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12/10/2023 in RZSS
Last month, the State of Nature report confirmed there was no let-up in the decline of Scotland’s wildlife. This trend is reflected at a global scale, and more than a million species are at risk of extinction worldwide.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has pledged to reverse the decline of at least 50 species as part of our 2030 strategy, and this is why we are delighted to see the recent IUCN Species Survival Commission Position Statement on the Role of Botanic Gardens, Aquariums, and Zoos in Species Conservation.
Razan Al Mubarak, IUCN President said, “I have been personally involved in efforts for reversing population declines and improving the conservation status of species, and the inspiring success stories I have seen give me hope. It is never too late. Species can recover in the wild, if given a chance in well-managed captive populations such as those maintained by zoos, botanic gardens and aquaria.
“The IUCN Species Survival Commission Position Statement on the Role of Botanic Gardens, Aquariums, and Zoos in Species Conservation recognizes the leading role that these organizations already play in the science and practice of conservation, and invites others to reach their full potential, working alongside governments and key partners to collectively achieve IUCN's One Plan Approach.”
Formal recognition of the role zoos, aquariums and botanic gardens play in the conservation of species across the globe reflects the vital work these organisations are already undertaking to save species in the wild. Good zoos are a place of science, education and welfare, working to safeguard populations, support species struggling in the wild and inspire generations to save wildlife around the world.
The ‘One Plan’ approach is the only way we can bring our planet back to life. By pooling expertise and resources from across many organisations and governments, using science and conservation planning to support sound decision-making, and working in partnership with local communities, we can create a world where nature is protected, valued and loved.
This significant statement recognises that good zoos are incredible hubs of scientific knowledge and a vital lifeline in the fight to save species from extinction. | <urn:uuid:b5ed2edc-65e3-4ba1-ae56-a9a57e2b8ad3> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.rzss.org.uk/news/article/22446/zoos-are-vital-in-the-fight-to-bring-our-planet-back-to-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.906586 | 460 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Vaginal Corona most commonly known as hymen
The vaginal corona, also called the hymen, is folds of thin mucous tissue surrounding or partially covering the vaginal opening. All girls are born with this mucous tissue.
In most women, this tissue is quite elastic. It can be either ribbed or smooth, and it stretches over time for various reasons. The shape of the hymen varies too and some people have more of it than others.
First time sex
There are people who believe that the hymen ‘tears’ during first time sexual intercourse (penis in vagina) and that it creates bleeding. But this isn’t usually the case. Most girls or women don’t bleed on their first time as they have quite a stretchy hymen. You certainly won’t if you’re turned on and relaxed when the penis enters the vagina.
You develop breasts during puberty. This could start in a girl of 8, but also in a girl of 14. Age varies for all girls.
During puberty, a girl has her first period. For about 5 days, some blood, mixed with mucus, flows from your vagina. You can use tampons, sanitary pads or cups to soak up the blood and mucus. | <urn:uuid:b3c1f6c1-fa09-4fad-b947-e7d4cbc335db> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.sabalovin.com/your-body/female-body/vaginal-corona-most-commonly-known-as-hymen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.952582 | 265 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Here’s How Our Termite Treatment Plan Works
- Technicians strategically install a series of bait stations 10-15 feet apart in the soil to create a zone of protection around your home.
- Bait stations start working immediately to intercept termites with a substance they prefer over wood in your home.
- The termites feed on the bait and take it back to their colony, which kills the remaining population.
- Annual inspections by your expert technician monitor the stations for any signs of termite activity.
What Are Termites?
Termites are insects that feed on wood and often become pests of homes. While there are about 2,700 species of termites worldwide, Hawaii has 8 species of termites, all of which are non-native and were introduced through human transport of infested wood materials.
Homeowners typically encounter two types of termites: workers and swarmers.
- Workers are 3-4 mm long, creamy colored, and usually only seen when infested wood is broken open or a mud foraging tube is broken. Worker termites can be found year-round.
- Swarmers are the reproducers. Dark brown or black and about 4 mm long, swarmers may have wings and are most common in May and June in Hawaii.
Each year, termites cause more than $5 billion in property damage in the United States alone. According to the NC State Extension website, a colony of about 60,000 termites could eat a 2×4 piece of wood in about 5 months. That may not seem like much until you consider that some colonies can contain millions of termites, and when you factor in time – it’s not hard to see how a large colony could start to bring down a whole home within just a few years.
So, how can you tell if you have termites? Here are some signs to look out for:
- Floor damage can look similar to water damage or like blisters in the wood.
- Mud tubes are narrow tunnels near termite nests that the insects use to travel between where they live and where they eat. They’re about the width of a pencil and are usually found on building exteriors.
- Hollow-sounding or swelling wood is caused by the tunneling of termites and will typically have a honeycomb interior.
- Evidence of swarms – All species of termites swarm, leaving to start a new colony. After they swarm, they’ll leave behind their silvery wings.
A Stronger Home Starts With Termite Control
Choose a plan that’s right for you.
Start Protecting Your Home With Termite and Pest Control Today!
Our Service Guarantee ensures you can relax knowing we’ll worry about pests so you don’t have to. And if they come back between treatments, so will we — at no additional cost to you.† Our Damage Guarantee ensures you can relax knowing we’ll keep termites out of your home. And for as long as you keep your plan, we’ll cover any additional treatments and repair any new termite damage.*
*Available for qualifying homes only. Not available in all areas. Limitations apply. See Plan for details.
**Standard Covered Pests: cockroaches, mice, rats, silverfish, “house” ants (excluding carpenter ants, fire ants, pharaoh ants, and tawny crazy ants), clothes moths, spiders (excluding black widow and brown recluse spiders), scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, earwigs, house crickets, and paper wasps. Other pests not specified as Standard Covered Pests may be covered for an additional charge or under other plans. †Treatments and Covered Pests defined in your Plan. Limitations apply. See Plan for details.
Termite Services Professional Pest Control Services in Pearl City HI | <urn:uuid:80b3aec7-94eb-40b2-ace5-cc8029b8c7ca> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.sandwichisle.com/termite-services/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.934394 | 809 | 3.0625 | 3 |
The game of basketball has evolved over the years, and the NBA has played a huge role in its popularity. From Wilt Chamberlain dominating the scene in the 60s to LeBron James' modern-day brilliance, the sport has come a long way. in this article, we trace the history and origin of basketball.
Which year was Basketball invented?
Basketball was invented on December 1, 1891. The sport came into existence after American athletes demanded an indoor game that offered fewer injuries than classic American gridiron football. The game of basketball grew rapidly, with college teams forming leagues within the first decade of the game’s invention. By 1900, most major colleges were fielding a basketball team. In 1905, formal collegiate rules were introduced for basketball and in 1909, the NCAA would take over the game for good.
Where was Basketball invented?
Basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts at the International Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Training School (now Springfield College). Basketball was then introduced to the rest of the world thanks to efforts by the US Army and the YMCA. In 1893, the first international basketball match was organized. Members of the YMCA then took the game to countries such as India, Japan, Persia, and China, which helped the game earn international recognition.
Who invented the game of Basketball?
The game of basketball was invented by James Naismith. In 1891, he was a 31-year-old graduate student at the YMCA when he came up with a 9-on-9 game that involved shooting a ball into a basket. Naismith was given the responsibility of coming up with a game that was easy to assimilate, yet complex enough to be interesting and could be playable indoors.
As a result of this assignment, the game all of us love so much was born. The inventor was immortalized when the governing set of rules were named after him - James Naismith's Original 13 Rules of Basketball.
Here are some interesting facts about the game of Basketball which you might not know
- For the first game of basketball in 1891, Naismith two half-bushel peach baskets as 'goals', which gave the sport its name.
- An important and popular basketball move, the slam dunk, was banned just before the 1967-1968 season. The ban lasted until the 1976-1977 season.
- In the early days of the sport, referees used to wear watches to keep time, and the 24-second shot clock wasn’t instituted until 1954.
- Shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping and striking an opponent was not officially considered as a foul until 1910.
- In the initial days, the number of players per side was never specified. For a while, the total number of players was a default 18, nine per side. This was the same number of players that showed up for the very first game. | <urn:uuid:ebcb139f-4aa2-4d30-990f-abd48ec406e8> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/who-invented-game-basketball | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.982657 | 599 | 3.734375 | 4 |
A snowboard is a piece of equipment an athlete can use to ride down a snow-covered mountain. This board is attached to the athlete’s feet with special bindings, and he or she then rides down ski slopes or other snow-covered slopes using nothing but the snowboard. It's similar to a surfboard or a skateboard, and serves a similar purpose for the athlete. Unlike skiing, snowboarding does not involve the use of poles.
When purchasing a snowboard, the athlete must consider his or her weight, height, and shoe size. In general, it should be about 1 foot (0.3 m) shorter than the rider. When stood on its tip, the other end should reach to between the athlete’s chin and collarbone. An athlete who is on the heavier side should purchase a wider snowboard, as should an athlete with bigger feet.
The type of snowboarding the athlete performs also has an impact on the size the board should be. Those wishing to freestyle should purchase one that is wider, smaller, and more flexible. They should also wear soft boots when riding.
A snowboard use for slalom or racing, on the other hand, should be long and stiff. The athlete should also wear hard boots when racing. No matter the use of the board, all designs have metal edges and an upturned lip on at least one end.
The snowboard was first invented in the 1970s and was inspired by the design of surfboards. When first invented, the sport of snowboarding was not very respected by skiers, and it was often viewed as a fad. Many resorts refused entry to snowboarders, and ski companies scoffed at companies that made boards. Today, many ski companies are coming out with their own boards and are also borrowing the technology to create new ski designs.
Injuries related to snowboarding are as common as injuries to alpine skiers. Usually, people are most likely to get hurt when they try to perform maneuvers beyond their ability level. The majority of injuries are to the wrist. To prevent injuries, riders should start slowly and wear wrist guards and a helmet. | <urn:uuid:347aa2b5-0484-408b-ae1d-585b146cdef7> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.sportsnhobbies.org/what-is-a-snowboard.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.972874 | 440 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Examples of Specificity in Sports
Specificity in sports training is a fairly simple concept to understand. The term has limitless applications, however, and should be just one component of a well-rounded training program. According to the specific adaptations to imposed demands, or SAID, principle, the type of training imposed on the body will determine the physiological impact. Therefore, training should generally mimic the movements and demands required in a given sport.
Resistance Training Specificity
Specificity is perhaps most directly applied in resistance training, as coaches and trainers seek to find exercise maneuvers that replicate the motions needed in a particular sporting event. For example, a football player should perform strength and power lifts, and a marathon runner should perform exercises that build muscular endurance. A football player may perform power cleans, snatches and sled pushes to mimic blocking and tackling, and a runner performs dozens of repetitions of body-weight squats to build endurance in the quadriceps and gluteals.
Training Modality Specificity
On a similar note, the modality of training should be specific to the physical demands of a particular sport. For example, it s unlikely that you would see Usain Bolt performing long slow distance, or LSD, training. As a 100-meter sprinter, he spends most of his time doing high-intensity interval training. On the other hand, a marathon runner rarely performs anaerobic training. Lance Armstrong trains for his long-distance cycling races by spending hours on the bike.
In sports that require tactical strategy, such as basketball, baseball and football, practices should replicate game-time situations. For example, a basketball coach should isolate specific situations that may occur within a game and replicate them in practice. A baseball coach can use fun games, such as "pickles" to simulate tagging a runner or turn a double-play. A sprint kayaker should practice his race plan several times throughout the year.
It's easy to get carried away with the principle of specificity in training. It's important to remember that training is not performing and has a unique purpose in improving athletic capability. Variety is equally, if not more, important in a training program. To promote continued muscular adaptations, you must continually vary the modality of training in order to induce a state of overload. It's best to perform more generic training in the offseason, focusing on variety, and then gradually design practices and training sessions to be more sport-specific as the competitive season nears.
- Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (3rd Ed.); Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle
- Periodization Training for Sports; Tudor O. Bompa
Graham Ulmer began writing professionally in 2006 and has been published in the "Military Medicine" journal. He is a certified strength-and-conditioning specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Ulmer holds a Master of Science in exercise science from the University of Idaho and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Washington State University. | <urn:uuid:a14c0b8f-c152-44eb-9473-ea61ad4ec4dc> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.sportsrec.com/examples-of-specificity-in-sports.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.950769 | 609 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Mental Health and Wellbeing
At our school, we adopt a Whole-School Approach to promoting positive mental health and well-being for our entire community; pupils, staff, parents and carers, and recognise how important mental health and emotional well-being is to our lives in just the same way as physical health. Our vision is for children to be able to flourish and be happy in the modern world, feel valued, and develop a strong moral and compassionate code that enables positive and fulfilling relationships around them.
Poor mental health undermines educational attainment. Surveys suggest that disproportionately large numbers of pupils with conduct and emotional disorders fall behind in their overall educational attainment, missing school and/or being excluded. One in ten children and young people aged 5 to 16 have a clinically diagnosed mental health disorder and around one in seven has less severe problems.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead: Elin Davies | <urn:uuid:113d6db2-b5b5-4409-be58-418c0a73ef71> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.standrewsnuthurst.co.uk/Mental-Health-and-Wellbeing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.957179 | 181 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Holocaust Memorial DayPosted on
Holocaust Memorial Day
On Holocaust Memorial Day we remember all the lives lost and the lives changed in the Holocaust under Nazi persecution, and other subsequent genocides. Six million Jews were murdered alongside millions of other people that were under Nazi persecution. 27th January is a day of remembrance and a day of reflection of the lessons we can learn and actions we must take against hate and prejudice.
This year’s theme is ‘One Day’, there are many ways to interpret this theme. For Stop Hate UK, the theme of ‘One Day’ reflects our charity’s vision: ‘A world which is free from hate, harassment and discrimination’.
Hate, harassment, discrimination that is left unchecked and unchallenged leads to persecution and horrific events like the Holocaust and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.
People who are affected by Hate Crimes are just trying to make it through the day. Stop Hate UK pledges to challenge Hate in all its forms until One Day, no one has to face Hate Crimes and we can all experience a world free from hate, harassment, discrimination.
Millions of people in other groups were under Nazi persecution. Some of these groups include, disabled people, LGBTQIA+ people, and the Roma and Sinti people. These groups have not had much recognition of the suffering they endured. Here are brief histories of what happened to them under Nazi persecution.
On July 14th, 1933, the Nazi leadership passed a law demanding sterilisation for people with inherited disabilities in Germany and began to spread messages that described the supposed economically harmful effects of disabled people on society. This developed into the horrific ‘mercy killing’ of disabled people, as well as an estimated 250,000 children and adults being imprisoned, experimented on and killed between 1933 and the end of the war.
On June 28th, 1935, the Nazi leadership in Germany revised the criminal code to allow for much stronger penalties and punishments for homosexuality than had been the case before. Gay men, and, later, lesbians, were incarcerated and subjected to horrific conditions and medical experimentation. Life changed for LGBTQIA+ people in all the lands where the Nazis held power, and even afterwards they were not recognised as victims of the Holocaust until decades later. About 15,000 gay people were deported and killed in the Holocaust.
On Dec 8th, 1938, Nazi persecution of Roma and Sinti people became racist law in Germany, and state-led persecution of these communities had been growing throughout the 1930’s because they were not seen as meeting the ideal of the ‘Aryan German’. Of the 23,000 who were sent to Auschwitz, only 2000 survived. In all, more than one third of Europe’s Roma community perished at the hands of the Nazis in the Holocaust at the many different camps and during waves of typhus in the ghettoes that they were forced to live in.
Sadly, prejudice against Jews, disabled people, LGBTQIA+ community and other communities still persists today and harms the lives of many people. The Holocaust and all other genocides must have a permanent place in our collective memory so that we learn from the past and take action against prejudice, discrimination, and Hate.
If you are targeted by prejudice and hate, you can reach out to Stop Hate UK to get guidance on support and reporting.
Statement of Commitment for Holocaust Memorial Day
If you are planning to organise an activity for Holocaust Memorial Day in your community, you can use the resource below.
To mark Holocaust Memorial Day and preserve the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, everyone can read one of the following pledges during your activity. | <urn:uuid:c4982897-1532-47c9-a7e2-5c6cdbe3f4c4> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.stophateuk.org/2022/01/26/holocaust-memorial-day/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.973464 | 767 | 4.15625 | 4 |
Developing a basic budget doesn’t have to be difficult
A budget is a personal financial planning tool that allows you to develop a solid plan for how you will spend your money each month and how to keep track of your long-term spending habits.
The problem with a budget is that it is all too often misunderstood. Firstly, it is often viewed as a negative, rather than a tool for positive spending reinforcement. Secondly, the reason why most people view budgets mostly negative is because they believe it will be difficult to create one or they have no idea how to create it.
The first step to understanding a budget is knowing how to do it.
It certainly isn’t exciting or glamorous; however, this is a vital part to balancing your household and securing your future.
We’ll spare you the lecture; you already know why a budget is important. Let’s dive step-by-step into how to create a budget.
How To Create a Basic Budget
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, there are two few things you should keep in mind:
- It is important to be a detailed and accurate with your finances as possible. This means working with what you currently have and any receipts that help you get an accurate picture of what you spend
- If you find yourself overwhelmed you should talk to a professional financial adviser.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create a budget:
- Record all money you have coming in. This includes your salary (once taxes are taken out) and any outside sources of income you may get.
- Round up all of your financial statements, including utility bills, investment accounts, retirement account statements, bank statements and records of income sources.
- Create a monthly average. It sometimes helps to come up with a an estimate before you gather all of your financial statement,s so that you can compare an contrast the benefits of a budget.
- Record all monthly expenses. Begin with your rent/mortgage and all of your expected expenses such as car payments, auto/home/life insurance, groceries, utilities, student loans, credit card payments and retirement savings. This should also include what you’ve spent on entertainment (which includes dinners out, movies and drinks).
- Now split your expenses into two categories: variable and fixed. Your fixed expenses are the expenses that stay the same – or about the same – every month. These would be your loans, car payments rent/mortgage and your utilities. They may change slightly (i.e.; utilities) but these need to consider your necessary expenses. Your variable expenses are those that change month-to-month, such as groceries, gasoline and entertainment.
- Total your monthly expenses and your monthly income. This is where it gets difficult:
- If you have more income than expenses (if your budget comes out positive): you can choose where you’d like to stash your extra cash. We recommend retirement accounts as well as rainy day savings funds.
- If you have more money coming out than in, you will need to begin making cuts. If you’re wondering where to cut and how much, the answer is simple: cut all unnecessary – or variable – expenses and keep cutting until your budget shows more income than expenses. You may also need to cut AND simultaneously find alternative sources of income to meet your expenses.
- Create a goal: Now that you have balanced your budget, you should create a savings goal. A savings goal is important even if you are on track with your budget because a savings goal helps keep you on track. Whether that goal is planning for a vacation or adding more to your retirement fund, you should set a realistic goal and a timeframe within which you’d like to achieve it.
- Review your budget every month. Life’s little expenses can sometimes get in the way and throw our budgets off track, so it is important to review your budget every month and check in to ensure you are staying on track. Ideally, you will do this after the first of the month for the previous month and use that as your projection to adjust your current budget.
A Basic Budget Doesn’t Have To Be A Burden
Now that you have the ten basic steps to creating a solid budget, you have some wiggle room. If you had more income left over, you can play with your numbers. This would help project your future savings based on these numbers.
If you find yourself in financial trouble after creating a budget, there is help for you. A good financial adviser can help you figure out how to set aside funds. | <urn:uuid:c30db0c1-237e-4247-8ff8-b3fa06a589ff> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.storickgroup.com/blog/saving-future-create-basic-budget/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.957143 | 946 | 3.375 | 3 |
In recent years, whenever there have been marches and protests about women’s issues, it is common for some women to don red robes and white bonnets, the attire of the handmaids of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. In the book (and Hulu series), fertile women are treated as sex slaves by a twisted group of fundamentalist Christians. While the show is an attack on religion being used improperly to oppress people, there are those who believe that all religion, specifically Christianity, is oppressive, especially to women. Protesting women fear the rise of a Christian theocracy and the control of all women and their bodies, thus becoming handmaidens in the real world.
The irony, however, is that Christianity may be the biggest force in history to protect women and promote their human rights, which is why so many flocked to Christianity in its early days. In fact, while males greatly outnumbered females in the pagan world, early Christianity developed a surplus of women, causing Christianity to spread through childbirth and “secondary conversions” of Christian women’s husbands. Thus, sociologist Rodney Stark concludes that “The rise of Christianity depended on women.”1 In other articles, we looked at how Christianity teaches that women have equal value to men, and how women must be cherished and loved, not harmed or oppressed. In this article, we will examine how Christianity has elevated the status of women throughout history, and thus has been so attractive to women.
Abortion and Infanticide
In ancient Roman culture, both abortion and infanticide were common and acceptable. Boys were more desirable than girls, so newborn girls were most likely to be killed or left to die. Abortions were conducted in such a dangerous and brutal way that it was a major cause of death for women. In most instances, it was the man who made the decision for a woman to have an abortion, as that was his right according to Roman law. The main reasons for abortion in the Greco-world were to hide affairs or for economic reasons, both rich and poor alike. Poor women would abort their children since they could not afford to care for the child, and rich women would do so to avoid having too many heirs.2
However, the early church forbade abortion and infanticide, even taking in unwanted children and rescuing abandoned newborns—male as well as female. Unwanted pregnancies would also be less likely as Christianity condemned sexual activity outside marriage. Even today, girls are more commonly the victims of abortion and infanticide, both of which are condemned by Christians. While many in our culture believe that abortion is a woman’s right, Nancy Pearcey says, “A culture that practices abortion and infanticide is a culture that demeans women and disrespects their unique contribution to the task of reproduction.” In contrast, “the Christian church stood out for its high view of women. By prohibiting abortion and infanticide, it showed that it cherished the female contribution in bringing new life into the world, treating it as something worthy of respect and protection.”3 Christianity promotes women’s rights simply by allowing young girls to live to become women.
Sex and Marriage
In the Greco-Roman world, it was acceptable for men to have sex with whomever they wished: prostitutes, slaves, mistresses, and such. However, Christianity forbids sex outside of marriage, for men as well as women. Married men are to be faithful to their wives, something that was extremely countercultural in the early days of Christianity. In the broader society of Jesus’ day, it was believed that men couldn’t commit adultery because women’s bodies were property that could be used as desired. Yet, Jesus condemned adultery of both men and women, as well as divorce (Mark 10:11-12). Men were not to simply discard their wives whenever they wished but to stay committed to them for life.
Paul continued Jesus’ radical commands on sexuality by teaching that wives have as much authority over their husbands’ bodies as their husbands have over theirs (1 Cor. 7:3-4). This was absolutely countercultural, as men in those days had complete authority over their wives, who had practically no rights at all and were treated as property. Instead, men were to “love their wives as their own bodies,” and to show their headship through self-sacrifice modeled on Jesus’ sacrificial love for the church (Eph. 5:25-33). Instead of abusing their wives verbally and physically, Paul commands husbands to “love your wives and do not be harsh with them” (Col. 3:19).
The way of Jesus also benefited widows. In ancient cultures, they were pressured to remarry, but Christians respected and cared for widows. This gave them the choice to remain unmarried and thus allowed them to keep their family estate and wealth instead of it being given to their new husbands. Christian women also married at an older age, allowing them to choose their partners, unlike the pagan women who were likely to be forced into marriage and at younger ages. Again, this shows how Christian women enjoyed greater freedom than their peers.
Sex slavery was common in the Greco-Roman world, as weak and poor women had no rights. It was Christians who gained enough power to outlaw sex slavery around the fifth century. In fact, Pearcey notes that “The most reliable index of how deeply Christianity had permeated a society was whether it outlawed sexual slavery.”4 Sadly, sex slavery still continues around the world, whose victims are overwhelmingly female. Yet, there are Christian organizations, such as International Justice Mission and Love146, that seek to rescue victims of sex trade.
