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by Steve, March 13th, 2010 My wife friggin’ rocked the school board last Monday… they didn’t voter our way, but I think we made them uncomfortable. All power to the people, sister! What I’ll have to say about STARBASE this evening by Steve, March 8th, 2010 I was planning on addressing the school board tonight, but they’re limiting us to three speakers. So they’re having me address the rally ahead of time. Here’s what I’ve got: Regardless of the curriculum offered by STARBASE in exchange for access to our preteens, there is a civil rights question to be answered: Is this military recruiting aimed at poor and minority students? The second half of that question is easily answered. The Portland STARBASE Web site says the program is aimed at “at-risk youth.” Fourteen of the 18 schools participating this year are Title 1 schools, and the students at these schools are disproportionately non-white and poor when compared to the district as a whole. The recruiting question is pretty clear to me, too, even though students, parents and teachers may love the program, and even if they don’t detect recruitment. I want you to join me in a thought experiment tonight. Some of you have been ten-year-old boys, and some of you have had ten-year-old sons or grandsons or nephews. I want you all to pretend, just for a minute or two, that you are all ten-year-old boys. Boys of all ages love things that go. Things that go fast: even better. Now, as a ten-year-old boy, listen as I describe some of what you will see at Portland Air Base. This base is home of the 142nd fighter wing, a fleet of F-15 Eagle fighter bombers. This supersonic twin-engine jet airplane is so light and powerful that it can accelerate into a vertical climb, like a rocket. The thrust of its engines is greater than its total weight, so it can make sharp turns without losing air speed. The F-15 has a thrilling combination of speed, maneuverability, high tech weapons, and avionics, including heads-up instrumentation display. This is one of the most performant vehicles in the world, and the only people who get to fly them are in the military. The F-15 Eagle is typically outfitted with a variety of industrial weapons, like the Sparrow, AMRAAM and Sidewinder missiles and a 20 mm Gatling-style cannon, capable of firing depleted uranium shells at up to 7,200 rounds per minute. A modified version of the F15, the Strike Eagle, can deliver the B61, a multi-kiloton thermonuclear bomb. In use since 1974, the F15, with all its various armaments, is among the deadliest, most formidable weapons systems on the planet. It continues to be a key piece of US air superiority, able to outperform every conceivable enemy aircraft. It is widely used by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as by Israel, Saudi Arabia and Japan. Now, I know a lot of ten-year-old boys who would be getting pretty excited about this. The STARBASE Web site shows children climbing into the cockpit of an F-15 Eagle. Without knowing anything about the curriculum, or anything about the base tour, or anything about the hour and a half talk about military careers that ends STARBASE, I’m here to tell you that showing a ten-year-old boy this aircraft, possibly introducing him to its pilot, is a form of recruitment. The military’s recruiting manual notes the importance of contact with very young students as soon as they start thinking about the future. Many of the boys in my daughter’s fifth grade class are already talking about joining the military, even before they go to STARBASE. It doesn’t matter if students return from STARBASE and say there is no recruiting. It doesn’t matter if some parents don’t think their children are bein recruited. It doesn’t matter if teachers say the curriculum is great. It doesn’t matter that the program is taught by civilians, and no recruiters are present for most of the program. If the Departement of Defense considers this a recruiting program, it is a recruiting program. A military recruiting program aimed at poor and minority preteens is a civil rights violation, and we should not be taking part. Say NO! to STARBASE Blanchard Education Service Center (BESC) 501 N. Dixon St., two blocks from the east end of the Broadway Bridge, just north of Memorial Coliseum. 6 p.m., Monday, March 8, International Women’s day. Military bases are not designed for children, they are not playgrounds. Military bases, including our local Armory, store toxic materials and jet fuels; not safe for children. We are a country at war, military bases are not safe places for civilians, especially children, during wartime. They are targets. Military personnel returning from active duty may suffer unpredictable and often violent behavior as a result of service. Luckily no children were injured on the base in Texas when such an incident occurred. Of the 18 schools participating in this program all but 4 are Title 1 schools. All but three have higher percentages of minority students, and all but four have higher poverty. Violence is on the increase in our public schools and culture. Exposing our young, impressionable children to exciting, high tech, high powered, weapons will not help in our struggle to move toward a more tolerant and peaceful society. So that’s what I’ve been doing… by Steve, July 1st, 2009 …beat blogging! Two and a half years ago, I started ranting on this site about the gross educational inequities in Portland’s public schools. This eventually got the attention of the local mainstream media and the greater school district community. I didn’t set out with a mission, other than just speaking my mind. Pretty soon all I wrote about here was schools, schools, schools. One day, while writing yet another blog post about schools, my daughter asked me, “How come you only write about school politics on your hockey blog?” “Good question!” I said, and started another blog all about schools. Why? Because I can (my day job is “professional nerd”). Eventually, PPS Equity started taking on the look of a… what? Online magazine? I settled on calling it a “new media publication.” I even came up with a mission statement: “to inform, advocate and organize, with a goal of equal educational opportunity for all students in Portland Public Schools, regardless of their address, their parent’s wealth, or their race.” Readership climbed steadily, with around 20% of visits consistently coming directly from school district computers. Since I host my blogs on a server that I own, I decided to open up my platform to others working for the common good. That’s it, I thought, I’m doing “new media publishing!” It’s got a nice ring to it. But I’m also doing some kind of journalism, and that’s where it gets tricky. I have a great deal of respect for professional journalists, and a healthy disdain of bloggers who pick up the latest news reports, toss off 500 words of commentary, and call themselves “citizen journalists” or some such. The point being that they are leeching off of the professionals. The story doesn’t run if somebody doesn’t report it in the first place. That’s what journalists — a.k.a. reporters — do. When I wrote for Portland Metblogs (moribund since last February), I floated the idea of doing citizen journalism there, which didn’t go over well with a couple other contributors who couldn’t accept that writing from a point of view does not disqualify one as a journalist. When I was invited to be on a panel about blogging at a conference for professional journalists and journalism students last fall, I had a little trepidation about being chewed up and spit out. (It was a very friendly crowd, as it turned out.) The two other bloggers on the panel were very clear about considering themselves journalists, but I made a point of identifying myself as a community activist, not a journalist. But… the kind of writing — and reporting — that I do is outside of the usual realm activism. I actually do reporting, is the thing, at the same time I’m doing advocacy and organizing. “New media publishing” captures the big picture of what it means to run a community blog, but the actual beat reporting I do is, in fact, journalism. Which all became clear to me the other day when BeatBlogging.org, a project affiliated with New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, gave me a nice shout-out on their Leaderboard, which they describe as “a list of the most innovative beat reporters in the world.” Wha….? You’ve got to be kidding me! (Seriously, I’m floored over here!) Their summary of my work on PPS Equity highlights the combination of advocacy and journalism. “…[I]t is starting to seem like good beatbloggers — especially education ones — mix in a bit of advocacy with their journalism. It’s not that they are biased, but rather that they care to see change,” writes Patrick Thornton, editor of BeatBlogging.org.

The oldest mathematics journal in the Western Hemisphere in continuous publication, the American Journal of Mathematics ranks as one of the most respected and celebrated journals in its field. Published since 1878, the Journal has earned its reputation by presenting pioneering mathematical papers. It does not specialize, but instead publishes articles of broad appeal covering the major areas of contemporary mathematics. The American Journal of Mathematics is used as a basic reference work in academic libraries, both in the United States and abroad. Bayesian Field Theory Jörg C. Lemm Ask a traditional mathematician the likely outcome of a coin-toss, and he will reply that no evidence exists on which to base such a prediction. Ask a Bayesian, and he will examine the coin, conclude that it was probably not tampered with, and predict five hundred heads in a thousand tosses; a subsequent experiment would then be used to refine this prediction. The Bayesian approach, in other words, permits the use of prior knowledge when testing a hypothesis. Long the province of mathematicians and statisticians, Bayesian methods are applied in this ground-breaking book to problems in cutting-edge physics. Joerg Lemm offers practical examples of Bayesian analysis for the physicist working in such areas as neural networks, artificial intelligence, and inverse problems in quantum theory. The book also includes nonparametric density estimation problems, including, as special cases, nonparametric regression and pattern recognition. Thought-provoking and sure to be controversial, Bayesian Field Theory will be of interest to physicists as well as to other specialists in the rapidly growing number of fields that make use of Bayesian methods. Bioéthique Méthode et complexité Les problèmes qui ont motivé la théorie et la pratique de la bioéthique dans les années 1960 et 1970 ont changé de nature. Les enjeux en bioéthique relèvent désormais de macro problèmes complexes, interreliés, qui touchent à la fois des populations entières et de nombreuses institutions sociales. L'auteure nous invite à une exploration méthodologique en bioéthique permettant de faire ressortir la complexité d'enjeux éthiques tels que l'euthanasie, le clonage et le commerce du gène et nous propose des moyens d'aborder cette complexité. Les écrits d'Edgar Morin sur la méthode et la complexité guident la réflexion. Borges and Mathematics by Guillermo Martinez Translated by Andrea G. Labinger Borges and Mathematics is a short book of essays that explores the scientific thinking of the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986). Around half of the book consists of two “lectures” focused on mathematics. The rest of the book reflects on the relationship between literature, artistic creation, physics, and mathematics more generally. Written in a way that will be accessible even to those “who can only count to ten,” the book presents a bravura demonstration of the intricate links between the worlds of sciences and arts, and it is a thought-provoking call to dialog for readers from both traditions. The author, Guillermo Martínez, is both a recognized writer, whose murder mystery The Oxford Murders has been translated into thirty-five languages, and a PhD in mathematics. Contents: Borges and Mathematics: First Lecture; Borges and Mathematics: Second Lecture; The Golem and Artificial Intelligence; The Short Story as Logical System; A Margin Too Narrow; Euclid, or the Aesthetics of Mathematical Reasoning; Solutions and Disillusions; The Pythagorean Twins; The Music of Chance (Interview with Gregory Chaikin); Literature and Rationality; Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad One?; A Small, Small God; God’s Sinkhole. This book was originally published in Spanish as Borges y la matemática (2003). It has been translated with generous support from the Latino Cultural Center at Purdue University. Key points: • Presents complex mathematical and literary concepts in a way that is accessible to non-specialists. • Promotes dialog between readers from both humanist and scientific traditions. • Expands understanding of the Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges, including presenting some never-before-translated work. Brainteaser Physics Challenging Physics Puzzlers Does a glass of ice water filled to the brim overflow when the ice melts? Does the energy inside a sauna increase when you heat it up? What's the best way to cool your coffee—adding the creamer first or last? These and other challenging puzzlers provide a fresh—and fun—approach to learning real physics. Presenting both classic and new problems, Brainteaser Physics challenges readers to use imagination and basic physics principles to find the answers. Göran Grimvall provides detailed and accessible explanations of the solutions, sometimes correcting the standard explanations, sometimes putting a new twist on them. He provides diagrams and equations where appropriate and ends each problem by discussing a specific concept or offering an extra challenge. With Brainteaser Physics, students and veteran physicists alike can sharpen their critical and creative thinking—and have fun at the same time. Eclipses were the celestial phenomena most challenging to understand in the ancient world. Montelle draws on original research—much of it derived from reading primary source material written in Akkadian and Sanskrit, as well as ancient Greek, Latin, and Arabic—to explore how observers in Babylon, the Islamic Near East, Greece, and India developed new astronomical and mathematical techniques to predict and describe the features of eclipses. She identifies the profound scientific discoveries of these four cultures and discusses how the societies exchanged information about eclipses. In constructing this history, Montelle establishes a clear pattern of the transmission of scientific ideas from one culture to another in the ancient and medieval world. Chasing Shadows is an invitingly written and highly informative exploration of the early history of astronomy. The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra Roger Hart A monumental accomplishment in the history of non-Western mathematics, The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra explains the fundamentally visual way Chinese mathematicians understood and solved mathematical problems. It argues convincingly that what the West "discovered" in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had already been known to the Chinese for 1,000 years. Accomplished historian and Chinese-language scholar Roger Hart examines Nine Chapters of Mathematical Arts—the classic ancient Chinese mathematics text—and the arcane art of fangcheng, one of the most significant branches of mathematics in Imperial China. Practiced between the first and seventeenth centuries by anonymous and most likely illiterate adepts, fangcheng involves manipulating counting rods on a counting board. It is essentially equivalent to the solution of systems of N equations in N unknowns in modern algebra, and its practice, Hart reveals, was visual and algorithmic. Fangcheng practitioners viewed problems in two dimensions as an array of numbers across counting boards. By "cross multiplying" these, they derived solutions of systems of linear equations that are not found in ancient Greek or early European mathematics. Doing so within a column equates to Gaussian elimination, while the same operation among individual entries produces determinantal-style solutions. Mathematicians and historians of mathematics and science will find in The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra new ways to conceptualize the intellectual development of linear algebra. Les fractions continues - Le treillis cylindrique - Spirales logarithmiques - La diffusion - Théories et modèles mathématiques - Épilogue : l'état de la question. The Cult of Pythagoras Math and Myths Alberto A. Martinez Martínez discusses various popular myths from the history of mathematics. Some stories are partly true, others are entirely false, but all show the power of invention in history. Martínez inspects a wealth of primary sources, in several languages, over a span of many centuries. By exploring disagreements and ambiguities in the history of the elements of mathematics, The Cult of Pythagoras dispels myths that obscure the actual origins of mathematical concepts. The Cult of Statistical Significance How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives

Argentina: valedictory despatch by Anthony Williams, HM Ambassador, Buenos Aires Catalogue ref: FCO 7/4077 Date: 1982 January 1 - 1982 December 31 Anthony Williams, Britain's ambassador to Argentina from 1980 to 1982, wrote this valedictory despatch in the aftermath of the Falklands war, concluding that 'all that I had laboured to achieve now lies in ruin'. But he warned against viewing Argentina as 'just another 'Banana Republic' and stated that 'If Galtieri had been no better than a Somoza, he would not have got decent men like Nicanor Costa Mendez or Enrique Ros, to work for him'. Williams defended his Embassy's actions in the lead up to the conflict but admitted that it was a 'humbling experience' for a diplomat to return home to find 'how little his interpretations and explanations, his predictions and warnings seem to have penetrated to those who have actually taken the decisions in his field'. The despatch caused a degree of consternation at the Foreign Office and was described as a 'bitter' despatch from a man who could not accept that he had been 'misled' by the Argentines. It was given only a limited distribution as a result. View this file. Falkland Islands crisis: Argentine invasion This file contains a rapid sequence of telegrams exchanged between the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, and the Governor of the Falkland Islands, Rex Hunt, opening on 31 March and building up to the Argentine invasion on 2 April. The telegrams detail the sequence of events which led to the fall of Port Stanley. The file also includes Rex Hunt's personal account of the invasion, dated 3 April. Falkland Islands conflict: the sinking of Argentine cruiser the General Belgrano This file begins with a telegram from Francis Pym, Foreign Secretary, to the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York, giving the first news of the sinking of the Argentine Cruiser General Belgrano by the submarine HMS Conqueror on 2 May. Francis Pym defended the submarine's actions and wrote that 'although the incident took place outside the TEZ [Total Exclusion Zone] it was in accordance with the rules of engagement as agreed on 2 May'. The file also contains a note of a discussion made at the NATO Eurogroup Ministerial Dinner in Brussels on 5 May by Kevin Tebbit, Secretary to the Eurogroup: 'the political decision was taken by a group of Cabinet Ministers, chaired by the Prime Minister, to attack the General Belgrano which was closing in on the task force'. However, P J Weston, Head of the Defence Department at the FCO, queried this account: 'I have not been able to find any record in the minutes of the OD (SA) for such a decision. It had been my understanding that the sinking of the Belgrano had followed a decision by Ministers over the weekend in question that existing ROEs [Rules Of Engagement] should be relaxed in such a way as to permit our SSNs [Ship Submersible Nuclear: Fleet Submarines] to attack Argentine warships whether or not within the TEZ, but without specific reference to the Argentine cruiser...the Belgrano had not entered the TEZ but was heading in a South Westerly direction when the attack took place'. View this file. Falkland Islands conflict: Vatican reactions This file contains Pope John Paul II's correspondence with Mrs Thatcher and Ronald Reagan on the subject of the Falklands War. The file also details efforts on the part of the Foreign Office to avoid a cancellation of the Pope's planned visit to the UK including a letter from Foreign Secretary Francis Pym to the Holy See and a meeting between Cardinal Hume, Sir Michael Palliser and Sir Anthony Acland. There is also a description of a meeting between Mrs Thatcher and Cardinal Casaroli at which the Falklands was the main topic of conversation. Falklands Islands: HMS Endurance Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington had already raised the issue of the planned withdrawal of HMS Endurance from the Royal Navy in June 1981, arguing that it was important to maintain Britain's presence in the Falkland Islands area. This file shows that Lord Carrington continued to pursue the issue with the Secretary of State for Defence, John Nott, in the period January to March 1982, with Nott adhering to the line that there was no provision in the defence budget to enable a reprieve for HMS Endurance. View this file. New York, valedictory despatch by Sir Anthony Parsons, the Permanent Representative from the United Kingdom to the United Nations Catalogue ref: FCO 58/2750 Date: 1982 January 1 - 1982 December 31 Anthony Parsons was the UK's permanent representative at the United Nations from 1979 to 1982. On stepping down, he recorded his impressions in a despatch to Foreign Secretary Francis Pym. He wrote that the United States was regarded with a mixture of 'exasperation, frustration and contempt' and that third world delegates had been 'shocked, alarmed and outraged by the incompetence, amateurishness, and paralysing lack of co-ordination of the US Mission, State Department and White House'. Britain, meanwhile, continued to be held responsible for many of the 'intractable and bloody crises which permeate the organisation'. 'Our Achilles heel', he wrote, was 'our closeness to the South African regime…and our economic weakness'. Parsons also bemoaned the 'stupefying boredom' and 'endless frustration' of UN diplomacy and the sense that 'a feeling of total futility permeates the whole (UN) building'.

The New England Air Museum is proud of its aircraft and engine restoration work. The Museum’s restoration volunteers take their work quite seriously, and in our estimate the quality of our work is second to none.The B-29 Superfortress “Jack’s Hack” typifies the effort that goes into the work that we do. We believe that this aircraft is one of the best if not the best example of the world’s surviving B-29’s. The New England Air Museum's Boeing B-29A Superfortress is a product of the Boeing Plant in Renton, Washington and was assigned the AAF serial number 44-61975. Although delivered too late to be assigned to an overseas unit during World War II, it did serve with training units until 1949. During the early 1950s, it flew out of the United Kingdom and Libya. It was then put into storage until 1956. The last flight made by 44-61975 was to the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland, where it was scheduled to be used for target practice. Lucky for us it was never shot at since there are less than 30 B-29s left in the United States. The New England Air Museum acquired the plane in 1973. It had to be completely disassembled. In fact, when disassembly began the aft fuselage was too badly damaged so the Army instructed the salvage crew to take the aft fuselage from another B-29A's serial number 44-61739 instead. The plane was trucked to Bradley Field over the Interstate Highway System. It was never completely reassembled before the Museum was in the path of the October 3, 1979 tornado. The tough old plane survived. After the tornado, the plane sat in the Museum's outdoor display area for almost 20 years, becoming home to many birds and bees. Every airplane that the 58th flew during WW II was researched. It was determined that the 58th flew 64 B-29As, and only 35 had names applied to the nose. Photographs of these 35 airplanes were requested from all four Bomb Groups. Photographs of 12 of 35 airplanes were obtained -- and -- after applying the above criteria the one standout was "JACK'S HACK" of the 468th Bomb Group. In 2002, Gary Velasco, nationally known nose art artist, volunteered to paint the plane as "JACK'S HACK," serial number 44-61566, which served on Tinian with the 468th Bomb Group of the 58th Bomb Wing.

Statue of Liberty crown reopens By Matthew Price BBC News, New York The view from the Statue of Liberty's crown It was Monday 10 September 2001 when a tourist last pressed a camera up against a tiny window in the Statue of Liberty's crown and took a snap looking back towards Manhattan.The view then was dominated by the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The next morning, before Liberty Island had opened to tourists for the day, planes flew into the towers, and they disappeared. Ever since, the Statue of Liberty's crown has been closed to the public. "What's the point of going two thirds of the way up?" asked Mike, an Australian tourist. He was on the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty stands. It is the closest visitors have been able to get to the crown for some years now. Magnificent monument but to be honest not the most stunning view "It's just nice to be able to reach the peak." "Peak" might sound like the wrong word - but the climb up makes it feel something like that. There are 354 steps to the crown, the last 150 or so up a tight and claustrophobic spiral staircase which winds up inside what you might call Liberty's skeleton. Before the 11 September attacks, and before security became such a consistent concern for those managing America's tourist sites, visitors would queue up the stairs, shuffling up one at a time, kids complaining, sometimes for an hour or more. That can be very hot. It is consistently warmer inside the metal shell of Liberty than it is outside. Rethinking securityLast year, three million tourists visited Liberty Island on which the statue stands. Liberty's re-opening is yet another sign of how the new president is determined to rethink the focus on national security which dominated his predecessor's time in office Once it reopens, just 240 tourists will be allowed up each day - in groups of no more than 10 at a time - and they will all have to book well in advance. The view is not the most stunning in New York. The statue is orientated so that it is looking east, towards France - the country which built and gave the statue to the US in celebration of that country's 100th year of independence. So the tiny windows of Liberty's crown look east too, across the flat expanse of New York harbour, past the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, and out towards the Atlantic. To see that now-changed view of Manhattan, you have to crane your neck round to the left, and peek out back towards the island. Do not be put off though - this is one of the most recognised tourist sites in the world. As you approach Liberty Island it is impossible not to be drawn in by the statue's impassive gaze. It is a magnificent monument, an icon standing on the edge of one of the world's greatest cities. Being in the crown feels a little like peering from the top of the Eiffel Tower, or looking down the Thames from Tower Bridge - you feel as if you are somewhere special. Looking out, you can catch a glimpse of the oxidised green copper of the statue's arm, though it is hard to see the famous torch from inside. You can also see the points of her crown- looming out from the head in which you're standing. So it will be a thrill for those tourists who make it up the staircase. The statue faces towards France, which donated it to the US

Cynthia: 'I just want to be a role model' Living Positive follows six HIV-positive people, each of them on the same day, in six different parts of the world. LIVING POSITIVE BBC Two, 2100 GMT Cynthia lives in Botswana and she was diagnosed with HIV in October 2000. She hit a real low and attempted suicide. But she has now turned her life around and is a passionate Aids campaigner. She even holds the title "Miss HIV Stigma Free 2005" after winning a beauty pageant for HIV positive women. During her 12-month reign she is carrying out activities to raise awareness and encourage testing, as well as doing her day-to-day job as a receptionist in a medical fund administrators office. "I want people to know that HIV/Aids affects ordinary people, it affects the poor, the affluent, it affects me and you. "I used to think the whole world belonged to me. Young and beautiful as I was, I never thought I would be infected. "What was more I was not of the class to be infected. "I have changed my behaviour altogether, being HIV positive has taught me the positive things in life." In 2000, Cynthia began suffering from bad headaches and losing weight, but never thought she could be HIV. She went to the doctor with her mother regarding an unrelated issue. The doctor asked to speak to her privately and persuaded her to do an HIV test. Four days later, on 10 October, 2000, she went for the result. It was positive. "I couldn't believe it really, I was confused, no not me, I'm not - maybe he's mad. I was hoping that a car would knock me over and I'd die there and then." Cynthia told her sister Tshenolo who took her home and looked after her. Her family have continued to support her throughout. She did not disclose her condition to her friends and went off the rails, drinking, smoking and partying - all the while abstaining from sex. Having decided in July 2001 that life was no longer worth living she unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide with a concoction of anti-retroviral drugs and bleach. Tshenolo found her and took her to hospital, where she remained in a coma for three days. When her friends found out she was HIV positive many of them cut contact with her, fearing that people would think that they were also HIV positive. In August 2001, after her attempted suicide, she decided she had to confront her condition. She joined COCEWPA, an organisation for people with HIV, and worked as a receptionist. She also decided she would go public about her status. By the end of 2003 Cynthia became very ill and doctors warned her that she was near death. The CD4 count of healthy HIV-negative adults is usually somewhere between 600 and 1,200. Cynthia's CD4 count was eight. She was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in her stomach but then experienced discrimination from the doctors when they refused to treat her with chemotherapy. "I was diagnosed with a cancer, a tumour in my stomach, so I was supposed to take chemo, but the oncologist said: 'Cynthia the chemo is very expensive, so you can't take it because you are HIV positive and this is supposed to be for people who are not HIV positive, because it is very expensive.' "So I felt like asking him whether I should just stay at home and die at home?" She and her family managed to persuade doctors to give her chemotherapy, but after 10 days on the treatment she decided not to continue. She felt it was making no difference and was too painful. Instead, Cynthia started to pray... and her condition improved. She became a committed Christian, and stopped smoking and drinking. Cynthia does not know for definite from whom she contracted HIV. She was raped by two South Africans in 1997 and wonders if she contracted it from them, or from one of the many men she slept with during her late teens and early 20s. I feel very guilty and I keep on asking God to forgive me She strongly suspects it was from a guy she dated for seven months in 2003. He died from Aids in 2005. She now abstains from sex and feels very betrayed by men. "I have experienced many things about men... some I thought loved me, but nobody stepped forward to say 'I'm sorry'." She knows she must have unknowingly infected many people with HIV. "I didn't know I was HIV positive, I was in denial. I never thought I would be infected.... I feel very guilty, and I keep on asking God to forgive me." Cynthia is learning how to live with her condition and strives to campaign against the stigma and discrimination surrounding the virus. "I want people to accept their status and live positively like I do. "I just want to be a role model to people. I know I'm an ambassador and I just want to make a difference." Living Positive was broadcast on Thursday, 1 December, 2005 on BBC Two at 2100 GMT. A debate featuring the six people filmed for the programme was broadcast on Friday, 2 December 2005 on BBC Four at 1900 GMT.

Hollywood failing to keep up with rapidly increasing diversity, UCLA study warns By UCLA Newsroom February 11, 2014 When it comes to influential positions in the entertainment industry, minorities and women are represented at rates far below what would be expected given their percentage of the general population, according to a new study done at UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. In fact, the report shows, the proportion of female and minority actors, writers, directors and producers in films and TV ranges from just one-twelfth to one-half of their actual population percentage. "The report paints a picture of an industry that is woefully out of touch with an emerging America, an America that's becoming more diverse by the day," said lead author Darnell Hunt, the center's director. The underrepresentation is especially noteworthy because the study found that greater diversity in TV and film productions actually increases viewers, resulting in higher profits for studios and networks. "Hollywood does pretty well financially right now, but it could do a lot better if it were better reflecting the diversity of America," said Hunt, who is also a professor of sociology in UCLA's College of Letters and Science. The UCLA analysis focused on the top 172 American-made movies from 2011 and more than 1,000 television shows that aired on 68 cable and broadcast networks during the 2011–12 season. Researchers looked at the level of diversity both in front of and behind the camera, on the rosters of Hollywood's most prominent talent agencies, and among the winners of such industry accolades as the Academy and Emmy awards. The study, "2014 Hollywood Diversity Report: Making Sense of the Disconnect," is believed to be the largest and most comprehensive look to date at diversity in the entertainment industry. It is part of a series of analyses that will be done for the Bunche Center's Hollywood Advancement Project, which will track over time whether the TV-and-film industry is employing diverse groups of lead actors, writers, directors and producers and whether major talent agencies are representing them. The study also will identify best practices for widening the pipeline for underrepresented groups. "Underrepresentation in Hollywood is not a surprise to anyone," said Ana-Christina Ramon, co-author of the study and the center's assistant director. "What's different is we're actually documenting the degree to which the problem is occurring in all these different arenas, and we're showing how diversity affects the bottom line. Moreover, we're going to document these trends over time so we can trace any changes." Ana-Christina Ramon and Darnell Hunt Problems on both sides of the camera The study found that minorities were featured in starring film and TV roles far less often than would be expected given their share of the overall U.S. population, which stands at just more than 36 percent. As lead actors in films, they were underrepresented by a factor of more than three-to-one — that is, they appeared as leads at less than one-third the rate that would be expected based on their proportion of the population. They fared a little better in all forms of entertainment (not including sports) on cable television and in reality programming on broadcast TV, appearing as leads at about half the expected rate. But the situation was worse in broadcast TV comedies and dramas, where they were underrepresented by a factor of seven-to-one, the study found. Top behind-the-scenes positions also went to minorities less frequently than would be expected. As film directors, they were underrepresented by a factor of three-to-one. As film writers and as creators of comedies and dramas on cable TV, they were underrepresented by a factor of five-to-one. Things were again worse with broadcast TV, where minority creators of comedies and dramas were underrepresented by a factor of nine-to-one. Women enjoyed proportionate representation in just one category: On broadcast TV, they appeared as leading actors in about 52 percent of comedies and dramas in 2011–12. But they fared worse elsewhere. In fact, in the study's single greatest example of disparity, women were underrepresented by a factor of 12-to-one as film directors. As film writers, they were underrepresented by a factor of three-to-one. In the other film and TV categories, they were represented at only 50 percent to 70 percent the expected rate. Talent agencies: Not representing the underrepresented Prominent talent agencies contribute little to promoting diversity in Hollywood, according to the study. Three dominant talent agencies represented more than two-thirds of the writers, directors and lead actors in the 172 leading films in 2011. Yet less than 10 percent of this talent was minority, according to the study. In broadcast television, the same three agencies represented more than two-thirds of show creators and more than half of the leads. Yet minorities accounted for only 1.4 percent of these creators and 5.5 percent of these leads during the 2011–12 broadcast season. In cable, the situation was only slightly better. The three agencies represented more than two-thirds of show creators and nearly half of all leads, but only 6.1 percent of these creators and 13 percent of these leads were minorities. "There are certain major projects that you just don't get to be part of unless you have a connection with one of these top agencies," Ramon said. "Or maybe you get to be a part of it, but you're not going to be the lead. So the tendency of top agencies to pack their talent rosters with whites really restricts access to opportunities for underrepresented groups." Industry awards proved no better at reflecting diversity. No minority-directed film from 2011 won an Oscar, and no film with a minority lead actor won an Oscar, the study shows. More than 90 percent of the Oscar-winning films in 2011 had male directors, and more than 80 percent of Oscar-winning films featured male leads. Exceptions included "The Help" and "The Iron Lady." The situation was only slightly better with TV awards. Only 5 percent of Emmy-winning comedies and dramas on broadcast TV in 2011–12 were minority-created, and a single show — "Grey's Anatomy" — accounted for that entire share. (The show's creator is Shonda Rhimes, an industry whiz who happens to be African-American.) On cable TV, no minority-created comedies or dramas won Emmy awards. Programming created by women fared better, but only slightly. Of the Emmy-winning broadcast comedies and dramas, 20 percent were created by women; about 7 percent of the Emmy-winning cable programs were created by women. The lack of diversity can perpetuate stereotypes and misunderstandings among the races and genders, the authors warned. It can also affect Hollywood's bottom line. Previous research by the center determined that more TV viewers were drawn to shows with ethnically diverse casts and writers, while shows with less diversity in their credits attracted smaller audiences. The new report documents a similar phenomenon in film: Those with a relatively high amount of minority involvement (21–30 percent) on screen posted the highest median global box office receipts ($160.1 million). In contrast, films with the least minority involvement (10 percent or less) posted much lower box office receipts ($68.5 million). The findings come at a time of increasing diversity in the U.S., with minorities actually outpacing whites as consumers of entertainment. Even though minorities account for 36.3 percent of the overall U.S. population, they represent 44.1 percent of frequent moviegoers and tend to watch more hours of television each week than white viewers. Meanwhile, California is expected to become a majority–minority state this year, and forecasts predict the entire nation will follow by 2042. "The situation is better than it was in the 1950s, but Hollywood is falling further and further behind," Hunt said. "America is infinitely more diverse than it was. So the gap has gotten bigger between where America is going and where the industry is going."

Study Says 40 Billion Planets In Our Galaxy Could Support Life Listen Transcript MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: As China and India race to Mars, we'll venture outside our solar system and consider this mind-expanding possibility: There could be 40 billion planets in our Milky Way galaxy that are orbiting stars in a habitable zone that could support life - 40 billion. Makes you kind of puny, doesn't it? That number of potentially life-supporting planets comes from a new study of data sent back from NASA's Kepler space telescope, data that make the co-author of the new study, Geoff Marcy, feel a little tingly, as he puts it. Marcy is an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, and he joins me now. Geoff Marcy, just a little bit tingly, not a lot? (LAUGHTER) GEOFFREY MARCY: Well, the hairs are standing up on the back of my neck right now. It's really an extraordinary moment for all of us on planet Earth here. BLOCK: Well, when you're looking for habitable - potentially habitable - planets, what are you looking for? What in particular are you trying to find in the data from the telescope? MARCY: Well, there are a few properties of a planet that render it suitable for life. One is it ought to have a rocky surface so that the water, if any, on that planet, would puddle into ponds and lakes and oceans. Water, of course, being the important cocktail mixer for organic molecules, allowing them to recombine into amino acids and proteins of which our body is made. Another key attribute of a habitable world would be its temperature. It can't be so cold that the water is frozen into ice nor so hot that the water would be in the form of steam. But instead we want, of course, liquid water so that the water can do its job as the cocktail mixer of life. BLOCK: Now in terms of the planets that you think you have identified - maybe 40 billion if you extrapolate out from the data you have - is there any way of knowing how many would be the small, Earth-sized, rocky planet? It's - we really have no idea. If I had to guess, I'd say something like a fifth of them, maybe a tenth. I mean, that's still - we're still talking four billion planets. MARCY: There's plenty to go around. BLOCK: And the nearest of these potentially habitable planets, how close is the closest one to us? MARCY: The closest habitable planet might be about 12 light years away. That's a stone's throw in the cosmic sense. BLOCK: In the cosmic sense. Well, put it in some context in terms of our own solar system. MARCY: You know, the Voyager spacecraft that we sent out in the 1980s has just now left our solar system. And at the speed it travels, to go to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, would take something like 700,000 years. So that's really too long to pop over and borrow a cup of sugar. BLOCK: Is there any danger, do you think, of overselling numbers like this? MARCY: There is. We have actually no evidence at all of any life, even simple single-celled life. So the next generation of scientists has their work cut out for them to determine if life is actually out there, how common it is and especially whether there's any kindred spirits technologically out there. BLOCK: Geoffrey Marcy is a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. We were talking about the article he co-authored titled, "Prevalence of Earth-sized planets orbiting Sun-like stars." Professor Marcy, thanks so much. MARCY: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Evidence of meeting #59 for Justice and Human Rights in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sexual. A recording is available from Parliament. On the agenda Bill C-22, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (age of protection) and to make consequential amendments to the Criminal Records Act MPs speaking Art HangerMarlene JenningsDerek LeeRéal MénardCarole FreemanJoe ComartinRob MooreLarry BagnellMyron ThompsonPatrick BrownDaniel PetitBrian Murphy Also speaking Paul Gillespie Consultant, As an IndividualLynn Barr-Telford Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics CanadaTamra Thomson Director, Legislation and Law Reform, Canadian Bar AssociationMargaret Gallagher Treasurer, National Criminal Justice Section, Canadian Bar AssociationKevin Kindred Branch Section Chair, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference, Canadian Bar AssociationJudy Nuttall Coordinator, Affiliated with Citizens Addressing Sexual Exploitation, White Ribbon Against PornographySteve Sullivan President, Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of CrimeMartha Mackinnon Executive Director, Justice for Children and YouthKaren Mihorean Assistant Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics CanadaWilliam Trudell Chair, Canadian Council of Criminal Defence LawyersJason Gratl President, B.C. Civil Liberties AssociationKim Pate Executive Director, Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry SocietiesAndrew Brett Member, Age of Consent CommitteeNicholas Dodds Member, Age of Consent CommitteeDave Quist Executive Director, Institute of Marriage and Family CanadaDaphne Gilbert Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, University of Ottawa, As an IndividualChristina Godlewska Articled Student, B.C. Civil Liberties Association Kim Pate Executive Director, Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for inviting us to appear. I bring regrets from members of my board of directors who were unable to appear with me. I come representing 25 member societies that work with victimized and criminalized women and girls across the country. My comments will be brief, but I look forward to some of the discussion. I would suspect that most of us everywhere would prefer that young people and children refrain from sexual activity until the time they are of sufficient age and maturity to engage in caring and consensual relationships. That being said, none of us want to see young people exploited, and none of us want to see young people further victimized. But we think the current Criminal Code health and child welfare provisions adequately cover many of these areas. From our perspective, the gap tends to be in the bigger issue of the sometime lack of political or administrative will to ensure the existing laws and protections are implemented and the protections in fact exist in the way they're intended. There is also sometimes a reluctance to pursue those who violate those provisions. We also have concerns about who might be pursued in this context. Let's say you have a young woman who engages in a sexual relationship with an older man and is observed by a doctor. We see situations where the young woman might refuse to provide information. We'd be loath to see those young women end up being cited for things like contempt or other potential charges. Those realities exist now, I would suggest, because of the lack of will to ensure that the current provisions are implemented in a gender-specific and fair way. We also want to protect children in terms of a variety of other areas, but we don't see, for instance, the same interest in other potential areas where young people are being exploited, whether or not it's child pornography. We know there's an interest in that area, but pornographic advertising techniques aren't challenged in similar ways. If we're interested in not promoting the sexualization of young people, I think there are many other areas we need to look at, including broader based education campaigns and ways to limit the use of young people who are increasingly being sexualized at very young ages. We also do not support a differential age in terms of anal intercourse. If you decide to in fact proceed with this bill, in the alternative, we're interested in having some discussions about the issue of rebuttable presumption. That's our submission. Thank you. Art Hanger Age of Consent Committee, Andrew Brett and Nicholas Dodds. Who will be presenting? Andrew Brett Member, Age of Consent Committee Both of us. Over the past few days you've heard many arguments on both sides of this bill, and while we agree with many of the groups that have presented, there is a notable lack of input from young people themselves. We are here today in an attempt to bring youth concerns with this bill to the table. As young people, we stand unequivocally opposed to Bill C-22 on many grounds, which we will outline in four main points. The first one is that the motivation for this bill is based out of illogical fear and hysteria about cases that are either already illegal or exaggerated. Number two, increasing the age of consent would result in young people not seeking out vital information or services related to sexual health. Number three, an increase in the age of consent would result in social workers and teachers being reluctant to provide adequate sexual health information to young people. And number four, this bill will have a— Excuse me. Just slow it down a little bit so that interpreters can keep up. Number four, this bill will have a disproportionate impact on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, and queer youth. After reading the news reports and minutes from previous witnesses at this hearing, it is frustrating to hear the type of evidence being presented to bolster the case for Bill C-22. One newspaper reports that a witness used the sexual abuse of a two-year-old as justification for this bill, as if the law was somehow unclear on this and needed to be strengthened. The supporters of this bill claim that the age of consent must be increased in order to combat child prostitution and child pornography. The reality is that both of these activities are already illegal, not just for 14- and 15-year-olds but for anyone under the age of 18. The laws are absolutely clear: sexual abuse and exploitation are illegal. If these laws aren't being enforced properly, the solution is not to make them more illegal. Redundant criminalization will not suddenly create an environment where young people are empowered to recognize exploitation and come forward about abuse. More work needs to be done to educate and empower youth, and Bill C-22 will be counterproductive to these aims, for reasons that will be outlined later. Another claim is that Canada is a haven for pedophiles who want to take advantage of our supposedly low age of consent. In reality, when taking into account the 2005 law that expanded the definition of exploitation, which I believe was Bill C-2 before being passed into law, the Department of Justice says that “Canada's criminal law framework of protection against the sexual exploitation and abuse of children and youth is amongst the most comprehensive anywhere.” Our second point is that increasing the age of consent will actually put young people in more danger by inhibiting their access to sexual health information and services. In the United Kingdom, where the age of consent is currently 16, a survey of young women found that those under the age of consent were six times more likely to say that “fear of being too young” prevented them from seeking help. In fact, the Department of Justice itself stated just two years ago that the age of consent should not be increased to 16 because “educating youth to make informed choices that are right for them is better addressed through parental guidance and sexual health education than by using the Criminal Code to criminalize youth for engaging in such activity”. Permalink Our third point is that an increase to the age of consent would result in social workers and teachers being reluctant to provide adequate sexual health education and information to young people. The Ontario Court of Appeal noted in a 1995 ruling how age of consent laws, which purport to protect young people, can actually have the opposite effect by preventing them from accessing information. I'll quote from the ruling: The health education they should be receiving to protect them from avoidable harm may be curtailed, since it may be interpreted as counselling young people about a form of sexual conduct the law prohibits them from participating in. Hence, the Criminal Code provision ostensibly crafted to prevent adolescents from harm may itself, by inhibiting education about health risks associated with that behaviour, contribute to the harm it seeks to reduce. Through federal and provincial laws and professional codes of regulatory bodies, mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse is widespread across Canada. In Ontario the Child and Family Services Act mandates reporting if the young person is under the age of 16. This applies to teachers, social workers, youth workers, doctors, nurses, and many others. By criminalizing consensual sexual activity involving 14- and 15-year-olds, previously legal activity will now be considered abuse and the prospect of mandatory disclosure may prevent professionals from assisting young people. As a former peer counsellor for youth myself, I was trained to warn young people about the possibility of incriminating themselves or their partners before they spoke about their sexual activities. Increasing the age of consent would mean that more young people would have to be warned about disclosure and more of them would be reluctant to speak with professionals. Our final point is that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, and queer youth will be disproportionately affected by this bill compared to their heterosexual counterparts. The choices of queer youth already face additional scrutiny when it comes to their sexual identity and activity. In the Marc Hall case, when a 17-year-old high school student was denied a request to bring his 21-year-old male date to his prom, the school board chair justified this homophobic discrimination by claiming that Marc's partner was too old to bring anyway. In reality, many heterosexual students bring dates of similarly disparate ages to their school proms and rarely are these decisions ever questioned. When youth are queer it is often assumed their choices are uninformed, just a phase, or that they are being recruited and exploited. In addition, given the widespread homophobia that exists among teachers, parents, and society in general, we have very good reason to believe that Bill C-22 will be disproportionately used to regulate the sexual lives of queer youth. It is not uncommon for queer youth to seek out relationships with older partners, as they can provide much-needed recognition and support in a context where many of their peers are still closeted due to prevailing homophobia in schools and families. Such age-discrepant relationships are not always exploitative or harmful. In fact, they can be beneficial, and this recognition is an important one in the lives of queer youth. This proposed law would further isolate them and expose them to danger. Gay and bisexual male youth are already explicitly targeted in current age-of-consent legislation through section 159 of the Criminal Code, which sets a discriminatory age of consent for anal intercourse. It is important to note that when this section was struck down by the Ontario Court of Appeal in May 1995 the majority opinion held that the discrimination was unconstitutional, not based on sexual orientation but on age. This sets a precedent that leads us to believe that Bill C-22 can be struck down as a violation of section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the basis that it discriminates against young people without demonstrable justification. The members of the Age of Consent Committee know from present and recent personal experience how youth are marginalized and their voices rarely heard in mainstream political processes. We note with anger and resentment that pushing forward this bill, which has had admitted virtually no consultation with communities of youth that are directly affected, sends a cynical political message about the importance of youth participation under the present government. Additionally, we note that article 12 of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child indicates that children and youth are assured the right to express their views in all matters affecting them and to be consulted in decisions that affect their lives. Given the fact that young people directly affected by this bill are currently denied the right to vote, we are especially frustrated at the lack of youth consultation in this process. Permalink

For centuries, the mysteries of space have captured our imagination and inspired us to look ever further into the cosmos. Now, the Orlando Science Center invites you to begin your exploration at Our Planet, Our Universe, a new permanent exhibit that takes a fascinating look at space as well as elements found right here on Earth. An original exhibit on astronomy and earth science, Our Planet, Our Universe explores the strange, curious, and odd peculiarities of the universe and our place in it. Discover the dynamic forces and systems that shape our Earth, as well as other planets and discover the latest information about our solar system. New experiences include computer-based interactives and visuals, including images direct from the NASA/Hubble Space Telescope, and hands-on exhibits that explore some strange - and some familiar - phenomena. The exhibit is divided into distinct areas that explore earth and space - here are a few of the hands-on exhibits you'll encounter: Earth, Wind & Sky Aeolian Landscapes: Lets visitors manipulate fans to discover how the force of wind can shift sand into spectacular dune shapes and patterns. Blue Sky: Find out why our sky is blue through manipulation of different filters in front of a light source through a medium. Mars Rover: Guide a to the planetary rover over an 8’diameter simulated Martian terrain Takes the controls of the rover to move and pick up rock samples with its robotic arm while your friend watches the images the rover camera reveals. Planets & Portals Ask An Astronomer: interactive video kiosk featuring short, lively and entertaining answers by the astronomers at the Spitzer Space Science Center. Cosmic Collisions: See what happens when galaxies collide through an interactive kiosk. Tonight’s Sky: What will I see if I look up at the night sky tonight? This software program from NASA is automatically updated every month to show appropriate stars, constellations and other objects playing on a large screen TV. Gravity, Waves & Warps No Sound in Space: Hear what happens when you start an alarm bell, then pump out the air. Can sound waves move through the vacuum of space? Black Holes Quiz: Explore the strange and unique phenomena surrounding black holes. Take a journey into a black hole, or find out more at the black hole encyclopedia. Warping Space: Manipulate ‘stars’ and ‘planets’ along a 2D universe to see how different space can warp into 3 dimensions. How Cute... a Baby! 02 August 2011 Posted in Our Planet, Our Universe A giant meteorite has been found in the mountains of China. Embedded into the Altai Mountains in China’s Xinjiang Uygur province, the large rock is estimated to have a mass between 25-30 tons, says Sky and Telescope magazine. This discovery could be the country’s largest known grounded meteorite, as well as one of the largest meteorites found on Earth. The site was investigated by a small group, led by Baolin Zhang, a meteorite specialist at the Beijing Planetarium. What they found was an oddly shaped iron meteorite sticking out of the ground, measuring about 7.5 feet long and half as wide. This is a very exciting discovery for the scientific world. The article on explains that “most meteorites were formed close to [about] 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system was formed, any newly discovered meteorites (regardless of their size) have the potential to provide scientists with some unique insights into the formation and earliest history of our solar system." Another iron meteorite was found in 1898 in the same region. Research is still being conducted to see if the two meteorites are related. It is still undecided on how the meteorite will be removed from its current location to be further analyzed. The largest known meteorite can be seen below. It was found in Namibia and has a mass of about 60 tons. 22 July 2011 Posted in Our Planet, Our Universe NASA's last space shuttle, Atlantis, has left International Space Station and is back home. Their mission was the 135th and last flight for the program, which began in 1981. Over the past 30 years, the space shuttles held more than just humans and the occasional animals. A Star Wars lightsaber, Buzz Lightyear figurine, and even the Mets’ home plate have all been space travelers. See a list of the top 9 weirdest things that flew into space. A Glass of Wine a Day May Keep the Microgravity Away 15 July 2011 Posted in Our Planet, Our Universe Wine may not just be for unwinding after a hard day of work on Earth. French researchers suggest red wine may reduce the effects of microgravity on astronauts in space. Microgravity is also known as weightlessness or zero gravity. It is a state of free fall, just like the feeling you get as you drop on a roller coaster. When experienced over an extended period of time, microgravity can have some scary consequences. Bone deterioration, muscle loss, weakened immune system, dehydration, and shortness of breath are all common side effects of weightlessness on astronauts. Human bones grow in a state of gravity and our immune system builds up to ward off infections we are exposed to on Earth. Once humans are taken out of that state of gravity and familiar environment for an extended period of time, our bodies can react negatively to the change. In space, many astronauts experience nausea, headaches, sweating, and of energy from Space Adaption Syndrome. It usually lasts a few days, but their immune system is weakened. Astronauts go through extensive training to prepare for these effects. But according to recent research, drinking red wine could reduce the risks associated with zero gravity. As stated in an article from DiscoveryNews.com, “Red wine contains resveratrol, an antioxidant that prevents blood clots, lowers "bad" cholesterol levels, and just helps protect your blood vessels in general. And now it seems as if resveratrol can also prevent bone density loss and muscle atrophy.” By studying rats in a simulated microgravity environment, the French researchers were able to see that those rats that didn’t receive resveratrol showed a loss of bone and muscle density, as well as signs of pre-diabetes from insulin resistance. So what’s the catch? Why aren’t astronauts popping bottles of vintage in space? It turns out the rats had to consume quite a bit of resveratrol to show resistance to microgravity. It would take more than one or two glasses of wine for humans to do so. NASA certainly doesn’t want our astronauts intoxicated in space, so more research will need to be done. For now, the astronauts aboard Atlantis can look forward to a nice glass of wine when they come back to earth.

This Day in History: Feb. 3 retrobaltimore: In 1964, the Casselman Bridge on U.S. Route 40 in Garrett County was declared a national historic landmark. The bridge opened in 1813 as part of the National Road, allowing for travel westward through Cumberland. At the time it was constructed, the bridge’s stone arch was the largest in the…

Leaving El Salvador 1980 Final Posted by Joanne Roll on Friday, March 9th 2012 PCV Deborah Loff, who had been taken hostage on December 11 with a group of Salvadorans from a market place, was released after eleven days. Loff was home for Christmas. But, Peace Corps continued to struggle with the decision to stay or leave El Salvador. Potential Volunteers in training had been redirected from El Salvador to other Central American countries.The contingent of serving Volunteers had been reduced by half to 59. Some Volunteers had been evacuated to Guatemala.Still, Peace Corps evidently hoped that the program could be continued. The following document summarizes how events dictated the final decision: “Summary of Events Leading to the Withdrawal of Peace Corps Volunteers from El Salvador” (DNSA/GWU:Collection: El Salvador, The Making of U.S. Policy 1977-1984, Item Number: ES00332) In early January, PC Deputy Director William Sykes and LAC Regional Director Paul Bell traveled to El Salvador to assess the situation. After much dialogue with PCVs, PC staff, American Embassy and GOES officials, the recommendation was given to Peace Corps Director Richard Celeste not to withdraw the PCVS. (My note: there is an attachment referenced describing the reasons behind this recommendation. I could not locate it. It is cited as ” Attachment I, Appendix A.”). It was hoped that the second Civilian military junta…would be able to stabilize the situation in El Salvador… However, violence continued to escalate. On January 31, 1980, PC Director Celeste made the decision to pull the volunteers out of El Salvador by February 28th. Peace Corps did not return to El Salvador until 1993. Today, Peace Corps is again monitoring operations in that country. Thank you, again, to the Digital National Security Archive at George Washington University and Dr. Mary Curry for all the work in making these public documents available.

What Bird Flocks And Fish Schools Can Teach Us About The Future Share Tweet E-mail Print By editor Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 3:19 pm Listen Transcript NEAL CONAN, HOST: This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan. We've all seen a flock of birds shift direction instantaneously mid-flight, or a school of fish swirl in what looked like tightly choreographed maneuvers. That's called collective behavior and it fascinated and baffled scientists. Why do they do it? How? Telepathy? Now technology is revolutionizing the way researchers can track, visualize and even create swarms, and what they're finding will make you go wow. Ed Yong is a freelance science writer, who, luckily for us, covers the wow beat. His piece "How the Science of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer and Predict the Future" ran in the March issue of Wired magazine. He joins us now by Skype from his home in London. Nice to have you with us today. ED YONG: Hi. Good to be here. CONAN: So what happens to transform a bunch of individual bugs into a swarm of locusts? YONG: So if you take a bunch of locusts and put them in a box, they will face any which - all sorts of different directions. They'll mill about fairly randomly. But if you continue to add them, what you'll see is small clusters starting to form where the locusts start to line up with each other. And the more locusts you add, you'll hit a point where suddenly all of them just start lining up and forming this very cohesive, aligned marching army. And all of this happens very instantaneously, and we know that it's a result of cannibalism. CONAN: Cannibalism? YONG: So - yeah, exactly. So you might look at this and think, well, maybe the locusts are talking to each other, or maybe they have some sort of mental template of a swarm that they're confirming - conforming to. Actually, it's that they're trying to avoid getting eaten by each other, and they're trying to eat the locust in front of them. And because they - there are so many of them, this imperative to eat and not be eaten drives them to march in an orderly rank and file. And it's a classic example of what the science of collective behavior teaches us. That these very, very simple interactions can give rise to behaviors that seem at first to be impossibly complex. CONAN: Well, are starlings afraid of being eaten by other starlings when they form those amazing murmurations? YONG: No. So the details differ from system to system, but, actually, a lot of scientists discovering a lot of similarities between them. So let's talk about starlings. You can actually simulate the movements of a flock of birds incredibly well by programming a virtual birds or voids with very simple rule. So if, for example, they're attracted to their neighbors but if they maintain a certain distance from them, and if they generally keep a similar heading, so attraction, repulsion and alignment. Those three rules together can, on a computer screen, produce a very convincing simulation of the movements of a flock. So again, we see that simple rules can produce incredibly complex behaviors. And with the starling flock, you know, you can see thousands of birds all twisting and turning and moving as one. If a falcon dives into them, they will dodge out of the way as one. And at least one prominent ornithologist used to think that this was because they had telepathic powers. But we now know that you don't need explanations anywhere near that complicated. Again, simple rules can give rules to these mesmerizing displays. CONAN: And in your article, you described a scientist who gathers a large number of what he describes as incredibly dumb fish, shiners, and finds out what causes them to school and react the way they do. YONG: That's right. His name is Iain Couzin. He works at Princeton, and he's done a lot of work on collective behavior. And I had the delight to go and visit his lab and see some of these experiments. The shiners he works with are just kind of very boring small fish. You know, if you try and draw a small fish, you'll probably draw something that looks a bit like golden China(ph). And what he's shown is that the fish together as a shoal are very good at following patches of shade. So if you put them in a tank and you have a sort of shifting light display over them, they will very quickly find the darkest bits. But if you put an individual fish in the tank, they can't do that. They can't track shade very well on their own. It's something that only the shoal can do. And what Couzin has shown is that the individual fish are only measuring how bright it is where they currently are. And if it's darker, they'll slow down and swim more slowly. Now if you have an entire shoal, what happens is if the shoal hits a dark patch, the fish in that dark patch starts slowing down. And because all the fishes stick together, they swing into the shadow. And then once they're in the shadow, because they're all slowing down, they bunch up together and then stay there. So while the individual fish aren't tracking the darkness, they're not looking around and going, oh, that's darker over there, I'll swim over there; the shoal just by moving together can unlock this new ability to seek out shade and follow it. CONAN: And that suggests that, as a collective, there is an intelligence that does not apply to any of the individuals or even the aggregate of the individuals. YONG: That's exactly right. It's the idea that there is this swarm intelligence, this ability to make decisions, to carry out computations that exists only at the level of the group. The individual fish don't have it. They can't - they fundamentally cannot do this thing that the group of them can manage. CONAN: And there are, of course, other things that can form swarms, including human beings. YONG: Absolutely. If you - people have done fascinating experiments looking at similarities between lots different swarms. So for humans, for example, you can take a bunch of people and put them in a large arena with lots of different targets around them. And you - if you tell them all to stick together and you give one of them information about which target is the right one to head for, and you'll see them all moving about randomly but very gradually heading towards that target. So the vast majority of people in that group have no idea where they're going, but because they're sticking together, they can follow the single informed person to the right destination. And this is fascinating when you think about things like migrating animals. Think about a herd of wildebeests. If you look at, like, millions of these animals migrating across the African plains, you might think, OK, all of them know where they're going. They're sort of sensing something. Maybe it's the sun. Maybe it's some sort of magnetic field. But actually, we now know that all it takes is one or a few leaders in order to steer the entire group in the right direction. So, you know, what applies to a group of humans may also apply to a herd of cattle. Maybe it applies to cells in a tumor too. CONAN: There also have been studies of humans who get involve in those horrible crushing incidents. So in addition to leading to the right direction, they could lead to the wrong direction. YONG: Right. So the study of swarms is fascinating, not just for explaining these beautiful movements in the animal world, but also showing what happens when swarming behavior goes catastrophically wrong. And again, scientists have managed to model these types of movements, like people getting crushed when they're trying to escape from a flaming building, using these very simple rules, you know, these simple concepts like attraction and repulsion. They might apply to birds in a flock or to locusts in a swarm, but they can also give a pretty good approximation for what groups of humans will do in a kind of panic or crisis. CONAN: And it's interesting. The two groups of scientists, very broadly speaking, who have been investigating this with very different ideas to begin with, are biologists - and they're looking at animal behavior - and physicists. YONG: Yeah, because these principles apply to all sorts of collectives. It doesn't have to be herds of wildebeests or flocks of starlings, it could be different particles in a magnet. Physicists started modeling these things a long time ago using mathematics, and biologists were studying other swarms like, say, ant colonies. But I think it was only through a combination of those two approaches - using modeling and computer simulations to understand what living creatures were doing and using living creatures to show real and vivid examples of the principles that the maths were demonstrating - it was only through fusion of those things that the field really starts taking off. And now, you know, it's almost like there's a swarm of swarm researchers. There are so many of them, and they're looking at this fascinating problem in all manner of different ways. CONAN: And both rely, of course, on computers because biologists couldn't watch all the movements of these starlings or ants or whatever - they couldn't track them all until they got the technology. YONG: Right. So Couzin, he relies lots on technology that actually comes from the video games industry. He uses the incredibly powerful graphics cards that they have in order to create these simulations on his computer, and he uses eye tracking software to track swarms in motion. So he can watch a school of fish with cameras and plot where all the individuals are and where they're all looking. He can do the same for a group of people walking through a crowded place like a railway station. And this technology is invaluable. It allows us to track the movements of thousands of individuals in a swarm, but it also allows us to program virtual swarms and show that actually these very simple principles are enough to create the types of behavior that you see on natural history programs or in the wild. CONAN: We're speaking with science writer Ed Yong. He writes the blog Not Exactly Rocket Science for National Geographic. His piece on swarm science ran in the March issue of Wired. You can a link to it at our website. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. And we have a caller on the line with a question for you. This is Drew, and Drew is with us from Philadelphia. DREW: Hey. How's it going to day? CONAN: Good. Thanks. YONG: Hi, Drew. DREW: Hi. I wanted to ask, how could swarms be applied to decentralized electronic grids, especially when they're centralized. If you have one failure, the entire grid will fail. You know, people will lose air conditioning in the summer. Can you comment on that? I would definitely like to hear about that. CONAN: Is that one of the applications to which swarm science might help? YONG: I - it's a little out of my ballpark. I actually just had an email from a nice gentleman who works on exactly this, so I can't answer the question specifically. But I know that there are lots of different technological applications to decipher science. Certainly, solving problems where the failure of one specific node in a network leads to catastrophic failure is a really important application. Getting things to move is one, is another application. You could think about flocks of drones that move together and, perhaps, even trying to get, say, driverless cars to move as a flock, that sort of thing. There are lots of people who are trying to apply these things to robots, to energy grids, to all the types of swarms - the artificial swarms that we have created ourselves. CONAN: Thanks very much for the call, Drew. DREW: Thank you. Have a great day. CONAN: You too. Another application, though, is the understanding by some that cancer cells seem to act as swarms. YONG: Yes. So I gave you the example about leadership in wildebeest and humans and how specific individuals can emerge as leaders very spontaneously and drive the motion of entire group. Now, cancers can moves as well. Cancers consists of a lot of different cells. And when tumors invade other tissues and move to different tissues, that's, you know, that's a massive problem for us. And it turns out that some tumors have, like, trailblazing leader cells that sit at the front edge of these invasion waves. And, perhaps, they are doing the same thing. Perhaps, they are somehow steering the movements of the rest of the group, which are just trying to stay together. And maybe we can use this idea to steer the movements of an invading tumor away from important tissues. This all just a bit speculative at the moment, but these are types of ideas that swarm science might towards. It's just a new way of thinking of the world when you have any situation where a lot of individual units are working or behaving together. CONAN: And you've talked about different mechanisms for the locusts and for the starlings and for the shiner fish. But are we approaching - you talked about a series, though, of very simple principles - are we approaching the idea? Are we on the cost of unified swarm theory? YONG: I think that - I don't think it's any way near or simple as that. And, you know, Couzin and the others I've spoken to - who work in this field - they're very cautious about making really bold claims to this. You know, this week, we know that a lot of these principles apply across physics and biology and lots of different fields. But I think it's - it would be overblown to say that this is, you know, the next relativity or the next, you know, theory of natural selection. It's not that grandiose. But what it shows is it gives us another way of understanding the world that we can use what we know about humans to understand how wildebeest migrate or how cancers migrate. If we can look at a beehive and get lessons for how brains work, that tells us a lot about some - about the origins of complex behavior in the world. It shows that, you know, complexity doesn't have to arise from complexity. Sometimes, it can arise from simplicity, but coordinated, collective simplicity. CONAN: And it is also interesting to see the descriptions you have in your story, about the laboratories that are studying this at various places, like Princeton - these interdisciplinary groups, its evolutionary biologists and then physicists working together with computer technicians. YONG: That's right. Couzin's, you know, Couzin's laboratory, he's got - when I was there, he had the fish, he had a newly collected tub of ants. He had slime molds, these amoeba-like things that are capable of surprising feats of computation. But, you know, his lab is full of physicists. It's full of computer scientists. Aside from the animals that are there, there's not actually much wet stuff going on. There's a lot of supercomputers and, you know, programming. And it just shows that - it just highlights again the fact that these principles transcend a lot of the traditional boundaries of science that people are used to. CONAN: Well, Ed Yong, thank you very much for your time today. We appreciate it. YONG: Thank you. CONAN: Ed Yong, again, a science writer, who, as he describes it, covers the Wow Beat. He does that for, among others, um on his National Geographic and his most recent article on the science of swarms in Wired magazine. Tomorrow, TALK OF THE NATION: SCIENCE FRIDAY with a look at how scientists are mapping consciousness. We'll be back with you again on Monday. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Cat Liver Disease Revision as of 18:19, May 25, 2007 (view source)Pwbwiki (Talk | contribs) (New page: == Cat Liver Disease (Feline Liver Disease) == '''Signs and Symptoms''' A cat's liver is a large and vital organ that plays a role in countless different biochemical and physiological ...)← Older edit Revision as of 19:50, September 27, 2010 (view source)Dave F (Talk | contribs) m (Protected "Cat Liver Disease" [edit=sysop:move=sysop])Newer edit → +<htmltitle name="Cat Liver Disease Symptoms and Diagnosis Cat Liver Disease Treatments" /> +[[Category:Cats]] +[[Category:Cat Health]] == Cat Liver Disease (Feline Liver Disease) == == Cat Liver Disease (Feline Liver Disease) == '''Signs and Symptoms''' '''Signs and Symptoms''' +<div class="gwo_image" style="float:right;">[ http://pethealth.petwellbeing.com/w/images/a/af/milk-thistle-cats-btn.gif]</div> A cat's liver is a large and vital organ that plays a role in countless different biochemical and physiological pathways. Digestion, immune regulation, and the elimination of toxins are just a few of the many functions that the liver takes part in. Since this organ is involved in so many different physiological tasks, it's not surprising that there are a variety of negative consequences when liver disease develops. However, it takes time for these negative effects to become apparent, as the liver has a great reserve capacity. As a result of this characteristic, liver disease generally does not begin to show itself until two-thirds or more of the organ is affected. A cat's liver is a large and vital organ that plays a role in countless different biochemical and physiological pathways. Digestion, immune regulation, and the elimination of toxins are just a few of the many functions that the liver takes part in. Since this organ is involved in so many different physiological tasks, it's not surprising that there are a variety of negative consequences when liver disease develops. However, it takes time for these negative effects to become apparent, as the liver has a great reserve capacity. As a result of this characteristic, liver disease generally does not begin to show itself until two-thirds or more of the organ is affected. '''Treatment''' '''Treatment''' -The type of treatment required in a case of cat liver disease will depend upon the underlying cause of the condition. For instance, if heartworms are causing the problems with the liver, the feline patient will need to be dewormed. If a bacterial infection is the underlying cause, antibiotics may be required in order to fight the infection. Once the cause or condition is effectively treated, the liver will often regenerate itself, restoring proper function.+The type of treatment required in a case of cat liver disease will depend upon the underlying cause of the condition. For instance, if heartworms are causing the problems with the liver, the feline patient will need to be taken to a veterinarian and treated for heartworm. If a bacterial infection is the underlying cause, antibiotics may be required in order to fight the infection. Once the cause or condition is effectively treated, the liver will often regenerate itself, restoring proper function. No matter what the underlying cause, however, treatment of liver disease often includes dietary adjustments and the use of supplements. Dietary adjustments can include changes to the amounts of vitamins, proteins, and fats that a cat eats. By ensuring that your pet is receiving proper nutrition, its overall health will improve and the amount of stress placed on the liver will be reduced. In addition to changes to a cat's diet, homeopathic remedies can also be helpful with regards to treating feline liver disease. Natural substances such as milk thistle can have a very beneficial effect on a diseased liver. For example, this natural ingredient helps to reinforce and protect the liver, while promoting its regenerative abilities. As a result, using such homeopathic remedies, in addition to dietary adjustments and treatments for the underlying condition or trigger, can be very beneficial for a cat suffering from liver disease. No matter what the underlying cause, however, treatment of liver disease often includes dietary adjustments and the use of supplements. Dietary adjustments can include changes to the amounts of vitamins, proteins, and fats that a cat eats. By ensuring that your pet is receiving proper nutrition, its overall health will improve and the amount of stress placed on the liver will be reduced. In addition to changes to a cat's diet, homeopathic remedies can also be helpful with regards to treating feline liver disease. Natural substances such as milk thistle can have a very beneficial effect on a diseased liver. For example, this natural ingredient helps to reinforce and protect the liver, while promoting its regenerative abilities. As a result, using such homeopathic remedies, in addition to dietary adjustments and treatments for the underlying condition or trigger, can be very beneficial for a cat suffering from liver disease. Cat Liver Disease (Feline Liver Disease) Signs and Symptoms A cat's liver is a large and vital organ that plays a role in countless different biochemical and physiological pathways. Digestion, immune regulation, and the elimination of toxins are just a few of the many functions that the liver takes part in. Since this organ is involved in so many different physiological tasks, it's not surprising that there are a variety of negative consequences when liver disease develops. However, it takes time for these negative effects to become apparent, as the liver has a great reserve capacity. As a result of this characteristic, liver disease generally does not begin to show itself until two-thirds or more of the organ is affected. When cat liver disease progresses to the stage where it begins to become outwardly apparent, the afflicted animal will typically display a number of different warning signs. Many of the symptoms are quite vague, but some are more specific. Some of the more general warning signs that a cat may exhibit when suffering from liver disease include weight loss and a loss of appetite. In some cases, a cat may even completely refuse to eat. Listlessness and lethargy are also common when a cat is sick with this disease. Other warning signs may include vomiting and diarrhea, as well as increased water intake (polydipsia) and increased urination (polyuria). Some cats with liver disease may experience fluid buildup in the abdomen, leading to a potbellied appearance. In addition, certain behavioral changes may be exhibited. For example, a cat may circle or tilt its head or even experience a seizure, especially after meals. While many of these symptoms are very vague and variable and can also be indicators of several medical conditions other than liver disease, there is one symptom in particular that more specifically points to liver disease. This symptom is jaundice, the yellowing of the eyes, gums, and skin. Jaundice is caused by unusually high levels of bilirubin, a bile pigment, in the bloodstream and often arises in the more advanced stages of liver disease. If you observe your cat displaying any of the above warning signs, it's important to contact your veterinarian immediately. One or more of these symptoms could indicate that your pet is suffering from a serious medical condition such as feline liver disease. There are a number of steps that a veterinarian will take in order to arrive at a diagnosis of cat liver disease. To begin with, the practitioner will conduct a thorough physical exam. Generally, this will be followed by blood and urine tests. There is a multitude of different test that can be performed on a single blood sample when a case of feline liver disease is suspected. For instance, liver enzymes can be tested, and their levels can indicate whether or not any liver damage has occurred. Some enzymes that may be checked include alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and serum alkaline phosphatase. However, since liver enzyme levels can be elevated as result of a variety of other illnesses, such tests are not enough on their own to confirm the presence of liver disease. Bilirubin levels can also be measured through the use of a blood sample. If this bile pigment is present in unusually large amounts, this may indicate that liver disease is hampering the normal flow of bile. Albumin is another substance that may also be measured when checking for liver disease. Albumin is a protein manufactured by the liver, and low levels in the bloodstream can suggest the presence of either liver disease or kidney disease. Similar to blood tests, urine tests can also measure the levels of a number of different substances. Once again, unusually high or low levels may point toward liver disease. If the blood and urine tests do indeed suggest the presence of liver disease, other tools such as x-ray and ultrasound may then be employed. These imaging technologies can be used to view the structure of the liver, revealing any abnormalities with regards to the organ's shape or opacity, as well as revealing the presence of stones in the gallbladder. In some cases, a biopsy may be necessary in order to reach a definitive diagnosis. In such circumstances, a sample of the cat's liver will be obtained so that it can be directly studied and tested. Metabolism is one of the important physiological functions that require input from the liver. This organ works with the circulatory system, lymphatic system, and endocrine system to manage metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Nutrients are absorbed in the intestines and transported into the liver by way of the portal vein. Once in the liver, nutrients are broken down further so they can be utilized by the rest of the body. Furthermore, most proteins are assembled in the liver from amino acids. These proteins are then transported to other parts of the body where they carry out numerous vital functions. With respect to carbohydrate metabolism, the liver synthesizes glucose and glycogen through the processes of gluconeogenesis, glycogenolysis, and glycogenolysis. In the case of fats or lipids, this organ regulates levels of fatty acids and produces triglycerides. Also, the liver is responsible for manufacturing approximately half of the body's cholesterol. Much of this cholesterol is used to make bile, which is then stored in the gallbladder. In addition to the many metabolic processes that take place in this organ, several different vitamins are also stored in the liver. Many of these vitamins require activation by this organ before they will perform their functions. Some such vitamins include vitamins C, D, and E. Yet another important function performed by the liver is detoxification. This is a complex process with many different facets and phases, and it serves to remove toxins, bacteria, and damaged red blood cells. One of the most interesting aspects of the liver is its great reserve capacity. This means that the organ's functions can be carried out quite well even when much of it is not functioning properly. This also means that signs and symptoms of liver disease often do not become apparent until at least two-thirds of the liver is no longer operating normally. However, the liver also has great regenerative abilities, allowing for healing and the restoration of normal function in many cases. There are a number of different factors and causes that can trigger feline liver disease. In some case, damage to this organ may result from trauma, such as being hit by a car. Heatstroke and a diaphragmatic hernia are other possible forms of trauma that can trigger this disease. Drugs or toxins can also cause feline liver disease. Such drugs include some medications that are perfectly safe for other species but are very harmful for cats. For example, acetaminophen (Tylenol), phenobarbital (an epilepsy medication), and glucocorticoids (cortisone) can all have a toxic effect on a cat's liver. Tumors are also capable of causing liver disease in cats. Cancer that triggers this condition can be primary (arising within the liver) or secondary (arriving through the process of metastasis). Other medical conditions can also lead to liver disease. Heartworms, for example, can cause blockages, preventing blood from flowing into the liver. Pancreatitis and numerous bacterial, viral, and fungal infections can also give rise to this disease in cats. Thus, feline liver disease can be caused and triggered by a multitude of different factors and conditions. The type of treatment required in a case of cat liver disease will depend upon the underlying cause of the condition. For instance, if heartworms are causing the problems with the liver, the feline patient will need to be taken to a veterinarian and treated for heartworm. If a bacterial infection is the underlying cause, antibiotics may be required in order to fight the infection. Once the cause or condition is effectively treated, the liver will often regenerate itself, restoring proper function. No matter what the underlying cause, however, treatment of liver disease often includes dietary adjustments and the use of supplements. Dietary adjustments can include changes to the amounts of vitamins, proteins, and fats that a cat eats. By ensuring that your pet is receiving proper nutrition, its overall health will improve and the amount of stress placed on the liver will be reduced. In addition to changes to a cat's diet, homeopathic remedies can also be helpful with regards to treating feline liver disease. Natural substances such as milk thistle can have a very beneficial effect on a diseased liver. For example, this natural ingredient helps to reinforce and protect the liver, while promoting its regenerative abilities. As a result, using such homeopathic remedies, in addition to dietary adjustments and treatments for the underlying condition or trigger, can be very beneficial for a cat suffering from liver disease.

