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Military looks to drugs for battle readiness
As combat flights get longer, pilot use of amphetamines grows, as do side effects.
When Navy fighter pilot "Maverick" and his sidekick "Goose" declare "I feel the need the need for speed!" in the box-office hit "Top Gun," they're speaking about the capabilities of their fast and furious F-14 Tomcat.
In the air war over Afghanistan, "the need for speed" may have taken on quite a different meaning.
"Speed" is the well-known nickname for amphetamines, the controversial and potentially harmful drug some American pilots are taking in order to enhance their performance. Despite the possibility of addiction and potential side effects that include hypertension and depression, such drugs are needed, military officials believe, in order to stay alert and focused especially on long-range bombing missions. Such flights can mean nine hours or more alone in expensive, high-performance aircraft. Their lethal weapons are aimed at an elusive enemy that can be (and has been) confused with civilians or friendly troops.
According to military sources, the use of such drugs (commonly Dexedrine) is part of a cycle that includes the amphetamines to fight fatigue, and then sedatives to induce sleep between missions. Pilots call them "go pills" and "no-go pills." For most Air Force pilots in the Gulf War (and nearly all pilots in some squadrons), this was the pattern as well.
The drugs are legal, and pilots are not required to take them although their careers may suffer if they refuse.
Amphetamines follow a pattern that goes back at least 40 years to the early days of the Vietnam War further back if one counts strong military coffee as a stimulant. But they're also part of a new trend that foresees "performance enhancements" designed to produce "iron bodied and iron willed personnel," as outlined in one document of the US Special Operations Command, which oversees the elite special-operations troops that are part of all the military services.
Indeed, the ability to keep fighting for days at a time without normal periods of rest, to perform in ways that may seem almost superhuman (at least well beyond the level of most people in today's armed services), is seen by military officials as the key to success in future conflicts.
"The capability to resist the mental and physiological effects of sleep deprivation will fundamentally change current military concepts of 'operational tempo' and contemporary orders of battle for the military services," states a document from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). "In short, the capability to operate effectively, without sleep, is no less than a 21st Century revolution in military affairs that results in operational dominance across the whole range of potential U.S. military employments."
What's called for, according to DARPA, is a "radical approach" to achieve "continuous assisted performance" for up to seven days. This would actually involve much more than the "linear, incremental and ... limited" approaches of stimulants like caffeine and amphetamines.
"Futurists say that if anything's going to happen in the way of leaps in technology, it'll be in the field of medicine," says retired Rear Adm. Stephen Baker, the Navy's former chief of operational testing and evaluation, who is now at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. "This 'better warrior through chemistry' field is being looked at very closely," says Admiral Baker, whose career includes more than 1,000 aircraft-carrier landings as a naval aviator. "It's part of the research going on that is very aggressive and wide open."
In a memo outlining technology objectives, the US Special Operations Command notes that the special-forces "operator" of the future can expect to rely on "ergogenic substances" (such as drugs used by some athletes) "to manage environmental and mentally induced stress and to enhance the strength and aerobic endurance of the operator."
The memo continues: "Other physiological enhancements might include ways to overcome sleep deprivation, ways to adjust the circadian rhythms to reduce jet lag, as well as ways to significantly reduce high altitude/under water acclimatization time by the use of blood doping or other methods."
Although the Air Force Surgeon General's office recently acknowledged that "prescribed drugs are sometimes made available to counter the effects of fatigue," it is not publicly known how widespread the practice is or whether special-operations forces on the ground in Afghanistan are taking such drugs.
But it is certainly widely talked about among combat veterans and military experts.
"Given the extent of recreational drug use within the military, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs among athletes, it is very easy to imagine that warriors would consider using any manner of drug they thought would increase their chance of returning home alive," says John Pike, a defense expert with GlobalSecurity.org in Alexandria, Va.
During the Gulf War, according to one military study, "pilots quickly learned the characteristics of the stimulant [Dexedrine] and used it efficiently." Pilots were issued the pills and took them if and when they felt the need.
Some people have defended that practice. "If you can't trust them with the medication, then you can't trust them with a $50 million airplane to try and kill someone," says one squadron commander whose unit had the fewest pilots but flew more hours and shot down more Iraqi MIGs than any other squadron.
But military officials, as well as medical experts, warn that the use of amphetamines can clearly have its bad side.
The flight surgeon's guide to "Performance Maintenance During Continuous Flight Operations" (written by the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory in Pensacola, Fla.) mentions such possible side effects as euphoria, depression, hypertension, and addiction. There's also the possibility of "idiosyncratic reactions" (amphetamines can be associated with feelings of aggression and paranoia) as well as getting hooked on the "cyclic use of a stimulant/sedative combination."
"The risk of drug accumulation from repetitive dosing warrants serious consideration," the guide notes. The "informed consent" form that military pilots must sign notes that "the US Food and Drug Administration has not approved the use of Dexedrine to manage fatigue."
It's not just the "go pills" that can cause problems in certain individuals. "No-go pills," used to induce sleep, can have dangerous side effects as well including the possibility of what's called "anterograde amnesia ... amnesia of events during the time the medication has an effect."
"For the military aviator, this raises the possibility of taking the medication, going to a brief, taking off, and then not remembering what he was told to do," according to the lab's report.
But researchers say suchsymptoms "are primarily dose related and are not expected with 5-10 mgs of dextro-amphetamine (Dexedrine)" the amounts given to pilots in the Gulf War and in Afghanistan.
For the most part, the issue of prescribed drug use by US pilots has gone unreported in the United States. But in England and Canada, it has been raised recently especially in a possible connection with errant bombings.
In April, four Canadian soldiers were killed and another eight injured when an American F-16 pilot on a long-range mission, thinking he was under attack, dropped a 500-pound laser-guided bomb on an allied military exercise.
"The initial version of the Canadian incident portrayed the pilot as behaving with inexplicable aggression tinged with paranoia, and my first thought was that the poor guy had been eating too much speed," says Mr. Pike of GlobalSecurity.org. Officials are still investigating that accident, and the pilot has been questioned, among other things, about the possibility of drug use.
More recently, concerns have been raised about aggression and violence among soldiers returning from Afghanistan. In three of four cases in which men killed their wives, the accused husbands were in special-forces units based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
"It is quite obvious that someone needs to pose this question in the context of the business at Fort Bragg," says Pike. "This sort of hyper-aggressive behavior is just what one would associate with excessive use of such drugs or from withdrawal from using them."
As the US moves into an era in which national security is likely to mean wars fought from the air using attack aircraft and small, specially trained units flown long distances to the battlefield the issue of performance-enhancing drug use by US military personnel is likely to escalate. "The real story here is the ever-extending reach of air power," says Daniel Goure, a military specialist at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. "We were flying F-15s out of Lakeheath [a Royal Air Force base] in the United Kingdom during Kosovo. Why? Because we had used up the available landing space everywhere else."
"As asymmetric threats such as ballistic missiles become more available to our adversaries, we are going to stand even farther back," adds Dr. Goure. "That means that this problem [i.e., the need to combat pilot fatigue] can only grow."