Around the World
Beyond the initial impact of early Christianity on women’s rights, Christianity has continued to improve the lives of women throughout the centuries and around the world. William Carey is known as the “father of modern missions” for his decades of work in India. Carey fought to end many oppressive practices, such as infanticide, forced euthanasia, polygamy, child marriage, and female illiteracy. Carey also helped end the practice of sati (or suttee), in which a widow would immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.
Pandita Ramabai was another follower of Jesus who sought to improve human rights in India, especially for women and girls. She heavily criticized the caste system, even though she was born in its highest tier, as well as traditional Hindu practices of child marriage, polygamy, and widowhood. She also helped found the Mukti Mission, translated “the home of salvation,” which housed, fed, and educated girls and women.
Around the tenth century, the practice of footbinding began in China. Young girls would have their feet broken and tightly bound as a sign of status and beauty. While the practice began in the upper classes, it made its way throughout the culture over the centuries. The Manchu emperors tried to outlaw the practice in the seventeenth century, but failed. However, in the nineteenth century, Western missionaries and local Chinese Christians successfully challenged the practice and led to its eventual decline.
During his life and ministry, Jesus always showed the equal dignity of women as he interacted with them, such as the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-26) and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Paul’s teachings about marriage were also radical and counter cultural in a society in which women were treated like property. As a result, Rodney Stark notes that women found Christianity “unusually appealing because within the Christian subculture women enjoyed far higher status than did women in the Greco-Roman world at large.”5 This influence continued throughout history and across the world as Christians have sought to improve the rights and lives of girls and women, treating them as equal in value to men as bearers of God’s image. As Dr. Jeff Myers notes, “It was Christians, not Secularists, who helped secure rights for women based on a conviction that men and women are equal in the sight of God.” While our modern culture may see Christianity as oppressive to women, this is plainly false. There is no movement in history that has fought for the rights of women like Christianity. | <urn:uuid:6ef6c081-3006-4eec-b690-2de13ff16bb6> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.summit.org/resources/articles/christianity-champion-of-womens-rights/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.984712 | 1,725 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Table Of Contents
Disposal Of Waste
Illegal dumping is a widespread and dangerous problem all over the world. It has negative impacts on humans, wildlife, and the environment. Worldwide, many people ignore the fact that it is a crime to dump any material without following set measures. Due to this ignorance, they are assisting in extending the damage beyond the unimaginable.
In Australia, illegal dumping is a significant problem. It's affecting the quality of life. Hazardous waste is to blame for most of these problems. Fortunately, local governments have come up with laws to regulate the dumping of waste. Severe fines and penalties are in place for any individual or corporation caught illegally dumping.
In addition, the Keep Australia Beautiful organisation has spent a lot of time and resources training people on proper disposal of waste. We must learn about the dangers of illegal dumping and educate others on avoiding littering and illegal dumping. As a result, we’ll be able to keep the environment clean and our communities healthy. Keep reading to find out more about littering, illegal dumping, and dumping fines in Australia.
What Is Illegal Dumping?
Illegal dumping occurs when individuals or corporations dump garbage in public or private spaces. Sport and recreation parks, vacant land blocks, waterways, and nature strips are examples of public spaces. However, to better understand illegal disposal of waste or illegal dumping, Keep Australia Beautiful summarises it as; the unlawful transportation, acceptance, and disposal of waste.
Another definition is by the Environment Protection Authority, which defines illegal dumping as the act of putting unwanted household items on the footpath without council collection.
Illegal dumping also includes dumping household trash on green waste on the side of the road or in the bush. Dumping of asbestos waste in public or private property is also considered illegal dumping. Furthermore, contractors and corporations contracted to dispose of commercial waste properly but instead dump it on the roadside or public spaces are guilty of illegal dumping.
Frequently Littered And Illegally Dumped Waste
Across the states, the quantity of littered and illegally dumped materials vary. However, the following are the most littered or dumped items unlawfully in Australia:
• Cigarette butts
• Construction waste
• Green waste
• White goods
• Car tyres and parts
As you move around, you'll notice that most of the dump piles are found on deserted parking lots, poorly lighted areas, low visibility regions, as well as alleyways, and less used roads.
Penalties For Illegally Dumping Waste
Illegal dumping is a crime in Australia. Illegal dumping offences and punishments are anchored on the Environmental Protection Act of 1986 (EP Act). Different states have different penalties and fines. Below are some of the penalties from other states.
Illegal Dumping Fines in New South Wales
For individuals caught illegally dumping waste materials, the following are some of the penalties:
• On the spot, fines range from $750 to $1500
• For strict liability dumping offences, a maximum penalty of $250,000, plus a daily penalty of $60,000 if the violation continues.
• For willful or negligent disposal of waste that can harm the environment. If intentional - a maximum penalty of $1,000,000 and/or a 7-year jail term. If negligent - a maximum fine of $500,000 and/or a 4-year jail term.
Dumping fines and penalties for corporations include:
• On the spot, fines range from $1500 to $5000
• For strict liability dumping offences, a maximum penalty of $1,000,000, plus a daily penalty of $120,000 if the violation continues.
• For willful or negligent disposal of waste that can harm the environment. If intentional - a maximum penalty of $5,000,000 and/or a 7-year jail term. If negligent - a maximum fine of $2,000,000 and/or a 4-year jail term.
Transportation or cars impounded with illegal dumping offences can be seized or forfeited. If found to be guilty, the offender can face a 2-year jail term. Furthermore, if found to provide incorrect or misleading information regarding waste disposal, a corporation will incur an extra $500,000 fine. For individuals, it's $240,000 and an 18-month jail sentence.
Illegal Dumping Fines in Tasmania
In Tasmania, the fines for dumping rubbish depend on the quantity of waste. Penalties for illegal dumping include:
• $326 for dumping a single item
• $3260 for dumping a huge rubbish bag
• For quantities between 2-10 cubic metres, the maximum penalty is $16,300 and $32,600 for individuals and corporations.
• If the waste exceeds ten cubic metres, the fine is $32,600 and $81,500 for individuals and corporations.
Just like in New South Wales, vehicles involved in illegal dumping can be seized and forfeited.
Illegal Dumping Fines in Western Australia
Western Australia has an illegal dumping squad focusing on investigating reports of unlawful disposal of waste. The fines for illegal dumping are as follows:
• Maximum penalty of $62,500 and $125,000 for individuals and corporations, respectively, if found guilty.
• A maximum fine of $5000 and $10,000 for individuals and corporations respectively for littering.
Illegal Dumping Fines in South Australia
According to the Local Nuisance and Litter Control Act 2016, it's illegal to dispose of your waste in a public location without permits. If caught, the infringement fines are:
• On the spot, fines range from $210 to $1000
• If convicted in court, fines range from $5000 to $120,000
Illegal Dumping Fines in Victoria
Dumping in Victoria is an offence. Depending on city council local laws and the EP (Environmental Protection) Act, you'll be prosecuted or charged on the spot for illegal waste disposal. The penalties for littering and illegal dumping include:
• On the spot fines starting from $363
• If convicted, waste dumping fines are $4000 for individuals and $18,000 for corporations.
Illegal Dumping Fines in Queensland
In Queensland, anyone found littering or dumping rubbish illegally can be prosecuted under The Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (WRR Act). The Act creates a framework for modernising waste management, resource recovery techniques, fostering waste avoidance, and promoting resource recovery.
The fines for illegal dumping include:
• Illegal dumping of waste less than 2500L attracts a fine of $55,140 and $275,700 for individuals and corporations, respectively.
• Illegal dumping of waste above 2500L attracts a fine of $137,850 and $689,250 for individuals and corporations, respectively.
• Not complying with an infringement notice attracts a fine of $41,375 and $206,675 for individuals and corporations, respectively.
• Giving false or misleading information $229,520 and $1,147,600 for individuals and corporations, respectively.
Alternatives To Dumping Illegally
There are systems in place to reduce the rate of illegal dumping in Australia. You might want to consider these options instead of dumping your waste illegally:
• Local governments have set up resource centres where people can dispose of regular domestic garbage. Wastes from business premises such as food business waste, wood concrete, and garden waste are also accepted.
• Some types of waste are resalable and recyclable. You can repurpose them and resell them at resource recovery sites.
• Sell your waste online or offer a swap.
• Councils have set up bin collections centres for each type of waste. Make use of them.
Consequences Of Illegal Dumping
Illegal garbage dumping endangers public health and the environment in many ways. This does not mean that illegal dumping has an immediate impact on human health. The consequences are felt after a prolonged period. The main concerns are the financial burden of correctly disposing of illegally dumped waste, environmental damage, and the health and safety of the community.
Financial Constraints on the Government and Stakeholders
Across Australia, states are spending millions of dollars to keep towns, cities, and parks clean and the people safe. This is a large amount of money that could have otherwise been used elsewhere. As a result of illegal dumping, some states are spending more than $500,000 on cleaning.
The financial implication is not only felt by the government but also by other stakeholders. Recovery facilities, recycling centres, landfill operators, and waste disposal companies are all losing money due to illegal dumping. Acts by organisations and individuals who opt not to pay landfill charges to dispose of their trash have a financial impact on businesses.
Harmful Effects on the Environment
Illegal dumping of waste has a terrible impact on the environment. It contributes to increased temperatures as well as global warming. In addition to that, it leads to loss of life. Contamination of waterways and pollution of oceans and water bodies also harms marine life.
Risks to Community Health and Safety
Illegal dumping is dangerous to road users. This is because it obstructs roads and pathways. The aged, children, and people with disabilities who rely on accessible walkways may find it challenging to move around.
Illegally dumped waste containing toxic items such as asbestos, chemicals, and fuel is a health concern. For instance, the fuel can seep into the earth and contaminate local water supplies. This poses a significant risk to both humans and wildlife.
How Can You Help Reduce Illegal Dumping In Australia?
You can help lower cases of illegal dumping and keep the natural environment clean and safe from pollutions by doing the following:
• Reporting offenders. With the proper evidence, contact the council on any illegal dumping activity going on in your area.
• Adhere to bin collection days set by local councils. This reduces the chances of having large volumes of waste.
• Use recyclable items in business events. For example, use alternatives to balloons if celebrating an occasion.
• Encourage businesses to be carbon neutral.
• Use public transport to help reduce pollution.
• Adhere to local governments' strategic planning guides when creating a development plan.
• Take part in cleanup exercises organised by council businesses or charity organisations.
Say No To Littering And Illegal Dumping
Illegal dumping is unethical, unsightly, and creates several issues. Illegal waste disposal, whether on private or public property, should never be encouraged. The negative consequences of illicit dumping outweigh the minor fines imposed by city councils and local governments.
By properly disposing of waste, you'll be helping people and future generations. Moreover, you can enlist the services of a waste removalist should you need assistance removing any type of waste according to Australian disposal requirements. | <urn:uuid:ff2888a2-49be-4e7e-a063-18f7e80d91ca> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.supremeskipbinsadelaide.com.au/blog/illegal-dumping-fines-in-australia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.917736 | 2,225 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Asked to name the vessel that anchors Bermuda’s maritime history most would, justifiably, point to the Sloop, however, the local Pilot Gig was another innovative and uniquely Bermudian craft that played a vital role in Bermuda’s history. While the Sloop gave Bermudians access to the world, it is the Pilot Gig, and the crews that ran them, that allowed the world to come to Bermuda.
For centuries, ships approaching Bermuda were met by the sight of several onrushing Pilot Gigs locked in a grueling and often dangerous race to deliver a qualified pilot to the deck of the ship. That team would thus earn a piloting fee for safely delivering the ship through Bermuda’s treacherous reefs.
Writing in the Royal Gazette, historian Dr. Edward Harris noted that, “It was piloting that facilitated Bermuda’s early forays into the maritime trade of the Western North Atlantic, and indeed supported the 19th-century development of the agricultural economy and the tourist trade.”
The industry seems to have emerged naturally from Bermuda’s seafaring people who, aboard their sleek and maneuverable row/sailboats, were regularly engaged in fishing, whaling, wreck rescues and salvage, transportation and even some recreational racing.
The crews onboard these local boats were primarily enslaved black people who were clearly skilled mariners, with the pilots recognised as particular masters of the sea.
Perhaps the most famous Bermuda pilot was James “Jemmy” Darrell, who on May 17, 1795, piloted Rear Admiral George Murray’s 74-gun ship HMS Resolution into a deep anchorage, now known as Murray’s Anchorage, near Tobacco Bay in St. George’s.
So impressed was Admiral Murray that he wrote to Bermuda’s governor asking that Darrell be freed from slavery, which he was.
Darrell, amongst a lifetime of achievements and influence, went on to become a King’s Pilot, which meant he was responsible to delivering British Naval ships into Bermuda.
Post slavery black Bermudians continued to dominate the Pilot Gig industry, and it was a hard-earned living.
Thirty-two feet long and often no wider than five feet, Gigs were built for speed, not stability, and required deft teamwork to succeed on the open ocean.
Locally built, they sported two or three stayless spars with triangular mainsails and a jib, i.e. the Bermuda Rig. They were rowed, by six to eight oarsmen, to windward, sailed in a following breeze and helmed by the pilot himself.
One can only surmise that the men operating these boats were hard. Hands like vice-grips wrapped around the handles of 12 to 16-foot ‘sweeps’ powered by a full-body exertion that could last hours.
In a diary kept by Albert A. Outerbridge, he described the mesmerizing scene of three Gigs racing to meet the ship he was aboard.
“The sea was running very high, and the wind still blew a moderate gale, and it was wonderful how such small boats could live. On they came, apparently almost abreast, under triple reefs, yet dashing through the foam, sometimes lost in the valleys of the waves, and then sailing – almost flying – on their crests, high above us.”
This action took place eight miles offshore, in January, 1868.
Later, with the advent of the Marconi tower and radio transmissions, there are stories of Gigs racing 30, 40 and even 50 miles offshore in search of the piloting fee.
Of course all of this involved risk to life and limb and crews were sometimes lost at sea. One of the more renowned tales is of the crew of the Ocean Queen who disappeared in stormy seas on January 27, 1927. The boat appeared, capsized, several days later off Elbow Beach but the lives of Edgar Smith, Goulrich Richardson, George Brangman, Robert Gibbons and Ernest Tucker were lost forever.
Fredrick W. Keith, in a fascinating article written in 1938 for Motor Boating magazine, described the relationship the crew of the Ocean Queen, and other Pilot Gig teams, would have shared.
He reported that the government had little jurisdiction over the piloting business other than to “designate” pilots (how this was done was not explained).
The Gigs were funded by the team of mariners that ran the boat with the fees divvied up according to a prescribed formula in which the pilot received a larger share and money was set aside for boat maintenance and repair.
Keith wrote that there was also an etiquette amongst the Gig crews. For instance, a share in a pilot boat was for life and meant an oarsman or pilot could only ride in that boat. When the call went out that a ship had been sighted a running race to the boat often ensued and being first to grab an oar ensured a seat on that chase. In this case, either a seat or a share might be put aside for the watchman who was at the disadvantage of being up the watchtower when the foot race began.
Apparently, it was also acceptable to “steal” a rival Gig as long as it was returned in good condition. The theft was, however, thwarted if any of the rival team put a hand on the gunwhale before the Gig left the shore. (The author does note that this practice was not common).
This system was in effect for independent Gig teams for almost a century when, according to Keith’s article, the government made a decision to centralise the service, effectively ending one of Bermuda’s most adventurous and enterprising ways of life.
A Pilotage Authority was formed and led by a British naval officer. Qualified pilots were required to re-examine and many licenses were revoked. Keith reported that of the 60 active oarsmen only a few were retained and that the government bought the gigs and put the crews on salary.
Understandably there were protests in which gigs were burned but the new system took hold. Larger ketches (sailboats) and ultimately motorised pilot boats replacing the gigs. It is said that the old-timers referred to these diesel-powered crafts as “Stink Boats”.
Yet a vestige of the pilot legacy remains today, no foreign ship can enter Bermuda waters without taking onboard a pilot.
In 2015, the Bermuda Pilot Gig Club was formed to highlight Bermuda’s maritime heritage and promote the sport of Gig racing. The club now operates several of the traditionally designed Gigs and has participated in and hosted international regattas. Appropriately the Club’s Gigs are named after some of Bermuda’s most renowned and accomplished pilots. | <urn:uuid:7e165a75-f60e-4bbb-ad5a-cee155f6e52d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.thebermudian.com/culture/the-consummate-bermudian/the-bermuda-pilot-gig/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.98149 | 1,419 | 3.703125 | 4 |
A biopsy is a sample of tissue from a living organism which is used as a diagnostic tool. Biopsies are carried out to identify various diseases, or to eliminate certain causes for symptoms. There are a number of ways in which a doctor can collect a biopsy, and an assortment of techniques can be used to analyze the resulting sample. If you have been scheduled for this procedure, you may want to talk to your doctor about the specific technique which will be used to collect the sample.
When a patient complains of a medical problem, a doctor uses an assortment of techniques to diagnose the problem. Most doctors try to start with non-invasive procedures before they turn to taking tissue samples. A biopsy may be needed when other diagnostic tools reveal no obvious problem, or when a scan of the patient's body shows that there is an area of irregularity which may require a closer look.
The most basic sample can be taken with a scraping. A doctor would rub a swab on a patient's skin, for example, to grab a sample so the cause of a skin condition could be determined. Biopsies can also be taken with large-bore needles which basically remove a core sample, and in some cases graspers or forceps are used inside the body, with the assistance of endoscopic tools to help the doctor see. The procedure can also be done using surgical techniques, in which a small section of the area of interest is cut out.
A surgical biopsy can also be a useful tool when it is clear that the problem may be caused by a malignancy. This procedure can be used to remove questionable moles or lymph nodes near a cancerous region in their entirety, reducing the risk that the problem might spread. When a pathologist examines the sample, he or she can determine whether or not it was malignant, and whether or not the surgeon needs to remove more material for the patient's safety.
A pathologist can look at the sample under a microscope for obvious signs of irregularity, or use chemical testing methods to check for less obvious conditions. Once the pathologist has studied the sample, he or she sends the results to the physician who requested the procedure, along with recommendations for treatment which the physician may consider in a treatment plan. In the case of a malignancy, the results will also state the biopsy either had “positive margins,” meaning that the doctor needs to remove more tissue, or “negative margins,” which indicate that the entire malignancy was removed. | <urn:uuid:9482d5d5-fb9b-4a99-8524-118dd144c0e7> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.thehealthboard.com/what-is-a-biopsy.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.956875 | 515 | 3.75 | 4 |
Scottish Parliament debate on protecting & promoting child rights
Date: 17th November 2015
Category: Reporting to and monitoring the UNCRC, Awareness-raising, General measures of implementation
Following a motion lodged by Roderick Campbell MSP, the Scottish Parliament debated the subject of Universal Children's Day on 17th November.
The motion lodged by Roderick Campbell MSP states:
That the Parliament recognises that 20 November is Universal Children's Day; understands that this commemorative day was established by the UN in 1954 and is devoted to promoting the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; recognises the necessity of protecting and promoting children's rights not just in North East Fife and across Scotland, but around the rest of the world; believes that this will help ensure that children can survive and thrive, learn and grow, have their voices heard and reach their full potential; understands that violations of children's rights continue to take place across the world; applauds the work of organisations that are devoted to tackling and confronting such abuse, and commends the Cross Party Group on Children and Young People on what it sees as its efforts to promote dialogue about and an understanding of the realisation of children's rights in Scotland and in encouraging the promotion of Scotland's international obligations to allow every child worldwide the opportunity to enjoy their childhood with freedom and dignity.
The debate took place on Tuesday 17th November 2015, at 5pm in the Scottish Parliament Chamber.
The debate preceded the launch of the Child Rights Manifesto at the Cross Party Group (CPG) for Children and Young People on Wednesday 18th November 2015. This Manifesto has been created by a sub-group of CPG members and reflects the views of children and young people about how they expect decision-makers to act, in order for them to enjoy their rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The CPG will request current and candidate MSPs to sign-up to the Child Rights Manifesto, in advance of the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections, to show their commitment to respecting, protecting and fulfilling children's rights and to pledge to be #ChildRightsChamps.
More information about the Manifesto including a copy to download and instructions of how to sign-up will be available on the Together website.
The CPG on the Child Rights Manifesto will take place at 12:30pm on Wednesday 18th November in Committee Room 1.
Universal Children's Day is the 20th November and is celebrated each year to promote children's rights and to encourage States to take stronger measures to ensure that all children enjoy all of their rights, all of the time. | <urn:uuid:1788103e-4849-43d6-af1a-83cd798bc66f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.togetherscotland.org.uk/news-and-events/news/2015/11/scottish-parliament-debate-on-protecting-promoting-child-rights/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.955979 | 543 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The most common sign of miscarriage is vaginal bleeding. This can vary from light spotting or brownish discharge to bright red bleeding. This may come and go over several days.
Try to remember that light vaginal bleeding can be quite common in early pregnancy and doesn’t always mean you are having a miscarriage.
If you are bleeding, use a sanitary towel and keep track of your symptoms, but don’t use tampons because this can increase your risk of infection. It would be helpful to take your sanitary towel with you when you see your healthcare professional so they can see how much you are bleeding.
Any bleeding should be checked in pregnancy. Even if the bleeding is light, contact your GP, midwife or Early Pregnancy Unit immediately, just in case.
Taking progesterone in early pregnancy
If you have miscarried before and are bleeding in early pregnancy (before 12 weeks), you may benefit from taking progesterone. This may help prevent another miscarriage. Find out more about taking progesterone in early pregnancy.
Other symptoms of a miscarriage
Other symptoms of a miscarriage include:
- cramping and pain in your lower tummy
- a discharge of fluid from your vagina
- a discharge of tissue from your vagina
- no longer experiencing pregnancy symptoms, such as feeling sick and breast tenderness (these are just examples, as not everyone experiences these in pregnancy).
Contact your GP, midwife or nearest Early Pregnancy Unit if you think you’re having a miscarriage. If your symptoms are severe, go to A&E. You may want to take someone with you.
Ectopic pregnancy symptoms
In an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilised egg starts to grow somewhere other than in the normal lining of the womb, usually in the fallopian tube. An ectopic pregnancy creates a potentially life-threatening situation for the mother, so it is very important that it is treated quickly.
If you experience a combination of the following symptoms, you should call your GP, midwife or NHS 111:
- a missed period and other signs of pregnancy
- tummy pain low down, more so on 1 side
- vaginal bleeding or a brown watery discharge
- pain in the tip of your shoulder
- discomfort when weeing or pooing.
These symptoms aren’t necessarily a sign of a serious problem, but you should get advice straight away.
Call 999 for an ambulance or go to your nearest A&E department immediately if you experience a combination of:
- a sharp, sudden and intense pain in your tummy
- feeling very dizzy or fainting
- feeling sick
- looking very pale.
These symptoms could mean that your fallopian tube has split open (ruptured). This is a medical emergency and needs urgent attention.
Will I always have symptoms if I miscarry?
No. In some cases, there may be no signs or symptoms so you may not be aware you have miscarried.
Sadly, some women are diagnosed at their routine antenatal scan. This is called a missed miscarriage. You will be referred to the Early Pregnancy Unit or gynaecology department, where a specialist team will explain the treatment options to you. | <urn:uuid:e36d8cce-4c6d-4e36-989a-d259144c2148> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.tommys.org/baby-loss-support/miscarriage-information-and-support/frequently-asked-questions-about-miscarriage/what-are-miscarriage-signs-and-what-should-i-do-if-i-think-i-am-having-miscarriage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.930552 | 661 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The Tweed is recognised as a biodiversity hotspot – one of the richest and most diverse regions for flora and fauna in Australia.