Shale Plays, Risk Analysis and Other Perils of Conventional Thinking: Haynesville Shale Sizzle Turns to Fizzle In mid-July 2008, the United States somewhat unexpectedly discovered that it had an oversupply of natural gas, and prices fell sharply. Jen Snyder, head of Wood Mackenzie Ltd’s North American Gas Research Group, recently said that the development of shale gas plays has caused "a significant potential over-supply" (Oil and Gas Journal, December 1, 2008). Shale plays had become increasingly irresistable to the North American industry before prices fell this summer. Many traditional E&P companies, including some majors, decided to become shale players, and many are still considering the possiblity despite low gas prices. The global financial crisis has accentuated the aversion to risk that fueled shale plays to begin with, and it seems that no one now wants to pursue anything but shale. In the first half of July, spot gas prices were more than $13.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). Six weeks later, the price had fallen below $8.00, and in March 2009, it is around $4.25/MMBtu. Some analysts predict that gas prices will average $4.00-6.00/MMBtu range at least through the end of 2010. A total of 1,966 horizontally-drilled producing wells from the Barnett Shale were evaluated to determine commercial gas reserves using standard decline methods. Based on this analysis, only 30% of Barnett Shale wells will realize revenues that meet or exceed drilling, completion and operating costs in the most-likely case based on assumptions incorporated into a 10% net present value (NPV10) economic model. The economic model includes per-well drilling and completion costs of $3.25 million, a wellhead gas price of $6.25/MMbtu (the average spot sales price for 2007), 75% net revenue interest, 7.5% Texas severance tax, and $1.25/Mcfg lease operating and overhead cost. These assumptions are consistent with information published in 10-K U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings by key Barnett Shale operators. The model requires per-well cumulative production of about 1,325 MMcfg over 10 years to reach an economic threshold. An early analysis of 20 horizontally drilled wells in the Haynesville Shale play in Louisiana and parts of adjacent East Texas suggests a disappointing outcome because of extremely high decline rates. Average monthly decline rates are 24%, with 75% of wells declining 20-35% per month. The impressive initial production rates (IP) for these wells do not, therefore, necessarily translate into high reserves (actual daily production rates from the maximum 30-day period were, in fact, about 20% lower than reported IPs). Fifteen Haynesville Shale wells had sufficient production history to analyze using standard rate-versus-time decline methods. Estimated ultimately recoverable reserves (EUR) averaged 1.5 Bcfg, and 67% of wells had reserves between 0.5 and 1.5 Bcf. These results indicate that Haynesville Shale reserves will be about the same as Barnett Shale wells at approximately twice the cost to lease, drill and complete. I have struggled to understand the appeal of shale plays based on economic factors, and thought that low gas prices would greatly reduce activity. At $10.00/MMBtu, about half of horizontally drilled and fractue-stimulated Barnett Shale wells were commercial so, while prices were rising even higher, shale plays made some sense. At current prices, however, only about 11% of Barnett wells pay out, and all indications are that prices will fall lower or, at best, remain at current levels. While leasing has largely stopped, drilling continues*, and enthusiasm from both companies and analysts seems strong, at least for the Barnett, Haynesville and Fayetteville shales. How can we understand what is happening with shale plays? The diffusion model of innovation (Ryan and Gross, 1943; Rogers, 1962) shows that people adopt new ideas and technologies slowly, and that only about 5% of people make the decision to adopt based on information. The other 95% decide because of the the views of opinion leaders in the community, and on the eventual social momentum that develops—what Malcolm Gladwell called the “tipping point”. The 5% who base decisions on information in the diffusion model are critical thinkers; the rest are conventional thinkers. What causes people to decide to abandon an idea that almost everyone previously accepted? It is reasonable that only critical thinkers make this decision based on information, and that conventional thinkers follow in what may become a stampede. Thomas Kuhn (1962) explained that scientists resist abandoning a ruling theory in favor of a new paradigm with a kind of orthodox fervor of conventional thinking, and often ostracize those critical thinkers who point out problems with the existing model. At some point, when opinion shifts to support a new paradigm, the previous theory is unceremoniously dropped, and its remaining supporters are criticized as dinosaurs. It is useful to review some of the history of how our industry arrived in its present state. The collapse of oil prices in 1982-1986, and the ensuing 13 years of over-supply and low prices created an environment in the E&P business where cutting cost and reducing risk were paramount. Thousands of jobs were lost, and companies disappeared as layoffs, reorganizations, mergers and consolidation became the core business of oil and gas companies. As oil prices slowly recovered in the late 1990s, risk analysis teams were formed to manage technical work. Executives abdicated their technical responsibilities to risk committees, and turned their attention to buiness models. With the help of consultants, they envisioned companies in which exploration and production would become a manufacturing operation, and risk was eliminated. Execution was paramount, standardization was essential, and new geological ideas were unnecessary. The new vision for the E&P business represented the victory of conventional over critical thinking. Shale plays not only satisfied this model, but also solved the perennial E&P problem of being opportunity-constrained: because shale is practically ubiquitous, there are no limits to what can be spent pursuing new and existing opportunities. This shift was widely supported by the capital investment community because of the low perceived risk, and the fact that non-scientists could understand the play. Returning to the present, myths about the current state of domestic E&P must be clarified in order to put shale plays in context. These plays are an important component of domestic natural gas production, but represent a relatively small—though growing—portion of the total gas supply. Even among unconventional gas resources, tight gas and coal-bed methane dominate production. Second, these plays involve considerable risk. The fact that 75% of wells are commercial failures at current gas prices is a tangible risk. Great emphasis is placed on engineering ideas and technology, but it seems that concern for geological and geophysical understanding is uneven among shale players. All shale plays are different, and require unique approaches based on thermal maturity, structural factors, fracturability, and identification of sweet spots. Third, economic models must be aligned with full-cycle PV10 industry standards. Wood MacKenzie’s Snyder says that established shale plays have "sufficient volumes available at a development break-even price of $5.50/MMbtu or below" (Oil and Gas Journal, December 1, 2008). I don’t believe that. I do not know any credible industry analysts who believe that shale plays are commercial below $7.50. The only way to arrive at the thresholds that Snyder mentions is to understate or ignore current levels of capital expenditure, as well as general and administrative, lease operation, midstream, and discounted capital costs, or to inflate rates and reserves beyond what can be supported by performance history. Additionally, the over-supply of natural gas that analysts describe may be relative, and that would be positive for shale plays. Spot prices rose to $13.00/MMcf because of an imbalance between supply and demand. Prices fell when about 2 Bcfd of additional supply came online from the Independence Hub, Thunder Horse and Tahiti in the offshore Gulf of Mexico, in addition to increased unconventional gas production, including shale gas. Monthly natural gas production over the past year averaged approximately 1.75 Tcf. The additional 2-3 Bcfd that produced an over-supply is only 3.5-5.5% of total production. Many circumstances might quickly upset the supply-demand balance and result in higher prices. At the same time, the global financial crisis will probably reduce demand, and somewhat offset other factors that may favor rising price. The point, however, is that the difference between what the market perceives as over- and under-supply can be razor thin. Finally, gas rig counts and rates have fallen sharply in recent months from more than 1,600 in September 2008 to 970 in late February 2009. Some predict that rig counts may fall to 800-900 in coming months. Unconventional wells have steep decline rates, and any decrease in drilling will quickly result in dramatically lower gas production from these plays. That, in turn, will affect supply, and prices could rise, but may also expose the ephemeral contribution of unconventional gas sources to total natural gas supply. There is little doubt that Shale Plays are likely to be important for some time. I hope that operators will continue to learn how to reduce cost, optimize production, and better incorporate geology and geophysics into their play strategies. It is not certain that the U.S. has a long-term over-supply of natural gas, or that today’s surplus is chiefly because of shale gas production. Shale plays represent a disturbing tendency in the E&P business away from critical thinking. The belief in reward without risk is irrational. Failure to acknowledge the marginal economics of the play is bewildering. Unless opinion leaders confront the underlying economic and geological risks of these plays, I fear that a financial crisis may develop that will discredit the E&P industry. *Barnett Shale completions have dropped from about 250 wells/month in May 2008 to approximately 125 wells/month in late 2008. Posted by Arthur E. Berman Sir, can you indicate which wells you reviewed or how many fracs/well (hz) or whether they were vertical producers. Many thanksFrac Guy////Fifteen Haynesville Shale wells had sufficient production history to analyze using standard rate-versus-time decline methods. Estimated ultimately recoverable reserves (EUR) averaged 1.5 Bcfg, and 67% of wells had reserves between 0.5 and 1.5 Bcf. Oh, I think there may be a chance that there are more than 5% of critical thinkers driving the interests in persuing more natural gas. The fact that we may have enough energy to power the entire US for up to two years by eploiting the natural gas resources aformentioned and in the Marcellus Shale play provide a key role. We have thirty years (potentially) for energy sources in our own country to power us if we continue our exploration. Then what? I don't know, but to me, the critical thinkers have already thought about this. Thus, your uncanny interests in persuing energy that has hit extremly low pay levels (for now). To me, a better critical thinking question would have to be, "why and how in the hell could an mcf of natural gas be priced as low as it is today when it can be spent in its entireity within thirty years if we make the commitment to get off of our forign oil that runs our country?" Even as the richest nation of natural gas, it's not going to be enough. Think about that...critically Thank you very much for having the courage to publish your vision of the truth as a professional geologist. Obviously, you are going against the grain of the oil and gas promotion culture, which tends to shrug off any transgressions or overblown reserve estimates that tend to produce cash. On the other hand, but the culture will come down on you like a ton of bricks if you raise doubts that could be considered negative. Tis is clear from the personal attacks on you posted on the internet.Petrohawk continues to claim the average Eagleford Wells will cum 5.5 BCF. Where is the rage out there concerning this wild overstatement? There is none because to question this could personally damage ones career. One could be “mini blackballed” for publishing this type of info. In my opinion, the culture is all about selfish greed and lack of integrity. This is what the oil and gas culture has descended to. It’s all about the money. Keep up the good work and be true to yourself. I appreciate your work very much and time will prove you correct. I have no doubt about that.

Profile: John Krummel (Hobart and William Smith Colleges) Peter D. Hershock, Carolyn M. Jones Medine, Ugo Dessi, Melanie L. Harris, John W. M. Krummel & Erin McCarthy (2014). Buddhist Responses to Globalization. Lexington Books.No categories My bibliography Export citation Nishida Kitarō & John W. M. Krummel (2012). The Unsolved Issue of ConsciousnessThe Unsolved Issue of Consciousness. Philosophy East and West 62 (1).The following essay, “The Unsolved Issue of Consciousness” (Torinokosaretaru ishiki no mondai 取残されたる意識の問題), by Nishida Kitarō 西田幾多郎 from 1927 is significant in regard to the development of what has come to be called “Nishida philosophy” (Nishida tetsugaku 西田哲学). In what follows, in addition to providing some commentary on the important points of his essay, I would like to show its relevance or significance not only for those who would like to study Nishida’s thought but also for philosophy in general, especially (...) in the contemporary setting. It was first published in 1927 by Iwanami Publishers in a collection of essays by different authors, Philosophical Essays in Commemoration of the Sixtieth Birthday of Dr. .. (shrink)Japanese Philosophy in Asian PhilosophyTranslate to English | Direct download My bibliography Export citation Nishida Kitarō & John W. M. Krummel (2012). The Unsolved Issue of Consciousness. Philosophy East and West 62 (1):44-51.This essay by Nishida Kitarō from 1927, translated into English here for the first time, is from the initial period of what has come to be called “Nishida philosophy” (Nishida tetsugaku), when Nishida was first developing his conception of “place” (basho). Nishida here inquires into the relationship between logic and consciousness in terms of place and implacement in order to overcome the shortcomings of previous philosophical attempts—from the ancient Greeks to the moderns—to dualistically conceive the relationship between being and knowing (...) in terms of subject-object or form-matter. During the course of articulating his novel approach to consciousness and cognition, Nishida discusses what he takes to be the weaknesses of Greek hylomorphism, Kantian (and neo-Kantian) dualism, and Husserlian phenomenology. Dissatisfied with the attribution of mere passivity to placiality, and turning away from consciousness objectified as a subject of statement, Nishida imparts to consciousness qua place a certain logical independence as an active yet un-objectifiable “predicate.” This investigation of consciousness as the unobjectifiable place for objectification leads Nishida to the notion of what precedes consciousness itself, a “place of nothing” (mu no basho) that envelops the dichotomized structures of subject-predicate, being-nothing, subject-object, universal-particular, et cetera. (shrink)Japanese Philosophy in Asian Philosophy Direct download (6 more) My bibliography Export citation John W. M. Krummel (2012). Neglected Themes and Hidden Variations (Review). Philosophy East and West 62 (2):297-300.Japanese Philosophy in Asian Philosophy Direct download (3 more) My bibliography Export citation John W. M. Krummel & Shigenori Nagatomo (eds.) (2012). Place and Dialectic: Two Essays by Nishida Kitaro. OUP USA.This book presents two essays by Nishida Kitaro, translated into English for the first time by John Krummel and Shigenori Nagatomo. Nishida is widely regarded as one of the father figures of modern Japanese philosophy and as the founder of the first distinctly Japanese school of philosophy, the Kyoto school, known for its synthesis of western philosophy, Christian theology, and Buddhist thought. The two essays included here are ''Basho'' from 1926/27 and ''Logic and Life'' from 1936/37. Each essay is divided (...) into several sections and each section is preceded by a synopsis added by the translators. The first essay represents the first systematic articulation of Nishida's philosophy of basho, literally meaning ''place,'' a system of thought that came to be known as ''Nishida philosophy.'' In the second essay, Nishida inquires after the pre-logical origin of what we call logic, which he suggests is to be found within the dialectical unfoldings of world-history and human society. A substantial introduction by John Krummel considers the significance of Nishida as a thinker, discusses the key components of Nishida's philosophy as a whole and its development throughout his life, and contextualizes the translated essays within his oeuvre. The Introduction also places Nishida and his work within the historical context of his time, and highlights the relevance of his ideas to the global circumstances of our day. The publication of these two essays by Nishida, a major figure in world philosophy and the most important philosopher of twentieth-century Japan, will be of significant value to the fields not only of Asian philosophy and East-West comparative philosophy but also of philosophy in general as well as of theology and religious studies. (shrink)Japanese Philosophy in Asian Philosophy Direct download My bibliography Export citation John W. M. Krummel (2011). The Originary Wherein: Heidegger and Nishida on the Sacred and the Religious. Research in Phenomenology 40 (3):378-407.In this paper, I explore a possible convergence between two great twentieth century thinkers, Nishida Kitarō of Japan and Martin Heidegger of Germany. The focus is on the quasi-religious language they employ in discussing the grounding of human existence in terms of an encompassing Wherein for our being. Heidegger speaks of “the sacred” and “the passing of the last god” that mark an empty clearing wherein all metaphysical absolutes or gods have withdrawn but are simultaneously indicative of an opening wherein (...) beings are given. Nishida speaks of “the religious” dimension in the depths of one's being, that he calls “place,” and that somehow envelops the world through its kenotic self-negation. In both we find reference to a kind of originary space—the open or place—associated with quasireligious themes. I also point to their distinct approaches to metaphysical language in their attempts to give voice to that abysmal thought. (shrink)Japanese Philosophy in Asian Philosophy Martin Heidegger in Continental Philosophy Direct download (4 more) My bibliography Export citation John W. M. Krummel (2010). Transcendent or Immanent? Significance and History of Li in Confucianism. Journal of Chinese Philosophy 37 (3):417-437.This paper investigates the meaning of the neo-Confucian concept of 'li'. From early on, it has the sense of a pattern designating how things are and ought to be. But it takes on the appearance of something transcendent to the world only at a certain point in history, when it becomes juxtaposed to 'qi'. Zhu Xi has been criticized for this 'li-qi' dichotomization and the transcendentalization of 'li'. The paper re-examines this putative dualism and transcendentalism, looking into both Zhu's discussions (...) and pre- and post-Zhu discussions of 'li', and concludes it to be an inter-connective threading immanent to the world. (shrink)Chinese Philosophy: Metaphysics and Epistemology in Asian Philosophy Neo-Confucianism, Misc in Asian Philosophy Direct download (5 more) My bibliography Export citation John W. M. Krummel (2005). Praxis of the Middle. International Philosophical Quarterly 45 (4):517-535.This paper considers the controversy surrounding the Buddhist doctrine of “no-self” (anattā, anātman), and especially the question of whether the Buddha himself meant by it unequivocally the ontological denial of the self. The emergence of this doctrine is connected with the Buddha’s attempt to forge a “middle way” that avoids the extreme views of “eternalism” in regards to the soul and “annihilationism” of the soul at bodily death. By looking at the earliest works of the Pāli canon, three of the (...) five Nikāyas (Dīgha, Majjhima, and Sayutta) along with later Abhidharmist developments, my discussion shows that its original intent was not explicitly ontological. The intent was more practical than theoretical, with the aim of bringing about a freedom from attachment to such theories as eternalism and annihilationism. The Buddha’s “middle” position was, hence, a praxis towards freedom rather than a theoria about the existence or non-existence of the self. (shrink)Buddhism in Philosophy of Religion Direct download (4 more) My bibliography Export citation John W. M. Krummel & Douglas L. Berger (2005). Thinking in Transition: Nishida Kitaro and Martin Heidegger Elmar Weinmayr. Philosophy East and West 55:232-256.No categoriesDirect download (2 more) My bibliography Export citation Elmar Weinmayr, tr Krummel, John W. M. & Douglas Ltr Berger (2005). Thinking in Transition: Nishida Kitaro and Martin Heidegger. Philosophy East and West 55 (2):232-256.: Two major philosophers of the twentieth century, the German existential phenomenologist Martin Heidegger and the seminal Japanese Kyoto School philosopher Nishida Kitarō are examined here in an attempt to discern to what extent their ideas may converge. Both are viewed as expressing, each through the lens of his own tradition, a world in transition with the rise of modernity in the West and its subsequent globalization. The popularity of Heidegger's thought among Japanese philosophers, despite its own admitted limitation to (...) the Western "history of being," is connected to Nishida's opening of a uniquely Japanese path in its confrontation with Western philosophy. The focus is primarily on their later works (the post-Kehre Heidegger and the works of Nishida that have been designated "Nishida philosophy"), in which each in his own way attempts to overcome the subject-object dichotomy inherited from the tradition of Western metaphysics by looking to a deeper structure from out of which both subjectivity and objectivity are derived and which embraces both. For Heidegger, the answer lies in being as the opening of unconcealment, from out of which beings emerge, and for Nishida, it is the place of nothingness within which beings are co-determined in their oppositions and relations. Concepts such as Nishida's "discontinuous continuity," "absolutely self-contradictory identity" (between one and many, whole and part, world and things), the mutual interdependence of individuals, and the self-determination of the world through the co-relative self-determination of individuals, and Heidegger's "simultaneity" (zugleich) and "within one another" (ineinander) (of unconcealment and concealment, presencing and absencing), and their "between" (Zwischen) and "jointure" (Fuge) are examined. Through a discussion of these ideas, the suggestion is made of a possible "transition" (Übergang) of both Western and Eastern thinking, in their mutual encounter, both in relation to each other and each in relation to its own past history, leading to both a self-discovery in the other and to a simultaneous self-reconstitution. (shrink)Japanese Philosophy in Asian Philosophy Martin Heidegger in Continental Philosophy Direct download (5 more) My bibliography Export citation John W. M. Krummel (2004). Emptiness and Experience: Pure and Impure. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 4 (1):57-76.This paper discusses the idea of "pure experience" within the context of the Buddhist tradition and in connection with the notions of emptiness and dependent origination via a reading of Dale Wright's reading of 'Huangbo' in his 'Philosophical Meditations on Zen Buddhism'. The purpose is to appropriate Wright's text in order to engender a response to Steven Katz's contextualist-constructivist thesis that there are no "pure" (i.e., unmediated) experiences. In light of the Mahayana claim that everything is empty of substance, i.e., (...) originates dependently through conditions, contingencies, and contexts, what does the "purity" of the Enlightenment experience mean for Chan/Zen Buddhism? (shrink)Chinese Philosophy: Topics, Misc in Asian Philosophy Direct download (4 more) My bibliography Export citation BibTeX / EndNote / RIS / etc

Food allergies not tied to eczema for most Apr 13, 2011 By Julie Deardorff Eczema is notoriously difficult to treat in children. The torturous dry-skin disease causes intense itching and sleeplessness, and sometimes parents try making dietary changes in addition or in place of conventional treatments. For about one-third of eczema patients, specific foods - dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and fish - can trigger flare-ups. But the majority of kids with eczema don't have any food allergies. Restricting or eliminating common foods from the diet, meanwhile, is often unnecessary and can pose a nutritional risk, according to a recent study in The Journal of Pediatrics. "We're seeing a growing number of patients placed on strict, unproven food-elimination diets that have led to poor weight gain and malnutrition," said Dr. David Fleischer, an assistant professor of pediatrics at National Jewish Health in Denver and the study's lead author. While the overly restrictive diets are chosen for a variety of reasons, the most common cause appears to be an "overreliance on immunoassay (blood) tests," he said. Blood and skin tests, which are often used to diagnose food allergies, can produce false positives, leading families down the wrong path. In Fleischer's study, his team gave the children the suspected allergenic food, a gold standard test known as the oral food challenge. In 86 percent of the cases where they performed oral food challenges, they were able to restore the food that had been eliminated from the child's diet. "You can't just depend on a blood test to guide therapy," said Dr. Bill Berger, a professor of allergy and immunology at the University of California at Irvine. "There is a difference between showing clinical sensitivity on a test as opposed to an allergic reaction" Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, first appears during infancy, usually on the face. As children get older, it can affect the hands, feet and creases inside the elbows and behind the knees. "The lesions are a result of the scratching," said Berger. "Certain areas of the body are more affected because they're easier to reach. If we don't control the itching, we never get the eczema under control." That, of course, is the hard part. The dry and irritated skin begs to be scratched. Scratching, in turn, makes the skin more vulnerable to allergens, irritants, pollutants and infections caused by bacteria and viruses. Though there's no cure, eczema can be controlled with anti-inflammatory treatment and often disappears before age 2. Parents whose children have eczema should brace themselves for further allergies: Of the approximately 15 million people in the U.S. who have eczema, about half will develop respiratory allergies. DEALING WITH ECZEMA Bathe in bleach. Patients with eczema often have staphylococcal infections on their skin, the bacteria that causes and worsens infection. Giving children diluted bleach baths significantly reduced the severity of their eczema and prevented flare-ups by killing the bacteria on the body arms and legs, according to researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Interestingly, the face, which was not submerged in the bath, did not improve. In the study, the children soaked in about half a cup of bleach in a full, standard-size tub, twice a week for about five to 10 minutes. Try wet wrap therapy. For severe cases - eczema that covers the body - applying wet wraps after bathing may help stop the itch-scratch cycle. At National Jewish, patients are given topical steroid medicine after soaking; they then dress in a wet layer of clothing against the skin covered by a dry layer. The wet wraps, which have a cooling, anti-itch effect, are rewet or taken off when they start to dry out, said Fleischer. For facial eczema, nurses will wrap the face with wet gauze and surgical netting. "The wet wraps can clear the infection without needing antibiotics," said Fleischer. Michelle Stevens first noticed the red, blotchy patches on her toddler's feet after he started walking. Every time Noah walked outdoors in their grassy backyard, the blotches appeared. Our little boy had such terrible eczema from the time he was a baby until he was almost three. He went to many docs, took meds and had a lot of misleading tests done and the one and only thing that really helped him so much was his Belly Boost (a children's chewable probiotic). I am so grateful we found it and I know that many of his intolerances were tied to this for him. He does have actual allergies too t hough and we will always avoid those foods.

NASA sees a 'hot tower' in newborn eastern Pacific Tropical Depression 2E May 21, 2012 Enlarge When NASA's TRMM satellite passed over TD02E on May 21, 2012, at 08:50 UTC (4:50 a.m. EDT), data revealed a hot tower over 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) high. TRMM also measured rainfall within the tropical depression, and found that isolated areas of heavy rain (falling at a rate of 2 inches/50 mm per hour (appearing in red)) were seen in the northwestern quadrant of the storm. Light to moderate rainfall was falling at a rate between .78 inches and 1.57 inches per hour (20 to 40 mm). Credit: NASA/TRMM, Hal Pierce "Hot Tower" rain clouds within a tropical cyclone indicate that the storm is going to intensify, and that's what NASA's TRMM satellite spotted in newborn Tropical Depression 2E (TD2E) in the eastern Pacific Ocean. A "hot tower" is a rain cloud that reaches at least to the top of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. It extends approximately nine miles (14.5 km) high in the tropics. These towers are called "hot" because they rise to such altitude due to the large amount of latent heat. Water vapor releases this latent heat as it condenses into liquid. NASA scientists, using data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, found that a tropical cyclone with a hot tower in its eyewall was twice as likely to intensify within the next six hours, than a cyclone that lacked a tower. The "eyewall" is the ring of clouds around a cyclone's central eye. When NASA's TRMM satellite passed over TD02E on May 21, 2012 at 08:50 UTC (4:50 a.m. EDT), data revealed a hot tower over 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) high. That's an indication that the storm is going to intensify, and that's one factor that forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are using in their forecast, which calls for TD02E to become a tropical storm later in the day on May 21. TRMM also measured rainfall within the tropical depression, and found that isolated areas of heavy rain (falling at a rate of 2 inches/50 mm per hour) were seen in the northwestern quadrant of the storm. Light-to-moderate rainfall was falling throughout the rest of the storm. At 5 a.m. EDT on May 21, TD02E had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph. It was centered about 520 miles (835 km) south of Acapulco, Mexico, near 9.4 North and 100.1 West. It was moving to the west near 6 mph (9 kph) and had a minimum central pressure of 1005 millibars. The forecasters at the National Hurricane center predict TD 02E will turn to the west-northwest and northwest, while speeding up. TD02E is also expected to strengthen into a tropical storm, and into a hurricane later in the week. Residents of west central Mexico should monitor the progress of this storm. Explore further: Agriculture's growing effects on rain

Asthma monitoring on the Web Aug 22, 2008 An inexpensive web-enabled device for measuring lung function in patients with asthma and other disorders is being developed by researchers at Texas Instruments, in Bangalore, India, and co-workers. Writing in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, the team explains how the devise could allow physicians to monitor their patients remotely and quickly instigate medical attention in an emergency. Spirometers are commonly used to measure lung capacity and the response of breathing during therapy. However, the widespread application of spirometers is limited in the developing world and in remote regions because of the high instrument cost of the instrument and a lack of specialist healthcare workers trained in its use. Texas Instruments researcher N.C.S. Ramachandran is an expert in high-speed and low-power digital design and is working with professor of electrical engineering Vivek Agarwal of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, on the development of an inexpensive and easy to operate spirometer that can be quickly hooked up to an internet connection through built-in web and data encryption software. Simply monitoring cough and wheezing in asthma sufferers does not always provide an accurate assessment of the severity of their symptoms. Breathing tests carried out using a spirometer, on the other hand, are much more accurate and can provide a clear indication of whether or not medication is being effective. The team has developed the device as a low-cost, portable spirometer built around a pressure sensor for detecting airflow. The sensor is fabricated using technology similar to that for manufacturing computer chips and is based on microelectromechanical system (MEMS). The MEMS spirometer can measures the flow and volume of air moving in and out of the patient's lungs. The use of mass production techniques for making the MEMS sensor, means the device can be inexpensive (a few dollars per unit), small, and so portable. Embedding of the necessary electronics and software to allow it to connect to a computer and the Web make it ideal for remote monitoring by a patient's healthcare worker. "Not only can the remotely located patient consult a specialist," the researchers say, "the specialist too can instruct the patient for specific test procedures and treatment."

With holidays approaching, TV prices to drop slightly Oct 08, 2010 By Nathan Olivarez-Giles Prices on big-screen TVs will be going down in time for holiday shopping this year, but don't expect the dramatic discounts of 2009, when they fell 20 percent. This year, according to research firm DisplaySearch, prices for high-definition televisions will drop about 8 percent, which means you'll be able to pick up a 32-inch LCD model for an average price of about $360 and a 55-inch set for an average of about $1,675. It would be nice for U.S. retailers if the relatively soft discounting could be blamed on booming business, but forecasters predict that sales this year will be flat compared with 2009, in part because so many households already have high-definition televisions. Indeed, there's a surplus of unsold TVs in the country. "It seems like it would make sense to drop prices on TVs when you have a warehouse full of them," said DisplaySearch analyst Paul Gagnon. "But that's not the whole story." Blame the near-steady prices this year, mostly, on good retail sales in 2009, when two factors boosted HDTVs. First, there was the advent of government-mandated, all-digital broadcasting in June of that year. Many people took that opportunity to get rid of their old analog sets and go digital. Second, prices fell so much by the holidays that it made HDTVs irresistible to many, even in the midst of a sad economy. "Those two things resulted in supply shortages," Gagnon said. "That drove up costs from suppliers, and that drove prices of TVs to stay flat or, in some cases, increase. But then demand dropped off and boxes are stacking up, and it seems everyone made too much." Without the special market conditions that hit in 2009, there was not much to spark sales in the U.S. this year. "The reason that people buy TVs is either to replace an old TV that breaks or to add a new TV in the house," Gagnon said. "In the U.S., we're becoming a mature market, which means a lot of our TVs are now flat-panel TVs. The same thing is going on in Japan. "But in countries such as Brazil or China, not many homes have flat-panel TVs, and that's where we'll be seeing the market growth. This is a pattern we'll be seeing for the next couple of years and one we've seen before." The most hyped new television technology this year, by far, was 3-D. At the giant Consumer Electronics Show in January, almost every major TV manufacturer introduced 3-D-capable models at the high end. Also, 3-D Blu-ray disc players became available. The advent of 3-D has not shown any signs, however, of jump-starting sales in mature markets such as the U.S., said ISuppli analyst Riddhi Patel. "3-D TV; it's not a huge hit," Patel said. "It's a hard sell, and there are a lot of hidden costs that people don't want to take on right now." 3-D TV, like 3-D movies, can't be viewed properly without the use of special glasses to give the illusion of depth. In some cases, glasses come with the sets, but otherwise they have to be purchased a la carte. Also, not many TV shows or Blu-ray discs are available this year in the format. "The content is still not there. You have to buy each pair of glasses. You have to buy a 3-D Blu-ray player. You can't use the glasses across TV brands," Patel said. Of the 32 million HDTVs expected to be shipped to retailers in the U.S. this year, only about 1.2 million of those will be 3-D HDTVs, she said. A type of LCD TV that uses low-power LED backlighting is gaining in popularity, in part because it can be made especially thin for hanging on a wall. These LED-backlit sets are still more expensive than regular LCDs, but prices are narrowing. Last year, for example, the average price for a 55-inch, LED-backlit set was $2,311, according to DisplaySearch. That was about $900 more than a traditional LCD in that size. But this year the LED-backlit price average in the 55-inch size will be $1,849. That's only about $600 more than the regular LCD. An older technology that's been somewhat kicked to the sidelines by the popularity of LCD sets is plasma. But models using plasma screens, especially in large sets, are likely to have attractive pricing, said Richard Doherty, research director at consulting firm Envisioneering Group. "For the screen size, you can't beat the plasmas from Samsung, Panasonic and LG," he said. "They're about the last three companies still making plasmas, but they've come down in price and they are a real bargain." According to the DisplaySearch forecast, the average price for a 42-inch plasma set by the end of the year will be about $475. In comparison, an LCD set in that size will cost about $685. Plasma sets do use more electricity than LCDs, but not nearly as much as in past years. Also, plasma sets no longer suffer the screen burn-in and heat issues that dinged their reputation in the past. But if you're looking to save money in the long run, the way to go is LED-backlit, even though it will cost more initially. "LED-backlit TVs are still the most expensive, but within five years, those sets will pay for themselves in savings on your energy bill," Doherty said. "It's just a question of: Do you want to save some when you buy the TV or on the back end when you use the TV?"

The Logic of Empire Ludwig von Mises used to argue that a market economy regulated by governmental intervention, hailed by many as a middle path between socialism and laissez-faire, is an inherently unstable system: each additional interference with private commerce distorts the price system, leading to economic dislocations that must be addressed either by repealing the first intervention or by adding a second, and so on ad infinitum. I'm reminded of Mises' argument every time the boosters of America's current rush to empire tell us: "Well sure, maybe you dovish types are right when you say that the 9/11 attacks could have been avoided if we'd pursued a less provocative Middle East policy. But it's too late to debate that issue now. We can't turn back the clock; we have to deal with the situation as it currently exists. Given the threat we face now, we have to pursue that threat and eliminate it." The problem with this argument is that it's timeless. Hawks were saying things like this long before 9/11, about the threats that we faced then. Every time America goes off on one of its bombing or invading romps, resentment grows among the bombed and invaded. From this resentment sprout new threats to America's security. To protect against these threats, America engages in further bombing and invading, which creates still more resentment, which breeds still new threats, prompting still more bombing and invading, and so on ad infinitum. Mises' insight that interventions breed more interventions is as true in foreign policy as it is in domestic economy. And just as the logical endpoint of the cycle of economic interventions is complete socialism, so the logical endpoint of the cycle of military interventions is world conquest. In both cases, the only way to avoid the goal is to stop the cycle. A little over a century ago, the libertarian sociologist William Graham Sumner responded to the Spanish-American War with an address titled The Conquest of the United States by Spain. His thesis was that although the U.S. had defeated Spain on the battlefield, it had done so only at the cost of embracing an imperialist ideology like Spain's, thus in effect conceding defeat to Spain on the battlefield of ideas. I hope it's too early to start writing The Conquest of the United States by Iraq. But the U.S. has already become a lot more like Iraq since 9/11 than it was before. Civil liberties are under the most intense assault in a long while. Our Attorney General has sternly warned "those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty" that their "tactics only aid terrorists -- for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve." We don't yet have building-high posters of President Bush on every corner; but hey, it's a young century. Later mythologizers of Alexander have suggested that he was a cosmopolitan idealist who wanted to unify Greek and Persian culture. But there was plenty of cultural and commercial exchange going on between Greece and Persia already. All the killing and conquering seems de trop. When so many ancient Greeks made positive contributions to civilisation, why honour a megalomaniacal mass-murderer like Alexander? Why not a poet, like Homer or Sophocles? Why not a scientist, like Archimedes or Euclid? Why not a philosopher, like Socrates or Aristotle? Or, if they must pick a political figure, why not someone like Pericles or Demosthenes -- leaders who, whatever their flaws (and they had plenty), have at least some claim to be champions of freedom and progress? On second thought, though -- a 250-foot-high sculpture of Homer or Socrates or Demosthenes would be grotesque. It's not an honour they would have appreciated; indeed, I imagine they would have found the idea creepy and inappropriate. Alexander, by contrast, would have quite liked the idea of having his oversized phiz immortalised in towering rock. But we must we give Alexander everything he wants? He was trouble enough while he was alive. Let him persuade his fellow wraiths in Hades to build him a monument there. The best line in tonight's live address from the most puissant Emperor George II to his lowly subjects was its first line: "Tonight I want to discuss a grave threat to peace: America's determination to lead the world." But then it turned out that he hadn't finished the sentence. Oh well. Still, the Emperor spoke truer than he intended; his speech showed exactly how and why the current American regime is indeed a grave threat to peace. The speech's main purpose was evidently to explain why Iraq in particular should be the target of U.S. military force, given that the world is full of nasty countries run by nasty people. Thus the Emperor set out the case for why "Iraq is unique." Unfortunately, the Emperor's list of points intended to prove Iraq's uniqueness proves just the opposite: each of those points applies to the United States as well. Iraq possesses a massive stockpile of missiles and chemical weapons (don't we?) Iraq is trying to "control the Middle East" (aren't we?) Iraq has given support to terrorists (what has U.S. foreign policy been for the last fifty years?) Iraq has "invaded a small neighbour" (remember Grenada? or Panama?) Iraq's government has used poison gas against its own citizens (remember Waco?) Iraq's government uses torture and rape as a tool of political oppression (wow, sounds like one of our client states!)(oh wait, Iraq used to be one of our client states, didn't it?) To sum it all up: Iraq is run by a "homicidal regime" -- so Emperor George II solemnly informs us in the very speech in which he himself is proposing mass homicide. (Interestingly, he didn't mention Iraq's oil. But then, the United States has oil too.) There were some charges specific to Iraq, however. For example, the Emperor continued to assert the existence of links between al-Qaeda and Iraq -- an assertion which has often been made, but for which the evidence has never been released. (But if you can't trust the Emperor, whom can you trust?) Among Iraq's other sins against America: Saddam Hussein wants "nukuler" weapons (like many imperial rulers, George II has never fully mastered the language of his subjects), and -- shockingly! -- the Iraqi military has fired on American bombers in Iraqi airspace. How impertinent, that a country against which we have been waging war for over a decade should seek to defend itself. The nerve of those guys! Plus, there's the possibility that Hussein might provide aid to people who want to bomb civilians in America. Evil, evil. Of course, when our government bombs civilians in Iraq, that's different. The Emperor didn't explain how, exactly, but it must be different, because, well, Iraq is bad (as George I might have said). America, of course, is made of nobler stuff. We are, the Emperor intoned reassuringly, "a friend to the people of Iraq." (It's a good thing he explained that, since the bombings and the forced starvation might have given some Iraqis the wrong idea.) Nevertheless, America has "never allowed the brutal and lawless to set history's course." (Can you say "Yalta," anyone?) Hence our nation's imperial ruler must chastise Iraq's "defiance." Therefore in fierce tempest is he coming, in thunder and earthquake, like a Jove, that, if requiring fail, he will compel. The Emperor set out to convince us that Saddam Hussein is a dangerous and self-aggrandising ruler, a threat to peace and stability. He succeeded in convincing me. But the Emperor's further inference -- that the key to achieving peace and stability lies in giving still more power to another dangerous and self-aggrandising ruler and authorising him to drag both the American and the Iraqi people into the path of indiscriminate violence and destruction -- well, that part was just too subtle for me. Who Says Freedom Isn't Free? As the United States goes careening headlong toward empire abroad and a police state at home, it's gratifying to be able to report some good news: Murray Rothbard's For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto has just been posted online, in both HTML and PDF formats. This is the best introduction to libertarianism that I know of, and now it's available for free! Murray Rothbard -- economist, philosopher, and historian -- was one of the principal forces behind the revival of libertarianism in the late 20th century; a student of Ludwig von Mises, sometime associate of Ayn Rand, and a significant influence on Robert Nozick, Rothbard played a crucial role in the creation of many of the movement's major institutions, including the Libertarian Party, the Cato Institute, and the Mises Institute. Rothbard's book came out in 1973, a year before Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia made libertarianism "respectable" in academic circles. More radical and consistent than Nozick, Rothbard lays out a clear ethical and pragmatic case for a free society. If you haven't read it, go read it! If your friends haven't read it, make them read it! (so long as you can do so without aggressing against them) These days, unfortunately, the chapter that most urgently needs to be read and linked to is the one on War and Foreign Policy. Posted October 7th, 2002 Second Response to My Open Letter Eric Coe has written a review not just of my Open Letter but of my entire blog. (I thank him, by the way, for alerting me so that I could counterblog!) Mr. Coe is one of that paradoxical breed of pro-war libertarians � folks who value liberty, but who believe that an aggressive foreign policy will protect liberty more than it will endanger it. On the subject of the actual effects of U.S. foreign policy, I would urge him to read two excellent books: Jonathan Kwitny's Endless Enemies and John Denson's The Costs of War. (The first of these two books was one that helped convert me from hawk to dove back in the 1980s. Yes, folks, I have a shady, hawkish past!) On the subject of our current administration's surreal foreign policy agenda, I would recommend Joseph Stromberg's article The Bushnev Doctrine (dissenting only on the bit about immigration). Here are some quick reactions to Mr. Coe's specific points: To my charge that the past decade's ongoing campaign of bombing and embargoes counts as an "undeclared" and "unconstitutional" war, Mr. Coe offers an ingenious response: since the original Gulf War was constitutionally declared (technically not true: Congress has actually not declared war since December 11, 1941), and since we've been bombing and starving Iraqis ever since, we should regard the Gulf War as being still in progress. Somehow I don't think our rulers would welcome the help Mr. Coe offers them, however, since they always refer to the Gulf War in the past tense, and talk about the need to "go to" war against Iraq. If indeed the original Gulf War is still in progress, then our rulers have (as usual) been attempting to perpetrate a massive fraud on the American people. Mr. Coe thinks it is "weasel language" for me to refer to a war against the Iraqi people rather than against the Iraqi regime. Well, the regime survives, and the people are dying. Seems like precise language to me. Mr. Coe says that Iraq has not met the U.S. demands, because he interprets those demands in such a way that Iraq could not meet them without surrendering its sovereignty. If such an interpretation is correct, it seems to me that what it shows is that the U.S. demands are the lawless edicts of a rogue state. Mr. Coe thinks no link between Iraq and 9/11 needs to be shown, because "this is international relations, not a court of law." But the notion that considerations of law do not apply in international relations is precisely what I am objecting to. Another reason for not needing to show such a link, Mr. Coe suggests, is that there's plenty of evidence that Iraq is some sort of terrorist state anyway. Well, sure it is. By most definitions of terrorism, so is the United States. So we've got a grudge match between a big terrorist state and a little terrorist state. It's hard to find that inspiring. Mr. Coe challenges me to name other oppressive and/or terrorist regimes with weapons of massive destruction. Okay, here are some: Egypt, Syria, Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Israel, the United States. Mr. Coe also says that "it's better to take on one enemy at a time," so all the other bad guys "will have to wait their turn." So apparently, Mr. Coe's plan is for America to conquer the world. Somehow, though, I doubt the process of implementing this plan will prove a bonanza for liberty -- either ours or theirs. Mr. Coe says he is unwilling to base his safety on an estimate of the rationality of an absolute dictator. And yet the war he supports is rapidly converting this country into an absolute dictatorship. Cognitive dissonance? With regard to the desirability of abolishing the State, Mr. Coe complains that the problem of what would replace it, and how, is "not discussed nearly enough in the libertarian world." This is a surprising claim, in light of the thousands (literally) of pages that have been penned on this subject. (For the tip of the iceberg, check out the links here.) Mr. Coe also opines that the 9/11 attack is decisive proof that we can't afford to abolish the State. I would have thought it's decisive evidence that we can't afford not to abolish the State, since the State is what got us into that mess in the first place. (A thought: if New York had been a separate country rather than part of the U.S. -- and so, in the eyes of al-Qaeda, complicit in U.S. policy -- would the World Trade Center have been attacked?) On other matters: With regard to my interest in Ayn Rand (and it is Ayn, not Ann!), Mr. Coe complains that the characters and world portrayed in her novels are "cardboard." If he means that the characters and world are "stylized" and therefore not "realistic" -- well, sure. That's Rand's literary style, and she does it very well. Would I want everyone to write like Rand? No -- there's no one I want everyone to write like. Nor would I want Verdi to compose like Bob Dylan or vice versa. Nor would I want Monet to paint like Hopper or vice versa. Excellence has many varieties. If instead what Mr. Coe means is that her characters and world are flat and lack subtlety -- then I can only express bafflement at this judgment. With regard to the nature of colour, Mr. Coe considers this an "angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin" question that arises from the limitations of natural language. In response, I can only invite him to try dispensing with natural language in favour of something more precise. If this proves impossible, as I suspect it will, then he's stuck speaking the same language as the rest of us. Gesturing to some more precise language which no one can actually speak seems like an unpromising way of solving a philosophical problem. (As for the claim that the word "colour" is ambiguous in natural language, I take Mike Watkins' book to have refuted that claim pretty decisively.) With regard to free will, Mr. Coe's suggestion seems to be that we are causally determined but we are not aware of what's causally determining us. I'm not sure, though, what his reply is to the argument I gave for the inconceivability of that hypothesis. First Response to My Open Letter Charles Gill writes: Yes, perhaps it is much better to leave millions of Iraqis to their common slavery. For they all are just slaves to a nutcase dictator. And we are all sooo sure that liberating them would be just soooooo illegal! You are truly an idiot. While it's gratifying to see twelve-year-olds taking an interest in problems of geopolitics (I infer Mr. Gill's age from his manner of expression), I can't help being skeptical of his assumption that our government is motivated by some desire to "liberate" the Iraqi people. My skepticism is based on the following considerations: When Iraq was our ally against Iran, the U.S. government praised Hussein to the skies and tried to cover up his atrocities. No concern for the poor Iraqi people seemed to trouble them then. Our military has been bombing and starving the Iraqi people for the past decade. Again, their welfare does not seem to be our rulers' primary concern. Any invasion of Baghdad will mean massive civilian deaths in Iraq. I don't see much handwringing about this among our rulers. The world is full of oppressive regimes. Why is it only the countries with oil that seem to inspire our rulers with concern for the oppressed? Despite the fact that Iraq has met our demands? Despite the fact that no credible link has been established between Iraq and the September 11th attacks? Despite the fact that Iraq is no worse than dozens of other tinpot oppressive dictatorships around the globe (many of which actually possess weapons of mass destruction right now, rather than in some imagined future)? And despite the fact that whatever weapons of mass destruction Hussein may have, he (not being suicidal) is unlikely to use except in the event of an invasion, when he has nothing left to lose? To invade Iraq on such shaky pretexts would be to declare to the world that when it comes to the Middle East, our favoured policy is one of force unrestrained by law. No move could be better calculated to destroy our international credibility. And no move could be better calculated to win more angry recruits for our terrorist enemies. America cannot afford to tarnish its honour by engaging in such an act of naked aggression. America cannot afford to endanger its citizens by acting in such a way as to increase the threat of terrorist reprisals (as well as the predictable governmental response to such reprisals: the further loss of civil liberties). America cannot afford to spread its already overextended military resources and personnel still further. And finally, given the shaky state of the economy, America just plain cannot afford the massive tax increases and/or deficit spending with which a full-scale war would burden your constituents. The Constitution does not authorise the United States to act as the world's policeman. And our attempts to do so, spilling much blood and treasure in the process, have only made the world more, not less, dangerous. I urge you, as you love your country, to oppose any and all military action against Iraq. True Colours: Outranding the Randians Today I want to use this (un)blog to plug a maximally cool new book by my colleague Michael Watkins: Rediscovering Colors: A Study in Pollyanna Realism. The thesis of the book is that colours are properties of objects. Okay, that may not sound earth-shaking. But it's been the minority view in philosophy for the last four centuries or so. Ever since the Anti-Aristotelean Revolution in the 1600s, the common-sense view that colours are just where they seem to be -- out there, on the surfaces of physical objects -- has been thought to clash with what the natural sciences tell us. After all, our best scientific theories appear to explain colour perception without appealing at any point to colours. Instead they talk about wavelengths and surface textures and rods and cones and optic nerves. But if our best explanations of colour perception don't make any reference to colours, it's difficult to resist the conclusion that all our colour experiences would be just the same whether or not colours really existed, out there in the world -- which in turn suggests that we have no good reason to believe there are any colours out there at all. One way to resist this conclusion would be to identify colours with some part of the physical-causal story. Then it would turn out, happily, that it is colours after all that our best explanations of colour perception have been appealing to. The problem with this solution is that no part of the physical-causal story seems to be a plausible candidate for such an identification; no feature of interest to natural science seems to have the right properties to be (what we mean by) colour. Hence even the Randians -- robust Aristotelean realists by reputation and inclination -- have been driven to the quasi-Kantian view that colours are not really properties inherent in external physical things, but instead consist in relations between such things and observers, belonging to the form of sensory perception rather than to its objects. (For a well-argued defense of the Randian position, see David Kelley's The Evidence of the Senses: A Realist Theory of Perception.) And yet, there Mike's new book sits on my desk, looking turquoise. Indeed, it doesn�t just look turquoise -- it looks inherently turquoise. That is, the colour seems to be right there on the book -- not in me, or in some relation between me and the book. So if the Anti-Aristotelean Consensus (to which, on this issue, the Randians embarrassingly belong) is correct, then our perceptual experience of colour is systematically delusive. (Randians try to avoid this latter conclusion by making a sharp distinction between perception and perceptual judgment; but as I've argued elsewhere, this distinction can't be sustained without depriving perceptual experience of all content. For a heftier argument along the same lines, see John McDowell's Mind and World.) The importance of Rediscovering Colors lies in its offering us a way to escape this gloomy conclusion. What Mike's cheery "Pollyanna realism" shows us is that, contrary to prevailing opinion, it is possible to construct a philosophical theory of colour that possesses all the following desiderata: It places colours just where they seem to be: on the surfaces of physical objects. It does not make either the existence or the appearance of colours dependent on conscious observers. It allows colours to play the appropriate causal role in explaining colour perception. It does not render mysterious our ability to identify colours correctly. In Randian terminology, colours on Mike's view turn out to be "intrinsic" rather than "objective" features of physical objects. This fact alone should not make Randians reach for their metaphysical revolvers; after all, Objectivism isn't -- and, given its emphasis on the "Primacy of Existence," had better not be -- committed to claiming that no features of things are intrinsic. What Randians (along with many others) have argued, however, is that colours cannot be intrinsic features of objects because of the following dilemma: If colours are intrinsic features of objects, are they identical with certain physical features identifiable in nonvisual terms? The problem with saying yes is that there is no one physical feature that all objects of the same colour share. The problem with saying no is that positing colours in addition to ordinary physical features seems superfluous, since the ordinary physical features seem to be causally sufficient by themselves to explain colour perception. (See Kelley, pp. 95-99, for just this argument.) If this dilemma has troubled your sleep, read Mike Watkins' book. He has solved the dilemma. One can regard colours as intrinsic properties of objects without being impaled on either horn. No, I'm not going to tell you how! Anyone interested in defending an Aristotelean-realist account of perception should go read the book for herself. Buy it now! What are you waiting for?

Amy Benson[Edit]Fishery BiologistContact InfoShort Biography I began my career in Pennsylvania with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1991, I transferred to a U.S. Geological Survey laboratory in Florida to help develop a�geographic information system on invasive�aquatic species.�I have a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree both from The Pennsylvania State University. McDowell, W.G., A.J. Benson, and J.E. Byers. 2014. Climate controls the distribution of a widespread invasive species: implications for future range expansion. Freshwater Biology 59(4):847-857. [Abstract] Benson, A. J. 2013. Chronological history of zebra and quagga mussels (Dreissenidae) populations in North America, 1988-2010. Pages 9-32 in Nalepa, T.F. and D.W. Schloesser (eds.), Quagga and Zebra Mussels: Biology, Impacts, and Control, Second Ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 815 pp. Baerwaldt, K., A. Benson, and K. Irons. 2013. State of the carp: Asian carp distribution in North America. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 4 pp. Available at . Irons, K. S., S. A. DeLain, E. Gittinger, B. S. Ickes, C. S. Kolar, D. Ostendorf, E. N. Ratcliff, and A. J. Benson. 2009. Non-native fishes in the Upper Mississippi River system. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5176, 68 pp. Benson, A.J., C.J. Jacono, P.L. Fuller, L.R. McKercher, and M.M. Richerson. 2004. Summary report of nonindigenous aquatic species in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5. U.S. Geological Survey, Gainesville, FL. Baker, P. and A. Benson. 2002. Habitat and ecology of green mussels, Perna viridis, in Florida. Journal of Shellfish Research 21:424-425. Benson, A. J., D. C. Marelli, M. E. Frischer, J. M. Danforth, and J. D. Williams. 2001. Establishment of the green mussel, Perna viridis (Linnaeus 1758), (Mollusca: Mytilidae) on the west coast of Florida. Journal of Shellfish Research 20(1):21-29. Benson, A.J., P.L. Fuller, and C.C. Jacono. 2001. Summary report of nonindigenous aquatic species in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4. U.S. Geological Survey, Gainesville, FL. http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Region_4_Report/index.html Benson, A. J. 2000. Documenting over a century of aquatic introductions in the United States. Pages 1-31 In: Claudi, R. and J.H. Leach (eds.), Nonindigenous Freshwater Organisms: Vectors, Biology and Impacts. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida. Benson, A. J. and C. P. Boydstun. 1995. Invasion of the zebra mussel in the United States. Pages 445-446 In: LaRoe, E.T. et al. (eds.) Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Biological Service, Washington, DC. 530 pp. Boydstun, C. P. and A. J. Benson. 1993. A geographic information system (GIS) for tracking zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in the United States. Proceedings: Third International Zebra Mussel Conference, 1993. Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California. Section 1, p. 103-110. Carline, R. F., A. J. Benson, and H. Rothenbacher. 1987. Long-term effects of treated domestic wastewater on brown trout. Water Research 21(11): 1409-1415.

What makes C so popular in the age of OOP? 34 I code a lot in both C and C++, but did not expect C to be the second most popular language, slightly behind Java. I'm curious as to why, in this age of OOP, C is still so popular? Note that 4 out of the top 5 popular programming languages are "modern", object-oriented capable languages. Now, I agree that you can use OOP in C to some extent, but it's sort of painful and inelegant (well at least compared to C++ I guess). So, what makes C so popular? Is it efficiency; being low-level; the vast majority of libraries that already exist or something else? programming-languages object-oriented c share|improve this question edited Mar 29 '12 at 18:45 GradGuy videogames, embedded systems, hardware programming (firmware), operating systems, etc. Note that you only get what you measure - in the case of TIOBE, the number of hits for +"<language> programming" on popular search engines. A blog post "Why nobody does C programming anymore" counts for C in this index. Heck, even this question may does as soon as google picks it up. The age of OOP? that's a pretty bold statement. – Mahmoud Hossam You have the illusion that OOP is a silver bullet, you should lose that quickly, there is nothing special or "good" about OOP, it's just one of many code organization strategies. – Raynos @DeadMG: Pot, meet kettle. TIOBE's data may not be reliable, but your bald assertion that "it's not popular" has no source or citation whatsoever. If you're going to challenge the assumption behind the question, at least provide some evidence to back it up. – Daniel Pryden A few factors that contribute: C is ubiquitous. Whatever the platform, C is probably available. C is portable. Write a piece of clean C, and it compiles with minimal modifications on other platforms - sometimes it even works out-of-the-box. C has been around for a while. Back in the days when UNIX conquered the world, C (the UNIX programming language of choice) shared in its world domination, and became the linuga franca of the programming world. Any serious programmer can be expected to at least make some sense of a chunk of C; the same can't be said about most other languages. C is still the default language for UNIX and UNIX-flavored systems. If you want a library to succeed in open-source land, you need fairly good reasons not to use C. This is partially due to tradition, but more because C is the only language you can safely assume to be supported on any UNIX-like system. Writing your library in C means you can minimize dependencies. C is simple. It lacks the expressivity of sophisticated OOP or functional languages, but its simplicity means it can be picked up quickly. C is versatile. It is suitable for embedded systems, device drivers, OS kernels, small command-line utilities, large desktop applications, DBMS's, implementing other programming languages, and pretty much anything else you can think of. C is fast. Most C implementations compile directly to machine code, and the programmer has full power over what happens at the machine level. There is no interpreter, no JIT compiler, no VM or runtime - just the code, a compiler, a linker, and the bare metal. C is 'free' (in both the beer and the speech sense). There is no single company that owns and controls the standard, there are several implementations to choose from, there are no copyright, patenting or trademark issues for using C, and some of the best implementations are open-source. C has a lot of momentum going. The language has been popular for decades, so there is an enormous amount of applications, libraries, tools, and most of all, communities, to support the language. C is mature. The last standard that introduced big changes is C99, and it is mostly backwards-compatible with previous standards. Unlike newer languages (say, Python), you don't have to worry about breaking changes anytime soon. @KonstantinSolomatov: Of course many of the arguments also apply to C++ (simply because C is almost a subset of C++). It beats C++ on simplicity and on the UNIX front, loses on versatility (but not by much, really), and draws on the rest. There are tons of reasons why die-hard bearded UNIX hackers still prefer C over C++, but I won't go into those right here. Also note that this is not about "which programming language is better", but simply "why is C so popular (despite obvious shortcomings)". I've always tended to blame the popularity of C on the need for a universal assembly language. It's combination of specificity at the machine level, standardization, and extreme portability allow C to function as that de facto universal assembly language, and for that reason I suspect its role there will continue indefinitely. I should mention that I'm always a bit surprised when OOP is presented in programming courses as a sort of "final model" that is the only possible endpoint for good programming. Like many other aspects of programming, the value of OOP is a compromise between many competing factors, including how human brains organized information, how societal groups support software over the long term, and in the case of object-oriented programming, some pretty deep aspects of how the universe itself works. And that last point is worth hammering a bit. Read further if you are interested in a physics-level exploration of why certain programming styles exist, how they work together, and where the world may be heading in the future as we expand further on such concepts... An object in physics is anything that maintains recognizable coherence over time. That in turn allows simple creatures like ourselves to get a way with representing the object using only a small number of bits, without endangering our survival too badly. But in terms of physics in the large, the number of things you have to get exactly right to make that kind of simplification easy and common is remarkably large. As humans we don't think about all of that much because quite frankly, we wouldn't be here if it were not true. Sound too abstract? It really isn't. Imagine for example trying to navigate the road to your friend's house if instead of cars you encountered rapidly oscillating plasma fields and momentary condensations of matter moving with an enormous range of velocities. Such a scenario might cut rather deeply into socialization opportunities, yes? We need objects, we are objects, and the existence of objects provides us with an enormous and critically important level of simplification of the environment around us. So let's pull all of that back around to software. What do objects in the real world have to say about objects in terms of programming? Well, for one thing it means that what defines a "good" object in software should really be whether or not the type of data you are handling readily supports the idea of recognizable persistence over time. With the definition, the easiest forms of OOP are easy to recognized. They are the ones that cop out a bit by using only data that is already "attached" or defined by some real-world, truly physical object like a person, house, or car. Even today, this is still too often the only definition of objects that people get in software courses. That's too bad, because even trivial object-oriented programs need a broader definition than that. The second and far more interesting category of objects consists of what I'll call immortalized real-world events. By "immortalized" I mean things that at least briefly exist as a well-defined entity or collections out in the real world, but which then disperse and ceases to exist as physically meaningful collections. A symposium is a great example: The symposium exists for a short while as a decently well-defined collection of places and people. But alas, even the best conferences must end, and the individual parts that made them up move on to other activities. But by using computers and networks, we can make such a transient symposium seem like a long-term object by capturing and maintaining a memory of it as a software object. A great many of the things we do with computers and databases amount to this kind of immortalization of transient events, in which we in effect try to make our real universe richer by capturing and extending it in ways that cannot possibly exist physically. E.g., have you seen a real Pandora lately? Such captures and extensions of real-world pieces help enrich and extend our own lives, economies, and choices in remarkable ways. This to me is the heartland of object oriented programming, the place where it has had, and continues to have, the most remarkable impacts. This last category also points the risks of using just one model for programming, since just like the real world, programmed worlds also need processes that don't correspond well to relatively unchanging objects. Earth is full of objects, but the sun is full of highly dynamic energy flows that ultimately are needed to "drive" the objects and activities on lower-energy earth. Similarly, in creating computing worlds there are cases where you must deal with flows and transformations and rapidly changing contexts that, while not very object-like in themselves, are nonetheless absolutely critical to enabling the simpler, more human-friendly objects used at higher levels. It is no coincidence that much of the programming done at the kernel level is not conspicuously object-like, or that it tends to rely heavily on languages like C that are more processing oriented. These are the deeper domains that complement the fascinating diversity we see higher up in computer generated worlds. Trying to force them into pure object models can be a bit like telling the sun it needs to be re-organized as a few billion tidy fireplace objects so that we can understand and navigate more easily from our humans-first perspective. The other area where OOP can go awry is focusing too much on old object concepts. Objects in the real world, and especially living objects, have an absolutely astonishing level of ability to interact with their environments in complex and subtle ways. Composable widgets that look each other over, do some compatibility and sanity checks, and maybe even figure out some new ways to interact come a lot close to the real-world biological concept of objects than do the simple frameworks and simple inheritance schemes that we tend to focus on (usually by necessity!) at the code level. This is one of the growth areas for objects in the cyber world, the more "agent like" approaches where reactivity to environment is the norm even within programming itself. And so much for my "critique" of OOP! Still, though, I hope I've pointed out why creating a richer cyberworld means encompassing diversity of programming styles, rather than assuming that "just one" is all that is needed. My feeling is that the really interesting stuff is yet to come, no matter how mundane much of what we do now is! C has an ABI(Application Binary Interface) C++ doesn't. This makes C more useful than C++ in certain instances. If I am going to write a library and be able to ship binaries for other people's use C++ is the wrong tool for the job. If I am going to write libraries that are going to be used by some other language again C is the right tool for the job. I have never heard of a language that didn't support FFI(Foreign Function interface) to C, on the other hand C++ won't work with libraries written in C++ if different compilers are used. Basically it boils down to C filling a role that C++ is unsuitable for. Many companies are in the process of migrating, but, not yet finished. Hidden Object Orientation (Non Object Oriented) C source code designed as Object Oriented C source code, applications that are modeled with Object Orientation, and coded with "pure C", or tools that translate from "C++" or other O.O. progr. lang into C. I heard that some video games are done that way. Some cross platforms tools also, and the GTK (GObject, GLibrary) visual interface library for the GNome Linux O.S. distributions. As to having a programming language that has been the some since the '70, and not liking languages that change every 5 or 10 years. As time goes technology advances and programming methods are improved. If a languages changes drastically every few years then it was probably not well thought out by its designer. But 1970 to 2012 is almost half a century, it's ok to make changes to a language in that time to incorporate advances used in Software development. C itself has been revised several times. So, it's not better than other languages form that point of view. Because C has a huge user base. Yes it is a bit of a catch-22, but when I ask a question about C over on StackOverflow, I get the answer almost instantly. The same question about Python could take hours to get answered. With respect to C++, it's IMO more complicated to learn. Furthermore, after having tried OOP for 10 years, I find it's not always useful, and often times it's easier to use procedural programming instead.

Report: Cases Of Elderly Dementia To Nearly Triple By 2050 Share Tweet E-mail Print By Scott Neuman Originally published on Thu September 19, 2013 6:25 pm A woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease holds the hand of a relative in a retirement house in Angervilliers, France. By the middle of the century, the number of older people suffering from Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia will nearly triple, severely straining caregiving resources, the charity Alzheimer's Disease International says in a new study released Thursday. Currently, some 100 million people globally suffer from the potentially fatal disease. That number is expected to increase to 277 million by 2050, as the graying population increases, The World Alzheimer's Report 2013 says. Today, 80 percent of the elderly in nursing homes have some degree of dementia, it says. "Long-term care for older ­people is mainly about care for people with dementia," the study's authors say. "Dementia and cognitive impairment are by far the most important contributors among chronic diseases to disability dependence and in high income countries transition into residential and nursing home care." Alzheimer's disease is the best known form of dementia, but there are several other types. The condition is marked by memory loss, behavioral and cognitive difficulties. Reuters reports, citing the study: "Even now, the worldwide cost of dementia care is more than $600 billion, or around 1.0 percent of global gross domestic product, and that can only increase, ADI's report said. "As the world population ages, the traditional system in the United States, Europe and around the world of 'informal' care by family, friends, and community will require much greater support, it said. "Globally, 13 percent of people aged 60 or over currently require long-term care. But between 2010 and 2050, the total number of older people with care needs will nearly treble from 101 to 277 million, according to the report." Among other recommendations, ADI says governments should implement national plans and "urgent national debates on future arrangements for long-term care."Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit . Public Radio East

hide Deadly new virus is well adapted to infect humans, study finds Tuesday, February 19, 2013 12:09 a.m. EST By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - A new virus that emerged in the Middle East last year and has killed five people is well adapted to infecting humans but could potentially be treated with drugs that boost the immune system, scientists said on Tuesday. The virus, called novel coronavirus or NCoV, is from the same family as the common cold and as SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. There have been 12 confirmed cases worldwide - including in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Britain - and five patients have died. In one of the first published studies about NCoV, which was unknown in humans until it was identified in September 2012, researchers said it could penetrate the lining of passageways in the lungs and evade the immune system as easily as a cold virus can. This shows it "grows very efficiently" in human cells and suggests it is well-equipped for infecting humans, said Volker Thiel of the Institute of Immunobiology at Kantonal Hospital in Switzerland, who led the study. NCoV was identified when the World Health Organisation issued an international alert in September saying a completely new virus had infected a Qatari man in Britain who had recently been in Saudi Arabia. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that includes those that cause the common cold as well as the one that caused SARS - which emerged in China in 2002 and killed about a 10th of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide. Symptoms of both NCoV and SARS include severe respiratory illness, fever, coughing and breathing difficulties. Of the 12 cases confirmed so far, four were in Britain, one was a Qatari patient in Germany, two were in Jordan and five in Saudi Arabia. POSSIBLE TREATMENT Scientists are not sure where the virus comes from, but say one possibility is it came from animals. Experts at Britain's Health Protection Agency say preliminary scientific analysis suggests its closest relatives are bat coronaviruses. What is also unclear is what the true prevalence of the virus is - since it is possible that the 12 cases seen so far are the most severe, and there may be more people who have contracted the virus with milder symptoms so are not picked up. "We don't know whether the cases (so far) are the tip of the iceberg, or whether many more people are infected without showing severe symptoms," said Thiel, who worked with a team of scientists from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark. "We don't have enough cases to have a full picture of the variety of symptoms." Thiel said that although the virus may have jumped from animals to humans very recently, his research showed it was just as well adapted to infecting the human respiratory tract as other coronaviruses like SARS and the common cold viruses. The study, published in mBio, an online journal of the American Society for Microbiology, also found that NCoV was susceptible to treatment with interferons, medicines that boost the immune system and which are also successfully used to treat other viral diseases like Hepatitis C. This opens up a possible mode of treatment in the event of a large-scale outbreak, the scientists said. Thiel said that with the future of the virus uncertain, it was vital for laboratories and specialists around the world to cooperate swiftly to find out more about where it came from, how widespread it was, and how infectious it might be. "So far it looks like the virus is well contained, so in that sense I don't see any reason for increased fear," he said.

The expansion of Goodes Hall continues a tradition of innovation that has a proud history and vibrant future at Queen’s School of Business. By Alec Ross Students and faculty have been watching eagerly as a new $40-million building rises from a giant hole in the ground just to the west of Goodes Hall, the home of Queen’s School of Business (QSB). When it’s finished next spring, the 75,000 square-foot addition will provide the School with 51 more faculty offices, a slew of meeting spaces, six new classrooms equipped with cutting-edge technology, and a dedicated behavioral research lab that will allow faculty and graduate students to observe and record how people interact in negotiations and business transactions. Dean Saunders at the site of the addition to Goodes Hall (QSB photo) To the passer-by, the new wing of Goodes Hall is just the most recent complement to a Queen’s campus that is bustling with much-needed new buildings and facilities. To the people at QSB, this latest expansion is the natural evolution of a campus where creative thinking, decisive action, and sound execution have been the modus operandi for many years. Put simply, the new structure is the product of QSB’s ability to innovate and grow. Pioneering programs The ability to move with the times goes back a long way. In the 1890s, Queen’s became the first school to offer courses for the Canadian Banking Association. In 1919 it established Canada’s first business degree, and between the 1920s and the 1970s it was the exclusive provider of chartered accounting education in all of Ontario. But the school’s current reputation for innovation stems from the early 1990s, when then-Dean David Anderson led the faculty in a hard look at its operations and concluded that while QSB had a solid reputation for business education and a well-regarded Executive Development Centre, things had to be taken up a notch. The first fruit of this thinking came in 1994 in the form of a new type of Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA) program. It differed from other EMBA programs in that it enabled senior managers across Canada to earn a Queen’s degree from their home community. The magic of the program was that 60 per cent of the course work drew ­geographically dispersed participants together every other weekend via interactive videoconferencing technology at boardroom learning centres across the country. Queen’s EMBA program was the first of its kind in Canadian business education. QSB didn’t stop there. Faculty looked at the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program, which in their estimation didn’t measure up to what was being offered at competing schools in Canada and, especially, internationally, and so they challenged themselves to come up with something better. They did so with help from roughly $500,000 in seed money provided by QSB benefactor Mel Goodes, Com’57, LLD’94. In 1996, during the tenure of Anderson’s successor as Dean, Margot Northey, the school unveiled its MBA for Science and Technology (MBAst), a 12-month program that broke ground on two fronts. First, MBAst was a specialized graduate program that met the need for improved business knowledge in the technology sector – which at the time was red-hot – but was populated with company leaders whose primary background was science or engineering, not business. Second, and more significantly, the program was paid for entirely by student tuition fees instead of government funding. QSB’s creation of a privatized MBA was a bold move that raised academic eyebrows across the country. Prof. Kathryn Brohman teaches students from QSB's teleconference studio Many observers were shocked by the one-year program’s $22,000 tuition, but the market-rate fee didn’t bother enthusiastic tech managers, who applied in droves. Such was the program’s popularity that the initial seed loan was repaid in just five years. Canada’s first privatized MBA program spawned a host of other privatized programs in other Canadian business schools. The success of these QSB programs paved the way for further innovation. In 2004, the school established the Accelerated MBA (AMBA), the world’s first executive-style MBA with a dedicated curriculum for students with an undergraduate business degree and at least two years of work experience. The following year saw the introduction of an executive MBA program offered jointly by Queen’s and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which ­offered its graduates a prestigious degree from both institutions – a surefire corporate door-opener in both Canada and the U.S.. The dual-degree EMBA was another Canadian first. “Our strength is in finding niche markets, and then executing – building a program very quickly to meet the needs of those markets,” says Dean David Saunders, who has helmed QSB since 2003. “We can do that unlike any place I’ve ever been, and are relentless in our efforts to offer an incredibly high-quality product.” Keeping it fresh The new 75,000-sq.-ft. wing of Goodes Hall, a $40-milllion expansion Since the privatization of the MBA, the culture of innovation at QSB has never been stronger – or more essential. Because the school’s continued operation relies on its ability to offer focused programs that attract high-calibre students, it has to stay a step ahead of the competition to survive and stay on the leading edge of business education. Studies indicate that QSB competes with other top-tier Canadian schools for the best undergraduate students and, at the graduate level, with every other business school on the globe. “Competition sharpens and inspires you to push the envelope and look at things differently,” says Saunders. The trick when doing things differently, says Prof. Ken Wong, Com’75, MBA’67, the Commerce ’77 Fellow in Marketing, is to avoid “the innovator’s dilemma” – an insidious trap that organizations sometimes fall into when they try something new. The organization implements a set of policies and procedures to formalize the new idea or direction, but later discovers that, once in place, those same well-intentioned policies make the organization more resistant to change. And it’s no secret that in a competitive environment – whether it’s in business or business education – organizations that are unwilling or unable to change are soon overtaken by more nimble, adaptable competitors. At QSB, most new program ideas and curriculum flow from faculty, who are regularly exposed to new thinking via their interactions in the classroom. This is especially true of instructors in the executive programs, whose students are experienced, high-level professionals who often turn to Queen’s to help them solve complex business problems involving their own organizations. Close contact with these people keeps faculty abreast of developing business trends and technologies, and it enhances their ability to anticipate what skills and programs might be in demand in the future. Hence programs such as the national EMBA, the Accelerated MBA, and an executive education facility in the United Arab Emirates that QSB opened in 2007 – the first Canadian business school to do so. "Each year, the students challenge each other to be bigger and better in what they do, which really forces and allows people to think outside the box and be creative,” says Katie Shotbolt, Com’11, ComSoc’s 2010-2011 president." Given that innovation permeates the atmosphere at Goodes Hall, it’s not surprising that the school’s undergraduates sense and contribute to it. They are a high-achieving, well-rounded group. Students are admitted on the basis of their grades, which obviously need to be top notch, but also on their Personal Statement of Experience (PSE), an essay all student applicants to Queen’s must submit. In this document they describe their ­interests, volunteer work and other extracurricular activities. This helps the school identify students with leadership potential – and indeed, successful candidates tend to be captains of their athletic teams, student council presidents and outstanding community volunteers. This year, the Commerce program ­received 5,000 applications for 450 available undergrad spots, and Saunders says choosing the shortlist of applicants is one of the toughest jobs at QSB. Once they are accepted into the school, most students join the Commerce Society (ComSoc), the student-run government. In addition to overseeing student affairs at the school, ComSoc also spearheads annual business competitions and other extracurricular activities that provide students with real-world experience in marketing, event organizing, budgeting and other aspects of business. The activities also help foster initiative and that all-important spirit of innovation. “Each year, the students challenge each other to be bigger and better in what they do, which really forces and allows people to think outside the box and be creative,” says Katie Shotbolt, Com’11, ComSoc’s 2010-2011 president. “It speaks to the fact that things are always dynamic at QSB. Nothing’s ever stagnant, ­because everybody’s constantly trying to improve the program. It’s an environment that I really enjoyed being a part of for the past four years.” Building on strengths Another way QSB opens the minds of its students is by encouraging them to study abroad. Most do. Last year, 80 per cent of third-year Commerce undergrads spent a part of the year attending classes at one of QSB’s 90-plus business-school partners in ­Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. Shotbolt, for example, spent the second semester of her third year at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen, Norway. She lived in a residence with four other Queen’s students and with other students from Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and across Europe. Because business is a global enterprise, each QSB program has an international component tailored to each student’s personal situation. For instance, students in the full-time MBA may spend from two weeks to six months studying in another country. The EMBA is structured differently. Student teams complete a mandatory global business project that takes them anywhere in the world outside the U.S. and Canada. Participants complete a thorough analysis of a real global issue or opportunity, including field research abroad. It’s a chance for students to put all that they have learned into practice. Recent projects have included consulting assignments for New Balance, a global athletic products company; an e-government initiative for Dubai Municipality in the United Arab Emirates; and, a not-for-profit initiative linking hospitals in Nairobi and Ontario. QSB also distinguishes itself through its emphasis on the teamwork that permeates every program in the school. This means far more than just grouping people together and asking them to tackle a given task. It means scheduling students a full week of team interaction and instruction right off the bat, and helping them get past the conflicts that inevitably arise in every team by providing problem-solving assistance when it’s needed. The school actually employs a full-time Director of Team Facilitation and a team of coaches for this sole purpose. The school’s newest programs are also based on forward thinking. The Master of Global Management, introduced four years ago, grew out of the Bologna Accord, an agreement among European Union countries that sought to harmonize higher education on that continent and make it easier for students to complete an undergraduate degree in one country and their Masters in another. Running with that concept, QSB structured its Global Management program so that Canadian students would spend half of the program studying at an international business school, while international students could study at Queen’s. QSB students learn from their profs and from one another A second new program is the Master in Finance, which helps students already working in the financial industry expand their skill set and advance their careers in financial analysis, investment banking or asset management. The classes are held in Toronto, where the majority of students live and work. Yet another new development is an evolution of the EMBA videoconferencing technology for use on computers. As long as a student has a laptop and a high-speed Internet connection, he or she can be anywhere and interact with their instructor and classmates – and fully participate in class. This makes taking the program that much easier for highly mobile executives. “Right now we have a team with members in Bermuda, Fort McMurray and Kelowna,” says Dean Saunders. “If we can do that, just imagine the possibilities of where we can go next by bringing people together?” Going forward While enrolment at Queen’s School of Business is strong across the board, new partnership agreements are in the works, and the projected demand will almost certainly require hiring of more ­faculty – the school is not resting on its laurels. Anything but. The ­attitude there is that the best time to start afresh is when you’re at the top of your game. Thus, one of the projects in coming months is a complete overhaul of the EMBA program. “The world changes pretty quickly,” says Elspeth Murray, a professor of Strategy and Organization, who is also Associate Dean of the MBA programs, Director of the Queen’s Centre for Business Venturing, and the CIBC Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship. “We’ve got demographic shifts, competitive changes and technological advancements. This is a good time to sit down and have that ‘what-next’ discussion.” Dean Saunders says going forward the EMBA will focus on developing strong leaders with a deeper understanding of subjects such as governance, ethics, strategy and communications. The fallout from the Enron debacle and the recent banking crisis in the U.S. illustrate the perils that await senior executives. With stronger leadership skills, Saunders says participants will be better prepared to manage such challenges. Another task in the coming months is to prepare for the completion and move into this new wing, which the demand for QSB’s ever-evolving suite of programs has made necessary. Still, whatever happens in the expanded Goodes Hall, some ­aspects of QSB will remain constant. “We can innovate until thOe cows come home in what we do, how we do it, in the technology we use, and even in how we relate to other departments within the University,” says Wong. “What will never change is how we see ourselves bringing value to the students and to society.” Julian Barling One eagerly anticipated feature of the new Goodes Hall addition is a dedicated behavioral research laboratory that will enable faculty and graduate students to conduct types of research that currently can’t be performed at QSB. The lab will be equipped with technology, including one-way mirrors, high-end audio and video recording equipment, and specialized software that analyzes minute facial reactions. These and other tools are essential for ­researchers who study how people interact, for example, during negotiations, sales and leadership situations. They will also help QSB contribute to an emerging area of study called behavioural finance, which examines the thinking and behaviour of brokers. “Finance has traditionally looked at relationships between institutions and investors,” says Julian Barling, a QSB professor and leadership researcher who looks forward to using the new lab. “Now what they’re looking at is ­relationships between people in different institutions. And any time you narrow the research down to the ­behavioral aspect, a behavioural lab becomes absolutely critical.” Barling says the equipment at the new lab will be similar to what’s often used in psychology departments to study parent-infant interactions, with the difference that the QSB lab will have been designed from the ground up with business research in mind. Another boon associated with the lab is that QSB students and faculty will be its priority users, which isn’t the case for those who wish to use similar ­facilities elsewhere at Queen’s.