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Ever since sponsors started splattering stickers on everything, racecars have been generally hideous, but there are some exceptions. Sometimes there is perfect harmony between art and business, as these ten classic expressions of speed picked by Jalopnik readers demonstrate.
Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
If you don't want to click through the gallery you can see the post in a single page right here.
Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Drill & Driver Kit
#1 Best-seller
Comes equipped with an LED which goes on when the trigger is pulled. You'll a clear view of whatever you are drilling or screwing with minimal shadows.
Photo Credit: Pascal Rondeau/Getty Images
10.) STP Red/Orange
Suggested By: Random Task
Why it's classic: As we begin, let's first say that there are too many amazing paint schemes in the history of racing to squeeze into just ten slots.
A no-brainer for this list is the blue/red of STP oil that really became famous with Richard Petty in the early '70s and continued on with him and his career. Stock cars will never look this simple again.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
9.) Flying Lizard Porsches
Suggested By: justinw8383
Why it's classic: It's remarkably easy to screw up the paint on a modern sports racer. Nearly every car in the Porsche Cup looks like it was vomited on by sponsorship decals, for instance. The Flying Lizard Porsches that have been running prominently in the American Le Mans Series for the past few years always look just a bit classier and composed than every other entry. And that's with a reflective lizard head stuck onto the side, so that's something.
Photo Credit: Haaveilla
8.) The Porsche 917 Pink Pig
Suggested By: rawtoast
Why it's classic: Known alternatively as "The Pig," "Fat Berta," and "Truffelhunter," this is one of the stranger liveries in racing history. Porsche tried out a new aerodynamic body for their all-conquering 917 for the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was wide and ugly and it had no sponsorship, so Porsche designer Anatole Lapine painted it pink and drew the cuts of a pig on it. The car could have won that year, but dropped to fifth due to an accident.
Like the Red Lobster March (another ridiculous animal-themed paint scheme), this kind of weird, unsponsored livery would never fly today. Oh wait, nevermind.
Photo Credit: Tony Hatfield
7.) Cunningham White/Blue Stripes
Suggested By: PanchoVilleneuve, will give a handy for a City Turbo II
Why it's classic: You may have never heard of the Cunningham cars or seen their classic blue-on-white paint scheme. That's a shame because these are America's racing colors, much the same way that the British have Racing Green and nine out of every ten Italian race cars are some shade of red.
To put it simply, these American contenders for overall victory at Le Mans in the early 1950s were the first to be painted with racing stripes. They nearly made history at the great endurance race, but made it with their livery instead.
Photo Credit: bsgalio
6.) Jeff Gordon's Rainbow Warrior
Suggested By: For Sweden
Why it's classic: When Gordon went to Hendrick Motorsports in '92, he became part of one of the most fundamental Nascar paint schemes of all time. The car was painted in a rainbow to go along with their DuPont sponsorship, and the whole team got rainbow gear, too. They became the "Rainbow Warriors" and helped usher in the great era of day-glo Nascar we've been living in ever since.
Photo Credit: David Taylor/Getty Images
5.) BMW Art Cars
Suggested By: Rockchops
Why it's classic: Philadelphia-born Alexander Calder was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. The guy invented the mobile, for chrissakes. He was friends with a French auctioneer and racing driver Herve Poulain, who got Calder to paint his BMW 3.0 CSL for the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans. Calder drew the car, it was painted, and the BMW art car was born.
Everyone has their favorite, and this bright, stunning car is genesis.
Photo Credit: BMW
4.) Martini Racing stripes
Suggested By: Supersport
Why it's classic: As always, it's either alcohol, oil, or tobacco companies that make the best paint schemes. The perfect thin stripes of Martini flow perfectly along any number of recognizable 1970s Porsches and the fast, fragile Lancia endurance and rally racers like this Lancia LC1 from 1982 and '83.
Photo Credit: Lancia
3.) Marlboro Red/White
Suggested By: SennaMP4
Why it's classic: Marlboro may be the most dynamic sponsors in the racing world. Their red/white stripes perfectly set off the hard lines of McLaren's F1 cars starting in 1974. Here's Keke Rosberg in Monza '86.
The contrasting red and white, however, has been all over the place. Works BMW E30 M3s ran in Marlboro colors, as did some amazing Penske Indy cars, and Ferrari was tied with Marlboro from '97 through last year. Even though it never follows the lines of the car it's on, the livery always looks gorgeous.
Photo Credit: Luigi Rosa
2.) John Player Special Black/Gold
Suggested By: StewMM
Why it's classic: The black and gold of John Player Special cigarettes looks good on anything. You could paint a baboon's ass black with gold trim and it would look gorgeous. It started out on Lotus' F1 cars in 1972 and it still makes any car absolutely shine.
Photo Credit: Fr. Dougal McGuire
1.) Gulf Blue/Orange
Suggested By: bugattatra - parallel double-park that muthafucka sideways, everyone else
Why it's classic: John Wyer was in a bind in 1965. After getting played like a pawn by Ford, his GT40 program was taken away and handed over to some Americans. Without the backing of one of the largest car companies in the world, he needed money. That's when he went to Gulf Oil and got them to sponsor his new car, the Mirage M1.
That car evolved into the 1968 GT40, which won Le Mans two years on the trot. By that I mean the exact same car turned up two years in a row and beat every other car in the field. Wyer then got picked up by Porsche, who had him run one of their hugely successful semi-factory 917 teams at Le Mans. With the GT40 and the 917 alone, Wyer sealed the Gulf blue and orange into the minds of the world, and the livery has been synonymous with racing ever since.
It doesn't look good on anything like JPS black and gold, but when it's right, it's right. None looked better than the stunning 1970 Porsche 908/3 that dominated the epic Targa Florio race around Sicily.
Photo Credit: Porsche

subset: commoncrawl


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Ants may have a tremendous contribution in keeping the balance of the ecosystem. However, they are also unsanitary and can be a big problem in many homes. Ants feast on anything like dead rotting animals and leftover foods. They crawl in almost anything. Ants can also become destructive like carpenter ants who burrows themselves on any wood. That is why it is crucial to keep them away from your home. One effective way to get rid of them is through professional ant control Kansas City services. When dealing with ants, the primary key is protection. Most homeowners think that when they apply some DIY solutions, they have already eliminated the ants. What they do not know is that the ants are just hiding in less visible areas of their home. You will be safe from this possibility if your hire professionals to help you with Kansas City ant control. Ants can be cunning insects. You can kill them with insect sprays, but this will not resolve the problem completely. As long as the queen ant is alive and the colony is present, your home will remain infested. Getting expert help for your ant control Kansas City needs will ensure that the root cause of the infestation will be taken care of.
Fair price breakdown
Different kinds of ants require a different ant control Kansas City approach. If you do not know what kind of ants are lurking in your home, you will never know how to eliminate the real cause. Hiring an expert to carry out ant control Kansas City is always a good idea. The cost of hiring will depend on how frequent the visitation will be to get rid of the ants and the kind of solution that will be used to eliminate them. For example, if you are dealing with carpenter ants who dwell in between walls and any wood material, the cost of a Kansas City ant control might be expensive. It is because the ant control service crew that you hired will have to inspect your whole house. They may need to tear down your walls, ceiling or flooring to locate the nest. Once the nest has been located, they will extract the queen ant and kill it before eliminating the rest of the colony. It is a meticulous task. You may need to pay extra for the amount of labor and the materials needed to repair any damages.
Find the Best Costs on Ant control - Kansas City, 64101
The prices about ant control Kansas City vary. It is best that if you want to get an estimate, you should get in touch with a reliable ant control Kansas City company and let them inspect your home. That is the only way to know the extent of damage or what solution should be applied to eliminate the ants. To save costs on this task, make sure that you call a professional as soon as you notice a steady stream of ants crawling in any part of your home.
Jackson County Ant control FAQ
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Ayrton Senna remembered 20 years after death
The crowd resembled the kind of gathering normally reserved for a Formula One podium celebration.
Only this time, the thousands in attendance fell silent at exactly 2:17 p.m.
Fans, family members plus fellow and current Formule One drivers attended a solemn but also festive memorial Thursday to mark the exact 20th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
The ceremony was held on the Imola circuit's Tamburello curve where Senna crashed into a concrete wall at about 300 kph (185 mph). Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger, who died in qualifying a day before, was also remembered.
Among those in attendance were Gerhard Berger, Senna's teammate with McLaren, and current Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
"I think we all agree that he was the best driver of all time," Berger said, drawing a loud round of applause. "Even if it's a sad moment we're all very happy to be here and remember Ayrton."
Alonso, who has won two F1 titles, was 12 when Senna was killed.
"For a lot of us he was our idol," the Spaniard said. "I used to watch his races on the news and when you saw that yellow helmet and the No. 1 on his car, that really hit you as a kid.
"I didn't have a chance to know him or race with him and there are a lot of people here who really knew him," Alonso added. "But I also see a lot of kids, so he continues to influence a lot of people."
Senna's niece Paula was among those representing the driver's family.
She was impressed with the big turnout.
"It means that somehow he reached people's hearts, with his career and also with the way he was as a person," she said. "I feel like he's alive in people's hearts, even after all this time. ... It's beautiful."
Organizer Ezio Zermiani was beaming with delight at the event's success.
"We thought it may be something that was forgotten. But then this morning when I exited my hotel, I saw the traffic lining up longer than when there was the race here — even though there are no cars racing. So it has become a Grand Prix of remembrance."
Zermiani pointed out how the safety improvements introduced to F1 in the wake of Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths have helped prevent any more fatal accidents in the sport in the last 20 years.
"So Ayrton didn't die for nothing," he said.


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Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "Campbell Brown," "AC360°" and "State of the Union With John King," as well as special event coverage.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- No matter which way you look at it, the question is painfully difficult: What -- if anything -- do we do about the post 9/11 behavior of some CIA agents who worked feverishly to interrogate prisoners they believed had information that could save American lives?
The Central Intelligence Agency is under fire for harsh interrogation techniques used after 9/11.
First, we now know definitively what we always suspected -- that agent actions were sometimes abusive, perhaps even illegal, as they tried to obtain information.
The just-released Justice Department report shows, among other things, that agents choked one detainee repeatedly and threatened to kill another prisoner's children. Not pretty stuff.
But here's what we also know, thanks to another report (purposefully) released by the CIA as a response to the Justice document: Some interrogations worked.
According to these agency reports, chronicling 2004 and 2005, the intelligence community gleaned valuable information in real-time -- like tracking down a terrorist network and securing key information from the notorious Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind.
The CIA's message is clear: Whatever we did helped us get what we needed to save lives. So get off our backs and let us do our jobs.
But here's the catch, and it's what complicates all of this: The CIA report does not draw a straight line between any specific interrogation methods and success. Indeed, the report says the "effectiveness" of any particular interrogation technique in gaining star-quality information "cannot be so easily measured."
That is an understatement.
So it's easy to see why the president, who doesn't need another political headache, was happy to toss the hot potato over to Attorney General Eric Holder for review. Holder is independent, the president reminded us. He is supposed to make decisions about whether to prosecute criminal cases without the president. That notion could provide a smidgeon of political cover, but it looks like it won't be enough.
First, Holder did the president no favors when he named a veteran prosecutor to look into the abuse of prisoners held by the CIA. After all, what happened to the president's view that the country needs to turn the page on George W. Bush's policies, and move on?
What's more, it's not exactly a move that's going to be applauded at the CIA -- and could actually undercut the intelligence agency's ability to do its real work.
Granted, Holder rightly stated that it's his job to "follow the law." The problem for the administration is that it's the president's job to lead -- forward, not backward. And now that Holder has asked a career prosecutor to examine the CIA interrogations, it's possible he could get a recommendation for criminal prosecutions for CIA agents.
That might please liberals, but that's about it. And today, former Vice President Dick Cheney made it clear where he stands (as if we didn't know). "These people deserve our gratitude," he said. "They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions."
So now the president is looking at the prospect of landing exactly where he does not want to be on the matter of torture -- in a political brawl over Bush administration interrogation policies. And what makes it all worse is that the American public agreed with Obama when he called for the country to move on.
A CNN poll taken in May made it very clear that most Americans are not interested in an investigation of those who authorized harsh interrogation techniques post 9/11.
And when it comes to the agents in the field who used the procedures, 64 percent of Americans said leave them alone.
Going forward, there's going to continue to be a much-needed debate over torture. What, exactly, is it? If water boarding is torture, as president Obama says, does verbal abuse count? And when the nation is under attack, is it okay for the rules to change? What does that do to our reputation as a nation?
But now it looks like there's going to be another debate looking backward, too -- over whether the men and women who were trying to protect America from another attack went too far.
Maybe it's a debate that, as a nation, we need to have to have. But criminalizing their work as they work to protect us now is a treacherous road.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gloria Borger.
All About U.S. Department of Justice • Barack Obama • Central Intelligence Agency