Sadly there are 92 plant and 122 animal species recognised as threatened, 11 Endangered Ecological Communities, one Endangered Population and one area of Critical Habitat in the Tweed.
Native Species Planting Guide
The Native Species Planting Guide (NSPG) is an online interactive resource produced to assist home owners, land holders and professionals to prepare locally occurring native species planting lists for projects ranging from landscape-scale restoration to back garden planting.
To complement this online resource a companion booklet has also been produced, My Local Native Garden booklet(PDF, 6MB) : A planting guide to promote biodiversity in the Tweed.
The NSPG contains more than 1550 species and provides a range of information about each species including:
- An image of the plant.
- A range of physical and ecological attributes are assigned to each species including:
- height, growth rate and flower colour
- tolerance to environmental factors including cold, wind, water inundation and salt
- ecological relationships such as feed source, bird and butterfly attraction or susceptibility to Myrtle Rust
- occurrence by soil type and landscape position
- conservation status and potential availability through nurseries.
- Identification of species by stratum (canopy, emergent, understorey, etc.) and their likely prevalence within specific mapped vegetation communities.
The original data was compiled in a spreadsheet format(XLSX, 884KB) in 2015 by Wildsite Ecological Services, Rivendell Botanical Services and Lucinda Cox Graphic Design with input from local botanists, Council staff, local nursery operators, and others for the NSW Environmental Trust funded Tweed Byron Bush Futures Project.
The NSPG will remain a 'work in progress' and feedback from users is encouraged; any perceived errors or omissions or any problems encountered with its use can be conveyed to Council's Project Officer - Biodiversity, Michael Corke, on 02 6670 2400 or email@example.com.
Myrtle Rust is not a notifiable plant disease anymore and falls under different legislation.
Visit the Department of Primary Industries website for further information.
Tweed Shire Council Nursery
Tweed Shire Council's Nursery discontinued the sale of plants to the public as of 1 July 2017.
The role of the Tweed Shire Council nursery is to source and supply all plants used throughout the Tweed's many parks, gardens and reserves as well as street scaping and revegetation projects.
With sustainability as the main focus, nursery staff propagates a variety of native species from locally collected seed contributing to the majority of native species planted each year within the Tweed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I plant banana plants in my backyard?
Banana plants, plant material, banana soil and banana production equipment can carry disease which has the potential to adversely affect the States banana industry.
As such the movement of bananas is regulated by the NSW DPI under the Biosecurity Act, with significant fines applicable for the movement of bananas without appropriate permits.
Residents of the Tweed Shire are required to obtain a permit to plant Banana Plants in their backyards. Permits are available from the Department of Primary Industries.
Department of Primary Industries (DPI)
Phone 1800 808 095
Post: NSW DPI, Locked Bag 21, Orange NSW 2800
DPI Alstonville - Tropical Fruit Field Station Agriculture
494 Bruxner Highway
Alstonville NSW 2477
Phone 02 6626 2400
Fax 02 6628 5209 | <urn:uuid:95c4a0f0-3043-4e69-b2a2-419120e1ba2f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/environment/native-plants-wildlife/native-plants | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.904284 | 758 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Most of human sentences are in fact aimed at getting rid of the ambiguity which one has unfortunately left trailing in the previous sentence. Now I believe this to be absolutely inherent in the relation between the symbolism of language (that is, an exact symbolism) and the brain processes that it stands for. It is not possible to get rid of ambiguity in our statements, because that would press symbolism beyond its capabilities. And it is not possible to get rid of ambiguity because the number of responses that the brain could make never has a sharp edge because the thing is not a digital machine. So we have to work with the ambiguities. And nearly all discussions about Turing’s theorem or about poetry always come back to the central point about ambiguity. One of my fellow mathematicians, William Empson, who did mathematics with me at Cambridge, turned to poetry and at once published a book called Seven Types of Ambiguity–it is still a kind of minor bible, but a bible written by a mathematician, never forget that.
Ambiguity, multivalence, the fact that language simply cannot be regarded as a clear and final exposition of what it says, is central both to science, and, of course, to literature.
Jacob Bronowski, The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination
Bronowski carved out a niche for himself a bit like that of C.P. Snow, but I think he was more sensitive to, well, ambiguity.
The other figure lurking in this passage is that other Cambridge mathematician and logician who turned to the mysteries of language: Ludwig Wittgenstein. F.R. Leavis, who was not a genius, talks about Empson and Wittgenstein (who were geniuses) as near-polar opposites. One was protean, the other was anything but protean.
It may seem ironic that Wittgenstein would be the one to completely reject the system he created, but it’s actually entirely fitting, for it’s the most immutable among us who are sometimes forced into such complete renunciations when they finally change their minds. | <urn:uuid:71981c21-5beb-49eb-a70e-0e4ec6ddf561> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.waggish.org/2011/jacob-bronowski-william-empson-wittgenstein-and-ambiguity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.971585 | 426 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Climate Finance - Moving Beyond the 'Polluter Pays'
Climate change adaptation funding is frequently characterized as reparations or compensation for costs imposed by historical emissions. This characterization derives from the ‘polluter pays’ principle. The flows associated with climate finance are thus frequently conceived of as payments owed that are distinct from, and logically additional to, traditional aid flows which are conceived of as investments in the wellbeing of poor people and poor countries.
The polluter pays principle (PPP) undeniably has intuitive appeal. However, perhaps now is the time to adopt a framework within which the logic of differential responsibilities between developed and developing countries remains intact, but which is based on variations in capabilities, rather than culpability for the problem of climate change.
Responsibility for the current levels of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is skewed towards the developed world, especially when we consider emissions on a per capita basis. Even though developing countries are responsible for a relatively small share of cumulative emissions, the negative effects of climate change are widely regarded as very likely to be relatively greater in developing countries.
Further, there are a number of problems with PPP, and a number of potential benefits associated with moving away from it:
- There is a tension between conceptualizing climate finance as separate and distinct, on the one hand, and the broad agreement that climate and development issues are strongly interlinked and hence best tackled jointly, on the other.
- PPP has provided impetus for the widespread spawning of new funds and disbursement mechanisms, with a high potential for duplication and wasteful complexity.
- Private money must form a significant part of future climate finance, with public money increasingly used to leverage private funds. It is not easy to see how a system focused on compensation could be designed in such a way as to simultaneously help catalyse the necessary private sector financial flows.
These are serious, but perhaps not insurmountable, issues. However, there are also even more fundamental problems with the application of PPP to the climate problem.
How much should the polluter pay?
Assessing the liability of the polluter is crucial if PPP is to be successfully applied, for this we must be able to quantify the impacts of climate change. The numerous attempts to do so almost invariably compare futures under climate change to an alternative or counterfactual scenario where global climate change due to human activity is not present. Typically, for the counterfactual, evaluations assume that the climate of roughly the second half of the twentieth century persists into the twenty-first century. The difference between the climate change scenario and the counterfactual would then represent the cost that the polluter should play.
The technical challenges in conducting these assessments are immense, rendering conclusions subject to substantial debate. Unfortunately, an even more difficult issue exists. This relates to the counterfactual ‘no climate change world’. Current science tells us that such a world is—whatever actions we take—purely hypothetical as the climate is going to change regardless. Comparing climate change futures with such a scenario, is, as has been shown by UNU-WIDER work, useful in terms of planning as it highlights the likely divergences from recent historical experience that climate change might impose. However, a purely hypothetical counterfactual, one that directly contradicts climate science, does not provide a solid basis for assessing liability under PPP.
If developed countries are to be held liable for cumulative emissions from some historical point in time, then the counterfactual ‘reduced climate change world’ should surely consider the implications of the mitigation policies that would have been required to constrain emissions from that date. This is a wildly complex technical challenge. And the conclusion that the entire world, including developing countries, would be somewhat worse off, at least in material terms, than they are today if rapid industrialization had not taken place cannot be ruled out and may even be likely. After all, there is broad agreement that future mitigation policies are likely to impose costs. Hence, had mitigation policies been imposed historically, they should also entail costs. To take an extreme example, had fossil fuels been forsaken at the dawn of the industrial era, the benefits (and the costs) of an industrialized economy would certainly have been delayed. Industrialization may not have taken place at all.
Overall, the application of PPP to climate finance is a disconcertingly murky enterprise that is highly unlikely to yield solid conclusions, and may even serve to undercut arguments for financial and other resource flows designed to help developing countries confront climate change.
An alternative way to approach climate finance based on theories of justice
If PPP is inadequate, where then can we turn for guidance on how the cost of climate change mitigation and adaption could be best shared? One answer lies in the work of political theorists, and in particular in the work of John Rawls and Amartya Sen. Rawls asked us to imagine collectively deciding on principles of justice from behind a ‘veil-of-ignorance’, a position in which we are unaware of our own individual attributes such as class, race, gender, and ability. From such a position, Rawls surmised, we would, after putting in place guarantees of political and social rights, seek to maximize the position of the worst off members of our society.
Rawls originally applied this method to considerations of justice within individual nation states, resisting the idea that his principles of justice could be applied internationally on the basis that states, unlike individual citizens, are self-sufficient enterprises. However this clearly breaks down in the face of the global challenge represented by climate change. If one were today designing international institutional arrangements from behind a veil-of-ignorance without knowing in which country in the world one would end up, it is highly likely that one would prefer some international system designed to cope with climate change. Furthermore, one would be likely to design an international system that took special account of particularly vulnerable populations, such as those living in small island states whose very existence is threatened by sea level rise.
The critiques, revisions, and enhancements to the Rawlsian constructs of justice set forth by Sen (2009) provide further guideposts for the future of the international institutional architecture. In particular, Sen emphasizes continual improvement of institutional systems as opposed to a one-off leap to a system judged to be best by some ex ante reasoning.
Within such a framework, the logic of differential responsibilities between developed and developing countries would remain intact, but would be based on variations in capabilities, rather than culpability for the problem of climate change. Beyond enhanced clarity, this framework has the advantage that it fits well with the by now well-recognized need to holistically consider developmental, adaptation, and mitigation policies. This framework also fits more comfortably with the manifest need to catalyse private finance to achieve linked developmental, adaptation, and mitigation objectives.
While these exhortations are extremely general and leave a great deal to be worked out, they do lead us away from a long set of discussions that have, as yet, borne little fruit and appear unlikely to do so in future. | <urn:uuid:35ca59ef-57f1-4442-b787-88d4ba0bd9f6> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/climate-finance-moving-beyond-polluter-pays | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.960989 | 1,443 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Portuguese map by Lopo Homem (c. 1519) showing the coast of Brazil and natives extracting brazilwood, as well as Portuguese ships.
A map, from 1574, that shows the 15 hereditary captaincy colonies of Brazil.
Map of Portugal from 1647
Map of Western Africa by Lázaro Luis (1563). The large castle in West Africa represents the São Jorge da Mina (El mina castle).
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Portuguese Empire of the East or Estado da Índia (“State of India”) included possessions in all the Asian Subcontinents, East Africa, and Pacific. | <urn:uuid:21933226-b2a4-41c5-8176-6125ad090e12> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.worldheritageofportugueseorigin.com/category/maps/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.9249 | 144 | 3.046875 | 3 |
A reader is concerned about his Staffordshire Bull Terrier's aggressive behaviour towards other dogs.
Q: My seven-year-old Staffie is normally very friendly and relaxed. However, she can become aggressive with dogs who rush up to her at speed; she is fine if they are polite and only want to sniff. She was attacked in the past and I believe this is what is behind her behaviour. Realistically, I suspect it will always be an issue, so I need to know how best to manage the situation. Have you any advice on what I should do when a dog rushes up to her? At the moment, I put her on a lead if I see a dog I think will behave in this way. Is this correct? And how do I keep her and the other dog safe?
Tony Whittington, Suffolk.
Tony says: It is challenging to train a behaviour where you have no control of the trigger, the trigger being the approaching dog. Understandably, your Staffie becomes irritated, and I would consider a bark or growl acceptable. She is communicating with the other, unsociable dog and it’s considered rude for a dog to run directly up to another.
Practise an emergency about turn; it will help if you do this multiple times when there are no dogs around. Put the lead on and say something like: ‘Let’s go’ in a cheery voice, and turn away from your dog. Guide your dog with the lead, so you are both heading in the opposite direction. As you turn, after a few steps, give your dog a treat, or toss a treat ahead. This makes the turn positive. If rehearsed enough times, the technique can soon work off-lead too.
When a dog is directly approaching you both, my advice is to put the lead on. At least then you can say your dog is under control (while the approaching dog is clearly not). If you have time, perform the rehearsed emergency about turn. If it’s too late and the dog is in front of you, try to be calm and speak to the other dog in a pleasant tone. You are then informing your dog that there isn’t an issue. If you become tense and shout, your dog will pick up on it.
For any owner visiting a park, please do not allow your dog to run directly up to other dogs, especially if the other dog is on a lead. Either recall your dog, or if you can’t, put him on a lead. Ask the other owner first: ‘Can they say hello?’. The approached dog may have anxiety, which then manifests into what appears to be an aggressive display. This behaviour sticks, and the dog and owner soon have a problem to overcome. | <urn:uuid:9124b16a-e39c-4d2b-a880-069347d164c3> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.yourdog.co.uk/dog-care-and-advice/my-dog-is-aggressive-with-some-dogs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.966574 | 575 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Cotswald Wildlife Park welcomed two newborn Patagonian Mara on August 6. They are quite shy and speedy, but zoo staff managed to snap a few pictures of the little ones out and about. They share an enclosure with two young Capybara next to the Giant Anteaters.
The species, also known as the Patagonian Hare, is the closest relative of the Guinea Pig. They are endemic to Patagonia, meaning that they originate from that area and are found nowhere else in the world. These rabbit-like rodents feed on plants throughout the day and are excellent runners. Pairs will mate for life, and the male will guard the female from potential predators.
Photo credits: Cotswald Wildlife Pakr
Patagonian Mara are listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Their preferred habitat are lowland forests and bush, which are rapidly being converted for agricultural use. According to the IUCN, main threats to the Mara are habitat loss, competition with grazing livestock and hunting for their skins. | <urn:uuid:9eac86f0-6419-420f-9f82-b35e1792e754> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2013/08/patagonian-mara-cotswald-wildlife-park.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.956939 | 226 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Showing extreme deference or submission to someone.
The word kowtow comes from the chinese word "koutou" which means to kneel and knock the head on the ground as a sign of respect and submission. it is used to describe the act of showing extreme deference or submission to someone.
- He refused to kowtow to the company's demands, standing up for what he believed in.
- She felt that kowtowing to her boss would not bring her the respect she deserved.
- The company had to kowtow to the demands of the government in order to operate in the country.
- He didn"t want to kowtow to the new management"s policies and resigned from his position.
- She had to kowtow to her boss in order to keep her job, even though it went against her principles. | <urn:uuid:78099740-afba-42f7-a83e-4c4143a88708> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://zendict.com/en-en/kowtow.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.979443 | 185 | 2.96875 | 3 |
The Origins of writing
It may, on the face of it, seem strange to look back at the origins of the world's diverse forms of writing at the very moment when a universal new system is being born before our very eyes. Unimaginable not so long ago, computerized script has become part of our daily lives, promising access to the dazzling new world of information, learning and communication that we described in our February issue on "the multimedia explosion".
Some think that this new electronic script will replace all earlier writing systems and consign them to oblivion. Are they right?
While the present issue of the Unesco Courier does not pose this problem in such specific terms, its contents suggest that the answer to it will probably be "no". By shedding light on the great variety of forms and techniques used to make the spoken word "visible", it shows how close and intricate is the relationship between a language and the writing system used to record it. Arabic would not be Arabic if it were written in Chinese characters. Turkish is not the same language when written in Latin script. The death knell starts to sound for a language when its writing system disappears because a language, it script and its music belong to a single aesthetic.
The subject of writing takes us into one of the deepest recesses of a people's identity. Learning to write has always been a key stage in the process whereby a person gains access to the collective memory and becomes a full member of the national community, part of its fabric of complicities and conflicts.
Tempted by the boundless possibilities for travel, exchange and new experiences offered by globalization, will late twentieth century people continue to feel this need for roots, this desire for familiar faces, landscapes and rhythms? We think they will. The further they go, the more they will need familiar landmarks. The more exposed they are to communication that is rich in information but poor in meaning, the more sustenance they will need from the roots of their own cultures. The written language, drawing its vitality from the works produced in it over the centuries, can safeguard this heritage and defend it against the growing threats of anonymity and oblivion.
Bahgat Elnadi, Director, and Adel Rifaat, Editor in chief | <urn:uuid:a54707a0-d520-4337-be44-19a0d6a50267> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://zh.unesco.org/courier/april-1995 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.961976 | 458 | 2.890625 | 3 |
But we would like to expand your knowledge in this area, because if you are gliding a ride to India, you will apparently have to face, so to speak, person to face with the mammals, and if not in the wild, so to domesticated individuals. Many of us know that they are the great animals on the sphere, and that they are somewhat similar to mammoths – the form of their ears sharpened, and they pull down. In addition, male elephants have fangs solid – the length of an middle of 1-1.5 meters, weight – 15-25 kg. True, there are the elephants without tusks, they live in the east of India, and the local population calls them Makhno.
In the past wild elephants in India lived almost all above the country, but now only the east and south. India elephant is found also in other countries: Thailand, Burma, Nepal, as well as on the isle of Sumatra. In the last 20 years to reduce the number of these animals. The reason is simple – expanding farmland, and the elephant is simply nowhere to live. In India there Uttar Pradesh – here at all, it was the mostferal elephants in the best of times their number of passes for a few thousand. But today there are about 400, and all across the country – not more than five to seven thousand. Indian elephants prefer to live in the wood forest. Best of all, these animals feel light, with a massive shrub understory forests. And if recently elephant India herds went quietly in the savanna (most often in the cold), but now it is probable only in protected reserves. For all other territory it turned into a field where always something is grown. In the summer, elephants love to climb high into the mountains, sometimes reaching features of permafrost.
Hold India elephant in herds of 15-20 individuals. It is notable that the main is old female – she is subject to all the flock.
Readable facts about the pregnancy of elephants and their young. The longest period of gestation in mammals pertain to the elephant – 20-22 months, for almost two years. “Baby” India elephant is born with a weight of 70-90 kg, and moiety an hour after birth can move independently with the herd. The female victual her baby milk from a portion to five years, hinge on the living conditions and quality of food. It is readable that he does not come favorable conditions for a new pregnancy, the female elephant India will feed her milk. A childbirth, on average, may be once for two to nine years. Until there comes a new pregnancy, baby stays with the mother (on average, the period of four years).
The park Addo, who is in South Africa, conducted a study of elephants in India, which showed that more than 95% of mature females or are “in position” or nurse their babies. Directly during the copulation season is not associated with the seasons. Males at this time is enough dangerous, and there have been process that have attacked humans. At this time, from a special gasket which is disposed in the male between the ocular and ear, the liquid outlet black – secret attracts females.
The life of the elephant India is 60-70 years old, while he becomes sexually mature 8-12 years.
The elephant is the symbol of India. It also represents prudence, wisdom and strength. Indian elephants are habitual in ceremonies and national holidays. Many people somehow believe that elephants in India are afraid of mice, supposedly they can get to them in the trunk. This is far from the truth. The depth of the air stream, which blows from the elephant’s proboscis is huge, it is easy to envision what will develop with the mouse, if the exhalation from the animal to the ground fly stones.
Indian tourists bring all the numeral of elephants, made of different materials: wood, glass, ceramics and clay, plastic, and even ivory! Treat yourself and your loved ones in this show. We trust our information has become an interesting and informative for you. | <urn:uuid:78335cfb-9c07-41ab-a673-78edb65f24c6> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | http://itarat.net/indian-elephants/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.963302 | 848 | 2.765625 | 3 |
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As early as the 1870s, promoters began to draw attention to the natural resources of the mountains. It began even earlier in West Virginia when the legislature created a Commissioner of Immigration to promote the "boundless natural resources" of the state. The first commissioner, John H. Diss Debar, could not have dreamed of the success ultimately achieved by the private speculators who took up the call, especially former Confederate officers General John D. Imboden and Major Jedidiah Hotchkiss. Both men knew first hand the wealth to be developed, and both invested heavily in West Virginia coal and timer lands long before the coming of the railroads.
Timber and mineral agents purchased land throughout southern West Virginia. Some buyers offered to buy mineral rights only, others wanted only trees on the stump, still others purchased land outright. The use of the "broad form" deed gave rights to the buyer to do whatever was necessary to extract the resources, but land owners gradually realized the disadvantages inherent in this contract and insisted on outright purchase. Even so, the value of lands or rights sold before the railroad arrived were a small fraction of what they would be afterward. For example, land which was purchased in the Pocahontas-Flat Top field at $1.50 to $2.00 per acre was worth over $100 per acre five years later.
Millions of acres of land, timber, and mineral rights passed out of the hands of local people in this manner and into the grasp of speculators who in turn sold them to absentee corporations. One of the few official public positions taken by a state agency against this transfer of wealth was by the West Virginia Tax Commission in 1884. It warned citizens that ownership of valuable resources would in the near future leave West Virginia "despoiled of her wealth and her resident population poor, helpless, and despondent." The warning was a less prophetic than intelligent observation to those few who took heed.
The coming of the railroads was nearly as dramatic a development as the transfer of land to private corporations. In a relatively short period of time railroads financed by Wall Street and Fleet Street laid down an intricate web of tracks opening the way to exploitation of the natural resources. The railroads connected the logging operations with milling centers and markets, and transformed the methods and organization of the industry. Equipment capable of stripping mountains to the top was brought in, and the volume and size of timber hauled out grew enormously. By 1920, West Virginia had lost a virgin forest which had covered two-thirds of the state in 1880. In the process, larger and larger blocks of land came under control of ever larger resources companies as major corporations lined up to profit by serving the demand for forest products in urbanizing America.
In 1886, the Norfolk and Western Railroad announced an east-west line through southern West Virginia. The decision to route this line through the Tug Valley as opposed to the Guyandotte Valley came in February 1889. The town of Matewan, incorporated in 1897, was founded about 1893, when the railroad reached the area. The town was named after the hometown of the engineers, Mattewan, New York; however, the locals dropped one "t" and changed the pronunciation.
The railroads also hauled out coal. Timber companies succeeded in denuding the mountainsides, and the coal companies filled the landscape with gob piles and finished the process of transforming the countryside beyond recognition of former mountain dwellers. The Williamson Coalfield, comprised of Mingo and parts of McDowell and Wayne Counties, was opened shortly after the completion of the N&W mainline along the Tug Fork. The first coal mining operations were located around Matewan. In 1893, the Thacker Coal and Coke Company was incorporated. In 1894, the Alma Coal and Coke Company was incorporated at Matewan and Matewan Improvement Company, a landholding corporation was organized by Philadelphia interests.
By 1900 Mercer, McDowell, and Mingo counties alone produced almost as much coal as the rest of the entire state had in 1890. Over almost as much coal as the rest of the entire state had in 1890. Over the next twenty years coal production in the southern counties expanded by over 300 percent. By 1925, West Virginia produced 176,000,000 tons of coal, over two-thirds of which came from southern West Virginia.
Like the timber men, coal operators and the investors to whom they were indebted entered West Virginia to extract its rich natural resources. Investors and operators measured their success in terms of profits, of course, rather than improvement of life for local inhabitants. In the process, the region's destiny was turned over to absentee corporations, who in turn made West Virginia a peripheral supplier of natural resources for the nations growing urban-manufacturing centers. The consequences of that process continues to adversely affect modern life in the Mountain State. Now, approximately two-thirds of all privately owned land, and about four-fifths of natural wealth in West Virginia is owned by absentee resource corporations.