Piebaldism PBT Piebaldism is a rare inherited condition characterized by a white forelock (a patch of white hair directly above the forehead). The name piebaldism is derived from the words “pie” (from magpie, which is a black and white bird) and “bald” (from the bald eagle, the US national bird that has a white feathered head). Other features include a white patch on the central portion of the forehead; white eyebrow and eyelash hair; and white patches of skin on the face (particularly the chin), trunk and extremities (hands and feet are not usually affected). This condition is present at birth and usually remains unchanged throughout life. It is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion and is caused by mutations in the KIT gene.[1]

By Michelle Andrews An injury like this could set you back financially more than you might expect. Many people, if they think about disability insurance coverage at all, focus on their employer's long-term disability plan rather than any short-term coverage they may get on the job. That makes sense in many ways, since you face a bigger financial risk if you're unable to work for two years rather than for two months. But just as some employers are cutting back their long-term plans — trimming benefits or asking employees to pick up more of the tab — they're doing the same with short-term disability coverage. When your annual enrollment period rolls around, don't forget to eyeball your short-term plan in addition to your long-term disability benefits. If an illness or accident keeps you from working, short-term disability insurance typically pays about 60 percent of your salary for up to six months (after which your long-term disability coverage would kick in). Only about half of employers offer short-term disability coverage. Of those, the percentage that pay the entire premium declined to 36 percent in 2010 from 45 percent in 2002, according to financial services trade group LIMRA. It's not only that employees are being asked to pay a bigger chunk of the premium, say experts. Employers are increasing the waiting period before the plan pays in some cases. So instead of short-term benefits kicking in right away, you might have to wait up to two weeks, says Steve Cyboran, a vice president at Sibson Consulting. Many employers require employees to use their accumulated sick leave before short-term disability coverage takes effect. But now some employers are reducing the number of days employees can accumulate in their sick leave banks to use before short-term disability starts, say experts. It's all part of the now well-established employer benefits strategy of pushing employees to have more skin in the game. "Employers are trying to get employees to recognize the risks that are being assumed, and get them to share in that risk and plan for it and manage it," says Cyboran. In other words, save your pennies, because if you break your arm and can't do your job for a couple of weeks, you may be on the hook financially for more than you expect.Copyright 2011 Kaiser Health News. To see more, visit . View the discussion thread.

Sacred Texts Sagas and Legends Celtic Index Previous Next THE FAIRIES BANISHED ONE of those old farm-houses, where the kitchen and cow-house are on the same floor, with only a low partition between them, was haunted by the fairies. If the family were at their meals in the kitchen, they were racketing in the cow-house, and if the people were engaged about the cows, the fairies were making a riot in the kitchen. One day, when a parcel of reapers were at their harvest-dinner in the kitchen, the elves, who were laughing and dancing above, threw down such a quantity of dust and dirt as quite spoiled the dinner. While the mistress of the house was in perplexity about it, there came in an old woman, who, on hearing the case, said she could provide a remedy. She then told her in a whisper to ask six of the reapers to dinner next day in the hearing of the fairies, and only to make as much pudding as could be boiled in an egg-shell. She did as directed, and when the fairies saw that a dinner for six men was put down to boil in an egg-shell, there was great stir and noise in the cow-house, and at length one angry voice was heard to say, "We have lived long in this world; we were born just after the earth was made, and before the acorn was planted, and yet we never saw a harvest-dinner dressed in an egg-shell! There must be something wrong in this house, and we will stop here no longer." They went away and never returned. The fairies are said to take away children, and leave changelings. They also give pieces of' money, one of which is found every day in the same place as long as the finder keeps his good fortune a secret. One peculiarity of the Cambrian fairies is, that every Friday night they comb the goats' beards "to make them decent for Sunday? " We hear not of Brownies or Kobolds in the Welsh houses now, but Puck used to haunt Wales as well as Ireland. His Welsh name, Pwcca, is the same as his Irish one. In Brecon there is Cwm Pwcca, or Puck's Glen, and though an iron-foundry has in a great measure scared him from it, yet he occasionally makes his appearance. As a man was returning one night from his work, he saw a light before him, and thought he discerned some one that carried it. Supposing it to be one of his fellow-workmen with a lanthorn, he quickened his pace to come up with him, wondering all the while how so short a man as he appeared to be could get over the ground so fast. He also fancied he was not going the right way, but still thought that he who had the light must know best. At last, he came up with him, and found himself on the very edge of one of the precipices of Cwm Pwcca, down which another step would have carried him. The Pwcca, for it was he, sprang over the glen, turned round, held the light above his head, and then with a loud laugh put it out and vanished.

Puerto Ricans Leave Island Amid Economic Woes Share Tweet E-mail Print By editor Originally published on Tue February 11, 2014 1:59 pm Listen Antonia Arroyo sits on a bench in November, 2013 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After working for the Municipality of San Juan for 35 years she lives off her 500 dollar a month government pension. The government remains the largest employer in Puerto Rico and can only service about 11 percent of the pension costs out of it's budget. (Christopher Gregory/Getty Images) Puerto Rico just had its bond rating downgraded to “junk status” by two of the three main rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. The government is now starting a round of budget cuts and austerity measures to try to turn the economy around. The economic problems in Puerto Rico have the potential to ripple through the U.S. bond market, since 70 percent of U.S. municipal funds hold some Puerto Rican debt. Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson speaks with Carlos Rivas, director of the Office of Management and Budget for Puerto Rico, and to Javier Maymí of the Spanish-language newspaper Centro Tampa.Interview Highlights Carlos Rivas on the possibility of a U.S. bailout for Puerto Rico “There’s excellent communication at a very high level both with the White House and the Treasury Department. And they’re very up to date and very up to speed on what’s happening here and what our plans are. But we don’t, right now — we’re not looking for a bailout, per say, or a loan or that kind of structure. The have been clear on that, they have to be consistent in their approach to different jurisdictions.” Rivas on why Puerto Rico has so much debt “I think there are two reasons. Number one, our economy has been shrinking consistency since 2006. So the economy has shrunk about 15 percent, and that obviously makes it very hard to swim against the current fiscally, so to speak. And secondly, there have been some decisions made in the past that have not been the most fiscally responsible decisions, particularly the financing of the operating deficits over the past few years. So we are at the point where the debt burden is significant. And we got ourselves into this situation. We’ve been working hard since January of last year in the change of administration to get out of this situation and we will continue the plan to do so. Rivas on the exodus of people from Puerto Rico “We have had some migration and it is up to Florida in particular, also to the Northeast, people seeking better employment opportunities. And that is precisely why we need to restart economic growth, and why the governor is working so hard to do so, to get those people to stay in Puerto Rico. People love being here, they love living here, they’re very committed to Puerto Rico, and we as a government have to make sure that all the opportunities are there for people to have their livelihood and their employment.” Javier Maymí on why people – including himself – have left Puerto Rico “For middle class Puerto Ricans, it becomes extremely difficult to — it’s not a question of living in Puerto Rico, it’s more like surviving in Puerto Rico. And as economic opportunities shrink, obviously in search of better opportunities, better pay, better future, we look towards the U.S. because we have that ability to do that… You know it basically begins with quality of life. Because of the economic situation and quite frankly, this is not new, this has been going on for over a decade now. The recession started in 2006, but as early as the year 2000 you could see the downturn coming as different companies started closing and closing and closing and crime began rising and rising. In my case in particular, it became a question of a personal decision and I saw a better future in the United States.”Guests Carlos Rivas, director of the Office of Management and Budget for Puerto Rico Javier Maymí, reporter for the Spanish language newspaper Centro Tampa. Copyright 2014 WBUR-FM. To see more, visit . Related programs:Here and Now on IPR News

USC marks 400th anniversary of King James Bible The University of South Carolina is marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the most widely reprinted English-language Bible in history, with an exhibit that showcases some of its most treasured and historic materials. “Four Hundred Years of the King James Bible” is on display in the Hollings Special Collections Library through late August. The exhibit tells the story of the Bible’s translation into the English language beginning with protestant reformers John Wycliffe and William Tyndale and continuing through the 16th-century, when other English translations emerged from the Puritan faith and the Catholic Church. It also charts the impact of the King James Bible in America and explores its influence on literature, politics and culture. The King James Bible “has had greater influence on literature and public discourse in the English-speaking world than any other translation,” said Dr. Carl Evans, a USC religious studies professor. All the items on display in the new exhibit come from the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Highlights of the exhibit include: a folio printing of the King James Bible dated 1611; leaves from the

(Source: NASA) WASHINGTON -- NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum invite media to preview the "Space: A Journey to Our Future" traveling exhibit on Thursday, June 12, at 11 a.m. EDT. The museum is located at Independence Ave. and Sixth Street S.W. in Washington. The exhibit highlights current projects in space exploration, including satellites, space telescopes and methods of living in space. It also provides a glimpse of future human space travel. Highlights of the exhibit include a lunar base camp, where visitors can experience what it would be like to live on the moon, an up-close look at NASA's Constellation Program, and a model of Orion, the spacecraft that will take human explorers back to the moon. There's also an illustrated timeline of NASA's 50 years of space exploration and a multimedia 360-degree "Future Theatre." Interested reporters must R.S.V.P. by email to Isabel Lara or Sonja Alexander by 3 p.m., June 11. The exhibit and NASA's participation in the Folk Life Festival on the National Mall later this month will continue the agency's 50th anniversary celebration. The exhibit was developed and is being transported by Evergreen Exhibitions of San Antonio to help celebrate NASA's 50th anniversary.

Life at the Monastery of St. Gertrude Reflections on contemporary Benedictine life at the Monastery of St. Gertrude, Cottonwood, ID The Monastic 24-Hour Buffet in a Spiritually Hungry World People today are spiritually hungry. That insight has almost become a cliché. We know it, we say it, but what are we doing about it? If we aren’t careful we are in danger of being like the people that the Letter of James warns about, walking by the hungry and naked while encouraging them to be warm and well fed. Monasteries especially might need to be careful to look at whether we are hoarding food in the midst of a famine.So what is the purpose of a monastery? What are these places of prayer, silence and community doing in our increasingly fast-paced, individualistic and secular world? What is the meaning of this odd, counter-cultural place and way of life? Monasteries today are not well known or understood. People often seem to think a monastery is a place for the spiritually elite to escape from the world or simply an anachronism from the middle ages.But perhaps the purpose of monasteries is something that both our hurting world and the declining numbers of monastics need to look at. A monastery is not just about the small number of people who live there and take vows. A monastery is salt, light and leaven in a dark, flat and tasteless world. A monastery is a dynamic center for the spiritual journey, a place of hope and prayer. The monastery is provides support and community for people who are called by God to go deeper in their faith, in their relationship with God. Today monasteries are called to be all night buffets in a spiritually starving world.Monasteries have always been places for people who have felt a call to put God before all else in their lives. Monastic life has always been centered around God, a life of prayer and service in the context of community. Both in the past and still today this monastic way has been seen as something where only a few could dedicate their life in a company of a small group of others. Monastics have traditionally been seen as a hidden, spiritually elite few.A monastery is a collection of people, whether sisters, monks or oblates, who commit themselves to put God at the center of their lives. They aren’t people who have perfect spiritual lives, people who don’t struggle and sometimes feel like their relationship with God is in need of some relationship counseling. Monastics are simply people who are committed to the spiritual journey above all else.Today our ministry as monastics is changing. Monasteries have always been of service, in the Dark Ages providing hospitality and learning in the chaos of the time. More recently many monastic communities have provided services in education and health care. But today those of us who are monastics need to share not just what we do but who we are on a deep level. We need to share the banquet of our spiritual life. It is time to open the doors to our banquet table through retreats, spiritual direction, expanded ideas of membership, forming people in their relationship with God.It is a time of famine in our land, a time of darkness when all food has lost its savor and lies flat and unleavened on our tables. Into this time of starvation the monasteries of the world need to throw open their storehouses, reveal their light and become a salty, yeasty presence on the banquet tables of the world. Where there is spiritual hunger the monasteries need to become the 24 hour buffet table to feed a world that does not always even recognize its hunger for God.

Agricultural Chemistry Anatomy and Histology Cell Pathology History and Philosophy of Science HONOURS SUBJECT AREA Immunology examines the defence mechanisms that protect humans against infections and cancers, and draws together studies in immunology, microbiology, biology, biochemistry, pathology and physiology.Studies in immunology are leading to advances in clinical medicine, including understanding allergies, transplant rejection, auto immune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and insulin-dependent diabetes, and the development of new vaccines. In addition, immunological techniques are widely used in disciplines such as biochemistry, endocrinology, microbiology, molecular biology and genetics. The honours year in immunology provides you with the opportunity for full-time research on a proposed project supervised by a staff member expert in your selected field. Throughout your immunology honours year you will receive guidance in research techniques by attending training programs covering experimental design, data analysis, written and oral communication and critical appraisal of the literature. In addition, you attend a supplementary seminar program to keep yourself informed and abreast of wider issues in immunology.You might find yourself undertaking a project with one of the following research groups: Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunity group, Vascular Biology lab, DNA Repair lab, Molecular Cardiology lab, Mycobacterial Research lab, Centre for Virus Research, Retroviral Genetics lab, among others. Workload and assessment In the honours year in immunology you will complete a thesis, research on a chosen topic, an oral presentation of research in the form of a short seminar, and a review of the literature pertaining to the particular research project. You will be assessed on each component. In particular, you will be assessed on all aspects of your research performance, by your supervisor and by two internal examiners who will be scientists familiar with the general field of research, but not directly associated with you or your research lab.

CancerCare Joins WellPoint Foundation to Improve the Health of Caregivers NEW YORK & INDIANAPOLIS --(Business Wire)-- Sixty-five million Americans provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year. Caregivers spend an average of 20 hours per week caring for their loved one, and they need resources to help them cope with the stress and personal health challenges they are likely to encounter when caring for someone else. Now, a new online tool is providing the information and resources caregivers for loved ones with cancer need to care for their own health so they can be there for those who need them most. Called "Help for Cancer Caregivers," the web tool walks users through a brief survey and then provides personalized information to help monitor, track and manage the personal health challenges they face as a result of their caregiver role. For example, if individuals respond that they feel overloaded by their caregiver responsibilities, the web tool responds with information describing the symptoms and causes of overload, as well as information on how to cope and talk about overload with others. Help for Cancer Caregivers was made possible through a $242,000 grant from the WellPoint Foundation to CancerCare®, a national nonprofit that helps more than 100,000 individuals and families cope with cancer each year. The information on Help for Cancer Caregivers was constructed through a collaboration between experts at the Caregiver Action Network, Michigan State University, Indiana University (News - Alert) and WellPoint, Inc. "As more and more patient care is being administered in the patient's own home, caregivers are responsible for providing both emotional and practical support," said CancerCare CEO Helen H. Miller, LCSW, ACSW. "Fewer than 15 percent of caregivers seek professional help in dealing with their own needs, whether they be social, financial, physical, emotional or spiritual. The Help for Cancer Caregivers web tool provides a wealth of information to help caregivers avoid burnout and stress." Studies show that Americans caring for a sick, elderly or disabled family member, relative or friend suffer from poorer physical health than those who do not have additional caregiving responsibilities. In fact, the level of distress reported by many of those caring for someone with cancer can be equal to or greater than that of the cancer patient. "This tool is designed to improvecaregivers' well-being and their ability to cope," said Lance Chrisman, executive director of the WellPoint Foundation. "Many caregivers don't realize that it's normal to feel some anxiety when they are caring for a loved one, and there are things they can do to reduce that stress, and make themselves healthier." The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index showed that caregivers in all age groups who were employed full time were substantially more likely to experience various common physical health issues - such as high blood pressure, knee and back pain, than their non-caregiving counterparts. Caregivers who provide five or more medical or nursing tasks were more likely to report feeling depressed or helpless than those who perform fewer tasks, according to "Home Alone," a report from the AARP Public Policy Institute/United Hospital Fund. Other studies have found: Caregivers show higher levels of depression; Caregivers suffer from high levels of stress and frustration; Stressful caregiving situations may lead to harmful behaviors; Caregivers have an increased risk of heart disease; Caregivers have lower levels of self-care; and Caregivers have increased sickness and death. Evidence has also shown that education and intervention reduce caregiver strain, uncertainty and helplessness and that information helps normalize the caregiver experience and enhances a sense of control. Help for Cancer Caregivers can be accessed free-of-charge at . The online tool's information can be accessed without registering; however users are encouraged to create an account so they receive information tailored to their personal situation. User information is kept confidential, and there are no costs associated with creating an account. "Caregiving can be a thankless job," said Chrisman. "By providing this tool we hope these selfless individuals can find the answers they've been looking for and that over time the online resources will help create a dialogue about the valuable role caregivers play in our families and communities." The WellPoint Foundation is the philanthropic arm of WellPoint, Inc. and through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes the inherent commitment of WellPoint, Inc. to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that WellPoint, Inc. and its affiliated health plans serve. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These disease states and medical conditions include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company's annual associate giving campaign and provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaign pledges. To learn more about the WellPoint Foundation, please visit .

Matthew Herbert The Creators Project: There’s an article about you somewhere that says you were specifically influenced by a Steve Reich track called “Come Out” early on in your career. What significance did it have for you? Matthew Herbert: I think I was very lucky that I had a great music teacher named Mr. Story. He taught us a sort of general approach to music through Queen and Stravinsky and Mozart’s clarinet concerto and Steve Reich… all sorts of people. He let us in quite early to one of the fundamental secrets of music: that it’s all roughly the same. It’s just done with different orchestration or different techniques, but it’s principally governed by the same rules, which are tension and release and harmony and discord and other things. Anyway, he played us Steve Reich, which was very influential to me because it was intellectually challenging and stimulating to my brain, but also felt emotional and soulful as well. All the challenging music I had heard before then was based around dissonance. I thought that challenging music was supposed to be dissonant or unpleasant or free from these harmonic rules that had governed the rules of music for so long prior to that period. It was a sort of turning point for me. I do think that’s something I find the greatest challenge—to create challenging and engaging and thoughtful and artistically rich music in terms of the ideas or the content of it, but also to sort of package it in such a way that it sneaks under the radar so that you can engage with it in an emotional way as well as an intellectual way. You’re known for eschewing typical samples in lieu of building sounds made by ordinary objects around the house or actions like bodily movements. Is there a process for this or an overarching concept? Like, do you say, “Between three and five today I’m going to record a table?” It’s a combination of pretty legitimate planning from day one and a kind of joyful exuberance because basically I’ve been given this incredible gift—the sampler—that can turn any noise into music instantly. It can allow you to play it on a keyboard. Look at classical music and how much of it is a simulation of nature—bird songs or rolling, expansive hills, or something like that. You don’t need to do that anymore. You can take out a microphone and go out to the hills and record a real bird song, and then your piece of music is the Austrian mountains. You have very strong ideas about music and how it connects to society in political and sociological ways. Off the top of your head, can you give us an example that someone who listens to Top 40 mainstream music might understand? Someone who I respect told me this so I don’t have any reason to doubt it, and I also don’t have any hard evidence, but I was told that the vocoder was invented to disguise Winston Churchill’s voice in the Second World War. They probably didn’t expect it to— Turn up on Kanye West records? [Laughs]. Exactly, but there’s a strong military relation to everything around us, and we’re happily going along making bits of music without much real consideration for why we’re making music in the first place and why anyone should bother to listen to it in this day in age.

Navy's mysterious magnetic silencing getting overhaul Contractors work on the magnetic silencing equipment in the Thames River last Wednesday. Buy Photo New equipment installed in channel of Thames River At the bottom of the Thames River last week, Navy divers dug up the sensors and cables that measure magnetic signatures of military ships and submarines.Even though the Navy is replacing the 20-year-old underwater range with a new one, most people don't know the range exists. And even those who have heard about it sometimes don't understand what it really does.A steel-hulled ship is surrounded by a magnetic field. As the ship moves through the water and traverses the Earth's natural magnetic fields between the North and South poles, the ship's magnetic field changes.The Navy checks its vessels to make sure the magnetism present in the hulls will not trigger magnetic mines or make the ships easier to detect.The only Magnetic Silencing Facility in the Northeast is operated by the Naval Submarine Base in Groton. When military ships pass over the sensors and cables at the center of the channel, the information is converted into a computer file and Preston E. Tone-Pah-Hote Jr., who oversees the range operations, interprets the results.The information is relayed to Navy officials, who determine whether the magnetization needs to be reduced. The range is also used by Coast Guard vessels and NATO ships.Removing or neutralizing a magnetic field is a process known as degaussing, and the local range is often called a "degaussing range." It is even described as such on a chart in Tone-Pah-Hote's office.But, Tone-Pah-Hote said, it technically is not. He does not have the ability to help a ship calibrate the degaussing equipment it has on board. Coils are wound in specific locations within the hull and the electric current that flows through them can be adjusted to reduce the ship's effect on the Earth's magnetic field.The range is a "check range" since it checks ships' magnetic characteristics. Because those measurements fall under the umbrella of degaussing, the name "degaussing range" seems to have stuck.Surface ships in the Atlantic normally go through a similar range in Norfolk, Va., or one in Mayport, Fla. The USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) and other ships used the local range when the one in Norfolk was repaired from 2010 to earlier this year. A magnetic treatment facility in Kings Bay, Ga., can minimize the level of permanent magnetism.Tone-Pah-Hote, who served 24 years in the submarine force, estimates he takes about 300 measurements a year - anytime a naval ship enters or leaves the harbor he checks it. His office on the water's edge near Fort Trumbull has a great view, but none of the quirky equipment one might expect when hearing the name "Magnetic Silencing Facility."The work on the new range, which began Nov. 1, is expected to cost $3.5 million and be finished in August. Tone-Pah-Hote said he does not expect any channel closures while the work is being [email protected]

From Heavens to Hells to Heroes – Part II Posted by Philip Zimbardo on March 19, 2007 Over the last month or so, I have authored a three-part series on the Situational Sources of Evil (see Parts I, II, and III). In that series, I describe how people too often miss the power of situation in explaining evil, and too often attribute “evil” to a person or group. Last week, I posted the first of a related two-part series. Part I of this series looked at some of the heavens and hells that I’ve witnessed or had a hand in creating and at how, if the situation is right, any of us can partake in what we would consider “evil” behavior. In this second part of that series, I will discuss strategies for resisting those powerful situational forces and becoming heroes. Good news: We can resist powerful situations and even become heroes. We need not be slaves to situational forces. In all the research that my colleagues in social psychology and I have conducted, we find that although the majority conform, comply, yield, and succumb to the power of the situation, there are always some who refuse, resist, and disobey. They do so in part because they are more sensitive to these situational pressures, more “street wise,” and are able to engage effective mental strategies of resistance against unwanted social forces. Some of what they know intuitively is how to spot and identify wolves dressed in sheep’s garments, smiling faces of con men and slick sisters with hot deals concealing manipulative intent. They are also more aware than most people of how their own thinking can contribute to distorting the scene before them, and thus needs some mental correcting. In their arsenal of general resistance strategies, the first is always trying to be mindful of their place in any behavioral context, of not going on automatic pilot that triggers scripted behavior to unfold without critical awareness. They engage in critical thinking that goes beyond accepting other peoples’ definition of the situation, asking questions about how and why, and what happens down the road if they follow the prescribed path. That means developing “discontinuity detectors,” a sense of awareness of things that don’t fit, are out of place in this setting, that don’t make sense to you. It means asking questions, getting the information you need to take responsible action. It is important also not to fear interpersonal conflict, and to develop the personal hardiness necessary to stand firm for cherished principles. Think not of getting into conflicts, but rather challenging others to support their means, their ends, and their ideology. Take nothing for granted, be a hard-headed behavioral accountant. Finally, those who resist unwanted situational influences are willing to admit mistakes, of being wrong, of cutting bait rather than sticking with prior bad decisions; thus, they do not have to rationalize away earlier commitments made without full awareness of their consequences. Our hardy band of resistors insist also on retaining their personal sense of identity and self-worth, of not allowing others to de-individuate them or to de-humanize them. (A more detailed resistance guide is available here.) When the mass of humanity is blindly obeying unjust authorities or bending to the will of corrupt systems of dominance, the few who resist are really heroes. Heroes are not only the courageous few whose brave physical dangers to help others in distress. Heroes are all those willing to make personal and social sacrifices for the good of others or their society. Social heroism involves putting one’s self at risk in the service of an important principle or idea. Being a hero is not simply being a good role model or a popular sports figure. Heroism in service to a noble idea is usually not as dramatic as heroism that involves immediate physical peril. Yet social heroism is very costly in its own way, often involving loss of financial stability, lowered social status, loss of credibility, arrest, torture, risks to family members, and, in some cases, death. In contrast to those whose heroism involves life-long sacrifices or ordering their lives around principles of passive resistance to injustice, such as Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King, Jr., most heroism can be a sudden, one-time act. It can be an almost instantaneous reaction to a situation, like that of the army reservist Joe Darby, who revealed the photos of Abu Ghraib abuses to a criminal investigator, and thereby stopped those abuses. This heroic deed of this average young man reveals what I have termed the “banality of heroism.” The idea of the banality of heroism debunks the myth of the “heroic elect,” a myth that reinforces the false notion of ascribing very rare personal characteristics to people who do something special—to see them as superhuman, practically beyond comparison to the rest of us. Just as with the psychology of evil, situations have immense power to bring out heroic actions in people who never would have considered themselves heroes. In fact, the first response of many people who are named heroes is to deny their own uniqueness with statements such as, “I am not a hero, anyone in the same situation would have done what I did,” or “I just did what needed to be done.” Immediate life and death situations, such as when people are stranded in a burning house or a car wreck, are clear examples of situations that galvanize some people into heroic action. But other situations—such as being witness to discrimination, corporate corruption, government malfeasance, or military atrocities—not only bring out the worst in people; sometimes they bring out the best in others. I believe that an important factor that may encourage heroic action is the stimulation of the “heroic imagination”– the capacity to imagine facing physically or socially risky situations, mentally struggle with the hypothetical problems these situations generate, and consider one’s actions and the consequences. Such a mental orientation may make people more likely to act heroically when the time comes. By considering these issues in advance, the individual becomes more prepared to act when and if a moment arises that calls for heroism. It might mean stopping the cab driver as he starts telling his favorite racist or sexist joke. It could mean intervening when a relative starts slapping her child around at a family event. It should mean willingness to risk losing your job by exposing fraud and deception as Sherron Watkins did at Enron, or even greater risks as Debby Layton did in exposing the dangers of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple cult in Guyana. Strengthening the heroic imagination may help to make people more aware of the ethical tests embedded in complex situations, while allowing the individual to have already considered and to some degree transcended the costs of their heroic action. Seeing one’s self as capable of the resolve necessary for heroism may be the first step toward taking a heroic action. Our society needs to consider ways of fostering such heroic imagination in all of its citizens, most particularly in our young. As the sophistication of video gaming grows, can the power of this entertainment form be used to educate children about the pitfalls of going along with a herd mentality? Or help them develop their own internal compass in morally ambiguous situations? Or perhaps even help them think about their own ability to act heroically? And as we plow ahead in the digital era, how can the fundamental teachings of a code of honor remain relevant to our daily human interactions? If we lose the ability to imagine ourselves as heroes, and to understand what true heroism is, our society will be poorer for it. We need to create a viable connection with the latent hero within ourselves. It is this vital, internal conduit between the modern work-a-day world and the mythic world of super heroes that can prepare an ordinary person to become an everyday hero. There will come a time in each of our lives when three paths lie ahead. To the left, we follow the lead of others mindlessly engaged in some evil, practicing discrimination, or injustice, or abusing their fellows. That is the path of “perpetrators of evil.” To the right, we follow the lead of others who try to ignore the evil in their midst, smilingly looking the other way. That is the path of the “evil of inaction.” To the center, we make up our own mind, to act responsibly as individuals to stand up for what we believe in, to do the right thing when it is easier to do the wrong thing, or to do nothing. That is the path of “ordinary heroes.” Some day when You are faced with that decision matrix, what path will you take? Think Central, and be counted among those who represent this democratic ideal of ordinary heroes in your family, your community, and your nation. Why Do Lawyers Acquiesce in their Clients’ Misconduct? — Part IV « The Situationist said

Protests in Bosnia; U.K. Floods Crisis; Tragic and Funny "Philomena"; Imagine a World Aired February 12, 2014 - 14:00:00 ET CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour. Is there a Ukraine effect? After months of protesters clashing on the streets of Kiev, Bosnia and Herzegovina is seeing some of its worst violence and unrest since the war two decades ago. Across the country, including its capital, Sarajevo, demonstrators have taken to the streets, setting fire to government buildings, trashing libraries, torching vehicles because of high unemployment, unpaid wages and government corruption and incompetence. The protests have now turned more peaceful. But European leaders seem to have heard their message loud and clear. The British Foreign Secretary William Hague tweeted, "It's a wakeup call to us all," and "We need a new European effort to help Bosnia towards the E.U. and NATO." So far the E.U. has failed to smooth that way and with unemployment conservatively estimated at 40 percent in Bosnia, the people there have yet to reap a peace dividend since the 1995 Dayton Accords that ended the war. They split Bosnia in two and created a cumbersome and dysfunctional political system of multilayered and competing governments and bureaucracies. Few people know better what ails Bosnia and how to fix it than Lord Paddy Ashdown, who's the former high representative and Europe's special envoy to Bosnia after the war. As the war had raged across the heart of Europe in the 1990s, Ashdown led the call for decisive action to end it. And he tells me that Europe needs to move swiftly and decisively right now to put Bosnia back on track before this latest unrest unravels into an uncontrollable storm. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) AMANPOUR: Paddy Ashdown, welcome to the program. I first went to Bosnia on one of the most terrible trips, looking at the prison camps with you 20 years ago. So much has happened since then. The worst unrest since the war. What is this saying to you? And are you surprised? PADDY ASHDOWN, BRITISH POLITICIAN: Christiane, the story of Bosnia- Herzegovina, as you know, since the days we were there, is one of two halves. The first 10 years after the war, Bosnia as a government made greater, faster progress than any other country post-conflict, in the world. AMANPOUR: That's a remarkable statistic and not many people understand that. ASHDOWN: Well, and a million people went back home, a million for the first time ever; refugees returned to their home. We paraded a single army, a single intelligence service, a single taxation . And it was going extremely well. And then the European Union -- I have to blame the European Union, I'm afraid -- decided that the days of total ownership were over. They would withdraw the leverage that they had to push things forward. The truth is that since 2006, all of those huge advantages made -- not, let me say, Christiane, by the international community but by very brave Bosnian politicians -- have been allowed to unravel. AMANPOUR: Well, now, what it seems is people who weren't even born during the war years, young people, are really upset; they have no economy. They have no jobs. ASHDOWN: Yes. AMANPOUR: It is a terrible situation. They're very frustrated by their present-day politicians who they accuse of corruption and total ineffectiveness. ASHDOWN: There's the good news and the bad news. Maybe and at last the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina are turning against a political clique who have governed the country, been allowed to govern the country, I must say, made it dysfunctional, deep in corruption. And if this is the worm turning and people and citizens are now demanding better, that's a good thing. Now the bad news. You know better than me that the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina is highly fragile, that it could shift into something ethnic. This is a very dangerous moment, potentially, not from what's happened but from what could happen. Two facts are about to happen: the first is a census; that's never been done before. That will show Bosnia divided, I fear, ethnically and may encourage secessionism. And the second is the elections later in the year. So the potential from a situation which, at the moment, at the moment is citizens complaining about poverty and lack of movement and dysfunctionality of the state and corruption amongst politicians, could move to something far worse very quickly. AMANPOUR: Well, fighting, you're talking about? ASHDOWN: Look, my -- (CROSSTALK) AMANPOUR: -- major unrest? ASHDOWN: -- no, I -- look, I don't believe that a return to conflict is likely in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But because of the dysfunctionality of the states -- and I blame the European Union in large measure for allowing that to happen -- I mean, they have got more instruments to continues Bosnia's journey towards a functional stake here for not joining the European Union, and they failed to use them. So Bosnia has sunk back into dysfunctionality. AMANPOUR: In the meantime, the foreign minister of Great Britain, William Hague, has said this week in the face of these protests, this is a wakeup call. We've got to try and put Bosnia's accession to the E.U. and NATO on a fast track. Is that even likely? ASHDOWN: We have to put -- make Bosnia a functional state. The foreign secretary and I wrote a warning that this would happen four years ago, before the election. He has done his best to make this happen. I have to say the rest of the European countries have not backed that -- AMANPOUR: What is he doing wrong? ASHDOWN: Well, they're allowing everything to unravel. It has opened the door to a mood of secessionism, especially in Republika Serbska, run by a highly opportunist prime minister, Milorad Dodik. That is beginning to unstitch the cohesion of Bosnia. The international community has to act now. If they don't act now, I greatly fear that a situation where secessionism will take hold, could easily become unstoppable as we approach the elections and then if you're going to move to the breakup of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I don't say conflict is a most likely outcome. But I can't discount it. AMANPOUR: Does Dayton need to be revisited? ASHDOWN: Undoubtedly Dayton, which was the ideal solution to the war, is the wrong basis to build a sustainable state. And it's exactly that, that the European Union must now push for. They go beyond Dayton to build a functional state, which can serve its citizens. And at present, that isn't the case. AMANPOUR: And I cannot let you go without asking you about our own country right here, Great Britain. Your area where you live, the area you represent, it is underwater. You're going back there now. (CROSSTALK) AMANPOUR: Exactly. You're leader of the Liberal Democrats; your party is in governing coalition right now. And the government is under serious criticism for its handling of this crisis. ASHDOWN: This is an act of God. It's an act of God that has gone beyond the scale anybody could have imagined. AMANPOUR: What should happen? I mean, your -- it's the worst it's ever been. ASHDOWN: Yes. So politicians take on God. Usually God wins, Christiane. That's the truth of it. Now I'm not saying -- AMANPOUR: Should they have deployed more rapidly? Could they have taken it (INAUDIBLE)? ASHDOWN: We should look at that, I think, in the -- in the -- in the aftermath of this. I don't think it's worth spending -- wasting one moment to decide now where the blame lies. Clearly it hasn't been done as well as it could have been. We need to concentrate on one thing. It's what the government is doing. By the way, I think the opposition is doing it as well; it's getting together and acts -- acting to be able to help these people in a terrible position they find themselves in. Much more important we concentrate on the action today and look at who's to fault -- at fault when this thing's passed. AMANPOUR: And what about preventative next time? Does the government have to worry about climate change and real policies -- ASHDOWN: I -- AMANPOUR: -- to prevent this kind of thing? ASHDOWN: -- I certainly hope that it means the end of the climate change deniers, which are a very powerful force through the Tory Party. I hope we won't see any more of that. And the answer is yes. And it opens some very big questions. Do you sacrifice farmland to protect towns? And these are fundamental questions. So three things: first of all, we're dealing with an act of God, the proportions no one could have imagined. Secondly, the immediate thing is to give some relief to those who are suffering so terribly under these circumstances. Thirdly, we need to decide how we got here later on. And alongside that, we need to think about what the long-term policies are, facing what it is, you rightly say, the global consequence -- a global consequence of global warming. AMANPOUR: Lord Paddy Ashdown, thank you very much for joining me. ASHDOWN: Nice to be with you. AMANPOUR: Thank you. (END VIDEOTAPE) AMANPOUR: And we'll have more about the rising floodwaters here in England later on in the program. But after a break, remember the three things you're never meant to talk about around the dinner table, sex, religion and politics? Well, in this Oscar season, one of the nominations for Best Picture tackles all three subjects with humor and with tears; a conversation with triple threat Steve Coogan, the coproducer, cowriter and costar of "Philomena," when we come back. (MUSIC PLAYING) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC PLAYING) AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program. And another look at movie awards season, "Vanity Fair" magazine's annual Hollywood issue has splashed the shiniest stars across its cover. And this year's Best Picture nominees focus on a number of real-life issues that we often cover on this program. Tonight we focus on the tragic and funny "Philomena." It's the story of an unwed teen mother and her infant son, who were separated by the Catholic Church. Now the church has come in for a tsunami of criticism over the past few years, and most recently in a brutal report by the United Nations on the sexual abuse scandal. But the report also focuses on another scandal; that's the notorious Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, where unmarried mothers worked in slave- like conditions decades ago. Their children were taken away for adoption by Catholic families around the world. One such young woman is Philomena Lee, who was played in the movie by Dame Judi Dench. Her 3-year-old child was taken away Christmas Week 1955 and she never saw him again. Her 50-year quest to find her boy, together with a British journalist, Martin Sixsmith, who's played by the British comic actor, Steve Coogan, is the basis of the movie, "Philomena," and that's been nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and four BAFTA awards, which will be handed out here in the U.K. next week. And here's a quick look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) "MARTIN SIXSMITH": My guess is that Anthony was adopted and sent to America. "PHILOMENA LEE": I think I would like to go. I'd like to know if Anthony ever thought of me. I thought of him every day." (END VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: I spoke with Coogan, who also co-wrote and coproduced the film and who's just back from meeting the pope, Pope Francis, with the real-life Philomena. I wondered whether this story of loss and faith was an unusual project for a well-known comedian. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: Steve Coogan, welcome to the program. Thank you for joining me. What attracted you to this story? STEVE COOGAN, ACTOR: First of all, my background is Irish Catholic and the subject matter was very much in that sort of area. Also because the story was once about an old Irish woman who is both, in some respects, unremarkable. But the way she dealt with the misdemeanors that were perpetrated against her was actually very remarkable. And I thought this -- the film would resonate with people because it was about a mother and son being separated. AMANPOUR: You talk about a mother trying to reunite with her son. It is a tragic tale, as everybody who's seen the film will know. But it's also vintage Coogan. There are times when you are really, really funny and I want to play a clip and then talk to you about it. COOGAN: OK. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "PHILOMENA") "LEE": Now we're getting closer. All these years wondering whether Anthony was in trouble or in prison or goodness knows where. But as long as I didn't know, I could always tell myself he was happy somewhere and that he was doing all right. "SIXSMITH": Don't upset yourself. "LEE": What if he was obese? "SIXSMITH": Obese? "LEE": I watched this documentary that says a lot of Americans are huge. What if that happened to him? (END VIDEO CLIP, "PHILOMENA") AMANPOUR: I mean, it's made me laugh all over again, because that interaction and that exchange is really funny. Why did you think funny was OK? What does -- what role does funny play in these tragic stories? COOGAN: To contemplate serious issues needn't be a chore. This film deals with religion. It's one of those three subjects, sex, religion and politics, that you don't talk about at dinner parties. And I thought there is a way to talk about this without upsetting people. And if people are laughing whilst you're having this discussion about religion or institutionalized religion, if you like, if they laugh now and again, then they're kind of -- they're more open. They're more open to the discussion. AMANPOUR: So we'll talk about sex and religion and politics in just a moment. But first, I have to ask you, what was it like playing alongside this gigantic legend of a talent, Judi Dench? How did you work with her? What brought you together as characters? COOGAN: Well, when we wrote the script, we knew that Judi was attached at a certain point. So we rewrote the script to play to her strengths because, of course, she has this great depth and gravitas, that she wears very lightly in her performances. But she's capable of this -- of real emotional depth. The relationship between the -- Martin, as I play him, and Philomena, she plays her, is -- it's about a kind of -- it's really, in some ways, just an "Odd Couple" story. It's very -- kind of an old-fashioned Hollywood film. It's a story about intellect versus intuition, if you like. He's the slightly smug, conceited, self-righteous, intellectual liberal and she's the conservative working-class retired nurse. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) COOGAN (voice-over): And they both are very different views of the world. (END AUDIO CLIP) AMANPOUR: And the film has led to other things, obviously. I want to get to the real Philomena Lee and to the visit you both paid to the Vatican last week. And you met the pope in a general audience to try to, you know, explain to him and get him on board with the Philomena Project, which I think -- you explain it to me. You want the Irish government to open up the archives. Tell me what it is you hope this will achieve. COOGAN: In the U.S. and the U.K., there are laws which assist you to have access to information that will help you trace your parents or your children. And those laws don't exist in Ireland. And really there's been a culture of obfuscation and obstruction over the last 30 or so years. And the Philomena Project, which was set up to try and pressure the government into making -- to both assisting people to track down their parents or their children, should they so wish, and making information more readily available. It was the purpose of the Philomena Project and its association with the Adoption Alliance in Ireland. And the church -- and the Vatican knew about this and extended an invitation to Philomena to visit the Vatican with the full knowledge that that would send a signal. And, indeed, we screened the movie inside the Vatican and the pope's private secretary, Monsignor Karcher, and one of his senior advisers, Bishop Sanchez, were very comfortable with the film and the message in the film and intimated to me that the culture of the Vatican would be a different one than the culture that existed before Pope Francis. So we're hopeful. AMANPOUR: That would be an amazing result of this film and the project. I want to also play for you what Philomena said after meeting the pope. At one point she said, you know, I'm no longer angry about what happened to my son and to me. And she also said that she felt like she was almost absolved after this meeting. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PHILOMENA LEE, INSPIRATION FOR FILM: I feel so forgiven as it -- all them years ago. I mean, it was such an awful sin to have a baby out of wedlock. But yesterday I felt all my sins had been -- that, you know, he really made me feel that they were going to do something about it. And -- but it made me feel so good inside. (END VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: So doing this film, some have criticized it for just sort of piling on more sort of anti-Roman Catholic Church, anti-Vatican stuff. Others have said, no, it's a really serious message. For you, what was it? I've heard you say it's a bit like an open letter to your parents. COOGAN: Well, you know, it's -- the problem with sort of a lot of media culture these days is that conversations become about entrenched positions, about attritious wars of ideas rather than people understanding, you know, and embracing the nuance of the person who has an opposing view to them. I am -- I'm not Catholic. But there are aspects of Catholicism that I still admire and respect. And it was important in the film that it wasn't just some polemic diatribe against the church. That would have preached only to the converted. And it was important in the resolution of the story that Philomena Lee herself, she dignifies her faith. She shows that religion can be a good thing. And she, if you like, lives her values and is consistent with her values and lives them and, unlike others who preach values but don't abide by them. So it's an important -- it's important that, despite the criticism of the Catholic Church, that at the end there's an olive branch that's held out to the church to say that there's a way forward. And the way forward is through the ordinary people who live the values of their religion. AMANPOUR: Steve Coogan, thank you very much. And we wish you a lot of luck with the aims of the Philomena Project and of course during this awards season that's upon us. Thanks very much. COOGAN: Thank you very much. (END VIDEOTAPE) AMANPOUR: And after a break, imagine an area the size of San Francisco, some 40 square miles, submerged by floodwaters in the last month. It is not a sinking archipelago in the South Pacific; it is, of course, the ongoing disaster right here in rain-soaked England. How bad are the floods? Well, Khalsa Aid, which is the same international relief organization that sent aid to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan back in November and also sent assistance after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans back in 2005, is now sending volunteers and supplies to parts of Britain. But with more storm clouds on the horizon, is it too late to bail out the politicians? That when we come back. (MUSIC PLAYING) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC PLAYING) AMANPOUR: And finally tonight, leadership, whether in Bosnia or the Vatican or anywhere else on the planet, requires courage, vision and sometimes a good pair of wellies. Imagine a world where the weather men can make or break a political career. It's a lesson that Britain's prime minister is learning the hard way as parts of this country brace for more storms after the wettest January on record. Knee-deep in water, Mr. Cameron has pledged that, quote, "money is no object," when it comes to flood relief. However, as the Thames River keeps rising and threatens to reach its highest level in six decades, Cameron's critics, when they're not piling sandbags, treading water or seeking shelter from the flood, say the government's response has been too little too late. So could this torrential downpour be Mr. Cameron's swan song? Now you heard Paddy Ashdown tell me earlier on the program that what's happening is an act of God and that no one can beat that hand. But back in 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush was pilloried and his reputation was forever scarred for his slow response to Hurricane Katrina when it slammed into New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States. But it was just last November when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, killing thousands of people that the government and President Aquino was criticized for its lack of preparation and inadequate response to the tragedy. Perhaps Prime Minister Cameron has realized that it's sink or swim. He's canceled a trip to the Middle East next week to stay home and avoid the political graveyard if the rains and the criticism continue. And that's it for our program tonight. Remember you can always contact us at our website, amanpour.com, and follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Thanks for watching and goodbye from London. END Weather forecast

Washington Senior Care Seminar: Taking Care of Your Physical and Financial Well-Being The claims of various lifestyle magazines that "60 is the new 50" may be exaggerated, but it is a fact that Americans in general are living longer, healthier lives: In 1900, the average lifespan for Americans was a mere 49.24 years, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. By 1950, the average life expectancy increased to 68.07 years. Today's life expectancy is 77.8 years.But what about the quality of that longer life span?"Aging can be a positive experience if you maintain your physical health, your independence and your sense of safety," says Ivan Levine. "There are many things people can do to maintain a youthful outlook on life, including staying physically, mentally and socially active. In addition, a lot of studies show that financial stress can affect your overall health and emotional state, so maintaining control of your financial situation is a factor in longevity, too."Levine speaks from years of experience. Along with his wife Sandy Levine - a former health-care executive - he is co-owner of Senior Helpers of Alameda County and Silicon Valley. Senior Helpers provides in-home care services ranging from companionship and conversation to assistance with daily activities such as bathing and dressing, errands and transportation, light housekeeping and laundry, and even Alzheimer's and dementia care. The couple has been involved in the senior community for many years as caregivers, senior center sponsors, health fair participants and as advocates for people with Alzheimer's disease.To help seniors in the Tri-City area learn more about living well as they age, a trio of professionals will present a special seminar sponsored by Washington Senior Care on Monday, January 25 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The seminar will be held in the Conrad E. Anderson, M.D. Auditorium in the Washington West Building at 2500 Mowry Avenue in Fremont.The Levines will open the session with a discussion of "Seniors' Secrets to Achieving the New Young." Leonard Heller, a certified financial planner will follow up with a presentation on "How to Organize Your Financial Affairs.""Achieving the 'new young' is something everyone can do, provided they think positively," Levine states. He and his wife will detail various steps to help seniors meet that objective, including:* Doing as much for yourself as you can.* Identifying areas where you need help.* Finding people you can trust to help with the things you can't do, such as a physician, caregiver, attorney or financial advisor.* Staying curious and keeping your mind active with pursuits such as learning computer skills.* Sharpening your mind with a variety of mental activities.* Increasing your resilience.* Building a good support system of family and friends who can help out when you need it.* Putting your money where it counts, so it will last for the rest of your life.The last step in the Levines' formula for maintaining a high quality of life as you age leads directly into Heller's presentation. "People naturally have a major concern about outliving their financial resources or becoming a burden to others," Heller notes. "That fear is not unrealistic, since there is a statistical likelihood that out of 10 couples, seven will have one partner who requires some sort of long-term care. "In my 25 years of practice, I have learned that planning is essential," he adds. "Seniors need to develop a solid foundational plan assuming they never need care, as well as contingency plans for possible new circumstances. There's an old saying that goes, 'People make plans, and God laughs,' but we still need to make plans."Among the topics Heller will cover are:* Understanding and managing the complexities of your Medicare coverage, including the eligibility requirements for Part A and Part B, prescription coverage options and options for supplemental insurance and long-term care insurance.* Preparing a will and/or trust.* Understanding the difference between allocation and diversification of investments.* Paying off revolving debt and knowing what your other debts and liabilities are and when bills are due.* Protecting your home equity, particularly if you are considering a reverse mortgage.* Keeping track frequently of where all your assets are, and how much you have in various accounts.* Updating important papers regularly and keeping family members or other trusted people aware of where those papers are stored.* Managing the tax consequences of various financial decisions.* Understanding the current state of the economy and how it affects people, especially seniors."Financial planning is not a one-size-fits-all scenario," Heller emphasizes. "The situation is the 'boss' when it comes to financial planning. The answers to people's financial needs depend on their individual situations. Having a question-and-answer session at the seminar will allow us to cover specific topics that are important to the various people who attend."The free seminar will take place on Monday, January 25 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Conrad E. Anderson M.D., Auditorium in the Washington West Building at 2500 Mowry Avenue in Fremont. To register, please visit www.whhs.com and click on the class link titled: "How to Organize Your Financial Affairs." You can also call (800) 963-7070 to register. Home Protective Services

Jacques Coughlin Since he joined NPR in 2000, Knox has covered a broad range of issues and events in public health, medicine, and science. His reports can be heard on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Talk of the Nation, and newscasts. Among other things, Knox's NPR reports have examined the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa, North America, and the Caribbean; anthrax terrorism; smallpox and other bioterrorism preparedness issues; the rising cost of medical care; early detection of lung cancer; community caregiving; music and the brain; and the SARS epidemic. Before joining NPR, Knox covered medicine and health for The Boston Globe. His award-winning 1995 articles on medical errors are considered landmarks in the national movement to prevent medical mistakes. Knox is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Columbia University. He has held yearlong fellowships at Stanford and Harvard Universities, and is the author of a 1993 book on Germany's health care system. He and his wife Jean, an editor, live in Boston. They have two daughters. Wed July 18, 2012 HIV Cure Is Closer As Patient's Full Recovery Inspires New Research Nurse Priscila-Grace Gonzaga with Gregg Cassin, a San Francisco gay man who has been infected with HIV since the early 1980s. He's a volunteer in a cutting-edge gene therapy experiment to see whether HIV-infected people can be given an immune system that is invulnerable to HIV infection. Richard Knox Share Tweet E-mail Comments By Richard Knox Originally published on Wed July 18, 2012 6:30 pm Listen Ask AIDS researchers why they think a cure to the disease is possible and the first response is "the Berlin patient." That patient is a wiry, 46-year-old American from Seattle named Timothy Ray Brown. He got a bone marrow transplant five years ago when he was living in Berlin. Read more Shots - Health Blog Tue July 17, 2012 Cholera Vaccination Test Reached Targets In Haiti A lone pig roots through trash dumped over the side of a sewage canal that runs from the center of Port au Prince through Cite de Dieu. During the rainy season, the canal overflows its banks and fills nearby houses with sewage, which can carry cholera. John W. Poole NPR Share Tweet E-mail Comments By Richard Knox The results are in on this spring's high-visibility pilot project to vaccinate 100,000 Haitians against cholera. Almost 90 percent of the target population – half in Port-au-Prince and the other half in a remote rural area – got fully protected against cholera, meaning they got 2 doses of the oral vaccine. The results defy the forecasts of skeptics who said in advance of the campaign that it would be lucky to protect 60 percent of the target populations. Read more Shots - Health Blog Tue July 17, 2012 Deciding On Truvada: Who Should Take New HIV Prevention Pill? Kevin Kirk (left) and James Callahan have been together for more than five years. Recently they sat down and talked about whether Kevin, who is HIV-negative, might want to start taking Truvada. Richard Knox Share Tweet E-mail Comments By Richard Knox Originally published on Sat July 28, 2012 10:05 am Listen There's something new to prevent HIV infections. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a once-a-day pill that can drastically lower a person's risk of getting the virus that causes AIDS. It's called Truvada — the first HIV prevention pill. It's not cheap — around $13,000 a year — and it's not clear what insurers will pay for it. And there's worry that people taking the pill might relax safe-sex precautions. Read more AIDS: A Turning Point Thu July 12, 2012 'Treatment As Prevention' Rises As Cry In HIV Fight While Kenya Jackson (right) is on his thrice-weekly dialysis treatment, community health worker Greg Jules talks to him about taking his medication. Richard Knox Share Tweet E-mail Comments By Richard Knox Originally published on Thu July 12, 2012 11:21 am Listen AIDS researchers, policymakers and advocates are increasingly convinced that treating HIV is one of the best ways of preventing its spread. The rallying cry is "treatment as prevention," and it's the overarching theme of this month's International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. Read more Shots - Health Blog The Food and Drug Administration just approved the OraQuick test, which detects the presence of HIV in saliva collected using a mouth swab. Chuck Zovko

Tzimiskes Am I Feeling American Today? There's been quite a bit written about Glen Beck's restoring honor rally. Not having attended it myself I can't comment on the specifics of it. But I do have some thoughts about what has been expressed about the rally. It was covered heavily just about everywhere. The Economist blogs had three posts on it, Ross Douthat at the NY Times has been running with it, and there are countless others. What is most remarkable to me isn't so much what the pundits have to say as what is said in the comments. This makes it much clearer what the appeal of Glenn Beck is and what he was doing with his rally. It's been expressed elsewhere but Beck's appeal is that he affirms what it is to live like an American. This is an America that is explicitly emotionally felt rather than an America known through careful interpretation of our history and modern actions. Mr. Beck's rally seemed to have a message that America is a great and successful country because of what Americans believe, how we live, and knowing that America will continue to be great as long as we adhere to our values, especially religious ones. By affirming these values and continuing to act upon them America will continue to be great and grow ever more successful. The solution to our problems is to stay true to what we feel America to be. The American myth must become the American reality. It's pretty much typical American populism. While this is certainly a narrative with a long tradition in America, not only politically, the rally reminded me a bit of the Great Awakenings though I don't believe it will have nearly that impact, so culturally as well, this is a view that is irreconcilable with another view of America. This view is that America is great because of our choices, because we were willing to make the tough decisions and change ourselves at a very basic level when we had to and we didn't fall into the trap of thinking we could work through our problems by affirming who we are as a nation instead of accepting the need to change. In this view, America is so successful because it was able to continue to reinvent itself, we are a country that prides itself in being something different when we're grandparents from what it was when we are children. This America is essentially a system, it's a set of institutions that a political community of unparalleled flexibility and strength was built upon. It doesn't matter what the culture, beliefs, or values of the members of that community are, as long as they have faith in our institutions a way forward that includes everyone can be found. These two views of America are based on two radically different views of how the world works. One sees America's success as the result of the beliefs and values of the people making up the nation. If their beliefs and values are good, the country will be strong and successful. If they break away from what has been successful in the past, America will decline as we deviate from the very values that our country was built on. This has been a very common and appealing view, it empowers people to impact the world and their nation through their own actions. Our success or failure is independent of broader social forces. The other view sees America as being successful because of how we responded to the environment we found ourselves in. Our success isn't dependent on measuring ourselves against some constant set of values, it's dependent on how we respond to the changes in the world around us. If we correctly identify what is happening in the broader world, and make the right changes, we will be successful and grow and our citizens will be happy and successful. If we misdiagnose, or fail to respond, to the changes occurring and the systemic pressures we face, we will decline, and possibly eventually collapse. While this doesn't have the message of individual affirmation the other view holds, it still sees us as in control of our own destiny. This view holds out hope for continued evolution and that there is no end to our improvement; if only we have the courage to continue to change. The first view is one of the most common views held by societies throughout history. They have all failed. What makes America so successful is that with time we choose to act on the second view. Despite the beliefs and efforts of men like Mr. Beck, the US knows deep down that change is inevitable and should be embraced so I have faith we will make the right choice in the end.

The website – girlsinict.org – was designed to inspire and help young women between the ages of 11 and 25 prepare for and pursue careers in technology by providing them with useful resources such as links to scholarships, internships, ICT contests and awards, tech camps and online networks where they can interact with other women working in an industry that is largely male-dominated. “It’s a little-known fact that women were the original programmers of ENIAC, the US Government’s first ever computer. But while teenage girls now use computers and the Internet at rates similar to boys, they are five times less likely to consider a technology-related career,” the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said in a news release. “Research consistently shows that girls tend to choose careers where they feel they can ‘make a difference’ – healthcare, education, medicine. With this new portal, we’re trying to show them that there’s much more to ICTs than writing computer code,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré. “As we move towards an ICT-based knowledge society, the rise of apps and the explosion in telemedicine, remote learning systems and research and development make the ICT industry the most exciting choice any young person can make,” Mr. Touré said. “I hope our new portal will serve as a showcase to attract the many talented girls and young women in countries worldwide to this booming sector,” he added. ITU stressed the need for a change in attitudes towards ICT jobs, which according to experts, girls usually see as unfeminine, too challenging or just plain boring. However, the demand for these jobs worldwide is steadily increasing with not enough qualified individuals to fill the gap in the job market. The European Union, for example, calculates that in 10 years there will be 700,000 more ICT jobs than there are professionals to fill them. Globally, that shortfall is estimated to be closer to two million. The website seeks to inspire women to consider ICT as a career option by offering them information on the range of options available in the sector as well as provide them with real life examples of how women are already changing the industry. “We hope our new Girls in ICT portal with its profiles and videos of women in ICTs will be a major catalyst in creating exciting and rewarding new choices for women worldwide,” said Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “Encouraging girls into the technology industry will create a positive feedback loop, in turn creating inspiring role models for the next generation.”