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Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone is ready to hand a new five-year contract to the organisers of the controversial Bahrain Grand Prix.
This year's race again went ahead against a troubled backdrop as pro -democracy demonstrators staged marches and protests in their quest for reform given the country's miserable human rights record.
The more violent element, primarily the radical February 14 Youth Revolution, expressed their concerns and objections with the daily burning of tyres and clashes with police who responded with teargas.
Despite the problems, Ecclestone has confirmed his willingness to start negotiations on an extension to a deal that still has another remaining three years, but will run to 2021.
"I feel they do a super job and we're more than happy to give them a new contract for five years. I don't see any problems," said Ecclestone.
Bahrain International Circuit chairman Zayed R Alzayani feels talks will start soon, with the new contract signed before the end of the year.
"We're still contracted to 2016, but obviously we are willing to look beyond that," said Alzayani, speaking to Press Association Sport.
"We've not started negotiations yet, but we are happy to look at it. The intentions (for a contract extension) are definitely there.
"We're committed to the sport, we were the first race in the Middle East - we call ourselves the home of motor sport in the Middle East.
"We truly believe that in every sense of those words, so we are here for the long term, and we want to be known as the friendly race.
"Hopefully we can sign something this year." Ecclestone has also indicated next year's grand prix in the Gulf island kingdom could open next season, as it did in 2006 and 2010.
"I feel they do a super job and we're more than happy to give them a new contract for five years" - Bernie Ecclestone
In 2011, however, anti-government demonstrations that resulted in the deaths of a number of protesters, led to the postponement of the race and eventually its withdrawal from the calendar that year. Alzayani stated last week it was his desire for his track to again usher in a new campaign, and he added: "It's on the table.
"For us, we're ready any day of the year, but we will have to see how it fits with logistics, other dates, other countries hosting and if there are conflicts with any other events they may have.
"We've had the first race before, and by July or August we will get a better picture as to where we will lie on next year's calendar."
Ecclestone's one concern, however, is Bahrain hosting a test session shortly before the race, believing it would become processional as teams would be setting up their cars for the event.
Despite the need from the teams for warm weather ahead of a season, following complaints this year of the rain and cold that blighted running in Jerez and Barcelona, Bahrain is definitely on the agenda.
"That is one of the concerns, and that's his opinion, but I don't think that would happen, " said Alzayani.
"With a change of weather the whole set-up can change, so you never know.
"I don't believe in that theory as much as he does, but we will take it into consideration.
"We are hoping to get an early race and a test session next year as well, so whether it's the first, second or third test, I don't know yet."


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This is a decadent dairy dessert involving sweetened condensed milk. Or an after-school treat after a particularly rough day. For more rich recipes, involving sweetened condensed milk, check out this site http://www.eaglebrand.com/recipes/ and don't forget to try our Seven Layer Magic Cookie Bars
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter, melted
2 cups coconut
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or pareve whip
¼ cup butter, cubed
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into thebottom of a greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Combine the coconut and condensed milk and pour over warm crust. Bake for 13 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cream or whip, and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Spread over coconut layer. Cool before cutting.


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Techno-lovers take off your headphones and listen up: DJ Tiëso is partnering with Guess to star in ads, create a limited-edition capsule collection, and perform worldwide while wearing the brand's duds. He follows the footsteps of Avicii, who recently posed as the face of Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren.
The Grammy-nominated mix-master will debut a Guess watch in August, with a 22-piece clothing line for men and women to follow in October. Expect dark skinny jeans with zipper details, leather-and-twill moto jackets, and graphic tees inspired by digital light shows and video projections seen at his concerts. Grab the gear, and check out the artist at his shows, which begin on July 23 in Ibiza and then hit hot spots, such as Paris, Milan, Las Vegas, Dubai, and Sydney.
More From ELLE
Paul Marciano, CEO and Creative Director for Guess, said in a press release: "When I first met Tiësto, I was really so impressed. We connected right away on both a personal and professional level. He is more than just a DJ—he is very multi-faceted and truly understands what it takes to build a brand. There is no better choice in music today to represent the free-spirited, adventurous, and sexy Guess lifestyle."
It appears that the love is mutual, as Tiësto stated, "I've been a fan of the brand for a long time. It's really an honor to have been selected to partner with them in such a global way. The opportunity to work with Paul Marciano and his company is truly invaluable as I continue to build my clothing brand, CLVB LIFE."


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The context within which people can enact their thinking following incubation is key to improve problem-solving performance
Henok, N., Vallée-Tourangeau, F., & Vallée-Tourangeau, G. (2020). Incubation and interactivity in insight problem solving. Psychological Research, 84(1), 128–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-0992-9
Interactivity, serendipity and verbal fluency determine performance in a word production task
Ross, W., & Vallée-Tourangeau, F. (2020). Catch that word: Interactivity, serendipity and verbal fluency in a word production task. Psychological Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01279-y
Cognition Beyond the Brain (2nd Edition)
The second edition of Cognition Beyond the Brain is coming out soon with new chapters from Gaëlle Vallée-Tourangeau (Systemic Thinking Model), Jens Koed Madsen (Multi-scalar Temporal Cognition), Alex Aston (Cognition Ecology and the Paris Commune), Kare Poulsgaard and Lambros Malafouris (Models, Mathematics and Materials in Digital Architecture).
SysCog Lab Research at CogSci 2017
Research from the SysCog lab was showcased at the 39th annual meeting of the Cognitive Science Society held in London in July 2017. Emma Henderson presented her work on interactivity and planning and Fred presented a paper on insight problem solving and ego depletion.
Planning in Action: Interactivity Improves Planning Performance
Emma Henderson, Gaëlle Vallée-Tourangeau, and Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau
Planning is an everyday activity that is extended in time and space, yet is frequently studied in the absence of interactivity. Successful planning relies on an array of executive functions including self-control. We investigated the effects of interactivity and self-control on planning using a sequential-task paradigm. Half of the participants first completed a video-viewing task requiring self-control of visual attention, whereas the other half completed the same task without the self- control constraint. Next, and within each of these groups, half of the participants manipulated cards to complete their plan (high-interactivity condition); for the other half, plans were made with their hands down (low- interactivity condition). Planning performance was significantly better in the high- than in the low- interactivity conditions; however, the self-control manipulation had no impact on planning performance. An exploration of individual differences revealed that long-term planning ability and non-planning impulsiveness moderated the impact of interactivity on planning. These findings suggest that interactivity augments working memory resources and planning performance, underscoring the importance of an interactive perspective on planning research.
Interactivity and Ego Depletion in Insight Problem Solving
Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau
In the triangle of coins problem coins are arranged to create a triangle pointing down and the solution involves moving a few coins to change its orientation. The task ecology can be designed such that participants can work on it in a low interactivity environment, maintaining a mental representation of simulated moves, or in a high interactivity environment, thinking with and through a physical model of the problem. These task ecologies involve working memory to a different degree: Problem solving draws more on working memory the lower the degree of physical interaction. Participants first engaged in a writing task that required vigilance to inhibit common word choices, a degree of self regulation designed to induce a so-called ego depletion; participants then worked on the ToC problem in either a low or high interactivity environment. Solution rates were determined by level of interactivity; the preceding depletion experience did not impact performance.
Systemic Cognition Symposium
The first edition of the Systemic Cognition symposium took place at the Kingston Business School on Tuesday July 25 2017. The symposium was co-organized by the Systemic Cognition lab (https://syscoglab.com/, Department of Psychology) and the Decisions, Attitudes, Risk and Thinking research group (https://dartresearch.org/, Department of Management). The symposium explored the theoretical and methodological challenges arising from the systemic study of cognition; that is, cognition as it emerges from the interactivity between an agent and the elements of the system within which he or she is embedded. Systemic elements may include other social agents, organisational and cultural practices and/or material artefacts. The programme and abstracts can be accessed here.
Systemic Cognition Lab Research at CogSci 2015
Research from the Systemic Cognition at CogSci 2015 (Interactivity and Mental Arithmetic)


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Looks like the Drake-Chris Brown feud will continue in the courtroom.
The two have filed suit against each other over their violent nightclub brawl at W.i.P. last June, according to documents obtained by TMZ.
A French model named Romain Julien has a lawsuit of his own filed against the two for injuries he allegedly sustained during the bottle-throwing melee at the SoHo spot.
Now, Drake and Brown have filed documents in which they put the blame for the brawl on each other. In other words, they want to hold the other person responsible for paying damages to Julien if he wins his case.
It's the first time the hip hop stars will meet in court after last summer's dust-up.
Charges against Brown and Drake were initially dropped in November after law enforcement sources told TMZ that there was not enough evidence to move forward with a case.


