mistake, Zaitsev writes. Thinking his Soviet nemesis was dead, Konig "sticks half of his head out from under the sheet. I fire. The German's head sinks, and the optical sight of his rifle sparkles in the sunlight."
Could there be a more dramatic war story? No—considering it's probably not true.
British historian Frank Ellis, in his 2013 book The Stalingrad Cauldron skillfully shoots the story full of holes.
First, there is no mention in German that a master sniper named Major Konig (Ellis spells it "Konings") ever existed. Nor had the Germans established a sniper school in Berlin in 1942 or '43, when the Battle of Stalingrad was fought.
Ellis also notes that while Zaitsev usually provides specific dates for the events in his book, there is no date listed for when he killed Konig. "In view of the vast amount of interest in this duel then and long after the war, it is striking that no Soviet account provides the precise date on which Konings succumbed," Ellis writes.
Ellis also points to inconsistencies in Zaitsev's account. Zaitsev describes slaying Konig in the afternoon after sunlight glints off the German's rifle or scope. But for that to happen, Konig must have been facing west into the setting sun, even though the German lines were facing east.
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It would not be unusual for a sniper like Konig to have infiltrated behind the Soviet positions so that he was facing west, but then Zaitsev states the Konig's sniper hole was in the no-man's-land in front of German lines, suggesting he was indeed facing east. "Zaitsev shows himself to be aware of the hazard of sunlight," writes Ellis. "Are we to believe that his formidable opponent was not, and that he made this elementary and fatal error?"
According to Zaitsev, he and Kulikov dragged Konig's body back to Soviet lines after dark. "We removed his documents and handed them over to the divisional commander," he writes. But Ellis says that he has "yet to come across a single Soviet or post-Soviet source that provides any details of these documents or that even acknowledges their existence, apart from Zaitsev's account."
The Soviet and German armies in World War II used hordes of snipers—far more than the American and British armies—to pick off enemy officers, artillery observers and machine-gun crews. The Soviets were especially aggressive in using them in Stalingrad; German records are filled with complaints about moving out their trenches only at the risk of their lives.
Thus it is quite possible that Zaitsev fought and killed a German sniper that day. That his victim was some German uber-sniper, who fell for a simple ruse, is a more dubious proposition.
While the image of today's sniper is of a highly-trained professional, such training would not have been a necessity in a close-range urban battle such as Stalingrad, Ellis tells me. When engaging an enemy at ranges of less than 100 meters, "keeping one's cool is essential, especially if the enemy is allowed to pass over a soldier's position so that the enemy can then be engaged from the rear," the author says by email.
"It can also be noted that in the dense forests of Finland, Finnish snipers would engage Soviet troops at very close ranges—Japanese also in World War II," Ellis continues. "At these sorts of ranges, most soldiers do not need to be highly qualified snipers and are able to kill with one shot."
So why the legend of Zaitsev versus Konig? Because propaganda is as formidable and useful a weapon as a rifle or tank. In the hands of a skilled writer such as Vasily Grossman, who wrote that Zaitsev had never hurt a living creature until motivated by hatred of the German invaders, the Soviet people could find a hero to inspire them in the long and bloody struggle against Nazi Germany.
A nation that sustained millions of deaths in a terrible conflict can be forgiven for needing heroes.
Yet the enduring appeal of the Stalingrad story also shows our fascination with snipers, those skilled hunters of men. If the duel involves two such craftsmen pitted against each other, then so much the better. The Great Stalingrad Duel may be myth. But that makes it no less a dramatic story.
This first appeared in WarIsBoring here.
This article first appeared several years ago and is being republished due to readers' interests.
Image: Reuters.


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CBS excluded the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from a statistic on the number of terrorism "incidents" in the U.S. during an interview Monday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions on "CBS This Morning." (August 14, 2017)
CBS used a graphic to illustrate the number of terrorist attacks committed by far-right and Islamic extremists since 2001. The graphic showed that "far-right extremists" were responsible for 62 incidents that resulted in 106 deaths, while "Islamic extremists" launched 23 attacks that resulted in 119 deaths.
The graphic noticeably left out the Sept. 11 terror attacks, with CBS only counting extremists attacks from Sept. 12, 2001 to Dec. 31, 2016.
A total of 2,977 people were killed in the 9/11 terror attacks carried out by al Qaeda.
The graphic appears at the 2:53 mark in the video.
CBS anchor Norah O'Donnell asked Sessions what the Justice Department needs to do since attacks by far-right extremists have been more frequent.