Promoting Hinduism? Parents Demand Removal Of School Yoga Class Third-graders at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School in Encinitas, Calif., perform chair pose with instructor Kristen McCloskey last month. Kyla Calvert for NPR The third-graders at Olivenhain Pioneer take three deep breaths in the downward dog position during one of their two weekly yoga classes. During first period at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School in Encinitas, Calif., Kristen McCloskey leads about two dozen third-graders through some familiar yoga poses. "All right, so let's do our opening sequence A," she says, instructing the kids. "Everyone take a big inhale, lift those arms up. Look up." At the end of the half-hour class, 8-year-old Jacob Hagen says he feels energized and ready for the rest of the day. "Because you get to stretch out and it's good to be the first class because it wakes you up," he says. Schools across the country are focusing more on teaching students to make healthy choices; Encinitas Superintendent Tim Baird says yoga is just one element of the district's physical education curriculum. "We also have a nutrition program," he says. "We also have a life-skills program where kids learn about perseverance and responsibility." The whole wellness program is supported by a $500,000 grant from the K.P. Jois Foundation. The Encinitas-based group promotes a kind of yoga called Ashtanga, which was introduced to Encinitas from India in 1975 by founder Krishna Pattabhi Jois. But when Mary Eady visited one of the yoga classes at her son's school last year, she saw much more than a fitness program. "They were being taught to thank the sun for their lives and the warmth that it brought, the life that it brought to the earth and they were told to do that right before they did their sun salutation exercises," she says. Those looked like religious teachings to her, so she opted to keep her son out of the classes. The more Eady reads about the Jois Foundation and its founders' beliefs in the spiritual benefits of Ashtanga yoga, the more she's convinced that the poses and meditation can't be separated from their Hindu roots. "It's stated in the curriculum that it's meant to shape the way that they view the world, it's meant to shape the way that they make life decisions," Eady says. "It's meant to shape the way that they regulate their emotions and the way that they view themselves." Eady is part of a group of parents working with Dean Broyles, president and chief counsel of the Escondido-based National Center for Law and Policy. "And then the question becomes — if it is religious, which it is, who decides when enough religion has been stripped out of the program to make it legal?" Broyles says. "I mean, that's the problem when you introduce religion into the curriculum and actually immerse and marinate children in the program." Critics of the yoga class launched an online petition that garnered about 260 signatures as of Friday, about 50 of them voluntarily identifying themselves as parents in the district. Another online petition, in support of the class, had more than 2,700 signatures, which are anonymous to those who don't sign. Eady and the other parents working with Broyles want the classes made completely voluntary and moved to before or after the school day. They say school officials haven't responded to their concerns. Opponents worry that the class will be adopted in schools across the nation. They point to the Jois Foundation's funding of researchers at the Universities of San Diego and Virginia to study whether the yoga classes affect things like attendance, behavior and student achievement. "It is the stated goal of both the Jois Foundation and the district itself to prove scientifically that Ashtanga yoga works for kids here in the district and then export it nationally," Broyles says. Jois Foundation Director Eugene Ruffin, however, maintains that the yoga program is typical of athletics programs for kids. "They provide you with the exercise and the motivation for children," Ruffin says. "And then they give you character exercises — 'Thou shalt not steal, thou shall be honest, thou shall be respectful to adults.' " Ruffin says those ideals aren't specific to Hinduism and don't conflict with his own Catholic upbringing. Despite the controversy, most parents, like Monique Cocco, are happy with the classes. She says her children don't come home with a newfound knowledge of Hinduism. "Absolutely not — no. What my daughter tells me is she did the pancake today and she lays down and then she cracks up because it's so funny," Cocco says. Cocco hears from teachers that kids are calmer and more focused after yoga, so the teachers can spend more class time on lessons, instead of settling kids down the way they sometimes have to after traditional gym classes. When winter break ends Monday, the school district is moving forward with plans to have the classes taught at all nine Encinitas schools.Copyright 2013 KPBS-FM. To see more, visit http://www.kpbs.org. Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: The town of Encinitas, California is aiming to enhance the performance of its students through yoga. Yoga studios in the coastal town, just north of San Diego, are as prevalent as Starbucks outlets in other American cities. In fact it's known as the yoga capital of America. So when yoga became part of school gym classes there, few people took notice. But one group of parents is protesting now. They say the classes promote Hinduism. Here's Kyla Calvert of member station KPBS. KYLA CALVERT, BYLINE: It's the first period of the day at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School, and Kristen McCloskey is leading about two dozen third graders through some familiar yoga poses. KRISTEN MCCLOSKEY: All right, let's do our opening sequence A. Everyone take a big inhale, lift those arms up. Look up. (SOUNDBITE OF CLAPPING) CALVERT: At the end of the half-hour class, eight-year-old Jacob Hagen says he feels ready for the rest of his day. JACOB HAGEN: Because you get to stretch out and it's good to be the first class because it wakes you up. CALVERT: Schools across the country are focusing more on teaching students to make healthy choices. And Encinitas superintendent Tim Baird says yoga is just one part of the district's physical education curriculum. TIM BAIRD: We also have a nutrition program, we also have a life skills program where kids learn about perseverance and responsibility. CALVERT: The whole wellness program is supported by a half-million-dollar grant from the K.P. Jois Foundation. The Encinitas-based group promotes a kind of yoga called Ashtanga. It's also paying for researchers at the Universities of San Diego and Virginia to study whether the yoga classes affect things like attendance, behavior and student achievement. But, when Mary Eady visited a yoga class at her son's school last year, she saw much more than a fitness program. MARY EADY: They were being taught to thank the sun for their lives and the warmth that it brought, the life that it brought to the earth, and they were told to do that right before they did their sun salutation exercises. CALVERT: Eady says those are religious teachings, so she opted her son out of the classes. And the more she reads about the Jois Foundation and its founders' beliefs in the spiritual benefits of Ashtanga yoga, the more convinced Eady is that it can't be separated from its Hindu roots. EADY: It's stated in the curriculum that it's meant to shape the way that they view the world, it's meant to shape the way that they make life decisions. It's meant to shape the way that they regulate their emotions and the way that they view themselves. DEAN BROYLES: And then the question becomes, if it is religious - which it is - who decides when enough religion has been stripped out of the program to make it legal? CALVERT: That's Dean Broyles, lead attorney with the conservative Christian National Center for Law and Policy. BROYLES: I mean that's the problem when you introduce religion into the curriculum and actually immerse and marinate children in the program. CALVERT: Broyles is working with Eady and other Encinitas parents who want the classes made completely voluntary and moved to before or after the school day. They say school officials haven't responded to their specific concerns. But what's being taught in the yoga program is typical of athletics programs for kids, says K.P. Jois Foundation director Eugene Ruffin. EUGENE RUFFIN: They provide you with the exercise and the motivation for children and then they give you character exercises - thou shalt not steal, thou shall be honest, thou shall be respectful to adults. CALVERT: Ruffin says those ideals aren't specific to Hinduism and don't conflict with his own Catholic upbringing. Despite the controversy, most parents are happy with the classes, including Monique Cocco, who says her children certainly aren't learning about Hinduism. MONIQUE COCCO: Absolutely not - no. What my daughter tells me is she did the pancake today and she lays down and then she cracks up because it's so funny. CALVERT: Cocco hears from teachers that kids are calmer and more focused after yoga. And the school district says it's moving forward with plans to have the classes taught at all nine Encinitas schools this academic year. For NPR News, I'm Kyla Calvert in San Diego. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Come to See The Risk of Education I have been reading The Risk of Education, by Father Giussani, with two friends (really, we've just begun it), and I have been thinking a lot about when I first read this book, and about how my understanding of Christianity was so inadequate then. It was a couple of years into my experience with the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and I remember being very frustrated with Giussani for not giving concrete instructions about how to do his method of education (CGS is SO concrete in its training method). I had the feeling that ten different people could read any one of his books (at the time we did not have The Journey to Truth... or Is it Possible...? in English) and they would all come away with modes of living the "CL thing" so radically different and contradictory to render the original text useless for helping them discover/encounter Christ. In other words, I found "Risk" to be a very abstract book, "in the clouds," and with very few applications to my lived life. Nonetheless, I liked it!But now I am coming at this book in a completely new way. First of all, no method can be learned without a living guide. One cannot do the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd without seeing it in action, without the human experience of training (so many people are frustrated because they buy Sofia's books, hoping for a "road map" that they can use in place of training -- but no such luck!). The same is true of CL or GS or "Giussani-style education" -- whatever you want to call it. In CL, you can't go for "training," as in CGS, but it is available -- just not in any pre-arranged or packaged form. One can (and ought to) wrestle with the texts, read and reread them until one has deeply absorbed their meaning, but no amount of study can substitute for meeting the charism, spending time with it, and joining it.It used to bug me so much when people would ask, "So, when/how did you meet the Movement?" I didn't like the way they used the word "meet." It seemed like a made up use of the word in order to make some "important" point -- it felt artificial to me. In ordinary English we would say, "How did you discover the Movement?" or "When did you first hear about it?" But now I understand why it bugged me -- not so much because something artificial was happening (now I have "met" the Movement, and that's the only word to describe coming face to face with a living Presence) -- but because it was a presumptuous question -- simply being exposed, hearing about, even going to SoC do not constitute "meeting." I met the Movement when I met Father Vincent. Before that, I had been able to glimpse it (as from a distance) when I heard Riro speak, or Father Rich, or Monsignor Albacete -- but my own heart was not sufficiently open for these moments to constitute true "meetings." I even had friends who revealed the charism at work: Giorgio, Sabrina, Terese, and Tiziana come to mind -- but in meeting them, I still hadn't "met" the movement because in becoming amazed at certain things or almost everything about them, I was still making myself the final judge about them -- I thought I had already figured out the wisdom, or joie de vivre, or sanctity they possessed -- I didn't try to follow it to its source -- I didn't try to follow it at all. It was like a sign pointing down a road that I refused to travel because I thought I already knew it and had already been on it.What was different about Father Vincent? It may have had little to do with him. When the foreign thought entered my mind that day: "This is for me!", perhaps it was just that having moved to a new town so recently, I was less sure of myself, less comfortable with all the answers I was carrying around inside of me. Perhaps, in all my experiences of CL, I had finally reached the "tipping point." Or perhaps, distracted as I was that day, I could still intuit that the Presence of Christ in Father Vincent was strange, new, and yet familiar -- and tremendously attractive -- and it was a face of Christ I hadn't yet made my own (I guess you could say that I had been following one parable exclusively, without taking another, equally rich parable into account) -- and most important, it was a face I wanted to follow, join, make my own.And now, having met Father Vincent, having met his life, it has been like a "proposal" or "provocation" or "hypothesis" for me to live all of life, in every dimension -- he, or rather the charism that has seized him, is what Father Giussani refers to as an "authority" or a true "educator." Through Father Vincent, I have received an approach to tradition. What is so weird is that I've spent very little time with this priest, and he's kind of spotty about reading and responding to his emails. But my education can continue because I have met the same thing I met in Father Vincent in Father Roberto (but what a wildly different manifestation!), in my friend Patty, in Chris Bacich, in a young guy named Giuseppe who lived in Pittsburgh for a few months this past fall...But the even more important point is that it (the charism) doesn't depend on these particular individuals. I experience it in my daily life, mostly as a result of the profound and moving experience of School of Community this year, but most importantly in the new fraternity group that Marie and I have formed. A great and rich newness has entered my life since Father Vincent's visit two years ago.And this richness -- something that is behind and between every word in "The Risk of Education," but cannot be explicitly communicated by any text, save maybe the Bible -- is the approach to tradition, the way of looking at reality (Father Giussani sometimes calls it a "gaze," full of love) that is the treasure of Christianity.What is the biggest difference between how I lived my Christianity back in the early, rapturous days of discovering the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and who I am today? I think that back then I clung to a kind of dualism -- I wanted to separate my life in Christ from other aspects of my life -- certainly I wanted Christ to help the other aspects of my life, and I brought thoughts of him into every corner of my life -- but still there was a disconnect between these two elements that is hard to explain or describe. I didn't get that every circumstance in my life, every person in front of me, was the Presence of Christ calling to me in a way particular to that circumstance. I thought there were privileged moments in which Christ was present, quite intensely, and there were other moments where he was somewhere in heaven, looking down, connected by the holy telephone line to my brain/heart, but not in front of me, asking something of me in the messy here and now of human interactions. I first found him in scripture, then at Mass, then in the children in the atrium...but CL has managed to educate me to the fact that he is present in "reality in its totality." So now I live immersed in wonder (except when I forget or become distracted!). Communion and Liberation, Father Giussani, Fraternity, Memoris Domini, Miracles, School of Community, Vocation, Witness, Parables and worlds I promised that I would have a lot to say about the passage, "The whole world is like one big parable," and I like to keep my promises.In the atrium, when meditating on Jesus' parables, I explain to the older children (the younger ones already know about this and haven't forgotten it yet) that a parable is like a set of Russian nesting dolls. When you open the first beautiful doll, inside you find another one, even more richly decorated than the last; however, with a parable, there is no final, tiny doll in the center, rather the number of times one can open a parable and find something even richer inside is infinite. This year Lizzie, a girl in the atrium, said, "Maybe it's like starting from the center, and each time you get to the next doll, it's bigger and more beautiful, and they just keep getting bigger and you never end...until the whole world is filled up!" Another girl, Michaela, added, "It's even bigger than the world, so the last of all the dolls wouldn't just fill the world, it would fill...infinity."So, what is a parable? The parable is a literary text, a method of teaching. It is the method that Jesus used to teach others about his real identity. There are many ways of teaching, but what is significant for us is that Jesus himself used parables for a particular reason. There is something perplexing to us in the history of catechesis. How is it that when we seek to convey the message of Christ, which he did using parables, we often use the definitional method? Definition and parable are poles apart. How is it possible to define any person, let alone the person of God? How can I describe a person by locking the description in as few words as possible? Still less, how can I do this when speaking of the person of God, by trying to clarify in a few, clear and precise words the mystery of God? The Gospel follows a different path, the way of parables. The parable method presupposes that we recognize that we cannot exhaust what the parable is proposing, precisely because the parable hides what it wishes to teach. The parable is a type of approximation because we cannot attain a terse definition of whom Christ is, we cannot explain in only a few words what is meant in the Gospel about the Kingdom of God. We have a great difficulty in appreciating this. The Gospel speaks of the Kingdom of God in many parables that present many points of view. If we used the method of definition we would have to keep all these parables in mind at once... There is a limitation, which is not restricted to the religious field, to a method that wants only to define or delimit. If we look around ourselves, how many things are we really able to define? ...we can understand and explain facts about nature, but we cannot explain the human person in the same manner. How much less is this possible for the person of God? If there is always something about the human person that goes beyond a precise "definition", then how much more is this true when speaking of God? The intent of a parable is to conceal, not because the author does not know how to be clear, but because there is a consciousness of the inability to exhaust a parable's meaning, which is only reached little by little. The parable challenges us and reminds us that we can never entirely discover its depths. A particularity of the parable is that it always remains open. The definition encloses and thus closes the door to any further probing; the parable remains always open, available for further penetration and awareness. ...there are always greater and newer things to be found.The Nature of a Parable A parable is comprised of an action, a fact; sometimes it is so simple as to seem banal, as in the case of a woman baking bread, nevertheless it is an action which is inexhaustible in its meaning. The parable’s significance extends beyond the action; it is like a façade, which hides a large house. If we stop only to look at the house we will certainly see little, but if we enter through the opening and walk around there will be much discovering awaiting us. This is also the way to discover the real meaning of a parable. We must not stop at the surface, such as a woman baking bread; instead, we need to enter the house, so to speak, and walk around it in silence and reverence. [...] In the same way, the parable may be said to be an invitation to search... A parable always has different levels: the ordinary, and also the metaphysical level, which goes beyond our physical senses. A parable takes an element of everyday life and juxtaposes this with a more metaphysical element. Take the example of the parable of the leaven or yeast, in which the Kingdom of God is said to be like a woman baking bread. In placing these two elements together, the impact of their juxtaposition is enlightening for us, illuminating the real message of the parable. There is a flash of light that reveals a new significance, in which the distant concept of the Kingdom of God and the common experience of making bread combine to produce a new revelation of reality. The parable takes a little incident of daily life and makes it into a sign or indication pointing to a higher reality. Parables lead us to pause awhile to consider a woman making bread, a mustard seed, a pearl, and move us to seek for another meaning. It takes care on our part to understand the parables; by “understanding” is meant more than the solely rational and intellectual sense... ...An image in a parable needs no translation; although it may be translated from one language into another, an image still remains an image, a shepherd is a shepherd. The spirit of a parable is in its aesthetic character, which we need to discover and engage in to discover its meaning. ...A parable explained is no longer a parable. If the parable does not wish to state clearly the meaning of what it wishes to teach, then there is a reason. A parable conceals not for lack of clarity, but because it is its nature, method and character. If we try to explain it, something of its soul dies, because a parable by its very nature always remains open to new discoveries and interpretations. The day on which a parable is “explained” it becomes fixed, like a pinned butterfly that can no longer fly....We contemplate the parables, rather than clarifying them. Contemplation is always open, whereas explanation ties down and limits. We need to live with the parables, staying close to the text, turning them over in our mind, yet without arriving at the point of saying, “this is what the parable means”. There are always old elements to be illumined and new ones to enlighten us. When, however, we say, even to ourselves, “the parable means this”, then how can we free ourselves from that definition or explanation, and continue to probe into and ponder the parable? There is a whole world in a parable. (from a meditation given by Sofia Cavalletti and translated by Patricia Coulter)So, if there is a whole world in a parable, how can the whole world be a parable? And if it is so much work to try to understand a small, simple parable, how can we approach the world as a whole, complex and filled with contradictions, as a parable, and hope to make any sense out of it? Well, I say, let's forget the objections and dive in! Our working hypothesis is that the parable of the world, in all its detail and our every experience of it, demonstrates God. Let us see what we shall see! Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Infinite, Parables, Sign, Sofia Cavalletti, Objections to rude behavior... ... should match the severity of the transgression, ranging from 'Surely I must have misunderstood you' to 'I beg your pardon!' to 'How dare you!' to 'You will be hearing from my lawyer.' Properly used, however, all of these are perfectly polite responses to highly impolite behavior.--Miss Manners, A Citizen's Guide to CivilityI love Miss Manners. She is funny and wise, and she says that all manners may be boiled down to one important principle: People are more important than things. For Christians, though, there is only one response to rude behavior: "Thank you." Because every word spoken to us, every experience we have is a gift, given to us in order to help us to grow. It is convenient for us to be on the receiving end of rude behavior. It is useful to us. What is our faith worth if we can become unsettled by an insensitive remark? What difference can Christ's sacrifice on the cross make to people who can't keep their cool in the face of a mere insult?Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well (The Enchiridion of Epictetus).Shall we then become stoics? No! We wish for events to happen as they do happen because they are given to us. Let us give ourselves in return to the One who gives all! Fraternal Correction, Humilty, Manners, Mercy, sacrifice, Come into my garden... Everything is embarking on a journey... Awe, desire, the Mystery, Serena's origami Aren't they magnificent? from "A Dancer's Life" Let's look today at Raven Wilkinson, one of the lesser-known but truly brilliant stars of American dance. The first African American ballet dancer in the Ballet Russes, she toured all across the country with them and was promoted to the rank of soloist with them. A truly amazing dancer, she overcame hardship and prejudice to do what she loved, dance. After dancing with Ballet Russes for six seasons, she left because of the racial prejudice she encountered while touring in the south when a group of KKK came onto the stage and threatened her life. Later, she went on to dance as a soloist with the Dutch National Ballet. In 1974 she returned to her homeland and can still be seen in character parts at the New York City Opera. She was also featured in the 2005 documentary, Ballet Russes. (For some reason my computer doesn't want to italicise the title) For more on Ballet Russes, visit ; photograph courtesy of the New York Times. -- text by Sophie Lewis This, we can say, is the indicator of our faith's truth, its authenticity or lack thereof: if the faith is truly in the foreground, or if in the foreground there is another kind of concern; if we truly expect everything from the fact of Christ, or if we expect from the fact of Christ what we decide to expect, ultimately making Him a starting point and a support for our projects and programs...The world is a great ambiguity for the unclear spirit. The spirit of man is tempted by ambiguity above every other thing... The whole world is like one big parable: it demonstrates God, as a parable demonstrates the value it wants to teach, and "those who have ears to hear, listen." Listening to the parables, the secret thoughts of the heart are revealed. What man loves come to the surface in the face of the problems, questions, and difficulties...faced with an obstacle, what you want comes to the surface. If living communion, if living community, if working morning, noon, and night for the community, you wanted Christ, you were after Christ, or after yourself, this is seen in the moment in which the difficulty, the obstacle comes to the surface and would insinuate, "forget about it," or would insinuate, "What've they been telling me all this time? They tricked me!" or, "They don't understand me; they don't value me." It is precisely and only in front of objections and during our trials that we see if the attitude of our spirit is wheat or chaff, to use St. Paul's expression. (Father Giussani, "The Long March to Maturity")Oh, I have so much to say about this passage! And I will say it, soon, I promise! Often, when trying to illustrate to friends how Americans differ from the French, I explain that if you are in Paris, strolling down a grand boulevard, and you have a sudden craving for mousse au chocolat and salade verte, you can duck into the nearest cafe and you will have an absolutely perfect mousse, and your perfect salad will be composed of pale green butter lettuce dressed with mustard vinaigrette; then, let's say that you resume your stroll and within a half-hour, you are assailed by another craving for mousse au chocolat and salade verte: again, you duck into the nearest cafe, chosen at random, and you will discover that the mousse and the salad that the waiter sets before you will be identical to the offerings at the last cafe. Now, if you repeat this procedure at five or six different Parisian cafes, chosen at random, in every case, your mousse au chocolat and your salade verte will be perfect, and perfectly alike. However, in America, if you were to try the experiment here, the mousse would be raspberry-flavored in one spot, garnished with mint leaves or sticky syrups in another, or laced with Kahlua or Cointreau in the third...and your salad could be composed of just about anything, from iceberg to hearts of palm, dried cranberries to bits of meat, shredded cheese to banana slices. None of these dishes would be perfect -- all of them would leave you wanting, either because the chef used inferior or ill-tempered chocolate in the mousse, or cheap corn oil in the salad dressing, or any one of the innovations would have taken away from the perfection. France is a country where people still believe in the ideal and pursue it in earnestness. In America, we believe in self-expression, novelty, invention.Well, the following recipe is the result of months of experimentation -- not to find the cake that best expresses my soul, not to innovate on the theme of the chocolate cake, but simply to find the perfect chocolate cake. Here are my results:6 oz first quality unsweetened chocolate (I use Lindt or Ghiardelli's)3/4 cup strong coffee or espresso (decaf okay)1/4 cup rum or cognac (this is okay, even for kid's cakes -- the alcohol bakes off)3 1/4 cups of cake flour, sifted (measure after sifting)1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder1/2 tablespoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/2 tablespoon sea salt1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to the consistency of mayonnaise2 cups granulated sugar1/2 firmly packed dark brown sugar2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract6 large eggs1 cup buttermilkButter and flour three 8" round cake pans. Then line the bottom of each with an 8" circle of baking parchment (not waxed paper!) -- butter and flour again. Preheat the oven to 345ºF. Melt the chocolate in the coffee and liquor -- so not overheat! Mix until smooth and set aside to cool to room temperature. Sift together the sifted cake flour, the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside. Cream the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. While the butter is still beating, add the two sugars, one tablespoon at a time. When all the white and brown sugar are incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat for another 30 seconds. Add the vanilla and beat until mixed in. Then, with the mixer still beating, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with each addition. After all six eggs have been added, scrape down the sides of the bowl one more time, then beat for an additional 30 seconds. With the mixer on medium speed, slowly pour in the melted chocolate mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. When the batter is a uniform brown color, add one third of the flour mixture. Mix only until the flour is incorporated. Add half of the buttermilk. Mix again, just until incorporated. Add the second third of the flour mixture, do a minimum of mixing, add the remaining buttermilk and mix as little as necessary. Add the rest of the flour mixture and fold it in with careful, broad strokes of a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, just until the batter is of a smooth, even consistency. Divide the batter between the three prepared cake pans and bake in the center of the oven -- after 25 minutes, begin testing the cakes with a toothpick (stick it in the center of one of the layers) every five minutes until the toothpick comes out clean. Cool the layers for fifteen minutes in their pans. Then use a butter knife to cut around the edges of each pan and carefully tip them out onto a baking rack to finish cooling. Ice with chocolate ganache:8 oz first-quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (Lindt or Giardelli's are both good)6 oz heavy whipping cream.Break up the chocolate and place it in the bowl of your food processor. Process until the chocolate is in small pieces. Heat the cream to the boiling point. With the food processor running, pour the hot cream through the feed tube of the processor. The ganache should form right away. Use it immediately, while it is still hot. Pour it over the bottom layer of cake (already transfered to a plate), place the next layer on top and pour ganache over it, then place the final layer and pour a generous amount of ganache over all. Use a small metal spatula, or the back of a spoon, to spread the ganache drippings over the sides of the cake until it is evenly coated.If you have leftover ganache, and you really have no idea what to do with it (and no kids to enlighten you), you can cool it in the fridge, roll it into small balls and then roll each ball in cocoa -- voilà, truffles! Serena! A crayfish, not a lobster It was 8:15pm, and I was sitting propped up on pillows in my bed, reading, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace. My husband, having been up all night with me the night before as I had "false labor," was fast asleep beside me. As I turned a page, I felt something, a faint twinge in my abdomen. Baby's kicking, I thought -- even though I knew I wasn't feeling the movement of a baby inside me, I was too annoyed to consider the alternative; after nine hours of strong contractions the night before, and nothing to show for them, I wasn't going to be fooled again. Another few pages, I felt another faint twinge. I looked at my watch: 8:30pm. It's nothing. I should turn off the light and get some sleep, too. But I had just gotten to the part in the first essay where Wallace is about to get caught in a tornado while playing tennis, so I decided to keep reading to the end of it. 8:33pm -- another annoying faint twinge. "...Neither of us had noticed that there'd been no wind blowing the familiar grit into our eyes for several minutes--a bad sign. There was no siren..." 8:36pm -- another twinge. "...The air temperature dropped so fast you could feel your hairs rise. There was no thunder and no air stirred. I could not tell you why we kept hitting..." 8:39 -- a little more insistent, but still possible to ignore. "...Then the whole knee-high field to the west along Kirby Avenue all of a sudden flattened out in a wave coming toward us as if the field was getting steamrolled. Antitoi went wide west for a forehand cross and I saw the corn get laid down in waves and the sycamores in a copse lining the ditch point our way..." 8:41 -- I really didn't want to wake my husband, sleeping so peacefully beside me. "...The big heavy swings on the industrial swingsets took off, wrapping themselves in their chains around and around the top crossbar; the park's grass laid down the same way the field had..." 8:44 -- Last night the nurse had told me to call the minute that labor began again: "It's called 'false labor' but it's not really false. It's like the body's warming up or practicing. What usually happens is that when it begins again, things go real fast. So don't hold off! Don't be embarrassed because tonight seemed like a false alarm. Just call. You promise?" 8:47 -- still not very strong, but these silly things were coming three minutes apart. "...but I couldn't have tried to run after a ball I had hit, but I remember the heavy gentle lift at my thighs and the ball curving back closer and my passing the ball and beating the ball in flight over the horizontal net, my feet not once touching the ground over fifty-odd feet, a cartoon, and then there was chaff and crud in the air all over and both Antitoi and I either flew or were blown pinwheeling for I swear it must have been fifty feet to the fence one court over, the easternmost fence, we hit the fence so hard we knocked it halfway down..." 8:50 -- I nudged my husband. "Honey, I think I'm in labor." "Oh, come on! You're kidding!" My husband doesn't wake up gracefully. "I'm not sure, it's just that they're coming three minutes apart, and the nurse specifically said I should call." "You're having another one." It wasn't a question. 8:53. "Should we call Dr. Zum?" "I don't know. Maybe?" 8:56 "Where's the number?" I rattled it off for him and he dialed. 8:59 After a brief conversation, he handed me the phone. 9:02 "He wants to speak with you." 9:05. "Hello?...I'm fine. Yes. I don't know if you should come or not...Oh, you're on the way?...Okay, Steve will give you directions. I can't think straight...All right, then." 9:08, 9:10, 9:12, 9:15. I gave the phone back to Stephen. "I think I'm in transition..." I stopped looking at my watch. "Hang on a minute," he said into the phone. Then to me, "Dr. Zum says you're definitely in transition, he could tell by your voice." "Where is he?" "Don't worry," he said, still holding the phone to his ear. "Dr. Zum is telling me how to do this. I can deliver the baby." I looked at my husband with horror. "Tell him to step on it!" "He's trying to find a parking place. He want to know if you feel the urge to push." "No!" I lied. My husband hung up the phone and ran to answer the door. Then Dr. Zum stood in the doorway of my bedroom. "I need to push!" "Hold on," said the doctor, breathlessly. "Let me wash my hands!" He ran down the hallway to the bathroom. As soon as he returned, I gave one push, and my third daughter was born. It was 10:01pm on April 18, 1997. • Vatican Council II, Constitutio dogmatica Lumen gentium, 21 Nov 1964, AAS 57 (1965) 5-71.526. Moreover, every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is confided the duty of presenting to the divine majesty the cult of the Christian religion and of ordering it in accordance with the Lord’s injunctions and the Church’s regulations, as further defined for the diocese by his particular decision.• In reality, the ministerial and hierarchical priesthood, the priesthood of the bishops and the priests, and, at their side, the ministry of the deacons -- ministries which normally begin with the proclamation of the Gospel -- are in the closest relationship with the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the principal and central raison d'etre of the sacrament of the priesthood, which effectively came into being at the moment of the institution of the Eucharist, and together with it.[2] JPII letter to bishops (Dominicae Cenae, On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Promulgated on February 24, 1980, To All the Bishops of the Church.)• The Bishop is the high priest of his flock. "In a certain sense it is from him that the faithful who are under his care derive and maintain their life in Christ" (SC 41).• The diocesan Bishop is the first steward of the mysteries of God in the particular Church or diocese entrusted to him. He is the moderator, the promoter, and the guardian of the liturgical life of the Church in his diocese. It is he who offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice, or causes it to be offered, so that the Church continually lives and grows (see CD 15; SC 41; CIC can. 387; RS 19). • Vatican Council II, Decretum Christus Dominus, 28 Oct 1965, AAS 58 (1966) 673-701.615. It is therefore bishops who are the principle dispensers of the mysteries of God, and it is their function to control, promote and protect the entire liturgical life of the Church entrusted to them. While trying to write about the events that led to my birth, I made reference to my grandfather, Wally Deuel, and his book, People Under Hitler. In a review of this book, Ida Nasatir wrote: "As a journalist Deuel was a fiend for facts, for detail, for documentation. His book, People Under Hitler, is packed with them. He doesn't ask you to take his word for anything. He gives you chapter and verse, the name of the law, the text, the exact number of victims."This characterization struck me -- for a couple of reasons.We can see now, among intellectuals, a disturbing disregard for facts. Instead, we see what Pope Benedict calls "the triumph of relativism" and "a surrendering before the question of the truth." To be "a fiend for facts" you must love the truth more than your ideas and opinions. In other words, there is something outside you that is more important than what you think about it. But it is my observation that today's academics are trained to believe (from an early age) that what they think about something, anything, is the only thing that matters. "Research" involves finding little bits and shards of evidence to support a claim that originates in the subjective musings of one or more thinkers -- or, in an ideal scenario, the claim is original to themselves. Whether these musings correspond to reality means nothing at all. In fact, I have heard more than one otherwise intelligent scholar opine that there is no such thing as objective reality. Excellence, in this view, boils down to a question of the most inventive grammar, or the boldest con that can garner the most suckers.So first of all, this characterization of my grandfather makes him seem unfashionable. Unfashionable.My grandfather was also an atheist, and proud to be a free-thinker. He and my grandmother didn't have their children baptized (my father, Mike, decided when he was a teenager that he wanted religious instruction, so he biked to a Presbyterian church near his home to have conversations with the minister and was baptized there). So, why does it strike me as odd that he was a "fiend for facts"? He would probably say (if he were alive to argue the point) that it is precisely his atheism that made him so faithful to facts. After all, we know that out of a misunderstanding about what it means to be faithful, Christians have sometimes had difficulty acknowledging facts.And yet, a Christian (or any truly religious person) would not reject facts in favor of a personal, subjective construction. Rather, out of loyalty to one fact (God), a Christian who has difficulty reconciling other facts with his understanding of the divine, might refuse to engage other facts, which seem less important in the scheme of things. This is an unfortunate tendency, which indicates, in the end, a lack of faith (because if I am certain of a fact, the fact of Christ, then I am confident that reality, in all its factors, is not only true, but also points to and illuminates my understanding of Christ -- even if, at first, I don't see how). Only people who are willing to treat all facts as irrelevant can proceed to subject the truth to their own personal whims. But my grandfather (and others in his generation, too), was devoted to the truth, without ever acknowledging the Truth.In the primary place where my grandfather worked, carved into the high, white marble wall, with letters painted in gold, are the words, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." When I first saw this phrase on the wall, I shivered a little at the audacity, the blasphemy of it. Because my grandfather worked for a government agency that has no regard for the One who spoke these words. It is an agency dedicated to collecting and interpreting facts. Accuracy in this endeavor is essential; lives hang in the balance. The knowledge derived from this activity is used for many purposes, but furthering the Kingdom of God isn't one of them. The "truth" that those who enter that building seek to know leads to a freedom built by human hands, arbitrated by human intelligence, and decided by human power. It is an anemic, attenuated freedom that can be doled out or rescinded, and the lion's share of it is reserved for those who carry the correct identity badge.But it strikes me that my grandfather, even without dedication to the one Fact that makes sense of all the others, could make so much sense of the facts he gathered. While many refused to look at or to believe the evidence, he saw the dangerous evil that was gathering in Nazi Germany and was convicted enough to sound a warning.All of which reminds me of what I tried to write about Emmanuel Ax's performance of Chopin's Piano Concerto #2. If there were no one to be such a fiend for musical notation and for the manual techniques that allow a pianist to wring exquisite sound from his instrument, Chopin's genius would disappear from our lived experience. In fact, an entire stage must be filled with these fiends, in order to realize a single measure of beautiful music.How we are indebted to all these fiends! In 1993, my birthday fell on Good Friday. My mother and sister were visiting that weekend because they were hosting a baby shower for me on the following day (my husband and I were expecting our first child, due in six weeks). That evening, after a subdued celebration, we went to the liturgy at my parish. The church was filled, and the veneration of the cross seemed to go on forever. I was hot and achy, and twice I went outside to sit on the church steps to get some air.The next morning, at 4am, I woke to a strange sensation. My water had broken early."What does that mean?" my husband asked."The baby will be born in the next 24 hours -- one way or another."During that pregnancy, I had gone through a process of transformation. I had read A Midwife's Story and A Wise Birth, both by Penny Armstrong and Sheryl Feldman. These books led me to an interest in homebirth and propelled me to deeper study. Relatively late in the pregnancy, I had switched from the hospital midwives to a practice of doctors who provide homebirth. When pregnant women are screened for various risk factors, the mortality and morbidity rates for both mother and baby are greatly reduced by giving birth at home. I wanted the best odds for my child.But now, suddenly all my plans were upset! At 33 weeks gestational age, the baby would need to be born in a hospital. The great thing about having chosen a doctor from Homefirst was that he had admitting privileges at a local hospital. I called Dr. Zum, told him what had happened, and he told me that he'd meet me at the hospital. By the time my husband and I got on the road, it was around 5:30am. We drove north along Chicago's Lake Shore Drive for most of the trip.From the passenger side, I looked out my window, over Lake Michigan. The sky was clear, and just the upper edge of the sun showed above the water.But as we drove, the sun seemed to pull its head, slowly and heavily, above the surface of the water.And as I watched it, I thought -- what a wonderful day to be born!Chicago was hushed. Stephen and I hardly spoke during the entire drive. When we arrived at the hospital, I was given a bed and was strapped with a fetal monitor. My nurse asked me how my contractions felt, and I explained that I hadn't had any yet. She looked over at the print out from the monitor and told me that I was indeed having contractions, and they were about seven minutes apart. I craned my neck to get a better look at the machine."Am I having one now?" She nodded yes. "Is it a big one?"After a long, incredulous look at me, she said, "Don't look at the machine. Here, I'll show you. Put your hand on your stomach. Now, with your other hand, touch your mouth. If you stomach feels like your lips, the contraction is mild. Now feel your nose. If your stomach feels like your nose, it's a medium one. Okay, now your forehead. If your stomach is hard, like our forehead, it's a big one."It was absurd! I'd had Braxton-Hicks contractions through the whole pregnancy -- some so strong they made me gasp and wince! Something had to be wrong with the machine...and yet, as I touched my stomach, it began to grow firm, just as the jagged line on the print out began to climb to a peak.And I still hadn't adjusted to the fact that this baby would not be born at home. As soon as I'd been strapped down on the bed, I began to worry about the cascade of medical interventions -- slowed labor due to lying on one's back could lead to pitocin, pitocin could cause more intense pain, which could lead to pain medication, etc., etc. Medical personnel came and went, speaking about C-sections and epidurals and infections. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that I carry my home with me, that I could go there in my heart -- which is exactly what I did, beginning a silent rosary on my fingertips. By 10am I began to feel the first glimmers of contractions, when they were four and five minutes apart. Though the nurses kept telling me to stop looking at the various machines in my room, I had to fight with myself to remember that I was not there to watch those machines produce my baby.I had felt uncomfortably hot throughout the entire pregnancy (most of which occurred during winter in Chicago!), and Stephen had opened on of the windows in my hospital room. At a certain point, a nurse crossed the room and reached to shut the window."Don't close that window!" I said. In my regular life, it is hard for me even to formulate a mild, diplomatic and polite request, but now I was speaking as her imperial majesty! I think the poor nurse was as startled by my order as I was myself."Well," she said, apologetically, "You see, the baby is coming soon, and we don't want it to be cold.""All right," I said. "But the baby is the only person I close that window for!" Things were happening very quickly, and I was having no trouble feeling as if I was in labor. "Oh! I almost forgot! I need a mirror!""What?" said the nurse."I want to see what happens -- I want to see. I don't want to miss it."They very kindly wheeled in a large, oval, full-length mirror. Doctor Zum, who had stayed by my side through the whole labor, now began to put on all the extra paper clothing that was required. I watched as my child emerged, looking more like a sea creature than a land mammal at first. Dr. Zum placed my baby onto my stomach, and I cradled the small, slippery body in my hands. Looking down, I recognized that she was a girl. How I cried with joy!I only held her for a moment before she had to go to the baby warming table to receive extra oxygen. Even though she was big -- huge for 33 weeks at 6lb, 7oz -- her lungs weren't fully developed, and she was panting rapidly. So, they took her to the nursery for extra care.As soon as they let me, I went to the nursery to be with her. I placed my fingertip against her palm, and she grabbed hold of it. We stayed like that for a long time. I just watched her breathe. Then the young neonatologist showed up and told me I would have to leave. "I'll be doing some things to your baby that you won't want to watch. Too upsetting for you.""No, I want to stay. I'll be more upset trying to imagine --""No, you have to go."So, that was that. Dr. Zum met me back at my room, where Stephen and my mom joined us. He told me, "Don't worry. She's just going to put in an IV. The baby will need antibiotics, in case she has an infection. The doctor is probably nervous about being able to find the vein with you watching.""I noticed that her heel was badly bruised -- all the way up to her knee!""There won't be lasting harm from these things that are happening to her. By choosing to breast feed, you are doing her so much good -- the benefits of nursing will far outweigh the painful experiences she's having now.""No one ever told me that when I was having babies," said my mother."Don't blame your doctors," said Dr. Zum. "They didn't know back then. We've learned so much in the last couple of decades."The neonatologist finally came to give me her report. "Your baby's having trouble breathing, and this hospital isn't equipped to give her the care she needs. We're going to transfer her by helicopter to the University of Chicago. They have a NICU there." Her voice was bright and perky, and I burst into tears.When she left, Dr. Zum said, "I know it sounds scary when they start talking about the helicopter, but it doesn't mean that the baby's in dire danger. It's just the way that they transport patients from one hospital to another. I'm not worried about your baby. She's doing very well."The nurse came in to explain that it would take some time to prepare our child, our little Sophie, for her helicopter ride. She told me that when they were ready to go, she would bring Sophie to me so that I could say good-bye. By then it was late in the evening, and Stephen and my mom decided to go home. Ironically, we lived within walking distance of the University of Chicago, and so from our apartment, they could be closer to the baby, who was our priority.An hour later, two nurses in orange jumpsuits wheeled a cart with a glass incubator on it. My little girl was inside the box, with wires and tubes all over her. Again, I burst into tears. Dr. Zum was still there to pat me on the shoulder and reassure me. Then everyone left, and I was alone in the room.My father had died in a helicopter crash before I was born, before I ever had the chance to meet him. And now my child...? I was deathly afraid of helicopters. The worst sound I have ever heard was the beating of the rotary wings as that helicopter took off from the roof of the hospital. It seemed to be just above the ceiling of my room, and my whole bed shook with it. But then the silence that followed was worse.Within minutes, the phone at my bedside began to ring. It was hospital admitting at the University of Chicago, to verify my insurance information. I gave the woman what she needed."M'am?" A thought had occurred to me. "You're probably the first person to know when that helicopter lands at the hospital, aren't you?"She chuckled. "You've got that right!""Would you do me a favor? I'm scared to death. She's my first child. Could you please, please give me a call at this number, when you hear that she's arrived safely?""No problem! I'd be happy to do it."That wonderful woman was as good as her word. I only had to wait twenty minutes before the phone rang again. "The helicopter made it here safely! Your baby is in good hands.""Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me."Three hours later, I got the call from my husband, who had gone to camp out in the NICU waiting area, that a nurse had just come out to tell him that Sophie had arrived safely in the hospital.We brought her home two days later, and now that little girl is turning f-f-f-f-fifteen years old! Happy Birthday, Sophie!Sophie Angeline I think a lot about birth during the month of April, but rarely about my own birth -- or about what it means to be born.There is a moment for each of us when we aren't there and then we are. What does it mean? And why?I have a pair of eyes, through which I see the world. No one else has my eyes, or my mind, which tries to understand what I see, or my heart, which holds all that I see and think together. So what is the point of these eyes, this mind, this heart?It seems that all the factors that make up our the universe have conspired, through millions of different and seemingly chance events, to bring my own unique point of view into existence. Many ingenious twists of fate had to take place, in a particular order, according to very particular steps, over billions of years, for these eyes, this mind and this heart to come together in the one person I am. This is true for everyone.What are eyes, in combination with a mind and a heart, able to do? Well, they can see; and with help, they can perceive, penetrate, and even view the world with a loving gaze, a gaze full of love. Human beings are creatures who can recognize and appreciate where they came from. In all the universe, we have the unique capacity to look back at our total environment and begin to perceive our origins. With these eyes, I can return the gaze of the world that gave birth to me. Of course, the same is true for blind people -- only the method is different.When I was a kid, I used to think a lot about how rich and complicated the world inside of me was. I would wonder at the thought that every other individual person probably does -- no -- has to contain the same richness: a universe of memories, emotions, thoughts, and imaginings. Because the world inside of me seemed so vast and convoluted, I would sometimes feel overwhelmed in a room full of people just imagining all the life that was present in the room. And because I lived in different countries as a child, I was aware that the whole earth was heavy with individual people who each carried a wealth of life within them. During any given half hour, while I was living my own perspective -- my own pleasure or pain, triumph or tragedy -- there were billions of others, who were, each one, living their own, equally real perspective.Why should there be so many points of view? If someone were capable of hearing and deciphering the words and images that bubble in the hearts of each and every person at any given moment, what would the whole look and sound like? Imagine being God -- with all that noise and all those images! Surely, from a human perspective, it would be a huge, tangled, cacophonous mess. But perhaps there would be recurring themes, leit motifs that would surface from the general babble? Perhaps, from the proper distance, one would be able to discern patterns that would have shape and substance? Still, we know that the divine perspective is not one of great distance, no matter how far away we care to imagine heaven. God is no further away than my own heart is from my body. Far from being detached from my life, he busies himself with counting all the hairs of my head! That goes for you, too. Thinking this way gives me a greater sympathy for Jesus, when he prayed, "O Father, that they all may be one!"Still, as difficult as it is to understand, it seems that he actually wants to have all these voices, all these eyes in all their own particular positions, trying to make sense of his world, all at once. What is it that he wants us to see?What do you see?Before ever a word is on my tongue you know it,O Lord, through and through. Behind and before you besiege me, your hand ever laid upon me.Too wonderful for me, this knowledge,too high, beyond my reach. For it was you who created my being, knit me together in my mother's womb. I thank you for the wonder of my being, for the wonders of all your creation. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Already you knew my soul, my body held no secret from you. When I was being fashioned in secretand molded in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw all my actions,they were all of them written in your book; Every one of my days was decreed before one of them came into being.(Psalm 139:4-6, 13-16)One final thought:If the human being were to come into the world solely through the biology of the mother and father, as a mere brief instant in which all the flux of innumerable prior reactions produced this ephemeral fruit; if the human being were only this, then we really would be talking about something ridiculous, something cynically absurd when we use expressions such as "freedom," "human rights," the very word, "person." Freedom, like this, without any foundation, is flatus vocis, just pure sound, dispersed by the wind. In only one case is...this single human being free from the entire world, free, so that the world together and even the total universe cannot force him into anything. In only one instance can this image of a free man be explained. This is when we assume that this [person] is not totally the fruit of the biology of the mother and father, not strictly derived from the biological tradition of mechanical antecedents, but rather when it possesses a direct relationship with the infinite, the origin of all the flux of the world..., that is to say, it is endowed with something derived from God. ...There is a "something" in me which is not derived from any empirical phenomenon, because it does not depend upon, does not originate in the biology of my father and mother. It directly depends on the infinite, which makes the whole world. Only this hypothesis allows me to proclaim that the world can do what it wants with me, but it cannot conquer, possess, grasp on to me, because I am greater than it is. I am free. (Father Giussani, The Religious Sense, p. 91)So, why did I reflect, in my last post, on the factors that brought me to birth? Because, even if I cannot be reduced to my material antecedents, I am so very grateful to them, because without them, I would not be here. They are the means by which God has wonderfully and fearfully made me. From Bulpitt to BangkokIn Bulpitt, Illinois, there lived a young woman named Judy, the youngest of five children, who was staying with her parents, taking college classes and working as a stenographer at a bank. Her father was a coal miner, already ill with the cirrhosis of the liver and emphysema that in three short years would kill him. Her mother worked as a butcher by day and managed the family's small tavern by night. The population of Bulpitt was already dwindling rapidly -- the younger generation didn't want to spend their future underground, with the threat of suffocation, being crushed, or slow death by poisoning, and what remained of the older generation simply illustrated, for the young, exactly why they wanted to get as far away from the mines as their dreams could carry them. Meanwhile, the mines were rapidly mechanizing, so that no new wave of immigrants, whose imaginations were preoccupied with different sorts of dread, came to descend willingly into the eternal night of the shafts.Judy was also preoccupied with dream of escape, so that one day, while sitting at her mother's kitchen table and reading the classified section of the newspaper, her eye fell on the following advertisement:JOIN THE GOVERNMENT AND SEE THE WORLDThe ad gave a date and time and location, so she went to the high school cafeteria that had been indicated in the newspaper, where she took an exam that tested her secretarial skills. At the bottom of the test paper, there was a question about where she would like to go, with three blanks. She filled them out: London, Paris, Rome, and then underneath, in parentheses she wrote: (or someplace warm).Within three months she had moved to Washington, D.C. and five months, she was living in Bangkok, Thailand.Meanwhile, there lived a young man named Mike...He had played football and studied chemistry at Cornell University, and after a tour of duty with the Marines, he had entered the family business, which his father affectionately referred to as "the pickle factory." His first assignment with "AID" was in Laos, where he lived with the Hmong people in a remote village for months at a time, making brief visits to Bangkok to check in with his superiors.Mike had once announced to his parents, "I tell you one thing: I do not intend to be bored in my life." He loved animals and kept several cats, a horse, and a pet monkey in Laos. He also read extensively for pleasure and was particularly interested in American History and Literature. He had been born in Berlin, when he was father was working as a foreign correspondent and studying and reporting on the rise of Adolf Hitler (which eventually led to a book, People Under Hitler -- see review at the end of this post, and another review).Mike and Judy met in Bangkok during one of Mike's short visits. They carried on a long-distance courtship, and then were married, in October of 1964.The couple moved to Laos and set up house. Almost a year after their wedding, Mike died in a helicopter accident. Judy was three months pregnant with their first and only child, a girl. The U.S. government flew Judy back home to Bulpitt. On April 9, 1966, her baby was born, andJudy named her Suzanne Michelle. People Under Hitler by Wallace Deuel November 18, 1949—Ida Nasatir book review—People Under Hitler by Wallace Deuel—Southwestern Jewish Press, page 3 : Wallace Deuel, a Gentile, is a brilliant newspaper correspondent. He went to Berlin in 1934 when he was 29 years old. While there he tried to pierce the mystery of that world. Endowed with almost dogged patience, he was inquisitive, intelligent, scholarly. Also he had great integrity. As a journalist Deuel was a fiend for facts, for detail, for documentation. His book, People Under Hitler, is packed with them. He doesn't ask you to take his word for anything. He gives you chapter and verse, the name of the law, the text, the exact number of victims. His book attempts to answer two of the most fateful questions of our era: "What was there in the lives of the German people, and all the others, that made the Nazi revolution and the second war possible? What did the revolution and the war, in turn, do to the people it embraced? The first 135 pages trace the rise of National Socialism. There is an unusual chapter entitled "The Germans: Are they Human?" This is Deuel's characterization of the German: "These , then are the Germans: Big, heavy powerful; with unusual capacities for hard work and for enduring privation and pain; on the whole unlovely, ponderous rather than graceful of manner and movement and not seldom gross, and even coarse; a people suffering from a sense of inner insecurity and lack of a sense of form and proportion of balance and control, and constantly striving to compensate for these deficiencies by seeking for authority and discipline to impose order and system." William Shirer, author of Berlin Diary, has called this the "best characterization of the German that any American has yet achieved." Deuel is often struck by the fantastic importance of small things in men. He feels, for instance, that "Adolf Hitler had a mustache like Charlie Chaplin—that was one of the fateful facts of modern times. People thought he was funny. They laughed at him. And while they were laughing, Hitler destroyed them and their whole world around them. There was nothing funny about Adolf Hitler—nothing at all. But thanks in large measure to his comedian's mustache, millions of human beings found this out too late." Deuel sees very clearly what a few Germans, even men like Fritz Thyssen saw too late, namely that Hitler had set out to overthrow all of Western civilization. In a remarkable epilogue he develops this belief. The author tells in great detail how the Nazi dictatorship regulated the life of every German from before birth until after death; of how, for instance, it decided whom you may marry, whether you may have children, what names you must give them, how many pockets you may have in your trousers, how your daughter may wear her hair, how your son may fly his kite, and what funny-paper, if any, you may read. There was NO privacy either in life or death. Even the tombstones were coordinated. Though not a pleasant tale, it is tremendously important to read it. Particularly it is so in this new "atomic age." It is well to recall that Hitler knew enough to know that you have to offer a disillusioned world some faith. He concocted a false one. The lost millions snatched at it. Friday night I had the chance to see (and hear!) Emmanuel Ax perform Chopin's Piano Concerto #2 (he's playing a snatch of Mozart in the above clip).Whenever I go to the symphony, I am so amazed that each of the musical instruments was even invented, that sound exists in such variety, complexity, and beauty, and that there exist people who dedicate their lives to training their bodies to the subtle and refined movements of fingers, lips, and feet that are required to bring this music to birth.And once, recently, as I watched the conductor's expressive dance, and heard how the music's emotion swelled and constricted in response to the way his weight shifted, I realized that I was witnessing a metaphor for the religious life. Each sheet of printed music is a vocation, but it is not enough for us to each sit alone and play it -- we must all focus our attention on God, who conducts us -- he has the whole piece in his head, and when he directs, then we can play together and the music makes sense. The more we look to him, give our full attention to him, the more beautiful the whole sound is.Here is an excerpt from Emmanuel Ax's blog:When to ApplaudAll of us love applause, and so we should -- it means that the listener LIKES us! So we should welcome applause whenever it comes. And yet, we seem to have set up some very arcane rules as to when it is actually OK to applaud. I have been trying to find out exactly when certain listeners and performers decided that applause between movements would not be "allowed", or at least would be frowned upon, but nobody seems to have been willing to admit that they were the culprit. Certainly when a composer like Beethoven wrote the symphonies and piano concertos that we hear today in the concert hall, he himself expected that if a movement ended with a flourish, such as the first movement of the 5th piano concerto, the audience would leap to its collective feet and let the composer (and pianist) know that they had triumphed. Mozart often wrote to his family that certain variations or sections of pieces were so successful that they had to be encored immediately, even without waiting for the entire piece to end.I really hope we can go back to the feeling that applause should be an emotional response to the music, rather than a regulated social duty. I am always a little taken aback when I hear the first movement of a concerto which is supposed to be full of excitement, passion, and virtuoso display (like the Brahms or Beethoven Concertos), and then hear a rustling of clothing, punctuated by a few coughs; the sheer force of the music calls for a wild audience reaction. On the other hand, sometimes I wish that applause would come just a bit later, when a piece like the Brahms 3rd Symphony comes to an end -- it is so beautifully hushed that I feel like holding my breath in the silence of the end. I think that if there were no "rules" about when to applaud, we in the audience would have the right response almost always. Most composers trust their listeners to respond at the right time, and if we feel like expressing approval, we should be allowed to, ANYTIME! Just one favor -- even if you don't like a concert of mine, please PLEASE applaud at the end anyway. I've been reading ahead in Is It Possible to Live This Way? and stumbled upon the chapter on freedom. After a long discussion on the true meaning of freedom, Father Giussani writes: "Freedom isn't choice, it's only a possibility to choose because it's imperfect" (p. 76). And then on the next page: Yet carrying out this correct choice demands a clear awareness of the relationship with Christ, of the relationship with destiny. It's the lived religious sense. Read the gospel...Jesus had made breakfast for everybody -- what care -- and no one dared speak because they all knew it was the Lord. He's near Simon and He says to him, very softly, without the others realizing, He says quietly, 'Simon, do you love me more than these?' This is the culmination of Christian morality: the beginning and the end of Christian morality. He didn't tell him, 'Simon, you betrayed me. Simon, think how many mistakes you made. Simon, how many betrayals! Simon, just think that you can make the same mistake tomorrow and the day after... Think about how fragile you are, what a coward you are in front of me.' No! 'Simon, do you love me more than these?' He went to the depths of everything, to the bottom of everything; so this bottom of everything pulls everything along with it. And Peter, who loved Him, ended up dying like Him... Man finds his dignity in the choice of what he values most in life and from which he expects the greatest satisfaction. (p. 77)I am so grateful for this text. I have understood for a long time that freedom and morality are tightly bound in Father Giussani's thought. I have also grasped that his denunciation of moralism was never brought on by a disdain for morality. But to have this point so clearly spelled out for us is a gift to everyone in the Movement: "Freedom isn't choice..." There it is, so clear, so transparent! And the heart is not "what I like" or "what I want" -- it's the constant thirst for what I'm made for, my destiny, Christ. I can be seduced to imagine that something I want is my destiny -- if I lose sight of the ever-expanding horizon that calls me with an Infinite love. Moralism's answer, which says we have to suppress our desire, do violence to our desire, is useless, even mortally dangerous, to our souls. It is the solution of a lonely humanity, a humanity that has ceased to listen to the voice that calls each of us by name, a humanity without Christ. We need to hear Him ask us, "Do you love me?" We need to let that question burn into our hearts every minute of every hour, engage us, draw us through our days. Who will speak this question aloud for us? Because even those who are so blessed to have heard Jesus speak directly to them through metaphysical means, do not hear this question so perfectly and constantly that they can forgo the Eucharist or the people of God, who make up the Church. No, God has willed it that we must turn to one another -- there is no other way -- and remind each other that He asks, He continually asks, "Do you love me?"If you expect your satisfaction from something that can be dust tomorrow, you'll have dust. But who calls your attention to this? No one can, none of us has the strength to do it for himself: only together can we do it. This is the way that the Church, in the world, calls the world's attention to this... Only in the companionship are you recalled to this fascination with being or this awareness of our own fragility due to something that is a choice -- to be able to choose a good... to adhere to what brings us to destiny and to await destiny every day; to wait, every day, for it to come. (pp 77 and 78)"Only in the companionship..." It is another unambiguous, completely transparent remark that we cannot sidestep -- we must look it in the face. Who are these people, these fellow Christians, surrounding me? Why has God placed them, and not some others, in my path? How do they reveal my destiny to me? Do I treasure them, as the life blood that connects me to the voice of my Beloved? Do I love them? This Post is the continuation of April Fools. I have copied it into that post. If you've already read April Fools, then you have already seen everything I've written here. If you haven't read April Fools, you should go here, to start from the beginning.April, by Anna JoelsdottirThe day after Sylvie and Stella were born, the resident who had been so incredulous in the ER, paid me a visit in my hospital room. His head hung, and he seemed really devastated."I have to check your wound," he said, from the door, nervous about entering."Come in," I said."I'm really sorry I didn't believe you." His eyes were pleading. "It's just that you weren't like the other ladies when they're about to have a baby. You weren't screaming, or anything...""I don't ever scream," I said. I could sympathize with him. When things get really bad with me, I become very calm and quiet. "What good would it do? I didn't want anybody to panic -- it might make it harder to concentrate on what they have to do.""How could you think about other people, at a time like that?""I was actually only thinking about the baby.""Well, I'm really sorry.""It's okay. In the end, it didn't hurt her." I fought to keep the threat out of my tone. He looked so contrite, but I also knew that if things had turned out differently, forgiving him would have taken a strength from beyond me."But it could have...""Yes, you should think about that. Always listen to your patients." This remark seemed to cause him some pain, but, for the sake of his future patients, I didn't say anything to soften that blow.As he examined my incision, he let out a low whistle. "I've never seen anything like this," he said. "What was the name of the doctor who did your surgery?""I don't know." I still don't, but I'll be forever grateful to that kindly man."It's such a clean incision! No preparation, no nothing. All that chaos! He just cut... I'm sure you can't appreciate this, but what you have here is a thing of beauty." He shook his head."Thanks," I said.* * *My next visitor was the specialist doctor, who had administered the ultra special ultrasound when I first found out that Stella had died. He stood at the foot of my bed, and looked at me for a long moment. "May I ask you a question? I'm very curious..."He didn't have my chart in his hands, and he didn't look like he had come to do anything medical to me. "What is it?""After you left the hospital, the last time?" I nodded. "You had to carry your child, your dead child...?""I felt like a human tomb, for my own baby.""But...""Yes, I was also still pregnant with a living baby.""What is that like? I can't imagine how that would feel? What you must have gone through. And now you've given birth to a child who succumbed, but you have another child who is in the NICU?" He really looked amazed and overwhelmed by my experience."I don't know. All I know is that it is possible to feel devastating grief and great joy at the same time, that both emotions can exist together." At the time, I remember being under the impression that perhaps everything had happened the way it had so that I could testify to this mind-boggling human truth.He nodded and then murmured, "Different people respond different ways to terrible thing when they happen. But it seems to me that the only way to cope with them is if you have some sort of religious belief?" That statement came out as a question, filled with urgency.I nodded. Anyone who knows me knows that I could have said so much, with an opening like that one! But I sensed that he wasn't asking for my credo at that moment. I felt much more that I was in the presence of a man of faith, and that he simply needed confirmation from me that I was aware that I was in much better hands than his. My nod seemed to be sufficient for him.* * *Finally, the nurses got the okay to bring me to the NICU again. That afternoon began a kind of ritual that I would repeat every day for over six weeks. The nurse caring for Sylvie would roll a lazy boy recliner up beside Sylvie's incubator. I would scrub and, after I was discharged, change into a hospital gown (of course, while I was still a patient myself, there was no need to change), with the opening in the front, and then settle myself into the recliner. The nurse would pick Sylvie up out of her plastic box -- wires, needles, tubes, and all -- and settle her on the bare skin of my chest. Then she (or he) would reposition all the wires, needles and tubes, cover her with the first blanket, with the built-in bilirubin lights, followed by another stack of blankets, over her back, so that only her tiny head would peek out the top of my gown. This whole procedure was called "kangarooing." The recliners were viewed as part of the medical equipment on the unit. Those in charge had taken seriously the research that indicates that premature babies do better, the more skin-to-skin contact they have with their mothers.They were also attuned to the fact that medical outcomes are much better for premature babies who receive human milk. Breast pumps, on wheels, were available there, as well as in a private room, reserved only for mothers to pump. They also provided me with my own pump, to use when I wasn't there, as well as with sterilized vials for collecting and storing the milk and a special bag with frozen inserts, for transporting it. Even while Sylvie was still receiving all her nourishment through her IV, the nurses would use a long Q-tip, moistened with my milk, to swab the inside of her mouth. Later, when she was ready to try eating, her milk had to be administered through a syringe connected to a tube that would deposit it straight into her stomach -- one cc every four hours -- it was so agonizing to see her eat so little, and to want so badly to see her grow! She was weighed twice a day, and I measured my happiness in half-ounces.The nurses had a joke (which was perhaps only a half-joke) for me, each day when I was getting ready to leave the NICU: "Check that woman's pockets!" They knew how painful it was for me to leave Sylvie, and I had observed, once, that she was small enough to fit into one of my pockets. Those nurses truly amazed me. I could be (and was!) mesmerized by their hands, which never stopped moving -- restarting a tiny heart with a brief rub and a tap, measuring out precise doses of medicine, or repositioning the oxygen source to increase a baby's saturation levels. The most breath-taking of all was when a baby needed a new IV. They would dim the lights even further, and a team of nurses would gather around. The tiny needle, which looked really no wider than a thread, was lit with a red light. No one was allowed more than three tries, and when one of the nurses succeeded, she was everyone's heroine for the day. A couple of the nurses seemed to have a special talent for it, and the others treated these special ones as though they were spiritual adepts. It was more astonishing than watching a master cellist's fingers find the precise places on the strings of his instrument, because here, even more than beauty, life itself was at stake.The other astonishing thing about the nurses was their ability to cooperate with one another without speaking. When the baby they were caring for could be left for even five minutes, they would turn to join another nurse, helping her to complete her tasks.But the thing about the NICU that struck me most was the extent to which human beings had been able to create these sensitive and complex machines to do the work of the human body -- and also, what poor substitutes these machines were for what the body can achieve without conscious effort. We are indeed curiously and wonderfully made!* * *When I returned to my own hospital room that first evening, there was a note from the hospital chaplain waiting for me on my bedside table. This was not the same chaplain as the one who had prayed over Stella, but she was also young and inexperienced. She had been assigned the task of helping me to make Stella's funeral arrangements. She had left some paperwork for me and a brief note, in which she'd written my daughter's name in quotation marks: I need you to fill out these forms, so that the morgue can release "Stella" to the funeral home. Who could have guessed that two small marks of punctuation could cause so much pain and anger? Even as I tried to explain to myself that the chaplain was young and perhaps it was just a problem she had with English usage, I wanted to strangle her. When my nurse came to check on me, she found me sobbing in my bed. Wordlessly, she brought me tissues and then went to sit in a chair in a far corner of the room. She stayed there, for two hours, while I cried. She neither spoke nor took her eyes off my face. Her own expression was one of deep sorrow. She only left after I had quieted down.The only date that would work for Stella's funeral was April 9, which also happened to be my birthday. By then, I had been released from the hospital. We took the three older girls out of school, so that they could be present. The funeral director had refused to charge us anything, even for the headstone I'd chosen or for the white coffin, the size of a shoe box. He told me that one of his daughters had died, before birth, and he would never charge for the funeral of a baby. He brought a dozen white roses to the funeral. Our Associate Pastor came to preside, bringing flowers as well, in case we'd forgotten. He performed the funeral liturgy in the cemetery chapel. When he sprinkled Stella's coffin with holy water, he told us that the Church recognizes three forms of Baptism: by water, by blood (the martyrs), and by desire. He explained that Stella had already received Baptism of desire, through our desire as parents -- because we had clearly intended to have her baptized. He explained that sprinkling her coffin was in memory of her Baptism. The funeral liturgy was so beautiful and healing. Rather than bringing us down, it made us joyful.It was raining, and the cemetery was muddy that day. I wanted to stay to watch the burial, so my husband brought the girls back home. Our priest stayed with me, though, holding a big black umbrella over my head. As we stood there, I looked at the other graves near Stella's. Just behind her, and a little to the left, there was a large headstone. From where I stood, I could read the name carved into the granite: Francis Xavier Cabrini. What a gift that was to me! Such a great saint of the Church, who would be so near to Stella's final resting place. I entrusted my little girl to her special care, right then and there.* * *I was not allowed to drive a car for six weeks after my surgery. During those weeks, I always had a ride to and from the hospital (45 minutes each way), so that I could "kangaroo" with Sylvie for several hours each day; our neighbors, or my mother, cooked us dinner every night and cared so well for our older children after school, so that it was a holiday for them, and not a time of abandonment and sadness.* * *Just to explain the image at the beginning of this post: My friend Anna, one year earlier, had painted a series of pictures, one each day, during the month of April, 2001. I fell so in love with this series that I wanted to buy it from her, but I could not afford to buy all the pictures at once. I had made a deal with her that I would buy them, one by one, as I had the money. We were due to meet on April 2, so that I could pay her for the tenth picture in the series, so I called her from the hospital and left a message on her machine explaining what had happened and canceling our meeting. She rang the phone at my hospital bedside that evening and told me that she would give me the remaining twenty-one pictures, no charge. When I protested, she refused to listen to me. She told me that the pictures weren't hers to sell. They were mine.* * *Sylvie's pulmonologist and her retinologist were surprised by her rate of recovery. They each said they had never seen anything like it. Perhaps her recovery can be explained by the quality of care she received in the NICU -- plus all those hours of kangarooing and the breast milk that made up her whole diet for her first year of life. Or perhaps she is particularly blessed because she has her own patron saint, who is her mirror image, in heaven. I am grateful for all the gratuitous goodness that so many people, even strangers, showed us during our difficult time. But I also want to thank Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini and say, Keep looking out for my Stella, please.Mother Cabrini Six years ago today this child, Sylvie Beatrice, and her identical twin, Stella Anne, played the best and worst (combined) April fools prank I've ever been subjected to. About a week earlier, I had gone to the doctor feeling like something was not right. The ultrasound revealed that I was pregnant with twins (amazing! miraculous! joy!) but that one of the babies was not moving (joy fled). The doctor kept squinting at the screen, like he was trying to understand what he was seeing, so I decided he didn't know what he was talking about. In my heart, I just knew that both babies were alive. Then, with urgency, he told me that I would need a specialist (he was a general practitioner). He called a colleague, then told me I would be met at the Emergency Room and I should go straight there. This only increased my hope. Why hurry if my little one was already lost?When I arrived at the Emergency Room, I was indeed met immediately and whisked past everyone waiting in the horrible plastic chairs. My new doctor was older, authoritative, and very courteous. Before I could wonder what would happen next, I was receiving another ultrasound. My new doctor told me that this was the best machine that existed, and that it could allow him to see details that no other ultrasound equipment could detect. Three residents stood around him and slightly behind, watching his every move. He pointed to the screen and said, "There's the first one, see? And there's the second." My heart soared. Then he looked at me, and said, "I'm terribly sorry for your loss.""The baby's dead?" I was truly incredulous that this expert couldn't see anything more than the other doctor had. What was the point of coming here?"Hand me that box of Kleenex," he said to one of the residents. Then he laid aside the ultrasound equipment, and handed me a tissue. "I thought you knew?" he said."I had hoped...""This must be so hard for you." He stared at me with compassionate eyes while I blew my nose. "Do you need some time, or should I continue the examination...?""It's okay," I said. "Go ahead."He returned to his work, pointing at the screen and telling the residents to look closely at various aspects of the picture. "I think I know why all your babies have come early," he said to me. "You have a kind of shelf in your uterus. It's very rare, but it would explain the premature births." He showed me a shadowy line on the screen. "At a certain point, it would get a little cramped in there.""Is that what happened? To the baby...?""No," he said. Then he explained to me that the twins were identical: "Now, when the fertilized egg divides, rapidly in the first few days, it can split into two separate embryos. If it splits early, then each baby develops its own amniotic sac. But your twins split quite late, probably around day 19.""So, they are in the same sac?""Yes, and they share a placenta. That's quite rare." He looked at me. "It looks as though their umbilical cords are attached at the same point. When that happens, it's called Twin Twin Transfusion Syndrome. It means that they shared a blood system. It's a very dangerous condition for the twins. One usually has abnormally high blood pressure and the other has abnormally low blood pressure.""The other baby...?!""Is stable, for the moment. Everything looks fine. But we're going to have to keep you for observation."They were girls. I asked him to tell me so that we could name the baby who had died. We named her Stella. Because they shared an amniotic sac, Stella could not be born until her sister was. They released me the next day, and told me that the pregnancy should continue normally, now.On Easter Sunday, March 31, though, I began to feel contractions while sitting at the dinner table. The baby wasn't due for another 11 weeks, and though all my girls had come early, they had never been this early. I decided, even though the contractions were coming quite regularly and with considerable force, that I was not in labor. By the time I realized that the baby was indeed coming, it was nearly too late. My husband rushed me back to the same ER and a surreal nightmare began. I couldn't seem to convince the residents and nurses that I had gone beyond transition, that I had the urge to push. They assured me that they had called my doctor, and that he was on the way. I tried to explain that there were two babies, that I was 11 weeks early, that they were about to be born. "Should I take off my clothes?" I asked. "If you want," was the answer, with rolled eyes. My husband rushed in after having parked the car. I told him that they didn't believe me, that no one would even examine me. He began shouting, "She knows what she's talking about! She's already had three babies!" One of the residents told him, "Stay cool, man." I begged him to at least examine me. He looked at me like I had some sick fetish, but reached slowly for a latex glove, just to prove to us that we were over-reacting. Then his face changed. "She's complete!" he shouted. "I've got a transverse breech! Call a code! Now!""Transverse breech..." I muttered. "What does that mean?""I felt a hand," he said, without looking at me. It was 12:18am. I had arrived at the ER at 11:56pm. Things began happening very quickly. My bed had wheels, and I was flying through the hallway, into a small white room with no windows and very unpleasant, glaring lights. I knew I was about to have surgery, though no one had told me. The panic was almost unbearable. I was praying Hail Marys out loud, not bothering to count decades. I felt certain I would die. A kindly white-haired man stood at the foot of my bed, and said, "This will happen fast." A mask slipped over my face and then off. I wasn't asleep, but I couldn't move. When they entubated me, I felt myself choke and gag as the impossibly wide plastic tube was shoved down my throat. It seemed unnecessarily cruel to torture a dying woman. Then I felt the tube being pulled back out of my raw throat, and I was wheeled to another room. I have never had physical pain like that before. The general anaesthetic had worn off, but they didn't want to give me morphine, yet.The phrase, "screaming in pain" seems really stupid to me. I was in so much pain that I couldn't make any noise at all -- I could barely whisper. The clock said 12:50am. My husband was beside me. The nurse came in and told me that the babies had been born -- the first one at 12:25am, the second at 12:35am. I gathered all my strength and whispered to her, "Ow.""I know it hurts, honey," she said, soothingly. "The doctor has ordered the pain medicine, but we have to wait a little bit." She left."Where?" I whispered to my husband. He told me that the baby had gone to the NICU, but that they would bring me Stella, if I wanted to see her. I nodded and said, "Hurts" in such a soft voice, it was almost funny. Such a small sound for such a huge pain.When finally the morphine drip had been started, they asked whether they should bring me Stella, and I said yes, eager to hold her. They placed her thin, wrinkled body in my arms. I kissed the top of her head, and made the sign of the cross with my thumb, on her forehead. Her eyes were closed, and she was so still. A young girl introduced herself to me as the hospital chaplain and asked if I would like her to say a prayer. I nodded. She intoned this rather silly poem about how we would see Stella in the clouds, and the rain, and in the leaves of the trees (later I wondered -- why not in mustard or truck tires?). I didn't want to ever hand her back, but eventually I had to. Then they brought me two Polaroid photos -- one of Sylvie, also skinny and long-limbed, but her face was contorted with screaming. Never had I seen anyone look so beautiful when angry. The second Polaroid looked like a tangled pile of thick spaghetti. They explained that somehow Sylvie had managed to get her own umbilical cord knotted and tangled with Stella's. No one had ever seen anything like it before. They said it was a wonder she survived, and great luck that she was born when she was, and not a moment later. It was amazing that she'd received any oxygen at all through her cord.By then it was 2am, and I knew we had to call my parents. My mom said, "This isn't funny.""I agree," I said. "It's not a prank.""Yes, it is," she said."I wish it were," I said. I finally got her to believe me.They made me go to my room to rest before they would allow me to see Sylvie. It was nearly noon when they wheeled me to the NICU, and showed me how to scrub with iodine, all the way to my elbows. There she was, all 2lb, 7oz of her, yelling and trying to yank the respirator out of her nose with one hand and the tiny blindfold off her eyes with the other. Her nurse told me, "Girlfriend here is a fighter!"* * *April, by Anna JoelsdottirThe day after Sylvie and Stella were born, the resident who had been so incredulous in the ER, paid me a visit in my hospital room. His head hung, and he seemed really devastated."I have to check your wound," he said, from the door, nervous about entering."Come in," I said."I'm really sorry I didn't believe you." His eyes were pleading. "It's just that you weren't like the other ladies when they're about to have a baby. You weren't screaming, or anything...""I don't ever scream," I said. I could sympathize with him. When things get really bad with me, I become very calm and quiet. "What good would it do? I didn't want anybody to panic -- it might make it harder to concentrate on what they have to do.""How could you think about other people, at a time like that?""I was actually only thinking about the baby.""Well, I'm really sorry.""It's okay. In the end, it didn't hurt her." I fought to keep the threat out of my tone. He looked so contrite, but I also knew that if things had turned out differently, forgiving him would have taken a strength from beyond me."But it could have...""Yes, you should think about that. Always listen to your patients." This remark seemed to cause him some pain, but, for the sake of his future patients, I didn't say anything to soften that blow.As he examined my incision, he let out a low whistle. "I've never seen anything like this," he said. "What was the name of the doctor who did your surgery?""I don't know." I still don't, but I'll be forever grateful to that kindly man."It's such a clean incision! No preparation, no nothing. All that chaos! He just cut... I'm sure you can't appreciate this, but what you have here is a thing of beauty." He shook his head."Thanks," I said.* * *My next visitor was the specialist doctor, who had administered the ultra special ultrasound when I first found out that Stella had died. He stood at the foot of my bed, and looked at me for a long moment. "May I ask you a question? I'm very curious..."He didn't have my chart in his hands, and he didn't look like he had come to do anything medical to me. "What is it?""After you left the hospital, the last time?" I nodded. "You had to carry your child, your dead child...?""I felt like a human tomb, for my own baby.""But...""Yes, I was also still pregnant with a living baby.""What is that like? I can't imagine how that would feel? What you must have gone through. And now you've given birth to a child who succumbed, but you have another child who is in the NICU?" He really looked amazed and overwhelmed by my experience."I don't know. All I know is that it is possible to feel devastating grief and great joy at the same time, that both emotions can exist together." At the time, I remember being under the impression that perhaps everything had happened the way it had so that I could testify to this mind-boggling human truth.He nodded and then murmured, "Different people respond different ways to terrible thing when they happen. But it seems to me that the only way to cope with them is if you have some sort of religious belief?" That statement came out as a question, filled with urgency.I nodded. Anyone who knows me knows that I could have said so much, with an opening like that one! But I sensed that he wasn't asking for my credo at that moment. I felt much more that I was in the presence of a man of faith, and that he simply needed confirmation from me that I was aware that I was in much better hands than his. My nod seemed to be sufficient for him.* * *Finally, the nurses got the okay to bring me to the NICU again. That afternoon began a kind of ritual that I would repeat every day for over six weeks. The nurse caring for Sylvie would roll a lazy boy recliner up beside Sylvie's incubator. I would scrub and, after I was discharged, change into a hospital gown (of course, while I was still a patient myself, there was no need to change), with the opening in the front, and then settle myself into the recliner. The nurse would pick Sylvie up out of her plastic box -- wires, needles, tubes, and all -- and settle her on the bare skin of my chest. Then she (or he) would reposition all the wires, needles and tubes, cover her with the first blanket, with the built-in bilirubin lights, followed by another stack of blankets, over her back, so that only her tiny head would peek out the top of my gown. This whole procedure was called "kangarooing." The recliners were viewed as part of the medical equipment on the unit. Those in charge had taken seriously the research that indicates that premature babies do better, the more skin-to-skin contact they have with their mothers.They were also attuned to the fact that medical outcomes are much better for premature babies who receive human milk. Breast pumps, on wheels, were available there, as well as in a private room, reserved only for mothers to pump. They also provided me with my own pump, to use when I wasn't there, as well as with sterilized vials for collecting and storing the milk and a special bag with frozen inserts, for transporting it. Even while Sylvie was still receiving all her nourishment through her IV, the nurses would use a long Q-tip, moistened with my milk, to swab the inside of her mouth. Later, when she was ready to try eating, her milk had to be administered through a syringe connected to a tube that would deposit it straight into her stomach -- one cc every four hours -- it was so agonizing to see her eat so little, and to want so badly to see her grow! She was weighed twice a day, and I measured my happiness in half-ounces.The nurses had a joke (which was perhaps only a half-joke) for me, each day when I was getting ready to leave the NICU: "Check that woman's pockets!" They knew how painful it was for me to leave Sylvie, and I had observed, once, that she was small enough to fit into one of my pockets. Those nurses truly amazed me. I could be (and was!) mesmerized by their hands, which never stopped moving -- restarting a tiny heart with a brief rub and a tap, measuring out precise doses of medicine, or repositioning the oxygen source to increase a baby's saturation levels. The most breath-taking of all was when a baby needed a new IV. They would dim the lights even further, and a team of nurses would gather around. The tiny needle, which looked really no wider than a thread, was lit with a red light. No one was allowed more than three tries, and when one of the nurses succeeded, she was everyone's heroine for the day. A couple of the nurses seemed to have a special talent for it, and the others treated these special ones as though they were spiritual adepts. It was more astonishing than watching a master cellist's fingers find the precise places on the strings of his instrument, because here, even more than beauty, life itself was at stake.The other astonishing thing about the nurses was their ability to cooperate with one another without speaking. When the baby they were caring for could be left for even five minutes, they would turn to join another nurse, helping her to complete her tasks.But the thing about the NICU that struck me most was the extent to which human beings had been able to create these sensitive and complex machines to do the work of the human body -- and also, what poor substitutes these machines were for what the body can achieve without conscious effort. We are indeed curiously and wonderfully made!* * *When I returned to my own hospital room that first evening, there was a note from the hospital chaplain waiting for me on my bedside table. This was not the same chaplain as the one who had prayed over Stella, but she was also young and inexperienced. She had been assigned the task of helping me to make Stella's funeral arrangements. She had left some paperwork for me and a brief note, in which she'd written my daughter's name in quotation marks: I need you to fill out these forms, so that the morgue can release "Stella" to the funeral home. Who could have guessed that two small marks of punctuation could cause so much pain and anger? Even as I tried to explain to myself that the chaplain was young and perhaps it was just a problem she had with English usage, I wanted to strangle her. When my nurse came to check on me, she found me sobbing in my bed. Wordlessly, she brought me tissues and then went to sit in a chair in a far corner of the room. She stayed there, for two hours, while I cried. She neither spoke nor took her eyes off my face. Her own expression was one of deep sorrow. She only left after I had quieted down.The only date that would work for Stella's funeral was April 9, which also happened to be my birthday. By then, I had been released from the hospital. We took the three older girls out of school, so that they could be present. The funeral director had refused to charge us anything, even for the headstone I'd chosen or for the white coffin, the size of a shoe box. He told me that one of his daughters had died, before birth, and he would never charge for the funeral of a baby. He brought a dozen white roses to the funeral. Our Associate Pastor came to preside, bringing flowers as well, in case we'd forgotten. He performed the funeral liturgy in the cemetery chapel. When he sprinkled Stella's coffin with holy water, he told us that the Church recognizes three forms of Baptism: by water, by blood (the martyrs), and by desire. He explained that Stella had already received Baptism of desire, through our desire as parents -- because we had clearly intended to have her baptized. He explained that sprinkling her coffin was in memory of her Baptism. The funeral liturgy was so beautiful and healing. Rather than bringing us down, it made us joyful.It was raining, and the cemetery was muddy that day. I wanted to stay to watch the burial, so my husband brought the girls back home. Our priest stayed with me, though, holding a big black umbrella over my head. As we stood there, I looked at the other graves near Stella's. Just behind her, and a little to the left, there was a large headstone. From where I stood, I could read the name carved into the granite: Francis Xavier Cabrini. What a gift that was to me! Such a great saint of the Church, who would be so near to Stella's final resting place. I entrusted my little girl to her special care, right then and there.* * *I was not allowed to drive a car for six weeks after my surgery. During those weeks, I always had a ride to and from the hospital (45 minutes each way), so that I could "kangaroo" with Sylvie for several hours each day; our neighbors, or my mother, cooked us dinner every night and cared so well for our older children after school, so that it was a holiday for them, and not a time of abandonment and sadness.* * *Just to explain the image at the beginning of this post: My friend Anna, one year earlier, had painted a series of pictures, one each day, during the month of April, 2001. I fell so in love with this series that I wanted to buy it from her, but I could not afford to buy all the pictures at once. I had made a deal with her that I would buy them, one by one, as I had the money. We were due to meet on April 2, so that I could pay her for the tenth picture in the series, so I called her from the hospital and left a message on her machine explaining what had happened and canceling our meeting. She rang the phone at my hospital bedside that evening and told me that she would give me the remaining twenty-one pictures, no charge. When I protested, she refused to listen to me. She told me that the pictures weren't hers to sell. They were mine.* * *Sylvie's pulmonologist and her retinologist were surprised by her rate of recovery. They each said they had never seen anything like it. Perhaps her recovery can be explained by the quality of care she received in the NICU -- plus all those hours of kangarooing and the breast milk that made up her whole diet for her first year of life. Or perhaps she is particularly blessed because she has her own patron saint, who is her mirror image, in heaven. I am grateful for all the gratuitous goodness that so many people, even strangers, showed us during our difficult time. But I also want to thank Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini and say, Keep looking out for my Stella, please.Mother Cabrini* * *Photo Gallery:A few hours oldKangarooingMother's Day 2002. At five weeks old, I thought she was huge!My big girl!My fingertip isn't really all that bigThe day she came home. She's six and a half weeks old, 4'2" Dumbstruck by the Mystery ...our temptation is always to impose our prejudices or our measure on reality -- except when we are faced with a fact that leaves us dumbstruck, and instead of dominating the fact ourselves, we are dominated, overcome by it. If there were no moments of this kind, the Mystery could do anything, but in the end, we would reduce everything to the usual explanation. But not even a Nobel Prize winner can stop himself from being dumbstruck before an absolutely gratuitous gesture. If there were not these moments, we would find answers, explanations, and interpretations to avoid being struck by anything. It is good that some things happen that we cannot dominate, then we have to take them seriously, and this is the great question of philosophy. If the conditions for the possibility of knowledge (see Kant) impose themselves on reality or if there is something that is so powerfully disproportionate that it does not let itself be "grasped" by the conditions of possibility, then the horizon opens. If this were not the case, then we could dominate everything and be in peace, or at least without drama. Instead, not even the intelligence of a Nobel Prize winner could prevent him from coming face-to-face with a fact that made him dumbstruck -- instead of dominating, it was he who was dominated. Here begins the drama, because I am called to answer. It is the drama that unfolds between us and the Mystery, through certain facts, certain moments, in which the Mystery imposes itself with this evidence. These are facts that we cannot put in our pocket, which we cannot reduce to antecedent factors. -- Julian Carron in "Friends, that is, Witnesses." Prayer for the Heart of a Child Holy Mary, Mother of God, preserve in me the heart of a child, pure and clean like spring water; a simple heart that does not remain absorbed in its own sadness; a loving heart that freely gives with compassion; a faithful and generous heart that neither forgets good nor feels bitterness for any evil. Give me a sweet and humble heart that loves without asking to be loved in return, happy to lose itself in the heart of others, sacrificing itself in front of your Divine Son; a great and unconquerable heart which no ingratitude can close and no indifference can tire; a heart tormented by the glory of Christ, pierced by His love with a wound that will not heal until heaven. - Fr. Leonce de Grandmaison What is Communion and Liberation? Humilty Impossible Correspondence Julian Carron Memoris Domini New Gaze Plan of God Priestly Fraternity of St. Charles Borromeo Slow Learner Sofia Cavalletti the Mystery Steubenville Way of the Cross 2008 St Blog's Salelaka Mokonzi

Dam Breach Swells Jianjiang River Formosat image © 2008 Dr. Cheng-Chien Liu, National Cheng-Kung University, and Dr. An-Ming Wu, National Space Organization, Taiwan. Caption by Michon Scott. In the wake of the May 12, 2008, earthquake in China, a series of landslides blocked the Jiangjiang River, creating swollen reservoirs that threatened to break through and flood catastrophically. The largest of these lakes, Tangjiashan Lake, threatened roughly 1.3 million people. Chinese authorities faced a dilemma. If they allowed the water to keep rising, it would eventually overtop the dam and flood downstream communities. But cutting a drainage channel through the dam was also risky. The channel could destabilize the dam, and the lake could empty uncontrollably in a wall of water. On June 10, 2008, Chinese authorities announced that the landslide that created Tangjiashan Lake had been successfully breached, and the lake had safely drained. These natural-color images, acquired by Taiwan’s Formosat-2 satellite, show changes in the Jiangjiang River—downstream from the lake—before and after the intervention. The bottom image, from June 8, 2008, shows the apparently slow-moving river, hampered by landslides both up- and downstream (river direction is from left to right). A landslide appears in this scene, and a small sluice (thin, off-white line) appears to have been cut across it to allow water to pass. Some water flows through the river channel downstream. The top image, from June 10, 2008, shows a swollen, faster-flowing river after the massive landslide upstream was breached. Compared to the image taken two days earlier, the river is wider, and it has submerged some land features along its banks. Its tan hue indicates that it carries considerable sediment, including sediment from the breached landslide upstream. The flooded river has overtopped the smaller landslide shown in this scene. Draining Tangjiashan Lake was expected to cause a flood wave downstream, and there was a risk that this flood wave could cause substantial damage, including additional landslides. On June 10, 2008, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that the flood wave safely passed through the city of Mianyang, which lies far downstream from the drained lake (see river map) and downstream from the area pictured here. Draining the lake sent floodwaters coursing into the city of Beichuan, which had been home to some 22,000 people before the earthquake struck. Having already experienced massive damages from the quake, the city was evacuated before authorities drained the lake on June 10. As of June 10, 2008, more than 69,000 people had died in the Sichuan earthquake, and more than 17,000 remained missing.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably explored the vivaNext website and will have seen the information section on environmental assessments. But what that section doesn’t really describe, is why we do environmental assessments in general, and how they are done. So here is my version of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Environmental Assessments. To begin with, the premise of an environmental assessment is based on a really important principle: projects that are being built in a community (whether large, like a new power plant, or relatively small like a new street) must address any potential negative effects on the natural, social or structural environment. Equally important, is the requirement that the community – including all members of the public – be given opportunities to understand the planned project, what impacts it is likely to have and how those will be addressed, and to provide comments before the project is approved. Our provincial and federal environmental assessment processes are the safety net that ensure a project has been carefully analyzed, and negative effects on the community are minimized. These environmental assessment processes also look at how a proposed project fits into a community’s plans for its future, to ensure it will enhance rather than interfere with a community’s vision for itself. Whether a project needs to go through the provincial process, the federal process, or both, depends on the type of project, the project proponent or owner, and the effects it will have. All municipal infrastructure projects in Ontario are subject to environmental assessment under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. Depending on the type, complexity and potential effects of a project, it may be subject to one of the provincial environmental assessment processes, such as the Individual Environmental Assessment, Municipal Class Environmental Assessment or the new Transit Project Assessment Process, which now governs and expedites the environmental assessment and approval for transit projects. Although the steps and timelines differ for each type of provincial environmental assessment, all allow similar opportunities for the community and public agencies to comment on a project. Each environmental assessment process involves evaluating a project to determine what impacts it will have, and how those impacts will be addressed. Impacts range from how the project will affect t

The Unfinished War Floor Speech By: Rush Holt, Jr. [From the Huffington Post, July 6, 2012] Nearly 50 years ago President Lyndon Johnson rallied the nation in support of a ``War on Poverty.'' It was a goal widely accepted as necessary and realistic. While total ``victory'' might not have been unachievable, the effort was embraced and pursued by many leaders of both parties. The Nixon administration, for example, played a key role in advancement of the earned income tax credit and Ronald Reagan reached an agreement with the then Democratic Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill, to strengthen Social Security's finances for another generation (today, about half of the nation's elderly would fall below the poverty line without Social Security). While Johnson's initiatives and subsequent policies didn't end poverty, they sure made a dent in it. Americans began the 1960s with 22.4 percent of the population living in poverty, but by the early 1970s that percentage had been cut in half. Not unconditional victory, but a major policy triumph nonetheless. Since that time the poverty rate has fluctuated between about 11 percent and 15 percent, reaching the upward proportion during the Reagan years and the lower end of the range during the administration of Bill Clinton. This may seem like a fairly narrow band --unless you're one of the millions who fall into poverty as the nation moves from the bottom of the range to the top. Right now, as we struggle to recover from the financial crisis of 2008-2009, the share of Americans living in poverty is back to levels not seen since 1993. So is a renewal of the war against poverty in the offing? The current balance of political forces suggests that, rather than muster all the weapons we have to fight for the poor, many are willing to settle for uneasy neutrality. This is one ``war of choice'' we choose not to wage. Austerity is the watchword of the day defined somewhat differently but accepted by the mainstream of both parties as the bedrock of policy for the foreseeable future. With lower expectations of growth projected for the next several years and continuing competitive pressures from abroad it is hard for most observers to see an optimistic scenario in which recovery accelerates to the point of leading to a new 1990s style period of prosperity. While this clearly sets limits on what is possible, it also opens up opportunities for those who wish to use the current difficulties as a lever to win arguments that are geared to their core values. Deregulation, weakening of unions, and further cuts in taxes for the wealthy and corporate America are all part of an ideological agenda that seems practical only because of the shifts of political forces and the imperatives of the financial weakness. To be sure there will be resistance to cuts in education, reductions in infrastructure spending, the weakening of Medicaid, and other radical departures from previous policies. But the defenders of the social contract seem at a distinct disadvantage. And what is not present in the debate, indeed has become virtually invisible in the media, is the issue of poverty. In fact, the United States has proven over several decades to be more tolerant of poverty and of homelessness and other associated ills than is the case in other industrialized countries. One can only conclude from the current reality that even discussing the issue of reducing poverty is a luxury. Like support for the arts, it is off the table during these difficult times. Workers have largely lost their past generous instincts about social programs after a generation of stagnant wages. Slightly further up the ladder, families who were until recently considered themselves solidly middle class now are scrambling to maintain their standard of living--and even their jobs. Yet, the United States is still a wealthy country, by all measures among the wealthiest in the world. And it clearly has the resources to provide a decent standard of living for its workers and citizens, its children and elderly. Other countries do so without much fuss. We, on the other hand, have rationalized increasing concentrations of wealth and income as somehow producing results that will be better for everyone. At the same time, our expenditures on the things that might change the circumstances of average Americans are meager by international standards. Elementary and secondary education, an historical strength, is being squeezed by budgetary problems at the state and local level. College aid and support for public higher education is shrinking. And, retraining programs for those who have lost their jobs due to the globalization of manufacturing and markets are nowhere close to what is available, for example, within the European Union. Overall, the United States has achieved levels of inequality not seen for generations and now ranks near the top among industrial nations in inequality. These are not trivial statistics for they reflect very different perceptions of what is important in the world of politics and government. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that those who can afford it pay for our campaigns and reap the rewards while average citizens, frustrated and angry, turn against their government because they don't see it helping them. Facts seem irrelevant; the U.S. has lower tax rates than almost all of the other industrialized countries and government employment has dropped sharply in the past few years, yet the explanation for hard times is that the government is taxing too much and spending too much. In this hostile environment it may be no wonder that new programs to help the poor get short shrift. In this Darwinian environment, we simply can't afford to help them. It's past time to connect the dots and see that by ignoring the poor we undermine the welfare of everyone in the 99 percent living from pay check to pay check. We must revive our generous national nature. And more selfishly come to see that we might find ourselves in their shoes. It may be that the poor will always be with us, but that doesn't mean it's OK to ignore them.