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Human Nature Is the Enemy of the State
By: Peter Chamberlin
Mind-control….Just mention the word and the mindless begin to giggle, the skeptics roll their eyes. Anyone who tries to fathom the meaning of the word becomes instantly muddied as a "conspiracy theorist," simply by the act of trying to understand. Yet even in our jaded society, the truth can prevail over disinformation, if it manages to reach the light of day. It is not a conspiracy theory if it is based on facts.
The ugly truth about mind-control is that our government has, over the years, carried-out thousands of criminally unethical medical experiments "at hospitals, universities and military bases around our nation," which were so serious and downright immoral that President Clinton had to publicly apologize publicly for them years after the fact.
Most of the more notorious and morally obscene illegal experiments conducted by the military and the CIA (other than the chemical, biological and radiation experiments on soldiers) which came to light in the Church Hearings, were designed to produce super spies and assassins. These were grouped under the code name "MKULTRA" (such as trauma-based psychology and ECT- induced amnesia [electroshock therapy]).
What is not known, is that all of these mind-bending conditioning programs began as Army psychological rehabilitation programs, developed originally to mentally recondition "inadequate soldiers" and those who had been diagnosed with neuropsychiatric disorders, during WWII. Basically, the program consisted of trying to force scared or angry young boys into being good soldiers by torturing them, using Nazi-developed techniques.
The ugly truth is that the US Army tortured a lot of America's sons, under the guise of trying to reshape their wills using electrical and chemical means, among other repugnant "clinical" measures. The nationwide testing and re-education network, which fed the military's needs in World War II and Korea, dwarfed the CIA's more infamous illegal experiments to find perfect "Manchurian Candidates," although all of the work in this field was supervised by military intelligence, which later became the CIA.
A very shocking statistic was revealed in studies before the war, that "only 15-20% of World War II soldiers along the line of fire would use their weapons." This meant that most of America's soldiers, even volunteers, could not overcome their own moral reservations about killing another human being. Upon entering the war, troop actions on the battlefield revealed another motivational shortfall, very often, fear overcame training, as the sheer terror of night fighting and the blistering awareness which was obtained at the losing end of Hitler's "lightening war," caused many highly-trained soldiers to forget their training and flee into the night.
From: A War of Nerves, By Ben Shephard:
The Nation had to induct every available man, in order to obtain the greatest number of shooters/killers. No one already in the service could be let go without a fight. It was deemed necessary to explore all possible measures, including medical means, to remedy the Army's extreme shortfall of boys who were willing to kill on command. The Army had to eliminate this "defective" human personality trait in American boys (even though it was common to the majority of the human race) and find new ways to turn into our kids into useful killers. Every "noneffective" had to be retained and made useable.
The following information is from, Developments in Military Medicine: <http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/DvlpmntsinMilMed.htm>
"Neuropsychiatry. Methods and principles applied by the Medical Department to the reconditioning of noneffectives were also made basic to the handling of neuropsychiatric problems. The magnitude of these problems in the Army is indicated by the fact that from 1942 to 1945, inclusive, neuropsychiatric disorders accounted for the separation on certificates of disability for discharge of 379,486 enlisted men."
A national motivational program was needed; the only available model of such a psychological program was in Nazi Germany. The US Army literally modeled its motivational program on some of the brutal experiments that were mercilessly carried-out on unwilling subjects in the Nazi concentration camps. Just like the prisoners in Hitler's prisons and laboratories, America's sons had been delivered into the hands of soulless evil men who would pass electricity, at up to 120 volts through their heads, in order to destroy their thinking processes and obliterate their memories.
Thousands of young boys were judged to be mentally deficient because they could not bend to the dehumanizing process of basic training, or they could not overcome their consciences telling them that it is wrong to kill other men. They sounded like fine young lads to me. All of them had their minds bent and their wills shaped to a foreign directive, forever altered from the free-willed young men that they once were, because they could not give-up their freewill or serve the war machine.
It is seemingly impossible for the majority of the American people today to even consider the hard evidence that is out there, which proves that these American mind-control experiments were a continuation of the criminal Nazi mind control experiments. These US experiments were often run by the actual Nazi scientists who had originally begun them, made possible by the importation of thousands of Nazi scientists after World War II in the CIA operation, "Project Paperclip." The Army mind-control studies which took place between WWII and Korea began as "Operation Bluebird," later to be renamed "Project Artichoke" in 1951.
The Army brainwashing program was intended to produce thousands of leaders to serve as the basis of a massive propaganda program to manipulate popular opinion in the homeland. The plan was to use these re-conditioned returning veterans to inspire the nation to become more patriotic and regimented. By shaping thousands of potential role models to project professionally crafted images of virile, hard-working American manhood who would serve any just cause and eagerly kill whoever the government wanted dead, the government set about planning for a future of military adventures.
All facets of American life would become keyed to the government national brainwashing program to shape American minds, in their scientific efforts to actually change human nature itself. American schools would become fascist incubators, cranking-out millions of good soldier ants and worker bees. The media would continue its wartime propaganda efforts, disguised as "news," even in peacetime. The entertainment industry would inspire and overwhelm the imaginations of millions of malleable youth, filling them with the desire to serve, or to see action.
Our leaders chose to attempt to force the psychological evolution of mankind by artificial means, rather than by investing in correcting the problems and environmental imbalances which helped to shape our thoughts and concerns, freeing minds to grow. The psychological militarization of millions of American minds was focused on creating better soldier/citizens, thereby creating a superior fighting force that was fully supported by a psychologically enhanced population, in order to accommodate the American vision of world domination. Just as the corporate/government press controlled the amount of "news" that Americans received, the government mind control program sought to control the opinions we formed with that news we were given, even programming us with how and what to think.
The Army's dual-track program was intended to plug the gaps and to fill the shortcomings of the present selective service system with a new, highly-motivated all volunteer force and simultaneously create a secret army of Ninja-like "Special Forces." The entire process of creating new leaders to lead us into the new order, was the greatest social engineering project in human history.
Most of the following is quoted from, Neuropsychiatry in World War II, Volume I, Zone of Interior:
The program began as a medical effort to rehabilitate wounded soldiers, with the intention of returning as many as possible of them back to the front lines.
"On 1 April 1944, War Department Technical Bulletin (TB MED) 28, the first comprehensive directive on the treatment of psychiatric patients, was issued, and for the first time, it was officially directed that psychiatric patients be treated:
The acute needs for manpower make it imperative that every treatment method available in station and general hospitals for neuropsychiatric patients be utilized to the maximum. The aim is to salvage every possible soldier for further duty. Those patients in whom there is no hope for salvage should be recommended for discharge."
After WWII it had become obvious that the "inadequate soldier" was one of the military's gravest concerns. The military developed a rehabilitation program centered around a psychological testing program that was administered to all inductees. It was used to identify candidates from among the Army's rejects, the "inadequate soldiers," who had been shuffled into the neuropsychiatry program where they were labeled as neurotic, even "psychopathic," simply because they didn't fit the prevailing military opinions at that time which held that there was "something wrong" with otherwise healthy young men who either refused to submit to the basic training process, or to physically kill, once they were trained and deployed.
"The inadequate soldier was another outstanding problem. This type of soldier rapidly developed somatic symptoms along with complaints and appearance of weakness.26 Intensive therapeutic interviews and suggestive therapy accomplished very little in changing these patterns.27
…most cases were mild neurotics with various somatic manifestations. Sore backs, stomach aches, and headaches predominated.
Other psychiatric problems which often resulted in hospitalization were reactive depressions, homesickness, "gold-bricking," situational maladjustments, emotional immaturity, enuresis, somnambulism, and alcoholism.
It is our impression that routine punishment and discipline has very little effect on most prisoners whom we see and it is encouraging to note that many more of the men are being sent to reconditioning centers where they may receive skilled help for evaluating their problems.
Their policy was to return the questionable or mild cases to duty
Medical officers, however, had no other recourse. If a man were not fit for duty because of a psychoneurosis, the only possible disposition was to send him to a hospital. In civilian life, hospitalization would not even have been considered. (Farrell, M. J., and Appel, J. W.: Current Trends in Neuropsychiatry. Am. J. Psychiat. 101: 12-19, July 1944.)"
Those who were deemed suitable for the military reconditioning program were transferred into the various Army camps that had psychological treatment programs. One of these was at Camp Carson in Colorado Springs.
"At the Camp Carson, Colo., Station Hospital, an unusually active psychological testing program was developed.12 Studies were performed on the underlying emotional problems of enuretics and patients with rheumatic fever; also, correlations were made between psychological tests and clinical diagnosis of illiterate personnel (including mental and educational deficiencies)."
The psychologists there and at other facilities began to copy the known psychological manipulation techniques that were reportedly being perfected by the Nazi scientists.
"Under these conditions, shock therapy (mostly electroshock) was used freely for disturbed or agitated psychoses and depressions; subshock insulin treatment was employed in the more severe psychoneurotic reactions with encouraging results;
psychotherapy under sedation called narcosynthesis, which had gained great popularity overseas in the treatment of combat neuroses, was resorted to in patients with residual symptoms of psychoneuroses incurred in combat and in cases of conversion hysteria."
They were following almost exactly the Nazi-perfected techniques of using extreme electroshock sessions to produce an artificial state of amnesia, followed by prolonged sedation, accompanied by hypnotic suggestion ("narcosynthesis"). (These are also the exact same techniques that were utilized later in notorious CIA research done in Canada under Dr. Ewen Cameron, in the infamous MKULTRA mind-control program, only their efforts were aided by the use of LSD [the Army began experimenting with LSD in 1949].)
The psychological program at Camp Carson also included various forms of vocational training, classes in patriotism, and the teaching of other skills that were common among "normal" Americans:
"Occupational therapy.—Since occupational therapy was considered of particular benefit to psychiatric patients, it received considerable impetus in the reconditioning program. The more masculine types of such therapy were sought, but the arts and crafts were also found popular and useful. Ingenious and devious means were found to interest the patient and keep him occupied. Group projects were often instituted such as landscape gardening, furniture and toy construction projects, camp paper publication and printing, and handyman repair services.
Films such as "Why We Fight" (a seven part propaganda documentary) were shown to the men. War developments, the "four freedoms," war leaders, and the like, were taught in the indoctrination classes.
Music and entertainment.—Major efforts were directed toward popularizing group participation in these entertainment fields. Group sings and bands were frequently organized for this purpose although passive participation with USO shows and guest entertainers had some therapeutic effect."
"Prevocational training was coordinated with occupational therapy and educational activities in such fields as carpentry, mechanics, metalwork, welding, and radio, and a free period was provided for elective activities such as photography, arts, music, rehearsal for shows, band practice, stamp collecting and other hobbies.56 A special directive on the use of music in reconditioning emphasized its importance in the treatment of neuropsychiatric patients."
All facets of this medical and vocational regimen were carried-on at Camp Carson (renamed Fort Carson in 1954), in order to indoctrinate the traumatized veterans as much as possible, before returning them to civilian life. With the advent of the Korean War, came justification for continuing the reconditioning programs indefinitely, attempting to salvage soldiers from the world war for the next war.
I know for certain that the Neuropsychological programs at Camp Carson continued until at least 1953, because my father was held there in 1952. He was sent there from Ft. Benning, Ga. (another MKULTRA facility) because he had been considered to have a mental deficiency for refusing to enter officer training, or to consent to killing other human beings. Until that time, he had been considered a good soldier.
Since then, he has had recurring nervous and psychological problems, coupled with occasional bouts of temporary amnesia. He doesn't really remember much from his time in Camp Carson, Station Hospital; he no longer remembers telling me about the electroshocks (my mother confirms he had them). He does remember receiving a lot of phenol-barbital, being chased by a large man wielding an axe, and the fistfight between himself and a large colonel (who had been pounding some pitiful little private named "Bates"), which got him a "general" discharge thanks to a general's intervention.
He also remembers meeting and talking with the actor Robert Mitchum, who had been brought-in as a patriotic role model, to inspire (help brainwash) the troubled boys. ("War developments, the "four freedoms," war leaders, and the like, were taught in the indoctrination classes.") I have seen the photos of them together, but they were sitting on the steps of some large brick facility, certainly not the Army base (Perhaps it was another scary site in Colorado Springs which also gave electroshock, like the Colorado Springs Pathological Institute?).
From what has been learned up until now about the hideous MKULTRA program, electroshock, hypnosis, extended periods of barbiturate-induced semi-comas and staged acts of trauma-inducing terror were the methods used in some of the more extreme facilities. This means that the psychiatric facility at Camp Carson equaled the most extreme CIA facilities uncovered anywhere. Since it served as a model program for all the Army, then that means that Nazi torture-based mind-control had become an integral part of the basic training program.
At the end of the war it had become apparent that the Empire's plans for world domination would go nowhere without a willing army of killers to enforce its plans for everybody else. The American male was completely inadequate for the task. The majority of fighting-age men had to be made into better killers, who were willing, even eager, to kill for our government, no matter who they wanted us to kill, or how many they wanted dead.
Using this same illegal Nazi science the government has carried-out its psychological reconditioning programs for its super-soldier initiatives. The basic techniques remained the same, as developed by the Nazi behavioral programmers, only adding slightly new twists as new technology and new drugs like LSD became available (the Nazis used mescaline in their experiments).
The infamous MKULTRA program was carried to its most radical extremes through its Canadian research facility, run by mad scientists under Dr. Ewan Cameron. His extreme torture sessions, done mostly on women (even on young girls), combining sensory deprivation, electroshock, prolonged periods of sleep (up to 60 days under sedation) and strong doses of LSD, discredited the very mental health issues that he was exploring in his research, even though they validated the mind-control utility of his approach.
We know that the "Manchurian Candidate" assassins research was the end result of this effort. Through my website, I received the following testimony from a man claiming to be one of these former Manchurians, describing the techniques I have been describing:
"There is such a program being administered by the DOD via the military. In 1986, while serving in the military, I participated in a psychological conditioning program that was administered at NAS Cecil Field, in Jacksonville, Florida. I was given electro-shock therapy and some unknown drug therapy, in conjunction with hypnosis. The purpose of all of this was to dampen, or rather dumb down your awareness of your emotional state. You still have reasoning ability, except your ability to understand your 'feelings', or rather understand your 'emotional state' was inhibited. When I was "put" into a situation, where any rational person would have "intense fear", I had none. In fact, in covert combat situations I felt no fear, no anger, and no remorse…The psychological effects are something else. Your emotional state ends up being like a 4 year old child."
So the United States government, in order to carry-out its policies of fighting endless resource wars, centered around countless covert wars wherever the precious resource is to be had, must create an army of super soldiers, using Nazi mind-control techniques and the new American mind-control science based on these techniques, to torture the "best of the best" into some sort of inhuman zombie killers without consciences. These are the soldiers in Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney's death squads.
The basic psychology of all the programs developed from the Nazi mind-science studies has been carried through into all aspects of American government operations. US foreign policy especially has become dominated by the trauma-based psychology that lies at the heart of all the Nazi/CIA mind-warping sciences. Basically, the idea was to use methods like disabling drugs, electroshock and violence to shock or stun the mind, in order to subdue the person's own dominant personality, before implanting new ideas and thoughts, even developing completely new and separate identities within that submissive mind. Through its studies on the psychological effects of intensive bombing on populations during WWII, the Army realized that the shock of bombing or other violent events created the same psychological effects as the electroshock on entire populations. After receiving the shock of the deadly bombing, the population becomes mentally pliable, more open to suggestion.
Carrying the concept of shock psychology over into basic military training itself, new recruits are subjected to a calculated, grueling process, where they are worked into the ground, physically abused and degraded with a constant verbal tirade about their own worthlessness as human beings, until their wills are broken. After they are broken, the Army reprograms them with a new superior fighting will. These reconditioned 17-19 year olds go on to fill the vacancies left by their predecessors, more worn-out and discarded veterans of war and mind-control. Ask any of them about their experiences and you will be hearing the stories of successful graduates of the government's mind-control academy.
Judging from the end results of decades of this attempt at social engineering, by way of unlimited psychological warfare, and the fact that America's all volunteer Army struggles to find new suckers, it is safe to say that the solution arrived at for "inadequate soldiers" was a complete failure. The program was just another attempt by the American government to find a use for scientific torture; in this case, the purpose was to burn-out psychological resistance (morality) to committing acts of murder. By embracing the basic science and methodology of Nazi scientists like the notoriously evil criminal Mengele, the US government embraced Nazism at its very core.
It is my contention that America has been living under a Nazi regime since World War II. The Nation has been held captive by multiple variations of the Nazi mind-sciences until this very day. The behavioral economics theories followed by Barack Obama are but another manifestation of this trauma/threat-based psychology manipulation. The so-called "war on terrorism" is but the latest act in the new history of a renewed "Third Reich," an American "Reich." Under the hypnotic spell of the new patriotic ideology implanted within us, American youth have continued to maintain the flow of army ants for the Reich's eternal plans for world conquest.
Young brainwashed men continue to waste their lives on the altar of the new religion, believing firmly that they are serving their country, when the reality is just the opposite. By serving your country as hired killers you are doing a great disservice to the human race. As you murder those who resist the American invasion of their lands for nothing more than corporate profit, you are serving the latest incarnation of the world tyrant, the "anti-Christ." You had to be brainwashed first, before they could trust you to serve the deadly mission in the field, there on the frontlines where you would find yourself eye-to-eye with those innocent folks that you were hired to kill.
America is dominated by an alien force, one that our fathers thought they had destroyed. If all those brave young men who passed into oblivion on the beaches and killing grounds of Europe had only known that the evil they fought would be embraced by the very government that sent them, they would have probably laid-down their arms right there. That is what is required of today's latest graduates of the mind-control academy, to stop the Nazi war machine, you must lay-down your arms, and the rest of you patriotic suckers must stop volunteering.
The end result of all this can only be seen as failure, since more people are starting to shake-off the psychological conditioning, most importantly, the soldiers are becoming disillusioned. We have inherited a society and American-dominated world that is run by the best killers, the most adaptable to the prosperity program, the lowest human denominator, what has been termed an era of psychopaths.
In Twilight of the Psychopaths, Dr. Kevin Barrett has described this controlling malevolent form of control as an "overworld":
"[A] criminal syndicate or overlapping set of syndicates that lurks above ordinary society and law just as the underworld lurks below it… brutal, cunning gangs of CIA drug-runners and President-killers; money-laundering international bankers and their hit-men, economic and otherwise; corrupt military contractors and gung-ho generals; corporate predators and their political enablers; brainwashers and mind-rapists euphemistically known as psy-ops experts and PR specialists—in short, the whole sick crew of certifiable psychopaths running our so-called civilization"
We are bugs in a jar. Sometimes the hidden hand shakes the jar. Is it so that our tormentors can wager among themselves upon which branch we shall alight, after the shaking, or is it done with purpose, as if to herd us from one stage of the experiment to the next?
In normal human nature, society produces only a limited amount of natural leaders, equal parts of both good and bad, only a few are either geniuses or madmen. In our age of psychopaths, it is the hope of the many that a few geniuses will stand-up, so that all may overcome the madmen. A good place to start would be the prosecution of the US Army for torturing thousands of American boys, according their violations of the Nuremberg Code, the same set of standards used to judge the Nazis the last time they tried to take-over the world.
The ten points of the Nuremberg Code
The ten points are, (all from United States National Institutes of Health) [1]
1. The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonable to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment.
The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.
2. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in nature.
3. The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results will justify the performance of the experiment.
4. The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury.
5. No experiment should be conducted where there is a prior reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects.
6. The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.
7. Proper preparations should be made and adequate facilities provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury, disability, or death.
8. The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons. The highest degree of skill and care should be required through all stages of the experiment of those who conduct or engage in the experiment.
9. During the course of the experiment the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he has reached the physical or mental state where continuation of the experiment seems to him to be impossible.
10. During the course of the experiment the scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise of the good faith, superior skill and careful judgment required of him that a continuation of the experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject.
Reprinted from Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law No. 10, Vol. 2, pp. 181-182. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1949.