"This is believed to be the largest white supremacy demonstration in over a decade," O'Donnell said, referring to the violence perpetrated by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va. over the weekend. "We went and looked at the data, and in fact, between 2001 and 2016, there were nearly three times as many attacks by right-wing extremists than Islamic extremists in the U.S. What does the Justice Department need to be doing?
Sessions said the Justice Department is focused on domestic terrorism and will continue to make it a high priority.
"The Justice Department is focused on that. I'm briefed three times a week by the FBI on terrorism and terrorism related issues," Sessions said. "That includes briefings on domestic terrorism. And we will continue to focus on that. It will be a high priority of the Department of Justice."
Late in the interview, CBS aired another graphic that listed the number of hate groups operating in the United States. The source for CBS' information was the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which has a history of bias and being a left-wing advocacy group. It has been reported that SPLC overstates the number of hate groups and classifies organizations with which it disagrees as hate groups.
CBS was not the only network to omit the Sept. 11 terror attacks from its reporting.
MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle did not include 9/11 on Monday when she claimed that right-wing extremists have killed three times more people than Islamic terrorists.
"Reverend Al [Sharpton], I want to start with you. Between 2001 and now, we have seen three times more deaths caused by right-wing extremists than Islamic terrorists," Ruhle said.
Ruhle did not cite the source of her claim.
Several reports show that since 9/11, Islamic terrorists have killed more Americans than right-wing extremists. According to New America, a Washington, D.C. think tank, Islamic terrorists have killed 95 people in the 15 years after 9/11, while far-right extremists have killed 67 people in the same time period.
BuzzFeed also recently published an article on a report that left out a major Islamic terrorist attack.
BuzzFeed published a piece last week titled, "This Report Says More LGBT People Were Killed so Far in 2017 Than in All of 2016." The report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs claimed there have been 33 hate-violence-related homicides targeting LGBT people so far in 2017, while there were 28 such hate-violence-related homicides in 2016.
The report left out the June 2016 Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando, Fla, which took the lives of 49 people. There is no indication why the group left out the shooting, during which a man named Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before opening fire on the gay nightclub.
BuzzFeed noted the absence of the Pulse shooting in the subhead.
"Advocates said the statistic — which doesn't include the Pulse nightclub shooting — 'should be a wake-up call.'"
And from the Liberty Headlines comments:


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Ann Quigley West Was Former Antique Dealer
Ann West, an Edgartown resident for more than 75 of her 98 years, died on April 14 at the Southwest Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, Fla.
She was born Anne Bridget Quigley in Fall River on May 2, 1904, the daughter of Andrew E. and Ada Quigley of Fayville. The youngest daughter in a family of five, three girls and two boys, she was raised by relatives in the Boston area and in Chicago, which was the normal way in those days, as her mother died before she was three.
Reunited with her sisters Caroline and Ada in the Boston area in the early 1920s, she attended a small college before being employed by the telephone company.
In 1923 she met her future husband, Richard West, a native of Edgartown who was employed in Boston at the time.
Married in Fayville on May 27, 1925, they honeymooned in Stamford, Vt., prior to setting up housekeeping in Edgartown. Richard made his living as a fisherman and boat captain until his death at 61 years of age in 1964.
Ann loved poetry and was well-known as an antique dealer. She opened her first shop in 1950 with her friend, Marion Roberts, on Dock street. It operated there until it moved to an addition on her home, then located where the post office is now. She was an avid collector and the story has been told that her husband once remarked, "You've got enough junk to open a store." So she did. It was an avocation that continued into her 80s.
The antique business was never run for profit, but it did provide this lady of endless energy and love for antiques with the opportunity to display the things she loved. She never bought anything that she didn't like for herself, and in fact many of the items bought for the shop spent a few years in her home before being replaced by some new treasure.
Ann read every book and magazine she could find and would research most items she found for her shop. She was known to retire items from the store if someone looked like they were going to buy it.
She is survived by her three children, Richard E. West, formerly of West Tisbury and currently residing in Virginia, Joyce West Erdman of Edgartown and Carmichel, Calif., and Peter West of Edgartown and Fort Myers, Fla.; 14 grandchildren, and 15 grandchildren, with two more due this summer.
A graveside service will be held Saturday, July 13, at 11 a.m. at the Westside Cemetery in Edgartown, followed by an open house and celebration of her life at the home of her son, Peter, at 3 Hillman Drive, Katama. All are welcome.