A Death In Syria By: Kelly McEvers and Lava Selo March 16, 2012 comments The United Nations estimates some 8,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began one year ago. One of them was Abdulrahman Abu Lebdeh, 24, who was killed in the town of Tal Kalakh last fall. His parents, his brother and one of his friends, who was also an activist, told the story of his life and death to NPR's Kelly McEvers and Lava Selo. Brother: He was the first one in our family to go out and demonstrate. It was when the regime first started killing protesters, in the [southern] city of Daraa. That's where our revolution began. One Friday, in the mosque, he heard the sheik praising the president of Syria. "You should praise the people who are dying," he told the sheik. "The president is the one who is killing them." Friend: We young people started protesting because the government was unfair to us, because there is corruption, and because the security services bothered us too much. But then, after Daraa, we started protesting because the regime was killing people, and we wanted the regime to fall. Brother: He told people in the mosque, "Anyone who doesn't support the people of Daraa has no honor." He wasn't a leader. He was a truck driver. He just wanted people to stop being afraid. He started praying every day. He believed that if we protested, we could become pure, like the people in Daraa. Mother: I was sick with pain in my feet. We heard the army was coming to surround our town. We escaped out of Syria — me, his father, and his sister. But he stayed to take care of our house. Fighting in Tal Kalakh Friend: We woke up to the sound of gunshots and children screaming and soldiers swearing at everyone. I started moving from house to house, and that's where I ran into him. We knew they were looking for young men. Eight of us ended up in one house, and the army surrounded it. Brother: We were in touch by phone. He asked to talk to our father. "If I ever did something wrong, please forgive me," he said. The last time we heard from him was around 5:30 p.m. "If you don't hear from us by nighttime," he said, "we are dead." Friend: The soldiers were calling on a loudspeaker, telling us to turn ourselves in. We could hear them but we couldn't see them. We were hiding on the stairwell. Three guys went to turn themselves in. He was one of them. He said, "Whatever happens to us, we are not different from other people. Let it be." As soon as they opened the door to turn themselves in, the soldiers started shooting. The boys were wounded in their hands and legs and shoulders. He was shot in the hand. The others went to help the wounded. They were shot, too. I stayed upstairs because I'm very young, and I hoped they wouldn't take me. They dragged all the others outside and beat them with sticks and the butts of their rifles. "You want freedom?" they said as they beat them. "We'll give you freedom." Then they came upstairs after me. They beat me and stabbed me twice in the back with a bayonet. The last thing I saw was my friends lying on the ground. In the hospital they beat me more. They detained me there in my room. Seven days later they took me to the military hospital to identify the bodies. They said I had to do it or I would face the same fate. They waited seven more days before they contacted the family. Word Of The Death Mother: It was my son's cousin who told us. It was morning and I was here, sitting in the house. The father told me he was going back to Syria. I asked him why. He said because our son was martyred. Father: The body was at the military hospital. I had to go identify it. There were some 200 people there, from all over Syria. Their sons were dead, too. I had to stay quiet. I knew they would kill me otherwise. I opened the plastic and saw my son. It was obvious he was tortured. His hand was broken, his neck was broken, and they shot him in the chest. His skin was gone in some places. It looked like he had been dragged. I hired a taxi and brought him home. All the neighbors came to the house, then came to help us bury him. Brother: If he had died in a natural way, it would be one thing. But to be killed like this, by the regime? It's something you can't take. Father: The regime sends the bodies back because they want us to show everybody, so people will be afraid. But they made a mistake. The people only became more angry. They told us only 15 people could go to the burial. Hundreds came. All the way, they were chanting for the martyrs and for the downfall of the regime and for freedom. Another Killing Brother: That's another martyr. Another one of our friends. We just got word that he was killed at a protest. Before my brother died, I was only protesting. Now I'm an activist. I take videos of protests and bring them out of Syria to be uploaded and sent out on the Internet. I only hope I can be a martyr one day, too. I hope I can die for the sake of my country.

Knowing your health heritage: the familial link of diseases (BPT) - Family members can have many things in common, including physical characteristics and personality traits. While some traits are obvious, like having red hair or blue eyes, some shared traits are not as obvious, such as the risk for developing a common medical condition, like high cholesterol, or a rare disease.A rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 people, and about 30 million Americans have one of 7,000 known rare diseases. Because about 80 percent of rare diseases are genetic in origin, knowing one’s family history is an essential part of the recognition and diagnosis of these conditions.Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for family members of someone diagnosed with a rare disease to go untested, which could delay getting an accurate diagnosis and potentially appropriate medical attention. Families should keep an open line of communication about diseases that may be genetic and if appropriate, encourage their relatives to seek evaluation by a knowledgeable medical professional. Nikia, 32, who is living with a rare swelling disease called hereditary angioedema (HAE), knows firsthand the importance of familial testing.HAE is a genetic disease that affects about 6,000 people in the United States. The disease causes repeated swelling attacks that can occur anywhere in the body, including arms, legs, hands, feet, stomach, genitals, face and throat. HAE attacks can be unpredictable, painful, debilitating and disfiguring. The average HAE patient endures about 10 years of repeated misdiagnoses before the disease is accurately identified. Along with a blood testing, a comprehensive family history can help accurately diagnosis HAE. Often, people who are diagnosed with HAE report having relatives who suffered their whole lives from severe stomach aches or unexplained episodes of swelling, or even relatives who died unexpectedly due to throat swelling, who likely had HAE but were never accurately diagnosed.Nikia was first diagnosed with HAE when she was just 5 years old, after experiencing severe swelling all over her body. Nikia’s mother had also suffered from bouts of unexplained swelling throughout her life, but because her attacks were less severe and only occurred in her feet, she never sought medical attention. It was Nikia’s cousin who eventually encouraged her mother to get tested for HAE, and three years after Nikia was diagnosed, her mother’s testing indicated that she also had HAE. Because of her cousin’s persistence, Nikia’s mother was finally able to understand the cause of her own unexplained swelling episodes and received medical attention that helped her manage her attacks.Understanding the likelihood that she could pass HAE on to her children, Nikia had both of her children evaluated for the disease. Although her daughter was not diagnosed with the condition, her son eventually was. When Nikia’s son was about 3 years old, he was frequently being sent home from school for nausea and vomiting. Nikia, who had experienced similar symptoms as a child, recognized the likelihood that it could be due to HAE. Testing confirmed that her son did, indeed, have the disease.“When my son was diagnosed with HAE, I wasn’t afraid or sad,” says Nikia. “It gave me the spirit to further educate myself and other health care providers so that they could potentially help someone else by getting an earlier diagnosis. I learned as much as I could about the HAE landscape so that I could be the best advocate for my son.Today, Nikia dedicates much of her time to staying up to speed on new information or medical advances in HAE and spreading awareness of the disease amongst her family, friends and community. She shares the new information she learns with her extended family and encourages members of her family to get evaluated for the condition. To date, she has prompted two cousins to undergo testing for HAE. It is her hope that her loved ones will also spread knowledge about the disease so that others may be properly diagnosed without having to endure years of untold suffering.“Even though some of my family members have been tested for HAE and the results came back negative, they are now educated about this disease and can help raise awareness among others,” says Nikia.To learn more about HAE and to access helpful tools for families impacted by HAE, visit www.HAEandMe.com, an online resource for people with HAE, their friends and family members that offers tips and advice for people of all ages. To find a health care professional, visit www.HAEA.org, the official website of the U.S. Hereditary Angioedema Association. Copyright 2014 zz-test-- Site 1. All rights reserved.

Jonathon Delacour the heart of things Like Stavros, I’m not “a full-fledged linguist (like languagehat)” but rather “an enthusiastic dabbler.” And a linguistic relativist it seems, in the sense that Stavros explains in his essay, Linguistic Relativism and Korean: The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, which is variously referred to as the ‘Whorfian Hypothesis,’ ‘linguistic relativism,’ and ‘linguistic determinism’ (a description of the strong formulation meant by implication to be a bad thing, I think) concerns the relationship between language and thought, and suggests in its strongest form that the structure of a language determines the way in which speakers of that language perceive and understand the external world. This formulation is generally understood by many to be untenable, but the hypothesis also exists in a weaker form: that language structure and content does not determine a view of the world, but that it shapes thought to some degree, and is therefore a powerful impetus in influencing speakers of a given language to adopt a certain world-view. Is it only those of us with, as Stavros puts it, “little knowledge of Hardcore Linguistics” to whom the weaker form of Sapir-Whorf (i.e. linguistic relativism) seems self-evident? I doubt I’d ever thought about linguistics until I was in my mid-twenties, when I saw Godard’s Two or Three Things I Know About Her. There’s a conversation in the film between Juliette, the protagonist, and her child, Christophe, who comes to the doorway of her bedroom to tell his mother about his dream the night before: walking along a narrow path next to a precipice he encounters a pair of twins and wonders how they will manage to pass. Suddenly the twins merge into a single person and he realizes that they are North and South Viet Nam reuniting. Godard cuts to a close-up of Juliette and we hear Christophe’s voice asking: “Mummy, what does language mean?” Juliette replies: “Language is the house in which man dwells.” I remember being absolutely entranced, and I suppose I still am, by the beauty of this idea: that we live within language rather than language living within us. Not that language determines our thinking but that each language encourages its speakers to perceive the world in a particular way. I didn’t realize until tonight—thanks to Google—that Godard was probably paraphrasing Heidegger: Language is the house of Being. In its home man dwells. Those who think and those who create with words are the guardians of this home. Yet Heidegger’s viewpoint would appear to contradict Sapir-Whorf, in the sense of the counter-argument that Stavros poses: A possible opposite claim, from a sociolinguistic viewpoint, is that the thought (and thus culture) of a linguistic group is mirrored in the structure and content of their language, that because they behave and understand things in a certain way, their language reflects those behaviours and understandings - the idea that language is molded, if not determined, by culture. Heidegger seems to be suggesting a far more active role in the construction of language (and therefore) culture for those who think (philosophers?) and those who create (writers and poets?). Hopefully, a fully-fledged philosopher will clarify Heidegger’s intention. After providing us with a concise yet thorough introduction to the origins of the Korean language, its distinguishing grammatical features, and the influence of Confucian ethics on the language, Stavros states that the question which most interests him is this: Do structures and forms like these in the Korean language shape the way in which Koreans think, particularly in terms of their relationships not so much to the world but to the people in it, to such a degree that we can say that language has given them a world-view substantially different than, for example, my own, as an English native speaker? It certainly seems so, to me. It certainly seems to me, too, that the structure of the Japanese language has given the Japanese a world-view substantially different to that of an English native speaker (or, for that matter, a Korean speaker). This difference in how the world is perceived has always been, for me, one of the great attractions of learning Japanese. Not in the sense that it has radically changed my world-view, since the level of my Japanese is such that I only occasionally “think” in Japanese (though I do more often dream in Japanese). It’s rather that communicating in another language is such a direct way of making the familiar strange (Shklovsky’s ostranenie or Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt). Given that linguistic relativism seems self-evident to Stavros and myself, a couple of questions immediately present themselves: What kinds of people accept or reject linguistic relativism, and for what reasons? (I noticed that I quickly skipped through the section about Chomsky and Pinker in Stavros’s essay, wanting to get to the material about the Korean language.) If an English native speaker achieves a high degree of fluency in another language, do they perceive or behave differently in any substantial sense when speaking one language rather than the other? Isn't Two or Three Things a great movie? (It should really be translated "A Thing or Two I Know About Her," but it's too late to do anything about that.) I wanted the video for years, and finally got it. (Do you realize there isn't a single decent screening print left in the world? Of one of the great films of the '60s? When they showed it last year at the American Museum of the Moving Image, they had to use a crappy 16 mm. print they'd borrowed from Harvard. Movies still aren't taken seriously as an art. The funny thing is that as I read your post I had my video of Comment �a va? on the tv. I find it helps with Godard to not always watch intently but also to just have the movie going, picking up bits here and there that I might not notice watching in a more connected way. You're never going to get everything in a Godard movie, after all. And the more I see the movies, the more I realize that a huge percentage of the dialog is a quotation of or reference to something else, poetry or philosophy or other movies. Tout se tient. (Somebody should really do an Annotated Godard; happily, there is such a book for Two or Three Things -- it's expensive, but worth it.) I find I definitely think differently, feel like a different person, when I'm speaking a different language. I don't know how, or if, that relates to the S-W hypothesis. But you don't miss anything by skipping over Chomsky/Pinker; they think all languages are the same, which is silly and makes them incapable of saying anything worth hearing in this context. There is a very interesting look at S-W on CultSock at Posted by The Dynamic Driveler Sorry - forgot that site is in Frams - you can get it here it will open in a frame. Twenty-five years ago, I lived in Gambia where Woloff ruled. "Hello" was "Jama nga'am?" -- "Do you have peace?" The reply was "Jama rek" -- I have peace always. All day, people saying that to each other. And they were and did and do. In 1965, upon Gambia's independence from Britain, a freelancer went there for three weeks and wrote a remaindered book called "Enter Gambia." I read it before I went there, and read it again when I returned, cracking up this time. He recorded the "Jama nga'am?" greeting as "Jamba nga'am?" which means "Do you have any marijuana?" The answer he recorded, "Jamba rek," means "I always have marijuana." There was no word for time in Woloff. But big shiny watches became popular, and then people asked each other what time it was all the time. Nothing was scheduled for any given time, but the time was nevertheless reported regularly. "What time is it?" was "Nyaata nga'am time bi?" -- literally, "How much time do you have?" In a marriage shot through with good will, "feeling tone" seems far more important than the content of words. Posted by Sheila Lennon Jeff, I absolutely agree that in a (mixed-language) relationship, language becomes the home we live and interact in. Language Hat, I had no idea there wasn't a screening print of Two or Three Things... it's one of my favorite Godard movies so I'm happy that I bought the video a few years ago. Le Gai Savoir is another of my favorites and I'd love to see that again. It's sad that Godard, who is one of the most important filmmakers of all, seems to have fallen out of favor. Glad to see you put the kibosh on Chomsky/Pinker -- one less thing for me to worry about. DD, thanks for the pointer to the Sapir-Whorf essay on CultSock. I've already found something really useful in it -- but that can be the subject of another post. Sheila, great story. It reminds me of the time I arrived late at a Japanese friend's birthday gathering and someone asked me where I'd been. As it happened, I'd been helping someone paint his new house, so I replied: "Tomodachi no atarashii uchi de nuide tetsudatte imashita." (meaning "I've been helping my friend with painting his new house.") Except I'd used the verb "nugu" instead of "nuru" so what I actually said was "I've been helping out at my friend's place by taking my clothes off." Posted by Jonathon ROAR - that's a good one Jonathon - I remember well my fumblings with Japanese - I'm absolutely certain that I made some horrific blunders but my friends were too polite to laugh, so I'll never know :-) I'm one of those heretics who is against the S-W hypothesis. Maybe its because I'm an engineer, but I'm used to thinking of some things in a non-verbal way, and possibly having to invent new words, or extend the meanings of existing words, to describe them clearly. The long English tradition of appropriating suitable words from other langauges is also an indication that language flows from thought and not vice versa. I'd go along with Pinker's diluted form of S-W that Stavros quotes. Posted by Kevin Marks Sheila said : "Twenty-five years ago, I lived in Gambia where Woloff ruled. "Hello" was "Jama nga'am?" -- "Do you have peace?" All day, people saying that to each other. And they were and did and do." I laughed at this, for all the wrong reasons (no offense meant to Sheila, of course). In Korea, "Hello" (more or less) is "Annyong haseyo?" (more or less) which means "Are you at peace?" (more or less). All day, people are saying that to each other. But they aren't, and they weren't, and they probably won't be in the future. So it's not really ha-ha-funny so much as another kind. Posted by stavrosthewonderchicken Posted by tom m I wonder whether anyone else recalled this piece of research in the light of this debate. This press release http://www.umich.edu/news/Releases/2003/Feb03/r022703a.html gives the outline of the findings, which the researcher says demonstrates the divergence of mode of thought between east and west. He ascribes this to "cultural" differences. There is no specific reference in the press release to the role of language, but maybe the paper itself has more details on that aspect of cultural difference. Of course, media studies folks know that most of this dialectical verbiage is totally moot. Language is THE medium, the ubermedium in which the primary media in culture encode themselves. When McLuhan said "The medium is the message" after Harols Innis before him said "the medium is the culture"...verb sap; ibid.; QED. No more is really needed, nor warranted, than that fact to make the point that this whole "big discussion" seems to be wandering around. Posted by boyhowdy on 5 May 2003 (Comment Permalink) Look, all this can be settled with a simple experiment. Try this. Arabic lacks the verb "to be," using a verbal noun from a particle denoting time prior to the utterance to translate our ungainly concepts of "existence" and "essence," both derived from the Latin verb "esse." Therefore, if there exists an Arabic speaker who doesn't speak an Indo-European language (or another language-family that uses a verb to couple the subject to the predicate) the S-W hypothesis is false. Alternatively, invite a Navajo to lunch at noon at the Gramercy Tavern. Your treat. If he doesn't show up on time (and he'd be a fool if he didn't), the same result: Sapir claimed that Navajos do conceptualize events in terms of time. Come to think of it, Arabic lacks verb tense as well. Ask that guy to lunch, too. http://specgram.com/CXLVIII.1/03.greenspanner.gramspec.html The whole discussion reminds me of the old toilet-stall graffito: "To be is to do" [Heidegger] "To do is to be" [Sartre] "Do be do be do" [Sinatra] Posted by blogal villager

Weekly News Update on the Americas covers news from Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled and written from a progressive perspective. It is published by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, P.O. Box 20587, Tompkins Square Station, New York, NY 10009, [email protected]. WNU #1052: Chile’s Mapuche Prisoners End Hunger Strike Weekly News Update on the AmericasIssue #1052, October 10, 20101. Chile: Mapuche Prisoners End Hunger Strike2. Haiti: Donors Detail “Reconstruction” Plans3. Haiti: Who Speaks for Lavalas in the Elections?4. Links to alternative sources on: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, MexicoISSN#: 1084 922X. Weekly News Update on the Americas covers news from Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled and written from a progressive perspective. It has been published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York since 1990. For a subscription, write to [email protected] . It is archived at http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/*1. Chile: Mapuche Prisoners End Hunger StrikeTen indigenous Mapuche prisoners in the city of Angol in Chile’s southern Araucanía region agreed late on Oct. 8 to end a liquids-only hunger strike protesting the use of Law No. 19.027, an “antiterrorism” measure from the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, against indigenous activists [see Update #1049]. A total of 34 Mapuche prisoners in six locations had participated in the hunger strike, which started on July 12, but 24 of them ended their action on Oct. 2.Jorge Huenchullán, the spokesperson for the 10 prisoners in Angol, said that they made the agreement because of the serious health conditions of some of the strikers even though “from the beginning we made it clear that [the agreement] wasn’t sufficient.” The Mapuche prisoners are serving long sentences under Law No. 19.027, which treats land occupations and attacks on the equipment or personnel of multinational companies as acts of terrorism; indigenous activists say they need to use these tactics to protest illegal seizures of their land.It was not clear what concessions the government of rightwing president Sebastián Piñera had made during the eight hours of negotiations that secretaries of state held with six strikers in the Victoria hospital in Angol on Oct. 8, but officials made several conciliatory gestures that day as the negotiations were taking place. Piñera visited the heavily Mapuche area of Purén, and the government announced a proposal for the Constitution to recognize indigenous peoples. Presidential spokesperson Ena von Baer announced plans for a Nov. 2 meeting in Concepción between a government representative, Mapuche spokesperson Natividad Llanquileo and Catholic archbishop Ricardo Ezzati, who acted as a mediador during the hunger strike.Congress recently passed a modification to the “antiterrorism” law that exempted minors under the age of 18 and reduced the penalties for arson; the charges against the prisoners included setting fire to ranches and agricultural machinery. The government is also talking about improving roads, schools and health care in the Mapuche region.The Mapuche are Chile’s largest indigenous group, accounting for about 700,000 of the country’s 17 million inhabitants. (Prensa Latina 10/9/10; La Tercera (Chile) 10/10/10; La Jornada (Mexico) 10/10/10 from correspondent and unidentified wire services)*2. Haiti: Donors Detail “Reconstruction” PlansOn Oct. 6 Haitian president René Préval, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former US president Bill Clinton (1993-2001) attended a meeting in Port-au-Prince of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (CIRH), the group in charge of monitoring the use of international aid to help the country recover from a devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. This was only the third time the group has met since it was formally established on Apr. 21.At the Oct. 6 meeting the CIRH approved 18 new projects, expected to cost $803.2 million; the group has now approved a total of 49 projects. But Bellerive and Clinton, the CIRH’s two co-presidents, said the new focus needs to be on executing projects, not just approving them. According to Clinton, the priorities should be creating a system of universal education, providing women’s health services, constructing new homes and removing the rubble left by the earthquake. Clinton expressed regret for delays in the delivery of promised funds from the US, which he said would start flowing within days, and he called on other donor nations to expedite their payments. (Radio Kiskeya (Haiti) 10/6/10; AlterPresse (Haiti) 10/6/10; Haïti Libre (Haiti) 10/7/10)At least some of the CIRH’s reconstruction projects seem intended to benefit the private sector in the donor countries, including the US and Brazil.During the week of Oct. 4 details were released on an agreement the Haitian and US governments signed on Sept. 20 for creating two industrial parks for assembly plants where low-wage workers will stitch together garments for export, principally to North American manufacturers and retailers [see Update #1050]. The first will be, as expected, near the government-organized camp for displaced persons at Corail-Cesselesse just north of Port-au-Prince; the 220-hectare park is to be leased by Seoul-based Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd. The Inter-American Development Bank (IBD) is paying for the planning studies, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) is building the park, and the US government is giving support for electric power and supplying 10,000 housing units. The second industrial park will be in the north of the country at a location to be determined; the South Korean Hansoll Textile, Ltd company will lease the park, and the US will supply power and 12,000 housing units. (AlterPresse 10/7/10)During a Sept. 29-30 visit to Haiti, Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim presented the results of a study for building a hydroelectric dam on the Artibonite River in the Central Plateau at a cost of $190 million. Brazil is putting up $40 million, and Haiti is seeking the rest from international institutions like the IBD. Although Brazil is donating the money through the CIRH, the project has been being planned for three years, since long before the earthquake. (AlterPresse 9/30/10) Brazilian companies are expected to build the dam. (HydroWorld.com 3/2/10)Correction: This paragraph originally misidentified the location of the dam.The day before the CIRH meeting economist Camille Chalmers, executive secretary of the nonprofit Haitian Platform Advocating an Alternative Development (PAPDA), held a press conference criticizing the international efforts at reconstruction. “Nine months after the earthquake it is unacceptable that only 4% of the rubble has been removed, only 2-3% of the promised funds have been disbursed,” he said. He also criticized the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which he said continues to charge interest on loans. Some international institutions, including the IDB, cancelled Haiti’s debts, but they have attached conditions to the cancellations.Chalmers called for reducing Haitian dependence on these institutions. “An extraordinary inter-Haitian solidarity was already displayed after Jan. 12 and needs to be supported by concrete policies and alternative financing mechanisms,” he said. (AlterPresse 10/5/10)In other news, on Oct. 8--two days after Bill Clinton called for a system of universal education--riot police used tear gas to disperse teachers, students and parents demonstrating outside the National Education and Professional Training Ministry (MENFP) in Port-au-Prince to call for the government to expand the education system. Two people were wounded. A police bullet reportedly hit math and physics teacher Jean Philbert Louis (or Jean Louis Filbert) in the head; he died the next day at the Hospital of the State University of Haiti (HUEH). Jean Pierre Edouard, who denied being part of the protest, was lightly injured and didn’t need to be hospitalized. (Agence Haïtienne de Presse (Haiti) 10/8/10; Radio Kiskeya 10/9/10)*3. Haiti: Who Speaks for Lavalas in the Elections?In a letter sent to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton the week of Oct. 4, a group of 45 US Congress members called on the US government not to support presidential and legislative elections in Haiti on Nov. 28 if the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) continues its exclusion of 14 political parties from the ballot. The letter focused on the exclusion of the Lavalas Family (FL) party of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide (1991-1996 and 2001-2004) [see Update #1039]; the letter’s author was Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who is said to be close to Aristide and to FL. The elections will cost some $29 million and will largely be financed by the international community, including the US. (Radio Kiskeya (Haiti) 10/8/10; New York Times 10/9/10 from Reuters)The situation seemed less clear back in Haiti. FL coordinator Maryse Narcisse indicated in mid-September that she supported calls to boycott the elections [see Update #1049], but a number of politicians associated with FL or Aristide have decided to run with other parties. Three of them are officially approved presidential candidates: former prime minister Yvon Neptune; Yves Christalin, one of FL’s founders; and Aristide’s former lawyer, Jean Henry Céant [see Update #1043]On Oct. 7 Sonny Aurélien (or Sony Orélien), general secretary of the Cell for Reflection of the FL Grassroots Base Organizations, spoke at a press conference announcing his group’s support for Christalin, who he said would bring Aristide back from his exile in South Africa. According to a local radio station, Radio Kiskeya, the press conference was held at the home of folksinger and longtime FL activist Annette Auguste (“Sò Ann,” “Sister Ann”), although she was not present. Like Rep. Waters, Sò Ann is considered close to Aristide. On Oct. 8 Ansyto Félix of the FL Mobilization Commission denied that the FL was supporting Christalin. (Radio Kiskeya 10/7/10; Agence Haïtienne de Presse (Haiti) 10/7/10, 10/8/10)But Yvon Neptune, who was Aristide’s last prime minister (2002-2004) and was imprisoned for two years after Aristide’s ouster on Feb. 29, 2004, is clearly not seeking support from FL or Aristide. During an Oct. 6 interview on Radio Kiskeya, he said that Aristide had resigned in proper form in 2004. “I had a copy of Mr. Aristide’s resignation letter,” he said. “It was authentic.” Aristide and his supporters have always insisted that he was the victim of a “modern kidnapping” by the US and possibly other countries. Neptune also said that the bands of Aristide supporters widely known as chimè had been integrated into the police force in the last days of Aristide’s administration. (Radio Kiskeya 10/6/10)President René Préval has also been having problems with a former prime minister, Jacques-Edouard Alexis, who is now running for president for the Mobilization for Haiti’s Progress (MPH) after being passed over for the nomination of Préval’s Unity party in favor of Jude Célestin. On Oct. 5 Alexis charged that Préval had distributed firearms to his supporters to ensure Unity’s victory in the elections. (Radio Métropole (Haiti) 10/5/10)*4. Links to alternative sources on: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, MexicoBrazil: Social Movement Leaders Predict Gains with Rousseffhttps://nacla.org/node/6767Brazilian Elections: Shifting Dynamics and the Green Votehttp://upsidedownworld.org/main/brazil-archives-63/2727-brazilian-elections-shifting-dynamics-and-the-green-voteGuaraní under siege (Brazil)http://ww4report.com/node/8124#comment-321920Bolivia: newspapers protest proposed racism lawhttp://ww4report.com/node/9177Seven SOA graduates convicted in Peruhttp://ww4report.com/node/9175Peru: indigenous leader Alberto Pizango runs for presidenthttp://ww4report.com/node/9176Standing Up for Democracy in Ecuadorhttp://www.cipamericas.org/archives/3330Ecuador Detains 46 Police Officers; Obama Calls Correa To Ask For Calmhttp://latindispatch.com/2010/10/07/ecuador-detains-46-police-officers-obama-calls-correa-to-ask-for-calm/Ecuador: Air Force and Navy Reluctantly Backed Presidenthttp://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2722-chavez-revving-up-revolution-with-land-takeovers-SOA graduate charged in Ecuador coup attempthttp://ww4report.com/node/9174U.S. Base Deal for Colombia: Back to the Status Quohttp://upsidedownworld.org/main/colombia-archives-61/2728-us-base-deal-for-colombia-back-to-the-status-quoWhere Flowers Bloom So Does Hope: Colombia’s Troubled Flower Industryhttp://upsidedownworld.org/main/colombia-archives-61/2723-where-flowers-bloom-so-does-hope-colombias-troubled-flower-industryVenezuela: Chávez announces new land seizureshttp://ww4report.com/node/9172Chávez Revving Up Revolution with Land Takeovershttp://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2722-chavez-revving-up-revolution-with-land-takeovers-Venezuelan Mitsubishi Workers Protest Further Firings and Government Treatmenthttp://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5698Colombian-Venezuelan Integration Furthered after July Break in Tieshttp://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5699Panama Awakeshttp://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2725-panama-awakesMexico Ordered To Pay Damages To Two Indigenous Women Raped By Soldiershttp://latindispatch.com/2010/10/05/mexico-ordered-to-pay-damages-to-two-indigenous-women-raped-by-soldiers/State Department Backing US Troops In Mexicohttp://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/erin-rosa/2010/10/state-department-backing-us-troops-mexicoGoldcorp’s Peñasquito Mine Sparks Controversy In Mazapil, Mexicohttp://latindispatch.com/2010/10/05/goldcorps-penasquito-mine-sparks-controversy-in-mazapil-mexico/San Juan Copala evacuated (Mexico)http://ww4report.com/node/9130#comment-321919For more Latin America news stories from mainstream and alternative sources:http://americas.irc-online.org/http://nacla.org/http://upsidedownworld.org/http://ww4report.com/node/For immigration updates and events:http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com/ENDYour support is appreciated. Back issues and source materials are available on request. Our weekly Immigration News Briefs has ended publication; for news, information and announcements in support of action for immigrant rights in the United States, subscribe to Immigrant Action at:https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/immigrantactionYou can also visit the Immigrant Action blog at:http://immigrantaction.blogspot.com/Order The Politics of Immigration: Questions & Answers, from Monthly Review Press, by Update editors Jane Guskin and David Wilson:http://thepoliticsofimmigration.com/

Reducing Your Risk of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Living With GAD Currently, there are no guidelines for reducing your risk of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). As scientists learn more about the condition, your doctor may have more information regarding steps for reducing your risk of GAD. Generalized anxiety disorder. National Institute of Mental Health website. Available at: Update June 2008. Accessed October 29, 2008.

The Denver skyline Denver [1] is the capital and largest city of Colorado, USA. Known as "The Mile-High City", Denver sits at an altitude of 5,280 feet/1,600 meters above sea level and lies where the Great Plains give way to the Rocky Mountains. Denver is a large city and one of the fastest growing in the United States. Denver is a bustling city of more than 600,000 people supporting a fast-growing metropolitan area of nearly 3 million people. The city embraces its cowboy and mining past but also looks toward the future with a vibrant arts and performing arts scene, dozens of great outdoor festivals, and distinct neighborhoods each offering a unique experience. You'll find everything a cosmopolitan city has to offer including a spectacular view of and easy access to the beautiful Rocky Mountains, which are only 12 miles west of town. Denver does have its growing pains. Urban sprawl is becoming a problem, with the metropolitan area sometimes growing faster than the infrastructure can really handle, especially with public transportation. Denver is generally a driving city, and some problems with pollution and traffic are a part of everyday life. Large mass transportation and freeway expansion projects have recently been completed, including the popular light rail system. Daily highs (°F) Nightly lows (°F) 0.5 0.6 1.3 1.7 2.4 1.8 1.9 1.5 1.3 1 0.9 0.6 Check Denver's 7 day forecast at NOAA Denver residents enjoy a mild climate and the most sunshine of any US state, with four pronounced seasons. Heavy snowfalls can occur between October and March, often alternating with days of high temperatures and sunshine. About once a year, a snowfall of over a few feet occurs. Winter is also when the Denver area gets pounded by a phenomenon known as the "Chinook". That's when air flows over the mountains to the west and sinks on the leeward (eastern) slopes of the foothills and warms up. This raises air temperatures dramatically, which can last for several days. If you're planning to visit Denver during the winter, be prepared with full winter gear just in case, but also pack a light sweater and t-shirt; the weather is usually very sunny and mild. Evening thunderstorms are common in late spring and fall Spring in Denver is pleasant, though generally rather brief. Trees begin budding by late March and are in full leaf by mid April to mid May. March, on average, is Denver's snowiest month. By June, Denver enters its summer season. Temperatures typically rise in earnest at this time, with most heat waves beginning in mid-June and continuing through July, usually Denver's hottest month with temperatures in the high 80's to mid-90's. By late July, the southwest monsoon kicks in. In August, short spells of thunderstorms occur about three to four days per week. By late August, temperatures begin to drop with a noticeable difference between day time and night time temperatures. As the days get shorter through September and October, daytime temperatures drop to the high 50's to mid-60's. Slather on that sunscreen all summer long; the rays are strong and the air is dry, with temperatures often reaching the upper 90s in July and August. Autumn is a peaceful time to visit, with mild temperatures, little severe weather and lots of that famous clear blue sky. You'll get to see the trees display their fall colors, which usually peak around mid-September in the mountains and October in the city itself. October usually brings the first snowfall of the season to Denver, although it's very light. By November, it's clear that winter is on its way, with plenty of clouds, some snow and much cooler temperatures. The airport is set amidst rolling plains with the towering Rocky Mountains and Denver to the west. DIA is somewhat far from any conceivable local destination. The public transportation service SkyRide [6] offers 5 bus routes from the airport with several stops each, delivering you to many "Park and Ride" locations in the metro area for $9-$12 one way. Purchase tickets at the RTD desk in the main terminal. The airport can be crowded due to a post-9/11 security redesign that created a single central screening station, followed by a train that passengers must take to Concourses B and C. It can take up to an hour to get from the ticket line to the gate, so travelers should get to the airport at least 1.5 hours before their scheduled departure time. There are a number of airport shuttles you can take from DIA to the city and destinations in the mountains. Private pilots mostly fly into Centennial Airport (ICAO: KAPA), south of town (not far from the Denver Technological Center), and Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (ICAO: KBJC), northwest of town (near Interlocken Business Park, Broomfield and Boulder - and the closest airport to downtown Denver). On warm days the density altitude may make takeoffs difficult; Centennial and Rocky Mountain Airports thus have relatively long runways, to accommodate volumes of private jet traffic. Flight visibility in the Denver area is often in excess of 100 miles; weather fronts tend to travel quickly N-S along the front range. For small planes, any direction but west is a good choice. Since 1914, the City of Denver has maintained a bison herd on the outskirts of town at Genessee Park. The herd is still easily viewed along Interstate 70. I-25 (north and south), I-70 (east and west), and I-76 (northeast) are the major interstates leading in and out of the city. I-225 and I-270 cross the Denver area. U.S. Highway 40 connects Denver to Salt Lake City to the west. Interstate 70 connects Denver to Summit County, the location of many major ski areas, to the west. Interstate 25 connects Denver to Colorado Springs in the south and Cheyenne, Wyoming in the north. U.S. Highway 36 connects to the northwestern suburbs and on to Boulder. C-470 Connects to the southern end of E-470 (also accessible from I-25) leading to the south, southwest, and western suburbs. Toll Roads There are a couple of major toll roads in the Denver area, and they can help you avoid some serious rush hour traffic on I-70 and I-25. E-470 connects the airport to the southeast, east, northeast and northwest suburbs, C-470 at its southern terminus, and the Northwest Parkway at its northern terminus, leading to Boulder. E-470 is a "cashless" toll road - there are no longer any toll plazas and no way to pay tolls except via an in-car device or a billing service. If renting a car, check to see if the rental car agency provides for proper billing; otherwise, you may be subject to billed tolls and hefty service charges. Tolls are $2-4 and without an in-car device, service charges can run to $25 or more. Northwest Parkway connects to the north end of E-470 leading to north, northeast and northwest suburbs, and Boulder. Also accessible from I-25. Tolls are up to $3 each, and booths accept only cash. There's no attendant between 10PM and 6AM, so pay attention to the signs; though some booths still accept exact change, others require you to pay online [7] or by mail. Amtrak's [8] California Zephyr stops in Denver once a day, continuing east to Chicago and west to Emeryville, California. Union Station, where the trains normally stop, is currently undergoing renovations; a temporary station has been set up at Wewatta and 21st Street, across the train tracks from Coors Field. To get to downtown from the station, head down Wewatta Street along the railroad tracks past Union Station to 16th Street - there, you can cross the tracks into downtown. Greyhound [9] The bus station is downtown at 1055 19th Street, just a few blocks away from Coors Field and other central attractions. Serviced by Greyhound and skyRide buses, the station also has storage lockers that can be rented hourly. Expect the bus station to be crowded and dirty. Autobus Americanos [10], Provides bus service to/from Mexico. The bus stop is located at 2147 N Broadway. Map of Downtown Denver Numbered streets run east-west in the north half of the metro area, including suburbs. Ellsworth Avenue is the "equatorial" street. Numbered streets increase as you travel north and are generally called avenues. Avenues south of Ellsworth are named. Named streets run north-south. Broadway is the "meridian" street. Ordered alphabetically going up as you travel east or west away from city center. Addresses on named streets correspond to intersecting numbered streets, so "1701 Broadway" is at 17th and Broadway. North-south streets are generally called streets, not avenues. Downtown streets: The diagonal layout of the downtown area can be tricky, especially for first-time visitors. North of Colfax and west of Broadway, the streets are canted 45 degrees from all other streets in the city. The transition between the two systems is confusing even for locals. Southeast-northwest streets are numbered, while southwest-northeast streets are named. As this was the original grid system of Denver, some vestiges of it exist outside of downtown, creating diagonal cuts in certain parts of the city. Some of those streets include Park Avenue, Speer Boulevard and Morrison Road. If you plan to go outside of downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods car rentals are the most convenient form of transportation. Local companies tend to offer better prices, but national chains might be more convenient as far as return policies and hours. Rental companies include most major car rental chains. Meters are free on Sunday and run until 10 p.m. on weekdays. After 10 p.m. at many of the meters where it was formerly free, it now is $1.00 per hour from 10 p.m. until 8 a.m. at the new "smart meters." The meters say "overnight parking allowed" but you are still required to pay during this time, or you will get a $25 parking ticket. In the downtown area near Coors Field, The Pepsi Center, and LoDo, there is pretty much no free parking on weekdays. In some areas a few blocks from the city center there are a few non-metered spots within reasonable walking distance of downtown. However, just because you don't see a meter doesn't mean that parking is free. Denver is increasingly using "European-style" meters, where you purchase a paper ticket from a machine somewhere on the block and place it on your dashboard. Also, many neighborhoods around downtown allow only permitted residents to park, so be sure to check the signs first. It is worth noting that the city government has been cracking down on parking violations recently, so if you park at a meter with a flashing red light and don't pay, even for a few minutes, EXPECT TO GET A TICKET. Meter violations will cost you a cool $25 ($50 if you don't pay up within two weeks). Lack of change is no longer a problem, as all the meters in the downtown area are now equipped with credit card readers that accept Visa and MasterCard. $1 will get you around an hour, depending on the location of the meter. Areas outside of the downtown core (20th St, Speer, Wynkoop St, Colfax and Broadway) usually have meters that end at 6 p.m. and are free on weekends, so parking is much easier during those times. The area just northwest of downtown, across the train tracks from Union Station, has free 2-hour parking spots (on Wewatta Street just before the Park Avenue bridge). The light rail station at 16th and Stout in downtown Denver. The RTD (Regional Transportation District) [11] operates public transit throughout the Denver area, including buses and light rail. In 2004, voters approved FasTracks, a plan to significantly expand Denver's public transportation system. However, due to budget problems, this plan won't be fully completed until around 2019 (if at all), so public transportation is still somewhat sparse outside the downtown area. Denver's existing light rail [12] system, though limited, can efficiently get you from downtown to some south central and southeast suburbs. One light rail line travels parallel to I-25 from the southern part of the Denver metro area past the Tech Center, with a small spur on I-225. Another light rail line connects downtown Denver to Englewood and Littleton. Nearly all light rail lines get you to downtown Denver either through central downtown via the Convention Center or to Union Station past INVESCO Field and the Pepsi Center. Light rail tickets must be purchased (cash only) from vending machines at the stations before boarding the trains. They cost between $2.25 and $5 one way, depending on how far you travel. Colorado Convention Center and central transportation hub The backbone of Denver's transportation system is the buses. RTD buses are $2.25 for a one-way local trip, and with payment you receive a transfer that's valid for one hour after the bus arrives at its end terminal. There is also a free shuttle [13] along the 16th Street pedestrian mall, which is a little over a mile long and takes you close to most major places downtown. More information about RTD can be found at the Market Street and Civic Center bus stations at either end of 16th Street in downtown, or on the RTD website. Local routes (denoted by a number) crisscross the city, supplemented by 'Limited' buses that stop less frequently on major arteries like Colfax and Colorado Boulevard. These buses are denoted by an 'L' after the route number, and cost the same as a Local route. RTD also operates limited intercity coach service, mostly to the north suburbs and Boulder/Longmont. These coaches leave from Market Street Station or Civic Center Station at either end of the 16th Street Mall, and will have letters designating their routes. Fares start at $4.00 one way. If you're in Colorado to ski or board on a budget, Eldora Mountain Resort in Nederland can be reached from Denver via the B and N buses. Airport coaches operated by RTD (SkyRide) start from Aisle 5 near the terminal. Fares are between $9 and $13 one way depending on your destination. Ask your driver for a transfer ticket as it will be valid on city buses for one hour after your original bus arrives at its end terminal. Buying a round-trip ticket saves you $2. Make sure to have change before you use SkyRide or buses. Fare boxes on the buses and coaches do not give change, and vending machines at the stations give change in $1 coins, quite hard to spend later. Neither fare boxes on buses nor most ticket machines at stations accept cards - cash only! Denver has a large network of bike trails leading all over the city. The city has a fiercely loyal cycling culture, and it's reflected in the abundance of bike lanes and trails in and around downtown. Main trails run along both Cherry Creek and the Platte, and bike lanes run down many downtown streets. The lanes are sometimes dedicated and sometimes run with traffic, and are marked by a stencil of a bike in the street. The city's designated routes are signed, and you can pick up a bike map at the info centers downtown and at many bike shops. Denver recently launched a bike share program [14]; you can purchase a membership online or at any of the 50 stations throughout the city, choose a bike, and start exploring. Rides of less than 30 minutes incur no fee, while there is a small fee for longer rides. Don't be afraid to assert yourself in traffic when there is no bike lane - the drivers are, while impatient sometimes, for the most part respectful. Bikes are treated legally like traffic in Denver, and (while admittedly rare), you can get tickets for running red lights and stop signs. Bikes are also expected to ride as far to the right as practicable, unless you're riding in a group of 3 or more - in which case you are considered (and can behave like) a car. Neat, huh? Bikes are required to have front lights at night, and a good lock is recommended in areas around downtown. Bike theft happens frequently. Colorado State Capitol Building Denver is a vibrant city with plenty of attractions for visitors, plus a diverse collection of neighborhoods that can be attractions in themselves. Many of Denver's older areas are the perfect density for exploration; you'll find an an interesting mix of apartments and homes with flowery front gardens, wide flagstone sidewalks, bright green lawns and big, shady trees. Capitol Hill, Highlands, Baker, Berkeley, Uptown, Sloan's Lake, Cheesman, Washington, City and Congress Parks are just some of the neighborhoods bustling with people and places to see. Denver has many beautiful parks that are full of colorful gardens, meandering paths, crystal clear lakes, abundant wildlife and recreation opportunities. The city has a rich pioneer history, and there are plenty of museums where you can learn all about it. It's also a very environmentally conscious city, with one of the nation’s first municipal “Green Fleets”, public transit vehicles using hybrid and alternative fuel and a city tree-planting initiative. Hop on a green bus, grab a bike or just walk around to discover Denver. Museums and architecture Black American West Museum & Heritage Center, 3091 California St, ☎ +1 303 482-2242, [15]. September-May: Tu-Sa 10AM-2PM, June-August: Tu-Sa 10AM-5PM. Set in the home of Dr. Justina Ford, Colorado's first Black woman doctor, this museum is dedicated to the contributions of Black pioneers in the Old West. $8 adults, $7 seniors, $6 children. Byers-Evans House Museum, 1310 Bannock St, ☎ +1 303 620-4933, [16]. Tu-Su 11AM-3PM (guided tours at 11AM, 12:30PM and 2PM). One of Denver's great historic homes, built in 1883 by Rocky Mountain News publisher Williams Byers and elegantly furnished with original turn of the (20th) century pieces. Tour the house or catch featured exhibitions in the gallery. $5 adults, $4 seniors, $3 children (children under 6 free). Chamberlin Observatory, 2930 E Warren Ave, ☎ +1 303 871-5172, [17]. Built in 1890, this working observatory is a historic landmark and a pride of the University of Denver. Star Parties and other events are open to the public. Children's Museum of Denver, 2121 Children's Museum Dr, ☎ +1 303 433-7444 (fax: +1 303 433-9520), [18]. This educational museum takes a fun, hands-on approach to learning. Colorado State Capitol, 200 E Colfax Ave, ☎ +1 303 866-2604, [19]. A gorgeous domed building at the southern edge of Downtown. Tours are available, though the big attraction for tourists is standing above the words "One Mile Above Sea Level" engraved into one of the steps out front. Denver Art Museum

Share Tweet E-mail Comments Print By Howard Berkes Jean A. Stevens conducts the morning session's closing prayer during the 183rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, April 6, 2013, in Salt Lake City. There was no formal acknowledgment of the historic moment Saturday when Jean Stevens stood at a dark wooden podium framed by potted plants and colorful flowers in the cavernous Mormon conference center in Salt Lake City. "Our beloved father in heaven," she began, as 20,000 faithful and silent Mormons in the building listened, and as millions of others (according to Church officials) watched on television screens around the world. Stevens became the first woman to recite a prayer at a general session of the faith's semiannual conferences, which Mormons consider the most important religious gatherings of the year. As Peggy Fletcher Stack reports in the Salt Lake Tribune, "Mormon women have given prayers in their local congregations for more than 30 years, and have spoken at the twice-a-year church wide General Conferences for decades." But, Stack adds, "[N]o woman has ever before prayed at the general meetings." The Tribune story includes video of the historic prayer and enthusiastic reaction from some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Amanda Farr Knickerbocker of San Diego. "I wanted my children to listen to a woman offer prayers on behalf of the entire church," Knickerbocker told the Tribune. "I wanted them to know that the church hears the voices of women, and that God does, too." Some Mormon women have lobbied for full religious and gender equity in the Mormon faith, a patriarchal religion in which men have "priesthood authority" but women do not. Men hold positions of ecclesiastical power and authority. Women serve in "auxiliary" leadership roles in what are known as the "Relief Society," "Young Women" and "Primary" organizations. Stevens is a high-ranking leader in Primary, an educational arm facilitating religious instruction for children 11 and under. Later Saturday, a far smaller gathering of about 100 people at the University of Utah focused on achieving for Mormon women "the same ecclesiastical authority as men," as Dan Bammes of NPR affiliate KUER reports. Bammes quotes Hannah Wheelwright, a 20-year-old student at Brigham Young University, a Mormon institution. "I think the tragedy is underutilizing the other half of the population of the church," Wheelwright said at the event, which was organized by ordainwomen.org. "I think that any institution that underuses over 50 percent of its population is really suffering. And so this would be a way to really invest in an institution that we love and want to contribute to." In January, a "let women pray" letter-writing campaign targeted Mormon leaders but Mormon Church spokesman Scott Trotter told the Tribune at the time that "decisions on speakers and prayers at General Conference were made many weeks ago." On Friday, the day before this weekend's conference began, the official Mormon Church website posted a video discussion featuring the top leadership of the faith's women's organizations. "I don't think women are after the [priesthood] authority," said Linda Burton, the General President of the Relief Society. "I think they're after the blessings" conveyed by men who have priesthood authority. "There are a few that would like both," Burton added. "But most of the women in the church are happy to have all of the blessings. That's what matters most to them." Later in the weekend conference, another Mormon leader urged equality in marriage. "Practices from any place or any time in which husbands have dominated wives or treated them in any way as second-class partners in marriage are not in keeping with divine law and should be replaced by correct principles and patterns of behavior," said Whitney Clayton, who supervises the operations of the Mormon Church in Utah. The Sunday session of the conference opened with a prayer offered by another woman, Carole Stephens, a leader in the Relief Society.Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit . View the discussion thread.

Immigration Spurs A Rare Split Among Ariz. Mormons Paul Morgan met his wife, Evelyn Oyuki Morgan, during his two-year Mormon mission to Mexico. Today, they belong to a Spanish-speaking Mormon congregation and speak Spanish at home with their two daughters, Isabella and Amaya. Andrea Hsu Daryl Williams is an attorney and a senior figure in the Mormon church in the Phoenix area. His discomfort with Arizona's immigration law led him to take up the issue at town hall events across the state. Mitt Romney is the most famous Mormon running for office this fall. But he's far from the only one. In Arizona, two other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Rep. Jeff Flake and businessman Wil Cardon — are vying for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. All three candidates have said they'll be tough on immigration. And while Mormons in Arizona have been closely identified with conservative politics, the immigration debate has exposed a rare divide on the issue. Shared Faith, Different Political Views The original sponsor of the state's tough immigration law, former state Senate President Russell Pearce, is Mormon, too. But it was also Mormon voters who helped oust Pearce in a historic recall election. Among them is Daryl Williams, a Phoenix attorney who is also a senior member of the church in Maricopa County. He found himself drawn into the immigration debate around the time SB 1070 became law. "I had been solicited by several to join the Minutemen ... sort of be your own posse to protect the border," says Williams, who adds that he disagreed with their views on immigration. "I didn't see there was a problem with the border, and that solicitation to be a Minuteman by some people in my family, by the way, induced me to prepare and do research on an essay, which I wrote on immigration. And I thought it was just inconsistent with what was good for the state economically and certainly inconsistent with the principles of the Mormon faith." Williams presented his essay at town forums across Arizona. The church took notice, and at one point a church official raised concerns about his activism. But then something happened in neighboring Utah that affected the debate in Arizona. The Mormon church, which usually does not endorse political parties or stances, backed the so-called Utah Compact, a pact among business leaders, politicians and others that encouraged a more welcoming approach on immigration. "It is very significant that they weighed in," Williams says. "It is not a casual event." When Utah passed several pieces of legislation seen as moderate on immigration, Williams says, church officials were present for the bill-signing. "That caused a real furor among many members of the church who thought that that was an abandonment of the belief to obey, honor and sustain the law," says Williams. "Well, the church's policy as I see it is not to obey, honor and sustain just any law, but to obey, honor and sustain good laws." Bilingual Families Of Faith The debate is also being influenced by the reality of changing demographics. In a modest home just north of Phoenix, Evelyn Oyuki Morgan says a prayer in Spanish, asking God to bless her family members wherever they may be — and then it's time for enchiladas Her husband, Paul, was raised in Arizona. He met Oyuki more than a decade ago while he was on his two-year mission to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. She was already a member of the church in her grandparents' tiny truck stop of a town. "I was at church and saw her," he says. "And the bad thing was I still had a really long time left to finish my two-year mission. And so I told the mission president, 'I think it would be good if you ship me far away.' " So they did. "And when I got done," he says, "I called her up. 'Remember me?' She remembered me. That was good." They dated long distance and then decided to get married. Getting Oyuki a fiancee visa took a year — and many documents, fingerprints, even blood work, not to mention money. She's now a permanent resident. Paul Morgan comes from a very conservative family, and he says marrying into another culture was a bit of shock. "My entire life I had dated blondes," he says. "And I always had said I was going to marry a blonde. At no point did I ever think I'd marry a Latina, did I ever think that my two little daughters would be speaking Spanish to me." Nor did he think he'd end up belonging to a Spanish-speaking congregation, worshipping alongside undocumented immigrants. "A lot of the people that we go to church with don't have papers," he says, "and a lot of them to be able to work will use stolen Social Security cards or borrowed Social Security cards." While Morgan calls President Obama's decision to defer deportations for young undocumented immigrants "a breath of fresh air," he is also excited to see Romney running for president. So how will he vote in November? "You're asking a guy who grew up in the Mormon church who he's going to vote for, [and] for the first time ever, a Mormon's right at the forefront of actually becoming president. ... Like I said, I hate politics." But if all politics is personal, it's Paul Morgan, Daryl Williams and many other Mormons who have very much affected the tenor of immigration debate in Arizona.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. Mitt Romney's run for president has stoked interest in a lot of things, not least of which is his faith. He's Mormon, a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And in Arizona, two fellow Mormons and Republicans, Congressman Jeff Flake and businessman Wil Cardon, are vying for a U.S. Senate seat. All three have said they'll be tough on immigration, a stance popular with most conservatives, but as my co-host Audie Cornish discovered this week in Arizona, it's not necessarily popular with their fellow Mormons. AUDIE CORNISH, BYLINE: While Mormons in Arizona have been closely identified with conservative politics, the immigration debate has exposed a rare divide on the issue. The original sponsor of the state's SB 1070 immigration law, former state Senate president Russell Pearce is Mormon. But it was also Mormon voters who helped oust him from office in a historic recall election, among them, a descendant of Mormon pioneers who, back in the day, crossed the plains with Brigham Young to Utah. DARYL WILLIAMS: And so I am as dyed in the wool true blue Mormon as you can get. CORNISH: Daryl Williams is an attorney in Phoenix. He's also a senior member of the church here in Maricopa County. He found himself drawn into the immigration debate around the time SB 1070 became law. WILLIAMS: I had been solicited by several to join the minutemen down at the border, go down there and sort of be your own posse to protect the border. One, I didn't see there was a problem with the border, and that solicitation to be a minuteman by some people in my family, by the way, induced me to prepare and do research on an essay which I wrote on immigration. And I thought it was just inconsistent with what was good for the state economically and certainly inconsistent with the principles of the Mormon faith. CORNISH: Williams could not and does not speak for the church, but on his own, he presented his essay at town forums all over Arizona. The church took notice and at one point, a church official raised concerns about his activism. But then something happened in neighboring Utah that affected the debate in Arizona. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which does not endorse political parties or stances, backed the so-called Utah Compact, a pact among business leaders, politicians and others in that state that encouraged a more welcoming approach on immigration. WILLIAMS: It is very significant that they weighed in. It is not a casual event. CORNISH: And then, Williams says, when Utah passed several pieces of legislation seen as moderate on immigration, church officials, including the presiding bishop, were present for the signing of those bills. WILLIAMS: That caused a real furor among many members of the church who thought that that was an abandonment of the belief to obey, honor and sustain the law. Well, the church's policy as I see it is not to obey, honor and sustain just any law, but to obey, honor and sustain good laws. CORNISH: And the debate is also being influenced by the reality of changing demographics. EVELYN OYUKI MORGAN: (Foreign language spoken) CORNISH: In a modest home just north of Phoenix, Evelyn Oyuki Morgan asks God to bless her family members wherever they may be. MORGAN: Amen. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Amen. CORNISH: And then it's time for enchiladas. Oyuki's husband, Paul, tries to get his two daughters, Isabella and Amaya, to eat. PAUL MORGAN: (Foreign language spoken) CORNISH: Paul Morgan is American raised here in Arizona. He met Oyuki more than a decade ago while he was on his two-year mission to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. He already belonged to the Mormon faith, had gone with his grandparents to church in their tiny truck stop of a town. MORGAN: I was at church and saw her and kind of knew it. And the bad thing was is I still had a really long time left to finish my two-year mission so I told the mission president, I said, I think it would be good if you ship me far away from Campeche. And so they shipped me far away from her area for the remainder of my two years. When I got done, I called her up, said, remember me? (LAUGHTER) MORGAN: (Foreign language spoken) MORGAN: Yes. (LAUGHTER) MORGAN: You remembered me. That was good. CORNISH: They dated long distance and then decided to get married, decided to go through all the proper channels, eventually getting her a fiance visa. It took a year and many documents, fingerprints, even blood work, not to mention money. She's now a permanent resident. Paul comes from a very conservative family and he says marrying into another culture was a bit of a surprise, even to himself. MORGAN: My entire life I had dated blondes, and I always said I was going to marry a blonde. At no point in my life did I ever think I was going to marry a Latina, did I ever think my two little daughters would be speaking Spanish to me. CORNISH: Nor probably did he think he'd end up belonging to a Spanish-speaking congregation, worshipping alongside undocumented faithful. MORGAN: If you went to churches on Sunday, we'd be on the minority of the ones that actually did legal immigration. A lot of the people that we go to church with don't have papers. And a lot of them, to be able to work, will use stolen Social Security cards or borrowed Social Security cards. You know, they'll have a cousin that is legal and they'll have a cousin come apply for a job, and once he gets the job, then the cousin turns around and walks away, and then they go in and start working. It's a very common functioning way that a lot of them go through life. CORNISH: So on the one hand, you have your congregation, but on the other hand, you have members of your family and I guess probably other Mormons, too, who also were supporters of SB 1070. MORGAN: Oh, yeah. I mean, it was surprising. Buddies who I grew up with that just thought it was the greatest thing. One of my buddies actually came from a very wealthy family. There's a amusement park not too far from here that his dad owns. And for years and years and years, his dad had had Latino employees making the businesses work, and here he's saying, well, this is great. Let's get rid of the illegals. I was thinking, man, the reason your family is wealthy was a lot of those illegals working for your dad. Open your eyes a little bit. But yeah, it became a huge topic. My family kind of got the idea that you didn't want to bring up the topic with me. I am not political, but this is one of the few things that all of a sudden was hitting very close to home. For people like me, if you have gone out of the country and lived in poverty conditions with other people, another culture for two years, you really learn to love them. And that's - there's no way anybody's ever going to take that away from you. CORNISH: So even though people - and you, you've described Mormons as essentially being very conservative, it sounds like on this issue, it's a lot more complex at least in this state. MORGAN: Most issues inside the Mormon church, it's going to be very one-sided. Now, if you brought up abortion and said, OK, everybody, close your eyes and vote yay or nay, it would just be overwhelmingly to one side. With the immigration issue, it's not the same. It's not one-sided like all the other issues. CORNISH: How does this complicate things for you going into this fall and voting in the presidential elections, say? Because Mitt Romney, obviously... MORGAN: Doesn't feel the same as Obama on this topic, you know? And Obama just pushed through his version of the Dream Act. I mean, I know it's not the Dream Act, but similar enough that you could call it that. Inside our Latino community - and why else do you wait till now to do it, this close to re-election? But it worked. I mean, it was just a breath of fresh air for a lot of our friends and family 'cause a lot of them have kids that can't really get a good job because their parents brought them here and their parents don't have a good birth certificate for them. And then all of a sudden, there's an opportunity for them and so that was like really good news. I mean, it was - and we talked about it at church. CORNISH: I mean, how do you feel you're going to vote come this fall? MORGAN: Oh, you're asking a guy who grew up in a Mormon church who he's going to vote for when, for the first time ever, a Mormon's right at the forefront of actually becoming president. So I mean, that's just, you know, like I said, I hate politics. CORNISH: But if all politics is personal, it's Paul Morgan, Daryl Williams and many other Mormons who have very much affected the tenor of immigration debate here in Arizona. In Phoenix, I'm Audie Cornish. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

hide Ministers urge religious chiefs to oppose genital mutilation Monday, February 04, 2013 2:17 p.m. CST By Catherine Hornby ROME (Reuters) - Religious leaders must convince women carrying out female genital mutilation that it is not required by scripture and it can cause infection, infertility or even death in young girls, African ministers said on Monday. The practice is prevalent in 28 African countries and parts of the Middle East and Asia, notably Yemen, Iraqi Kurdistan and Indonesia. There are several types including partial or total removal of the genitalia and narrowing of the vaginal opening. It is usually arranged by other women in the family for girls between infancy and 15, and performed by traditional cutters who use anything from razor blades to scissors or tin can lids. The United Nations passed a resolution in December urging countries to ban the practice that an estimated 100 to 140 million girls worldwide have been subjected to, putting them at risk of serious physical and psychological problems. But participants at an international meeting in Rome said new laws needed to be accompanied by education and discussion in traditional communities to help dispel misleading myths. "Religious leaders have to be involved, primarily Muslims and those from traditional religions. Opinion leaders have to be on board in this fight," Benin's Family and Social Affairs Minister Fatouma Amadou Djibril said. "We can uphold traditions but we have to find ways to replace this kind of practice with different rituals," she said. People often believe the practice is required by religion, but it is not mentioned in the Koran or any other religious text. Speakers at the Rome meeting said it was crucial to inform and educate the women who were perpetuating the practice, often because they worry they will be punished by ancestors in the afterlife for not performing it on relatives. "We need to explain to the women, because they don't understand how it can be prevented - it has such important societal implications," Ivory Coast Health Minister Raymonde Coffie Goudou said. "The traditional practitioner who uses the knife has value, she has a reputation, she is a woman with a role in the village - we have to understand her to deal with this," she said. The practice can cause severe bleeding, pain, shock, recurrent urinary tract infections, cysts and infertility. It increases the risk of labor complications and newborn deaths. The procedure itself can prove fatal. Speakers said cross-border cooperation and enforcement was also crucial for eradicating the practice, because cutters often move to countries where legislation is less strict so they can carry on working unhindered. Female genital mutilation has been banned by 20 of the 28 countries that practice it in Africa as well as many industrialized countries. But enforcement is usually weak and prosecutions are rare.