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Now that we've seen Amazon's Kindle 2, unveiled by Jeff Bezos today in New York, I can't help but conclude that the more powerful machine provides only a slim additional reader benefit. Here's why:
There are improvements that make the Kindle 2 marginally better for readers, like faster page turning, smaller better page-turn buttons, longer battery life and the ability to charge via USB. None of the rest of the tweaks affect the actual business of reading directly or indirectly, and even these upgrades probably won't turn Kindle 1 owners an envious shade of green:
• 20% faster page turning: It nice because flipping ahead several E-Ink pages can be annoying—but it's not what's needed to make a real difference. You still can't leaf through a Kindle book like a real book, and that won't happen until the page refresh is 100 times (maybe 1000 times) as fast.
• Smaller inward-press page-turn buttons: The original's big right-hand page-turn button was annoying, but you just learned quickly how to pick up the device without touching it. This is definitely an improvement—especially with its MacBook-like click tension—but not a forward leap.
• Longer battery life: It already ran for a week or more with 3G turned off, but now it can go two weeks—my guess is, there's a point in there where people simply find time to charge their Kindle.
• Charging via USB: The best Kindle 2 benefit has been largely overlooked. Now that you can charge while connected to your computer, or charge using any old mini-USB cable or charger, you aren't likely to run down the battery unwittingly, or live at the mercy of Amazon's proprietary power brick.
Let's look at the other improvements, and see why they don't matter at all for actual reading:
• Better screen detail: This might be nice for looking at pretty pictures, but words are perfectly readable on the first-gen Kindle. Update: Our buddy Josh Quittner at Time mentioned that the real travesty is that E-Ink hasn't gotten more white, for higher-contrast reading. And where's the font support, so that your favorite magazines and newspapers actually look like they're supposed to?
• Thinner body: The first Kindle was already thinner than any book I take to bed, even the original mass-media paperback of Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. It was also very light, so not a problem.
• Seven times more memory: Even that kid in Magnolia could've packed all his books into the first Kindle's 256MB of storage. This memory upgrade—2GB, or 1,500 books—only helps people who are using Kindle for multimedia stuff, and who does that? The memory bump is probably based on market availability: The 2GB chip was probably cheapest one offered by the manufacturer. Update: Commenter Noobs-R-Us reminded me that the thing is also missing the freakin' SD reader, so the 2GB is all you get, take it or leave it.
• Text-to-speech reading: I admit that, if the interface navigation can also be read aloud, this will be a great boon for blind people, but until voice synthesizers start to sound like Peter O'Toole, consumers won't take this over Audible when they're heading out on a road trip.
Here's what either didn't get fixed, or in fact got worse:
• File conversion: There's still no native PDF support, in fact PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP are all available only through a conversion process, one that costs money. Update: Commenter Gilbert points out there is a cumbersome but totally free way to send docs to Amazon and get them converted and emailed back—it seems the 10-cent charge is for transmitting to your Kindle directly.
• Screen size is the same: I'd rather have a bigger screen (like the insanely expensive iRex 1000S) than a "better" screen.
• Lack of rubber backing: Since the back is now slick aluminum and plastic, there's a greater chance of the thing slipping off the sink and into the toilet. What, you don't read in the bathroom?
• No more sparkle cursor: Instead of a weird but fast independent cursor to the right of the display, you now highlight stuff directly on the screen, which is slower.
The Beez says that the "Kindle vision" is "Every book ever printed in any language, available in under 60 seconds." That sounds fun but buying books will never be the plot of some Nicholas Cage movie. The selection was already good and getting better all the time, and the first Kindle had the same fast book delivery. This should not be the vision. The vision should be making Kindle even more book-like.
Before they address the needs of some hypothetical super weakling who has the aesthetic sense of Jon Ive, the cerebral voracity of Rain Man and the vision of Mr. Magoo, Amazon must address the needs of very real readers who read only a few books and magazines at a time, who like to download classic non-copyrighted lit and work-related documents for free, and who like to leaf through pages randomly. This last thing is important, though it may be insurmountable: Airport-friendly page turners don't really require non-linear random-access reading, but everything smart from Harry Potter to Infinite Jest does, and that's one concern that the Kindle, or any ebook reader, still does not address well. [Kindle 2 on Gizmodo]