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Welcome to our website! As we have the ability to list over one million items on our website (our selection changes all of the time), it is not feasible for a company our size to record and playback the descriptions on every item on our website. However, if you have a disability we are here to help you. Please call our disability services phone line at (203) 934-9258 during regular business hours and one of our kind and friendly personal shoppers will help you navigate through our website, help conduct advanced searches, help you choose the item you are looking for with the specifications you are seeking, read you the specifications of any item and consult with you about the products themselves. There is no charge for the help of this personal shopper for anyone with a disability. Finally, your personal shopper will explain our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, and help you place an order if you so desire.
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Heraclius hĕrəklī´əs, hĭrăk´lēəs [key], c.575–641, Byzantine emperor (610–41). The son of a governor of Africa, he succeeded the tyrant Phocas, whom he deposed and had executed. In the early years of his reign Avars and Bulgars threatened, attacking even Constantinople, and the Persians conquered Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. In three costly campaigns (622–28) Heraclius recovered the provinces from the Persians, but they fell (629–42) to the Muslim Arabs. He sought to reconcile the Monophysites with the Orthodox Church; this attempt led to the compromise of Monotheletism, which was rejected by both sides. Heraclius began the reorganization of the empire into military provinces (themes). He was succeeded briefly by his son Constantine III and then by his grandson Constans II.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Ancient History, Late Roman and Byzantine: Biographies


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Lesson Thirteen: The Resurrection of Man in Both His Dimensions
Now let us see what the nature of life will be in the hereafter. Will resurrection be exclusively corporeal, so that man is restored to life in the material form that characterizes his body, or will his eternal life be exclusively in the realm of the spirit, without any kind of attachment to the material body? Or will his return to life have on the contrary both dimensions, spiritual and semi-corporeal?
Our use of the word "semi-corporeal" implies that what comes to life is a subtle body, one that may be regarded as the essence of his present form. Finally, since the nature of man is a compound of body and spirit, will man's life after resurrection embrace both these dimensions, so that neither will his body that element which gives rise to a whole series of physical and chemical reaction perish completely, nor will his spirit be the separated from his bodily form?
All these represent various theories put forward concerning the nature of resurrection; let us now examine each one in turn.
Some scholars espouse the first theory and say that when death overtakes the body and its physical and chemical reactions are brought to an end, everything reaches its point of termination. However, when resurrection takes place, the scattered form of man is reassembled out of the particles that have been buried in the earth, scattered in the air, or drowned in the ocean. When the body thus begins its new life, the spirit which counts as one of the properties of the mechanism of the body is bound also to come back to life.
The second theory has also been espoused by many philosophers. They believe that since the spirit represents both the source and the essence of human existence and its very structure predisposes it to continual life, it bids eternal farewell to the material body when death occurs for the structure of the body predisposes it to perishing. After enjoying for a brief time the life-giving rays of the spirit, the body finds that its role is at an end.
The compound nature of the body permitted it to house the abstract spirit only for a limited time, after which it inevitably fell prey to decay and death. The spirit, by contrast, being ultimately free of the body and its properties, remains eternal and immortal, and it is therefore the spirit alone which appears on the plain of resurrection. Were this not the case, resurrection would have no meaning. This theory implies, of course, that punishment and reward are exclusively moral or spiritual.
There is no firm evidence in support of this theory, but it used to have many supporters. Now it has very few followers, for the realistic theories put forward by scholars have thoroughly undermined it.
The third analysis of the question is that which was made by a number of ancient philosophers. They said that when we die, our body is indeed destroyed: its elemental and material elements are dissolved in such a way that they cannot be reassembled.
The spirit then remains, but not in a state of utter abstraction; it is lodged in a subtle body that is not capable of physical and chemical reactions but nonetheless resembles our present body. This subtle body, also known as the imaginal body, is extraordinarily active and has the ability to transcend all obstacles, and is able to live eternally.
There is yet a fourth theory, which is held by many theologians and philosophers both of the past and the present. It is based on the principle that resurrection represents a complete and comprehensive return to life for nothing that pertains to man can ever be fully destroyed. Man resumes his life in the next world with all his qualities and properties, the only difference being that his resurrectional life unfold in a more elevated realm than this world. On that plane we will attain a state in which matter and spirit retain their separate essences but become so closely interrelated that their existence becomes manifest as a single unit.
The reality of resurrectional life must be envisaged, according to the view, as containing both dimensions of man, not separate but joined, just as was the case in this world.