Mongolia Booms Old Ways Disappearing In The New Mongolia A baby Bactrian camel is tied up at the edge of the Badam family's small farmstead. Bactrian camels — like all Mongolian mammals — have thick fur to withstand the winters. John W. Poole The Badam family raises sheep and goats and camels in the South Gobi. Workers brush cashmere goats in South Gobi on the Badam family's farm. Cashmere wool, milk and meat are the main commodities for Mongolia's herders. A freshly slaughtered sheep carcass hangs inside the family's ger, or yurt, to dry. Meat — usually mutton — and noodles are the main foods for most Mongolians. Bat-Erdene Badam stands inside his animal corral, made of wood and compressed animal dung. He says none of his children are interested in continuing to work as herders. A veterinarian rides in on a motorcycle to check on the family's animals. Bat-Erdene's son, Uuganbaatar Badam, works at a coal mine in South Gobi. He lives in one of these gers near the open-pit mine and makes about $500 a month. Uuganbaatar says does not miss the herding life of his father and enjoys the salary, friends and amenities at the mining camp. Workers brush cashmere goats in South Gobi on Bat-Erdene Badam's family farm. Cashmere wool, milk and meat are the main commodities for Mongolia's herders. Bat-Erdene Badam's family raises sheep, goats and camels in the South Gobi region of Mongolia. But his three children have no interest in continuing the family business. Mongolia, the land of Genghis Khan and nomadic herders, is in the midst of a remarkable transition. Rich in coal, gold and copper, this country of fewer than 3 million people in Central Asia is riding a mineral boom that is expected to more than double its GDP within a decade. The rapid changes simultaneously excite and unnerve many Mongolians, who hope mining can help pull many out of poverty, but worry it will ravage the environment and further erode the nation's distinctive, nomadic identity. Last of four parts Mongolia is a country of tremendous contrasts. Consider this: Two out of every five Mongolians make their living herding goats, sheep and camels. But last year — according to World Bank estimates — Mongolia's economy grew faster than any other on the planet, driven by a mining boom. The Central Asian nation seems to be racing from a nomadic culture to an industrial one practically overnight. To appreciate how this transition — and its inevitable tensions — play out in the lives of ordinary Mongolians, spend a few hours with Bat-Erdene Badam and his family. Bat-Erdene, 47, is a lifelong herder who lives in a ger, or a yurt, in the middle of the Gobi. He spends each spring combing cashmere from his goats. On a recent day, a goat lies stretched out on its side in a ger, its horns tethered to the ground. A fellow herder rakes off tufts of white cashmere with what looks like a gardening tool as the goat yelps in fear. Bat-Erdene sells the cashmere for about $20 a pound. Combings from his 300 goats should bring in more than $6,000 this year. That's decent money in the middle of the Gobi, a mix of moonscape, mountain and increasingly arid grassland in southern Mongolia. But Bat-Erdene's three children have no interest in the family business. "Young people stopped herding animals," says Bat-Erdene, leaning against the wooden gate of a corral filled with goats. "There are lots of employment opportunities for them in the mining business. Therefore, I could probably say that the generation of herders is ending with me." A Mix Of Old And Modern Bat-Erdene heats his felt tent with an iron stove. Rugs cover the dirt floor, and the walls of his corral are constructed of bricks made from goat and sheep droppings. But he also rides a motorcycle, uses a cell phone and watches limited satellite TV on a small black-and-white set powered by solar panels. On a recent day, the romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days plays silently in the background. Bat-Erdene lives with his wife and a high-school-age son. Their daughter attends college in Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator, about 300 miles away, and their other son, Uuganbaatar, drives a dump truck at a coal mine. "Two or three years ago, my elder son used to help us out," says Bat-Erdene, who wears a gray cap and a brown sweater that zips up the front. "Now, he's really tired of being a herder, because we depend too much on the weather and climatic conditions." Rising temperatures are drying out Mongolia's grasslands, while severe weather is taking a toll as well. In recent years, heavy snow and drought killed more than 400 head of the family's livestock, more than half of their herd at the time. Bat-Erdene says for a new generation, herding seems too unstable. "When someone has a regular job, it doesn't matter if there's severe weather or not," he says. "He can do his work, no matter what." A Blessing And Curse Bat-Erdene's son Uuganbaatar began working at the coal mine about a year ago. He's 22 and, like many young Mongolians, painfully shy. In an interview outside the gates of the mine, he studies a water bottle he's holding and kicks the ground with his black Air Jordans. The mine is completely isolated in the desert, but Uuganbaatar says he has more friends there and there's more to do. "I watch TV," he says. "There's a recreation room with ping-pong and pool and there's a computer room." The camp TV is a big, flat-screen. Uuganbaatar follows sports on the Internet, especially the NBA. His favorite team is the Orlando Magic with its towering center, Dwight Howard. Mining has been good for Uuganbaatar. He makes $500 a month — in a country where the annual per capita GDP is about $2,500 — and Mongolia's mineral reserves are so vast, he could probably spend the next several decades working them. But his father sees mining as a threat. Mines need water to process minerals and the mine that employs his son plans to tap into an aquifer beneath the family's grazing land. The local government had designated the area as protected, but Mongolia's central government has an ownership stake in the mine, and last year, it decided otherwise. Resignation About The Future Bat-Erdene is bracing himself. "It was a very hard hit for us, because it is only going to speed up desertification and we can see how desertification is already moving at a very high speed," he said, surrounded by parched clumps of grass. Rising temperatures and decreasing annual rainfall has led to more sandstorms, and surface water sources such as rivers and lakes are drying out a rapid rate, according to the Mongolian government and nongovernmental organizations. Mongolian officials say that about 70 percent of Mongolia is now suffering from desertification. Officials at the mine say it will draw from a deep aquifer and won't affect herders' wells, but Bat-Erdene doesn't believe it. "Animals will be thirsty, people will be thirsty, it will be very hard," he says. Bat-Erdene supports his son's new career in what is becoming Mongolia's national industry. As to the dispute over water, he doesn't bring it up. "It wouldn't change anything," Bat-Erdene says, "so we don't talk too much about it."Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: All this week, we've been traveling through Mongolia. It's a country of great contrast, with vast, open spaces and natural beauty, but with a mining sector that is now booming. Mongolia seems to be racing from a nomadic culture to an industrial one practically overnight. To find out what all this means for Mongolia's many traditional herders, NPR's Frank Langfitt began his final story in this series outside the tent of one family in the Gobi region. FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: Spring's the time to comb cashmere from goats in Mongolia. One lies stretched out on its side in Bat-Erdene Badam's ger, or yurt. Animals' horns are tethered to the ground. A fellow herder rakes tufts of white cashmere with what looks like a gardening tool. (SOUNDBITE OF GOAT YELPING) LANGFITT: The goat hates this. (SOUNDBITE OF GOAT YELPING) LANGFITT: Bat-Erdene sells the cashmere for about $20 a pound. Combings from his 300 goats should bring in more than $6,000 this year. That's decent money in the middle of the Gobi, a mix of moonscape, mountain and increasingly arid grassland in southern Mongolia. But Bat-Erdene's three children have no interest in the family business. BAT-ERDENE BADAM: (Through translator) Young people have stopped herding animals. There's lots of employment opportunities for them in the mining business, and a lot of other stuff. Therefore, I could probably say that the generation of herders is ending with me. LANGFITT: Bat-Erdene's daily life is a mix of old world and modern. He heats his felt tent with an iron stove. Rugs cover the dirt floor, and the walls of his corral are constructed of bricks made from goat and sheep droppings. (SOUNDBITE OF MOTORCYCLE REVVING) LANGFITT: But he also rides a motorcycle, uses a cell phone and watches limited satellite TV on a small black-and-white set powered by solar panels. When I visited, the romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" played silently in the background. Bat-Erdene lives with his wife and a high-school-aged son. Their daughter attends college in Mongolia's capital. His other son, Uuganbaatar, drives a dump truck at a coal mine. BAT-ERDENE: (Through translator) Two or three years ago, my elder son used to help us out. Now he's really tired of being a herder, because we depend too much on the weather and climatic conditions. LANGFITT: Rising temperatures are drying out Mongolia's grasslands. Severe weather takes a toll, as well. In recent years, heavy snow and drought killed more than 400 head of the family's livestock. Bat-Erdene says for a new generation, herding seems too unstable. BAT-ERDENE: (Through translator) When someone has a regular job, it doesn't matter if there's severe weather or not. He can do his work, no matter what. LANGFITT: Bat-Erdene's son Uuganbaatar began working at the coal mine about a year ago. One afternoon, I met him outside of the gates of the mine. He's 22 and, like many young Mongolians, painfully shy. As we talked, he studied a water bottle he was holding, kicked the ground with his black Air Jordans. The mine is completely isolated in the desert, but Uuganbaatar says he has more friends here, and there's more to do. UUGANBAATAR: (Through translator) I watch TV. There's a recreation room with ping-pong and pool, and there's a computer room. LANGFITT: The camp TV is a big flat-screen. Uuganbaatar follows sports on the Internet. What sports do you follow? UUGANBAATAR: NBA. LANGFITT: Really? Who's your favorite team? UUGANBAATAR: Orlando. LANGFITT: He likes is the Orlando Magic and its star center, Dwight Howard. Mining's been good for Uuganbaatar. He makes $500 a month. Mongolia's mineral reserves are so vast, Uuganbaatar could spend the next several decades working them. But for his dad, mining is a threat. Mines need water to process minerals, and the mine that employs his son plans to get it from an aquifer beneath the family's grazing land. The local government had designated the area as protected, but Mongolia's central government has an ownership stake in the mine, and last year, it decided otherwise. Bat-Erdene is bracing himself. BAT-ERDENE: (Through translator) It was a very hard hit for us, because it's only going to speed up desertification, and we can see how that's already moving at a very high speed. LANGFITT: The mine says it will draw from a deep aquifer, and won't affect herders' wells. Bat-Erdene doesn't believe it. BAT-ERDENE: (Through translator) Animals will be thirsty. People will be thirsty. It will be very hard. LANGFITT: Bat-Erdene supports his son's new career in what is becoming Mongolia's national industry. As to the dispute over the water, he doesn't bring it up. It wouldn't change anything, Bat-Erdene says, so we don't talk too much about it. Frank Langfitt, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

C-SPAN series gives first ladies their time in the spotlight Monday - 2/18/2013, 2:07pm ET American First Ladies Stephanie Steinberg, wtop.com WASHINGTON - Special advisers, lawmakers and lobbyists chirp into the president's ear all day, persuading him on decisions that could change the course of history. But at the end of the day, the person who has the most sway is the one who kisses him goodnight. "Anytime that you're sleeping with the president," as first lady Betty Ford once put it, "You're bound to have an influence." The impact the American first ladies had on their husbands and nation will be explored in a yearlong series, "First Ladies: Influence & Image," produced by C-SPAN and the White House Historical Association. The first 90- minute episode premieres Feb. 25 with Martha Washington, and the series will highlight each first lady in chronological order, ending with Michelle Obama on Feb. 10, 2014. C-SPAN Executive Producer Mark Farkas describes the first-of-its-kind series as a "chance to walk in the shoes of the first ladies" and see how they shaped the direction of the Oval Office. "Some of these (men) wouldn't have been president if they hadn't had this partner who was urging them on, and sometimes may have been more of a drive for them to be governor, or a politician or even a president then they may have had," says Farkas in a conference room at C- SPAN headquarters on Capitol Hill. In his 28-year career at C-SPAN, Farkas, 52, has produced award-winning series on United States presidents, libraries, authors and even presidential candidates who lost the election but may have been a better president in hindsight. "First Ladies: Influence & Image" is the first production led by Farkas in which women will get time in the spotlight. Farkas, who lives in Fairfax, Va., says there is no comparable series on the first ladies that explores topics ranging from the dresses they wore to the causes they championed during their time before and after the White House. While many Americans may know about Jackie Kennedy's iconic fashion sense or Lady Bird Johnson's beautification efforts, Farkas promises the program will delve into stories not written in history books. "There is another side to every single one of these first ladies," he says. Richard Norton Smith, a presidential historian and head of five presidential libraries, has worked with Farkas on previous productions and proposed the idea for the series. "It's been over 10 years since C-SPAN did a landmark series on all the presidents," he says. "It's in many ways a logical sequel to that." Smith put the role of first ladies into perspective: Most wives influence their husband's lives, he explains, "just at the White House, the consequences are sometimes historic." The President's Closest Adviser Though some first ladies chose to stay out of their husband's political arena, many entered it full- force. Sarah Polk was one of them. Historians say she refused to marry James Polk until he gained political office. Once he became president in 1845, she lobbied in the halls of Congress for her husband's causes, took notes on newspaper articles for him and edited his speeches. "There are women like Sarah Polk throughout this series who behind the scenes are very, very active in helping their husband form opinions about cabinet secretaries, bills on the Hill (and) different congressmen," Farkas says. Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson had no trouble giving Lyndon B. Johnson her honest opinion on presidential matters. After one of his speeches, Mrs. Johnson called her husband in the Oval Office and ruthlessly critiqued his performance. President Johnson took the criticism like a school boy, Smith says. Then there's Dolly Madison, who was known as a glorious entertainer with an ebullient personality. During James Madison's presidency from 1809 to 1817, the political tension in Washington was stifling. Mrs. Madison helped her husband soften the partisan divide by taking advantage of the non-political meaning of "party." Edith Mayo, curator emeritus of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, describes Mrs. Madison's entertaining as a form of politicking. "She provided that kind of congenial atmosphere in which views could be aired and problems could be solved in a way that was not possible if (lawmakers) only had the political sphere in which to do that," Mayo says. The Face of American Fashion Though it may sound like fun to dress up and host White House soirees, the role of first lady is far from fun and games. First lady Margaret Truman once said it was the second-hardest job in America. As Smith explains, the "job is undefined" and certainly not spelled out in the Constitution. The women who hold the title are subject to criticism about their taste in furniture, the causes they adopt and the way they raise their children. But the one topic that gets all of America talking: their fashion. And even on that subject, history tends to repeat itself. "Mamie Eisenhower set off a rage for Mamie bangs 60 years before Michelle Obama's bangs were being talked about," Smith says, referring to Michelle Obama's hair cut that recently made national headlines. Mayo, who curated the first ladies exhibit at the Smithsonian from 1992 to 2006, says Michelle Obama, like many first ladies before her, is changing the fashion landscape. By shopping at stores like H&M, Mrs. Obama is making a statement that women in America don't need to purchase designer clothes to look classy. "In other words, you don't have to be Nancy Regan and have been a previous movie star, or Jacqueline Kennedy with all the Kennedy wealth, in order to dress well," Mayo says. Family Tragedy and First Triumphs Fashion accessories -- like earrings made from Elizabeth Monroe's hair that she gave to her sister - - will make an appearance in the series, but Farkas says it's the descendents who help humanize the women. For example, the production crew visited a man in his 80s who lives in Sherwood Forest, Va. The man, Harrison Ruffin Tyler, is the grandson of John and Julia Tyler, who lived in the White House in 1845. Family stories that come straight out of relatives' mouths bring an element to the show that the historians on set can't provide, Farkas says. "To hear John Tyler and Julia Tyler's grandson talk about the story of how they met out on the Potomac on a boat when her father was killed, it's touching and it feels personal," Farkas says. He adds that tragedy and family loss are two themes that thread through the series. Take Franklin and Jane Pierce. The couple lost two sons before Franklin Pierce took office in 1853. On the train ride to Washington, their only remaining child, an 11 year old named Bennie, was catapulted out of the train during a crash and died before their eyes. Mrs. Pierce, who didn't want her husband to be president in the first place, connected her husband's presidency with losing her son. "It completely taints her time as first lady," Farkas says. First lady Anna Harrison didn't even make it to Washington. Her husband William Henry Harrison died 32 days into his term after catching pneumonia. In addition to the private moments, the series highlights the causes championed by each first lady. While historians say it's difficult to point out one first lady who had the largest impact on the nation, many say Eleanor Roosevelt -- who spoke up for women, African-Americans and the working class -- set the example for her successors. "Mrs. Roosevelt, as a campaigner and crusader for causes, laid the groundwork for everything from Mrs. Johnson's interest in the environment, to Barbara Bush's interest in literacy, to Michelle Obama's interest in promoting health and nutrition," Smith says. "In that sense, she's sort of the grandmother of first ladies." Mrs. Roosevelt was also the first first lady to hold press conferences -- but only for an audience of female reporters. The significance wasn't lost on Farkas. "Think about what that did for female reporters out there," he says. "Newspaper editors had to hire women reporters." Farkas calls the first ladies "good barometers" of important issues affecting women in the country. The series is a chance to showcase women's history, and the first ladies provide a hook that will reel in an audience, he says. "I've got two teenage daughters and they may not be interested in a lot of what I've done at C-SPAN over the years, but when I told them about first ladies, their ears perked up," he says. One of Farkas' goals it to form an image of each first lady by using her own words. The first half of the series -- which ends with Ida McKinley on June 10 -- will rely on letters and written materials. As the shows transition into the 21st century, the live program and taped portions will incorporate audio and footage of the women. The crew also plans to interview the six living first ladies. While Farkas could describe the first episode on Martha Washington which opens at Mount Vernon, he's not sure what Michelle Obama's segment will entail a year from now.

Chemical Weapons Used Rarely — But With Deadly Effect Subway passengers affected by the sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway system are carried into St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo on March 20, 1995. Thirteen people were killed and more than 6,000 injured in the attack, which was carried out by the Aum Shinrikyo cult. Chikumo Chiaki An Iranian soldier wears a gas mask to protect against chemical weapons at his position on Majnoon island, Iraq, on March 10, 1984. A Kurdish woman places flowers at graves of her loved ones in Halabja, Iraq, on March 16, 2007, as Kurds in northern Iraq commemorated the anniversary of a 1988 chemical weapons attack that killed an estimated 5,600 people. &nbsp(Update at 12:32 p.m.: A new paragraph — second-to-last — was added to reflect sporadic uses of chemical weapons after World War I.) &nbsp The use of chemicals weapons last week in Syria, if proved, would put the conflict there on a short list of occasions in which the deadly weapons have been used. Here is a look at the previous times chemical weapons were deployed in modern times: Tokyo Subway Attack, March 1995 Thirteen people were killed and 6,000 injured when members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult attacked Tokyo's subway system with sarin gas. The New York Times reported at the time: "Subway entrances soon looked like battlefields, as injured commuters lay gasping on the ground, some of them with blood gushing from the nose or mouth. Army troops from a chemical warfare unit rushed to the scene with special vehicles to clear the air, and men in gas masks and clothes resembling space suits probed for clues." Nearly 200 Aum Shinrikyo members have been convicted in connection with the attacks, and its leader, Shoko Asahara, is on death row. As Mark reported over at the Two-Way, the last suspect in the case was arrested last year after 17 years on the run. Iran-Iraq War Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein used mustard gas and sarin against Iran during the 1980-1988 war between the two countries. Newly declassified CIA documents, obtained by Foreign Policy magazine this week, reveal that the U.S. military and intelligence community knew about the weapons and did nothing to stop Saddam from using them. The U.S. and Iraq were cooperating at the time because both opposed the Iranian regime. Iran was making gains in the waning days of the war, and the attacks helped tilt the war in Iraq's favor and forced Tehran into negotiations. Estimates of Iranian soldiers killed range in the tens of thousands. Saddam Gasses The Kurds The March 16, 1988, attack came during the Iran-Iraq war. Iranian troops had occupied the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988, and Saddam wanted to wrest control of the town. Iraqi aircraft dropped chemical weapons on the area, targeting, according to the BBC, "Iranian forces, pro-Iranian Kurdish forces and Halabja's citizens." Estimates of the number of dead range from 3,200 to 5,000; between 7,000 and 10,000 people were injured. The same Foreign Policy article noted that U.S. intelligence was "flowing freely" to Saddam's military prior to the attack. Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, who ordered the attack on Halabja, came to be known as Chemical Ali. He was executed in 2010 following the U.S. invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam. World War I The first modern use of chemical weapons came during World War I when poisoned gas was used to break through the front lines. Reporting on their use, NPR's Larry Abramson noted that "despite the horrific injuries, gas caused only a small percentage of the war deaths." But, as Greg Thielmann of the Arms Control Association told Larry, it left a frightening legacy for a million survivors: "[That] meant painful lung diseases, a lot of people blind for the rest of their lives. That meant, for example, in America, there were tens of thousands of people who were scarred by exposure to mustard agent in World War I." Chemical weapons were used sporadically after the war, including by the Soviets against rebelling peasants; Spain and France against Rif rebels in Spanish Morocco; Britain in Mesopotamia; and Italian Fascists during the invasion of Abyssinia. But the horrors of the war led to the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which banned the use of chemical weapons. A 1997 international treaty went further. It banned the production, stockpiling and use of these weapons. Angola, North Korea, Egypt, South Sudan and Syria are not signatories to the pact.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit . View the discussion thread.

Electron Correlation in Iron-Based Superconductors In 2008, the discovery of iron-based superconductors stimulated a worldwide burst of activity, leading to about two preprints per day ever since. With a maximum superconducting transition temperature (so far) of 55 K, it is natural to wonder if studying the new materials will help uncover one of the deepest mysteries in modern physics—the mechanism of superconductivity in the copper-based "high-temperature superconductors." One clue lies in whether the electrons in the new superconductors are as highly correlated as they are in the high-temperature superconductors. A truly international North American/European/Asian collaboration working at the ALS has now reported results from a combination of x-ray absorption spectroscopy, resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, and systematic theoretical simulations of iron-based superconductors. The team was able to settle the correlations debate by showing that electrons in the iron-based families that were studied favor itinerant (delocalized) states with only moderate correlations. Are Iron Pnictides New Cuprates? Owing to their negative electric charge, electrons intrinsically repel each other; however, metals contain large numbers of electrons that do not interact so strongly. Paradoxically, the high mobility and density of electrons give rise to a screening effect that reduces the effective interaction between electrons, so that every electron is both screened and participates in screening other electrons. On the other hand, in some semiconductors and insulators with a low density of charge carriers, the screening effect is much weaker, leading to an electron system with non-negligible interactions. These "strongly correlated" materials often exhibit novel properties, such as superconductivity at much higher temperatures than those of normal metals. Unfortunately, strongly correlated systems demand a much more complicated theoretical approach. For example, in the two decades since their discovery, a satisfactory theory has yet to be achieved for the famous copper-based "high-temperature superconductors," also known as cuprates. When a new form of iron-based superconductor was discovered in 2008, an active debate followed: would studying the iron-based superconductors shed any light on the mechanism driving high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates? Working at the ALS, Yang et al. have now provided strong evidence that these new superconductors, although with many similarities to cuprates, are not highly correlated systems. Their results set a clear boundary on theories, and understanding these new materials might lead to technological breakthroughs for optimizing their useful properties. Comparing the transition-metal-containing layers in cuprate and iron pnictide superconductors shows that the copper–oxygen layer (top) is flat with relatively large distances between the copper atoms, while the iron–arsenic layer (bottom) is puckered with shorter distances between the iron atoms, giving rise to differences in the electronic structures of these compounds. The iron-based compounds are called pnictides because they contain a pnictogen; that is, an element from the nitrogen group of the periodic table. Both iron- and copper-based (cuprate) superconductors are layered compounds, and it is believed that the 3d electrons in the respective transition-metal layers play key roles in superconductivity. However, iron, together with cobalt and nickel among the 3d metals, is an archetypal ferromagnetic metal. The magnetic moments are mostly in the 3d bands, and naively, one would expect the well-aligned spin of 3d electrons of iron to prevent superconductivity, which requires pairs of electrons with opposite spin directions. Another crucial difference is that all the iron 3d orbitals contribute charge carriers, while for cuprates a single half-filled band dominates the important physics. While a half-filled band signifies a metal in conventional band theory, the electrons in cuprates are also strongly correlated, owing to the strong Coulomb interaction, which prevents two electrons from occupying the same site, resulting in a so-called Mott insulator. The lack of information on the strength of electron correlation in the iron pnictides has blocked the way toward a consensus for the minimal model needed to describe the electron pairing mechanism in these materials. Theoretical results have been controversial. To explore this issue, the collaboration performed x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements at ALS Beamline 8.0.1, where they investigated five iron-containing materials, including an iron pnictide superconductor (SmO0.85FeAs) with a record high 55-K transition temperature, two non-superconducting iron pnictides (BaFe2As2 and LaFe2P2), and for comparison iron metal and an Fe2O3 insulator. The spectra of iron pnictides exhibited qualitative, in some cases quantitative, similarities to those of the iron metal but showed no features resembling the multiple peak structures seen in iron-based insulators. Furthermore, a RIXS study across the resonant XAS edges demonstrated that the resonance spectra are dominated by the nonresonant "normal fluorescence," with no observance of excitation peaks. The team interpreted these results as showing the importance of the iron metallicity and strong covalency in these new iron-based superconductors. Left: XAS (above) and RIXS (below) spectra of an iron pnictide superconductor with a transition temperature of 55 K (the same type of spectra were obtained for the other four samples studied). RIXS spectra were taken at excitation energies marked by the arrows, which range across the iron absorption edges, as indicated by the numbers in the XAS spectra. Right: Comparison of RIXS (left) for an excitation energy of 708 eV and XAS (right) spectra for the five iron-containing materials studied. The RIXS energy loss is the difference between the excitation and emission energies. The Fe2O3 spectra are distinctively different from those of the iron metal and the iron pnictides. The team then turned to a systematic theoretical study to simulate the experimental results, and more important, to pin down the upper limit of electron correlation in the new superconductors. They first performed calculations based on a Hubbard model (the simplest model in solid-state physics of interacting particles on a lattice). The calculations suggested a relatively minor role for correlations in the iron pnictides. Subsequently, the comparison between different theoretical models and experimental data indicated that, instead of localized states due to strong electron interactions, electrons in iron pnictides prefer itinerant states with moderate correlation strength. Calculation of the x-ray absorption spectra for iron pnictides based on a Hubbard model with various values of the on-site Coulomb repulsion U. An upper limit of U of about 2 eVwas determined by comparing these spectra to the experimental data. This value of U is comparable to or even smaller than the electronic band width, indicating these iron-based superconductors are not strongly correlated systems. These results will help lead physicists to the mechanism of superconductivity in iron pnictides and perhaps also to their optimization for technological applications.

Save the Internet: Learn About Net Neutrality Posted in News, Web Design • 2 months ago • Written by Jamal • Leave a comment Neutrality is a philosophy where vested interest, or favoring of sides, is absent from a situation. As one of the original guiding principles of the Internet, net neutrality gives people all around the globe a platform for sharing and appreciating ideas with respect for their fellow person. However, would that be the case if your Internet service provider(ISP) had a say in how you use the Internet? On September 9, 2013 the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia(DC) Circuit began hearing the case of Verizon vs. the Federal Communications Commission(FCC). This case was then decided upon in favor of Verizon on January 14, 2014. This is commonly referred to now as the ruling against Net Neutrality. To have a true understanding of the present, there needs to be some knowledge of its past. So instead of digging right into this case, let’s take a step back and look at the events prior to this case that play apart in where we are now. Comcast Corp. vs FCC Courtesy of Flickr account cubicleman In 2007, several subscribers to Comcast’s high speed Internet service discovered Comcast was interfering with their use of peer-to-peer applications. To further escalate this situation, two advocacy agencies, Free Press and Public Knowledge, and a number of public interest groups filed a complaint with the FCC. In these complaints, the premise was that Comcast’s actions here violated the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement, commonly referred to as the FCC Open Internet Order of 2010. The complaints were based on inclusion of consumers’ entitlement to access any lawful Internet content of their choice: adopt[ed] the . . . principles” that “consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice . . . [and] to run applications and use services of their choice. In Comcast’s defense, it stated that its interaction was an attempt to manage scarce network capacity. After some time, filled with public commentary, 2008 saw the FCC responding by affirming its jurisdiction over Comcast’s network management and that their method of network activity discrimination was unjust: significantly impeded consumers’ ability to access the content and use the applications of their choice,” id. at 13,054, ¶ 44, and that because Comcast “ha[d] several available options it could use to manage network traffic without discriminating” against peer-to-peer communications, id. at 13,057, ¶ 49, its method of bandwidth management “contravene[d] . . . federal policy. In addition, the FCC concluded that there were several more acceptable alternatives to network management. Comcast would eventually comply with the FCC, but only to later challenge their grounds on three claims, targeting the FCC’s granted authority from the Communications Act of 1934. These claims being: First, it contends that the Commission has failed to justify exercising jurisdiction over its network management practices Second, it argues that the Commission’s adjudicatory action was procedurally flawed because it circumvented the rule-making requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and violated the notice requirements of the Due Process Clause. Finally, it asserts that parts of the Order are so poorly reasoned as to be arbitrary and capricious. Comcast Corp. would eventually take the FCC to court on January 8, 2010 to dispute their ruling on these three claims. The case was then decided on April 6th of the year in favor of Comcast. This ruling vacated the FCC’s 2008 ruling on the matter, and maintained that the FCC does not have authority over Comcast in how it manages its Internet services. In closing of the case, the courts gave their reasoning on the grounds that the FCC did not provide enough information to assert its ancillary authority over the matter. “Congress gave the [Commission] broad and adaptable jurisdiction so that it can keep pace with rapidly evolving communications technologies.” Resp’t’s Br. 19. It is also true that “[t]he Internet is such a technology,” id., indeed, “arguably the most important innovation in communications in a generation,” id. at 30. Yet notwithstanding the “difficult regulatory problem of rapid technological change” posed by the communications industry, “the allowance of wide latitude in the exercise of delegated powers is not the equivalent of untrammeled freedom to regulate activities over which the statute fails to confer . . . Commission authority. More information on the case and its preceding can be found in its court brief. “A commission may exercise ancillary authority only if “(1) the Commission’s general jurisdictional granted under Title I [of the Communications Act] covers the regulated subject and (2) the regulations are reasonably ancillary to the Commission’s effective performance of its statutorily mandated responsibilities.” In the Verizon case, the main act under review here was the Telecommunications Act of 1996. After around four months of deliberation, the ruling favored Verizon on the grounds that the act in question failed to explicitly classify broadband providers as telecommunications services instead of their regular classification as information services. So in short, the FCC lost these pivotal cases because of a lack established jurisdiction authority and failure to identify broadband providers as telecommunication services instead of information services. What is Net Neutrality After all that back story on how companies are starting to attack Net Neutrality, by now, you’re wondering what exactly defines this philosophy. In conjunction with that, the bigger question would be: if its gone, how will things change for me? Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally. This principle removes the option for discrimination of services based on user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, and modes of communication. This way of being on the Internet is now in jeopardy because the verdicts in both the Verizon and Comcast Corp. cases was critical in defining regulation limitations on ISPs (Internet Service Providers) . Courtesy of Flickr account: atbartlett In the near future, you can definitely expect many more ISPs taking the FCC to court, but that most definitely won’t be all. Here are a few examples of how things could change: Companies start paying ISPs a premium to not count bandwidth used in conjunction with their web services Increase in discriminatory network management tactics from ISP Higher priced service packages being offered to consumers for limiting discriminatory activities from ISP providers Set of overcharge fees for using network technologies that are viewed as bandwidth drainers Increase in screening and recording of Internet activity that is readily available to the government at anytime Wait, the government gains something here? I thought the FCC was an independent agency of the U.S. government, something’s missing here. That is right, there is something not adding up with that! SOPA, PIPA, and CISPA Back in 2012, SOPA and PIPA took the world by storm, and had every big player on the Internet doing their part to help prevent these laws from being passed. Due to the high outcry from the Internet, the House and Congress decided to halt progress to give more time to work on them. I’ve already written a well explained article on the matter, so I won’t detail it here. However, what if I told you that one of the companies supporting SOPA and PIPA was Comcast. Funny how a company supporting acts like these two would also take to court the FCC regarding how it regulates its network management discrimination policies. My apologies, I meant network management protocols and not discrimination policies. Slip of the keyboard. CISPA on the other hand is lesser known than the other two, but its still important. CISPA stands for Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, and was first introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011. CISPA was passed in the House in 2012 and 2013; it has been recently stalled and not voted on in the Senate in its recent trip there. A brief definition of this law is that, if passed, it would allow for the sharing of Internet traffic information between the U.S. government and technology and manufacturing companies. Key supporters of this include: AT&T, IBM, Intel, Oracle Corporation, Symantec, TechNet(includes executives from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc.) and Verizon. What You Can Do! After all that reading, the first thing you should be feeling like doing is reading some more! Despite the positive outcome of the stop SOPA and PIPA campaign a couple of years ago, there was one real problem I noticed. NOBODY WAS REALLY INFORMED! Everybody was ready to spread the word, but probably no more than 10% at best actually knew what they were talking about. In addition, this lack of information lead to many misleading blog articles, stating that SOPA and PIPA were defeated. Well, they weren’t! They were sent into a state of further review, meaning they easily will come back in another form again. So if this article got you interested in saving Net Neutrality, then first read the two core court cases setting up its future attacks. Comcast Corp. vs. FCC Verizon vs. FCC Also, go back and get informed about SOPA and PIPA with my original piece on it. If nothing is concrete enough for you there, then, there are plenty of resources to be found regardless. Today you also will notice there is popup on 1stWebDesigner today, because today whole Internet is protesting against mass surveillance! We support this protest and invite you to join in! We are enjoying freedom on Internet and now is the time to help protect it! You can read more about this protest here and check out site, who is organising this event. - Note from Dainis Graveris, founder of 1WD If you enjoyed this article, get email updates (it's free).

11 STATE AGENCIES Deb Greer is a management analyst for her state's department of aging and adult services. Her specialization is gerontology. She is responsible for management oversight and evaluation of programs funded by the federal Older Americans Act. This includes all programs for older and disabled adults such as pension programs, educational programs, aid to the blind, and adult protection. Deb notes that, "Programs like these are becoming more and more important as our population ages. This is happening two ways. More people are making it to old age and those who have reached old age are living longer. Since most of us will eventually become an older American these programs are in our own best interests." Deb's preparation for her job included a B.A. and M.A. in sociology. Her M.A. certified her as a gerontologist (as with criminal justice, gerontology degrees have had their genesis in, and are often still found within sociology departments). As a part of her M.A. program Deb served a one�year internship where she worked in long�term care systems development. Her work there consisted mostly of writing proposals, reports, and presentations, and doing occasional presentations herself. As time passed it became evident that Deb could produce the written reports and presentations on "very short notice." This ability provided several important opportunities. First, she became involved in a wide variety of agency work. She was able to see how different parts of the organization functioned, and what their various objectives were. Second, by being involved with different parts of the organization she was building an impressive personal network. As she demonstrated her ability to respond to diverse challenges in timely fashion word about her work spread within the agency. Deb observed that, "These kinds of processes are at work in all organizations. If you realize this then you can work these processes to your advantage." Deb's advantage was that people who needed her skills sought her out. Prior to completion of her M.A. Deb's effective work and her network resulted in occasional consultive work. According to Deb, "I earned between $500 and $1000 a month, outside of my practicum, in consulting work." Deb's preparation for entree to state government agency work was her degree in sociology. She notes that, "Agency work is information work. As such, you have to know how to process or handle information. In addition, the information available often comes in a variety of forms. If the information is to be productive you have to be able to synthesize and condense it. You have to be able to see connections and know to look for information that is missing. Just as important, you must to know when you need information, and how to get information. All of these are fundamental sociological skills." Added to these are methodological specifics such as an ability to use SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) on the computer, understanding what statistical numbers mean, and being able to construct data collection tools. According to Deb, "Sociology appears to be more balanced than some other disciplines. Others tend to have more narrow objectives. The result is that the sociologically prepared researcher is more likely to `see' the big picture of some project. This perspective is essential." In addition to the specialized skills there is a natural connection between the sociologist as an organizational member and as a scholar of organizational behavior. This helps keep the sociologist, as a member of the organization, from becoming too narrowly focused. It also means that the sociologist can employ organizational skills which have long been a part of sociological scholarship. Deb commented in this regard that she "balances her identity as a sociologist and gerontologist. In some circles the research strengths of being a sociologist give me organizational authority, while at other times, especially in presentations, the title of gerontologist is most important. I also have to be careful to not offend people with a title. There is a bias, particularly among long�time employees, against those who are `college trained'." When asked to describe a typical day Deb used the term "eclectic." There is no set pattern. She said, "Even when I have specific plans I simply have to expect that things will change. I am constantly switching gears, quickly and completely. This is simply a function of multiple tasks." Lately these tasks have been concentrated on acquisition and distribution of funding for the various agency programs. These would include writing grants, developing RFP's (requests for proposals: grant application forms for other agencies seeking money from Deb's agency), choosing grant evaluation teams, developing contracts for successful grantees, and training grantees. This is in addition to other necessary intra� and inter�organizational relations. The real need, according to Deb, is adaptability to change. Deb's agency has continued to accept interns, as she once was. However, Deb says that "Student interns have often been disappointing. They need to be self�starters. They must show initiative. They need to be able to deal with ambiguity. They must accept change. Actually they must anticipate change." Now, after ten years Deb is pursuing an additional degree in sociology, her Ph.D. The need is to stay current. She recognizes that anticipating change applies to her as well as to intern students. Since 1984 Sue's salary has kept pace and has given her the freedom to pursue her doctorate; she now earns approximately $52,000 a year. When asked about her future, Deb said that she "expects more twists and terms," but she knows she "is prepared to make whatever adjustments are necessary." When asked if she would recommend sociology to students making up their minds about a major, Deb said, "Absolutely!"

The results of the 2005 Child Care, Australia Survey were released in May. The survey collected information about children aged 0-12 years, and their families, regarding their use of formal and informal child care, and requirements for additional child care during the four week period prior to the survey. Information was also collected on patterns of attendance, child care costs, the use of the Child Care Benefit, parental income and working arrangements used by parents to help care for their children. Findings for New South Wales from the survey include: 517,500 (46%) children aged 0-12 years received some type of child care - formal and/or informal - in the reference week. Formal care was used by 20% (223,000) of children, and informal care by 35% (391,300) of children in the reference week. Long day care was the most commonly used formal child care, used by 10% (110,000) of children, followed by after school care programs, which were used by 7% (73,200) of children. Grandparents were the main informal carers. Work arrangements - such as flexible working hours and permanent part-time work - were used by 73% of employed mothers and 35% of employed fathers to care for their children. The 2005 Child Care Survey is a continuation of a series of surveys on the topic of child care. The publication presents a range of time series data from these surveys. Child Care, Australia, 2005 (cat. no. 4402.0) is available free of charge from the ABS web site.

Liturgy of St James The Liturgy of Saint James is the oldest complete form of the Eastern varieties of the Divine LiturgyDivine LiturgyDivine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term... still in use among certain Christian churches. It is based on the traditions of the ancient rite of the Early Christian Church of Jerusalem, as the Mystagogic Catecheses of St Cyril of JerusalemCyril of JerusalemCyril of Jerusalem was a distinguished theologian of the early Church . He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. In 1883, Cyril was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII... imply. Forming the historical basis of the Liturgy of AntiochAntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the..., it is still the principal liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox ChurchSyriac Orthodox ChurchThe Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St..... It is also occasionally used in the Eastern Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,... and Melkite Catholic Church. The Liturgy is associated with the name of James the JustJames the JustJames , first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 AD, was an important figure in Early Christianity..., brother of Jesus and patriarch among the Jewish ChristiansJewish ChristiansJewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries.... at JerusalemJerusalem in ChristianityFor Christians, Jerusalem's place in the ministry of Jesus and the Apostolic Age gives it great importance, in addition to its place in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible.-Jerusalem in the New Testament and early Christianity:.... Saint James was martyred at the hands of a mob incensed at his preaching about JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity... and his "transgression of the Law" - a factitious accusation made by the Jewish High PriestKohen GadolThe High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem... of the time, Hanan ben HananHanan ben HananAnanus ben Ananus , d. 68 CE, was a Herodian-era High Priest of Israel in Jerusalem, Iudaea Province.... The historic Christian liturgies are divided between Eastern and Western usages. Among the Eastern liturgies, the Liturgy of Saint James is one of the AntiochAntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...ene group of liturgies, those ascribed to Saint James, to Saint BasilLiturgy of Saint BasilThe Liturgy of Saint Basil or, more formally, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, is a term for several Eastern Christian celebrations of the Divine Liturgy , or at least several anaphoras, which have been attributed to St. Basil the Great, who was Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia from 370..., and to Saint John ChrysostomJohn ChrysostomJohn Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic.... Other Eastern liturgies include the Assyrian or Chaldean rites, as well as the Armenian and Maronite rites. The Byzantine liturgies attributed to Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Basil are the ones most widely used today by all Eastern Orthodox Christians and by the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome. The Liturgy of Saint James as it presently exists has been brought into conformity with developed Trinitarian Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy. The Liturgy of Saint James is considered to be the oldest surviving liturgyLiturgyLiturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those... developed for general use in the Church. Its date of composition is still disputed with some authorities proposing an early date, perhaps ca. AD 60, close to the time of composition of Saint PaulPaul of TarsusPaul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...'s Epistle to the RomansEpistle to the RomansThe Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ..., while most authorities propose a fourth century date for the known form, because the anaphoraAnaphora (liturgy)The Anaphora is the most solemn part of the Divine liturgy, Mass, or other Christian Communion rite where the offerings of bread and wine are consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. This is the usual name for this part of the Liturgy in Eastern Christianity, but it is more often called the... seems to have been developed from an ancient Egyptian form of the Basilean anaphoric family united with the anaphora described in The Catechisms of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. The earliest manuscript is the ninth-century codex, Vaticanus graecus 2282, which had been in liturgical use at DamascusDamascusDamascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major..., in the diocese of AntiochAntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the.... The only critical edition is the one published by Dom B.-Charles Mercier in the Patrologia OrientalisPatrologia OrientalisThe Patrologia Orientalis is an attempt to create a comprehensive collection of the writings by eastern Church Fathers in Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, Coptic, Ge'ez, Georgian, and Slavonic. It is designed to complement the comprehensive, influential, and monumental Latin and Greek patrologies..., vol. 26 (1950). Rubrics of Worship The Liturgy of St. James is commonly celebrated on the feast day of Saint James (October 23) and the first Sunday after ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days..., and then almost exclusively celebrated on a daily basis in Jerusalem, in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Liturgy of Saint James is long, taking some hours to complete in full. The recitation of the Divine Liturgy is performed according to the worship rubrics of a particular Rite, with specific parts chanted by the presider, the lectors, the choir, and the congregated faithful, at certain times in unison. Like other compositions in the Byzantine tradition, the Divine Liturgy of St. James as celebrated in Greek forms the basis of the English transcription. In its Syrian form, the Liturgy is still used in the Syriac and Indian Churches - Catholic and Orthodox - both in a Syriac translation and in Malayalam and English. During the OffertoryOffertoryThe Offertory is the portion of a Eucharistic service when bread and wine are brought to the altar. The offertory exists in many liturgical Christian denominations, though the Eucharistic theology varies among celebrations conducted by these denominations...., the partiture calls for a Cherubic Hymn chanted by readers as the priest brings the gifts to be consecrated onto the altar. In the Latin Rite, this composition became popular as a separate hymn of reverence for the Eucharistic species, known in English as Let All Mortal Flesh Keep SilenceLet All Mortal Flesh Keep SilenceLet all mortal flesh keep silence is an ancient chant of Eucharistic devotion based on the verses taken from Habakkuk 2:20 "Let all the earth keep silence before Him"taken from one of the books of the 12 minor prophets of Bible.... The hymnographers of the early Church composed both the words of the sung prayers and the tones of the musical scale to be sung in a single codex for a particular community. The annotation was recorded in close correspondence to the text (for sample codices, see those collated by the North American Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Anthony in Arizona) with neumes indicating the melodic tones and their duration used before the adoption of the Western system of staff and scales became established in medieval times. In those communities that worship in Syriac the neumes are mirror images of those used by the authocthonous Greek and Cyrillic Orthodox Churches and written and read right to left in accordance with the Arabic [Arabic or Aramaic?] script of the prayer texts. The English Hymnal features the 1906 Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many... arrangement of the English verses of the Cherubic hymn of the Offertory chant (see above) to the melody of a French folk tune PicardyPicardy (hymn)"Picardy" is a hymn tune used in Christian churches, based on a French carol; it is in a minor key and its meter is 8.7.8.7.8.7. Its name comes from the province of France from where it is thought to originate. The tune dates back at least to the 17th century, and was originally used for the folk.... The hymn is also popular in the Roman Catholic Latin rite as an alternative to the spoken communion antiphon.

Biography of E. J. Botting Posted By Dennis Partridge On In Wisconsin | No Comments One of the leading agriculturists and progressive citizens of Caledonia Township is E. J. Botting, whose splendidly improved property indicates the spirit of enterprise that actuates him at every point in his career. He was born in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, July 4, 1858, a son of James and Caroline (Blake) Botting, who were natives of Kent, England. The former was a son of Edward Botting, who (lied in that country. James Botting was born in 1824, and in his native County of Kent married Caroline Blake, whose birth occurred in 1829. They came to the United States in 1857 and settled in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, where they purchased ten acres of land, but after cultivating that tract for a time Mr. Botting sold the property and bought a farm of fifty-seven acres, on which he lived for twenty-nine years. To the farm he added twenty acres and met with success through the progressive manner in which he developed and cultivated the property, living upon the place until 1892. He and his wife had but six cents when they reached Milwaukee, and the prosperity which they won was the merited reward of their energy and well directed industry in later years. The wife and mother died in 1892, at which time the father went to live with his son, E. J. Botting, passing away at his home in 1895. They were the parents of seven children of whom but three are living: Fannie, the wife of Herbert Cheeseman, a farmer residing near Milledgeville, Carroll County, Illinois; Esther, the wife of Dan Lowers, of Milwaukee, who was section foreman for a number of years; and E. J. The parents held membership in the Episcopal Church, in the work of which Mr. Botting took a very active and helpful part. His political allegiance was given to the Republican Party, and he was a man of considerable influence in the community, liberally educated and well informed on current questions and possessing, moreover, many sterling traits of character which gained for him high regard. E. J. Botting attended school in South Milwaukee, but from an early age devoted much of his time to the work of assisting his father in the development of the home place, and he early learned the value of industry and perseverance as factors in the attainment of success. He has made good use of his time and opportunities and is now carrying on general farming on one hundred and twenty acres of land in Caledonia Township. The place is now well improved, for he has put up good buildings and has added to the productiveness of his fields by laying seven miles of tiling. He was one of the first to establish a route from this locality to ship milk to the Horlick factory and he now has eighteen brown Jersey cows, some of which are full blooded. He has always been a very progressive man and employs the latest improved methods of farming. A large silo on his place enables him to furnish green fodder for his stock through the winter months and he does everything possible to advance the worth of his farm, realizing that an immediate expenditure of money in improvements or for the introduction of advanced methods will often mean a most substantial return in the future. His home is one of the fine residences of Caledonia Township. In February, 1879, Mr. Botting was married to Miss Ella Stearns, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Dudley) Stearns. The father was born in Massachusetts in 1824, and the mother in Vermont in 1834. They were married in Oak Creek Township, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, where they settled in early life among the pioneer residents of that locality and there they spent their remaining days. The father died in 1889, while the mother passed away in 1870. They were the parents of four children, of whom three are living: Hannah, the wife of William Dallmann, a farmer of Montana; Mrs. Botting; and Harry, who served in the Spanish-American war and are now living in the state of Washington. The parents were members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Botting have become the parents of nine children: Sylvia, the wife of George Cooke, a poultry man of Caledonia Township; James, a resident farmer of Oak Creek Township, Milwaukee County ; Grace, the wife of Joe Guckenburg, of the same Township ; Harry, who follows carpentering; and Carrie, Lester, Rowland, Herbert and Ella, all at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Botting hold membership in the Episcopal Church and do all in their power to promote its growth and extend its influence, Mr. Botting having served as senior warden for a number of years. In politics he is a republican and has served as roadmaster, while for nine years he was a member of the school board. He is interested in all that pertains to the welfare of the community, and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the new burying ground. His entire life record is commendable and the sterling traits of his character are such as insure for him the warm and enduring regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact.

Amniocentesis is a procedure in which a small sample of the amniotic fluid is taken from the amniotic sac. The amniotic sac is the fluid-filled bag that surrounds the unborn child in the uterus of a pregnant woman. It has cells floating in the fluid that have the same genetic makeup as the baby. Who is a candidate for the procedure? A woman may wish to have an amniocentesis done if: she will be 35 years old or older when her baby is bornshe or the father of the baby has had a child with a chromosomal abnormalityshe or the father has a family history of a serious chromosomal abnormalitythe baby might have a serious problem passed on to one gender only, such as muscular dystrophyshe wants to find out if her baby has a serious health problem that can be detected by examining its genesshe has had two or more miscarriages An amniocentesis may also be offered to a woman who has an abnormal alpha fetoprotein blood test result. A high level of AFP may indicate a neural tube defect, such as spina bifida. A low level can indicate the presence of Down syndrome. Amniocentesis can detect many disorders in an unborn child, including: cystic fibrosis, a condition in which abnormal body secretions cause problems in the lungs and digestive systemDown syndrome, which causes mental retardation and health problemsneural tube defects, such as spina bifidaphenylketonuria, or PKU, which interferes with the body's ability to handle certain food componentssickle cell anemia, a condition in which abnormal red blood cells interfere with many body processesTay-Sachs disease, which causes blindness, loss of function, and early death Amniocentesis is usually performed 15 to 18 weeks after the woman has missed a period. A chorionic villus sampling is a similar procedure that involves taking a sample of the fluid in the sac surrounding the unborn child. It is done several weeks earlier in the pregnancy. Amniocentesis is occasionally done in the third trimester, toward the end of the pregnancy. It may be done at this time for the following reasons: to see if the baby's lungs are mature enough for deliveryto diagnose uterine infections, especially if the woman's membranes have ruptured earlyto measure any anemia in the baby caused by Rh incompatibilityto see if the baby needs blood transfusions How is the procedure performed? Shortly before the procedure, the woman will be asked to fill her bladder. The full bladder helps the healthcare provider see the pelvic organs with a pregnancy ultrasound. A local anesthetic is used to numb a small area on the woman's abdomen. The provider uses the ultrasound to guide the insertion of a thin needle. A small amount of amniotic fluid is withdrawn and sent to the lab for testing.

Torah with Morrie #7: Limiting Self-Pity Living with joy despite our setbacks and travails. by Rabbi Boruch Leff "Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also with the overcoming of it." -- Helen Keller, Optimism We all face numerous types of aches and pains in life. Physical suffering, emotional turmoil, financial troubles, relationships gone sour, and a plethora of other problems are a constant in our lives. It is certainly normal for someone to become upset and even temporarily depressed when facing any one of life's challenges. The Torah encourages the expression of grief: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. . . A time to weep. . . a time to mourn" (Kohelet 3:4). No one should ever hide or suppress their emotions for too long; it is unhealthy for the heart and mind. Sadness and sorrow need to be faced, expressed, and managed appropriately. "When there is worry in a man's heart, he should stifle it. But how does one stifle it? By sharing it with others" (Talmud Yoma 75a, based on Proverbs 12:25). "How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self-pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day." If we acknowledge and accept the pain without attempting to avoid or suppress it, we will have an easier time dealing with it. Emotional pain is magnified when we feel terrible that we feel terrible. We must honestly confront the pain we feel. But after doing so, the key is to find a method with which to overcome the predicament and to move on. Morrie Schwartz had a unique approach in dealing with the tragedy of his terminal illness (ALS): "I [Mitch] asked Morrie if he felt sorry for himself. 'Sometimes in the mornings,' he said. 'That's when I mourn. I feel around my body, I move my fingers and my hands - whatever I can still move - and I mourn what I've lost. I mourn the slow, insidious way in which I'm dying. Then I stop mourning… I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life. On the people who are coming to see me. On the stories I'm going to hear… Mitch, I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears, and that's all.' I thought about all the people I knew who spent many of their waking hours feeling sorry for themselves. How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self-pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day. And if Morrie could do it with such a horrible disease. . . 'It's only horrible if you see it that way,' Morrie said. 'It's horrible to watch my body wilt away to nothing. But it's also wonderful because of all the time I get to say good-bye.' He smiled. 'Not everyone is so lucky.' I studied him in his chair, unable to stand, to wash, to pull on his pants. Lucky? Did he really say lucky?" (from Tuesdays with Morrie) Morrie's method is one we should utilize as well. After facing severe disappointments and depressions in life, we must force ourselves to focus on all of the blessings and good in our lives, on the future pleasures that we can have if we allow ourselves to experience them, on what we can still accomplish and attain despite our setbacks and travails. We are used to thinking that happiness must be triggered, that it is based on external events beyond our control, that we cannot bring happiness to ourselves. If I have a child, I am happy. If I win the lottery, I am joyful. But the truth is quite the opposite. Joy is not based on what we are given in our lot in life. Joy is built upon what we already have. We can increase our own joy. How do we bring joy into our lives? We all know that everything depends on attitude. Take the following example: Two patients are in an old age home. One says, "Thank God, my family cares so much about me. Not a week goes by without a visit and when they come they always bring something! It could be an apple or a candy." The other patient says, "What a horrible family I have. Once a week is all the time they have for me, after all I have done for them as a mother?! All I'm worth is a candy or an apple!" They're describing the same thing, yet they're describing opposite experiences. As King Solomon wrote: "He that possesses a merry heart has a continual feast" (Proverbs 15:15). No matter what the person faces in life, if he takes it with a merry heart, he is always at a celebration. The essential ingredient of our joy is not what we have but what we are and how we think. We can control our thoughts and attitudes. This is the deeper understanding of the famous statement of the Sages, "Who is rich? One who takes pleasure and joy in his lot" (Ethics of the Fathers 4:1). Rabbi Shimon Schwab, the late esteemed rabbi of the Washington Heights German-Jewish community, remarkably exemplified these concepts. When, at the age of 76, he became confined to a wheelchair, a grandson who would often wheel him around was amazed at Rabbi Schwab's ability to adapt. Never did Rabbi Schwab complain about his predicament. He always wore a smile and was in a pleasant mood. "Zaidy," asked the grandson, "How could it be that you function now in a wheelchair the same way you functioned when you were able to walk? Don't you ever get upset and down about having to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life?" "Tell me," said Rabbi Schwab, "If someone gave you a million dollars and after a while asked you to give him back one hundred dollars, would you have any qualms about returning that amount? The Master of the World has given me a fully functioning and healthy body for 76 years, a million dollars. Now He has decided to take away my ability to walk, for valid reasons known only to Him. Should I now complain because He has chosen to take back a hundred dollars?"

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 7 By AAJ STAFF, Published: December 26, 2010 Mariss Jansons / Bavarian Radio Symphony OrchestraGustav Mahler: Symphony No. 7BR Klassik 2010 Gustav Mahler's 7th Symphony, first performed in 1908 under the baton of the composer in Prague, is felt by many to be a colorful vision of a night-time journey. The symphony (or at least the first movement) could equally give the impression of the entry to and exploring of a new city, or some kind of adventure, and so has a motivating (or "motor-vating") side also. The work is also notable for containing parts for both guitar and mandolin, yielding a quasi prog-rock element (literally), depending on how they are recorded, into the mix in the fourth serenade-style movement. The recent release by Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra of this live version of the symphony has magnificent and clear (firmly accented) playing. There is the stunning three octave deep repeated figure from the strings in the tuneful and uplifting second movement (replete with cowbells: if you want "more cowbell" just turn it up), the much-praised recording of the guitar and the mandolin in the fourth movement, and the deep evocation of Mahler's "broad daylight" at the end. For some observers it is now the copy to own (though versions by Rafael Kubeilk, Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, David Zinman, Daniel Barenboim and Claudio Abbado—he is a good choice for virtually any music—have their proponents). The recording is on the orchestra's label, and is an example of the new trend where some orchestras are now releasing works on their own labels. If you are playing, you may as well set up the mics and keep all the money from the sales. The symphony has high trumpet parts at the beginning, and when a trumpeter in the orchestra at the premiere challenged Mahler about it, the composer is said to have later told his wife: "He doesn't understand the agony of his own existence." If the trumpets are cries of despair, that feeling is soon left behind as the journey commences. Mahler's symphonies are dense pictures of sounds and visions, very multi-dimensional. Anything from birds to forests to startling vistas may strike the ear. The 7th is no exception, and at one hour and seventeen minutes, there is a lot of time for Mahler to describe the world here. This recording communicates all the notes: one reviewer states that he has never heard such detail in the symphony as is revealed as on this recording. It is a vibrant sound, with the added tension of being live. Mahler was not averse to taking popular tunes and reshaping them, for example the minor key take on of "Frere Jacques" in his 1st Symphony. In the 7th, popular tunes and waltzes appear, there is a brief and beautiful three note reference to Richard Wagner, and then there is the "quote"-filled last movement of the 7th which includes an apparent gesture towards "Faniculi Fanicula." There is therefore a link to relatively modern popular music in Mahler. The "prog element" in the 7th arrives towards the end of the fourth movement, when the sudden, clear sound of an acoustic, rock-like guitar conjures up a flowery 1967/68 effort by the Moody Blues, as for example on Days Of Future Past (Deram Records, 1967). This is not such a far-fetched parallel: their label had wanted the band to record a rock version of Anton Dvorak's New World Symphony instead. The sudden odd harmonies (and oblique popular song qualities) of this movement, coming after the more somber third movement, bring to mind the mood-changing effect of later songs in the semi-"symphonic" shape (that is, in terms of the successive keys of the songs) of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon (Harvest/Capitol, 1973). All of these aspects are well demonstrated by this recording. The colorful clarity of Toscanini's LPs (of Haydn and Beethoven and so on) is brought to mind, but with a lusher touch, possibly provided by the music itself as much as the orchestra. Mahler's Symphony No. 7 was originally not the most recorded of his symphonies, but it has seen quite a few recordings in recent years. This recording by Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra may be the best. The bright and fresh approach guarantees it a wide appeal. Maybe even to prog-rock fans.

by Dr. Goodword » Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:06 am • idiot •Pronunciation: i-di-êt • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: A completely stupid person.Notes: Today's Good Word has a lot of familial company: the adjective is idiotic, which may be extended to idiotical. You must extend it to create the adverb idiotically, however. The abstract noun is idiocy. Of course, referring to someone's lack of intelligence is considered offensive, so we should only use this word with the greatest care.In Play: We often say things like, "Only an idiot would try to balance an egg on his nose!" without thinking. However, it is difficult to know ahead of time that the person you are talking to hasn't, in fact, tried to balance an egg on his or her nose. If you must use this very strong word, be sure the person you are referring to is not present: "Judy Side must be an idiot to marry someone who has been divorced five times!"Word History: Greek idios meant "one's own, personal, private" and the noun from it, idiotes, meant "peculiar nature" or a person of peculiar nature. The word presumably comes from the stem of the reflexive pronoun in Proto-Indo-European, swe- after a long list of changes that can be documented. Idios appears in many compounds borrowed by English, including idiosyncratic, idiopathic, idiom—all referring to types of peculiarities. Swe- has an interesting heritage. It underlies English self, Russian svoi "one's own" and sebya "oneself". The reflexive pronoun in Sanskrit was sva-, with a noun svami "one's own (master)"; English borrowed it as swami. (We thank Mark Bailey for cultivating the peculiarity of logophilia, the love of words, like this one, which he suggested for today's Good Word.) by LukeJavan8 » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:01 pm The story goes:A man (could be me) cannot make something work on hiscomputer. After hours of work he calls the ten year oldboy next door to come. The lad arrive and ten minuteslater is heading home. The man asks the kid what waswrong and the boy replies: "It was an i-D Ten t problem". by MTC » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:04 pm The Athenians who coined "idiot" had a most interesting take: "An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private—as opposed to public—affairs.[6] Idiocy was the natural state of ignorance into which all persons were born and its opposite, citizenship, was effected through formalized education.[6] In Athenian democracy, idiots were born and citizens were made through education (although citizenship was also largely hereditary). "Idiot" originally referred to "layman, person lacking professional skill", "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning". Declining to take part in public life, such as democratic government of the polis (city state), was considered dishonorable. "Idiots" were seen as having bad judgment in public and political matters."(Underlining added)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiot)An educated un-selfcentered electorate is if anything even more important in today's complex society. Voters are asked to make judgments about all sorts of complicated issues from deficits to global warming. In the year 2008, "those with college degrees made up 27.9 percent of the population...(but) they cast 45 percent of the presidential vote. These voters register and go to the polls in substantially higher numbers than the less well educated."() In 2012 less than 60 percent of eligible voters actually voted.()Do these statistics mean America is a nation of "idiots" in the Athenian sense? by Perry Lassiter » Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:13 pm Our high school civics book around 1950 was not politically correct. The book defined three stages of mental retardation, beginning with "morons" with IQ's of 75-100, "idiots" from 50-74, and "imbeciles" below 50. Or I may have reversed the last two. These were not pejoratives, but presented as pseudo-scientific labels. by Philip Hudson » Mon Jan 28, 2013 12:47 am The word idiot has had quite a ride from a useful word to a useless word. At first it didn't refer to mental retardation at all but only to the relationship of the individual to the public. A private person was an idiot. When Dostoyevsky wrote his novel, "The Idiot", it seems he meant a naive young man with some outlandishly high moral ideals. I am assuming the name idiot is an accurate translation from the Russian. Since The Idiot was a Christ-figure to Dostoyevsky, he couldn't have used the word in a pejorative manner. Dostoyevsky may not have been on the side of the Church, but he did honor Jesus. Then our wonderful scientists came on board and chose what they thought to be scientific words to describe certain levels of mental incompetence, idiot being one of the lower ones. At least the word had a use for something psychiatrists thought they could measure. Then, of course, political correctness set in and wiped out all their careful study. One of the few times political correctness has done anything good. Now the word knocks around with the Good Doctor’s definition, the correct one for modern usage. It has sunken to be a word people use to insult other people. Rednecks pronounce idiot EE-jit.Some words from antiquity have fared better than idiot. But some have fared worse.

With the Immune System’s Weapons Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin When the right microorganisms are at work, immune cells involved in the development of autoimmune illnesses like psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and arthritis, can develop anti-inflammatory properties. Scientists at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzerland, have now made this discovery. Their work is published in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature*. The scientists were able to prove that particular fungi activate the immune cells involved in the development of certain illnesses, whereas other microorganisms, in particular bacteria that are found naturally on our skin, lend an anti-inflammatory function to them. “This not only demonstrates that the composition of our microflora has a decisive role in the development of chronic illnesses, but also that the key cells causing illness can develop an anti-inflammatory ‘twin’,” explained Dr. Christina Zielinski, first author of the study.The 32-year old researcher from the Dermatology and Allergology Clinic at Charité and Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies, and her colleagues identified the basic signals that contribute to whether or not a pathogenic or anti-inflammatory immune cell develops. It then emerged that interleukin 1b, one of the body’s own immune system hormones, works like a molecular switch. Its presence trains immune cells during autoimmune occurrences to function destructively and to release inflammatory messenger substances. Its absence, on the other hand, allows the immune cells to mature into anti-inflammatory counterparts. Interestingly, it is our own body’s microorganisms that decide whether interleukin 1b is produced and therefore which mode is selected.This observation prompted the scientists to also look for patients suffering from an overproduction of interleukin 1b, which is the case in the so-called auto-inflammatory syndromes (e.g. CAPS, Muckle-Wells, or Schnitzler Syndromes). These patients, especially children, suffer from multiple symptoms like fever, arthritis, and skin rashes. The exact development of these diseases is, however, to a large extent unexplained. Researchers tested whether a therapy of antibodies that block interleukin 1b can generate anti-inflammatory potential in the immune cells. In fact, after the introduction of this therapy the immune cells produced inflammation-retardant messengers. They even developed a memory to release the messenger substances over long time periods.“I am convinced that an imbalance in our microbial microflora has a decisive influence on the development of chronic inflammatory illnesses like rheumatism, Morbus Crohn and psoriasis. Our organism is composed of ten times more microbial cells than our body’s own cells. Keeping this in check is not easy. Interleukin 1b is now turning out to be a decisive molecular switch, which the microbes use to dictate between healthy or sick,” says Dr. Christina Zielinski. She sees great potential in the therapy of inflammatory diseases by blocking this messenger substance. In contrast to other immune therapies this does not lead to a weakening of the immune system, but rather enables the cells instead to be anti-inflammatory if needed, without losing the ability to fight dangerous pathogens.

Learning How to Meditate Properly Posted on Mar 16, 2012 | Comments 0 The main thing that you need to think about when you are learning how to meditate properly is making sure that you don’t have any distractions around you. Most people do not think about getting everything else out of their mind when they first go to meditate because they do not really understand what meditation is all about. To truly appreciate the value of meditation, you are going to need to research all of the basic fundamentals of meditation. If you really want to know how to meditate properly then you need to think about all of the steps that go into the meditation process. First of all, you need to make sure that there are no distractions around that are going to interrupt your sessions. You cannot have a phone call or a crying baby to interrupt you from your meditation session because then you will have lost all of the progress that you made during that session. To make sure that you don’t have interruptions, you need to keep your meditations to quiet and peaceful locations. Some people like to build small sanctuaries in their backyards because it is nice to be able to be outside when you are trying to meditate. One of the problems with meditating outdoors for some people is that there are going to be other people in the neighborhood making too much noise for you to make any progress with your meditation. How to meditate properly in your own home Picking a spot to meditate can sometimes be a problem because not everyone has the ability to find a quiet place in their own home. Many people have kids running around the house or noisy neighbors, so it is almost impossible for them to learn how to meditate properly. If you are someone who lives in a noisy household then you are going to need to find another place where you can find some peace and quiet. For those of you who can find some time to yourself in your own home, you are going to want to make sure that you can get into the right state of mind before you start meditating. Turn off your phone and any other devices that may alarm you because you want to make sure that all distractions are taken off the table when you are meditating. Once you get started, it will be important that you don’t stop meditating for any reason, unless it is some kind of emergency. Do what you can to make sure that you meditate Anyone who wants to learn how to meditate properly needs to make sure that they put aside some time on a daily basis to practice their meditation skills. You will not be able to get much out of your meditation if you do not practice, so make sure that you stick with your meditation routine for a long time before you decide to give up. You need to at least make sure that you gave meditation a fair chance to change your life.

Smethport Dam to be Removed to Restore Tributary of Wild and Scenic Allegheny River Caitlin Jennings, American Rivers, 202-243-7023Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, American Rivers, 412-727-6130Larry Miller, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 717-705-7838Eric Levis, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, 717-705-7806 Pittsburgh, PA – The Smethport Dam, located on Blacksmith Run west of Smethport, Pennsylvania, will be removed next week to improve public safety and fish passage and to restore a tributary of the Wild and Scenic Allegheny River. American Rivers funded the design phase of this project in 2005 through a $20,000 award financed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Growing Greener award. The actual removal of the dam is funded by the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and the Richard King Mellon Foundation. Blacksmith Run, a tributary to the Wild and Scenic Allegheny River, is a cold water fishery that supports a population of wild brook trout. This project will restore nearly two miles of free-flowing stream, making important upstream breeding grounds more accessible. The Wild and Scenic Allegheny River flows through forested valleys and rural landscapes rich with history and culture. The river is popular for canoeing and other recreation. The 20 foot high, 375 foot long dam was originally built in 1881 for water supply but is no longer needed. The dam has been labeled a high-hazard structure, meaning that it would result in loss of life and significant property damage if it failed. “By removing this obsolete dam we are removing a community liability and creating a community asset—a healthy, thriving river,” said Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy of American Rivers. “When a river is returned to health, it can benefit a community by supplying clean water, fish, flood protection, and new recreation and economic opportunities.” “Many of the functional values of rivers and streams are directly associated with the characteristics of free flowing water. Rivers and streams also act as important highways for many aquatic organisms, allowing them to efficiently access various instream habitats that are critical to their health and well being,” said Larry Miller with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mid-Atlantic Fishery Resources Office in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “Removal of the Smethport Dam will restore many functional values of this reach of the Blacksmith Run, and once again provide an open highway for aquatic life. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is pleased to be a part of this cooperative effort to restore the free flowing stream values to this reach of Blacksmith Run.” Pennsylvania leads the nation in dam removal projects and six dams have already been removed in Pennsylvania this year. American Rivers works across the country to remove outdated dams and other stream barriers. The organization’s expertise and advocacy have contributed to the removal of more than 200 dams nationwide. Removing an obsolete, harmful dam can help a community by improving public safety, reducing flood damage, saving money, increasing economic opportunities, restoring overall river health, improving water quality, and boosting community resiliency to climate change. Dams & Dam Removal Mid-Atlantic PA ###

Unskilled labor by Brett Stevens. Genghis Khan divides people. Many love him because he was tolerant of different faiths and believed in a classless society. Others point out rightfully that he destroyed more than he created, and all of the good things he did were a means to his own power. However, one thing that Genghis Khan was which we should all emulate: a diehard realist. When his armies conquered a city, he kept his troops from raiding and pillaging and sent in his administrators instead. They performed a simple task: divide the population between skilled labor and unskilled. The realist principle behind this is simple. Adults who have found something to be good at are both competent and driven; adults who have created nothing, learned nothing and can only be told what to do are not only useless, but also are the groundwork of revolutions. Because they have nothing to do, no direction of their own, and mismanage everything they have, unmotivated, unintelligent and unskilled people are always told what to do. This in turn empowers their favorite activity, which is blaming other people for their own incompetence. It’s a subset of the “it’s not my fault, so I should just do what I wanted to do anything, even if it’s selfish” mentality that got them in the unskilled, impoverished and ignored category in the first place. That’s why when things go badly, they ramp up the blame game until finally revolution is their only course. They cannot see how the unskilled, who by sheer incompetence breed more than others, create the conditions of overpopulation and lack of wealth production (only skills create wealth; unskilled people do some of the labor, but would not create the wealth on their own) that require systemic change. So they create revolutions, aided by the neurotic who because they don’t fit into society, want to destroy it and control the ruins. When I talk about an ideal society, I’m talking about the upper half of the American- and European-style middle classes setting up a society within a society. It would be a more expensive society when you purchased any one thing; however, it would be inexpensive in terms of your exposure to socialized costs. Less incompetence. Less crime. Less parasitism. It would not be a Utopia, because Utopias don’t exist, but it would be more efficient and more pleasant. It would have a lower IQ spread, meaning that the population would be roughly of the same intelligence, so that if you hired some guy to fix your back door, he’d be a master carpenter with a college education. The door fix would cost a lot more; however, the work would be of higher quality, and you’d pay less in taxes to support idiots and the damage they do. In such a society, critics say, we’d be screwed because: who would clean the toilets? who would mow the lawns? who would take care of the kids? To this I say: there’s a difference between manual labor, or working with your hands, and unskilled labor, or working with your hands on simple repetitive tasks because you have no other choice. Even the most elite intellectual should do manual labor every day. We should mow our own lawns, fix the minor stuff around own our houses, take care of our own kids, make our own food and clean our own toilets. Interestingly, the successful people I know — and by that I mean the ones who are headed upward not just in wealth, but personal organization, skills and mental clarity — have no problem with this. They already go to few restaurants. One parent stops working to take care of the kids. They enjoy family-centric tasks like mowing lawns and fixing stuff around the house. The upper half of the middle class in America and Europe seem this way to me, for the most part. It’s the people who are in the middle between unskilled and skilled, like all the mediocre web designers of the world who have mastered basic Photoshop and PHP and now want to be richly rewarded, who are ambivalent. It’s the lower-level programmers, who understand the basics but will never write an elegant, genius application. It’s the paper-pushers, administrative assistants, and workers who have certifications and some kind of “skill” that is specific to a technology or a process; it’s not the people who have skills that can be applied outside of a specific context, which means they are specialized to a skill area but not a skillset; they have transferable skills. The ambivalent have no transferable skills and so while technically “skilled” know they’re very replaceable. The non-ambivalent, who are comfortable with their skills, have a can-do mentality. They don’t depend on having servants to feel good about themselves, nor do they engage in the kind of dramatic activity that requires lots of menial laborers to make them feel important. The non-ambivalent have direction and know that ultimately, they’re competing against themselves. To be better programmers. Better teachers, better lawyers, better stonemasons, better builders, better artists, better warriors. Their goal is to exceed themselves, so that each successive instant brings more excitement, efficacy and success. When Genghis Khan hit a new land, and divided the skilled from the unskilled, he kept the skilled

Leukemia ‘eradicated’ in mice Ottawa researchers have developed unique virus-derived particles that can kill human blood cancer cells in the laboratory and eradicate the disease in mice with few side effects. Scientists' latest bright idea? Bunnies that glow in the dark. A Turkish lab used a technique developed at the University of Hawaii to breed a colony of rabbits that glow bright green in the dark, in what they say is an attempt to advance research into treatments for life-threatening genetic diseases. With 20,000 zebrafish, Texas A&M researcher tackles deafness A cure for human deafness just might be swimming alongside the thousands of zebrafish in muggy rooms across the hall from Texas A&M University biologist Bruce Riley's office, and a recent renewal of a federal grant totaling $1.5 million over five years will move him closer to that goal. Monday, August 12, 2013 - 15:48 Immune function restored in mice with spinal injury In a new study, researchers at The Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center show that is possible to restore immune function in spinal injured mice. Wednesday, August 7, 2013 - 15:31 Apes need vaccines, too John L. VandeBerg is the director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center and the chief scientific officer of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. In his latest op-ed, he discusses the need for apes and chimps in research: Here is a fact about animal welfare that my opponents fail to consider: research with captive chimpanzees is vital to the development and testing of vaccines that can help save the lives not just of humans but also of wild chimpanzees and gorillas. It could even help those species from becoming extinct. Friday, August 2, 2013 - 15:07 UK's "Super Mouse" yielding major discoveries in cancer research It appears tiny and inconsequential enough, but the "super mouse" — created by researchers at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center some six years ago — has spawned plenty of new research into preventing and/or treating many types of cancer. Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - 15:27 Mouse study shows link between low testosterone and Parkinson's disease Scientists are struggling to find a cure for Parkinson's disease. The search has yielded a number of therapies, including deep brain stimulation, but many possible treatments can only work for so long. What makes a cure even more elusive is the scarcity of animal models for testing treatments. But even with these hurdles, a group of researchers found that certain symptoms of Parkinson's start to appear when mice suddenly lose their testosterone. Monday, July 29, 2013 - 15:48 Canine brain tumor advances could provide hope for human patients, too Every year more than 13,000 Americans will be diagnosed with a glioblastoma, the worst kind of brain tumor. There’s no cure and few treatments. On average, people only have 15 months to live after diagnosis. Now, man’s best friend could hold the key to helping these patients. Friday, July 26, 2013 - 14:31 New research on paralyzed dogs aimed at helping humans Ongoing research on paralyzed dogs may one day help military veterans and others who have severe spinal cord injuries. Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences have developed a therapy that might help paralyzed dogs regain some of their lost function. Thursday, July 25, 2013 - 14:20 Dying worms emit ethereal glow, shed light on aging the final hours of a nematode worm’s life, a wave of cell death propagates along the length of its body. But, as if to have one last hurrah, the dying cells put on a bright blue light show, according to a paper published online yesterday (July 23) in PLOS Biology.The discovery of this unusual death-related phenomenon came as a result of studies into aging, said University College London’s David Gems. One of the prevailing theories to explain aging in organisms, he said, is that throughout life there is a slow accumulation of damage to cellular components. In mammals, some of that damaged material accumulates in the lysosomes of aging cells as a substance called lipofuscin—“a sort of biological crap,” Gems said. Wednesday, July 24, 2013 - 16:10 Studies with mice help MSU researchers discover crucial link between peptide levels and Alzheimers A team of MSU researchers might have found a crucial link between peptide levels in the brain and the escalation of Alzheimer’s disease. For the project, professor Christina Chan and MSU alumna Hirosha Geekiyanage experimented with mice, which were genetically altered to be more likely to develop symptoms of the disease. The team injected a compound called L-cycloserine into the mice lead to the plaques on the brain associated with Alzheimer’s. Wednesday, July 17, 2013 - 15:25 Studies with rats and dogs provide hope for an experimental plant extract that may end intractable pain with a single injection Although medicine has advanced far enough to treat basic headaches, strained muscles and the agony of having a cavity filled, inflammatory pain—the kind that results from osteoarthritis, bone cancer and back injuries—has proved to be a far more elusive target. Current remedies, including morphine and other opiates, flood all the nerves of the body, causing dangerous side effects. More localized remedies, such as steroid injections, wear off over time. Recently researchers have begun working with a toxin found in a Moroccan cactuslike plant that may be able to deliver permanent, local pain relief with a single injection. Mice with human chromosomes - the genetic breakthrough that could revolutionise medicine Scientists have created genetically-engineered mice with artificial human chromosomes in every cell of their bodies, as part of a series of studies showing that it may be possible to treat genetic diseases with a radically new form of gene therapy. Researchers find condition in dogs that may help further research into human disease Some people possess a small number of cells in their bodies that are not genetically their own; this condition is known as microchimerism. It is difficult to determine potential health effects from this condition because of humans' relatively long life-spans. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that microchimerism can be found in dogs as well. Jeffrey Bryan, an associate professor of oncology at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and director of Comparative Oncology and Epigenetics Laboratory, says this discovery will help doctors determine what diseases humans with microchimerism may be more likely to develop during their lifetimes. UW-Madison researchers work with mice on new TB drugs, vaccine With some strains of tuberculosis resistant to many antibiotics and the only vaccine not very effective in adults, scientists around the world are trying to develop better drugs and immunizations for the disease. Among them are UW-Madison researchers Michael Thomas and Adel Talaat. He is focusing on four genes that activate TB in the lungs, where most TB infections cause the most harm. A vaccine using mutant versions of the genes could help the immune system fight TB, he said.Studies in mice have shown promise, and Talaat hopes to start studies in guinea pigs soon. Asthma medicine shows promise for Down syndrome in studies with mice A federally approved drug already being inhaled by asthma patients may make mice with Down syndrome smarter, according to a new study. Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - 14:49 U-M studies canker sore drug makes fat mice skinny A drug used to treat canker sores in people has made some fat lab mice skinny. In the laboratory, Saltiel and his team used mice that were genetically modified to be obese or that were fed a high-fat diet and grew obese. Some of the mice then were given Amlexanox, a prescription-only drug approved in the U.S. to treat canker sores. Human & canine lymphomas share molecular similarities, helping researchers better understand the disease in both species Humans and their pet dogs are close, so close that they both develop a type of cancer called diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. In humans it's the most common lymphoma subtype while in dogs, it's one of the most common cancers in veterinary oncology. Now, a study comparing canine and human B-cell lymphoma has found molecular similarities between the cancers, allowing researchers to better understand the origins of the disease in both species. Vampire bat venom could prove the key ingredient in future medication for stroke and high blood pressure Vampire bat venom could prove the key ingredient in future medication for stroke and high blood pressure after an international team of scientists identified ''a whole suite'' of ways bats prevent blood from clotting. Work with mice indicates CNS receptor could be key to preventing epilepsy Researchers at Duke Medicine have found a way to prevent epilepsy in mice that have already experienced a long period of seizures--a feat that could help scientists develop new drugs to treat the serious neurological disorder.