Ronald L. Lewis is the Chairman of History
at West Virginia University and is a recognized scholar of West Virginia
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Back to matewan.com | <urn:uuid:15b76684-1eb7-4628-9129-43cb6f3fc72e> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | http://matewan.com/History/resources.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.966606 | 1,129 | 3.125 | 3 |
Republic of the Philippines - Stamps and Postal History
Philippine Philatelic Library
Republic of the Philippines
The following is an article originally published in The Philippines Postal Journal, Vol. 1 No. 1, September 1970.
The Stamp and Philatelic Division and Its Role in
the Postal Service
By virtue of Executive Order No. 94, dated October 4, 1947 the Stamp and Philatelic Division of the Bureau of Posts was formally organized and on October 16, 1947, it began functioning with a handful of employees.
To this newly created branch of the postal service was given a three-fold task:
1) To take charge of printing postage and commemorative stamps
2) To effect the distribution of these stamps to all post offices in the country
3) To promote philately or stamp collecting (a very enjoyable and fascinating hobby that enhances learning and keeps both the old and the young busy, thus lessening the chances for mischief).
The first phase of the work requires technical skill and ingenuity in the arts to gain popular satisfaction; the second demands a rigid systematization in routinary procedures to effect prompt delivery of stamps for public consumption; and the third needs ardor and eloquence in dealing with the public to promote philately.
The Stamp and Philatelic Division is headed by the Postal Fiscal Service Chief, who is directly responsible to the Postmaster General in the accomplishment of all its functions. Aiding the Postal Fiscal Service Chief is the Assistant Postal Fiscal Service Chief who is directly responsible to the former.
The Division is composed of eight sections, each headed by a section chief. Each of these sections has its own particular duties to perform, but all of them function in full coordination with one another to maintain an efficient postal service.
The printing and the issuance of postage stamps and commemoratives get the first attention of the division. The work is not as simple as the public may presume. It requires time, effort and capital.
The Stamp and Philatelic Division, with the approval of the Postmaster General, decides what stamps to issue and what designs to portray for particular occasions. Mostly these are commemoratives. Regular and special stamps, however, are issued at intervals. After the designs are approved by the Postmaster General, particulars are prepared for public bidding among qualified printers. The lowest complying bidder is awarded the printing job. It takes almost a year to finish the printing, that is if the proofs submitted are readily approved. Otherwise another proof has to be submitted and printing is further delayed.
The delivery of the finished stamps is made as stipulated in the contract. They are delivered to the Stamp Vault Committee chairmanned by the Division Chief, which takes the role of custodian of the entire stamp stock of the Bureau of Posts.
The distribution of stamps to all post offices throughout the country, numbering around 1,500, is done by the Stamp Depository and Issuing Section headed, by a supply officer III. Requisitions coming from all city and town postmasters are readily acted upon and the stamps are mailed to them, carefully packed.
At times postage stamps are locally printed, overprinted, or surcharged in the Bureau of Printing. These are first submitted to the Revision Section for revision. The good stamps are delivered back to the Stamp Depository and Issuing Section for circulation while the damaged ones are destroyed by a Committee formed for this particular duty.
Worthy of mention in the Stamp and Philatelic Division is the Stamp Tellers Section headed by a supervising postal teller. These tellers who directly transact business with the public are very much exposed to complaints, much less, to ridicule. But it is through them that postage stamps are sold to city patrons. Their daily sales amount to more or less P35,000.00.
Most significant among the functions of the Stamp and Philatelic Division is the promotion of philately or stamp collecting. It may be interesting to know the circumstances behind the creation of the Stamp and Philatelic Division.
Before the advent of the Second World War, there had already been persistent clamors among local stamp collectors for the creation of a division in the Bureau of Posts to take charge of the sale of philatelic stamps, particularly commemorative issues. This ardent desire was further abetted by the economic crisis brought about by the Japanese occupation of the Islands when, in their financial difficulties, some hard-up collectors had to sell portions of their precious collections to keep body and soul together. Eventually, while more philatelists came into being, individual collections dwindled and these must be replenished.
Through the efforts of these pioneers in the philatelic field, among whom were assemblymen and successful businessmen, the long-sought-for Executive Order was issued and the Stamp and Philatelic Division was finally created. Thus, proceeds from regular sales of Philippines stamps began to swell. This was further promoted by the Division's publication of the now defunct Philippine Journal of Philately which not only increased to a hundred fold the number of local philatelists, through the organization of stamp clubs throughout the country, but also caused foreign stamp collectors to send their regular orders for Philippine stamps. Their names are now permanent in the mailing list of foreign philatelists as regular patrons of Philippine philatelic stamps.
At this time, with four philatelic tellers serving from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, the sale of philatelic stamps remains brisk, averaging around P4,000.00 daily. This amount rises whenever new stamps are issued.
Local and foreign philatelists crowding at the tellers' windows, buying philatelic stamps which they have to add to their ever growing collections, are a daily sight very inspiring to beginners.
The philatelic counter, shown above, is located inside the Stamps and Philatelic Division. Manned by four philatelic stamp tellers, it caters exclusively to stamp collectors and does not sell stamps for postage purposes. Access to this counter is through Door 203 of the Post Office Building at Plaza Lawton, Manila.
To those amateur stamp collectors, the Division always gives its full attention and service. All their queries are answered to their satisfaction; they are given pointers on how to begin the bobby; they are supplied with all necessary philatelic guides, like lists of stamps still available, lists of stamps issued since 1946, and stamp bulletins on forthcoming issues. Once oriented, these enthusiastic beginners start mounting their stamps in albums with all the eagerness of school children and very soon, they are seen frequenting the philatelic counters just like old philatelists.
To keep these young and old philatelists ever animated in their hobby, the Division coordinates with stamp clubs in the holding of annual stamp exhibitions where prizes for the best entries in different categories are at stake. These beautiful exhibits, besides promoting philately and entertaining visitors or casual viewers, further boost the sale of Philippine stamps.
Provincial stamp collectors and other local or foreign philatelists who cannot come personally to make their orders for first day covers are not at all forgotten. They are served thru the mails.
Weeks before the designated date for the issuance of a stamp, stamp news and bulletins are issued by the Research and Statistical Section and mailed to them to give them ample time to mail their orders. Local mail orders up to 10 first day covers are filled without any service charge if sent before the date of cancellation. Mail orders from foreign collectors are filled on the first-come first-served basis.
One big regret of the Division, however, is the lack of space in the building where the proposed Philatelic Library can be accommodated. No library is as yet available to the public. Hence, philatelic stamps, particularly those beautiful ones issued by countries that compose the Universal Postal Union, cannot be viewed by the public. However, philatelists may read or refer to philatelic materials upon request.
This Division gives its grateful acknowledgment to Department of Public Works and Communications Secretary, Manuel B. Syquio for having approved its pet project: the preparation of stamp souvenir folders for sale to stamp collectors.
Phases I and II of the project have already been finished and others are now under preparation. Now on sale in the Philatelic counters are:
1) Souvenir stamp folders affixed with assorted, colorful stamps.
2) Souvenir stamp folders affixed with complete sets of choice stamps
3) Souvenir stamp folders containing complete sets of stamps issued yearly from 1966 to 1969 (to be continued from year to year).
From the initial phase of the project the Division has derived an additional income of P8,548.10 and from the second, P7,810.00. The sale is going on. Meanwhile other souvenir folders are being prepared.
Errors, Freaks & Oddities (EFOs) | <urn:uuid:d9864e4b-23fe-449e-ab91-517fff527b7d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | http://philippinestamps.net/Library-Stamp-Philatelic.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.958387 | 1,818 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Grief is an emotional reaction to the loss of a person or thing. It can also be an emotional reaction to the loss of a dream or hope. Loss is part of life, yet so many people are uncomfortable talking about it. They push the subject into the background and try to hide how they feel. Children who have suffered loss of any kind may try to protect their parents and try to be "strong" for them. This denial of mourning and expression may lead to devastating behaviors later in life.
If loss and grief is never dealt with in a healthy way as a child, we often become bitter, depressed people who drown in self pity and spend time living in the past, regretting today and worried about tomorrow. Those persons always feel misunderstood and look to others to fulfill their needs - which are never met. We are responsible for our own needs and happiness.
When we think about grief and loss, most think it happens only if someone close to us dies. That is true, of course, but there are other losses as well that have the same reaction.
Children are constantly being exposed to so much loss that they grieve and mourn more than we think. The death of a pet, moving to a new neighborhood and entering a different school with new teachers and classmates, divorce of parents, loss of a special toy or even the loss of their first tooth. These are all losses, different in degree but not so in feelings.
Children at certain ages interpret loss in different ways. Children from three to six have a poor idea of time and permanence.To them, death or loss is not permanent. From ages six to nine, they realize that death or loss exists and is final, but may believe that it happens to others, but not to them. After the age of nine, children understand that death or loss is final, they may learn to fear it.
So what can someone do if their child is facing a loss? There are four stages that have to be carried out for the child in order that he/she be able to grow and learn from the experience.
One can compare emotional pain and hurt to a physical wound. A cut or incision in time will heal. The scar will remain. The scar is the reminder of the event that occurred, but we can go on, maybe even healthier than before. Through honesty and acceptance of each child's feelings, the loss will help the child to learn how to cope with life as they grow into adulthood. | <urn:uuid:cbd0bc3a-d6d5-46d7-9c09-1d8be345aa31> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | http://pivin.com/lovina/article5.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.977291 | 503 | 3.25 | 3 |
How to Identify Chinese Radio Stations
China is one of the few countries
increasing its presence on the medium wave (AM)
radio dial, as DXers have been able to observe.
Identifying Chinese stations can however be tricky
if you don't understand the language. With this
guide you will learn how to identify Chinese stations
based on just a few keywords and phrases. Don't
let the language barrier intimidate you, because
DXing Chinese stations can be extremely exciting
Standard Chinese (Putonghua) is the official
language both in the People's Republic of China
and the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is a spoken
form of Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of
Mandarin Chinese. In this article we won't delve
into written Chinese and its thousands of characters,
nor the four tones of the language, but will instead
use a phonetic transcription known as pinyin,
which will help you to recognize Chinese words as
you hear them.
Not all Chinese-language radio stations originate
from China, and on the other hand, not all broadcasts
from China are in the Chinese language. First we'll
learn how to tell the difference between Chinese-language
stations in mainland China and the rest of East
Asia. In the very end of the article we will also
briefly discuss some of the many minority languages
that can be heard on stations in mainland China.
This article is a practical guide to understanding
Chinese station identifications. Therefore, let's
assume that you've heard an AM station, which you
think could be Chinese, and you even have a recording
of what might be the ID. Listings of Chinese stations
are of course an essential reference guide, but
with these instructions you can probably figure
out your ID and also learn a lot along the way.
When you're hearing Chinese language on the AM or
shortwave dial, the first question is whether the
broadcast is from the People's Republic of China
or elsewhere. There are two main clues that can
point to mainland China: a time announcement where
Beijing is mentioned, and the use of the word "people"
in the station identification.
Beijing time across the country
At the top of the hour most mainland Chinese stations
air a time signal, followed by a time announcement
indicating the time in Beijing time. The entire
vast country observes only this one time zone, which
is eight hours ahead of Universal time (UTC/GMT),
Let's listen to a couple of examples:
UTC (21.00 Beijing time): "Beijing shijian
er shi yi dian zheng" (where er=2, shi=10,
making 20, and yi=1)
UTC (24.00 Beijing time): "Beijing shijian
ling dian zheng"
(where ling=0 and refers to midnight)
The time announcement usually follows a familiar
pattern "Beijing shijian (Beijing time)
... dian (o'clock) zheng (exactly)".
If you hear this, you can be sure that you're listening
to a mainland Chinese station.
However, the opposite is not true. Even if you don't
hear Beijing time mentioned, the station can still
be from mainland China, where many stations nowadays
prefer a less formal image, ditching official time
In any case, listening carefully around the top
of the hour is your best opportunity to catch a
station ID from a Chinese station. Also the end
of any top-of-the hour newscast and 30 minutes past
the hour are slots worth checking out. Especially
during overnight hours some stations may not react
to the top of the hour at all.
People or no people in the station ID?
The station identification has traditionally been
aired immediately after the time announcement. Increasingly
often there is a commercial spot or two in between,
but the station ID might also be heard before the
top of the hour. Sometimes the ID is announced twice,
both by a male and a female voice, making the DXer's
The most common station ID goes like this: "Zhongyang
renmin guangbo diantai" (literally
"Central People's Broadcasting Station").
This is China National Radio (CNR). It can be argued
that tientai would be a better transliteration
than diantai, but for the sake of simplicity
we'll stick to pinyin spelling.
Here is an example of what you can hear on CNR
at the top of the hour. First there is a time
announcement by a female voice at 8 seconds into
the recording. Based on the previous sound bites,
you now know that the time in Beijing is 22 hours
("Beijing shijian er shi er dian zheng").
What follows at 11 seconds is a very fast station
ID "... Zhongguo zhi sheng", then
there is a pre-recorded promotional announcement.
After the CNR interval melody there is a more thorough
station ID at 50 seconds into the clip: "Zhongyang
renmin guangbo diantai, Zhongguo zhi sheng",
then at 66 seconds the beginning of the news:
"Zhongguo zhi sheng, yang guang ye xinwen"
(Voice of China CNR Night News).
The keyword here is renmin
(people), which is unique to China and other communist
countries. If you hear renmin in the station
ID, you've heard a station from mainland China.
However, an increasing number of Chinese stations
prefer to skip the renmin in their ID.
As an example, you can compare how Hubei People's
Broadcasting Station identified in 2007
("Hubei renmin guangbo diantai"
twice, thankfully pronounced very slowly) and in
("Hubei zhi sheng" meaning the
Voice of Hubei, at 16 seconds). Both identifications
were heard on the same channel, News General Service.
As the Hubei clips show, the pattern of the station
identification is usually identical on the national
and provincial (or local) level. Just replace "Zhongyang/Zhongguo"
(Central/China) with the name of the province or
city and you know what words to look for when trying
to locate a station ID. With some practise you will
learn to recognize the crucial keywords even if
you don't understand anything else of the program
Chinese can be heard also from Taiwan and South
If you don't hear renmin mentioned, let's
consider for a moment the possibility that your
Chinese-language catch is not from mainland China.
The Taiwanese national broadcaster is known as Broadcasting
Corporation of China (BCC). There are several BCC
networks and loads of other public and private stations,
none of which include renmin in their name.
As an example, here is a station
ID of the BCC News Network: "Zhong guang
xinwen wang, News radio" ("BCC News,
Newsradio"), followed by the time announcement:
"Xianzai shijian, liang(2) dian zheng"
("Now the time [is], 2 o'clock exactly").
After the distinctive melody you can hear a station
ID "Zhongguo guangbo gongsi" at
20 seconds into the clip, then "Gewei hao,
huanying shouting zhong guang xinwen, wo shi Wang..."
("Hello everybody, welcome to listen to Zhong
guang news, I am Wang...") from 29 seconds.
Romanization of the Chinese language in Taiwan
is more complicated than in mainland China, because
different spellings are used. For example, "China
broadcasting" is transliterated as Zhongguo
guangbo in mainland China, and Chungkuo kuangpo
in Taiwan, but they mean the same.
Among the easiest to hear Taiwanese stations are
powerful transmitters of the Voice of Kuanghua (sample
ID of this "Kuanghua chih sheng").
These broadcasts are aired around the clock and
are targeting mainland China. The external service
Radio Taiwan International broadcasts also in Chinese,
and can be easily recognized since "RTI
News" (as pronounced in English) is
often mentioned at the top of the hour.
In addition to China and Taiwan, you may encounter
Chinese programming especially from two religious
broadcasters in South Korea, HLKX (1188 kHz) and
HLAZ (1566 kHz), both used by the Far East Broadcasting
Company. Occasionally they use call letters as part
of the station ID. The more powerful HLAZ
can be heard identifying as "Liang you
yi you diantai yu nin, qian shou tong xing"
("Good friend and beneficial friend radio,
keeps your company").
If none of this sounds familiar, we'll return to
look for answers from mainland China. As the Chinese
broadcasting scene is becoming ever more diversified,
the above hints on time announcements and different
station identification patterns may not be enough
to help you identify your catch. To properly identify
the more trickier cases from mainland China, we
need to take a closer look at how radio broadcasting
is organized in China.
Structure of China's broadcasting stations
China National Radio (CNR) operates a total of
13 networks, at least 11 of which can be heard on
the AM band. Here are sample station identifications
of the networks and frequencies which DXers are
most likely to hear:
- 1st program: Voice
of China - Zhongguo zhi sheng on 639,
945, 981, 1035, 1359 and 1377 kHz
- 2nd program: China
Business Radio - Jingji zhi sheng, literally
Voice of the Economy, on 630, 720, 855 and 1305
- 3rd program: Music
Radio on 1008 and 1521 kHz
- 5th program: Voice
of Zhonghua - Zhonghua zhi sheng on 765,
837 and 1116 kHz (the interval melody is my favorite!)
- 6th program: Voice
of Shenzhou - Shenzhou zhi sheng on 1089
- 7th program: Voice
of Huaxia - Huaxia zhi sheng, and the
same in Cantonese, on 1215 kHz
- 12th program: Voice
of the Entertainment - Yule guangbo "Happy
Radio" on 747 kHz
Occasionally station identifications are given even
in English, especially on China Business Radio.
For detailed information on additional frequencies
and the remaining networks, check out resources
listed in the end.
On provincial level China has 33 units (mostly known
as provinces, but including also some municipalities,
autonomous regions and special administrative regions),
excluding Taiwan which China claims as the 34th
province. Provinces have a government-run broadcasting
company in the capital, and a varying amount of
local stations around the province.
Here you can practise the names of China's provinces,
just click around! In pinyin, Hong Kong is
Xianggang and Macau is Aomen. S.A.R.
stands for Special Administrative Region and A.R.
for Autonomous Region. If you don't see a map appearing
properly, it may be because your browser is incompatible,
Provincial and local broadcasting companies all
began with one channel, and this first channel has
subsequently developed into a News or General channel,
while more and more new channels (sometimes labeled
as stations or services) have been added. Economic
channel has usually been the first offshoot, and
other narrower formats have followed, depending
on the company's resources. Recognizing these channels
is necessary for being able to identify Chinese
stations. Although this is not a comprehensive list,
here you're very likely to find a match for the
ID that you heard, in case the channel name is part
of the ID. These short audio clips were generated
using Google Translate:
Then you just add the location (province or city
name) in front of the above ID template, and voilá,
you've got the typical ID announcement for that
particular channel. The ID may be preceded by zheli
shi, which means "This is". Diantai
(radio station) or dianshitai
(TV station) can be used in addition to or instead
(broadcasting station), but it all means roughly
Words in the above listing can also be combined.
For instance, Jiangsu
jiankang shenghuo pinlu (this soundfile
generated, not recorded live) means "Jiangsu
Healthy Living Frequency" (which broadcasts
on 846 kHz).
With this listing I'm already slipping from my
promise and premise that just a few words and phrases
are enough to identify Chinese stations, but you
don't need to memorize these all, you can always
return to this article and use the above listing
and the embedded sound files as your reference.
Let's look at a few common and concrete examples
of how these identifications really sound like:
General Service: "Liaoning zonghe guangbo
[twice], AM 1089, FM 102.9" ID at 12 seconds.
Then at 22 seconds "Liaoning guangbo dianshitai,
di yi tao guangbo jiemu, xinwen zonghe pinlu"
("Liaoning radio and TV station, the first
program, news and general frequency"). Also
one more ID at 41 seconds. This station is heard
on 1089 kHz.
Economic Service: "Hebei jingji guangbo"
ID at 9 and 22 seconds on 1125 kHz
Life Service: "Tianjin shenghuo guangbo"
ID at 7, 42 and 61 seconds on 1386 kHz
Chinese Traffic Service: "Xilinguole
guangbo dianshitai, jiaotong guangbo" on
As you can hear, renmin is increasingly going
out of fashion these days. Commercial spots abound,
but this lucrative broadcasting business is still
a government/party monopoly, and there are no private
radio stations outside of Hong Kong (on 864 and
1044 kHz) and Macau (738 kHz).
Rebroadcasts can be confusing
To make matters more complicated, sometimes the
ID that you hear has nothing to do with the identity
of the transmitter you're listening to. Local stations
often rebroadcast provincial stations. Also, both
local and provincial stations can rebroadcast CNR,
even at prime time.
A recent confucing case has been Qianjiang PBS in
Hubei Province on 1242 kHz. It has never been logged
by DXers using its real name, but instead it has
always been relaying Wuhan PBS, such as in this
ID: "Wuhan renmin guangbo diantai, AM
873, FM 884".
This clip is interesting also because it gives another
valuable tool for you to try to figure out the identity
of a Chinese station: the frequency announcement
(in this case: "AM ba-qi-san, FM ba-ba-si").
The frequency announcement can reveal a relay of
another AM frequency, or give a parallel FM frequency,
which can disclose the identity of the station even
if you can't figure out a single word of the station
FM frequency announcements are especially handy
as some stations don't bother to identify at all,
just occasionally throwing in their FM frequency
and perhaps a slogan.
of numbers in Chinese
20 is expressed as "2-10",
80 as "8-10". In FM frequencies point/dot
(sounds more like tien), but it can also
be omitted. Large numbers are relatively easy
for DXers, because on the air each digit in
the frequency is treated as an individual number.
Although FM 102.9 should be pronounced FM
yi-bai-ling-er-dian-jiu, in practise
it is pronounced FM yi-ling-er-dian-jiu
(as you may have noticed in the earlier Liaoning
clip at 18 seconds)
Rarely, connecting the dots is just impossible.
Back in 2010 I heard a top-of-the-hour ID for Hanzhong
PBS in Shaanxi Province on 990 kHz. However, there
is not a single station in Shaanxi on 990 kHz. Hanzhong
that the ID was theirs, but struggled to find an
explanation as to how it was heard on 990 kHz, and
it still remains a mystery.
Foreign service broadcasting in China
If none of the above has been helpful in identifying
your catch, it may be that you've caught a foreign
service broadcast by China Radio International (CRI).
is easy to identify as it has a distinctive interval
melody between broadcasts, and it usually gives
a very clear bilingual station ID, first in Chinese
"Zhongguo guoji guangbo diantai"
and then in the language of the target area. Here
is an example of CRI
beginning a broadcast in Korean on 1017 kHz.
CRI also runs radio stations inside China, but they
broadcast mostly in English.
There are also five companies dedicated for transmissions
to Taiwan. These are not regarded as external service,
because China doesn't consider Taiwan an independent
of the Strait: "Haixia zhi Sheng, xinwen
guangbo" ID at 4 and 11 seconds on 666
kHz. Based on what you have learned before, you
know that the second part of the ID means this is
a News service. Interestingly, this station is run
by the Chinese army.
of Jinling: "Jinling zhi Sheng"
ID at 11 seconds on 1206 kHz.
of Pujiang: "Pujiang zhi Sheng guangbo
diantai" ID at 8 seconds on 1422 kHz. You
may notice that the frequency is also announced:
AM yi-si-er-er at 14 seconds.