No intellectual argument can be advanced as evidence for the nature of life after death; it is only the necessity of resurrection and its simultaneously spiritual and physical nature that are topics for philosophical and rational analysis. Philosophy and the intellect have no key for unlocking the mystery of which, out of all possible forms, will definitely occur in the hereafter.
Nonetheless, when we look at the way in which the last of the theories outlined above seeks to answer this question, we see that it contains an element of truth, for it points in the same direction as the authoritative texts of Islam and is compatible with them.
The Qur'an which is the principal source for all such topics repeatedly states that resurrection will be bodily. It proclaims, clearly and unmistakably, that man will be resurrected with the body he has had in this world. The verses in question are indeed so explicit as to leave no room for symbolic interpretation. Consider, for example, these verses:
"God begins creation, then He renews it, and after that causes it to return to Him" (30:11).
"Does man imagine that We will not gather together his bones? We are able to recreate even the tips of his fingers" (75:3-4).
The second of these two verses states that those who imagine the body to be incapable of renewed life, after the dissolution and scattering of its particles, are, in reality, unaware of God's infinite power; they do not understand that the reconstruction of human life out of the scattered particles of the body, even to the extent of reproducing the minutiae of the fingertips, represents a small and insignificant task for the boundless power of the Creator.
"Say: `He will give life to the bones Who created them for the first time; certainly He is aware of all His creation." (36:79).
A Story from the Qur'an
The Noble Qur'an presents narratives concerning the prophets `Uzayr and Ibrahim, the Friend of God, each of which includes a living example of bodily resurrection. God clarifies the matter for each of these great prophets by placing before them a concrete example of dead forms being restored to life once the necessary circumstances come to obtain by divine order: the spirit becomes manifest anew in the body so that its life resumes.
We read in the story of `Uzayr that mounted on his donkey he once came across a ruin in the course of a journey. In that ruin he was confronted by the dreadful sight of the rotting bones of men who had long since died. He plunged deep into thought and asked himself, "How will God bring these back to life?"
At that very moment God took his soul, but one hundred years later He brought him back to life. He asked him, "How long have you been here?" He immediately answered, "One day or less."
`Uzayr was then informed that he had been in that place for a hundred years, lying lifeless on the ground exactly where he had fallen. He was instructed to look at his donkey, and saw that its body was thoroughly decomposed: then God brought it back life.
In the story of `Uzayr, we also see that in order to demonstrate the limitlessness of His power God preserved water and foodstuffs intact for a hundred years, objects that decay or vaporize more quickly than living beings on account of their exposure to natural factors such as heat, sunlight, wind and dust. He addressed `Uzayr as follows:
"Look at your food and drink; it has not changed and it shows no sign of age. Look too at your donkey, so that its story becomes apparent to you and We may make of you a proof for people so that they no longer deny resurrection. Look at the rotten bones, and see how We bring them together and make flesh grow on them. When all this was shown clearly to him (the verse continues), he said, `I know now for certain that God is empowered over all things'" (2:259).
The Qur'an depicts another concrete instance of bodily resurrection in one of the narratives concerning Ibrahim, upon whom be peace. It tells with the utmost clarity how Ibrahim witnessed with his own eyes the reassembling of the scattered particles of a body:
"When Ibrahim said: `O God, show me how you bring the dead back to life, ` God responded, `Do you not believe?' He said, `I do, but I wish my heart to be reassured.' So God said, `Choose four types of birds, and mix their flesh together, and place portions on the top of mountains. Then summon the birds, and they will come hastening to you. You will then know that God is empowered over all things and is aware of the truth of all things." (2:260).
Ibrahim was rationally and logically convinced of the truth of resurrection, but he wished also to witness it in sensory fashion. He posed the very wise question of how the dead are brought back to life.
One may believe in a variety of things without being aware of their precise nature, a simple example being that we believe in the reality of radio and television without knowing anything of how the sounds and images reach us.
Ibrahim believed in the principle of resurrection and the renewal of life, but he wished also to understand how the dead are brought back to life, to know it directly by means of a concrete example, and to satisfy his inner feelings by means of sensory experience.
After Ibrahim witnessed that remarkable scene, he was instructed to ponder upon it and to realize that God is capable of all things and that given His infinite knowledge and power it is a small matter for Him to identify and reassemble the scattered particles of the dead.