Colonial Delaware Overview of Colonial English Research Colonial New Hampshire Colonial Massachusetts Colonial Rhode Island Colonial Connecticut Colonial New York Colonial New Jersey Colonial Pennsylvania Colonial Maryland Colonial Virginia Colonial North Carolina Colonial South Carolina List of Useful Colonial English Resources This article originally appeared in "Colonial English Research" by Robert Charles Anderson, MA, FASG in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy 1 Jurisdictional History 3 Case Studies Jurisdictional History The first permanent settlement within the current borders of Delaware was made in 1638 by the Swedish South Company. The colony was nominally controlled from Sweden but, in fact, received intermittent attention and inadequate resupply from the home country. These immigrants concentrated themselves in the areas now covered by southeastern Pennsylvania; New Castle County, Delaware; and adjoining parts of New Jersey and Maryland. Peter Stebbins Craig has studied the Swedish (and Finnish) settlers along the Delaware River in great detail, and has compiled his findings in two volumes: The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware: Family Histories of the Swedish Lutheran Church Members Residing in Pennsylvania, Delaware, West New Jersey and Cecil County, Maryland, 1683–1693 and 1671 Census of the Delaware.[1] In 1655 the Dutch in New Amsterdam, who had built a fort on the Delaware, responded to an attack on that fort by sending an expedition to the Delaware and taking control of the region. The New Amsterdam authorities allowed the Swedish settlers considerable autonomy in their own government but, at the same time, instituted some aspects of their own system, including the offices of schout and schepens. When the English conquered New Amsterdam in 1664, control of the Delaware also passed to the English. In parallel with the fate of New York, the settlements on the Delaware briefly returned to Dutch control in 1673 and 1674 but then reverted to the English as one of the provinces of the Duke of York. In 1682, in anticipation of the arrival of William Penn and the settlers associated with him, the Duke of York transferred the Delaware settlements to William Penn and his associates. The so-called Three Lower Counties were, however reluctantly, an integral part of Pennsylvania until 1704, when they were separated legislatively and obtained their own assembly. Their territory continued under the control of the Penn proprietors until the Revolution. Delaware was the last of the thirteen colonies to achieve its own independent identity but was the first to ratify the Constitution in 1787. Because the settlements on the Delaware were dependent on New Amsterdam, New York, or Pennsylvania during most of their existence, there are no “colony records” as such. On the other hand, the researcher must be prepared to examine the records of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey in resolving many Delaware problems. Courts certainly operated on the Delaware prior to 1676, under the Swedes, the Dutch, and the English, but very few records of these early bodies have survived. What does exist may be found in records preserved in New Amsterdam and New York: New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Volumes 18–29, Delaware Papers (Dutch Period) . . . 1648–1664 and New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Volumes XX–XXI, Delaware Papers (English Period) . . . 1664–1682. On 25 September 1676, Governor Edmund Andros of New York promulgated to the Delaware a set of instructions, which had already been in use for more than a decade in New York. The second of these instructions was that “there be three Courts held in the Severall Parts of the River and Bay as formerly to witt. one on New Castell, one above at Upland—Another below att Whorekill.” The most northerly of these three counties, Upland, had the majority of the Swedish settlers. The records of this county have been published for the years from 1676 to 1681 (The Record of the Court at Upland in Pennsylvania 1676 to 1681 . . . ). In 1681 this upper region of the settlements on the Delaware was chosen for the settlement of William Penn. Upland became Chester, and the later records for this area are found in Chester County. The records of New Castle County for the same time period have been published as Records of the Court of New Castle on Delaware 1676–1681, as have been the records for Sussex County from 1677 to 1710, as Records of the Courts of Sussex County, Delaware, 1677–1710.[2] In 1680 the county structure of Delaware was completed with the erection of St. Jones County, carved out of the northern part of Whorekill County. Later in the same year, the name of Whorekill County was changed to Deale County. In 1683, St. Jones became Kent County and Deale became Sussex County. The Kent County records from 1680 to 1705 were published as Volume 8 of the American Legal Records series.[3] During the period when New York administered Delaware, the representatives of the Duke of York made grants of land (Original Land Titles in Delaware Commonly Known as The Duke of York Record . . . From 1646 to 1679). Those already holding land granted to them under Swedish or Dutch rule were asked to come forward to have their holdings confirmed, and many of these confirmations were recorded in New York. After 1681 additional new land grants were made by the Penn proprietors of Pennsylvania. The western reaches of Kent and Sussex counties were claimed by Maryland, and records of landholders in these areas may be found in Maryland colony and county records. When this land dispute was eventually settled in favor of Delaware, confirmations of these lands were often entered in the records of the Penn proprietors. The early court proceedings noted previously included original grants of land, sales of land from one person to another, and probate proceedings. In the early 1680s, very soon after the three “lower counties” came under the Penn government, separate Orphans’ Courts were established to handle probate, and registries of deeds were also established. Col. Charles M. Hansen, “The Paternal Ancestry of Caesar Rodney of Del[aware,] Signer of the Declaration of Independence,” American Genealogist 64 (1989): 97–111. William Rodney, the grandfather of Caesar Rodney, was born in Bristol, England. He arrived on the Delaware in 1681 as a young man, at the time of the migration of English to that region led by William Penn. William Rodney resided in Kent and Sussex counties until his death in 1708. In documenting this man’s life, Col. Hansen relies heavily on the county court records from Kent and Sussex, supplemented by family papers, Philadelphia Quaker marriage records, and some other Pennsylvania colonial records. Patricia Law Hatcher, “Were the ‘Daughters’ of Robert Burton of Sussex County, Delaware, Really the Daughters of Comfort (Bagwell) Leatherbury?” American Genealogist 75 (2000): 250–66. The families discussed in this article lived for the most part in Sussex County but also spilled over into the Eastern Shore portions of Maryland and Virginia. Through extensive exploitation of the probate and deed records of Sussex County, the author determined that there were two sets of daughters, Burton and Leatherbury, with the same given names.

by Joshua J. Mark published on 02 September 2009 Plato (428/427 - 348/347 BCE) is considered the pre-eminent Greek philosopher, known for his Dialogues and for founding his Academy north of Athens, traditionally considered the first university in the western world. Born Aristocles, son of Ariston of the deme Colytus, Plato had two older brothers (Adeimantus and Glaucon), who both feature famously... [continue reading] Encyclopedia Definition by Joshua J. Mark published on 02 September 2009 Aristotle of Stagira was a Greek philosopher who pioneered systematic, scientific examination in literally every area of human knowledge and was known, in his time, as "the man who knew everything", and, later, as "The Philosopher" (so named by Aquinas who felt one needed no other). In the European Middle Ages he is referred... [continue reading] Encyclopedia Definition by Joshua J. Mark published on 02 September 2009 From the Greek 'philo’, Love, and 'Sophia’, wisdom, Philosophy is, literally defined, “the love of wisdom”. More broadly understood, it is the study of the most basic and the most profound matters of human existence. Philosophy, in the West, began in the Greek colony of Miletus with Thales (who, according to ancient sources... [continue reading] Location

Plutocrats: Are we living in a new Gilded Age? By Wayne Baker The opulent library at a monumental mansion built by the Vanderbilt family at the height of the Gilded Age. Called The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island, the home is now a National Historic Landmark. Editor's note: This post is part of a series by Dr. Baker on Our Values about core American values. This week Dr. Baker is discussing the super rich. The Gilded Age is the name Mark Twain and co-author Charles Dudley Warner gave to the period they satirized in their novel by the same name. The Gilded Age — the period after the Civil War up until 1900 — was a time of rapid industrialization and economic growth. This growth created the first class of super-rich, such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J. P. Morgan, and ushered in record levels of economic inequality and grave social problems. Are we in the Second Gilded Age? Journalist Chrystia Freeland calls it a “Twin Gilded Age” in her new book, "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else." America and other advanced nations are experiencing their Second Gilded Age, a time when new technological revolutions and globalization are creating a new class of the ultra-rich along with record levels of economic inequality. These ultra-rich are the new plutocrats, she says, kin in spirit to the plutocrats of the first Gilded Age. At the same time, the big emerging economies —Brazil, Russia, India, and China— are experiencing their first Gilded Age. These economies have produced their own plutocrats, the 1 percent and 0.1 percent who own and control most of their nation’s wealth. All these emerging economies have extremely high levels of inequality. The Twin Gilded Age is the combination of the second one for advanced economies and the first one for emerging economies. The results are the same, says Freeland: “the bifurcation of the world in the rich—and the rest.” Is this bifurcation good or bad? Some economists argue that inequality is necessary and beneficial because it encourages innovation and entrepreneurship. Others argue that inequality impedes sustained economic growth because human capital is becoming more and more important. Greater inequality means more variation in access to education, with less investment in education for many people. Persistently high inequality can also lead to political unrest. What do you think about the division of the world into "the rich and rest"? Is inequality harmful or helpful? Ultimately, does it come down to a question of what's morally right?

completed 30 June 1865 premiere - date and place 26 April 1929, Praha premiere - performer(s) Frantisek Berka (cllo), Otakar Vondrovic (piano) main key A major parts / movements 1. Andante (att.) 2. Andante cantabile (att.) 3. Allegro risoluto duration aprox. 55 min. composition and score history 24-year-old Dvorak wrote his first cello concerto – only with piano accompaniment – in 1865 for his colleague from the Provisional Theatre Orchestra, cellist Ludevit Peer, to whom the work is also dedicated. The concerto met the same fate as his Symphony No. 1 in C minor which originated in the same year: the score was soon lost and was only rediscovered long after the composer’s death. He finished the work on 30 June and, by the end of that summer, Peer had moved permanently to Germany; it appears that he took the score with him. As far as we are aware, Dvorak never went in search of it. It is possible that he regarded the concerto as something of a failure, or he may even have forgotten all about it, since he never included it on any of his subsequent lists of works. The autograph score was discovered sixty years later, in Germany in 1925. A private owner offered to sell the score to the Czech state but his price was too high and the transaction never took place; only a copy was made. Then, in 1930, the autograph was purchased from the owner by the British Museum in London, where it is kept to this day. The concerto was subject to major and minor revisions on several occasions during the course of the 20th century: → revision by Jan Burian Professor at the Prague Conservatoire’s senior department Jan Burian made revisions to the cello part after which the work was performed in public for the very first time, at Municipal House in Prague on 26 April 1929. → revision by Gunter Raphael At the end of the 1920s German composer Gunter Raphael carried out his own revision of the work (published in 1929 by Leipzig firm Breitkopf and Hartel). Raphael arranged the piano part for large orchestra, he shortened the work drastically, intervened fundamentally in its structure and harmonic scheme, and even composed new sections based on Dvorak’s original thematic material. This revision is generally regarded as a disappointment and, above all, unauthentic. Nevertheless, it has its advocates, among them cellist Steven Isserlis, who characterises Raphael’s revision in the following words: “More compact than the original, the cello part more lyrical, the form less experimental; Raphael's aim was to discipline this student work while preserving the essential spirit of Dvorak's first thoughts.” → revision by Milos Sadlo and Jarmil Burghauser During the 1970s the work was revised by the excellent Czech cellist Milos Sadlo, who modified the cello part and shortened the piece considerably. This version was then arranged for orchestra by leading Dvorak authority and composer Jarmil Burghauser. It is considered to reflect a more sensitive approach towards Dvorak’s original notation, and greater knowledge of his compositional style. Supraphon made a recording of this version in 1976 with Milos Sadlo as soloist. This lengthy composition (lasting almost an hour) bears the typical traits of Dvorak’s early style influenced by the music of the German Neo-Romantics: the nonperiodic development of thematic ideas, the restless harmonies and the “Lisztian” merging of movements into one stream of music. In general, however, the work does not suggest “experimentation” in the same way as the group of chamber works from the late 1860s. The character of the thematic material in this case is a typical example of the lyricism and warmth familiar from the composer’s mature works. The greatest weakness of the concerto is its formal imbalance, particularly in both outer movements, which are drawn out to disproportionate lengths. The first movement features a long introduction in the piano; the cello doesn’t come in until the 137th bar. The movement has two basic themes within an extensive sonata-form scheme. The main subject reveals certain similarities with the main theme from Dvorak’s famous second Cello Concerto in B minor, which was written thirty years later. In contrast, the second subject (via a time signature change from 6/8 to 4/4) is taken from the first movement of Dvorak’s String Quartet in A major written three years earlier. The second movement – not even half the length of the outer movements – is a continuous, broad lyrical melody in the cello formed from two fundamental thematic ideas. The last movement is a traditional finale in flamboyant concertante style. It is marked as a rondo, although the form is conceived very loosely. The movement exposes a large number of essentially lively and rhythmical motivic elements, the majority of which are subject to extensive development and variation. The end of the movement in this early work betrays another trait typical of Dvorak as a mature composer: he quotes the theme from the introduction to the first movement. The piece ends unexpectedly in soft dynamics, and the main theme, which takes up the final few bars, fades away into silence.

USS TR Sailor of the Year Candidates at TR Gravesite Written by Dagmar Fors Karppi Friday, 18 November 2011 00:00 The USS TR Seamen at Theodore Roosevelt’s 153rd Birthday Commemoration The sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) earned their right to attend the birthday commemoration of their ship’s namesake, TR our 26th President. The four crew members who participated in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Youngs Cemetery are all up for nomination as the Sailor of the Year.“All the sailors are in the running for the Sailor of the Year title,” said USS TR Captain Roger Curry. “Since there are 3,000 crew members, we have to pick the four of the best of the best.” Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Tyrell Morris, USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs wrote about the experience at the gravesite on the ships Internet site. He wrote: “USS Theodore Roosevelt‘s (CVN 71) Sailors of the Quarter attended a memorial service honoring the birthday of the ship’s namesake Oct. 27 in Oyster Bay.
“Sailor of the Quarter Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 1st Class (AW/SW) Justin Etheridge, Junior Sailor of the Quarter Logistics Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Phillip Allen, Bluejacket of the Quarter Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class (SW/AW) Ronnie Williams, and Rough Rider of the Quarter Culinary Specialist Seaman Rubin Shore attended the service to honor the 153rd birthday of former President Theodore Roosevelt at Youngs Memorial Cemetery.“The annual wreath-laying ceremony has been a long-standing tradition since the Quentin Roosevelt American Legion Post No. 4 started the memorial in 1919.
”I am honored I was selected to attend such a prestigious event,” said Culinary Specialist Seaman Rubin Shore. “I learned a lot about our namesake and am honored to serve aboard TR.”
Seaman Morris said, after a tour of Sagamore Hill, Junior Sailor of the Quarter Logistics Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Phillip Allen was quoted as saying, “There is so much history in this house and I’m glad I got to visit such a great piece of history.” The USS TR has a strong connection with TR and the Oyster Bay community. Drizzly DayAt the gravesite John Hammond, Oyster Bay town historian officiated. It was a drizzly day and the children from the Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School who usually attend the service, were absent. Instead, after the ceremony at the gravesite, the dignitaries visited the school where National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis presented a 1903 notecard written by Theodore Roosevelt to his son Quentin from Yellowstone National Park during a trip to the western states – to SHNHS Superintendent Thomas Ross. Youngs Cemetery in Oyster Bay Cove was the place TR himself asked to be buried. His cousin Emlen Roosevelt, who had been his financial advisor, saw to purchasing two acres south of it, after TR’s death, which became the first Audubon Sanctuary, the Theodore Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary to both protect the gravesite and to create a haven for birds – TR was an amateur ornithologist.Captain Roger Curry, navigator of the USS TR represented Captain William Hart who was in San Diego. “He is one of two officers on the ship that receives nuclear power training. The other is the XO. One of them must always be onboard the ship. The XO couldn’t come to the ceremony as he had to stay aboard. The commander was here on July 4, which has become a tradition for the town and the ship.” It was Captain Curry who said, “This year those attending are vying for the title of Sailor of the Year, which will be announced in November” It is quite an honor, he said, since there are 3,000 seamen aboard.Where is the USS TR Now?Isaac Kremer, Main Street Association executive director asked Captain Curry, “Where is the USS TR now?” “It’s in pieces; it’s being overhauled in Norfolk, Virginia, our port,” answered the captain. Mr. Kremer asked if the sailors were on active duty. The Captain said, “Yes they are.” It was raining and the ceremony was beginning and there was no more time to ask for the details. They were provided by Naval News.com which explained “Approximately 2,500 Sailors serve aboard the ship, and in addition to their normal duties, they contribute about 35 percent of their day to rehabilitating the ship, which includes installing decks, painting, and refurbishing living areas,” for the three-year project.Defense Industry Daily.com called it a “mid-life overhaul,” for the USS Theodore Roosevelt [CVN 71], which is expected to remain in service through 2036. It was built by Northrop Grumman’s Newport News sector and Commissioned on Oct. 25, 1986. The Enterprise Pilot has reported on how the Oyster Bay-East Norwich community helped with the commissioning, outfitting the amenities for the crew; and the Theodore Roosevelt Association created an onboard TR Museum for the ship.Many local residents have fond memories of attending the commissioning ceremonies held in Newport News. Since then, the captain and several crew members have attended the Independence Day celebration in Oyster Bay held on July 4, annually. Since the summer of 2009, the USS TR has been getting a makeover for the work estimated at costing over $558 million.Showing the strong relationship between the USS TR and the president himself, Naval Tody.com reported the crew’s 25th anniversary ball in Norfolk on Oct. 21, at which Executive Officer Capt. Douglas Verissimo quoted TR in his talk. He said, “It was TR sailors who brought this ship into the fleet 25 years ago; it’s our current sailors who will return TR to the fleet in 2013; and it will be TR’s future sailors who sail her into the next 25 years. To quote the man himself, ‘The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat.’ Our Sailors deserve the credit and have made this anniversary possible.”The evening also featured a comedian, TR impersonator, and cake-cutting ceremony led by TR’s commanding officer and the ship’s youngest and oldest enlisted sailors and officers, reported NavalToday.com.An article about the gravesite ceremony will appear in the USS TR’s newsletter Rough Rider. Gravesite SpeechesAt the gravesite, Mr. Hammond welcomed the participants, “On a kind of dreary day. We do this rain or shine since 1919 when the American Legion Quentin Roosevelt Post #4 began holding it.” He said it has been visited by kings and queens and dignitaries from all over the world. Mr. Hammond introduced many of the dignitaries including TOB Receiver of Taxes Jim Stefanich; Captain Roger Curry, USS TR navigator; Lt. Com. Mike Van Horn of Naval Operation on Long Island; SHNHS Superintendent Tom Ross; and NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis.The National Park ServiceIn his comments at the gravesite, National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said, “President Roosevelt stands at the pinnacle of conservation today. Every President since Roosevelt has attempted to live up to his example.” TR preserved 230 million acres of land and created the national monuments, like the Grand Canyon; Devil’s Tower and Petrified Forest, using his executive power and saying, “these are places of need of protection.” There are now over 395 units under the supervision of the NPS. “We are a model for the world for conservation. It is called America’s Best Idea”, said Mr. Jarvis.Mr. Jarvis said he was thrilled to be responsible for the safety of the TR’s Sagamore Hill and his other great sites. They include: The birthplace in NYC; the inaugural site in Buffalo; the TR National Park in Medora, North Dakota where the Elkhorn Ranch is located; Roosevelt Island in Washington, DC; and Mt. Rushmore. [For more information on any of these sites go to; www.NPS.gov.]“TR is a great hero to me,” said Mr. Jarvis. “It is fantastic to be here on his 153th birthday.”Also attending the event was Neil J. Mulholland, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation, located in Washington, D.C. He said, “We support the NPS through grants. Our fund paid for the acquisition of the postcard written by TR to his son Quentin. We focus on units of the NPS. We are a congressionally charged organization to work to fund the NPS.” Mr. Mullholand said he is a fan of TR, and has been to Oyster Bay twice this year.One of the few civilians attending the ceremony was George A. Blanthorn of Syosset, a former NYC fireman who said the last time he was at Youngs Cemetery was in April 2001 when TR was awarded the Medal of Honor. “His grandson Tweed Roosevelt was there,” he said.“TR was a great president. We need a man like him today. He would speak softly and carry a big stick,” said Mr.Blanthorn.

Nations Struggle With Prosecution of Pirates Sharon Weinberger (May 13) -- Countries trying to deal with the alarming growth of international piracy have another challenge to face: Even if you manage to capture the pirates, then what do you do with them? The perplexing details include determining who is responsible for prosecuting the pirates and handling suspects held in custody. When six accused Somali pirates jailed in Virginia were recently asked what they would like to eat, they replied that their preferred food was camel or buffalo meat. The challenge is rapidly becoming a critical concern for the international community. In just the first quarter of this year, there have been 67 incidents of piracy, according to the London-based International Maritime Bureau. While piracy in the 1980s and 1990s was also a major concern, it was largely centered on Indonesia and the Singapore Straits. Now it has moved to the coast of Africa and, in particular, Somalia. In the case of Somalia, the challenge is that the same lack of central governance that allows piracy in the coastal areas to thrive means there's no responsible authority there that foreign governments can turn pirates over to for prosecution. Let them go, however, and the pirates escape justice and can return immediately to a life of crime. Many of the captured pirates end up in Kenya for trial, mainly because the government there has signed agreements with several countries and has been promised financial assistance for prosecuting pirates, the BBC reports. But that sort of prosecutorial outsourcing has its limits. Kenya has complained that its court system is already strained under the burden of putting Somali pirates on trial, and even when it convicts them, it faces the problem of what to do with them once their terms in prison are complete. Another option is to bring them to the country that captures them, or whose ship was attacked, as was done with the six Somalis currently being held in Virginia. That option also presents problems: Press reports of the pretrial hearings in Virginia described the six men, who were illiterate, as being confused and unable to comprehend the situation, or even where they were. Finding a solution that balances justice with humane treatment is not always easy. After Russian military forces freed a hijacked oil tanker, they decided that taking the Somali pirates to Russia for trial wasn't feasible. Instead, the Russian military stripped them of their weapons and navigation equipment, and reportedly let them go. Later, however, Russian authorities said the freed pirates may have drowned, which raised more questions about how the incident was handled. In the meantime, a new option on the table might be to try pirates in the Seychelles; the government there, in conjunction with the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime, recently announced it would establish a regional center to prosecute pirates. But that, too, has its shortcomings. "It has got two courtrooms in the whole country and something incredible like 100 capacity in all of its prisons," Roger Middleton, of the London-based think tank Chatham H

Tropical Cyclones and the Upper Ocean There are seven basins where tropical cyclones (TC) occur on a regular basis. According to NOAA's National Hurricane Center, approximately 69% of all TC occur in the Northern Hemisphere, while only 31% can be found in the Southern Hemisphere. Approximately 12% of TC occur in the Atlantic Ocean, 57% in the Pacific Ocean and the remaining 31% in the Indian Ocean. Several events have been registered where TC suddenly intensified when their path traveled over oceanic warm features, such as anticyclonic rings and eddies. It is now known that the ocean thermal structure plays an important role in TC intensification. Therefore, the monitoring of the upper ocean thermal structure has become a key element in the study of the hurricane-ocean interaction with respect to the prediction of sudden TC intensification. A methodology than incorporates satellite and hydrographic observations is used to estimate daily fields of upper ocean heat content from the sea surface to the depth of the 26°C isotherm, which we refer to here as Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential (TCHP). TCHP fields are used operationally for intensity forecast by the Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Similar fields created at the National Hurricane Center are used for intensity forecast in the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.

The FTC calls on psychologists' expertise Psychologists' work is behind the push to curb the entertainment industry's promotion of violent media. By REBECCA A. CLAY November 2000, Vol 31, No. 10 More than three decades of psychologists' research is showcased in the widely publicized Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report, which offers startling evidence that the entertainment industry aggressively markets violent entertainment to children. The report, "Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A Review of Self-Regulation and Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music Recording and Electronic Game Industries," was released in September. At the FTC's request, APA members and other health-care professionals shared their research on media violence's detrimental effect on children. And Jeff McIntyre, a legislative and federal affairs officer in APA's Public Policy Office, took psychology's perspective to Capitol Hill for a congressional hearing on the report's findings. "The report reads like the APA directory," says McIntyre. "Our members are cited throughout." A smoking gun The FTC report is the outgrowth of a request for an investigation by President Clinton and concerned members of Congress. Confidential internal documents subpoenaed from the entertainment industry showed that their concern was warranted. For example, the commission concluded that all of the music recordings it reviewed were targeted to children despite labels warning of the songs' explicit content. Marketing plans either specifically identified children as part of the music's potential audience or outlined plans for advertising in publications and other venues aimed at young people. Findings from other entertainment industries were just as startling. Eighty percent of the films the commission examined were targeted to children under 17 despite R ratings. Seventy percent of the electronic games examined were targeted to children despite "mature" labels and an industry-wide agreement not to peddle violence to children. "Companies basically handed over information that turned out to be damning to the industries themselves," says psychologist Brian L. Wilcox, PhD, director of the Center on Children, Families and the Law at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. "They handed over the smoking gun." The FTC also discovered that retailers were often abetting the industry's actions by failing to comply with rules regarding ratings and labels. The commission found that almost half of the movie theaters studied admitted 13- to 16-year-olds to R-rated movies even when they weren't accompanied by adults, for example. Similarly, these young teens were able to purchase music with "explicit" labels and electronic games with "mature" ratings 85 percent of the time. These findings inspired the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to hold two hearings on the commission's findings. Faced with the scathing report and an angry Congress, many entertainment industry representatives cited lapses in judgment, claimed ignorance of marketing practices or blamed consulting firms. But the criticism is already bearing fruit. The Motion Picture Association of America has now agreed to stop including children in efforts to market R-rated films, for instance. And Disney decided to bar children under 17 from participating in focus groups for R-rated films and said it would urge theaters to do a better job of enforcing age limits. Industry executives weren't the only ones at the hearings, however. The committee also invited experts on violence and children to participate. In his testimony, APA's McIntyre pointed to the work of psychologists in a 1972 Surgeon General's report, a 1982 National Institute of Mental Health report and a 1994 to 1997 project called the National Television Violence Study. The message from these and hundreds of other studies is clear, he said: Each exposure to violence increases the chances that children will some day behave more violently than they otherwise would. "The psychological processes here are not mysterious," McIntyre told the senators. "Children learn by observing others....If kids can learn positive behaviors via this medium, they can learn the harmful ones." The FTC report itself includes an appendix summarizing the literature on media violence and children, which focuses primarily on television programming. While emphasizing the distinction between correlation and causation, the report concludes that exposure to media violence is associated with children acting aggressively, becoming desensitized toward victims of violence and developing exaggerated fears of becoming victims of violence themselves. Those unrealistic fears can in turn result in children mistrusting others and developing other negative personality traits. Commerce Committee Chair Sen. John McCain (R­Ariz.) urged the entertainment industry to keep such research in mind. "I think it's worthy to note that...representatives of the American Psychiatric Association, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association are all in agreement that the present rating system is both inadequate and not sufficient information to parents," he said. "That's a pretty strong indictment of the present system in my view, and I think the respect in which these three professions are held by the American people might be instructive to the industry." The real question is how to translate outrage into action, say psychologists who work in the field. Because the First Amendment prohibits the government from regulating content, the FTC report urges stronger self-regulation. The report specifically calls for the industry to: Prohibit the practice of marketing adult products to children; Impose sanctions on violators; Encourage movie theaters and retailers to comply with rating systems; Include the reasons behind ratings in advertising and product packaging; and Educate parents and children about what various ratings actually mean. A 1994 resolution passed by APA's Council of Representatives encouraged parents to monitor their children's consumption of entertainment media, supported the use of warning labels and broadcast-blocking technologies and urged the industry to reduce violent programming. Now it's time to do more, says Wilcox. One possibility is to reform the rating system. Television shows, movies, music recordings and electronic games each use different rating systems. "It's a tower of Babel for parents who are trying to understand what's out there," says Wilcox. "Faced with all these different systems, parents often just give up." A universal rating system that would apply to all forms of media would help parents protect their children, he says. In the wake of the FTC report, the Directors Guild of America has called for just such a system. Even more important, says Wilcox, is continuing involvement by APA and similar groups. "There's a lot of room for APA and other nongovernmental organizations that have scientific expertise and an interest in children's welfare to step forward and keep the pressure on," he says. "We need to get the entertainment industry to engage in real self-regulatory behavior rather than simply claiming to do something as they have in the past." Psychologist Dale L. Kunkel, PhD, one of the researchers who participated in the National Television Violence Study, agrees. "The First Amendment protects the entertainment industry's right to market violence to children, but just because they have the right to do that doesn't make it the right thing to do," says Kunkel, a professor of communication at the University of California at Santa Barbara. "What we're really talking about here is social responsibility."

Models address physiological, social, psychological, economic, family and other factors that influence children's health and development By Lauren Supplee, PhD and Terry Adirim, MD Home visiting is a service and support delivery strategy for families that has been around for over a century but gained prominence in the 1960s (Weiss, 1993). Home visiting can be an effective mechanism to reach the highest risk families. Prior to 2010, there were estimates that states spent between 500 and 750 million dollars annually on home visiting programs (Stoltzfus & Lynch, 2009). Through a provision of the Affordable Care Act, home visiting has been greatly expanded with $1.5 billion over 5 years to be provided to states, territories and tribes to establish evidence-based home visiting programs for at-risk pregnant women and children from birth to age five. This provision created the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) to respond to the needs of children and families in communities at risk. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) collaborate to implement MIECHV. Home visiting should be viewed as one of several service strategies embedded in a comprehensive, high-quality early childhood system that promotes maternal, infant and early childhood health, safety and development; strong parent-child relationships;and responsible parenting among mothers and fathers. Together, HRSA and ACF envision high-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs as part of an early childhood systemfor promoting health and well-being for pregnant women, children through age 5, and their families. MIECHV provides anunprecedented opportunity for collaboration and partnership at the federal, state, and community levels. Through collaborativeefforts with partners, this program has the opportunity to effect changes that will improve the health and well-being of vulnerablepopulations by addressing child development within the framework of life course development and a socioecological perspective. Program structure The legislation specifies that MIECHV must target communities at-risk. The legislation defined communities at-risk as those with high concentrations of: premature birth, low-birth-weight infants and infant mortality, including infant death due to neglect or other indicators of at-risk prenatal, maternal, newborn or child health; poverty; crime; domestic violence; high rates of high-school dropouts; substance abuse; unemployment; or child maltreatment. In addition, the legislation specifies priority for specific high-risk populations including those: living in a community at-risk, low income, pregnant women younger than 21 years, families with a history of child abuse or neglect, families with a history of substance abuse, families with tobacco users, families with children with low student achievement or developmental delays and military families. The MIECHV program is unique as one of the first evidence-based policy initiatives. The program reserves 75 percent of funding for the implementation of one or more evidence-based home visiting models. In addition, the legislation support scontinued innovation by allowing for up to 25 percent of funding supporting promising approaches and rigorous evaluation of those approaches. To inform the execution of the MIECHV program, the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomVEE) project was launched to conduct a thorough and transparent systematic review of the home visiting research literature. Home visiting evidence of effectiveness systematic review HomVEE provides an assessment of the evidence of effectiveness for home visiting program models that serve families with pregnant women and children from birth to age 5. The review includes a broad literature search, an assessment of the quality of the study design to produce unbiased impact estimates, and a determination of whether the model meets the HHS criteria for evidence of effectiveness. The HomVEE website summarizes which models were found to have evidence of effectiveness, detailed information about the samples of families who participated in the research, the outcomes measured in each study, and the implementation guidelines for each model. To date, 22 models have been reviewed and nine meet the HHS criteria for evidence of effectiveness: Child FIRST, EarlyHead Start-Home Visiting, Early Intervention Program for Adolescent Mothers, Family Check-Up, Healthy Families America, Healthy Steps, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), Nurse Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers. The following is a brief summary of the evidence from rigorous research available for primary measures (e.g. direct observation, direct assessment, administrative records or self-report on a normed, standardized measure). Most of the nine evidence-based models had favorable impacts on child development or school readiness and positive parenting. Three of the nine models had impacts on maternal health, five of the nine models had impacts in child health and three of the nine had impacts in child maltreatment. However, the review highlighted areas where more research is needed. For example, few of the reviewed models had impacts, using primary measures, on crime or family violence, family economic self-sufficiency, or coordination of resources and referrals. For more information on the review results see the executive summary (PDF, 280KB) and for more information about lessons learned, gaps in the research literature, and suggestions for strengthening future research in this area see the lessons learned (PDF, 308KB) document. The MIECHV program has an exceptional focus on research and evaluation. First, the legislation requires a national evaluation of this new program. The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) will include approximately 12 states, 85 local implementing agencies and 5,100 pregnant women or families with infants less than 6 months of age to examine the efficacy of MIECHV, the efficacy of MIECHV by variations in programs and populations, and the potential for MIECHV to reduce costs and create efficiencies. This evaluation includes examining impacts across all of the domains in the legislation as well as a detailed cost and implementation study. The intent of the design will be to link features of programs, for example the training of staff in specific outcomes like child health, to impacts, such as impacts in child health. More information about this study can be found at the HHS website. The legislation also calls for a continuous program of research to increase knowledge about implementation and effectiveness of home visiting programs. The first two Funding Opportunity Announcements have been announced: one to create an interdisciplinary research forum on home visiting research and the second to support applied research relating to home visiting services which show promise of advancing knowledge about the implementation and effectiveness to improve life outcomes among mothers, infants and young children. Information about these activities can be found at the HHS website or the grants website. Third, if a grantee chooses to implement a promising approach, that approach must be rigorously evaluated and that design must meet HomVEE standards for study design quality. In addition, in FY11 competitive grants were also awarded to some grantees and the activities under those grants to expand services or enhance existing services were required to be rigorously evaluated. Many states are partnering with academic researchers to study activities such as: scale up of evidence-based homevisiting, the efficacy of enhancements on home visiting models or the efficacy of infrastructure supports such as state- or county-level centralized intake systems. Finally, the legislation requires grantees to collect regular benchmark data on a range of domains and demonstrateimprovement in those domains within three years. The domains include maternal and child health, child development andschool readiness, child maltreatment, family economic self-sufficiency, crime or domestic violence and increases incoordination of resources and referrals. Building from the legislatively mandated benchmark data collection, grantees havebeen required to establish continuous quality improvement (CQI) plans to specify the processes and outcomes of the grantee’s MIECHV program through regular data collection, the use of data to inform administration, and monitoring the application of changes to improve performance. It is anticipated the use of CQI methods in the MIECHV Program will result in more effective program implementation and improved participant outcomes. The MIECHV program provides an unprecedented opportunity to reach families and communities at-risk for health disparities. To date, approximately 40 percent of the grantees anticipate service to rural communities, reaching some of the children and familiesleast able to access other services. Evidence-based home visiting models address physiological, social, psychological, economic, family and other factors that influence children’s health and development. The grounding of this program inevidenced-based policy recognizes the importance of using rigorous evidence of effectiveness to inform decision-making. Coordination of these services, including partnerships with clinicians and researchers working towards improving services andoutcomes for children and families, is critical to MIECHV’s success. We look forward to promoting collaborative activities that are essential for effective, comprehensive home visiting and early childhood systems.

by Kyle Butt, M.A. [EDITOR’S NOTE: For several decades now, evolution has received preeminent exposure throughout American culture via public schools, natural history and science museums, television programming, national parks guide booklets, popular magazines, children’s toys and clothing, movies and cinema, and the list goes on. What have been the results of such widespread, unilateral propaganda? Has the teaching of evolution exerted a positive influence on society? Have people been enriched, elevated, and enobled by the teaching of evolution? Atheistic evolutionists do not relish taking responsibility for the logical implications and consequences of their belief system. Nevertheless, read for yourself the first installment in a series on the bitter fruits of atheism and its progeny, evolution.] On February 12, 1998, William Provine, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the distinguished Cornell University, took to the podium on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He was invited to deliver the keynote address at the second annual Darwin Day, a day dedicated to commemorating the life and teachings of Charles Darwin. In an abstract of that speech, on the Darwin Day Web site, Dr. Provine’s introductory comments are recorded in the following words: “Naturalistic evolution has clear consequences that Charles Darwin understood perfectly. 1) No gods worth having exist; 2) no life after death exists; 3) no ultimate foundation for ethics exists; 4) no ultimate meaning in life exists; and 5) human free will is nonexistent” (Provine, 1998). Provine’s ensuing message centered on his fifth statement regarding human free will. Prior to delving into the “meat” of his message, however, he noted: “The first 4 implications are so obvious to modern naturalistic evolutionists that I will spend little time defending them” (1998). It is clear then, from Provine’s comments, that he believes naturalistic evolution has no way to produce an “ultimate foundation for ethics.” And it is equally clear that this sentiment was so apparent to “modern naturalistic evolutionists” that Dr. Provine did not feel it even needed to be defended. Oxford professor Richard Dawkins concurred with Provine by saying: “Absolutist moral discrimination is devastatingly undermined by the fact of evolution” (2006, p. 301). Comments from such high-profile evolutionists provide an excellent springboard from which to examine the logical consequences of belief in naturalistic evolution. If it is true that humans evolved from non-living, primordial slime, then any sense of moral obligation must simply be a subjective outworking of the physical neurons firing in the brain. Theoretically, atheistic scientists and philosophers admit this truth. Charles Darwin understood it perfectly. He wrote: “A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only to follow those impulses and instincts which are the strongest or which seem to him the best ones” (1958, p. 94, emp. added). On a pragmatic level, however, when a person or group of people actually allow the theoretical idea to influence their actions, the brutality of evolution’s immorality is brought to light, and its absurdity is manifested. DEVALUING OF HUMAN LIFE It is an easily ascertainable fact that belief in atheistic evolution devalues human life, demoting it to the base level of animal status. Such thinking logically leads to the adoption of measures that destroy innocent human life, but are still viewed by atheistic thinkers as “moral.” For instance, in 1983, Peter Singer published an article in the prestigious magazine Pediatrics titled “Sanctity of Life or Quality of Life?” In the article, he contended that there is no moral burden to keep alive human infants who are born with mental retardation or other developmental problems such as Down’s syndrome. The entire article presents a case against the sanctity of human life, and suggests that the lives of some animals would be much more valuable than the lives of mentally retarded children. In fact, he alluded to the fact that modern, evolutionary teaching has destroyed the idea of the sanctity of human life: We can no longer base our ethics on the idea that human beings are a special form of creation.... Our better understanding of our own nature has bridged the gulf that was once thought to lie between ourselves and other species, so why should we believe that the mere fact that a being is a member of the species Homo sapiens endows its life with some unique, almost infinite, value?... If we compare a severely defective human infant with a nonhuman animal, a dog or a pig, for example, we will often find the nonhuman to have superior capacities, both actual and potential, for rationality, self-consciousness, communication, and anything else that can plausibly be considered morally significant. Only the fact that the defective infant is a member of the species Homo sapiens leads it to be treated differently from the dog or pig. Species membership alone, however, is not morally relevant.... If we can put aside the obsolete and erroneous notion of the sanctity of all human life, we may start to look at human life as it really is: at the quality of life that each human being has or can achieve” (Singer, 72[1]:128-129 emp. added). In his book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins expressed the same idea when he wrote: “Notice now that ‘pro-life’ doesn’t exactly mean pro-life at all. It means pro-human-life. The granting of uniquely special rights to cells of the species Homo sapiens is hard to reconcile with the fact of evolution.... The humanness of an embryo’s cells cannot confer upon it any absolutely discontinuous moral status” (2006, p. 300, italics in orig., emp. added). In his book Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism, self-proclaimed Darwinian James Rachels stated that when the true moral implications of evolution are understood, human life will no longer be regarded with the kind of superstitious awe which it is accorded in traditional thought, and the lives of non-humans will no longer be a matter of indifference. This means that human life will, in a sense, be devalued, while the value granted to non-human life will be increased. A revised view of such matters as suicide and euthanasia, as well as a revised view of how we should treat animals, will result (1990, p. 5, emp. added). He further noted: “The big issue in all this is the value of human life.... The difficulty is that Darwinism leaves us with fewer resources from which to construct an account of the value of life” (p. 197, emp. added). According to atheistic evolution, whether a human child lives or dies should depend on the level of potential suffering, intelligence or lack thereof, mental retardation, or physical handicap. If resources are so limited that an intelligent chimpanzee and a human child cannot both be kept alive, then the child’s intelligence or threshold of suffering should be compared to the chimpanzee’s. If the chimp happens to be more “intelligent” or more capable of suffering, then the “simple” fact that the child is a human should not confer any special moral status. Thus, according to this line of thinking, it would be morally right to eliminate the human child in favor of the chimpanzee. Rachels presented this idea quite clearly: An infant with severe brain damage, even if it survives for many years, may never learn to speak, and its mental powers may never rise above a primitive level. In fact, its psychological capacities may be markedly inferior to those of a typical rhesus monkey. In that case, moral individualism [of which Rachels is a proponent—KB] would see no reason to prefer its life over the monkey’s (1990, pp. 189-190). The absurdity of such thinking flies in the face of everything that humans have understood to be moral. The framers of the Declaration of Independence understood the special place that humans hold. They penned the famous words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (1776). Notice that the Declaration framers believed that humans had certain rights that were “self-evident.” In fact, the framers simply recorded this idea that had been understood by humanity for millennia. What happens when individuals, who believe that humans should not be given any special moral status, put their belief into action? James Rachels shed a sickening light on that question when he concluded: Some unfortunate humans—perhaps because they have suffered brain damage—are not rational agents. What are we to say about them? The natural conclusion, according to the doctrine we are considering, would be that their status is that of mere animals. And perhaps we should go on to conclude that they may be used as non-human animals are used—perhaps as laboratory subjects, or as food (1990, p. 186). Forrest Mims III is the Chairman of the Environmental Science Section of the Texas Academy of Science. He edits a publication titled The Citizen Scientists. On March 3-5, 2006, Mims attended the 109th meeting of the Texas Academy of Science, which was held at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Mims related the events that occurred during that meeting in an article titled Meeting Doctor Doom (2006). [Unless otherwise noted, the following quotes and facts are derived from that article.] At the meeting, Dr. Eric R. Pianka, “the University of Texas evolutionary ecologist and lizard expert who the Academy named the 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist,” delivered a speech to about 400 attendees. Just before Pianka spoke, Mims noted that an official of the Academy was involved in a conversation with the cameraman who was recording the meeting. The conversation resulted in the cameraman pointing “the lens of his big camera to the ceiling and slowly walking away.” Mims started taking notes on the speech when Pianka began by warning the audience that most people are not ready to hear what he had to say to the assembly. Mims noted that one of Pianka’s main points was that humans should not be given special status among other animals. “Pianka hammered his point home by exclaiming, ‘We’re no better than bacteria!’” In his speech, Pianka suggested that the Earth cannot survive the current human population increase, and that something needs to be done “to reduce the population to 10 percent of the present number.” Pianka then mentioned several ways this might occur. “His favorite candidate for eliminating 90 percent of the world’s population is airborne Ebola (Ebola Reston), because it is both highly lethal and it kills in days instead of years.” The speech ended with a question-and-answer period. Mims noted: “Immediately almost every scientist, professor and college student present stood to their feet and vigorously applauded the man who had enthusiastically endorsed the elimination of 90 percent of the human population. Some even cheered.” Of course, many within the evolutionary community did not want to connect themselves closely with the idea that an evolutionary ecologist seems to think that his evolutionary ideas need to lead to the mass destruction of five billion humans. They quickly accused Mims of misrepresentation. On April 6, 2006, Nick Matzke wrote: The wingnut echo chamber has recently gone insane over the idea that Eric Pianka, a distinguished and much-loved ecologist at UT, advocates mass genocide by ebola in order to bring down world population. The allegation was leveled by disgruntled creationist Forrest Mims, and rapidly spread to the blogosphere via places like Dembski’s blog (three posts!) and Telic Thoughts, and then went to the Drudge Report and caused a national media firestorm appearing in my local paper by Monday morning. I smelled a rat from the beginning, and now I have been proved right. KXAN News36 in Austin, TX, has just debunked the whole thing (2006, emp. added). Matzke’s statement that the information from News36 debunked “the whole thing” was far from the truth. In fact, in a letter dated April 10, 2006, Assistant Professor Dr. Kenneth R. Summy, the Vice-Chairman of the Environmental Science Section of the Texas Academy of Science, wrote: My overall impression of Dr. Pianka’s presentation was a ‘doomsday’ message that life on earth is about to end, and the sooner the human population crashes the better. I hope he was joking or being sarcastic when he stated that a pandemic of ebola virus would be great for the earth? [sic] no sane person would really believe that (2006). Dr. Summy further noted: Forrest Mims did not misrepresent anything regarding the presentation. I heard these statements myself, and would be willing to bet that most of the audience attending the presentation got the same impression that I did. In my opinion, the message contained in the keynote address detracted from what was otherwise an excellent meeting (2006). The following statements by a student “defending” Dr. Pianka add further credence to Mims’ record: “Dr. Pianka’s talk at the TAS meeting was mostly of the problems humans are causing as we rapidly proliferate around the globe.... He’s a radical thinker, that one! I mean, he’s basically advocating for the death of all but 10% of the current population! And at the risk of sounding just as radical, I think he’s right” (“Dr. Eric R. Pianka...,” 2006; see also “Revisiting...,” 2006). Additionally, Dr. Pianka personally posted several student evaluations of his teaching. One student commented: “I don’t root for ebola [sic], but maybe a ban on having more than one child. I agree...too many people [are] ruining this planet” (“Excerpts from Student Evaluations,” 1999). Another wrote: “Though I agree that convervation [sic] biology is of utmost importance to the world, I do not think that preaching that 90% of the human population should die of ebola [sic] is the most effective means of encouraging conservation awareness” (“Excerpts from Student Evaluations”). The fact is, Dr. Pianka’s evolutionary concepts of ecology push him to conclude that humans are no better than bacteria and that the human population needs to be dramatically reduced. As much as many of his fellow evolutionists would like to distance themselves from such radical thinking, they cannot logically do so. Atheistic evolution implies that humans are no better than bacteria. They may have more capacity to suffer, they may have more complex brains and body structures, but in the end, one living organism is only as valuable as another. If you have the moral right to destroy millions of bacteria because they are hindering the “progress” of humanity, you have the same moral right to destroy billions of humans because they are causing ecological problems for other, equally valuable, organisms on the planet. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines abortion as: “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus” (“Abortion,” n.d., emp. added). In the United States, this murderous practice has been legal since January 22, 1973, and has resulted in the deaths of more than 48 million innocent human lives in this country alone. If the abortions performed in Europe and Asia during the same time period were added to this figure, the death toll would easily reach into the hundreds of millions. Is it immoral to terminate the lives of unborn human children? According to the atheistic evolutionary community, abortion is not an immoral practice. In fact, it is often viewed as something moral and right. One line of reasoning used to justify the practice is the idea that humans should not be treated differently than animals, since humans are nothing more than animals themselves. The fact that an embryo is “human” is no reason to give it special status. Dawkins wrote: “An early embryo has the sentience, as well as the semblance, of a tadpole.... One school of thought cares about whether embryos can suffer. The other cares about whether they are human.... Secular moralists are more likely to ask, ‘Never mind whether it is human (what does that even mean for a little cluster of cells?); at what ages does a developing embryo, of any specie become capable of suffering?’” (2006, pp. 297-298, italics and parenthetical items in orig.). Dawkins identifies himself as a “secular moralist” who would not factor into the moral equation the idea of “humanness.” How would he and other “secular moralists” decide if a human embryo should live? He noted: A consequentialist or utilitarian is likely to approach the abortion question in a very different way, by trying to weigh up suffering. Does the embryo suffer? (Presumably not if it is aborted before it has a nervous system; and even if it is old enough to have a nervous system it surely suffers less than, say, an adult cow in a slaughterhouse.) (2006, p. 293, parenthetical item in orig., emp. added). The modern atheistic moralist simply “weighs up suffering.” If the human embryo has not yet reached the stage at which a nervous system develops, then it is less valuable than an animal that does have a nervous system. And even if it does have a nervous system, it probably does not suffer as much as a cow in a slaughterhouse. Thus, it would be more moral to stop killing cows in a slaughterhouse than to stop allowing humans to abort their children. As atheistic writer Sam Harris noted: “If you are concerned about suffering in this universe, killing a fly should present you with greater moral difficulties than killing a human blastocyst [three-day-old human embryo—KB]” (2006, p. 30). He further stated: “If you are worried about human suffering, abortion should rank very low on your list of concerns” (p. 37). The moral bankruptcy of such thinking is brutally obvious. Since when is the amount of suffering the criterion by which moral decisions of human life and death are made? Yet that is exactly what Dawkins and his fellow atheistic moralists contend. He wrote: “Of course, it could be argued that humans are more capable of, for example, suffering than other species. This could well be true, and we might legitimately give humans special status by virtue of it” (2006, p. 301). According to Dawkins, it would be logically permissible to kill any person as long as they do not suffer, or others (like parents or siblings) do not suffer because of their deaths. Suppose, then, a society decides that five-year-old orphans with no siblings are less than ideal and need to be eliminated. In keeping with Dawkins’ morality, if policemen sneak up behind the children and deliver an immediately lethal bullet to their brains so that they never feel any pain, then such actions could be as morally viable as killing adult cows in a slaughterhouse. Dawkins and his fellow atheistic thinkers have absolutely no grounds on which to assert that killing five-year-olds in this fashion is “wrong.” Peter Singer admits the reality of this logical implication of atheistic evolution. In his chapter titled: “Justifying Infanticide,” Singer concluded that human infants are “replaceable.” What does Singer mean by “replaceable”? He points out that if a mother has decided that she will have two children, and the second child is born with hemophilia, then that infant can be disposed of and replaced by another child without violating any moral code of ethics. He explained: “Therefore, if killing the hemophiliac infant has no adverse effect on others, it would, according to the total view, be right to kill him. The total view treats infants as replaceable” (2000, p. 190). He went on to argue that many in society would be aghast at killing an infant with a disability like hemophilia, but without good reason. He argued that such is done regularly before birth, when a mother aborts a child inutero after prenatal diagnosis reveals a disorder. He stated: When death occurs before birth, replaceability does not conflict with generally accepted moral convictions. That a fetus is known to be disabled is widely accepted as a ground for abortion. Yet in discussing abortion, we say that birth does not mark a morally significant dividing line. I cannot see how one could defend the view that fetuses may be “replaced” before birth, but newborn infants may not (2000, p. 191). Singer further proposed that parents should be given a certain amount of time after a child is born to decide whether or not they would like to kill the child. He wrote: “If disabled newborn infants were not regarded as having a right to life until, say, a week or a month after birth it would allow parents, in consultation with their doctors, to choose on the basis of far greater knowledge of the infant’s condition than is possible before birth” (2000, p. 193). One has to wonder why Singer would stop at one week or one month. Why not simply say that it is morally right for parents to kill their infants at one year or five years? Singer concluded his chapter on infanticide with these words: “Nevertheless the main point is clear: killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person. Very often it is not wrong at all” (p. 193, emp. added). When the logical consequences of atheistic evolution are so clearly spelled out by its adherents, the prospects are grisly indeed. Another line of reasoning used to justify abortion (and various other immoral practices) is the idea that since humans are animals, it is right for them to behave like animals. Charles Darwin himself proposed in a chapter of The Descent of Man: “My object in this chapter is to shew that there is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties” (1871, p. 446). Thus, it is suggested that if we can find an example of animals engaging in an activity, that would provide enough moral justification needed for humans to practice the same. Applying this idea to abortion, Barbara Burke wrote: “Among some animal species, infant killing appears to be a natural practice. Could it be natural for humans too, a trait inherited from our primate ancestors? Charles Darwin noted in The Descent of Man that infanticide has been ‘probably the most important of all checks on population growth throughout most of human history’” (1974, 185:653). Notice that Burke recognizes the fact that humans kill their offspring, and justifies the practice by referring to “analogous” activities in the animal kingdom. Maybe, she reasons, humans kill their infants or unborn children because they inherited the murderous practice from their animal ancestors. By reasoning in this fashion, she attempts, not only to suggest that killing human infants is not morally neutral, but that it could be morally right if the practice is used to check population growth. In this regard, James Rachels wrote: Finally, if one is nevertheless tempted to believe that humans are psychologically unique, it is useful to remember that the whole enterprise of experimental psychology, as it is practiced today, assumes otherwise. Animal behaviour is routinely studied with an eye to acquiring information that can then be applied to humans. Psychologists who want to investigate maternal behaviour, for example...might study the behaviour of rhesus monkey mothers and infants, assuming that whatever is true of them will be true of humans—because, after all, they are so much like us (1990, p. 166, emp. added). In response to such thinking, several points need to be considered. Humans are not animals. There is no documented evidence verifying the false idea that humans evolved from lower organisms (see Harrub and Thompson, 2002). In fact, all observable evidence verifies that humans maintain a completely unique status in regard to their mental, emotional, and cognitive components (see “In the Image...,” 2001; Lyons and Thompson, 2002). To justify human behavior based on behavior observed in the animal world exhibits a grotesque ignorance of everything humans understand about morality. Ten percent of the diet of an adult Komodo dragon often consists of its cannibalizing young Komodo dragons. Would anyone be so irrationally disturbed as to suggest that, because we see infant cannibalism in Komodo dragons, it would be natural for humans to eat their young as well? Apparently so. James Rachels wrote: “The whole idea of using animals as psychological models for humans is a consequence of Darwinism. Before Darwin, no one could have taken seriously the thought that we might learn something about the human mind by studying mere animals” (1990, p. 221, emp. added). If all conceivable human behavior can be justified based on the idea that it mimics animal behavior, then why not abolish all laws, allow stronger humans to kill the weaker ones, allow mothers to eat their babies, allow men to murder sexual rivals, allow women to murder and cannibalize their lovers after intercourse, and simply chalk up such a deplorable situation to “nature”? The logical consequences of such philosophical justification are as obvious as they are ridiculous. The ploy to justify abortion (and other equally reprehensible immoralities) by suggesting that it is “natural” is little more than an attempt to cast aside all moral constraints and debase society to the point of mindless bestiality. Yet such is the logical result of atheism. Death in the Name of Atheism Not all atheists are grotesquely immoral people. In fact, many of them would be viewed as moral individuals who do not steal, murder, abuse their children, or violate laws. The point to be made is not that all atheistic thinkers are living out the logical implications of their beliefs. The point is that the philosophy of atheism logically implies that immorality is acceptable or non-existent. It is true that most atheists do not put the implications of their belief into practice, but it is also true that some do, and that their actions cannot be construed to be anything other than what they are—the logical consequences of atheistic, evolutionary thinking. Of course, “respectable” atheists deny that people commit heinously immoral crimes at the instigation of atheism. As Dawkins has stated: “Individual atheists may do evil things but they don’t do evil things in the name of atheism” (Dawkins, 2006, p. 278, emp. added). His assertion is patently false. People often do evil things in the name of atheism. These people understand their evolutionary atheism to be a primary contributing factor to their evil actions, and the full weight of atheism’s logical conclusions justifies their behavior. April 20, 1999 will go down in U.S. history as the date of one of the most nefarious, murderous criminal acts in modern times. Two teenage boys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, after months of elaborate planning, opened fire on their schoolmates, killing 12 of their peers and one teacher, injuring 23 others, and then committing suicide. Evidence posted on the Web and in written documents showed that the two teens had concocted detailed plans to kill hundreds of students with homemade explosives, but most of their macabre plans went awry. Hundreds of police investigators, educators, political leaders, and other professionals delved into the reasons why Harris and Klebold snapped as they did. One eye-opening aspect of the research has been the very clear connection between the evolutionary idea of natural selection and Harris’ desire to kill his fellow humans. On the day of the shooting, Harris wore a white T-shirt with the words “Natural Selection” emblazoned on it (“Columbine,” 2008). This was not coincidental, but was designed to make a statement. According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Report, in a document found in his room, Harris wrote: “I would love to see all you f-------ds die. NBK. I love it! sometime [sic] in April me and V will get revenge and will kick natural selection up a few notches” (as quoted in “Columbine,” 2008, emp. added). His diary also stated: “I will sooner die than betray my own thoughts. but [sic] before I leave this worthless place, I will kill whoever I deem unfit for, anything at all, especially life” (as quoted in “Columbine,” 2008, emp. added). In his article titled “Kill Mankind. No One Should Survive,” Dave Cullen reported extensively on the investigation surrounding the Columbine massacre. He wrote: “They do consider the human race beneath them,” one investigator said. Harris “talks a lot about natural selection and that kind of leads into his admiration of Hitler and Nazism and their ‘final solution’—that we, the human race have interrupted or disrupted natural selection by inventing vaccines and stuff like that. In one of his writings, he talks about that: ‘It would be great if there were no vaccines, because people who should have died would have died, and we wouldn’t be perpetuating this kind of stuff’” (1999, emp. added). The Columbine killers’ evolutionary beliefs cannot be disconnected from their brutal slayings. Finland Massacre Another example of this type of relationship between atheism and immoral behavior comes from Finland. An 18-year-old man named Pekka Eric Auvinen marched into his school and shot and killed seven of his schoolmates as well as the headmistress. He then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. When such gruesome carnage occurs, we naturally ask, “Why?” What would drive a young man like Auvinen to commit such horrific atrocities? In Auvinen’s case, the answer is clear. Auvinen explained the philosophy that led him to commit this dastardly mass murder. On a Web site message board post from before the slaying, he explained that he was a self-avowed “cynical existentialist, anti-human humanist, anti-social social-Darwinist, realistic idealist and god-like atheist” (“Teen Dead...,” 2007, emp. added). He went on to state: “I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection” (2007, emp. added). There you have it. The reason he murdered eight innocent people is because he was an atheistic evolutionist who devalued human life and believed that he had the right to destroy any living being who he considered to be less fit than himself. As much as evolutionists insist on separating themselves from such disgusting displays of immorality, the logical implications of their godlessness tie them indubitably to Auvinen’s actions. The only thing that separates Auvinen from other atheists is that he acted out the logical implications of his atheistic belief. It is high time atheism’s immorality is recognized, repudiated, and exposed for the reprehensible fruit it bears. Jeffrey Dahmer was one of the most notorious serial killers in modern history. He murdered 17 men and boys, dismembered them, stored human body parts in his apartment, practiced homosexual necrophilia and cannibalized his victims (Dahmer, 1994, p. 10). He was convicted of 15 counts of murder and sentenced to serve over 900 years in prison. During his incarceration, he was murdered by another inmate. When a person perpetrates such brutal and deranged crimes against his fellow man, natural questions that arise in the minds of those who hear the details include: Why would a person commit such heinous crimes? What would cause a person to become such a murderer? In Jeffrey Dahmer’s case, he supplied the world with the answer. In 1994, Stone Phillips interviewed Jeffrey Dahmer and his father Lionel Dahmer for NBC’s Dateline. In that interview, Stone Phillips asked Jeffrey Dahmer several questions regarding the possible causes of Dahmer’s behavior. In one portion of the interview, Jeffrey explained that he took complete and personal responsibility for his actions, and his crimes could not be blamed on his parents, school, or other external circumstances. Following those remarks, Jeffrey said: “There comes a point where a person has to be accountable for what he’s done.” His father, Lionel, then asked him: “Let me ask. When did you first feel that everyone is accountable for their actions?” Jeffrey responded: Well, thanks to you for sending that creation science material. Because I always believed the lie that evolution is truth, the theory of evolution is truth. That we all just came from the slime, and when we died, you know, that was it. There was nothing. So the whole theory cheapens life.... And I’ve since come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true Creator of the Earth. It didn’t just happen (Phillips, 1994, emp. added). Lionel Dahmer then began to discuss the period of time during Jeffrey’s upbringing that he thought most influenced Jeffrey’s murderous behavior. Lionel said: “At that period of time I had drifted away from a belief in a Supreme Being. And I never, as a result, passed along the feeling that we are all accountable. In the end, He owns us. And that basic concept is very fundamental to all of us.” Stone Phillips then asked Lionel: “You feel that the absence, at least for a while, of a strong religious faith and belief may have prevented you from instilling some of that in Jeff?” Lionel responded: “That’s right.” Phillips then turned to Jeffrey and asked: “Is that how you feel?” Jeffrey responded to Phillips’ question: “Yes, I think that had a big part to do with it. If a person doesn’t think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought, anyway” (Phillips, 1994). To what, then, did Dahmer attribute his gruesome, horrifying crimes? He simply said he believed that evolution is true, that humans arose from primordial slime, and that there is no personal accountability inherent in the theory. Dahmer understood the logical implications of atheistic evolution perfectly. Dahmer’s behavior appalls society because he had the brains and drive to put the theoretical implications into practice in real life. When he did, society was justifiably outraged at his behavior. But such outrage is justifiable only in the context of a God to Whom all people are accountable. Without such accountability, Dahmer was right to conclude: “What’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges?” Dahmer is yet another example of a person who committed heinously evil crimes in the name of atheism. Summy, Kenneth R. (2006), “Letter Addressed to President and Board of Directors of the Texas Academy of Science,” [On-line], URL: . “Teen Dead Who Opened Fire on Finnish Classmates, Police Say” (2007), CNN, [On-line], URL: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/07/school.shooting/ index.html.

Research with Students in Nonlinear and Fluid Dynamics Jerry Gollub Nonlinear dynamics refers to phenomena governed by nonlinear differential equations, often fluids. It has important interfaces with soft matter and biological physics. Fluid dynamics has important connections to astrophysics, geophysics, and engineering. The projects to be described involved a team approach: a postdoctoral researcher, one or more undergraduates, and me. Here are some of the research questions we examined over the last few years: Do small particles accurately follow fluid flows? How do elongated particles orient themselves in a fluid? Do converging flows exhibit spontaneous swirl? When is the flow of a fluid containing particles reversible? What unique flow properties are manifested by polymeric fluids? How do swimming cells interact? I'll say just a little about each of these projects, and then comment on the role of research in Physics with students at Haverford. Undergraduate Peter O'Malley looked at the question of whether small particles accurately follow fluid flows, working with postdoctoral fellow Nick Ouellette, now at Yale. Particles certainly do not follow the fluid if their density is different and the particles are accelerated. But what happens if there is no density difference? The question is important because particle tracking is the primary method by which flow phenomena are studied. Peter used electromagnetic forcing to drive a chaotic flow, and tracked particles of different diameter: 80 micron particles, which followed these slow flows well, to determine the velocity field, and 1-2 mm particles of the same density to look for deviations. Very significant velocity differences between particles and the local fluid elements were detected for the larger particles, and the results were published in Physical Review Letters.1 Peter entered a graduate program in physics after his time at Haverford. Subsequently, undergraduate Monica Kishore, working with Nick Ouellette and postdoc Jeffrey Guasto, investigated the question of how elongated particles orient themselves in the same type of fluid flow. Monica made excellent progress on this problem, and the eventual result, finished after her departure for graduate study in medical physics, was that particle alignment can be explained using what we call stretching fields. These fields, which can be computed from measured velocity fields, give the local strength of the stretching of fluid elements. This work has been submitted to Physics of Fluids, in collaboration with Greg Voth's group, which studied the same problem in parallel with our work at Haverford.2 Greg had earlier pioneered the process of measuring stretching fields3 while a postdoctoral fellow at Haverford, before joining the Wesleyan University faculty. Undergraduate Michael Jablin looked at the question of whether spontaneous swirl exists in a converging fluid flow, as had been claimed in published work. He designed and built an apparatus to test this hypothesis, and became an expert in particle tracking to look for a small azimuthal (non-radial) velocity in converging flows. His measurements were quite sensitive, but there was no convincing evidence for the claimed effect. While this outcome was disappointing to us, the work resulted in excellent training for Michael, who obtained a job after graduation providing user support at the Los Alamos SPEAR neutron reflectometer facility. His work there led to diverse publications and eventual graduate study. So experiments don't always have to discover or characterize a new phenomenon to produce a useful educational outcome. Undergraduate Andrew Ross worked on the reversibility of low Reynolds number flow containing particles. We knew from earlier work that such flows can be irreversible, as a result of chaotic interactions between particles.4 Andrew, working with postdoctoral fellow Jeffrey Guasto, looked at channel flows, where the fluid is sheared non-uniformly. This work, completed after Andrew went on to work with a colleague on quantum computing, showed that channel flows can produce irreversibility everywhere, even in places where the shear is small. The results were published in Physical Review E.5 Students James Diorio and Charles Thomas, working with postdoctoral associate Paulo Arratia (now at University of Pennsylvania), studied instabilities in polymeric solutions using microfluidic flows. They detected two new instabilities which occur at low Reynolds number, where Newtonian fluids would flow without instability. The resulting paper6 stimulated quite a bit of theoretical work and garnered 25 citations. Charles is now a graduate student at Penn in nonlinear physics, and James got a Ph.D. at University of Maryland in Mechanical Engineering. Recently, my group has been working on the fluid flows induced by swimming algal cells only 10 microns across, which use twin flagella moving in a breaststroke pattern to propel themselves.7 Algal cells account for a significant contribution to the world's oxygen production, and their flagella are similar to those found in some cells in the human body. Current undergraduates Andrew Sturner and Ivy Tao have been working to understand the interactions between these swimming cells. Are they mainly hydrodynamic (where each swimmer's induced velocity field advects the other cells)? Or do the cells sense each other and respond? Scholarly investigations first became a requirement for the undergraduate degree at Haverford in 1920. I understand that Reed College was also an early adopter of this approach, and would be curious to hear of others. Undergraduate research mentoring is also built into the teaching responsibilities of faculty members. It takes a considerable time investment to make research experiences available to students, and suitably designed advanced laboratory courses can prepare them effectively (for example, see ours at ). Summer research opportunities are also critical for students. This past summer, 22 students did research at Haverford with physics faculty members, and 7 did so elsewhere, altogether at least 76% of our junior and senior majors. The fields represented were diverse, including quantum gravity, biological physics, nanoscale (condensed matter) physics, and near field cosmology, in addition to the work on nonlinear/fluid dynamics described in this summary. Active engagement in research has been rewarding for our students, many of whom have won awards (Goldwater, Churchill, Fullbright, NSF, Apker, etc.) At least four former research students later won NSF Career Awards when they became faculty members. Our website shows the diverse careers of Haverford physics graduates, many of whom chose directions outside of scientific research. However, we believe (and they indicate) that their lives and careers have been significantly enriched by their research experiences as undergraduates.

FROM BRÜCKE TO BAUHAUS: The Meanings of Modernity in Germany 1905 – 1933 March 31 through June 26, 2009 FROM BRÜCKE TO BAUHAUS: The Meanings of Modernity in Germany 1905-1933 sheds important new light on the turbulent decades that preceded Hitler’s rise to power. Comprising over 50 watercolors, drawings and prints by such key artists as Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Mueller, Max Pechstein and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, as well as loans from the nationally renowned Merrill C. Berman Collection, the exhibition is a valuable complement to the exhibition Brucke: The Birth of Expressionism in Dresden and Berlin 1905-1913, at the Neue Galerie New York. The intimate collaborations of the Brücke group are highlighted in three pastel studies of nudes by the group’s leader, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, done around 1908, and a 1910 charcoal drawing by Kirchner of his lover, Dodo. Erich Heckel’s wife, Siddi, is portrayed by the artist in a sensitive watercolor dating to 1913. The exhibition includes a number of early Brücke prints and proofs, among them a unique handcolored lithograph by Emile Nolde (Young Girls, 1907/1910) and woodcuts by Heckel (Woman at the Mirror, 1908), Kirchner (Female Dancer with Raised Skirt, 1909) and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (Woman at the Table, 1910, In the Studio, 1913, and Women at the Table, 1913). Max Beckmann, one of the foremost artists of the Weimar period, is represented by several of his best-known self-portraits, including Queen Bar (1920) and Self-Portrait in Bowler Hat (1921), as well as an unusual ink drawing, Temptation (1919). Other exhibition highlights are three highly idiosyncratic Dada-inflected works by Otto Dix (Death and Woman, 1918 Apotheosis, 1919 and Street Noise, 1920) and Dix’s iconic 1923 color lithograph The Madam. Major loans from the Berman Collection include Peter Behren’s renowned work for the electrical company A.E.G. and Lucian Bernhard’s “object posters,” which turned products into desirable commodities by focusing on a singular image. Rare Bauhaus-related collages and posters by Herbert Bayer, Marianne Brandt, Werner David Feist, Heinz Loew and others round out the presentation. “With a belief in continuing evolution,… we call together all youth. We intend to obtain freedom of movement and of life for ourselves in opposition to older, well-established powers.” —Brücke Programm, 1905 Germans were simultaneously enthralled and appalled by modern industrial society, which they found dehumanizing and excessively materialistic. The Brücke artists sought to establish an alternative world infused with communal solidarity and spiritual values. They looked to examples of “primitive” art and Medieval woodcuts for an “authentic” formal vocabulary, and to nature for more primal, visceral experiences than could be found in the contemporary metropolis. Artists working in the applied arts could not so easily flee the impact of industrialization, though they deplored the alienation of labor from design caused by mechanical production. To educate industrialists in aesthetics and artists in the realities of industrial manufacture, Germany established a network of specialized schools, museums and artists’ associations, and by the early 20th century the nation had become a leader in modern design. The desire to reconcile good taste with industrial production carried over into the post World-War-I era and became the guiding rationale of the Bauhaus. However, disdain for modern industrial society only grew stronger in the Weimar period, as Germans grappled with the privations caused by the war. Artists like George Grosz and Otto Dix began as socialist idealists, but ended up drawing embittered caricatures of urban decay. In the final analysis, Germany failed to come to terms with modernity. Preferring to concoct fantasies of a perfect future encompassing the values of an idealized past, Germans neglected the present and left the path open for Hitler to manipulate their thwarted ideals.