Broadcasting Company: "Dongnan Guangbo
Gongsi", giving an ID at 1 second on 585
- China Huayi Broadcasting Corporation on 873 kHz
Minority languages are common in border areas
If you're still perplexed about the identity of
your catch, let's take into consideration that the
ID may not be in Chinese after all, but perhaps
instead in one of the many minority languages used
The single most common Chinese AM station heard
in Europe is the most powerful transmitter of the
CNR Tibetan Service on 1098 kHz. Here's a top-of-the-hour
sample, but figuring out an ID in Tibetan would
require a more professional linguist. This 1000-kilowatt
transmitter is not located in Xizang (Tibet), but
instead in Qinghai, which has a sizable Tibetan
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is China's closest
area to Europe, so many European DXers have heard
programs also in the Uighur language. Here is an
example of how the Xinjiang PBS Uighur General Service
in Uighur. Uighur is written from right to left,
and most often in alphabets based on Arabic, which
you can find for example at the Xinjiang
PBS website. If you speak Uighur, please be
in touch, it would be great to have some help in
transliterating a station ID from Uighur.
minority language often encountered by DXers is
Mongolian, which in China is mostly spoken in Inner
Mongolia (Nei Menggu). Inner Mongolia is rapidly
expanding its network of AM transmitters, so you
can expect to hear Mongolian even more in the future.
is how Inner Mongolia PBS Rural and Pastoral Service
identifies, conveniently in three languages.
The Chinese version goes like this: "Nei
Menggu renmin guangbo diantai, nongcun muqu guangbo,
luye zhi sheng", and the English name sounds
like "Grazing Radio Inner Mongolia", but
again, I could use some help in understanding and
transliterating station identifications in Mongolian.
Another northern language which has gained prominence
on the Chinese AM dial is Korean, broadcast on some
stations in Heilongjiang and Jilin. The most powerful
such station is Yanbian PBS on 1206 kHz, often
heard during closing time station identifications
around 1600 UTC.
DXers in South East Asia or the Americas may have
a better chance hearing Minnan languages, such as
Amoy and Taiwanese, which are spoken in parts of
Fujian and Taiwan. The most common station in Cantonese
(which is spoken in Guangdong and Hong Kong) is
Zhujiang Economic Broadcasting Station on 1062 kHz.
Tools for QSLing Chinese stations
If you have by now succeeded in identifying your
catch, you may want to consider sending the station
a reception report. DXing is still virtually unknown
in China as a hobby, so being in touch with Chinese
radio stations can become a fascinating experience.
My reception reports to Chinese radio stations have
over the years resulted in numerous articles in
the local and national Chinese media. Many stations
are thrilled to hear from overseas listeners, but
on the other hand, getting a reply is often difficult.
You can improve your odds by writing in Chinese.
Keep your sentences simple, and Google Translate
will do a good enough job unless you can get translation
help from a native speaker.
The official Chinese news agency Xinhua has recently
(in November 2013) published several reports about
AM DXing. Including a link to the Chinese-language
Xinhua reports could be helpful in conveying the
idea of DXing and your wishes for getting a confirmation
in Chinese on Xinhua
in Chinese on CNC TV
Hungry for more information?
Check out these resources for AM DXers interested
maintained by Alan Davies, organized by frequency.
Here you can copy the name of the Chinese station
in Chinese characters, add an FM frequency which
you heard mentioned, and paste it to a search site
to look for a homepage of that rare new channel
that you've caught.
list for Asia and Pacific with lots of streaming
audio links is an excellent resource for checking
how the station identifications sound.
- an article on DXing
in China back in 2002
language on Wikipedia
numbers on Wikipedia
Translate is great for compiling reports and
Thank you (xie xie)!
Over the years I have received much help from fellow
hobbyists in China and Taiwan. They have listened
to numerous station identifications, which at the
time were gibberish to me. With this article I hope
to pass on what I have learned about identifying
Chinese radio stations, so that many more DXers
would be able to get a running start in exploring
the Chinese radio scene.
Your feedback has also greatly improved this article.
A special thank you to Li Jizhi for several transliterations,
to Victor Qian for audio clips of the province names,
and to Pyry Mäkeläinen for scripting the
map and audio player. If you notice mistakes, or
if you can provide help by transliterating more
of the announcements here, please be in touch.
It should be mentioned that the sample station identifications
embedded in this article have been recorded in Aihkiniemi,
northern Finland, roughly 6000-7000 kilometers away
from the Chinese transmitter sites.
If you found this article
useful, please consider supporting the DXing.info
website to keep it online. Even a modest contribution
by PayPal is helpful and much appreciated. Begin
by clicking the button below.
on January 1, 2014 | <urn:uuid:79956237-8234-4a73-b218-696acd4c7c6e> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | http://www.dxing.info/articles/identifying_Chinese_radio_stations.dx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.906705 | 5,223 | 2.765625 | 3 |
/ Macau / Places to Visit / Lou Kau Mansion
Built in 1889, this was the home of Lou Kau, a prominent Chinese merchant who owned several properties in the city.
Built in 1889, this was the home of Lou Kau, a prominent Chinese merchant who owned several properties in the city. The architecture is that of a typical Chinese residential building.
+853 8399 6699
No records of the exact date of construction exist but a solid brick structure was built on this site in 1622 and repaired in 1743
This pastel coloured church was founded in 1587 by Spanish Dominican priests
This building established by the first Bishop of Macau in 1569 provides an imposing facade for the Senate Square
Built to house Macau's municipal government the Leal Senado has a neoclassical design and much of the original layout and structure has been retained through the years
A colorful typical Iberian town square this is the traditional heart of Macau city
This is a segment of the city's defence structures built in 1569 which has survived
The city's most famous landmark and is regarded as the greatest monument to Christianity in the East
Built between 1617 and 1626 by the Jesuits, the fortress was one of the main defence structures of the city
The old red light district
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This website first considered the subject of relativity in terms of a learning process of ‘accepted science’ under the heading ‘A Relative Perspective’. However, at the end of this initial process, doubts had emerged about the logic and scope of the verification process surrounding many aspects of relativity, especially in terms of any causal mechanisms that explained the fundamental idea of time dilation or length contraction. As a consequence, the idea of a wave model was reviewed, initially in terms of the WSM model as proposed by Milo Wolff, where the ‘Relative Effect’ on different reference frames was further considered. However, as the WSM model appeared to have issues of its own, the idea of a ‘Wave Theory of Everything (WSE)’ was developed, not as a new model, but rather as the requirements that had to be placed on any wave model that wished to address the perceived problems associated with both the relativistic and quantum models – see Quantum Issues for more details of the latter. Under the WSE heading, the issues associated with relativity, both special and general, were again outlined. Later, a more detailed review of the MMW model widen the review of the ‘scope of assumptions’ of this wave model and its potential implications on accepted science. While aspects of the MMW model have also been questioned, its author, Gabriel LaFreniere, has possibly provided a coherent description as to why time dilation and length contraction might physically take place within the structures of his wave model.
Note: While the various reviews cited above never claimed to be authoritative, they appeared to highlight too many fundamental issues associated with Einstein’s model of relativity to simply be ignored. However, it appears that most of the wave models reviewed may also have limitations, even though they may provide a more plausible explanation of the causal mechanisms underpinning fundamental reality than simply relying on mathematical models.
Today, there are many papers that have attempted to highlight the errors in Einstein’s mathematical derivations associated with special relativity, which are broadly based on the Lorentz transforms. However, few of these papers even attempt to forward any causal mechanisms that might physically explain why time dilation and length contraction might actually occur. For this reason, this discussion will essentially be a summary of some of the salient arguments forwarded by the MMW model in respect to the Doppler effect, the Lorentz transforms and relativity. However, there is possibly some benefit in initially outlining some of the historic developments and assumptions that surround SR along with some links to additional information. Prior to SR, Newtonian physics, inclusive of the laws of motion and gravitation, had broadly defined the central ideas of classical physics. Then, in 1905, Albert Einstein proposed the Theory of Special Relativity that has now been generally accepted to supersede Newton’s idea of space and time.
- Newton’s Assumptions: An infinite number of inertial
frames can exist and relative uniform motion between any two inertial
frames can be conceptually measured. Within this model, time is absolute
and therefore universally applies to all frames of reference, such that
the Galilean transforms can be used to translate between two inertial
- Einstein’s Assumptions: The velocity of light [c] is a constant across all frames of reference and is independent of the velocity [v] of the source or receiver. The velocity [c] of light in a vacuum is the maximum velocity between any two reference frames. This leads to the idea that time is no longer absolute and each reference frame experiences its own ‘local’ time, such that the Lorentz transforms are required to translate between any two inertial frames, where the laws of physics are assumed invariant in all inertial frames.
Note: The idea that the velocity of light [c] is independent of the velocity [v] of the source is often initially presented by analogy to the velocity [u] of an object thrown from a train with velocity [v], such that it results in a combined velocity [v+u]. However, sound waves in air might be a better analogy, which are known to be independent of the velocity of the source or receiver, as the velocity of sound [c’] is the property of the propagation media, although Doppler Effects can confuse this situation.
As part of this initial introduction, the following concepts are simply highlighted for reference:
- Isotropy of Space: An
[μ], which is uniform in all directions of the medium, e.g.
of Space: Assumes that the property of space is consistent at every
point and has no irregularities, at least, when considered on the scale
of the universe. However, this definition of homogeneity is often based
on the particle or energy density within a volume of space, not space
itself. Therefore, the homogeneity of ‘space’ requires an actual
definition as to whether ‘space’ has a ‘material substance’
to which any properties can be assigned, otherwise space is reduced
to a mathematical coordinate construct.
- Frames of
Reference: In 1632, Galileo Galilei postulated that no absolute
and well-defined state of rest exists. In SR, Einstein limited Galileo’s
principle of relativity to inertial reference frames, such that all
physical laws that apply to a coordinate system [S] must also apply
to any other co-ordinate system [S’] moving in uniform translation to
- Special Relativity (SR): Is a model of space and time first published in 1904, where the relative measurement of length and time can depend on the relative velocity [v] of an inertial reference frame, although most effects will only be apparent when velocity [v] approaches [c]. Under these conditions, an observing reference frame perceives a length contraction and time dilation within the moving frame. However, SR also rests on the assumptions of two postulates underpinned by a mathematical expression called the Lorentz transforms. We might introduce the postulates as follows:
- The laws of physics take the same form in all inertial frames
- When measured in an inertial reference frame, the velocity of light is always [c] and independent of the velocity [v] of the source or receiver.
However, in 1904, neither of these postulates had been physically verified and, even today, many aspects of SR are still discussed in terms of Einstein’s thought experiments, or Gedanken experiments. Both of the postulates cited above put conditions, and restrictions, on how relativity maps spatial [xyz] and time [t] coordinates in one reference frame to another based on the constancy of the velocity of light [c=1] in all reference frames, as per the second postulate, and the relative velocity [v] between the frames. However, the first postulate allows any inertial reference frame to assume itself to be stationary [v=0], such that it assumes the laws of physics are unaffected, irrespective of whether the frame is in motion, but more on this aspect in later sections. The coordinate mapping inferred by SR is based on the Lorentz and inverse transforms, as shown in , where the symmetry of velocity [±β] in the two forms is required by the first postulate – see Lorentz Transforms for derivation details.
By way of initial clarification, the primed [x’,t’] notation relates to a frame [S’] moving with velocity [β=v/c] relative to the unprimed frame [S], but where a comoving observer-S’ may assume itself to be stationary [β=0]. As such, any local measure of [x’,t’] done by observer-S’ must reflect the variables without any relativistic effects. The notation [β] is the ratio of velocity [v] to the velocity of light [c], which along with the factor [ϒ] is introduced in , but discussed in more detail in later sections.
Note: SR allows a relative inertial perspective to be reversed, such that it leads to the assumption that time can simultaneously be running slower in both frames. In a wave model, the propagation media provides the reference frame for the wave velocity [c], such that time dilation would be relative to the velocity [β] with respect to the reference frame of the light propagation media. However, the results of the Michelson-Morley experiment, first carried out in 1887, questioned whether space could be the propagation media for light – see this discussion of the Michelson-Morley Experiment for an alternative interpretation within a wave model.
Einstein also used Minkowski’s idea of a four-dimensional vector space as a way to present his SR concepts. In Minkowski’s model, events in a unified spacetime are defined as four-vectors, although it has to be highlighted that this may only be a mathematical convenience rather than a verification that space [xyz] and time [t] can be physically merged – see 4-Vector Notation for more details. However, we might first anchor the laws of classical physics to Newton’s 2nd law of motion.
The first postulate of SR states that any physical law is not affected by a reference frame in uniform motion. As such, the physical law in must apply to all inertial frames, irrespective of the relative velocity [v] to each other. As such, there should be no effect on the measurement of [F] or [m] within any local reference frame, but we might wish to question this assertion as follows:
In , velocity [vA] is the relative velocity of frame [A] to frame [B], while velocity [vB] is the relative velocity of frame [B] to frame [A], where both are equal to each other. As shown, acceleration [aA, aB] in [A] and [B] is determined as the rate of change of velocity with local time [tA,tB] in each reference frame. However, if the rate of time in each frame is different, due to time dilation, but velocity invariant, we might need to question whether Newton’s second law of motion [F=ma] can remain consistent in each frame. However, relativity also suggests that mass [mA, mB] is also subject to another relativity effect, which may maintain . Again, we might seek causal mechanisms that physically explain what is actually happening.
So, has the first postulate of SR really been proved?
From the definition of force [F] in , we can proceed to define the ‘work done [W]’ on a system, which is related to the energy transferred.
In , we see the general definition of the work done [W] by a constant force [F] acting over a distance denoted by three common forms of notation, i.e. [x, s or d]. However, in the case of a variable force, where distance might be denoted by [r] along a path [C] between [r1] and [r2], a line integral is required to define the work done, as shown in .
A conservative force is a variable force that is a function of [r] acting upon a particle that moves from [r1] to [r2] along any path [C], such that it aligns to . Gravitational and electrostatic forces are conservative forces. If a particle has mass [m] and velocity [v], it has kinetic energy [Ek], such that it can also be used to quantify the work done [W], if we initially ignore any implications of potential energy [Ep] in the system.
At this point, we might also make reference to the Lorentz force law and also introduce Maxwell's equations, which define how the movement of charge particles both create and change the electric and magnetic fields. Maxwell’s equations include the universal constants for the permittivity of free space [ε0] and permeability of free space [μ0].
Note: The implication of Maxwell’s equations have to be understood within the context of electromagnetic fields – see discussion of Maxwell’s Equations by way of an introduction of their historic and mathematical development.
Based on the introductory links in the note above, we might immediately jump to a simplification of Maxwell’s equations for free space, in the later differential form, where charge density [r] and current density [j] are both set to zero.
Each of these equations requires further explanation in order to provide some physical interpretation of what they are really trying to tell us about electromagnetism, which can be found by following the links in the note above. While the issue of ‘EM Propagation’ also requires more detail, this discussion will simply introduce a generic form of the EM wave equation and how it is derived from Maxwell’s equations:
In [9a], the variable [A] can be substituted for either the ‘amplitude’ of the electric [E] or magnetic [B] field strength at some given point in space and time; while [9b] alludes to a relationship between the propagation velocity [c] of an EM wave in vacuum and the electric and magnetic constants of free space.
Note: It is highlighted that Maxwell’s propagation equation is essentially
a derivation based on classical sinusoidal wave equations. While the
subsequent development of the photon light model sits within the framework
of a quantum model, the exact details of the photon structure or how
it propagates are far from clear – see
Photon Issues for more details. | <urn:uuid:36d93502-3fa2-4362-9940-bf6e2a9c606d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | http://www.mysearch.org.uk/website3/html/207.SRT.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.941416 | 2,847 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Ethical hacking in Cybersecurity
The internet is a revolutionary technology that has transformed the lives of individuals, enterprises, and governments by networking the entire world. The globalization effects of the internet are evident in the pervasive sharing of information, ideas, knowledge, and culture that is not constrained by time or geographical location. However, while cyberspace has presented numerous advantages to modern living, it has also provided an alternative channel for criminals. As such, cybercrime is the most significant disadvantage of internet technology, and its growing trend has made cybersecurity a prime personal and organizational concern. According to the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC Council), hackers launch attacks every 39 seconds, with one in every three Americans being targeted. Moreover, only 38 % of international companies proclaim their preparedness for a cyberattack. Indeed, hackers have gained notoriety by their ability to penetrate networks and launching their criminal activities remotely and anonymously. Although various cybersecurity approaches have been used to secure personal and organizational cyberspaces, hackers have always found a way of breaching them, causing untold anxiety and harm to individuals, organizations, and governments. Moreover, the vulnerability of the cyberspace has been exacerbated by the proliferation of mobile technologies and the rapid development of the internet-of-things (IoT), presenting challenges to conventional cybersecurity interventions (Abraham, Chatterjee and Sims 540).
Regular vulnerability testing of online systems is recommended to reduce the ever-changing vulnerability of cyberspace because it keeps cybersecurity abreast with the evolving hacking methods used by cybercriminals. Ethical hacking is an emerging field in cybersecurity that promises to reduce systems vulnerability continuously as ethical hackers think like cybercriminals and, therefore, able to anticipate system breaches before they occur. However, ethical hacking carries a negative connotation that prevents its acceptance in the mainstream cybersecurity community, even after ethical hackers continue to reveal vulnerabilities in information systems and networks (Marks). The ensuing discussion investigates the nature of ethical hacking and its potential to improve cybersecurity as part of a comprehensive cyber-resilience strategy in organizations. The link between hacking and cybersecurity is expounded alongside the characteristics of ethical hacking as an emerging profession in cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity is the securing of information and networks from internet-aided penetration and attacks by cybercriminals. It is a collection of tools, strategies, and human capital focusing on deterring malicious and unauthorized access to networks and information (Rathore 7). In turn, ethics is the collection of rules and regulations guiding human behavior according to prescribed moral principles (Bashir and Khalique 14). From this premise, ethics and cybersecurity are closely linked, and this relationship influences hacking. The proper use of these technologies requires adherence to the highest level of ethical conduct to ensure that the information remains secure and no harm is perpetrated through the information systems. However, since societies are always infiltrated by unethical people, some of whom have criminal intents, cybersecurity approaches and tools have been developed to protect information systems. Nonetheless, hackers specialize in penetrating such systems by identifying their inherent technical vulnerabilities. Moreover, they have gone further to employ mobile technologies, social media, and social engineering, by exploiting the frailties in human behavior when interacting with information systems, to use people to penetrate such systems (Caldwell 10). As such, hackers are highly skilled in IT, psychology, sociology, mathematics, and other disciplines. Hackers not only test the security of information systems, but their moral behavior necessitates the continuous development of cybersecurity strategies and tools.
Ethical hacking is an emerging profession that is different from unethical hacking because of the differences in moral foundations. While both hackers share expertise in penetrating information systems and networks, their intentions differ, based on their contradictory ethical outlooks. As such, the terms white hat and black hat are used to describe the ethical and unethical hackers, respectively (EC-Council). In this regard, the ethical hacker (white hat) is intent on identifying the system vulnerabilities to improve their security and reduce harm, while the unethical hacker (black hat) focuses on breaching the systems to perpetrate a crime or cause harm. Besides, the legality of the penetration act differentiates the ethical hacker from the unethical one. The ethical hacker is authorized to penetrate the system, while the unethical one is not authorized and therefore does so illegally (Bashir and Khalique 15). Altogether, the ethical hackers employ their skills for constructive and defensive reasons, while unethical hackers pursue offensive ends (Rathore 7). Interestingly, the possibility of changing from a black hat to a white hat exists, although the transformation has been questioned. For instance, Kevin Mitnick, who was a notorious unethical hacker, converted to a white hat (Thomas, Burmeister and Low 6)
From these differences, Bashir and Khalique (15) concluded that the ethical hacker is characterized by firstly, securing permission from the organization to scrutinize the information systems and network and identify the security risks. Secondly, the hacker must respect the privacy of the organization and individuals therein by not only guaranteeing confidentiality but also ensuring that their work is not susceptible to exploitation at a later date. Thirdly, the hacker must disclose all the identified security vulnerabilities regardless of whether they are already known or unknown. In turn, the benefits of ethical hacking include i) subjecting the system to real-life attacks, ii) discovering the system susceptibility from a cybercriminal’s perspective to enhance its security, iii) thwarting data theft and misuse by cybercriminals, iv) developing and implementing secure systems that are breach-proof, v) endearing trust from stakeholders, and vi) reinforcing national security by preventing terrorists’ access to data (Ding, De Jesus, and Janssen 3). These characteristics indicate that ethical hacking is a preventive and proactive cybersecurity strategy because it prevents cyberattacks beforehand (Shah and Vaswani 396). To achieve these ends, ethical workers use the black-box, white-box and grey-box testing approaches (Caldwell 13). In the black-box approach, ethical hackers are provided with the company name only, while in the white-box model, detailed information such as network topology and infrastructure technology are disclosed (Caldwell 13). The grey-box approach makes partial disclosure of the company’s system that is between the two other methods. Of the three methods, the black-box testing model reveals the most security vulnerabilities.
Ethical hackers are increasingly being incorporated into the comprehensive cyber-resilience strategy of organizations because of their ability to identify the cyber risks in information systems and networks, strengthen cybersecurity (Abraham, Chatterjee and Sims 542). Ethical hackers fit in the vulnerability management practices of organizations by conducting regular vulnerability assessments of the information systems and networks. They do this by undertaking penetration tests when commissioned directly by organizations or by participating in crowdsourced cybersecurity initiatives, as illustrated in figure 1.
Figure 1, Ethical hacking methods
Source: Ding, De Jesus, and Janssen (3)
Penetration testing differs from crowdsourced testing in the onboarding approach, time frame, personnel, payment model, testing hours and vulnerability reporting, as detailed in figure 2.
Figure 2.Comparison between penetration and crowdsourcing methods of ethical hacking
Source: Ding, De Jesus, and Janssen (4)
Crowdsourcing testing prevents notable advantages over penetration testing by being more efficient and effective because it leveraged the diverse capabilities from thousands of participants, enabling continuous testing and real-time reporting of the vulnerabilities, and its cost-effectiveness by paying for valid threats only (Ding, De Jesus, and Janssen 4). However, although crowdsourcing favors organizations using cybersecurity systems and tools available in the market, it is often rejected by companies that have in-house systems for confidentiality reasons. Notably, crowdsourced testing is executed either as bug bounty programs (BBP) or responsible disclosure (RD) (Ding, De Jesus, and Janssen 4). Currently, BBPs comprise of public and private programs in which ethical hackers identify and report on the vulnerabilities in exchange for a reward. Platforms such as Synack, Cobalt Labs, BugCrowd and HackOne, which are available in the market, can be purchased by organizations, who then invite white hats and engage them after meeting the selection criteria (Ding, De Jesus, and Janssen 4). Contrastingly, public programs allow the free participation of ethical hackers. Alternatively, responsible disclosure or coordinated vulnerability disclosure provides guidelines for reporting vulnerabilities that are grounded in organizational policy (Ding, De Jesus, and Janssen 4). In summary, while BBPs invite ethical hackers and rewards them, RDs coordinate the disclosure of vulnerabilities without a monetary reward.
Ethical hacking is progressing towards a mainstream profession due to the emerging certifications and university courses. As such, organizations are engaging ethical hackers as regular employees or contractual consultants to bolster cybersecurity. To facilitate the certification and employment of ethical hackers, various bodies have emerged with certification programs and codes of ethics to regulate the profession. For example, the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC Council) offers the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification, while the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is awarded to information security experts with over 5 years experience in the United States (Caldwell 10). The recognition of the CEH certification by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) is evidence of the recognition of the importance of ethical hacking in national security. In the United Kingdom, the Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers (CREST) awards the Team Leader (CTL) and Team Member (CTM) certifications to British ethical hackers (Caldwell 10).
In conclusion, cybersecurity is challenged by fast-developing information and communication technologies alongside the proliferation of the internet across the world. Cybercriminals can now launch their illicit activities anonymously and remotely from any corner of the world. With cybercrimes escalating and cybercriminals continuously innovating new techniques to breach networks and information systems, ethical hackers who understand the criminal mindset may be the solution to cybersecurity in the 21st century. Ethical hackers launch attacks similar to those of cybercriminals, only that they are authorized and legal. As such, ethical hackers can be an integral component of a comprehensive cyber-resilience strategy because they approach cybersecurity proactively and preventively, thus forestalling cyberattacks before they are executed. Indeed, the growth of certification bodies and expansion of training are helping ethical hacking transform into a promising and respectable profession that is guided by a code of ethics. This will help erase the negative connotation associated with hacking and encourage organizations and nations to embrace ethical hackers as an effective and efficient approach to cybersecurity.