Imam al-Sajjad, upon whom be peace, said:
"At the time of resurrection men's bodies will grow out of the ground like plants. The particles that were transformed into earth will rejoin each other, through the will and the power of God, so that if even a thousand people should have been buried in the same grave and their flesh and their rotting bones intermingled, they will separate on the day of resurrection; the earthly remains of each dead person will be quite distinct." (Li'ali al-Akhbar, p. 456)
There are many clear verses in the Qur'an, additional to those we have cited, which point clearly to the nature of resurrection. They refute all restriction of renewed life to the spirit, Using such expressions such as
"God will certainly resurrect the dead from their tombs" (22:6).
In another verse we read,
"You will return to Him just as He created you" (7: 29).
In concise and eloquent fashion, this verse draws the attention of man to his original creation, reminding him how the form of his body was fashioned from the various solid elements of the earth and from water. The different elements which were compounded in him had first existed in the form of foodstuffs fruits and vegetables scattered over the face of the earth or drops of water taken from the depths of the ocean to be transformed into vapor and rain.
Why then should man not believe that those same materials, separated from each other and scattered by wind and by storm, will be gathered together again and resume their previous shape and form? If the restoration of life is impossible, how is it that an exactly similar process took place at the beginning of creation?
From the moment that the spirit is connected to the human body, a special kind of union between the two comes into existence which becomes deeper and more complete with the passage of time. A precise and subtle affinity and harmony comes to prevail, as a result of which spirit and body fall under each other's influence; attributes of the spirit appear in the body, and attributes of the body appear in the spirit.
Even the occurrence of death and the separation of the spirit from the body combined with its transfer to another world do not bring this affinity to an end. The various changes that the spirit and the particles of the body separately undergo also fail to affect this affinity, and although the earthly particles of the body exist in different material circumstances from before, they retain their links with the spirit.
Thus the material body and the non-material spirit are linked through the very circumstances of their origin; acquiring a whole series of shared characteristics that further join them together, they retain their affinity throughout the changes and motions they separately undergo.
A corollary of this is that hidden within every drop of sperm are both spiritual characteristics and physical properties.
The affinity between body and spirit causes each spirit to incline in the direction of the body and its particles, by means of the appropriate motions that have come to adhere to the spirit, and also attracts each body towards the spirit, in accordance with a particular set of circumstances and a series of divinely decreed norms. After passing through various stages of change the body leaves its earthly form behind and by an act of God is transformed into a more perfect form, in which it resumes its close link and union with the spirit.
It is worth mentioning that the changes mentioned above are also repeated in the world of being. The earthly particles of our present body are the result of transformations that have taken place because of a specific set of causes. Not only does the body take shape by means of those transformations; each body also is constantly renewed through the decay of the elements and particles that compose it and the replacement of those elements and particles by new ones.
The Noble Qur'an says the following about the comprehensive and all-embracing transformation by means of which the whole order of being will be changed into something other than itself:
"The day on which the heavens and earth will be changed into other than the heaven and earth, and all will be brought before God, the One and All-Powerful" (14:48).
The earthly particles of the human body follow therefore the general transformations that the whole order of being undergoes; they are transformed, in fact, in conjunction with the totality of that order, taking on a more complete aspect in which their true nature becomes apparent and man recovers his true being.
It must be remarked that although the body man will possess in the hereafter is fashioned from the particles of his present body and has the same shape, it will nonetheless have acquired new characteristics which are incompatible with the recognized criteria of this world and are inconceivable to our minds. Our body in the hereafter will be capable of new effects fully compatible with that realm, the comprehension of which, together its interrelations and the norms that govern it, requires a higher consciousness than we now possess.
The Qur'an says the following, in expounding another matter concerning bodily resurrection;
"When they enter hellfire, their eyes and ears and the skins on their bodies shall give witness against them on account of the sins they have committed. They will address their skins asking them, `Why do you give witness against us?' They will receive this answer: `The Lord Who gave speech to all things and Who first created you has given speech to us, too; certainly you will return to him.'" (41:20-21)
Here a remarkable, indeed shattering scene is described. No one expects the organs of his own body to rise up and bear witness against him in the tribunal of the hereafter. The skin of the body, which is closer to man than any other part of his physical being, has been chosen to testify concerning him.
Those who used to sin and do wrong in secret, because of their defective notions about the reach of God's knowledge, who strove to conceal the ugliness of their acts from the view of others, will see on that day that their eyes and the skin of their bodies, transformed into an organ of vision, have stood up to give testimony against them. In their astonishment they will therefore ask the organs of their bodies: "Why are you giving testimony against us?" They will receive a firm answer, delivered in tones of reproach by their bodily organs, "He is the Creator Who first brought you into existence and to Him you will return."