In a groundbreaking show traversing continents and mediums, Lowery Sims defines an international African esthetic. For "The Global Africa Project" at the Museum of Arts and Design, Sims selected Victor Ekpuk's All Fingers Are Not Equal, 2008. COURTESY THE ARTIST Am I doing ‘Global Africa’ because I’m black? Well, probably,” says Lowery Stokes Sims. Sitting in her office overlooking Columbus Circle, the Charles Bronfman Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York is reflecting on her latest exhibition, “The Global Africa Project,” which opens on November 17. She’s been thinking about the topic for more than 40 years. Before coming to the museum, in 2007, she spent two and a half dec­ades as curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, followed by six years as director of the Studio Museum in Harlem. “It’s a culmination of things coming together,” she says. The show explores the influence of African visual culture on contemporary art, craft, and design, through the work of more than 100 contemporary artists, among them Nick Cave, Yinka Shonibare, Kehinde Wiley, and the Wu-Tang Clan. The focus is on ceramics, basketry, textiles, jewelry, furniture, fashion, and architecture, with painting, sculpture, and photography playing a supporting role. Sims’s cocurator is Leslie King-Hammond, founding director of the Center for Race and Culture at the Maryland Institute College of Art. “I pulled her in. My strength is contemporary and hers is traditional and transatlantic African art,” Sims says. Sims set out to examine “the black transatlantic esthetic, the transfer of esthetic values through object making. I also wanted to recognize what I had observed in a lot of careers of ‘African’ artists like Chris Ofili or Julie Mehretu—that their identities are not encumbered or enclosed by borders,” she explains. “This is the first show that’s really looking outside of Africa at how artists still carry on African culture.” She points out Chakaia Booker’s ­visceral sculpture made from recycled remnants of black tires. “She’s using rubber for its very specific historical resonances, with Africans being exploited in Liberia and Sierra Leone by different tire companies.” Another example is London-based artist Taslim Martin’s metal stool, modeled on a traditional African headrest used to preserve elaborate hairstyles while sleeping. “I want to close the gap between a high-art designer and a craftsman working in traditional ways,” Sims says. The show also looks at what is going on in Africa right now. For one, artists are reviving traditional techniques. The collective Groupe Bogolan Kasobané is teaching clay-slip painting in Mali, not only preserving a cultural heritage but also creating economic opportunity for local artisans. Fashion is a burgeoning industry in Kenya, South Africa, Congo, Nigeria, and Mali. The show includes the extravagant headwear of Ike Ude from Nigeria and the dramatically constructed dresses of the Black Coffee design studio in South Africa. Such design “not only reflects a natural elegance in Africans wearing their traditional dress but also people rising above their circumstance,” Sims says. “It’s about how people can maintain their dignity in the midst of whatever kind of chaos there is.” Born in 1949, Sims grew up in New York in a “weird, culturally oriented family.” Her father was an architect and her mother, after the children grew up, was a librarian. “My mother was from Harlem, very poor, but learned how to take advantage of everything that was free in the city,” she says. “We grew up knowing that we could go to museums, which were then free. We had to have a library card, and if we wanted to go to the symphony or ballet or opera, there was always standing room.” When Sims was 16, she used money she had earned from her part-time job at Woolworth’s to buy a membership to the Met, and regularly attended openings and lectures. “It was that experience of coming to the museum by myself in high school when I really understood that there were curators in charge of putting these things together,” she says. After graduating from Queens College in 1970 with a degree in art history and spending two years in graduate school at Johns Hopkins studying African art, Sims got a job at the Met, first in the education department and then in the curatorial department for 20th-century art. She worked closely with department chair William Lieberman to develop the 20th-­century wing, which opened in 1987. Of her many projects there, she is most proud of organizing the critically acclaimed 1991 show on Stuart Davis. “Today, it still may be the most complete survey of his career.” In 2000 Sims took the helm at the Studio Museum. “This was after multiculturalism had taken hold and a generation of black artists like Glenn Ligon, Gary Sim­mons, Lorna Simpson, and Carrie Mae Weems had really established their reputations in the art world,” she says. “The question became, What was the role of the Studio Museum and how were we defining our mission about black art? Was it global? Was it local? We took an open-ended approach.” After six years there, feeling that she had found a new niche for the museum both internationally and in relation to the local community, Sims turned the reins over to curator Thelma Golden and reoriented herself through teaching and independent projects. The following year, as the Mu­seum of Arts and Design was gearing up to reopen in its new Columbus Circle building, its director, Holly Hotchner, asked Sims to suggest curators. Sims threw her own name in for consideration and got the job. “She cares tremendously about the African American community, being a mentor, and trying to make the field more diverse. That carries a lot of power for her personally and for this institution,” Hotchner says. Sims edu­cated herself in design and the museum’s interdisciplinary approach. With chief curator David McFad­den, she co-organized the inaugural exhibition, “Second Lives,” showing art made from discarded or commonplace objects such as combs and pistol triggers, and the recent show “Dead or Alive,” which featured works made with organic materials such as insects and bones. The return to curatorial work has been a “distinct pleasure,” she says. “I’m not sure I would have consciously thought this would be a museum for me,” she says. “But I thought I could learn something.”

Estrogen has been linked to obesity and sexual dysfunction. You may want to rethink the amount of soy in your diet. Doctors Successfully Implant Lab-Grown Vaginas into 4 Women For women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, life can be difficult. Born with an absent or underdeveloped vagina, women suffering MRKH often have difficulty experiencing a normal sex life, can fail to menstruate and sometimes cannot reproduce naturally.But now, researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have found a way to normalize life for women with severe cases of MRKH: Using patients’ own cells, they have successfully grown vaginas in a laboratory setting and implanted them into four women. Health: Fertility Problems Could Be Caused by PCOS Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) affects between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of women in their reproductive years. It is considered one of the leading causes of subfertility in females. Subfertility describes a situation where a person less fertile than normal but still capable of reproducing. PCOS is treatable. How to Handle FDA Rejection Women’s groups are calling the FDA sexist for not approving female Viagra. They are so wrong. Real Reform Can Curb Exposure to Toxic Chemicals Infertility affects about 12 percent of couples, a statistic attributed partly by some studies to an increasingly Western-style diet, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. It's STI Awareness Month: 4 Things You Must Know About Safe Sex April is Sexually Transmitted Infections Awareness Month! It's that time of year when we all take stock in our bad sexual health habits, as well as the good ones, too, and resolve to be better. It's also that time of year when, if we've been lucky enough to remain STI-free despite any irresponsible, um, rendez-vous, that we thank our effing lucky stars that we dodged a bullet. What's the Latest on Hormone Replacement for Prevention? Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is the use of estrogen alone (for women who have had a hysterectomy) or combined with progestin (for women with an intact uterus). It is primarily used in menopausal women for relief of symptoms, particularly hot flashes. For many years, providers recommended that women continue to take HRT after menopause to prevent chronic conditions such as heart disease. America's Reproductive Medical Specialists Speak on Hobby Lobby Case As the highest court in the land convenes to hear Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., we are pleased to join with our colleagues throughout medicine to support the inclusion of contraception as an essential health benefit. We are a proud signatory to an amicus curia brief laying out the vital medical issues at stake. Medical Specialists Speak on Hobby Lobby Case

Supernatural or Natural? Strange things our brains can do to us. Ruth suggested that I make a separate discussion about this subject. Strange feelings, "voices," and other things that our brain chemistry sometimes does to us, and how people interpret them. I started with this post: Strange experiences: 1. When I was a teen at Sunday evening candlelight services; lots of quiet music, low lights, silent prayers. I did feel something, thought it was god, but I never "heard" any words. 2. Age 19 - took a course in hypnotism as part of a PR deal when I was on the road with HOI. The teacher gave the class a post-hypnotic suggestion that we would do the best show we ever had that night, and feel wonderful. I did (I don't know about the others), and I also realized that I was having the same "uplifting" feelings that I used to have at those Sunday evening services. 3. 2 years ago - having an MRI of my neck...same "floating" feeling after a while. (Much better than a drink or two!) We still don't know a great deal about how the brain works, but I have read that meditation/prayer and experiments with magnetic fields can create the same bio-chemical effect...or electro-chemical. I don't know which. (I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree.) And when I'm in that twilight place between sleeping and waking, I sometimes hear my mother quietly say my name. Mom died in 1993. I know my own mind created those "experiences." Except maybe the MRI. I forgot to add that the MRI "experience" was very, very close to feeling as though I was somewhere else...outside of my body. I must also say that the equipment was a state-of-the-art "open" MRI...not claustrophobic or noisy like the "torpedo tube" type that clanks and bumps and grinds. (I was in one of those once, and I started laughing so hard that they had to stop the machine to ask me WTF was happening. I had just seen a re-run of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," and the noise sounded just like the sound FX for the trashy Vogon spaceship.) Tags: Permalink Reply by Pat on April 11, 2012 at 7:46pm I did self-hypnosis. Was part of a medical experiment about those in a high stress situations. I was among a group of 1st year law students (see the movie Paper Chase). One group did meditation, one self-hypnosis (mine), and the other was a control group that did nothing. The group I was in had the lowest stress levels of anyone. Don't know why we were the lowest (I'm a lawyer, and not a doctor or scientist). But, to this day, I still use it. And, it still works. I found that if I use it in a high stress situation (closing argument to a jury), the other attorneys will be flipping through their notes and notebooks while trying to convince 12 people of their position. I do the self-hypnosis prior to closing argument. And, when I stand in front of the jury, I move the podium out of the way, with no notes or safety net, and do much better extemporaneously than they do. Don't ask me why. I don't have a damn clue. But, it works. Permalink Reply by sk8eycat on April 11, 2012 at 9:11pm I don't know, either, but it does work. Maybe it brings what you need to the "front" of your mind, and shoves everything else aside for the time being. Helps you focus. I decided a long time ago that the screwy dreams I sometimes have are a form of "data dump." Getting stuff that isn't necessary anymore out of the mind. But we still really know so little about the brain/mind. I remember how excited I was when I read about Candace Pert's "receptor" discoveries back in the 1980s. The first clues about how opiates relieve pain, and how or why some people become addicted, and others don't. Amazing! I often wonder what the next breakthrough will be. (Repairing spinal cord injuries, I hope!) Permalink Reply by sk8eycat on April 11, 2012 at 8:06pm I forgot to add in the intro to this discussion that another phenomenon that fascinates me is pareidolia...the brain making a familiar image out of complete visual nonsense. Like the "Face on Mars," Man (or rabbit) in the Moon, or the infamous "Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich" that sold for $20,ooo (I think) on eBay a couple of years ago. I thought it looked more like Mary Pickford, and a friend said, "No, a very young Joan Crawford." Now somebody is selling a sandwich press that cooks a real "Jesus" image onto the bread. Fun. Feed it to the dog! http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2012/04/national-grilled-...) So, everybody get out the bread, cheese, and butter, and see if you can come up with an image. At the very least, you'll have some yummy comfort food. PS: I'm going to be off the Net from tomorrow afternoon till Thursday (Thirst-day)...cat-sitting for a friend who doesn't want anything more complicated than a Kindle. Just wanted y'all to know that I'm not ignoring you, or anything like that. Years ago I'd had a series of nightmares over several nights. I woke from the last with the fear of death still palpable, and a warm glow of assurance I'd felt at the end. Turning my mind inward, I recalled and started analyzing these nonverbal thoughts before they dissipated from short term memory. I realized that remembering the original experiences was very difficult without words, without interpretation. I struggled to put them into long term memory. Suddenly it became clear that my inclination in the first seconds had been to draw upon childhood experiences and interpret what I'd experienced as God touching me with love. With a terrifying novel nonverbal stimulus, I think, we reach for the closest match first, the first association that seems to fit. Only my training in self-examination and the workings of the mind allowed me to examine this secondary interpretive process as it was happening, while still remembering the original experience. Wow! I thought, shaken. So this is how people have religious experiences! My adult interpretation was that I was prepared to face death, that I had faced life, felt loved, and when the time would come I would be ready to face oblivion. That was the warm internal reassurance from my Limbic System, not a spook. Decades ago, I and two friends were watching the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and his guest was a comedian (I forget which one). They were discussing what makes comedy funny and started discussing funny-sounding words like twerp and nerd. This reminded me of a guy who swapped the chrome letters F and D in "Ford" on his car (a Ford, of course) resulting in the word Dorf instead of Ford on the front of his car. Meanwhile, Johnny Carson and his guest were still tossing out funny sounding words. As if prompted by my comment about the Ford/Dorf swap, Johnny Carson tossed out the word, Dorf! He stopped and said, "Dorf? Dorf? That's not even a word . . . I have no idea where that came from." My friends and I looked at each other in disbelief. It was a very weird experience for us.

Member Details Confirm Approval Of Public Details ChangesApprove public member details changes?Approval of these changes will allow them to be displayed by the 'Find a member' feature of the public website providing the member's profile has been published.Discard Public Details ChangesDiscard public member details changes submitted for approval?The discarding of these changes that were submitted for approval by the member will permanently remove them from the approval process thus they will never be displayed by the 'Find a member' feature of the public website.Member Name:Miss Grainne I BourkeGMC:4371584Qualifications:MBBCh BAO FRCSI FRCS(Plast)Website:Not availableRegions:Yorkshire & HumbersideSpecial interests:Breast Surgery, Cosmetic Surgery, Hand and Upper Limb, Lower Limb, Paediatric, Skin Malignancy AddressesPlease use the pagination to the right to move between the different addresses Address: Postcode:Telephone:Mobile:Fax:Email:Address Type: Conditions that develop later in life due to accident or infection.Lazy eye.A preinvasive cancer involving the surface layer of the anus.Before birth.Rare and dangerous lesions that occur in the scalp, head and neck region. Often triggered by puberty, there is often a visible swelling in the skin which is blue in colour. This is surgery to fuse a joint.The procedure whereby liquid contents of a swelling can be removed with a needle. Reconstruction of the ear using the patient�s own tissue.This is the most common form of skin cancer. It grows locally and does not spread elsewhere in the body. It is usually cured by simple removal.A colloquial term for prominent ears.A condition caused by infection of by a reduced blood supply to the facial nerve. A benign condition is one that is not usually serious or harmful.When clefts occur on both sides of the mouth.Microtia affecting both ears.A biopsy is a medical test involving the removal of cells or tissues for examination.A new surgical technique often used in the treatment of hemifacial microsomia. Developed from limb lengthening operations first described in Russia, this technique is based on the principle of pushing small pins into bone, and moving these pins apart by a connecting bar which incorporates a screw thread. As the pins are gradually stretched apart, the bone and surrounding soft tissue is also stretched.The group of nerves located behind the collar bone which control feeling and movements in the arm. An artificial implant that is under the skin.The smallest blood vessels in the deep layer of skin.Another term for a haemangioma or strawberry mark.A condition caused by mechanical interference with the median nerve in the wrist. This large nerve provides feeling to the thumb, index and middle fingers and half of the ring finger. It also provides power to the small muscles at the base of the thumb. The median nerve enters the hand from the forearm, passing beneath a tough ligament (known as the carpal ligament) that runs across the wrist. This nerve can become squeezed, either because the contents of the tunnel beneath the ligament swell, or because the size of the tunnel decreases. This squeezing of the nerve causes tingling in the fingers, often accompanied by numbness. These sensations are usually worse at night, and often wake a patient from sleep. Pain can occur later on in the condition and can be felt in the hand, forearm or even in the upper arm and shoulder.An acquired shriveling of the outer ear common in boxers and rugby players.Another term for a haemangioma or strawberry mark.Abnormal cells in the cervix that only involve the surface layer of the cervix. The neck of the uterus or womb.Saromas arising from cartilageSplit or separation.Where the lip components fail to fuse and are split or separated.A specialist nurse that works as part of the cleft lip and palate team.Where the palate is split or separated. This occurs when the main components of the palate � the two palatal shelves in the roof of the mouth � fail to fuse properly.A clinical expert in the delivery of evidence-based nursing interventions usually in one specific area of clinical practice.Medical practitioner who specialises in cancer and its treatment. Nose reshaping operation carried out from inside the nostrils.The central piece at the bottom of the nose that divides the nostrils.A whole side-cleft running up to the nose from the lip.A complete cleft of the palate extends to the hard palate, the bony part at the front of the mouth.A graft consisting of skin and other underlying tissues such as fat and cartilage.The cartilage bowl of the ear.Conditions present at birth.A congenital condition in which the ear takes on a cup shape due to shortening of the outer circumference of the ear. A situation where tissues or scars shorten and cause deformity. A bone distraction procedure whereby a cut is made in the bone which is to be stretched. Pins are passed through the skin and into the bone on either side of the cut. These pins are then connected together by a distractor. In most cases, the distractor is opened by approximately one to two millimetres each day through the turning of a small screw. An average distraction length is likely to be in the region of two to two and half centimetres, which will probably take about three weeks to achieve. At the end of the period of distraction, the distractor is left in position for six to eight weeks while new bone fills the gaps which have been created. A second small operation is then required to remove the distractor.Is the term used to describe a number of conditions which, like craniosynostosis, involve the overgrowth and undergrowth of the structures of the head and face.A condition caused by the premature closure of the gaps between the bones of the cranium.Cryptotia means �buried ear�. This is a relatively rare deformation in which the groove behind the ear is not fully formed. This is aesthetically displeasing and can cause difficulties in wearing glasses. This condition can occasionally be corrected using splints but more commonly is corrected surgically around the age of 5. A colloquial term for constricted ears.Cysts associated with the skin are very common. They appear as rubbery or firm lumps just beneath the skin and attached to it. Often a tendency to get cysts is inherited. If they grow large they can become unsightly, they can become infected.Concerning the act of defaecation.Flat head syndrome in newborn babies. This is asymmetry in a baby�s head caused by the positioning of the head during extended time spent in a neonatal unit, the birth process, the position in the womb, and most often, the infant's preferred sleeping position.Deep layer of skin.A healthy part of the body where skin is removed as part of a skin graft or flap procedure.Bridge of the nose.This affects the layer of gristle which lies beneath the skin on the palm of the hand, fastening the skin to bone, enabling us to clutch and grip. The disease first makes its appearance as a small lump in the pit of the palm. Over time, this lump may form a cord of tissue that runs from the palm to the finger. After a while, this cord begins to shrink, drawing the finger into a clawed position. A treatment for arteriovenous malformations (AVM) with onyx. Designed to stop the blood-flow to the lesions.A cut made in the posterior wall of the vagina during childbirth.Surgical removal.An operation to remove a diseased part of the body.A balloon-like device inserted under the skin near the area to be repaired, which is then gradually filled with salt water, causing the skin to stretch and grow.A procedure whereby the face is deliberately split vertically along the line of the nasal bridge during monobloc advancement, in order to bring the eyes closer together, expand the upper jaw and rotate the two halves of the face into a more normal position. This refers to a paralysis of part of the face caused by a dysfunction of the facial nerve. The facial nerve controls the facial muscles, especially those around the eyes and mouth � for example, the muscles that lift the eyebrows, close the eyelids and raise the corners of the mouth to shape a smile. It is in these areas that patients with facial palsy most commonly experience problems.When developing tissues fail to join up properly.Between the tissues of the body are layers of connective tissue that separate them. These layers are known as fascia. A flap including the fascia along with its blood supply.Transfer of a living piece of tissue from one part of the body to another, along with the blood vessels that keep it alive. Unlike a skin graft, flaps carry with them their own blood supply. Flap surgery can restore form and function to areas of the body that have lost skin, fat, muscle movement, and/or skeletal support. Flap reconstruction involves the transfer of a living piece of tissue from one part of the body to another, along with the blood vessel that keeps it alive. Unlike a skin graft, flaps carry with them their own blood supply. Flap surgery can restore form and function to areas of the body that have lost skin, fat, muscle movement, and/or skeletal support. There are two main types of flap. These are local flap and regional flap.Flap reconstruction involves the transfer of a living piece of tissue from one part of the body to another, along with the blood vessel that keeps it alive. Unlike a skin graft, flaps carry with them their own blood supply. Flap surgery can restore form and function to areas of the body that have lost skin, fat, muscle movement, and/or skeletal support. There are two main types of flap. These are local flap and regional flap.Asymmetry in a baby�s caused by the positioning of the baby�s head during extended time spent in a neonatal unit, the birth process, the position in the womb, and most often, the infant's preferred sleeping position.Free flap reconstruction involves the transfer of living tissue from one part of the body to another, along with the blood vessels that keep it alive. Unlike other flap transfers, free flaps are entirely disconnected from their original blood supply and are reconnected using microsurgery in the recipient site. This procedure involves hooking up the tiny blood vessels of the flap with those in the new site, and is carried out with use of an operating microscope.A graft consisting of all layers of the skin.Ganglions are the most common type of swelling in the hand. They contain a thick clear liquid called synovial fluid. Although ganglions can arise from any joint or tendon tunnel, there are four common locations in the hand and wrist - in the middle of the back of the wrist; on the front of the wrist at the base of the thumb; at the base of a finger, and on the back of a finger end-joint. Ganglions occur when synovial fluid leaks out of a joint or tendon tunnel and forms a swelling under the skin, although the cause of these leaks is not known. In some cases ganglions are painful, in others they are not.A clinical geneticist arranges tests and advises patients and families who suffer from inherited conditions.The term used to describe any surgery to the chin which does not involve the tooth-bearing part of the lower jaw. These procedures may be used to move the chin forwards, backwards, upwards or downwards, and are usually done via an incision made inside the mouth where the lower lip joins the lower gum. The bone of the chin is cut horizontally below the level of the tooth roots, and is then moved into its new position and fixed there with wires or titanium screws. These remain in place and do not need to be removed. The incision is then closed with dissolving stitches.The lower urinary and reproductive tract.A drug used to treat GIST sarcomas.A skin graft involves taking a healthy patch of skin from one area of the body, known as the donor site, and using it to cover another area where skin is missing or damaged. The piece of skin that is moved is entirely disconnected, and requires blood vessels to grow into it when placed in the recipient site.Concerning cancers arising from the female genital tract.Medical practitioner who deals with the health of the female reproductive system.A benign overgrowth of blood vessels on the skin that appears as a soft, raised swelling. They are typically crimson red in colour with a slightly dimpled surface. They appear just after birth, largely around the head and neck but can appear anywhere on the body. Colloquially known as strawberry marks or birthmarks and medically also referred to as strawberry naevi, strawberry haemangiomas, capillary haemangiomas and cavernous haemangiomas.Major injuries that have been sustained to the hand. This could range from burns and skin loss to loss of digits.Bony palate at the front of the month.A congenital condition involving underdevelopment of the face. The human papilloma virus.Defect of the urethra in baby boys.Slight notch in the lip.This involves either realignment of bones or ligament reconstruction using a tendon; suitable only for a minority of patients who have an unstable joint but little damage to the surfaces of the joints.The external lips of the vagina.The outer lips of the vagina.The inner lips of the vagina.A surgical procedure to reshape the inner lips of the vagina.Operations to move the facial bones forward.Sarcomas that grow out of smooth muscle.A lesion is a medical name for a skin blemish of some sort. Skin lesions include moles, warts, cysts and lipomas.A muscle in the middle of the eyelid.Lipomas are fatty lumps under the skin. They usually grow slowly as painless swellings.Uses a piece of skin and underlying tissue that lie near to the wound. The flap remains attached at one end so that it continues to be nourished by its original blood supply and is repositioned over the wounded area.Local removal of a lesion with a cuff of normal tissue.A colloquial term for constricted ears.A clear fluid carried through a network of channels in the body known as the lymphatic system.These are organs consisting of many types of cells, and are part of the lymphatic system. Lymph nodes are found all through the body, and act as filters or traps for foreign particles. They contain white blood cells and are important in the proper functioning of the immune system.A vascular malformation. These involve the lymph system and are present at birth or develop up until the age of two. The do not shrink or fade. They vary from small blister-like marks on the skin to large swellings in the neck, limbs or face.A network of channels in the body that carry a clear fluid called lymph.Melanoma is the type of cancer that arises in pigment cells within the skin. It is less common than the other sorts, but can be more serious. The majority of patients are still cured by simple removal, but melanoma can come back after removal and spread elsewhere in the body. Over the past few decades, the incidence of melanoma has risen steadily throughout the world.Facial surgery to correct abnormalities of the jaw.Medical practitioner who specialises in cancer and its treatment.Surgery carried out with use of a microscope.Surgery carried out with use of a microscope.Translated from the Greek, means �little ear�. It is the medical word used to describe a small or absent ear in newborn babies. A technique to remove a skin cancer with a narrow margin. The edges are then mapped and carefully checked to ensure complete removal of the tumour. If the excision is incomplete the involved margin is re-excised. This process is repeated until the excision is confirmed to be complete at all the edges.A mole is a clump of pigment cells in the skin. Moles usually appear as flat brown marks during childhood and early adult life. They gradually change as time goes by often becoming more raised and paler, some go away completely. Moles assume a wide variety of sizes and appearances, some grow hair, and some are rough on the surface.A LeFort III type osteotomy which extends into the skull to move the forehead region forward at the same time.The mound anterior to the vagina.This is a team made up of specialists working together to make sure that the best possible treatment is givenThe medical name for capillary malformations.Basal cell cancer and squamous cell cancer are two types of non-melanoma skin cancer.The cartilage that makes up the tip-support to the nose needs to be partly removed or reshaped. This is done through the nostril, or by making a small cut in the bit (columella) between the nostrils.A dental specialist that treats dental displacement or facial growth abnormalities on an aesthetic or reconstructive basis. Surgeons that carry out procedures concerning the musculoskeletal system.This is the degeneration of a joint through wear and tear. It can cause aching, especially between thumb and the side of the index finger. The pain may lead to a sense of weakness when you pinch or grip. The base of the thumb may become swollen and may crunch audibly during certain movements. It may also become misshapen. It is this pain and disability that often encourages people to seek surgical interventions.Sarcomas arising from bone.Is the term used to describe the surgical correction of prominent ears.A surgeon who diagnoses and treats conditions affecting the urinary tract and genital tract in children. A medical specialist that deals with the illnesses and treatment of infants, children and adolescents.The two parts of the roof of the mouth that form the palate.When the cleft is partial, it affects only the soft palate at the back of the mouth.Medical practitioner who diagnoses diseases via tissue or cell samples or via autopsy.That portion of the external pelvic organs that includes the urinary tract, the genital tract and anus.A professional who treats and manages patient with musculoskeletal problems using exercises and other forms of physical therapy.The colloquial name for capillary malformations.Surgical procedure whereby the vagina is separated from the rectum and the muscles pulled together to tighten the vaginal structures.These affect people who are immobilised through sickness or disability. The sores themselves occur when skin overlying a bony prominence breaks down following prolonged contact with a surface, such as a mattress or a wheelchair seat.A sarcoma affecting bone.The problem is often inherited, and is caused by a lack of the usual cartilage folds in the ear. Shaping and fitting a false ear to the side of the head.Someone who fits a prosthesis.Professionals who are concerned using psychological findings to help people live healthy and productive lives and resolve mental health problems.Medical practitioner who uses radiation to treat disease, usually cancer.Radiation treatment used to treat disease, usually Cancer.An area of the body where skin is missing or damaged and to where tissue is transferred.The lower part of the large bowel above the anus.Uses a section of tissue that is attached by a specific blood vessel. When the flap is lifted, it needs only a very narrow attachment to the original site to receive its nourishing blood supply from the artery and vein.Nose reshaping.An acquired condition characterised by the deterioration of the skin and soft tissue of one half of the face (usually the left side). More common in females than males, this deterioration causes initial changes in the tissues above the upper jaw, or between the nose and the upper corner of the lip. It then progresses to the mouth, the area surrounding the eye, the brow, the ear and the neck. It may also affect the tongue, the soft palate, and the gums. The eye and cheek of the affected side may become sunken, and facial hair may turn white and fall out.A cancer of the body�s connective tissues, such as bone, muscle, cartilage and fat.The outer groove of the ear.The central structure of the nose.A skin graft involves taking a healthy patch of skin from one area of the body, known as the donor site, and using it to cover another area where skin is missing or damaged. The piece of skin that is moved is entirely disconnected, and requires blood vessels to grow into it when placed in the recipient site.The soft, flexible portion of the Palate at the back of the mouth that is concerned with speech.The role of a speech and language therapist is to assess and treat speech, language and communication problems in people of all ages to enable them to communicate to the best of their ability.A muscular constriction at the entrance or exit to a cavity or body organ.The use of splints or other external devices to correct deformity, maintain position and support structures.A graft that uses only the layers of skin closest to the surface.A bar of cartilage in the upper part of the ear causing an extra crease. Another term for a haemangioma or strawberry mark.Another term for a haemangioma or strawberry mark.A thick, clear liquid that lubricates a joint or tendon. This fluid accumulates within a ganglion.Where muscle is moved from the temple to the eyelids to restore strength is area and counter the effects of paralysis.The major bone in the lower leg.Tissue expansion is a procedure that enables the body to �grow� extra skin by stretching surrounding tissue. A balloon-like device called an expander is inserted under the skin near the area to be repaired, and is then gradually filled with salt water, causing the skin to stretch and grow.This involves the transfer of digits from the foot to the hand undertaken with use of a microscope. The absence of a finger does not usually have much effect on either the function or the appearance of the hand, but when the missing digit is a thumb, or when many digits are missing, surgery may be needed.A tough ligament that runs across the wrist.This involves the complete removal of the trapezium bone; recommended if the joint above or below this bone are affected by arthritis. Some surgeons fill the gap left by the bone, or the deficit with adjacent tissue.This is performed if there are concerns that the thumb appears too slack to sit securely in the new joint created by the removal of the bone.The main joint at the base of the thumb. This joint carries a lot of force when the thumb is used, yet allows for a complex range of movements, including rotation. Trauma refers to any serious, body-altering injury sustained through accident or impact. Trauma injuries vary in type and severity, but most commonly involve burns, lacerations, fractures and crush. Plastic surgeons have always been involved in the treatment of trauma.An inherited congenital condition with a genetic cause. It affects both sides of the face and is associated with alteration of the position of the eyes, deafness, underdeveloped low-set ears, and underdevelopment of the mid and lower face.Microtia affecting one ear.This refers to all structures from the fingertips to the neck, and also encompasses the group of nerves located behind the collar bone which control feeling in the arm. The tube through which urine is passed.�Pee-hole�Constriction or blockage of the vagina.These cover a broad spectrum of skin lesions present at birth of shortly after birth. One of the types of vascular anomalies. They are present at birth. They grow proportionately to a baby and are classified according to the dominant blood vessel type they contain.The external female genitalia.Changes that can occur in the skin that covers the vulva. If left untreated, it can develop into vulval cancer.A wart is a rough patch of skin. The most common type is caused by a wart virus infection. There other types of wart with other causes.This means not only removing a tumour but cutting out a fair amount of surrounding tissue also.

Can I Get Checked for Colorectal Cancer Before I Have Symptoms? Your best chance of surviving colorectal cancer is if your doctor finds and treats it early. The best way to find it early is with a regular screening test. Screening tests look for problems in people who don’t have symptoms. There aren’t routine screening tests for most cancers, but there are several tests that screen for colorectal cancer. Some of these tests also screen for abnormal growths called polyps, which might be found and removed before they have a chance to turn into cancer. Screening can be effective if your doctor finds polyps or cancer before you have symptoms. Then your doctor must follow up with a good treatment plan. These are the main screening tests for colorectal cancer: Fecal occult blood test or fecal immunochemical test. These tests look for hidden blood in the stool. Hidden blood is called occult. Blood vessels in cancers or precancerous growths called polyps are easily broken during a bowel movement. This may cause blood to show up in the stool. Flexible sigmoidoscopy. Your doctor uses this test to look at your rectum and lower colon, called the sigmoid colon. For the test, your doctor inserts a thin, lighted tube with a small video camera on the end into your rectum. The tube is called a sigmoidoscope. Your doctor may take tissue samples called biopsies of anything that looks unusual. Colonoscopy. Your doctor uses this test to look at your rectum and your entire colon. It uses a long, lighted tube with a small video camera on the end called a colonoscope. The doctor inserts the scope into your rectum and through your colon. The doctor looks for growths called polyps, which can be removed. They are usually noncancerous or benign. Some polyps, though, can turn into cancer.

Do what it takes? The Interwebs are abuzz over Catherine Hakim's new book Erotic Capital. Hakim, a British sociologist, is best known for authoring books and articles centered around women in the workplace and gender equality. A self-described feminist, Hakim has made a career of attempting to understand and iterate the social, political and economic impact woman have in the workplace and how pressures of conformity and patriarchal values create challenges for women. Given her background, many feminists are perplexed by the assertion she makes in her latest book, that a woman's best bet in the workplace is to leverage her sexuality in order to even the odds. Yep, that's right. A feminist telling us to use our looks to get ahead. Not only that, Hakim asserts that women who don't take the time to maximize their sex appeal via diet, makeup, wardrobe and options like Botox are being are simply lazy and counter-productive. To be fair, I haven't read the book yet. Its sitting in my Kindle account, waiting for my droid to have a 3G signal to download it. However, the salient points Hakim makes via her interview with The Daily Beast, are worth discussion and don't require the finer points of the book to be open to debate. "Anyone, even quite an ugly person, can be attractive if they just have the right kind of hairstyle, clothes, and present themselves to the best effect...This isn't a frivolous spending of money. It has real benefits." In and of itself, nothing about this statement is truly offensive. I remember attending a seminar geared toward women in business back in the late 1980's where we were advised to pay attention to how the senior executives in our company dressed. If we wanted to succeed, an easy way to demonstrate our "acceptability" was to dress the same way. If the men wore suits and ties, women should wear suits and low heels. If everyone wore solid colors - black, blue, etc - so should you. If the environment was casual, be the best-casually-dressed worker in the office. I don't think its such a stretch to encourage people to look their best at work, it demonstrates a level of attention and ambition that assures higher-ups that you are someone who's not just marking time at your job, you're in the game. Social research doesn't lie; people make assumptions about other people all of the time based simply on how they look. It stands to reason that a competent employee who dresses like a slob is going to be less favored than an equally competent employee who dresses well, all else being equal. Hakim asserts that "Everybody should use all the assets they've got, and this is one asset that women have often been told is inappropriate to use. I think women need to stop having a chip on their shoulder, or feel uncomfortable investing in erotic capital. Attractiveness and beauty has real value." She claims that things such as Exercise, tanning, coloring your hair and even plastic surgery are necessary evils for career success. She identifies social skills as another invaluable asset. Its disconcerting to have someone with Hakim's considerable research behind them to bluntly advise us that we must look better in order to compete. But is it true? I've met plenty of women in the business place that easily fall into stereotypical categories. I've worked with women who were gorgeous and marginally competent, who slept with or sucked off whichever man was required in order to get a better salary, a better bonus or a promotion. I've worked with women who were incredibly good at their jobs but who were challenged either by less-than-stellar looks or a timid personality or both, and heard them degraded behind their backs by coworkers and higher-ups based simply on the scale of their physical attractiveness. I've heard people say things like "Oh yeah, she's really good at what she does, but..." Then there are those women - the ones who have it all. Either blessed genetically with good looks or having earned them via a lot of time in the gym or under the scalpel, these women also have the brains and the personality to boot. And frankly, they blow the competition out of the water. They work hard, they get things done, and they look good doing it. That's pretty hard to compete with. I can see it from both sides, honestly. I value a person's ability over their looks, and as a manager I know that I want to hire people who will get the job done. But as a woman in the workplace who is also interested in cultivating my own success, I often must consider how my physical appearance might benefit or harm me. One button too low? Does this make me look too casual? Am I over- or under-doing the hair and makeup? What is it I want to accomplish today and what meetings do I have where I may need to generate a better impression? I have had the (mis?)fortune in the past of supervising stereotypical office bimbos. Women that reported to me but who were also sleeping with other managers in the company or getting massive boob jobs and distracting the entire office with their low-cut shirts, I can tell you quite honestly I'd rather have someone who is a lot more discreet in their clothing choices, regardless of the quality of their work. Its not that I resent another women for being pretty or sexy, I don't. We come in all shapes and sizes, and just because someone looks different from me or is younger than I am doesn't mean I'm competing with her. However, in my experience, a woman who openly flaunts her sexuality in the work environment becomes a distraction, breeds jealousy and resentment in her coworkers. Even if she isn't sleeping her way up the ladder, if she's wearing micro-minis and being obviously sexual in her behavior, everyone will believe that she is. When you're managing people, you need teamwork from your people, and the pockets of overt hostility that such a woman engenders, unless she is staggeringly brilliant at her job, aren't worth it. On that basis alone, I'm going to assume that Hakim isn't telling us to "whore it up" to get ahead, but that she rather means to look and act our best and that success will naturally follow. I'm inclined to follow my natural instinct that the inclusion of the term "Erotic" in the book's title and the somewhat inflammatory nature of Hakim's comments in her Daily Beast interview are deliberate and designed to increase interest in the book itself, and that what she's actually proposing to her readers is something other than what the book's title suggests. And if I'm wrong, and that's what she's actually suggesting, I will less-than gently opine that she's got it all wrong. Crossing a certain line when it comes to what you wear and how you act at work will do you more harm than good. And the more women that cross that line, the harder they make it for the rest of us to remind the corporate patriarchy that we are competent, we are personable, we are capable of success without using our lady parts to get there. One time, before they added the feature where you can scroll through profiles of people who are connected to people who are connected to you they used to just make a few suggestions by name. Once LinkedIn suggested that I connect to my Mother's cousin's daughter's husband, who I have not seen since 1996 and who lives in South Carolina. How did you know, LinkedIn, HOW DID YOU KNOW???? So last week I'm scrolling through the list of people LinkedIn thinks I want to connect with, and I see a name that I recognize. Its the daughter of the alcoholic I lived with some twenty or more years ago, the daughter of the man who glued me to the path of the codependent, the daughter whose father owes the state of New Jersey some $54,000 in back child support. Wow, LinkedIn, REALLY? How did you know? As it turns out, the suggestion wasn't that mysterious, she is the connection of a connection. And then I look at my list of connections and I start to have that strange sensation of sinking into a swimming pool filled with marshmallows. Goosebumps rise on my forearms as I consider the breadth of people represented in those several hundred names on my contacts list. High school friends. College friends, sorority sisters. Ex lovers. Coworkers current and past. Business associates, fellow Bastards, fellow bloggers. All across the web, we are connected. We are connected on Facebook, we follow each other on Twitter, we know someone who knows someone who knows someone who...fill in the blank. Connected. Interrelated. I think now, more than ever, the average non-adopted person can understand what its like to be an adoptee "in reunion" and living with relatives from two (or sometimes even more) families. Adoption, divorce, remarriage, step-familying - my children have a brother from another mother, I will likely soon be acquiring another step-offspring, I have a brother and cousins by adoption and brothers and sisters and cousins by birth, because their father and I are both adopted, my children have at least eight sets of grandparents, and that's not counting potential future stepgrandparents. But when viewed in the context of the world of social networking so many of us inhabit, it no longer seems strange, does it? We may not be one people, but we are all on one planet. Social Media has provided the material framework to prove what I've known all along - we are connected, each and every one of us, if not by blood and birth then by common acquaintance and if not by that then by common interest or common point of contention. And yet, more so than I can remember in my very brief lifetime, the dividing lines between people in my country are wider and more stark. We live in a world where we can connect to one another at will, with an ease and speed never before known in the history of humankind, and the beliefs and the politics that we cling to drive us even farther apart. The juxtaposition of these two concepts, our connectedness and our difference, flattens me with the irony it engenders. Together. One. Apart. Many.

Who are the members of the radiology team? The quality performance of radiology examinations and procedures, along with accurate and timely interpretation of radiology procedure results, is accomplished by a team of various health care professionals. The radiology team includes doctors, technologists, and nurses. What do the radiology team members do? Doctors. The radiology team is led by one or more radiologists, who are doctors specializing in the field of radiology. Radiologists are responsible for interpreting the results of examinations, performing certain procedures, such as interventional radiology procedures or therapeutic procedures, conferring and consulting with other doctors in other specialties, and ensuring the overall quality performance of the entire radiology team. Technologists. Radiology technologists are responsible for performing many of the various types of radiology examinations, including X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, mammograms, and ultrasound procedures. Technologists receive formal training in various types of educational programs, lasting from one to four years. In addition to training in the various radiology modalities, radiology technology students also study human anatomy and physiology, chemistry, and other pertinent subjects. Once a radiology technology student completes training in an approved training program, he or she may undergo additional study or training in order to specialize in a particular modality, such as CT scans or MRIs. Radiology technologists are certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. Nurses. Nurses often assist with more complex radiology procedures, such as interventional procedures requiring sedation of the patient, or procedures requiring intravenous (IV) administration of medications, contrast, and/or nuclear substances. Nurses may be responsible for assessing and documenting patient status, conferring with the radiologist for specific patient care needs, and providing educational information to patients related to their radiology procedure. Medical physicists. Medical physicists participate in ensuring the accurate delivery of diagnostic or therapeutic radiation therapy. They work together with the radiology team in treatment planning, establishing protocols for radiation procedures, ensuring safe and accurate measurement of radiation doses, as well as monitoring the performance of radiological equipment. Their role also encompasses areas of research and development of new technologies. A qualified medical physicist may have a master's or doctorate degree with one to two years of clinical physics experience. Medical physicists are certified by the American Board of Radiology or the American Board of Medical Physics. Dosimetrists. Dosimetrists collaborate with radiation oncologists and medical physicists in calculating the precise radiation dose that is ordered. Dosimetrists may be certified by the Medical Dosimetrist Certification Board.

Fifth of working fathers 'would rather look after baby' By Patrick Howse BBC News, Education reporter More than a third of the men who work full-time said they had no flexibility in their working hours Childcare spending 'rises' - survey Es Devlin on staying creative Watch 'Child care costs soar by 77%' Listen More than a fifth of men wish they had looked after their children rather than returning to work, researchers say. More than a third of men questioned told researchers that they worked full-time and were offered no flexibility at all by their employers. The study also found that 80% of women feel "guilty" about going back to work after having children. The survey was commissioned to help launch the Work and Family Show, which begins in London today. Researchers sent questionnaires to working parents and expectant parents whose details were on the the databases of My Family Care and the Baby Show. It was carried out online last month, with 1,000 people responding. 'Guilty and worried' The survey suggests women find it harder than men to return to work after starting a family, but that significant numbers of fathers also have concerns. More than 80% of women respondents said they felt "guilty going back to work and leaving my child", and worried about leaving their children in the care of others, compared with just 39% of men. However, only 24% of women said that they wished they had not returned to work, with 22% of men saying the same. More than 20% of women said they felt less confident in their abilities when they did return to work, compared with less than 2.5% of men. Only around 20% of men and women said they could agree with the statement "I have found a balance and feel that I have it all". More than 43% of women respondents said they did "most of the domestic chores", compared with just 27% of men who said the same. The Fatherhood Institute, a charity which describes itself as "the UK's fatherhood think-and-do-tank" says the survey's results "fit with previous evidence". "It is men, not women, who are most dissatisfied with their work-life balance," said Adrienne Burgess, the institute's joint chief executive. "They're more likely than mums to be in full-time paid employment, and to be the sole or main breadwinner. Full-time working men also work longer hours on average than their female counterparts, and tend to have longer commutes," she said. "Crucially, few employers have strategies to support the men in their workforce to combine their work and domestic commitments. "As a result, men are less likely to request flexible working, and if they do, are less likely to get it." 'Inspiration and ideas' The survey was conducted by My Family Care, one of the organisers of the show. Its director, Ben Black, said that "more companies than ever before" had introduced measures to help their employees balance their careers with the needs of their families, but he believes more can be done. "Today, over 2.2 million parents are not working in order to look after their family. However, more than 60% are looking to return to work but do not know how to, or are scared of how they will manage to look after their children and focus on work." The Work and Family Show opens in London today, alongside the Baby Show. The event's organisers say it aims to give working parents "practical advice, inspiration and ideas to help you create a happy and healthy work-life balance". Jenny Willott, the Minister for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs, will be taking part in a panel discussion at the show. The government says it is keen to encourage employers to introduce more flexible working, and points to its policy of shared parental leave as a measure that can help working families achieve a better work-life balance. More on This Story

One thing that everyone thinks they know about early Christians is that they went around and burnt down libraries and anything else they felt threatened by. For a 'fact' that is so widely believed, there is remarkably little evidence around. When challenged the best that most people can do is mention the Christians who destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria but as I have established in this article, that is itself a myth. That has not stopped authors like Carl Sagan in Cosmos and others who really ought to know better, from recycling it to make anti-Christian points. After finding the example most commonly given was untrue, I decided to launch an in-depth inquiry into the two related questions of what has happened to the majority of the corpus of ancient writing and whether the Christian contribution to their preservation has been positive or negative. This survey only covers the early church and the period through the Dark Ages so it does not examine the work of medieval inquisitors or later church authorities. I hope to look at these areas at a later date but for the moment my conclusions are as follows: Indiscriminate destruction of ancient literature by institutional Christianity never occurred; There was no attempt to suppress pagan writing per se; On a few occasions, pagan tracts specifically targeted against Christianity were condemned but others have been preserved; Suppression of heretical Christian writing was widespread; Magical and esoteric works were treated in exactly the same way as they were under the pagan Emperors which was not very sympathetic; With some exceptions, respect for pagan learning was widespread among Christians; Survival of classical literature is almost entirely due to the efforts of Christian monks laboriously copying out texts by hand. The idea of deliberating setting fire to a repository of knowledge appals us in a way that few other crimes can do. As demonstrated by the astronomical sums paid at auction, we value art far more than human life. Tens of thousands of Afghans could die in war without anyone in the West caring very much but, as the BBC reported, when the Taleban demolish a couple of ancient statues, there is world wide horror and condemnation. This attitude has meant that the false accusation that Edward Gibbon laid at the door of the Patriarch Theophilus in chapter 28 of his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire regarding the Great Library of Alexandria has been tremendously damaging to Christianity and is repeated by every author with a bone to pick. But although we can establish that this library was not destroyed by a Christian mob, were there not other ancient libraries that did suffer exactly that fate? The saying that there is no smoke without fire would seem to be exceedingly appropriate in this case. I do not for a second claim to have analysed every ancient source but I have read a good deal and have only located one example of deliberate destruction of an entire library recorded by the chroniclers. The chronicler in question is John of Antioch about whom we know almost nothing. He was a Greek speaking Christian historian who may have lived between the sixth and tenth centuries. All his works are lost and only fragments of his chronicle remain preserved in other places. Among them is following passage from the great Byzantine encyclopaedia called the Suda in the article on the Emperor Jovian: Emperor Hadrian had built a beautiful temple for the worship of his father Trajan which, on the orders of Emperor Julian, the eunuch Theophilus had made into a library. Jovian, at the urging of his wife, burned the temple with all the books in it with his concubines laughing and setting the fire. Scholars believe that it is John of Antioch is being quoted. The Suda itself is full of snippets of information but it is treated with justifiable caution by the scholars who have studied it. Certainly, it is very often wrong but usually not deliberately. Instead it just quotes earlier authors uncritically and repeats their mistakes. In favour of the verity of this story, John was from the city of Antioch where the alleged event happened and Jovian did visit there during the few months of his reign. On the other hand, the problems with its credibility are extremely wide ranging. The pagan historian Ammianus Marcellinus was actually with Jovian in Antioch and does not breath a word about any libraries (We complains about their closure at other points in his narrative so was not uninterested in the question. We will return to other these libraries later). Although Jovian was a Christian he is recorded by the rhetor Themistius to have insisted on tolerance towards pagans. The great pagan orator Libanius who lived in Antioch at the time and from whom we have speeches, lectures and no less than 1,500 letters, makes no mention of the library's destruction. We have no other record of there being a temple of Trajan built by Hadrian in Antioch. John was writing several hundred years after the library burning is supposed to have taken place but no one else mentions it. No source for his story is given although some scholars like RC Blockley believe it may have come from Eunapius of Sardis who was a near contemporary of Jovian and whom John of Antioch used as a source. All the counter arguments depend on silence which demonstrates just how hard it is to prove a negative. On a personal note, the involvement of Jovian's wife and concubines makes me feel the story is less convincing although the women could be later accretions. If we knew that burning down libraries was the sort of thing that Jovian or other Christians actually did, we might have a case for believing it happened here but as it is a single example it cannot be allowed to simply reinforce our prejudices. Still, this remains the only possible record of a library being deliberately destroyed that I have been able to find in the sources and those who with an anti-Christian axe to grind should use this case rather than Alexandria. Furthermore, it does illustrate that Christian writers were happy to report such things and repeat them from other sources. Contrary to the allegations of many sceptics, the Christian scribes made no effort to censor this alleged misdeed of Jovian even though he was a Christian emperor. That is not to say that many texts were not destroyed by the Christian Roman Emperors. We find that in fact they were, but often for reasons completely divorced from theology and as a continuation of exactly the policy that had been followed by their pagan antecedents. The relationship between the state and soothsayers in the Roman Empire was always ambiguous. Although some educated Romans like Cicero viewed the practices of these people as so much hokum, many thought that astrology, augury and other forms of divination actually worked. This made the practitioners dangerous people who had to be controlled. For this reason, they were either regulated by the state or, if they worked unofficially, persecuted to ensure they stayed in line. Astrologers were regularly persecuted and expelled, from the first time in 139BC and throughout the duration of the Empire. We learn from Suetonius that Augustus, as soon as he became High Priest and in charge of such matters, rounded up over 2,000 prophetic books and burnt them. He left only the famous Sibylline books which he locked away in the Temple of Palatine Apollo so that they could only be consulted by those who could be trusted to give an official interpretation. We can read about the final fate of these esteemed but probably less than enlightening books in the elegy Concerning my Return by Rutilius Namatianus who says of the Gothic general, Stilicho, who rose to be chief minister of the Western Emperors at the end of the fourth century "Before this, he burnt the predictions which carried the power of the Sybil." Rutilius is writing shortly afterwards and hence he is nearly contemporary. Consequently, it seems likely that Stilicho completed the job Augustus started in destroying prophetic texts. Later on, John of Salisbury in the thirteenth century, tells us in his Policraticus a different story. He is really far too late to be reliable and admits he is reporting a rumour, so is mentioned here only for completeness. According to John, the story was that Pope Gregory the Great had burnt some books from the Palatine Library in yet another purge of prophetic writings. He writes: As well as this, that man most holy teachings, Gregory, who poured forth a charming shower of proclamations and inspired the whole church, not only ordered magical works out of his palace, but, as our ancestors hand down, gave to the fire writing forbidden for reading - whatever was held by in the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine - works in which there were teachings which seemed to reveal to men the mind of the heavens and supernatural prophecies. Although there is nothing intrinsically unlikely about Pope Gregory continuing the policy of Rome's pagan rulers in destroying these apparently subversive works we have seen the job appears to have been completed already. Some commentators have taken one or the other above passages to mean that the entire Palatine Library was destroyed but this is an interpretation that the sources, even if they are reliable, cannot sustain. As far as the Emperors were concerned there was one kind of divination activity that was treated as the highest form of treason and punished accordingly - that of predicting the future of the Imperial family. Ammianus Marcellinus gives the most terrifying account of how these things could spiral out of control. He tells of reign of terror under the Emperor Valens reminiscent of Caligula or Commodus involving the show trial and execution of dozens of people who were suspected of divination of this kind although the evidence came from others tortured into confessions. The victims' books were seized and claimed to be prophetic texts although Ammianus says that in fact they were mainly concerned with art and law. These books were burned and in the resulting panic many people destroyed their entire private libraries to ensure they had no incriminating evidence in their homes. In a further example, Diocletian is said by John of Antioch, again in the Suda, to have destroyed the esoteric works of the Egyptians on alchemy and magic: He also sought out the forbidden books by the ancient Egyptians concerning the alchemy of gold and silver and threw them to the flames so that the confidence and spirit for rebellion would not be available to the Egyptians due to either the means of their art or the amount of their wealth. The story is again unsupported and unreliable but accurately reflects the reputation that Egypt had for being the repository of forbidden knowledge as well as typical Roman policy toward magical texts. The fact that Augustus and Diocletian were pagan Emperors and that Valens and Stilicho were Christians does not figure at all in the analysis of these events. Certainly, although Constantine made Christianity the official religion, the Roman Empire remained just as much of a military despotism as it ever was. It was not until Theodosius was reprimanded by Archbishop Ambrose that some of the Emperors' megalomaniac proclivities were to be at all circumscribed by Christianity and even then, not by much. The Christian church prior to the Middle Ages had a very healthy attitude towards magic and related subjects as it simply dismissed them as superstition not worthy of attention. The episode in the Acts of the Apostles where the magicians destroy their own scrolls to show they realise how useless they are is illustrative of this. The church would therefore have not particularly cared about such texts but as they were not copying them either, very few have survived the ravages of time. In the early Renaissance, in many ways a far more superstitious time than the Middle Ages, they again became popular, especially the Corpus Hermiticum and related works. The Church History of Eusebius sometimes gives the impression that Christian martyrs were being slaughtered in their thousands for three hundred years. Scholars today take a rather dim view of this idea and accept that persecution specifically aimed at Christians was both rare and highly localised. Pliny's letter to Trajan appears to sum up the Roman attitude that hunting down Christians was not the done thing but they were to be executed if they happened to be caught. Late in the day, however, on the advice of his prot�g� Galerius, the Emperor Diocletian launched what is usually referred to as the Great Persecution. It was a indeed a bloody affair that involved the suppression of literature as well as persons. Of course, it is unlikely that Diocletian made any distinction between orthodox and heretic Christians. Eusebius and the Suda both mention that there was wide scale destruction of Christian texts and some scholars such as Bruce Metzger believe it was so efficient that it explains why almost no pre 300AD New Testament manuscripts survive. When the persecution finally came to an end the most pressing concern of Christians was what to do about all the people who had recanted under the threat of the scaffold and now wanted to return to the church. The last pagan Emperor was Julian who tried a much more subtle approach. He wanted to reinvigorate paganism so it could win the battle for hearts and minds against Christianity. He wrote that his efforts to restore paganism were being seriously hampered by the charity and good deeds of the Christians and in any case his two years on the throne were not sufficient to have much effect. He wrote to his friend Arsacius, a Galatian pagan priest: Why then do we think that this is sufficient and do not observe how the kindness of Christians to strangers, their care for the burial of their dead, and the sobriety of their lifestyle has done the most to advance their cause? Each of these things, I think, ought really to be practised by us. Persecution by Christians In the end the Roman Empire was not converted at the point of a sword but rather because quite soon anyone who wanted to get anywhere had to be a Christian and hence people lost little time in becoming one. This was partly because most pagans were happy to become nominal Christians and unlike earlier martyrs did not feel that any faith was worth dying for. Substituting the household gods for household saints was not seen as a radical step and furthermore paganism had been becoming increasingly monotheistic (usually worshipping the sun) before the advent of Christianity. The Bishop of Troy was happy to move between religions with a clean conscience as he could not really tell them apart. Even pagan polemic aimed at Christians seems more concerned with how stupid and dirty they were than any immediate danger they presented. Temples were quarried for their valuable marble although even today dozens still survive almost intact. A few were pulled down by fanatical monks but it is the rarity of these events that makes them so noteworthy to the historians of the time. In the one example I have been able to find of the persecution of pagans involving the destruction of their holy books, the chronicler John Malalas says that during the reign of Justinian in the sixth century: In that month of June during that persecution, pagans were arrested and paraded around. Their books were burnt in the ring for animal shows together with pictures and statues of their loathsome gods. Christianity was introduced to act as a unifying force in an increasingly fragmented Empire. This meant that it immediately became a political matter and indeed it was politically important that Christianity was itself united. The idea of religion as civic duty was handed down from centuries of pagan practice while Emperor Julian had already seen that the monolithic Christian creed had a marked advantage over his disparate pagans whom he had tried to reform. Luckily for the desired unity, orthodoxy had been fighting heretics for a couple of centuries already and with the full might of the Imperial state behind them, they took this battle to its conclusion. In general, during the fourth and fifth centuries, the argument was reasonably civilised but from time to time violence erupted or official coercion was used. Later on, methods became steadily more severe as heresy came to be seen as a cancer at the heart of society until even the accusation of heresy could be used as a political weapon. If you want to find evidence of Christians destroying manuscripts then it is here you should look. The Theodosian Code, a law book that collects all the Imperial Decrees and was published by Theodosius II in the early fifth century is quite explicit that the writings of certain heretics should be destroyed. Likewise, we find Pope Leo the Great ordering the burning of Manichean writings in Rome after he had found how far they had penetrated into his church. There can be no doubt that heretical Christian texts were lost in this way although the scale of destruction would have been quite modest. The idea of huge pyres of manuscripts burning in a city square is pure myth. Most heretical works perished due to neglect in that after they wore out there was no one left to copy them. Heretics would not have been able to afford expensive and long lasting vellum for their books so would instead have had to rely on fragile papyrus that simply does not last. It is the case that a few of the most forthright pagan attacks on Christianity were also targeted for suppression. Most famous is Porphyry's Against the Christians. He was a pupil of the great neo Platonist, Plotinus, and wrote a massive work to combat the new religion. He was particularly offended by the way it was taking over pagan philosophical ideas and turning them to its own ends. The book was condemned in the fourth and fifth centuries but today we can still study Porphyry's arguments from the long quotations of his work found in Christian refutations. Likewise, the arguments of other pagan apologists survive in works such as Origen's Against Celsus. On the other hand, Julian's Against the Galilaeans, Eutropius's various insults, the works of Libanius and other works of late pagan polemic against Christianity have been preserved by the very faith they were attacking. By the fifth century learning in the Western Empire was rapidly decaying as barbarian hordes swept over the dying Roman civilisation. Ammianus Marcellinus had complained in a rather rhetorical way that the libraries of Rome had been shut during his time in the mid forth century. It is likely that they were transported with many other works of art and learning to the new capital of Constantinople being built on the shore of the Bospherus. We hear that the Christian Emperor Constantius founded an centre of learning and a library there under Themistius, the master of Rhetoric. Whatever was left in Rome was destroyed during the sackings of 410AD by the Goths, in 455AD by the Vandals and many times thereafter. Although most cities were ransacked and fell into ruin, the barbarians quite quickly converted to Christianity which meant that at least they tended to spare book filled monasteries and churches from their depredations. In Alexandria too, at the start of the fifth century, Orosius found that pagan temples, while still standing, had been emptied of their book . He does not say where they were taken but Constantinople is again not unlikely. The Emperor Justinian is notorious for his closing the academy of Athens in 529AD and causing the pagan teachers to flee to Persia, although they all came back a few years later and were allowed to write and study unmolested. Meanwhile, John Philoponus, a philosophical master at Alexandria in the sixth century, found there was little conflict between his work studying Aristotle and being a professing Christian. Indeed his religion seems to have led him to make some of the most exciting advances in ancient natural philosophy. It has been claimed that about ten million words of classical Greek and one million words of classical Latin, excepting Christian works, have come down to us. Of the former, two million words are the medical corpus of Galen alone, while of the later about a third is made up of the surviving three quarters of the works of Cicero. In fact, whereas much classical Greek is technical and not of interest to the general reader, nearly all preserved classical Latin is worth reading in its own right. So just what proportion of ancient literature has been lost? This is difficult to answer but we can get a rough estimate from the size of ancient libraries. Archaeology suggests that the biggest contained 20,000 or so scrolls and the Great Library of Alexandria itself is most reliably said to have contained 40,000. On the other hand, all the extant pagan classical works would not fill much more than a thousand scrolls so we have been left with about 5% of what might be found (barring repeat copies) in Rome. As for Latin, we have the names of 772 classical authors. Of these, not a word survives from 276 of them. We have fragments ranching from an aphorism to several pages of 352 of the authors. Of the remaining 144, we possess at least one of their works but rarely all of them. Of course, this does not tell us what people were actually reading and we can get a better idea of this from the papyri retrieved from the sands of Egypt, especially at Oxyrynchus. Of the Greek literary papyri that have been edited, a full half are scraps of Homer, a further quarter are from works familiar from the manuscript tradition and the remainder are previously unknown. This suggests that roughly half of the most popular works (even excluding Homer) have been preserved through the Dark Ages by the copying of manuscripts. Literature was lost in two main ways - it either was not copied after the original version fell apart or it was the victim of disasters and war. The latter cases were probably all too common and one would be hard pressed to find any Greek or Roman city that was not sacked or pillaged at some point. On top of this we have to add natural disasters such as earthquakes, flood and accidental fire. Rome suffered many times, as did Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Constantinople was wracked by frequent periods of civil unrest and fell in 1205 and 1453. The later of these, when the Turks finally snuffed out the Byzantine Empire, is said to be the occasion of the loss of the last complete copy of Diodorus Siculus's History. But even without these downfalls, we can explain the loss of most ancient writing simply by noting that it was written on papyrus scrolls and this is an exceedingly delicate medium that does not stand well to being handled. The document would require recopying before it fell to bits and this was an extremely time consuming and expensive business. Not only that, once Egypt was conquered by the Arabs, papyrus was in short supply and very much more expensive parchment had to be used instead. This was made from treated leather and many sheets were needed to produce a good length book. The shortage of both materials and personnel meant that choices had to be made about what would be copied and what would not be. Although it is common today to hear people complain that the monks who did the work did not copy what interests us and instead what interested them, this is simply anachronism and close to bigotry. They copied what they thought was important and worth the effort. That it was more often Christian works of their own time that seemed relevant to their own lives, rather than works that were ancient even then, should not surprise us. And nor should they be condemned by anyone who has not copied out the complete works of Shakespeare by hand on real parchment (which lasts 30,000 years rather than the expected 1,000 for paper) on the off chance that CD-ROM technology does not survive the apocalypse. Some of the reasons that important literature disappeared are in fact very prosaic. The most important was language. When the Roman Empire was at its height the educated classes could read both Latin and Greek but after the fourth century the two languages split on geographical grounds with Greek completely dying out in Western Europe. In the East, Latin was first confined to the army and then disappeared altogether. As late as the thirteenth century the humanist scholar Petrarch could bemoan in a letter to Nicolas Sygeros that he was unable to read any of his collection of Greek manuscripts. Clearly, copying a manuscript that no one understands is not going to be a priority so Latin in the East and Greek in the West was lost. This is also the reason for the near total lack of scientific scholarship in Western Europe before the translations into Latin of the High Middle Ages. There never was a scientific tradition in Latin, only popular writings like Pliny the Elder's Natural History. Once Greek died out, these were all that anyone could read and the technical Greek works (apart from one or two like Plato's Timeaus that had already been translated into Latin) were lost to the West. Another major factor was the educational curriculum. In Byzantium, attic Greek was valued as a much finer form of literature than other dialects. Consequently attic playwrights, orators and thinkers saw their works preserved while other writers were not copied. The most high profile casualty was Menander who wrote comic plays in everyday Greek. He was once very popular but then his lower style fell out of favour and not a single one of his plays survives in the manuscript tradition (luckily large portions of several of his plays have been found on papyri in Egypt). Palimpsests are another interesting case. The ruinous cost of parchment combined with its ability to withstand centuries of wear and tear meant that it was frequently reused. The old writing was scrapped off and the new written over the top. However, the process left faint images of the original text which later scholars have been able to read. Some important pagan works have been accidentally preserved in this way such as part of Cicero's De Republica and the recently rediscovered Archimedes palimpsest. There is no evidence that the monks doing the scrapping were deliberately targeting pagan texts although we may sometimes find their priorities unfortunate. The text they were scrapping off had, itself, been transcribed by earlier Christians and a perusal of a manuscript catalogue (such as the British Library's on-line) shows that in most cases the underlying material on a palimpsest is Christian as well. One of the earliest known bibles, the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, had the sermons of Ephraemus written over the top of it. In history and geography, many texts were lost because they were perceived to be out of date. Copying out Erastothenes' Geography seemed a waste of time when everyone knew that Stabo's work, which is still extant, was better. Likewise, nearly all the earliest Byzantine chronicles, like Julius Africanus are lost because they were considered to have been superseded by the later ones like Georgius Syncellus which is still preserved. The preservation of what classical Latin works that we do possess was almost entirely down to the Christian church. It helped in a number of ways: It preserved the use of the Latin language and hence ensured that classical works could continue to be used and understood; Its monks copied texts as they wore out. Not a single complete text survives from Roman times but instead those we possess were recopied from the ninth century in monastery scriptoria. As Christianity is a highly literary religion it had to ensure that enough people remained literate in order to use sacred texts. This naturally spilled over into secular work as well. The monastic libraries were safe havens for valuable and delicate manuscripts that Christian raiders (though not pagan ones like the Vikings) generally left alone. It might be claimed that as the Church was the only institution that contained people able to read and write it is hardly surprising that the Latin that survived was in their hands. This misses the point. There is no evidence that the church was in any way jealous of its learning and anyone who paid could have received an education. But among the upper class warriors of the Franks, Saxons and Goths there was simply no such desire until Charlemagne encouraged them in the ninth century. For this reason, had the church not occupied its unifying, educational and preserving role no other institution would have done so. The amount of classical Latin literature that has come down to us is a pitiful remnant of what there once was, but we can thank the church for what we have. In the fifteenth century humanists (in the context the term simply means a classical scholar) like Poggio searched the libraries of the monasteries seeking to acquire, by fair means and foul, copies of ancient works and by 1450 nearly all the classical Latin known today had been recovered. In the Eastern Empire there was no sudden collapse but instead a thousand year decay. This meant that learning was carried on for much longer and something like ten times as much classical Greek survives as classical Latin. The amount that was still extant in the ninth century when Photius compiled his Bibliography was considerably more than still known today. Unfortunately, Byzantium was hammered over the next five hundred years by successive invasions by Turks and Normans who, between them, destroyed it utterly. As these disasters unfolded, Byzantine learning, despite some brief revivals, shrunk so that it could not replace what the invaders took away. On the other hand, only a tiny fraction of late Byzantine manuscripts have been edited and there remains that chance that substantial parts of earlier classical works have been copied and remain to be discovered. Of course, the Greek works that survive are those that the Christian Byzantines choose to preserve for us. Hence they give a very skewed view of what Greek thought was actually like. For instance, we have seen that the medical works of Galen make up a full fifth of the entire surviving classical Greek corpus. Add Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy and the mathematical works and we find that Christians were by far the most keen on copying scientific and medical writings. The papyri from Egypt and epigraphical evidence show that this was not the concern of most Greeks. In other words, we think Greeks were a rational lot because Christians were interested in their rational thought. Hence, the preponderance of Greek science in the surviving corpus tells us that the Christians who preserved it were very interested in science - not that the classical Greeks were. Oddly, Stoicism, the Greek philosophy that comes closed to Christianity is severely under represented as is Epicurianism and Cynicism. And yet these three schools rejected much of reason and science, concentrating instead on ethical issues. We are left with the strong impression that it was Christians who appreciated Greek science a whole lot more than the Greeks did. The final destruction of Byzantium coincided with the Renaissance in the West. The extent to which the two events are linked has long been debated but there is no doubt that the rediscovery of the Greek language by the humanists helped preserve much of the detritus left by the loss of the Greek Empire. The conquering Ottoman Turks were also happy to let most of the Greek monasteries continue in peace and discoveries were made in their dusty libraries well into the twentieth century. Today we regret how much has been lost but we have been remarkably careless ourselves. Many classic television serials, such as Doctor Who from the 1960s, have disappeared because at the time no one felt they were important enough to use up video tape for. Even more tragically, large numbers of early movies like the second part of the incomparable Wedding March (1928) have been lost through carelessness and the perishability of nitrate film (for further details see here). Some surviving classics were preserved in a single print. To those of us who mourn the loss of classical literature this is a depressingly familiar story.

March Events Calendar What�s happening elsewhere in the world during March? The annual Binche Carnival in the town of Binche, Belgium�s Wallonia Region. Binche Carnival is held three days before Lent. Monthly Events Women�s History Month. In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women�s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as �Women�s History Month." Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women�s History Month. And don�t forget to celebrate International Women�s Day on March 8. American Red Cross Month. This organization performs in time of war and natural disasters and much more. For more information visit Music in Our Schools Month. The purpose of Music in Our Schools Month is to raise awareness of the importance of music education for all children, and to remind citizens that school is a prime location for children to have access to music. Social Work Month. "Social Work Matters" is the theme of Social Work Month 2012, sponsored by the National Association of Social Workers. One of the messages is social workers are the safety net in our society. For more information visit Girl Scout Week, March 11-17. Celebrated every year during the week of March 12, when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organization�s first 18 girl members in 1912 in Savannah, Ga. For more information visit Brain Awareness Week, March 12-18. A global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research. Events may include open days at neuroscience labs; exhibitions about the brain; lectures on brain-related topics; displays at libraries and community centers; classroom workshops; and more. Peace Corps Day, March 1. On this date in 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps, a Cold War effort to enlist civilians to volunteer their time and skills in underdeveloped nations assisting them in any way they could. For more information visit International Women�s Day, March 8. Events are held throughout the world to inspire women, to acknowledge women and celebrate their achievements. National Agriculture Day, March 8. Celebrate the abundance provided by U.S. agriculture. St. Patrick�s Day, March 17. The is the day Ireland and those of Irish heritage celebrate St Patrick, called the patron saint of Ireland. National Puppy Day, March 23. Adopt a puppy, donate toys or blankets to your local animal shelter. Show special attention and appreciation to your puppy this day.

Bend_Weekly_News_Sources The Oregon Zoo is receiving money from criminals -- criminals who violate wildlife statutes, that is. Community service payments ordered by Oregon's federal court as part of wildlife-crime sentences will now go into an Endangered Species Justice Fund, created by the zoo and the U.S. Attorney's Office in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Money in the fund will be used to help endangered and threatened species. "It's sad to see crimes that hurt wildlife, but we are pleased with the opportunity to have some good come from tragedy," said Oregon Zoo Director Tony Vecchio. "It's an honor for us to team up with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help endangered wildlife." The start-up money from the fund comes from the prosecution of a nationwide conspiracy to sell ocelots illegally. In recent years, wildlife investigators have prosecuted criminals for a broad range of crimes, from trafficking in endangered species and furs to illegally killing hundreds of migratory birds. "I plan to make sure that criminals who commit wildlife crimes pay to help undo the damage they've done," said U.S. Attorney Karin J. Immergut. In 2005, Immergut and Gov. Ted Kulongoski established a similar endowment to target money from industrial-pollution prosecutions to environmental grants. The endowment -- known as the Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment -- makes annual grants of hundreds of thousands of dollars to local environmental groups. The goal of the Endangered Species Justice Fund is to decrease the environmental harm caused by wildlife crimes prosecuted in Oregon. Grants will fund programs that protect and support endangered and threatened species, as well as programs that work to combat illegal trafficking and sale of endangered and threatened species. Since crimes prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office involve animals from all over the world, the fund will support programs that help Northwest species as well as efforts abroad. The Endangered Species Justice Fund will be a part of the zoo's Future for Wildlife program. The program has a long history of success in international conservation efforts to help elephants, rhinos, penguins, cheetahs, leopards, snow leopards and chimpanzees in Africa, Asia and South America. FFW also has a proven track record locally, helping to fund regional conservation activities such as the reintroduction of Oregon silverspot butterflies, Washington pygmy rabbits and California condors. "I am very proud that the U.S. Attorney's office has recognized the zoo's great work in helping endangered wildlife here in the Northwest and around the world," commented Vecchio. "With their help, we will make an even greater impact." "We are grateful to the Oregon Zoo and the U.S. Attorney's Office for focusing attention on the problem of wildlife crime and ensuring that penalties from those offenses benefit species here and abroad," said Ren Lohoefener, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Region, headquartered in Portland. "When an individual or organization unlawfully sells wildlife -- especially protected species -- it creates a market that encourages their exploitation, in some cases driving a species closer to extinction."