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18-year-old SC student accused of plotting to bomb school
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A high school senior collected enough supplies to carry out a bomb attack on his school and detailed the plot in a hate-filled diary that included maps of the building and admiring notations about the Columbine killers, authorities said Sunday.
Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested Saturday after his parents called police when 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield and they discovered the journal, said the town's police chief, Randall Lear.
The teen planned to make several bombs and had all the supplies needed to kill dozens at Chesterfield High School, depending on where the devices were placed and whether they included shrapnel, Lear said. Ammonium nitrate was used in the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, that killed 168 people.
"The only thing left was delivering the bombs," the police chief said.
Schallenberger kept a journal for more than a year that detailed his plans for a suicide attack and included maps of the school, police said. The writings did not include a specific time for the attack or the intended targets.
He also left an audio tape to be played after he died explaining why he wanted to bomb his school. Lear wouldn't detail what was on the tape except to say Schallenberger was an angry young man.
"He seemed to hate the world. He hated people different from him — the rich boys with good-looking girlfriends," Lear said.
In his writings, Schallenberger said he admired the two teens who killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 before committing suicide, Lear said. The attack happened nine years ago Sunday, but Lear said investigators do not know whether there was any link between the anniversary and Schallenberger's plans.
Schallenberger was one of the top students at the high school of about 580 students and had not caused any serious problems before his arrest, principal Scott Radkin said.
The school's Web site lists Schallenberger as a member of the 2007 academic bowl squad. He won an academic award from Newberry College in the last school year.
The teen was in the Chesterfield County jail Sunday night, charged with possessing materials to make bombs, the police chief said. A bond hearing was scheduled for today. Other than the bomb-making material, no other weapons were found at his home, Lear said.
Lear said Schallenberger did not have an attorney. His parents could not immediately be located Sunday by The Associated Press.
Security will be tightened at the school when students return today. Students will walk through metal detectors borrowed from a courthouse, and bomb and drug sniffing dogs have been called in. Lear said he does not expect any problems.
Chesterfield is a town of about 1,500 people in northeastern South Carolina near the North Carolina line.