The Commander of the Faithful, `Ali, upon whom be peace, said:
"Matters will succeed each other and ages will pass away, one after the other, until resurrection finally arrives. Then God will bring men forth from the pits of their tombs, from the nests of ravenous birds, from the lairs of wild animals, and from battlefields. They will hasten toward the divine presence, in obedience to God's command, to be sent on to their eternal abode. They will stand before Him, silent and in groups. Although their numbers will be vast, none of them will be hidden from God's limitless knowledge and penetrating vision." (Nahj al-Balagha, ed. Subhi Salih, p. 108)
Certain verses also mention the body that man will have at resurrection as being similar to his body in this world. An example is:
"Although the skin on their body will burn, We will clothe them in new skins so they may taste the severity of our torment." (4:56)
A terrifying panorama of prolonged sensory torment is conjured up here, showing that the painful punishment of the sinners will be constantly repeated.
Verses such as this in no way contradict the verses previously quoted, because the constantly renewed skins are fashioned from the same original skin; it is there alone that change and increase or decrease may take place.
It will be fitting an explanation given by Imam as-Sadiq, on whom be peace, which clarifies the lack of contradiction involved.
Someone once asked Imam as-Sadiq what sin those various skins had committed to make them deserving of chastisement. He answered that from one point of view they are the same as the original skin and from another point of view different from them. The man then asked him to explain the matter further by means of a comparison. The Imam said:
"Have you ever seen someone break a brick, and then pour it in a mold and restore it to its original shape? From one point of view the second brick is identical with the first, and from another point of view it is different from it." (Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. VII, p. 38)
Once the Prophet of Islam was speaking about bodily resurrection, a subject that was baffling, inexplicable and even unacceptable for the polytheists. They reacted therefore with their customary stupidity.
In that milieu where obsolete criteria and destructive superstitions had taken the place of free thought and decay had spread like the plague destroying the fabric of society, it was the aim of the Qur'an to guide the ailing minds of men to a search for the truth. The Qur'an thus reproduces the words of those foolish ones as follows:
"The unbelievers shall say: `Shall we show to you a man who says that after you die and the particles of your body are scattered, you will be brought back to life? Is such a person a liar against God or is it lunacy that impels him to utter such words?' No, it is those who do not believe in resurrection who will suffer torment in the hereafter and here they are misguided, far distant from salvation." (34:7-8)
All these clear and categorical verses, which leave no room for symbolic interpretation, speak unmistakably of bodily resurrection.
To approach the matter from a different point of view, certain deductions can be made that permit us to conclude that the body and the soul are two entities linked together the mutual inclination of which brings man into being: whatever motion or activity arises from man in this world bear within it a part of both elements.
If we view the matter in this way, not only is there no need to postulate a separation between body and soul; we are also provided with a realistic indication that the two must necessarily be compounded anew in life after death.
We know that neither body nor soul represents a complete entity in itself if isolated from the other. The body is an instrument of the soul, and the role it plays in assuring the continuous activity of the soul is crucial.
All legislators throughout history have regarded legal and penal provisions as being addressed to man in both the dimensions of which he is compounded, the bodily and the spiritual, so that neither of these dimensions is forced to bear the burden of responsibility alone. In similar fashion, both dimensions are called to account jointly for their deeds when the final reckoning is made on the plain of resurrection.
Is it, indeed, conceivable that man should be held as legally accountable in this world with both dimensions, but in the hereafter all responsibility should be placed on the fragile shoulders of his spirit?
The fundamental purpose of resurrection is that human beings should attain ultimate felicity and complete the final stages of their development, by virtue of the pure belief they have held and the good deeds they have performed. The attainment of such an aim requires careful and precise planning, and all divine religions have therefore laid down a series of precepts and commands the fulfillment of which will enable man to reach the lofty summit for which he is destined.
The most practical and effective method for the fulfillment of this plan consists of simultaneously encouraging man and inducing fear in him; on the one hand establishing reward and giving the glad tidings of the infinite blessings of paradise, and on the other hand threatening him with punishment and warning him of torment and unendurable pain. Both reward and punishment must be recognizable and perceptible to ordinary human perception for the final outcome of good deeds and the abandonment of evil to become firmly rooted in man's inner being.
Purely spiritual rewards and punishments would not be comprehensible for the masses of humanity; it is corporeal enjoyment and torment that are capable of arousing their attention. They both encourage man to do good deeds, in obedience to the law, and inspire in him fear of the consequences of violating the law.