Abraham, Chon, Dave Chatterjee, and Ronald R. Sims. “Muddling through cybersecurity: Insights from the US healthcare industry.” Business Horizons, vol. 62, 2019, pp. 539-548.
Bashir, Bisma, and Aqeel Khalique. “A Review on Security versus ethics.” International Journal of Computer Applications, vol. 151, no. 11, 2016, pp. 13-17.
Caldwell, Tracey. “Ethical hackers: putting on the white hat.” Network Security, 2011, pp. 10-13.
Ding, Aaron Yi, Gianluca Limon De Jesus, and Marijn Janssen. “Ethical hacking for boosting IoT vulnerability management: a first look into bug bounty programs and responsible disclosure.” Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Telecommunications and Remote Sensing. ACM, 2019.
EC-Council. “What is ethical hacking?” 2019. https://www.eccouncil.org/ethical-hacking/
Marks, Joseph. “The Cybersecurity 202: The government’s relationship with ethical hackers has improved, security experts say.” The Washington Post, 6 August 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-cybersecurity-202/2019/08/06/the-cybersecurity-202-the-government-s-relationship-with-ethical-hackers-has-improved-security-experts-say/5d48a4bf88e0fa1454f8019a/. Accessed 6 December 2019
Rathore, Neeraj. “Ethical hacking and security against cyber crime.” i-manager’s Journal on Information Technology, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, pp. 7-11.
Shah, Niral, and Naveen Vaswani. “Cyber Crime and Security–Challenges and Security Mechanisms.” International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, vol. 36. No. 7, 2016, pp. 367-371.
Thomas, Georg, Oliver Burmeister, and Gregory Low. “Issues of Implied Trust in Ethical Hacking.” ORBIT Journal, vol. 2, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1-16. | <urn:uuid:adf8141f-0fb6-4335-80a3-25c2ba4527ae> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://accurateessays.com/samples/ethical-hacking-in-cybersecurity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.912323 | 2,688 | 3.453125 | 3 |
EPISTEMOLOGY – An analysis of knowledge
Epistemology is a branch of Philosophy where jnana (knowledge) is analysed. It is also said as the science of jnana (knowledge).
What is jnana? Does one attain jnana instantly or is it a gradual process?
Jnana according to philosophy is the knowledge of the self (Atma), knowledge of the jagad (world), knowledge about Ishwara (God), the relationship between these three, and about bondage and liberation. When we analyze jnana it is evident that one attains jnana gradually, in an organized manner. If one attains jnana in an improper way then it will not help that person as well as the society.
Now let us see the various aspects of jnana. The different aspects are
1. Pramaatha – Knower
2. Pramaanam – Instrument of knowledge
3. Prameyam – Object of knowledge
4. Prama – Knowledge we attain
5. Brahma – Wrong knowledge
6. Prayojanam – Benefits of knowledge
These are the six aspects of jnana, which is otherwise known as jnana samagiri. Now let us see each one of them briefly.
PRAMAATHA – Knower
Pramaatha is the person who has an inclination towards jnana. If a person has an attitude for jnana then he will attain jnana; otherwise even when he is in a pool of jnana, he will not attain jnana. No one can push a person into the field of Vedanta. If a person chooses Vedanta without any other option then this knowledge will not stay with him for long. Therefore, the mentality of the person who attains jnana is very important. When a person with good interest and attitude aspire for jnana then he is known as the pramaatha.
A pramaatha must be aware of his ignorance. He must be able to find his real interest and about the subject he wanted to know. Others cannot help him much in this matter. This is not an easy job because our ego will not allow us to reveal our ignorance. All types of jnana like Vedanta, yoga, meditation, ritual etc, will not suit every person in the same way. Therefore, the knower must be aware of which one will suit him the most; only then he will be able to continue in it. This is known as prameya nischaya.
He must decide from which institution or from which Guru he need to attain jnana; regardless of whether he is accepted by that institution or that Guru, he must know from where he would like to acquire jnana. This is called pramaana nischaya.
After deciding all these he must prepare himself to attain jnana. For example, if he wants to attain knowledge in Vedanta, then he must practice chitta shudhi, purity of mind. This is known as pramathru siddhi.
Sometimes we are aware of all these and we go through these processes consciously. Sometimes everything falls in its own place due to our previous good deeds (puniya). Dharma (right action) and shraddha (faith) protects a person even though he has low intellectual power.
PRAMAANAM – Instrument of jnana (knowledge)
It is not possible to attain jnana without a right pramaana. There are six types of pramaana used in Philosophical studies.
1. Pratyaksha pramaana – It is the jnana attained through the five sense organs like reading scriptures, directly seeing divine places or hearing Vedantic discourses etc.
2. Anumana pramaana – It is attaining jnana by reasoning, by using logic and coming to conclusion. It is commonly known as yukti. For example, if you see smoke at a distance then we conclude that there is fire.
3. Arthapatti pramaana – It is attaining jnana by presumption. It is moreover like anumana pramaana. For example if we see a wet road, we presume that it has rained.
4. Upamana pramaana – It is the knowledge we attain by comparing one’s experience with others experience.
5. Sabda pramaana – It is the knowledge we attain through vakyam (sentences).
Sabda pramaana has two divisions. They are the lowkika sabda pramana and vaithika sabda pramana.
Lowkika sabda pramaana is the knowledge we gain through books and through the experience of others.
Vaithika sabda pramaana is the knowledge we attain from the Veda. It is otherwise known as Veda sabda pramana.
6. Anupalapti pramaana – It is the knowledge of non-existence. It is about knowing the absence of an object or matter.
3. PRAMEYAM – Object of knowledge
Prameyam has three categories. They are the jagad jnana, dharma jnana, and Brahma jnana.
Jagad jnana is the jnana about the five basic elements, its corresponding subtle tattwa and their different combinations. All the branches of science, arts, engineering, medicine etc comes under this category.
Dharma jnana – it is the jnana about the righteous acts, its consequences. It also tells about the actions to be avoided and the consequences of it if they are not avoided. The basic principle of this jnana is what is right for my mind and emotions is right for others.
Brahma jnana – it is the knowledge of the Self attained through the scriptures. It is the subjective knowledge and not subject to change. One must be sharp enough to grasp the illusive nature of this world.
4. PRAMA – Jnana (knowledge)
When a pramaata (knower, student), using pramaana (instrument of knowledge, senses), when he touches the prameya (object of knowledge), the thought that arises in the mind is prama (knowledge). Prama shows the exact nature of the object/subject. We often refine our action in a positive way according to our jnana. If we superimpose our ideas or if we understand it according to our will, then it is the viparita jnana (wrong jnana).
Sattvika jnana helps one to see the unity in diversity. Rajasika jnana makes one to see this world as different parts. It clearly differentiates between objects. Tamasika jnana makes one to see the part as the whole. It does not give a clear picture of the world. Arrogance and ignorance hides the real world. Sattva guna leads to faith in sattvic life and this gives sattvic jnana.
5. BRAHMA – Wrong understanding
Brahma is wrong jnana. It is also said as viparita jnana. When we see an object we superimpose our own idea on it and we do not see the object as such; as a result we get a distorted image of the object. In sanskrit, this is known as adhyasam, meaning (superimposition). For example, when we see a rope, we superimpose a snake on the rope. It is to assume something in the place where it is not present. The same instrument of knowledge which gives the right jnana is also responsible for the wrong jnana. If the jnana is wrong then it is very difficult to understand that we have acquired wrong jnana; moreover, if we acquire wrong jnana then it is difficult to remove it. Right knowledge is to know exactly the object as it is. Right knowledge shows the presence and absence of an object just like a light illumining the object. Sometimes our sense organs may give wrong knowledge. What we see may not be the reality. In such places one must use anumana pramaana (reasoning) to get right knowledge. There is a famous saying, ‘You will never know what it is. You would like to know what you want to’. Impurities in the mind give a distorted image of the real. When we gain chitta shuddi, only right knowledge will enter the mind.
Sometimes we may have jnana. However, we fail to implement it and that jnana is very weak. Therefore, it is important to attain jnana through proper source and it must be used to implement the right values in life.
6. PRAYOJANAM – Benefits of jnana
There are two types of jnana. They are karma sadhanam and jnana sadhanam.
Karma sadhanam : Even after attaining jnana one must practice it to get benefit from it. For example, even after knowing about yoga asanas, one must practice it to get full benefit from yoga. This is known as karma sadhanam.
Jnana sadhanam : Jnana itself will give immediate benefit. For example, when the mind does not have any impurities, then the mahavakyas itself will give immediate jnana. Jnana sadhanam is only applicable to Brahma jnana. All the other worldly jnana needs practice and they belong to karma sadhanam.
These are the different aspects of jnana. All our actions, judgment, emotions, behaviour are based on our jnana. Therefore, it is important to attain jnana from the right source. | <urn:uuid:e88532b6-2ada-41c4-a724-ff7550e4efa7> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://advaitamandscience.org/articles/epistemology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.940364 | 2,049 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Restorative Justice as a Means of Integrating Curriculum & Promoting Social and Emotional Learning
Kindergarten teachers hold a unique position in that they are responsible for laying the groundwork for all future educational experiences of a child and the social/emotional capacities with which they do so. Such a big responsibility must not be taken for granted, even when going through the perhaps mundane process of creating a C shape while holding a pencil correctly. At ages four and five, kindergarten students have the capacity to do much more than they are often given credit for. A capacity that only blossoms with proper guidance and education. Krogh and Morehouse’s The Early Childhood Curriculum argues the importance of inquiry-based learning and curriculum integration as the most effective means for children to meet their social/emotional capacities and academic potential.
Evans and Vaanderling, along with other Restorative Justice advocates (Pranis, Boyes-Watson, Zehr, Davis, Stutzman Astutz, Mullet, et al.), would suggest that students succeed most often when they are learning in a safe, just, equitable, and encouraging environment and that such an environment is best fostered through adherence to the guideposts of restorative justice in education.
This author, however, believes that when educators and administrators understand the importance of both Restorative Justice in Education and inquiry-based learning and are given the tools to implement both in their classrooms and learning communities, students will reach their ultimate potential, develop healthily, and be excited about learning in ways we don’t see nearly often enough.
What is Restorative Justice?
Belinda Hopkins describes the process of Restorative Justice (RJ) well in chapter one of Just Schools: a Whole School Approach to Restorative Justice:
In broad terms, restorative justice constitutes an innovative approach to offending and inappropriate behaviour which puts repairing harm done to relationships and people over and above the need for assigning blame and dispensing punishment (Wright 1999). Put even more simply, it is about asking the following questions:
Who has been affected and how? | <urn:uuid:35b542e3-21dc-41c3-a2d1-1f7c5b924775> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://afisherkatzkeohane.medium.com/restorative-justice-as-a-means-of-integrating-curriculum-promoting-social-and-emotional-learning-2cfe9239a4d1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.948856 | 429 | 3.8125 | 4 |
Conflict, war, and forced displacement affect millions of people each year and have immediate and long-term consequences for human health and development, in addition to causing the degradation of natural and managed landscapes. Analysis with NASA satellite imagery can help target humanitarian response and relief by i) offering a timely understanding of region-specific environmental conditions and change, and ii) capturing contextual information over broad geographic regions and time spans.
This 4-part introductory training will focus on using NASA data products for monitoring human settlements and landscapes during armed conflict and forced displacement. This ARSET training is the first dedicated to humanitarian applications of NASA satellite imagery with topics including monitoring urban damage, mapping refugee settlement dynamics, and gauging climate hazards at refugee settlements. For each topic, we will discuss relevant satellite sensors and methodologies, data access and analysis using Google Earth Engine, as well as assumptions, opportunities, and limitations of various remote sensing-based approaches in humanitarian applications.
This training supports quantitative and visual understanding of short- and long-term conflict effects that are evident in satellite imagery, complements analysis of georeferenced humanitarian data, and builds on previous ARSET trainings associated with cropland monitoring, human settlement detection, disaster risk assessment, nighttime lights, and Google Earth Engine.
After participating in the training, attendees will be able to:
- Conceptualize landscape- and settlement-level monitoring with satellite remote sensing
- Select a range of satellite image data (i.e., optical, radar, nighttime lights, etc.) for humanitarian applications
- Recognize the value of time series analysis for monitoring acute and long-term changes in humanitarian contexts
- Identify opportunities and limitations of using satellite data in humanitarian applications
- Integrate satellite-derived humanitarian data with other open-access geospatial products on population, building footprints, infrastructure, etc.
This training is primarily intended for stakeholders, academics, researchers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international agencies, and government ministries involved in humanitarian response and decision support activities.
Four-part webinar series. Each part will be 2 hours presented in identical, pre-recorded morning/afternoon sessions on the same day for broader outreach across time zones.
- First Session: 11:00-13:00 EDT (UTC-4)
- Second Session: 15:00-17:00 EDT (UTC-4) | <urn:uuid:aad9f004-ce44-4110-bda3-bc9a4b6bbb0e> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://appliedsciences.nasa.gov/es/get-involved/training/english/arset-humanitarian-applications-using-nasa-earth-observations-test?utm_campaign=Humanitarian-2022&utm_medium=ext&utm_source=social | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.87532 | 482 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The first few weeks of President Donald Trump’s first term have been newsworthy, to say the least. But the same inauguration that ushered him into the White House was also symbolic for another reason. He became the 45th president of the United States and was subsequently fully initiated as the third consecutive commander-in-chief to direct the United States military in the “War on Terror.” This is a point that has been sorely underreported. Donald Trump inherited a borderless war that has raged for a decade and a half, and he faces off against arguably the most successful and popular terrorist organization the world has ever seen. The more chilling realization is that President Trump’s predecessors passed on to him a combination of the most potent, technologically advanced military on the planet and broad, indeterminate authorizations and precedents for using military force unilaterally.
War powers—the authority to declare or conduct war—has long been a contentious point between the executive and legislative branches. Debate over these powers has waxed and waned throughout the last few decades, but discourse on this subject will most assuredly pick up steam in the first years of the Trump presidency. Congress has long held that it should be consulted when the president commits the armed services to a conflict, but years of unilateral use of force, combined with the unpredictability of the new administration, will surely prompt members of Congress to reassess the standing arrangements regarding authorizing and conducting war.
A History of Presidential War Powers
In order to understand how Trump inherited such power—and why it is important to address it—it is appropriate to understand the basis and evolution of war powers throughout US history. First and foremost, the Constitution of the United States establishes a bipartite system for entering the United States into armed conflict or full-scale war. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress has the ability to declare war and, with the “power of the purse,” it also decides whether to provide the funds for conducting war. In addition, Congress approves treaties, so it is effectively responsible for declaring and ending conflicts or war. The president, as spelled out in Article II, Section 2, has the constitutional authority to conduct war, hence the title “commander-in-chief.” Although it is not explicitly written in the Constitution, in general there is consensus that “conducting” war also allows the president to direct military forces at times of attack or imminent threats (i.e.., in self-defense). Thus, if Congress is responsible for declaring the start and finish of armed conflict, the president is expected to effectively manage the conflict once authorized.
Since World War II, the executive branch has gradually consolidated war powers—through executive directives and legal precedent—to act more unilaterally in terms of waging war or committing forces to hostilities. In 1950, President Truman introduced US forces to the conflict brewing on the Korean Peninsula in an effort to support South Korea’s fight against North Korean communists. While the Truman Administration described the US efforts as “police action,” it is inarguable that Truman introduced troops into a hot war without a specific declaration from the nation’s legislators. After the Korean War, Congress and the American public were wary about the president’s ability to use the armed services without expressed consent. Despite these concerns, the United States was soon entrenched in another anti-communist war in Southeast Asia.
The Vietnam War began in 1954, but the United States played mostly an advisory role in the conflict for the first decade. However, in the summer of 1964 the US Warship Maddox reported—falsely, the military would later determine—being fired at by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. President Lyndon B. Johnson already had detailed plans for using military force in Vietnam, so in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Congress authorized President Johnson to use whatever force necessary to retaliate against the perpetrators of the reported attacks and to further maintain peace. In the next few years, Johnson authorized full-scale operations, including the deployment of combat troops in the Vietnamese countryside. By the time Richard Nixon inherited the war, US legislators and the public had grown disillusioned with the nation’s role in the war and many looked for ways to recall the troops from the fighting. Nonetheless, Nixon continued to introduce soldiers and even expanded the United States’ bombing and combat campaigns to Laos and Cambodia, sparking insurrections in those neighboring countries. By 1971, Congress revoked the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, but President Nixon continued authorizing military strikes until a ceasefire was secured in 1973 and he withdrew the remaining US soldiers from Vietnam.
War Powers Resolution
After the Vietnam War, Congress intended to ensure that the legislative body would be consulted, and its approval explicitly obtained, prior to any interjection into a conflict or potential hostilities. To that end, Congress, in 1973, overwhelmingly adopted a joint resolution known as the War Powers Resolution (informally referred to as the War Powers Act; Public Law 93-148) over then-President Nixon’s veto. This established a number of mechanisms that would, ideally, facilitate more cooperation in decision making between the executive and legislative branches. Primarily, the joint-resolution states that the president may not introduce the US military into conflict unless he or she has a specific declaration or authorization from Congress or the nation is facing an imminent attack. The next sections of the law require the president, in every possible instance, to consult Congress before deploying US forces in imminent hostilities, and should forces be deployed, the president must report such a move to Congress. The reports must detail the necessity and legislative authority for introducing the armed forces into a conflict and estimate the scope and duration of the military’s involvement in the specific conflict (Section 4(a)(1)). Reports must be delivered to Congress within 48 hours of the military’s deployment and, should Congress not formally authorize the action, the president must withdraw the armed forces in 60 days. However, the president is afforded some flexibility in that he or she can extend those 60 days by an additional 30 days if a case for “military necessity” can be demonstrated to extend the deployment.
Since the law was adopted, there have been a few examples of Congress invoking the War Powers Act. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan deployed US Marines to Beirut, Lebanon as part of an international peacekeeping force. By the end of that year, 257 US servicemen had lost their lives in the effort. In September 1983, Congress asserted its constitutional authority and struck a bargain with Reagan, authorizing the president to keep the Marine units in Lebanon for 18 months, or until April 1985. S.J.Res.159 was adopted in October 1983 and it was based on the congressional desire to limit Reagan’s use of US armed forces in Lebanon and to assert its legislative authority under the 1973 War Powers Act. However, the resolution was never tested, as a terrorist bombing later that month killed 241 servicemen in their barracks. As a result, Reagan was forced to withdraw the US forces from Lebanon.
The War Powers Act appears to be an important check on the executive branch, giving Congress an ability to harness the president sufficiently if he or she erred in judgment or rationale for pursuing involvement in a conflict. However, one only has to look to the implementation of the act in the majority of cases over the last four decades since its adoption to understand that it has not been as successful as Congress would have preferred. Since President Nixon, every president has argued that the statute is unconstitutional as it infringes on the president’s constitutional authority to conduct war. Generally speaking, every succeeding president since has maintained that he had the authority to act unilaterally in certain situations relevant to conflicts across the globe. Much to the displeasure of Congress, the courts have refused, in subsequent lawsuits, to hear cases attempting to enforce the resolution, citing it as a political question the legislative and executive branches must resolve.
Evolution of Presidential War Powers Post-9/11
September 11, 2001 ushered in a new era of war powers. Shortly after the attacks, President George W. Bush declared a “War on Terror,” vowing to hunt down every individual responsible for the attacks, barring no geographic barrier. To facilitate this task, Congress adopted an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), granting Bush blanket authority to use the armed forces to combat the individuals and organizations responsible for planning or facilitating the attacks, as well as harboring or training the terrorists. This AUMF serves as the “statutory authorization” cited in Section 2(c) of the War Powers Act, ostensibly allowing the president to direct the armed forces at his discretion. In addition, the AUMF was remarkable because, for the first time, Congress authorized the president to use military force against non-state actors (i.e., al-Qaeda). If there were many individuals concerned with the blanket authority afforded to the Bush Administration, few spoke up at the time (the AUMF received just one “no” vote in the Senate). The familiar concerns about the executive branch’s unilateral decisions regarding the use of the military quietly faded away and Bush initiated an era characterized by counterterrorism measures and operations.
In October 2002, Congress again authorized the use of military force. This time the AUMF focused on Iraq—giving legal authority for the invasion months later—and called for protecting the nation from the perceived threats Iraq posed. There are two aspects of the AUMF that are relevant to understanding the authority a modern president might have in the War on Terror. First, the operative language of the authorization was rather vague, particularly so because it established no geographical restraints. It stipulated that the president can address continuing threats from the country of Iraq—not the government, military, or leaders—and it made no mention of whether such threats must be in Iraq. Second, it is important to note that Section 3(b) (2) reaffirmed the authority of the president to use force against the non-state actors adopted in the 2001 AUMF.
The 2001 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force are critical to understanding modern war powers because they presented the Bush Administration with a framework—and quite literally the authority specified in the War Powers Resolution—for carrying out an unconventional war against state and non-state actors alike. President Bush would go on to endow the military, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other agencies with more lenient rules of engagement and the power to employ suspect means for carrying out missions. President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and other officials of the administration would oversee the secret development of enhanced interrogation techniques, mass surveillance, targeted killing campaigns, and a number of other methods for conducting global war. While many of these practices were uncovered and scrutinized—some even resulting in court cases and/or the adoption of legislation—they were employed because the administration believed it was vested with the authority to sign off on the measures in order to protect the country’s national security.
Barack Obama’s War Machine
President Bush may have declared the War on Terror and Congress legalized the use of force, but President Obama and his administration undoubtedly did more to institutionalize unconventional war powers and establish legal precedents than anyone. Barack Obama, in an attempt to fulfill campaign promises, relied less on the military, steadfastly refusing to introduce troops in large numbers on the ground in hostile environments. However, throughout his two terms, the White House redefined what the office’s war powers entailed and how to use the previous authorizations sanctioned by Congress.
While controversy required the National Security Agency (NSA) to rein in its mass surveillance programs and the CIA was barred from operating black sites and using enhanced interrogation, Obama exceedingly relied on one previous Bush mechanism: targeted drone strikes. Drones—or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—are inarguably a use of force, whether operated by the CIA or the armed forces, and the Obama Administration was heavy-handed with the use of the technology. Obama’s reliance on drones was an attempt to reconcile his stance against using troops in hostile arenas with the need to continue addressing potential security threats. In this context, war powers evolved from the deployment of soldiers, vehicles, and hand operated weapons, to the utilization of UAVs equipped with missiles in the battlefield. The mere perception of the “battlefield” shifted considerably under Obama. While the lines and borders demarcating war zones were blurred by the AUMFs, the War on Terror under Obama effectively resulted in ubiquitous battlefields, particularly in North and East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
It would be insufficient to suggest that there were not concerns about Barack Obama’s use of drone warfare and “kill lists” to combat the threat of terrorism. To be sure, some legislators have been calling for repeal of the 2001 and 2002 authorizations, the issuance of new and narrower authorizations, and a stricter adherence to the War Powers Resolution. Drone, missile, and air strikes in Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and Syria especially raised eyebrows for the seeming lack of authority to operate outside the traditional battlefields of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan (an al-Qaeda safe haven). Some UAV strikes have even yielded lawsuits by families of those targeted in order to limit the use of such technology. However, even when the White House acknowledged the desire for a new AUMF, the administration simply relied on its perceived constitutional authority, the existing authorizations, and legal precedent to justify its campaign.