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Editor's note: This digital photo how-to, first published in 2009, is one of our Halloween favorites. If you're mixing it up with pumpkins and cameras, check out these photographic tricks and treats.
For photographers, Halloween can be an especially scary time. With nightfall comes a host of photo horrors, including blurry images, unsightly noise, and mis-metered scenes. In fact, you're likely to run into all of these ghoulish troubles when photographing your carefully-crafted jack-o-lantern.
Here are some tips to help you get good shots of your pumpkin handiwork.
Find (or make) good lighting
To show off your candle-lit carving, you'll want to shoot your pumpkin at night. This means you'll have to deal with a few extra complications. Before you even pick up your camera, find the right spot for your photo shoot. In keeping with the spirit of the day, that's going to mean scoping out some creepy lighting.
If you've ever placed a flashlight under your face to frighten small children around the campfire, you know the drama that a single light source can produce. When positioned effectively, a single light casts dramatic shadows across a bumpy surface and emphasizes texture. This means that your porch light should do the trick.
Whatever you do, avoid placing your pumpkin directly beneath the light: when light shines straight down along the grooves in the pumpkins, it won't create many shadows (unless you have an especially odd-shaped pumpkin). Instead, try placing the pumpkin a few feet away from your porch light to create strong side lighting—rotating it until you find the spookiest shadows. Be sure to do this with a lit candle inside the pumpkin so that you can see how your light source combines with the pumpkin's internal light.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, you'll get the best results if you don't wait till complete darkness for your photo shoot. Instead, aim for about twenty minutes after sunset. The fading light will provide a nice fill light for your scene and ensure that you can see the edges of your pumpkin as well as the glowing design.
Line up your shot
Since you're shooting in low light, you're most likely going to have to use a slow shutter speed. This means you'll need something steady to rest the camera on. I recommend a tripod, but any stable object should do so long as it's at the right height.
That doesn't necessarily mean you need to be at the same height as your pumpkins. Move around to find the best angle. Consider shooting from below to create a big, menacing pumpkin, or getting up close to crop out part of the pumpkin.
As you line up your shot, be sure that, when you look through the camera, you don't see any of the candle flames through the pumpkin holes. This will turn into point light sources in your final image (rather than an orange glow) and might throw off your camera's metering—throwing the rest of your image into darkness.
Extra credit: Advanced lighting tricks
With a single light shining from one side, your pumpkin will be lighter on one side than the other. That should help emphasize the drama of the scene. But if you find that the unlit side is too dark, find a piece of white paper or cardboard, or a white sheet, and hold it up next to the dark side of the pumpkin to reflect light onto the pumpkin's shadow side.
Light created by a white reflector is very subtle; so you may not be able to see what it's doing at first. But it can make a big difference in your final shot. If your camera is positioned close enough to your pumpkins, you should be able to hold the reflector and trip the shutter without too much difficulty.
Configure your digital camera
Using a digital camera? All cameras have a Program mode, which is a good place to start. In Program mode, your camera will choose a shutter speed and aperture for you.
Again, shooting in low light requires longer shutter speeds. You can reduce these shutter speeds by selecting a higher ISO. (Every time you double your ISO, your shutter speed will be cut in half.) But keep in mind that as you increase ISO, your image will develop speckled patterns called noise. Some cameras produce more noise than others so you'll need to experiment to find the best compromise.
If your camera uses an Auto ISO mechanism that chooses an ISO for you, check to see what its upper limit is. Some Auto ISO mechanisms don't go above a certain setting. So, for example, even if your camera can go to ISO 1600 (and shoot images without too much noise) the camera's auto ISO may be programmed to not select an ISO above 400. If your camera works this way, you may want to override the Auto ISO setting.
Troubleshooting your images
Once you've taken some shots, examine your images to see how things look. (Ideally, you'll want to look at them on your computer; a camera's LCD doesn't show a very accurate representation colors and lighting.)
First, consider overall exposure: is the image too dark or too bright? If your image is too dark, increase your exposure. In Program mode, the easiest way to do this is to use the camera's exposure compensation control. Check your manual for details on how to use yours. If the image is too bright, dial in some negative exposure compensation.
You should also examine the highlights on the pumpkins edges. If the curves pick up too much light, they may overexpose and turn white. You might be tempted to fix overexposed highlights, by applying a bit of negative exposure compensation to make them darker, but then the rest of your scene will go darker as well. A better choice in this case is to move the pumpkin farther from the light. As you increase the distance to the light source, the highlights on the pumpkin will grow more diffuse.
Note that in low light your camera will choose a very wide aperture, which will in turn create a shallow depth of field. This will throw your background out of focus, as well as possibly some parts of your pumpkin. If you'd prefer that the entire pumpkin be in focus—and if your camera offers an aperture priority mode—switch to that mode and choose an aperture with a higher number. Keep in mind that this will further slow your shutter speed, so you'll need to balance how much depth of field you want with how long you're willing to keep your shutter open.
Go wild
It's easy to experiment and explore your scene. Try different compositions, try different lighting, add candles, or craft different backgrounds. Finally, note that all of these tips also apply to photographing people—or anything else—in low light.


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Napa Barrel Auction a great success
The 2013 Auction Napa Valley Barrel Auction now is history, and what a grand event it was.
I drove up early, because it was at Raymond Vineyards, where I hadn't been despite having been invited umpteen times by Jean-Charles Boisset, so I really wanted to see it: the crystal room and the red room and everything else. Almost as soon as the shuttle bus let me off, I saw Jean-Charles on the lawn, being interviewed by a camera crew. He saw me, and the next thing I knew he was personally touring me. When I saw his Frenchie Winery–with spacious pet kennels–I realized I could have brought Gus. If you're a dog-loving family touring Napa Valley, Frenchie/Raymond is a great place to visit.
The first part of my experience was eating. OMG I can't tell you how good the food was. I tried everything (burp) because I want to write about my 5 or 6 favorites in Wine Enthusiast (with recipes). There was a single disappointment, and from the most unlikely of restaurants: Meadowood, a little paper cup stuffed with green peas and other tiny pieces of garden veggies, dressed (I think) in a Champagne vinaigrette, with a sad little chunk of feta adrift in a vegetable sea. When restaurants have finger foods at an event like the Napa Valley auction, those munchies should be dazzlingly Wow!, but this wasn't. I can understand keeping things simple, but not to the point of bland.
Much was made of the temperature. It was a toasty 98 degrees on my car thermometer by mid-afternoon, but much cooler in the cellar where the actual tasting occurred. I myself didn't drink anything [except lots of water]. Ran into Bob Cabral, from Williams Selyem, who told me this was his first time ever "crossing the hill" for the Napa auction and he was looking forward to tasting Cabernet. Since he lives in Healdsburg, I asked if he wasn't concerned about drinking and driving, and he assured me he wouldn't have come unless his winery had supplied a car and driver. Bob knows perfectly well you cannot drink at an event like this and then drive home. The roads were crawling with CHP and Sheriff's Dept. personnel (as well they should have been) and I for one was glad they were there. Which reminds me: Jean-Charles said he's starting a new brand called Sheriff. Must find out what that's all about.
I didn't see as many winery proprietors or principles as I'd expected. This is probably because auction week is really a protracted, exhausting affair, and the owners and winemakers must attend to their nightly dinners and the live auction itself (as opposed to the barrel auction), so maybe not going to the latter provides them some respite. Certainly Premier Napa Valley is a more "glamorous" affair, in that you see more famous faces.
The buzziest conversational topic at the auction: How a turned-around economy is good for business. Everyone seemed happy that, after so many stagnant years, things are selling again. Domaine Chandon told me they can't keep up with demand for bubbly, especially rosé. Let the good times roll!
–Garen Staglin, for chairing this year's auction and his family's charitable generosity over the years.
–Barbara Banke, Gina Gallo, Elias Fernandez, Janet Viader (drop-dead gorgeous in Argentine tango couture), Jay "Party Party Party" and Tim Mondavi. It's always nice to see them.
-The one and only Jayson Woodbridge. He wasn't at the auction, but we had dinner Wednesday night at his home. World-class raconteur, fascinating conversationalist, able to absorb the fullness of Heimoff (as I am of Woodbridge), a dervish of creative energy and riveting charm, Jayson truly is in a class by himself.
-The great, divine Genevieve Janssens. There she was as always, standing by her barrel, pouring for guests, inspiring and educating. A legendary Napa icon. Genevieve introduced me to Mondavi's new red winemaker, a very young woman named Nova Cadamatre, whom I just had to congratulate. Imagine getting a job that important and having the opportunity to study with Genevieve Janssens!
A final shoutout to Jean-Charles Boisset. When he moved into Napa Valley with the purchase of Raymond, I thought there might have been some raised eyebrows. Napa's a pretty insular place: who's this wealthy outsider and what is he going to do? I think Jean-Charles wisely decided to show the valley that he's a team player. And he did. He's done a great job, and people respect him for that.
I tend to name drop (as Party Party Party reminded me), so I want to give a huge shoutout to all the hard-working people from marketing, sales, P.R. and other less visible positions. They are in many ways the heart, soul and vital infrastructure of the industry. Without them, nothing happens, including Auction Napa Valley. I know and like many of them, and they read this blog, which makes me happy, so thank you.. You guys may not be in the spotlight, you may not get the hurrahs, but you make it all happen. Salud!
Nova Cadametre, a fun, fun person, worked with Ed Killian at Treasury Estates facility near Cloverdale at historic Asti Winery. This is a huge facility where Beringer's bulk wines are made as well as Chateau Souverain, Cellar 8, Chateau St. Jean and sometimes (at least in the past) some Gallo wines have aged. Nova introduced and made the Emma Pearl line of wines for Treasury. Nova is indeed lucky to work with Genevieve Janssens, such a nice person as well.
Thank you Steve!
It was a pleasure to meet you as well. I am very excited about working with Genevieve. We are having a wonderful time getting to know one another. We are excited to share our collaboration with everyone! Love your blog!
Thank you as well for the kind words and the nice synopsis of my previous position. We must know each other although I can only speculate! 🙂