For most people, the concept of pleasure is simultaneously corporeal and spiritual; few indeed are those who could adequately grasp the notion of purely spiritual pleasure or punishment.
This being the case, to promise men infinite joys of a spiritual nature or to warn them of an exclusively spiritual torment would not work a transforming effect in the depths of men's soul; it would be unable to control the disparate tendencies at work within man or to prevent him from entering the forbidden zone of sin.
It is only those whom God has chosen as His friends and possess accordingly sublime minds in whose souls the anticipation of non-material rewards will arouse the desire to obey even to love God's commands.
In addition, God's abundant favor and wisdom necessitate that He bestows all conceivable material and non-material blessings on His pure, sincere, and devoted servants, and that He should punish bloodthirsty and bestial tyrants with a comprehensive punishment that is both material and non-material. The comprehensiveness both of blessedness in the hereafter and of requital can be assured only by man being resurrected in both his dimensions.
The Qur'an promises both material and spiritual blessings to the virtuous and the pious:
"God promises the believers, both women and men, that He will cause them to enter a paradise where rivers flow beneath the trees, and have them dwell in splendid palaces. He will also bestow on them His pleasure and satisfaction, which is greater and loftier than material bounties. This spiritual reward is, in truth, the supreme achievement for the pure" (9:72).
The Limited Capacity of the Earth
Some people might voice the objection that the globe cannot possibly accommodate on the day of resurrection all the human beings who have lived upon it throughout time. This objection is, however, completely unfounded, because as the Qur'an makes entirely clear, the orderly rotation of the heavens will be thoroughly disrupted when the end of the world comes.
An awesome power will grind the mountains into dust and scatter them in every direction; the sun and the moon will lose their familiar splendor and light and grow dark; and the whole coherent order of the universe, formed of sublime phenomena that are fashioned from the crudest of materials, will utterly collapse. An entirely new order and structure of creation will come into being on the silent and dead ruins of the old.
It can, then, be easily understood that any objection based on an alleged lack of space on the globe is quite unwarranted.
Those whose system of thought is opposed to the view of believers in God and who are accustomed to raising all kinds of objections also raise another question. They point out that the cells in the human body are replaced annually so that every individual changes his physical form several times in the course of his life, gradually and imperceptibly.
Now it is obvious that every body performs acts, in the course of its specific lifespan, that deserve reward or punishment; which body will it be, however, that must ultimately held responsible for those deeds at the time of resurrection?
The answer to this objection in obvious. Given the fact that each new cell inherits the characteristics and attributes of its predecessor so that even the external appearance of the body is indistinguishable from the old, it is plain that the final body of man represents a compendium of the attributes of all the preceding bodies.
The resurrection of the last body which is visible to us is therefore tantamount to the resurrection of all its predecessors.
Scarcity of Matter and the Multitude of Men
Another objection which is raised is that of the limited nature of the earthly materials which contain in themselves the remains of countless men who have been turned into earth. It is said that the amount of earth presently available will not suffice for the fashioning anew of so many people.
The baselessness of this objection, which does not originate in any serious search for the truth, becomes obvious when we make the following calculations.
Every square kilometer of earth is enough for making a hundred million men. This amount occupies a very paltry portion of the earth's surface, but it would be enough for refashioning twenty times the present population of the world.
Based on this calculation, an extremely small plot of land would yield enough material for making anew the bodies of billions upon billions of men, so the objection that the raw materials needed for resurrecting so many people would be lacking turns out to be groundless.
Furthermore, one of the properties of matter is that it takes on different forms. If for example the atoms comprising one cubic meter of stone are split, they can occupy millions of cubic meters of space; their dimensions expand to an unimaginable degree.
The Qur'an proclaims:
"A day will come on which the earth will be transformed into other than itself" (14:48).
The Eater and the Eaten
There is a very ancient and interesting objection that we should not pass over in silence. This relates to the transformation of the particles of the bodies of the deceased into substances that are then consumed by others, causing those particles to become intermingled with the bodies of others.
It is true that not a single human body can be found which is entirely free of contamination by other elements. However, this intermingling with alien substances is so slight, in the circumstances of this world, both quantitatively and qualitatively, as to be imperceptible. However, it is conceivable that when bodies are reconstructed in the hereafter a kind of rivalry and struggle for the possession of certain materials may take place.
It is entirely possible that this struggle should not be confined to two individuals, taking place instead among a number of claimants each seeking possession of a certain particle as its true owner. Who should in fact take possession of it?
This then is the problem.