Does Donald Trump Warrant More Urgency?
While some members of Congress have certainly called for reevaluations of the president’s ability to use the military and its technology, the majority of legislators have not been so eager to debate the necessity. During the Bush Administration, the fervor around national security was too great for any elected official to be perceived as hindering the president’s ability to retaliate for 9/11. Throughout the Obama Administration, national security concerns lingered, particularly with the rise of the Islamic State, and many lawmakers believed their constituents wanted the president to have the means for fighting terrorists. In addition, members of Congress did not feel as pressed to rein in the president’s use of military force because it overwhelmingly came through the use of drones. For many individuals, as long as extremists were taken care of and American soldiers were safe, there was little reason to rock the boat.
The United States faces a rather novel environment after the inauguration of Donald Trump. President Trump has shown a marked departure, intellectually, from most presidents before him. He is rash, sporadic, and generally forgoes the careful consideration one might expect from a leader tasked with deciding whether or not to take another human’s life. In fact, the last president who most closely resembled Donald Trump in these characteristics—Richard Nixon—directly preceded Congress’s push for and adoption of limits on war powers. Many would agree that President Trump is the first president since the beginning of the United States’ War on Terror who would seemingly abuse the leeway granted by previous Congresses. Based on current operating standards and precedents, there is very little to prevent President Trump from authorizing risky operations in areas outside even the expanded definition of the battlefield. For example, President Trump and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have already explored the idea of loosening restrictions for the rules of engagement regarding air strikes, meaning a higher number of collateral civilian casualties could be deemed “acceptable.” In addition, the president’s first authorized military operation reportedly lacked thorough consultation and preparation and resulted in the loss of one US soldier, dozens of civilians, including women and children, and a $70 million helicopter. These examples will likely drive more and more members of Congress to call for greater constraints on the White House’s use of force.
So, if this Congress is able to usher in efficient constraints on the president’s use of war powers, what exactly would it entail? Even on this basic issue there seems to be a lot of uncertainty. The reliably hawkish members of Congress most likely would want to expand the president’s authority, so as to not “tie the hands” of the president, as majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) stated. The dovish members of each caucus would most certainly want to narrow the scope and clarify boundaries of any authorization, as well as establish a sunset provision to ensure an AUMF is not used for another decade and a half. A sunset provision is simply a specification that the authorization would expire after some time, unless it was explicitly extended (e.g., Obama proposed a three-year sunset clause). However the members hope to adjust the president’s powers, a real discussion will need to take place about how to usher in those changes. For any future authorization, the previous two AUMFs should be completely discarded. They are too broad and vague and so much precedent is tied up in them that if they were to stay on the books, it would be easy for any legal advisors to find a way to further manipulate the language in order to deviate from Congress’s wishes.
After repealing the 2001 and 2002 authorizations, the legislators should fashion another joint resolution authorizing the use of military force for specific purposes. Those purposes would most likely still include provisions for the use of force against non-state actors, but they should deliberately spell out which organizations are involved. In addition, it would make little sense to establish such limitations without an accompanying provision establishing geographic boundaries. While there will be much debate over which countries to include and exclude, failure to establish a clear demarcation of where military force can be used—and/or opportunities to consult Congress on expanding such boundaries—would ultimately allow for the current administration to expand the “battlefield” as it sees fit. Finally, like many prior proposals, any new AUMF should include the sunset provision. President Obama’s proposed AUMF established such a clause and there are presumably a number of legislators who support such a move.
In many aspects, a new era has begun under President Trump, but the old questions about war powers will remain, if not grow. The United States is facing a prolonged war against non-state actors and the country is now governed by an inexperienced and unpredictable administration. If there were any time to clarify the legislative and executive roles in authorizing the use of military force, this appears to be it. While the War Powers Resolution may not give Congress the teeth it needs to truly dictate the use of the armed services, issuance of a new AUMF would undoubtedly pressure the White House to make sound decisions that do not deviate from the expectations set forth by the nation’s lawmakers. A new AUMF is critical to holding the president responsible for his decisions to use military force, but it could also be beneficial for the fledgling administration, clarifying the guidelines for carrying out military operations. | <urn:uuid:1f072782-1453-4167-821c-1c09d7099ef9> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/a-looming-collision/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.960489 | 3,878 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is scientific approach that involves using modern behavioral learning theories to modify overt behaviors. As an adult with Asperger’s Syndrome, this is a theory that I find useful to practice in my own life. It is extremely challenging to self-reinforce my own behavior plan. I apply ABA to social situations so I can learn adaptive skills and function better in those areas.
I often run into people, some of whom are in the Autism community, who say ABA is not applicable to people with high functioning Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. I respectfully disagree with this opinion and have personal experience to back it up.
I tend to exhibit some classic Asperger’s Syndrome traits such as coming on too strong with people and being overbearing. I do this by texting or communicating with an individual too often. This behavior is not readily accepted in our society; there are unwritten boundaries set in getting to know someone. This behavior can cause people to be uncomfortable around me; therefore it is a behavior that I have to change.
Let me share an example of how I created and enforce my own behavior plan:
My Problematic Behavior: Calling and texting people too often, in excess of 25 times per day, 150 times per week.
The Effect of the Behavior: Others shy away from this type of social interaction and tend to avoid being around me.
Behavior Plan Outline: When I want to text an individual, I choose to blog instead. By blogging about my feelings, I am able to connect with others on a social level. Sometimes I even access the desired social interaction via comments and discussion about the blog. Now I am getting social interaction without being overbearing.
Positive Reinforcement: I self-reinforce with chocolate milk. Every night before bed I enjoy having a glass of chocolate milk. If I meet my goal of not texting someone that day I reward myself with a glass of chocolate milk that night.
Without access to services as an adult I have had to be creative and come up with some of my own ideas for intervention. I’m not a therapist but I do have the knowledge of understanding how my mind thinks and works. This has allowed me to come up with strategies for changing my own behavior. I know neurotypicals (people who are not on the Autism Spectrum) who use the science of ABA on themselves every day.
When applying ABA principles, I have to remember a quote from Dr. Peter Gerhardt, which states “Context is king.” It is not possible to just sit in an office and work on one social skill for an hour or two and expect to be able to walk into any social situation and use the skill correctly.
It’s extremely important to teach a social skill in as many different contexts as possible. In the past, I have been in a therapist’s office, spending on hour or two talking about certain social skills. Then, as soon as I left the office my environment changed. There are too many factors that come into play, which make it necessary to practice a newly acquired skill in as many social environments as possible. While a therapist can’t be with me at all times, I like the idea of training a friend or relative to go out with me and practice the skill in different settings such as a book store, library, museum, or club.
Typically, when a child is receiving ABA services, the therapist is not only working with the child but they are training the parents, or caregivers of the child, to put ABA methods into practice. The child is not able to provide his own reinforcement at this stage in his life. The parents can then leave the therapy session knowing how to apply ABA therapy on their child in day to day life situations. The child is then able to practice the new skill every day, increasing the opportunity for it to become automatic.
Positive reinforcement is very important. As I previously stated, I make it a point to reinforce skills I use daily. However, being my own reinforcement is a challenge. I find relief when I write. For another person, positive reinforcement should be something that person finds pleasant. It is viewed as a reward for doing something positive.
I analyze things differently than most people do. I live in my own world and see things in the unique way that I see them. My mind is blocked to other viewpoints and opinions. Sometimes I become very frustrated when my thoughts become negative. At times, life is hard for me. In these moments of negativity, I have to reshape my thoughts into something positive to avoid becoming very depressed.
I think ABA therapy provides an amazing gift to people with high functioning Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. We have the ability to communicate and work with our therapists. We can share with them how we analyze a situation and they, in turn, are able to share their opinions on how they would see it. The ability to bring the two schools of thought together is priceless and something that everyone on the spectrum should be able to access.
One of the greater frustrations for some adults on the spectrum is that access to ABA services is typically not available. The process of accessing treatment services is more difficult for someone who was not diagnosed until adulthood. When a child is diagnosed, some insurance companies allow a period of time for the child to receive services from a certified ABA therapist. However, as we age out of the education system at age 22, all services are pulled.
I used to be very upset and sad over this. But recently I’ve begun to accept the reality of the situation and embrace it. Yes, I have some extra hurdles in life but I am still a human being worthy of love and acceptance. I have learned that loving myself is all that really matters. If I don’t love and respect who I am, then nothing else in life will ever fall into place. Enforcing my behavior plan has actually become easier since I came to terms with this. This also allows me to educate others about my challenges and help them interact with me in a positive way.
Travis Breeding is an author and speaker on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Born in March of 1985, Travis grew up knowing he was different and always struggled to make friends and fit in.
At age 22 Travis was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, finally providing him with answers to all of those unanswered questions. After years of pain and frustration Travis has now begun the healing process and wants to share his story with others in hopes of helping people to better understand and relate to Autism.
Travis is the author of two books. I want to be like you: Life with Asperger’s Syndrome and I am a child: Just Like You. Travis is currently working on his third book and presenting as often as possible. To read more about Travis, visit www.travisbreedingautism.com. To contact Travis, email firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:d8a7413c-0597-4602-90a6-b3d83814b585> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://autismspectrumnews.org/self-reinforcing-my-own-behavior-plan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.970165 | 1,444 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Eye Health Information
Astigmatism is a type of refractive error caused by the irregularities in the shape of a person’s cornea. In this condition, the eye fails to focus the light equally on the retina leading to blurred or distorted vision. It can be present at the time of birth, or can develop gradually in life.
Astigmatism is part of the prescription and is not an eye disease or eye health issue.
Myopia – Short-sightedness
Myopia occurs when the eyeball is too long, relative to the focusing power of the cornea and lens of the eye. This causes light rays to focus at a point in front of the retina, rather than directly on its surface.
Short-sightedness can also be caused by the cornea and/or lens being too curved for the length of the eyeball. In some cases, myopia occurs due to a combination of these factors.
Myopia typically begins in childhood, and you may have a higher risk if your parents are short-sighted. In most cases, short-sightedness stabilizes in early adulthood but sometimes it continues to progress with age.
Long-sighted people sometimes have headaches or eye strain and may squint or feel fatigued when performing work at close range. If you get these symptoms while wearing your eyeglasses or contact lenses, you may need an eye exam and a new prescription.
This vision problem occurs when light rays entering the eye focus behind the retina, rather than directly on it because the eyeball of a long-sighted person is shorter than normal.
Many children are born hyperopic, and some of them “outgrow” it as the eyeball lengthens with normal growth.
Sometimes people confuse hyperopia with presbyopia, which also causes near vision problems but for different reasons.
Presbyopia is the normal loss of near focusing ability that occurs with age. Most people begin to notice the effects of presbyopia sometime after age 40, when they start having trouble seeing small print clearly – including text messages on their phone.
You can’t escape presbyopia, even if you’ve never had a vision problem before. Even people who are myopic will notice that their near vision blurs when they wear their usual eyeglasses or contact lenses to correct distance vision.
When you become presbyopic, you either have to hold your smartphone and other objects and reading material (books, magazines, menus, labels, etc.) farther from your eyes to see them more clearly.
Unfortunately, when you move things farther from your eyes they get smaller in size, so this is only a temporary and partially successful solution to presbyopia.
If you can still see close objects pretty well, presbyopia can cause headaches, eye strain and visual fatigue that makes reading and other near vision tasks less comfortable and more tiring.
Presbyopia is an age-related process. It is a gradual thickening and loss of flexibility of the natural lens inside your eye.
These age-related changes occur within the proteins in the lens, making the lens harder and less elastic over time. Age-related changes also take place in the muscle fibres surrounding the lens. With less elasticity, it gets difficult for the eyes to focus on close objects.
Dry Eye / Blepharitis / Meibomian Gland Dysfunction
Dry eye syndrome/ blepharitis and MGD are chronic and typically progressive conditions. Depending on the causes and severity, they may not be completely curable.
In most cases, symptoms can be managed successfully, usually resulting in noticeably greater eye comfort, fewer dry eye symptoms, and sometimes sharper vision.
These external eye disease can have a number of causes, and a variety of treatment approaches are used.
There are many different treatments that are commonly used by optometrists to reduce any signs and symptoms. An optometrist may recommend only one of these treatments or a combination of treatments, depending on the cause(s) and severity of your condition.
Glaucoma is often called the “silent thief of sight,” because most of its types typically cause no pain and produce no symptoms until noticeable vision loss occurs.
For this reason, glaucoma often progresses undetected until the optic nerve already has been irreversibly damaged.
Glaucoma is a group of related eye disorders that cause damage to the optic nerve that carries information from the eye to the brain.
In most cases, glaucoma is associated with higher-than-normal pressure inside the eye – a condition called ocular hypertension. But it can also occur when intraocular pressure (IOP) is normal. If untreated or uncontrolled, glaucoma first causes peripheral vision loss and eventually can lead to blindness. Your optometrist can perform a variety of tests to help aid the detection of any glaucoma related abnormalities.
Cataract is the clouding of the eye’s natural lens. It is the most common cause of vision loss in people over age 40 and is also the principal cause of blindness in the world.
The lens inside the eye works much like a camera lens, focusing light onto the retina for clear vision. It also adjusts the eye’s focus, letting us see things clearly both up close and far away.
The lens is mostly made of water and protein. The protein is arranged in a precise way that keeps the lens clear and lets light pass through it.
But as we age, some of the protein may clump together and start to cloud a small area of the lens. This is a cataract, and over time, it may grow larger and cloud more of the lens, making it harder to see.
No one knows for sure why the eye’s lens changes as we age, forming cataracts. But researchers worldwide have identified factors that may cause cataracts or are associated with cataract development including UV exposure, health conditions and certain medications.
Macular degeneration usually affects people over age 65, which is why the term age-related macular degeneration (AMD) often is used to describe the condition. However, certain drugs can cause macular degeneration, and some cases are inherited.
Experts think there are a number of reasons for the causes such as: more ultraviolet light in our environment due to a thinning ozone layer, people living longer, environmental pollutants, smoking, poor diet and obesity. Another factor may be our aging population, since the risk for macular degeneration rises with age.
Although there are no sure ways to prevent macular degeneration, you should wear eyeglasses or sunglasses that provide 100 percent UV protection and a brimmed hat when outdoors. You should also consider exercising, not smoking, eating a healthy diet that includes plenty of dark green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale, collard greens, etc.), and visiting your eye care practitioner on a regular basis for eye exams to check for AMD.
If you’re over age 65, a smoker, white or have a family member with AMD, you have an increased risk for macular degeneration.
You’re also at risk if you take these drugs: Aralen (chloroquine) or phenothiazine derivatives [Thorazine (chlorpromazine), Mellaril (thioridazine), Prolixin (fluphenazine), Trilafon (perphenazine) and Stelazine (trifluoperazine)].
Doctors aren’t sure how to prevent macular degeneration. Research suggests that ultraviolet light (and possibly blue light) factors into the problem, so sunglasses that block these solar rays might have a protective effect.
Exercising and quitting smoking also might reduce your risk of AMD.
Early signs of macular degeneration include: straight lines appearing wavy, fuzzy vision, night vision problems, and shadowy areas in your central vision. Your optometrist may find indicators before you have any symptoms, so regular eye exams can mean an early diagnosis.
Currently there are a number of FDA-approved medical treatments for wet AMD, including eye injections of Lucentis, Macugen and Eylea.
Based on clinical studies that have shown certain nutrients and antioxidants slow the progression of dry AMD, as a result we recommend specific nutritional supplements for people who are either at risk for macular degeneration or have early signs and symptoms of AMD.
Patients who have significant vision problems caused by macular degeneration often can benefit from low vision devices to help them read, use a computer and more. | <urn:uuid:7a299d92-bb87-439c-8c22-addaca1e9ed2> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://averyopticians.com/eye-health-information/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.935729 | 1,770 | 3.71875 | 4 |
The Bible – Old Testament
Tobit died peacefully at the age of a hundred and twelve, and received an honorable burial in Nineveh.
He was sixty-two years old when he lost his eyesight, and after he recovered it he lived in prosperity, giving alms and continually blessing God and praising the divine Majesty.
Just before he died, he called his son Tobiah and Tobiah’s seven sons, and gave him this command: “Son, take your children
1 and flee into Media, for I believe God’s word which was spoken by Nahum against Nineveh. It shall all happen, and shall overtake Assyria and Nineveh; indeed, whatever was said by Israel’s prophets, whom God commissioned, shall occur. Not one of all the oracles shall remain unfulfilled, but everything shall take place in the time appointed for it. So it will be safer in Media than in Assyria or Babylon. For I know and believe that whatever God has spoken will be accomplished. It shall happen, and not a single word of the prophecies shall prove false. “As for our kinsmen who dwell in Israel, they shall all be scattered and led away into exile from the Good Land. The entire country of Israel shall become desolate; even Samaria and Jerusalem shall become desolate! God’s temple there shall be burnt to the ground and shall be desolate for a while.
2 But God will again have mercy on them and bring them back to the land of Israel. They shall rebuild the temple, but it will not be like the first one, until the era when the appointed times shall be completed. Afterward all of them shall return from their exile, and they shall rebuild Jerusalem with splendor. In her the temple of God shall also be rebuilt; yes, it will be rebuilt for all generations to come, just as the prophets of Israel said of her.
3 All the nations of the world shall be converted and shall offer God true worship; all shall abandon their idols which have deceitfully led them into error,
and shall bless the God of the ages in righteousness. Because all the Israelites who are to be saved in those days will truly be mindful of God, they shall be gathered together and go to Jerusalem; in security shall they dwell forever in the land of Abraham, which will be given over to them. Those who sincerely love God shall rejoice, but those who become guilty of sin shall completely disappear from the land.
“Now, as for you, my son, depart from Nineveh; do not remain here.
“Now, children, I give you this command: serve God faithfully and do what is right before him; you must tell your children to do what is upright and to give alms, to be mindful of God and at all times to bless his name sincerely and with all their strength.
4 The day you bury your mother next to me, do not even stay overnight within the confines of the city. For I see that people here shamelessly commit all sorts of wickedness and treachery. Think, my son, of all that Nadab did to Ahiqar, the very one who brought him up: Ahiqar went down alive into the earth! Yet God made Nadab’s disgraceful crime rebound against him. Ahiqar came out again into the light, but Nadab went into the everlasting darkness, for he had tried to kill Ahiqar. Because Ahiqar had given alms to me, he escaped from the deadly trap Nadab had set for him. But Nadab himself fell into the deadly trap, and it destroyed him.
So, my children, note well what almsgiving does, and also what wickedness does – it kills! But now my spirit is about to leave me.”
They placed him on his bed and he died; and he received an honorable burial. When Tobiah’s mother died, he buried her next to his father. He then departed with his wife and children for Media, where he settled in Ecbatana with his father-in-law Raguel.
He took respectful care of his aging father-in-law and mother-in-law; and he buried them at Ecbatana in Media. Then he inherited Raguel’s estate as well as that of his father Tobit.
He died at the venerable age of a hundred and seventeen.
5 But before he died, he heard of the destruction of Nineveh and saw its effects. He witnessed the exile of the city’s inhabitants when Cyaxares, king of Media, led them captive into Media. Tobiah praised God for all that he had done against the citizens of Nineveh and Assyria. Before dying he rejoiced over Nineveh’s destruction, and he blessed the Lord God forever and ever. Amen.
1 (4-5) Nahum: one of the minor prophets, whose book contains oracles of doom against Nineveh. Here, in keeping with the period to which he assigns his story, the sacred author makes Tobit speak as if the punishment of Nineveh, the destruction of Jerusalem (587 B. C.), the exile from Judah and the return, would all take place in the future. The technique of using the facts of past history as seemingly future predictions, is a frequent device of apocalyptic writers. The Good Land: a favorite name for the promised land. Cf ⇒ Deut 1:35; ⇒ 3:25; ⇒ 4:21, ⇒ 22.
2 Until the era . . . completed: a reference to the advent of Messianic times, in which a new, more perfect temple was to be expected. Cf ⇒ Hebrews 9:1-14.
3 Conversion of the Gentiles is also to come in the Messianic era.
4 Nadab: In the Story of Ahiqar, the hero Ahiqar, chancellor under the Assyrian kings Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, adopts his nephew Nadab and prepares him to become his successor. But Nadab treacherously plots to have his uncle put to death. Ahiqar hides in a friend’s house, and is finally vindicated (came out again into the light) when Nadab’s scheme is discovered. Thereupon Nadab is thrown into a dungeon where he dies (went into everlasting darkness). It was Ahiqar’s almsgiving that delivered him from death; see note on ⇒ Tobit 2:2.
5 Cyaxares: Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, and Cyaxares conquered and destroyed Nineveh in 612 B. C.; see note on ⇒ Tobit 1:15. | <urn:uuid:4c45bf07-900e-4d28-b271-080cced3e7c2> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://bible-adventure.com/2023/11/23/tobit-chapter-14/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.968863 | 1,409 | 2.796875 | 3 |
When the time of David’s death drew near,
he gave these instructions to his son Solomon:
“I am going the way of all flesh.
Take courage and be a man.
Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways
and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees
as they are written in the law of Moses,
that you may succeed in whatever you do,
wherever you turn, and the Lord may fulfill
the promise he made on my behalf when he said,
‘If your sons so conduct themselves
that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart
and with their whole soul,
you shall always have someone of your line
on the throne of Israel.’”
David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.
The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years:
he reigned seven years in Hebron
and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David,
with his sovereignty firmly established. | <urn:uuid:101ba9c3-f972-4bae-a565-5276fa3d678d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020322.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.97666 | 228 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The loss of Tupac Shakur, a highly influential and iconic figure in the world of hip-hop, was a devastating moment for fans around the globe. Following his tragic death on September 13, 1996, there was an outpouring of grief and a desire to pay tribute to his remarkable talent and impact. This blog post delves into the details of Tupac’s funeral, highlighting the events that took place to honor the life and legacy of this legendary artist.
The Life and Achievements of Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur, known simply as Tupac, was born on June 16, 1971, in East Harlem, New York City. He rose to prominence as a rapper, actor, and poet, leaving an indelible mark on the music industry. With his thought-provoking lyrics and raw talent, Tupac became a voice for the marginalized and a symbol of social consciousness.
The Tragic Event: Tupac’s Death
On the night of September 7, 1996, Tupac attended a boxing match in Las Vegas. After the event, he was involved in a drive-by shooting, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. Despite the best efforts of medical personnel, Tupac succumbed to his injuries six days later. The news of his untimely death sent shockwaves through the music industry and beyond.
Arrangements for the Funeral
The funeral arrangements for Tupac were organized by his family, friends, and colleagues, who wanted to create a memorial befitting his status as a cultural icon. The funeral service was held on September 18, 1996, at the Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church in Chicago. It was a private event attended by close friends, family members, and industry insiders.
The Funeral Service
The funeral service was a solemn affair, with speeches, musical performances, and heartfelt tributes to honor Tupac’s life. Various artists and friends shared their memories and expressed their grief over the loss of such a talented and influential artist. The ceremony served as a way to celebrate his achievements and reflect on the impact he had on the world.
Mourning and Memorializing Tupac
In the aftermath of the funeral, fans around the world mourned the loss of Tupac in their own unique ways. Vigils were held, candles were lit, and his music echoed through the streets. Tupac’s grave at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in California became a place of pilgrimage for fans, who left flowers, letters, and personal tokens of remembrance.
Legacy and Impact
Tupac’s legacy continues to resonate to this day. His music and lyrics continue to inspire and provoke thought, addressing social issues such as racism, poverty, and inequality. He paved the way for future artists to express themselves authentically and fearlessly. Tupac’s impact extends beyond the realm of music, as he remains a cultural icon and a symbol of resilience.