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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
wwe.com said:WWE signs Japanese star Kenta to NXTSTAMFORD, Conn. — WWE today announced it has signed Kenta, one of Japan's biggest stars, to its NXT division. The announcement took place during a signing ceremony at a WWE Live Event in Osaka, Japan with WWE icon and Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan presiding.
Kenta's intense and straightforward in-ring style has led to his success in Japan, as well as during visits to the U.S. He is expected to reach new heights of global success with WWE.
"Kenta is an incredible performer who brings the crowd to its feet when he steps into the ring," said Paul Levesque, Executive Vice President, Talent, Creative and Live Events, WWE. "WWE's signing of Kenta reflects our continued dedication to creating a diverse roster that appeals to our global fan base."
"I am humbled to join WWE's NXT division and look forward to honing my craft with the global leader in sports-entertainment," said Kenta.
Kenta will relocate to Orlando, Florida, where he will train at WWE's state-of-the-art Performance Center to enhance his talents both athletically and creatively.
*squeels like a little girl*


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This article is more than 1 year old
UK still to ratify Euro Cybercrime pact ten years on
A decade of European cybercrime sort-of cooperation
The European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström is celebrating the ten year birthday of the Budapest Convention against cybercrime.
Speaking in Hungary, she said much had been achieved, but cyber attacks were still increasing. She noted recent attacks against carbon trading systems, and a wider attack on EC email systems which left her without email on a trip to Cairo.
Malmström said she expects the Computer Emergency Response Team to be ready by the end of May. She said Europol was playing an increasing role in supporting member states.
She said she was open to ideas about the need for better training which will include a European Cybercrime Centre by 2013. Malmström said there would be a feasibilty study next year to decide what it should do and where it should be based.
Malmström said although the convention was begun in the mid-90s it had still not been ratified by ten countries. She said she hoped Belgium and the UK would sign up soon, leaving Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Sweden as refuseniks. She urged all of them to speed up their efforts.
The Commissioner also said that co-operation with the US was vital to the fight against online crime. The Commission is setting up a working group to discuss common issues with US authorities - it should report back within a year.
Malmström's full cybercrime speech is here. ®


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Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Icebound
Chapter Analysis of Icebound
Click on a plot link to find similar books!
Plot & ThemesComposition of Book descript. of violence and chases 30%Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 10%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 10%How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) 50% Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999 Exploring into the wild - Yes Plotlets: - stranded Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Terrain - Ice
Main CharacterGender - Male Profession/status: - scientist Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race - White/American
SettingIce Caps/Sea? - Yes Where? - North Pole Water? - Yes Water: - submarining Island? - Yes Island: - stranded
Writing StyleAccounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Unusual form of death? - Yes
Books with storylines, themes & endings like Icebound
|Last of the Breed by Louis L'Amour
|Treasure by Clive Cussler
|Ice Station by Matt Reilly
|Thin Air by Bette Nordberg
|Return to Treasure Island by Jack Trammell


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VHS2510/3510/4510/5510, Pressure Relief Valve, 3-Port, w/Locking Holes (Double Action)
The VHS series provides a convenient means of isolating supplied pressure in a pneumatic system and exhausting downstream pressure for maintenance purposes. The units can be locked in the exhaust position and can be an integral part of an energy isolation system. Air flow direction is easily identified by handle orientation and labelling. They can be used alone or can be conveniently connected to an FRL assembly using modular spacers.
- 3 port pressure relief valve
- Accessory for AC series
- Lockable for energy isolation
- Double action operation, push down and turn
- Resin or metal handle construction
- Port sizes: 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4, 1"
- Thread Types: Rc, NPT, G


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July 30th, 2012
'Real Housewife' Maloof separating from husband?
Could another breakup be on the horizon for the "Real Housewives" franchise?
According to reports from RadarOnline and TMZ, "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Adrienne Maloof and her husband, Dr. Paul Nassif, are preparing to separate.
TMZ reports that it's Dr. Nassif who's planning to file for legal separation this week, and that Maloof is aware of it. CNN's reached out to reps for the reality stars for comment.
Maloof and her plastic surgeon husband married in 2002 and have three young sons together: a set of twins, Christian and Colin, and Gavin.
It is not yet known whether the alleged split is a trial separation or whether the couple have made a move toward divorce.
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John Kerry jabs Sterling in Yale speech
Secretary of state says diversity is Sterling's 'nightmare'
Secretary of State John Kerry took a poke at the NBA's controversy surrounding Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling during a speech at Yale University's Class Day.
Joking about college and pop culture at the start of his speech Sunday, Kerry told the Ivy League graduates: "You are ... the most diverse class in Yale history. Or, as it's called in the NBA, Donald Sterling's worst nightmare." The comment drew laughs from the audience.
The NBA commissioner has banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million following the release last month of a recording in which the Clippers' owner makes racist remarks. The commissioner also called on owners to oust Sterling from the league.
According to a speaker at Class Day, students from 61 countries are graduating from Yale this weekend.


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Looking Up: 'New star' appears in the Dolphin
Can you imagine knowing the stars so well that if a dim one appeared you may have just looked up and noticed one "that shouldn't be there"?
A naked eye nova appeared in the constellation Delphinus the Dolphin in August. It peaked in brightness on August 14th a little brighter than +4.5 magnitude. It has slowly faded since then, and was roughly magnitude +6 by August 25.
An amateur astronomer in Japan, Koichi Itagaki of Yamagata, discovered the nova on a photograph he took of that region of the sky on August 14. He had just taken another one the night before and the "new" star was not there.
So you know, astronomers calibrate the brightness of stars and other sky objects on a magnitude scale, with +6 roughly the faintest unaided eyes can detect under a typical, dark and clear rural sky. Some eagle-eyed observers under excellent conditions have detected even fainter, +7th magnitude stars. The brightest stars of the night sky are 0 magnitude and even brighter.
Referred to as Nova Delphini 2013, a search of deep star atlases reveal that the star was there before, shining only at magnitude +17 and needing a fairly large telescope to pick out among the thousands of other similarly appearing specks of starlight nearby.
Nova means "new star," but actually the star was there all along. The star erupted in brightness nearly 10,000 fold. A classic nova occurs in a close binary star system, where a stream of hydrogen from one star is absorbed onto a dense white dwarf star. A runaway hydrogen fusion reaction results, igniting in effect, a massive hydrogen bomb. The brilliant flash then announces to the galaxy, "I am here" and we on Earth look up in amazement.
The Dolphin constellation is one of the favorites of the summer evening sky. Found just east of the bright star Altair and below the cross-shaped constellation Cygnus the Swan, the Dolphin's main stars form a tight, little box, rather squat, with another star off one corner. Some call it "cute."
The nova is just north of the box, and east of the small and dim but interesting constellation Sagitta the Arrow. In fact, the "arrow" seems to point right toward the nova.
A detailed star chart is needed to pick it out among other stars. The nova was easily visible in binoculars. All too soon it is expected to fade more, requiring a telescope to track it down.
Keep looking and learning the sky. You never know what may appear. In August 1975 a bright nova appeared in Cygnus the Swan, about magnitude +2, similar to the other principal stars of the Swan's shape. The nova radically altered the appearance of the constellation.
For more information, including a star chart to locate the nova, see online at www.skyandtelescope.com.
New moon is on Sept. 5.
I'd be glad to receive your notes at firstname.lastname@example.com. In what newspaper or website do you read this column?
Keep looking up!


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Home > Europe > United Kingdom > England > London > Art
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Turning to you for inspiration;
What would you like to see me cover on this blog? Yes, I have a set of categories and you may have seen what I typically cover on my blog. But for a moment, forget all past posts. What would you like to see?
Propose a subject by leaving a comment on this blog post. I may be inspired to go with the flow 🙂


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Economy (90)
17 Jan 2022, 4 min read
Anirudh Gupta shares that the upcoming budget is likely to be safe passage to a world of opportunity with an eye on the future.
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MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari announced on 2 July 2021 that retailers and traders are to be included under the MSME sector.
10 May 2021, 2 min read
RBI announces Resolution Framework 2.0 for Covid related stressed MSMEs
8 Feb 2021, 4 min read
A look at some of the positives from the Union Budget 2021-22.
3 Feb 2021, 3 min read
Presenting key points of Union Budget 2021-22 with reference to the impact on Income Tax, MSMEs, Banking, Compliance, and more.
29 Jan 2021, 6 min read
Highlighting why MSMEs should register for new Udyam Registration on or before 31 March 2021 to avail of central government incentives in an integrated manner.
27 Jan 2021, 4 min read
Anirudh Gupta shares his assessment of the pressing issues the forthcoming budget is likely to address.
25 Jul 2020, 5 min read
Read the key highlights,and get the checklist for Udyam registration MSME classification parameters and much more..
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Everything you need to know about the new Udyam Registration process including pricing, MSME classification parameters, URC, etc
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