When we look back to the first sign of life, we see that we began as monocellular beings. Then our body took shape through the multiplication and growth of the different parts and limbs of our body. In the past, it was imagined that our personality and our physical characteristics were contained only in the mass of reproductive cells, but it is known now that they are present within each individual cell. Each cell acts separately as a mirror in which the whole appearance of man is reflected. This holds true not only of man but also of all other living creatures.
This being the case, if even a single cell from man's body, with the entirety of his personality inscribed within it, is placed in suitable circumstances, it is capable of undertaking by itself the entire task of reconstructing the body, through dividing and giving birth to new cells.
Now if particles of the body become absorbed into the structure of another, the particles belonging to that individual will return to their original locus. By thus returning the particles it had borrowed from a stranger, the second body will in fact be preserving its own original being. It should also be stressed that since each of the two bodies retains its respective characteristics even though their constituent elements become intermingled, there is nothing to prevent each of them from displaying anew its respective identity. Even if the original particles left over from each body be exceedingly few even if, for example, only a single cell survives it will still be possible for that body to reconstruct itself, and nothing can prevent it from doing so.
In any event, irrespective of whether the work of repair and reconstruction be completed swiftly or gradually, every particle retains the capacity of building anew the original body, just as that body once emerged from a single drop of sperm.
The same problem can be solved in another way.
As we know, the body is engaged in constant dissolution and replacement. The entire bodily frame changes once every few years, gradually and imperceptibly. If a person appropriates elements of the being of another, directly or indirectly, using them to nurture himself, it is obvious that only a part of that stranger becomes intermingled with him, for he is, after all, a complete person in his own right. Out of all the nutrition that a person consumes, only three percent is absorbed into his body. Why then should the remaining ninety seven percent which is not absorbed into the body, not be available for the resurrection of the individual with whom they originated?
Apart from this, in accordance with the laws of physics, all forms of energy in the world may be transformed into each other, given the appropriate conditions. Man is himself a source for the production of energy and even after his death his body is transformed from one form of energy into another. At the time of resurrection, all the energies of living beings will exist in utter freedom, and they will be able to return to their original form by means of a kind of inverted reaction. The mere fact that we do not know precisely how this change will take place does not give us the right to dismiss it as impossible.
As for punishment in the hereafter, it should be realized that what causes pain and torment has a connection to the spirit, so that if part of the body of a believer become attached to that of an unbeliever, it is the unbeliever that will suffer the pain of torment not the believer.
In addition to all the foregoing, it must be stated that it is entirely possible for God to restore life to a body that has changed, gradually and imperceptibly, the cells composing its brain, nerves and bones, as much as ten times in the course of a lifetime. Any individual today is different from what he was ten years ago. It is a matter of indifference to which of those versions of the body the spirit be rejoined at resurrection, for that upon which the humanity of an individual depends and which serves as the guarantor of the uniqueness of his personality, is the non-material spirit, which is charged with the administration and governance of his body from its first appearance until death.
From the first beginning of creation down to the present, billions of human beings have come into existence, and even if they now lie intermingled with each other, the spiritual characteristics of each of them remain utterly distinct. If a person committed a crime ten years ago, it cannot be said that since his physical form has changed, he should not be tried in place of that person who committed the crime ten years ago.
If we offset a book, the new printing will be exactly the same as the old, although the paper and binding may be different.
Since man needs matter as the means whereby he manifests his existence, he must necessarily be resurrected with his body. However, it is not at all necessary that an individual come back to life at resurrection with all the forms his body has had from birth to death; it can be said that they all appear together in a single form at the time of resurrection.
If this be true, it completely disposes of the objection that particles which have transferred from one body to another cannot be simultaneously present in two persons at the time of resurrection.
Furthermore, the real dimensions of the body are composed of a single insignificant atom; the rest is made up of empty space. If some powerful form of pressure were brought to bear on the body, making it compact and eliminating the spaces between its electrons, the basic matter of the body would be seen to be a minute atom visible only to a microscope.
It is therefore not at all necessary for the spaces between the particles of the body to be recreated at resurrection; it will be quite sufficient for the particles themselves (either some of them or all of them) to return.
None of the possibilities mentioned above should be regarded as categorical answers to the problems posed by the restoration of life to man; they are merely avenues to understanding that lie within our reach. We cannot restrict our reflections on this subject to the arguments set out above. Our aim has been only to prove that doubts and objections such as those we have reviewed should not be allowed to affect our basic belief in resurrection and the restoration of life to the body which is so strongly emphasized by the revealed religions, especially, the Qur'an.