Tupac Shakur’s funeral was a somber and poignant event, allowing family, friends, and fans to come together and pay their respects. The loss of such an extraordinary talent was deeply felt, but his legacy lives on through his music and the lasting impact he made on the world. Tupac’s words and ideas continue to resonate with new generations, ensuring that his spirit will forever be remembered. | <urn:uuid:e3541099-9dc7-4c11-b988-56ccecc81a86> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://bioqraphy.com/tupac-funeral/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.974977 | 682 | 2.65625 | 3 |
This brief and fascinating book is an English translation of Andrea Carandini’s Roma: Il Primo Giorno, first published in 2007 by Laterza in Rome. Its compact size (the main body is only 74 pages long, including 47 figues), appealing style, and lack of bibliography make it clear that the book is intended for non-specialists. Its translation into English means that those who do not read Italian now have a serviceable introduction to the work of Carandini, who for twenty years directed excavations on one of the most significant little stretches of land in all of Rome: the north slope of the Palatine. Carandini has written a great deal on his findings over the past two decades,1 and, not surprisingly, over that same period his controversial perspective on the early history of Rome has garnered a considerable amount of attention in both academic and non-academic media.2 The book under review includes several new claims, supported by the evidence of Carandini’s six major archaeological discoveries (see below). But the central claims are very much in keeping with Carandini’s earlier writings: that Romulus really founded Rome in the mid-eighth century BC, in the month of April, and that even at its founding Rome was not just a rustic cluster of huts but a full-fledged city-state. So the title of this book is not only a play on the idea that Rome may in fact have been built in a day. It also contains a resonance of “Roma: dal primo giorno” (“Rome: from day one!”) because the archaeological finds lead Carandini to conclude that Romulus did not just build a wall on April 21, c. 750 BC. By establishing central, public places of politics and worship, he built a state: “…that is, a res publica, what today we would call a state…” (116).
Specialists and archaeology students will want to stick with the Italian version (with which most are probably already familiar). A full appreciation of Carandini’s argument requires the reader to do the work of tracing the ways in which the author implicitly engages with other scholarship and rival claims; that is because, with one exception,3 there is no explicit acknowledgement in this book of any contemporary work on the early history of Rome not written by Carandini himself. In what follows I will offer a rapid overview of the book’s contents, an assessment of the quality of the translation, and my opinion of its success as a form of outreach.
The core of the book consists of the six discoveries, described in the second and third chapters. Chapter Two (“The Palatine,” 41-63) will culminate with the dating of the remains of the “Romulean” wall (61) at the northwest corner of the Palatine (56f.)—an early and most significant finding of Carandini’s excavations.4 Carandini now dates the wall to the second quarter of the eighth century BC (this is the first of the six discoveries), with the help of a “foundational deposit” (59)—the furniture of the tomb of a young girl—unearthed under the threshold of the Porta Mugonia. We read of Romulus’s institution of this wall (according to the Etruscan rite of the sulcus primigenius), and of the young girl’s sacrifice, as part of Carandini’s speculative reconstruction of the order of events on April 21, c. 750 BC.
The third chapter (“The Founding of the Forum, the Capitol, and the Citadel,” 64-100) includes the other five major discoveries: the remains of the “first domus in Rome” (a domus regia) in the sanctuary of Vesta, also with a founding tomb as a deposit, datable to the late eighth century (74); a second domus regia, late- seventh/early-sixth century BC, connected by an underground path to the Vesta sanctuary (76); the restructuring and transformation of the domus regia during the late sixth century (80); a second-century BC aedes Larum in the Vesta complex (83); the last discovery is the primitive hut of the vestal virgins, dating from the second quarter of the eighth century BC and lying beneath the late-Republican structure (86). In a synthesis of the six discoveries, Carandini concludes that “Romulus’s first achievement, involving the blessing and walling of the Palatine, dates from the second quarter of the eighth century BC, and a fundamental part of the second achievement, involving the Sanctuary of Vesta in the Forum, also dates from the same part of the century, which would make it part of the same project of Romulus. We therefore have not only the urbs on the Palatine but also the sacred and political center of the regnum…we have, from its very beginnings (“fin da principio,” p.77 of the Italian edition), the city but also the state” (88).
Stephen Sartarelli’s translation is generally excellent, but it could be faulted for occasionally remaining too faithful to Italian style and syntax; for example:
The scholars of ancient Rome (Gli antiquari romani), who didn’t have any mytho-historical overview but were simply very curious about rare details (che non avevano un disegno mitistorico ma che erano curiosissimi di rari dettagli), as scholars always are (come sempre gli eruditi), have revealed to us the name of the realities that immediately preceded the establishment of Rome: Septimontium (ci hanno rivelato il nome della realtà che hanno preceduto immediatamente Roma: Septimontium). (22-24; 22 of the Italian edition)
Even if the rhythm and word-choice of such sentences somehow retain a distinctly Italian feel, the meaning remains clear. And on the whole the translation is a pleasure to read, as when Sartarelli finds felicitous ways to capture Carandini’s appealing and informal narrative style: “…I would like to take the reader by the hand and have him or her descend with me some thirteen meters under the city of Rome—to where, atop the rubble and rubbish, the living settlements once grew, one on top of the other—and go back more than twenty-seven centuries into the past, in search of the first acts and the first day of Rome’s existence: April 21, around 750 BC” (6). Note especially the artful translation of “rubble and rubbish” (6) for the alliterative and rhyming “macerie e immondizie” (p. 9 of the Italian edition).
As a work intended for a general readership, Rome: Day One has much to offer. There are more than 60 informative illustrations; an appendix that includes a wealth of primary sources (also translated into English) on the Romulus legend and related material (not just Livy, Ovid, and Plutarch, but also Ennius, Servius, and Censorinus, among others), and beautiful cover art. But it must be said that the arguments at the heart of Rome: Day One are often very hard to follow for anyone not already familiar with the topography and history of early Rome. The relative absence of contextualization and the absolute avoidance of bibliography keep the volume slim (surely a virtue in a work of outreach), but the result is that it will most likely prove too difficult for the non-specialist to distinguish between what has been generally accepted and what may be a controversial new solution to an old problem.
1. Carandini’s other books on the early history of Rome include Storie della terra (1996, Turin); La nascita di Roma (1997/2003, Turin); Roma: Romolo, Remo e la fondazione della città (2000, Milan); Archeolgia del mito (2002, Turin); Palatino, Velia e Sacra Via (2004, Rome); Remo e Romolo (2006, Turin); La leggenda di Roma (2006, 2010, Milan); Cercando Quirino (2007, Turin); Re Tarquinio e il divino bastardo (2010, Milan).
2. For a critical assessment of Carandini’s work from 2001, see T. P. Wiseman’s “Reading Carandini,” JRS 91, pp. 182-193.
3. Note 1, p. 108: L. Capogrossi Colognesi, “Curie, centurie e ‘heredia,'” in Studi in onore di Francesco Grelle (Bari: Edipuglia, 2006), pp. 41-49.
4. The works in Note 1 are largely based on this major find. | <urn:uuid:810890f9-3be7-42bb-b84e-5b55a49b4f74> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2012/2012.03.39 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.932126 | 1,927 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country’s national armed forces.
Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organisation, or to the type of tactics used. An irregular military organisation is one which is not part of the regular army organisation. Without standard military unit organisation, various more general names are often used; such organisations may be called a troop, group, unit, column, band, or force. Irregulars are soldiers or warriors that are members of these organisations, or are members of special military units that employ irregular military tactics. This also applies to irregular infantry and irregular cavalry units.
Irregular warfare is warfare employing the tactics commonly used by irregular military organisations. This involves avoiding large-scale combat, and focusing on small, stealthy, hit-and-run engagements.
Regular vs. Irregular
The words “regular” and “irregular” have been used to describe combat forces for hundreds of years, usually with little ambiguity. The requirements of a government’s chain of command cause the regular army to be very well defined, and anybody fighting outside it, other than official paramilitary forces, are irregular. In case the legitimacy of the army or its opponents is questioned, some legal definitions have been created.
In international humanitarian law, the term “irregular forces” refers to a category of combatants that consists of individuals forming part of the armed forces of a party to an armed conflict, international or domestic, but not belonging to that party’s regular forces and operating inside or outside of their own territory, even if the territory is under occupation.
The Third Geneva Convention of 1949 uses “regular armed forces” as a critical distinction. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a non-governmental organisation primarily responsible for and most closely associated with the drafting and successful completion of the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (“GPW”). The ICRC provided commentary saying that “regular armed forces” satisfy four Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907) (Hague IV) conditions. In other words, “regular forces” must satisfy the following criteria:
- Being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates to a party of conflict.
- Having a fixed distinctive emblem recognisable at a distance.
- Carrying arms openly.
- Conducting operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
By extension, combat forces that do not satisfy these criteria are termed “irregular forces”.
Other Names for Irregular Military Formations
The term “irregular military” describes the “how” and “what”, but it is more common to focus on the “why” as just about all irregular units were created to provide a tactical advantage to an existing military, whether it was privateer forces harassing shipping lanes against assorted New World colonies on behalf of their European contractors, or Auxiliaries, levies, civilian and other standing irregular troops that are used as more expendable supplements to assist costly trained soldiers. Bypassing the legitimate military and taking up arms is an extreme measure. The motivation for doing so is often used as the basis of the primary label for any irregular military. Different terms come into and out of fashion, based on political and emotional associations that develop. Here is a list of such terms, which is organised more or less from oldest to latest:
- Auxiliaries: Foreign or allied troops supplementing the regular army, organised from provincial or tribal regions. In the Imperial Roman army, it became common to maintain a number of auxiliaries about equal to the legionaries.
- Levies: Feudal peasants and freemen liable to be called up for short-term military duty.
- Privateer: A “for-profit” private person or ship authorised and sponsored by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign vessels during wartime and to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy during “peacetime”, often on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them.
- Revolutionary: Someone part of a revolution, whether military or not.
- Guerrilla: Someone who uses unconventional military tactics. The term tends to refer to groups engaged in open conflict, rather than underground resistance. It was coined during the Peninsula War in Spain against France.
- Montoneras: They were a type of irregular forces that were formed in the 19th century in Latin America.
- Franc-tireur: French irregular forces during the Franco-Prussian War. The term is also used in international legal cases as a synonym for unprivileged combatant (for example the Hostages Trial [1947-1948]).
- Militia: Military force composed of ordinary citizens.
- Ordenanças: The Portuguese territorial militia system from the 16th century to the 19th century. It also served as local defence force and as the mobilisation system that provided conscripts for the first and second lines of the Army.
- Partisan: In the 20th century, someone part of a resistance movement. In the 18th and 19th century, a local conventional military force using irregular tactics. Often used to refer to resistance movements against the Axis Powers during the Second World War.
- Freedom fighter: A type of irregular military in which the main cause, in their or their supporters’ view, is freedom for themselves or others.
- Paramilitary: Non-regular Armed Force with a claim to official status.
- Terrorist: An irregular military that targets civilians and other non-combatants to gain political leverage. The term is almost always used pejoratively. Although reasonably well defined, its application is frequently controversial.
- False flag or pseudo-operations: Troops of one side dressing like troops of another side to eliminate or discredit the latter and its support, such as members of the Panzer Brigade 150, commanded by Waffen-SS commando Otto Skorzeny in Operation Greif during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II and Selous Scouts of the Rhodesian Bush War.
- Insurgent: An alternate term for a member of an irregular military that tends to refer to members of underground groups such as the Iraqi Insurgency, rather than larger rebel organisations like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
- Mercenary or “soldier of fortune”: Someone who is generally not a national in a standing army or not otherwise an inherently-invested party to an armed conflict who becomes involved in an armed conflict for monetary motives or for private gain. Mercenaries are often explicitly hired to fight or provide manpower or expertise in exchange for money; material wealth or, less commonly, political power. Mercenaries are often experienced combatants or former regular soldiers who decided to sell their combat experience, skill or manpower to interested parties or to the highest bidder in an armed conflict. Famous historic examples of “professional” or organized (often “career”) mercenaries include the Italian condottieri, or “contractors,” leaders of “free agent” mercenary armies that provided their armies to the various Italian city-states and the Papal states during the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance Italy in exchange for profit, land or power. However, not all soldiers deemed to be “mercenaries” are “professional” or “career” mercenaries, and many mercenaries may be simply opportunists or persons with no prior combat experience. Whether a combatant is truly a “mercenary” may be a matter of controversy or degree, as financial and national interests often overlap, and most standing regular armies also provide their soldiers with some form of payment. Furthermore, as reflected in the Geneva Convention, mercenaries are generally provided less protection under the rules of war than non-mercenaries, and many countries have criminalised “mercenary activity”.
Intense debates can build up over which term is to be used to refer to a specific group. Using one term over another can strongly imply strong support or opposition for the cause.
It is possible for a military to cross the line between regular and irregular. Isolated regular army units that are forced to operate without regular support for long periods of time can degrade into irregulars. As an irregular military becomes more successful, it may transition away from irregular, even to the point of becoming the new regular army if it wins.
Regular Military Units that use Irregular Military Tactics
Most conventional military officers and militaries are wary of using irregular military forces and see them as unreliable, of doubtful military usefulness and prone to committing atrocities leading to retaliation in kind. Usually, such forces are raised outside the regular military like the British SOE during World War II and, more recently, the CIA’s Special Activities Division. However at times, such as out of desperation, conventional militaries will resort to guerrilla tactics, usually to buy breathing space and time for themselves by tying up enemy forces to threaten their line of communications and rear areas, such as the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry and the Chindits.
Although they are part of a regular army, United States Special Forces are trained in missions such as implementing irregular military tactics. However, outside the United States, the term special forces does not generally imply a force that is trained to fight as guerrillas and insurgents. Originally, the United States Special Forces were created to serve as a cadre around which stay-behind resistance forces could be built in the event of a communist victory in Europe or elsewhere. The United States Special Forces and the CIA’s Special Activities Division can trace their lineage to the OSS operators of World War II, which were tasked with inspiring, training, arming and leading resistance movements in German-occupied Europe and Japanese occupied Asia.
In Finland, well-trained light infantry sissi troops use irregular tactics such as reconnaissance, sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.
While the morale, training and equipment of the individual irregular soldier can vary from very poor to excellent, irregulars are usually lacking the higher-level organisational training and equipment that is part of regular army. This usually makes irregulars ineffective in direct, main-line combat, the typical focus of more standard armed forces. Other things being equal, major battles between regulars and irregulars heavily favour the regulars.
However, irregulars can excel at many other combat duties besides main-line combat, such as scouting, skirmishing, harassing, pursuing, rearguard actions, cutting supply, sabotage, raids, ambushes and underground resistance. Experienced irregulars often surpass the regular army in these functions. By avoiding formal battles, irregulars have sometimes harassed high quality armies to destruction.
The total effect of irregulars is often underestimated. Since the military actions of irregulars are often small and unofficial, they are underreported or even overlooked. Even when engaged by regular armies, some military histories exclude all irregulars when counting friendly troops, but include irregulars in the count of enemy troops, making the odds seem much worse than they were. This may be accidental; counts of friendly troops often came from official regular army rolls that exclude unofficial forces, while enemy strength often came from visual estimates, where the distinction between regular and irregular were lost. If irregular forces overwhelm regulars, records of the defeat are often lost in the resulting chaos.
Historical Reliance on Irregulars
By definition, “irregular” is understood in contrast to “regular armies,” which grew slowly from personal bodyguards or elite militia. In Ancient warfare, most civilised nations relied heavily on irregulars to augment their small regular army. Even in advanced civilisations, the irregulars commonly outnumbered the regular army.
Sometimes entire tribal armies of irregulars were brought in from internal native or neighbouring cultures, especially ones that still had an active hunting tradition to provide the basic training of irregulars. The regulars would only provide the core military in the major battles; irregulars would provide all other combat duties.
Notable examples of regulars relying on irregulars include Bashi-bazouk units in the Ottoman Empire, auxiliary cohorts of Germanic peoples in the Roman Empire, Cossacks in the Russian Empire, and Native American forces in the American frontier of the Confederate States of America.
One could attribute the disastrous defeat of the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest to the lack of supporting irregular forces; only a few squadrons of irregular light cavalry accompanied the invasion of Germany when normally the number of foederati and auxiliaries would equal the regular legions. During this campaign the majority of locally recruited irregulars defected to the Germanic tribesmen led by the former auxiliary officer Arminius.
During the decline of the Roman Empire, irregulars made up an ever-increasing proportion of the Roman military. At the end of the Western Empire, there was little difference between the Roman military and the barbarians across the borders.
Following Napoleon’s modernisation of warfare with the invention of conscription, the Peninsular War led by Spaniards against the French invaders in 1808 provided the first modern example of guerrilla warfare. Indeed, the term of guerrilla itself was coined during this time.
As the Industrial Revolution dried up the traditional source of irregulars, nations were forced take over the duties of the irregulars using specially trained regular army units. Examples are the light infantry in the British Army.
Irregular Regiments in British India
Prior to 1857 Britain’s East India Company maintained large numbers of cavalry and infantry regiments officially designated as “irregulars”, although they were permanently established units. These were less formally drilled and had fewer British officers (sometimes only three or four per regiment) than the “regular” sepoys in British service. This system enabled the Indian officers to achieve greater responsibility than their counterparts in regular regiments. Promotion for both Indian and British officers was for efficiency and energy, rather than by seniority as elsewhere in the EIC’s armies. In irregular cavalry the Indian troopers provided their horses under the silladar system. The result was a loose collection of regiments which in general were more effective in the field, if not so smart on parade, than their regular counterparts. These irregular units were also cheaper to raise and maintain and as a result many survived into the new Indian Army that was organised following the great Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Irregular Military in Canada before 1867
Before 1867, military units in Canada consisted of British units of volunteers.
During French rule, small local volunteer militia units or colonial militias were used to provide defence needs. During British control of various local militias, the Provincial Marine were used to support British regular forces in Canada.
Other Instances of Irregulars
Use of large irregular forces featured heavily in wars such as the American Revolution, the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Russian Civil War, the Second Boer War, Liberation war of Bangladesh, Vietnam War, the Syrian Civil War and especially the Eastern Front of World War II where hundreds of thousands of partisans fought on both sides.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began as a peasant guerrilla force which in time transformed itself into a large regular force. This transformation was foreseen in the doctrine of “people’s war”, in which irregular forces were seen as being able to engage the enemy and to win the support of the populace but as being incapable of taking and holding ground against regular military forces.
Examples of Irregular Military
- Armenian fedayi: Armenian irregular units of the 1880s-1920s
- Atholl Highlanders: The only legal and still existing private army in Europe under the command of the Duke of Atholl in Scotland, United Kingdom (1777-1783 and since 1839).
- Bands (Italian Army irregulars).
- Bashi-bazouk: Irregular mounted mercenary in the Ottoman Empire.
- Bushwhackers: Irregular partisans who fought for the South during the American Civil War.
- Camisards: Huguenot insurgency in the beginning of the 17th century in the Cévennes.
- Croats (military unit).
- Filibuster (military).
- Free Corps (Freikorps): military volunteer units in German-speaking countries, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries as private armies.
- Free Swarm (Freischar): military volunteers, that participated in a conflict without the formal authorisation of one of the belligerents, but on the instigation of a political party or an individual.
- Hajduks: bandits and irregulars in and against the Ottoman Empire, but found amongst military ranks in Hungary and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- Goumiers: originally tribal allies supporting France in Algeria during the 19th century. From 1912 to 1956 Moroccan auxiliaries serving with the French Army.
- Harkis: Algerian Muslim irregulars who served with the French Army during the Algerian War of 1954-1962.
- Honghuzi: Manchurian bandits who served as irregulars during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
- Klephts: Greek guerrilla fighters in Ottoman Greece.
- Legion of Frontiersmen: An irregular quasi-military organisation that proliferated throughout the British Empire prior to World War I.
- Makhnovshchina: Ukrainian anarchist army that fought both the White Armies and the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War.
- Macheteros de Jara: Paraguayan cavalry regiment of the Chaco War.
- Minutemen: American irregular troops during the American Revolution.
- Trenck’s Pandurs: Habsburg Monarchy 17th and 18th century skirmisher, later evolving in the regular Grenz infantry.
- Partisan (military).
- Pindari: 18th century irregular horsemen in India.
- Land Storm (troops) (Landsturm): created by a 21 April 1813 edict of Frederick William III of Prussia, lowest level of reserve troops in Prussia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
- People’s Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam – Viet Cong.
- Righteous Army: in Korean history.
- Rough Riders: in the Spanish-American War.
- Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
Irregulars in Contemporary Warfare
The ongoing conflicts of post-invasion Iraq, the renewed Taliban insurgency in the 2001 war in Afghanistan, the Darfur conflict, the rebellion in the North of Uganda by the Lord’s Resistance Army, and the Second Chechen War are fought almost entirely by irregular forces on one or both sides.
The CIA’s Special Activities Division (SAD) is the premiere United States unit for creating or combating irregular military forces. SAD paramilitary officers created and led successful units from the Hmong tribe during the Laotian Civil War in the 1960s and 1970s. They also organised and led the Mujaheddin as an irregular force against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, as well as the Northern Alliance as an irregular insurgency force against the Taliban with US Army Special Forces during the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and organised and led the Kurdish Peshmerga with US Army Special Forces as an irregular counter-insurgency force against the Kurdish Sunni Islamist group Ansar al-Islam at the Iraq-Iran border and as an irregular force against Saddam Hussein during the war in Iraq in 2003. | <urn:uuid:34af11a8-fbf7-45ff-ab36-c5c17f801b30> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://bootcampmilitaryfitnessinstitute.com/2021/09/07/what-is-an-irregular-military/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.949637 | 4,081 | 3.609375 | 4 |
The Composition of the European Union
The European Union consists of 27 member states, with nearly 500 million inhabitants. Its member states account for nearly 30 per cent of global output.
The European Union has evolved progressively. The original six members (France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) were joined by Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Denmark in 1973, Greece in 1980, Portugal and Spain in 1986, Sweden, Austria, and Finland in 1995.
Eight former communist central and eastern European countries, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, together with former Soviet Republics of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania together with Malta and Cyprus joined in May 2004. Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. Croatia joined in 2013.
The United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the European Union on 31 January 2020. However, it remains subject to all EU laws on much the same terms as a member state during the transitional or implementation period scheduled to end on 31 December 2020. The UK no longer participates in EU institutions the transitional or mentation period may be extended to 31 December 2021 31 December 2022 under the EU UK withdrawal agreement by joint agreement of the EU UK made before 1 July 2020
Unique Governmental Institutions
There is nothing like the European Union anywhere else in the world. Membership has profound consequences. EU member states have given up their sovereignty, their right to make, change and enforce their laws, across a wide range of matters. The member states pool their sovereignty in those areas in order to make common rules and policies which apply across the European Union.
In return for each EU state giving up its sovereignty in the areas concerned, the citizens and businesses of all EU states are conferred with unique and important rights including full and effective freedom to trade with or establish themselves in another EU state on much the same terms as in their home state.
The EU treaties establish institutions which make administer and enforce EU law in the defined areas. These institutions include the Council comprising members of the government of each state which makes law in conjunction with the directly elected parliament, the Commission which administers and enforces EU law much like a government and EU Courts which together with domestic courts give effect to EU law rights throughout the union.
The EU treaties define the extent and terms of EU power and shared sovereignty. They are the legally binding constitution of the European Union. EU laws must be made in accordance with the governmental and institutional provisions of the treaties. The laws themselves must be within the areas of competence defined by the treaties.
The treaties have been amended from time to time. In broad terms, the areas of competence of the European Union have expanded and evolved. There have been stops and starts along the way. Ireland and the United Kingdom and in some cases the United Kingdom only has opted out of certain areas of EU cooperation. Ultimately following a referendum on 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom decided to leave their European Union.
Sovereignty and Accountability
The European Union and its predecessors are often described as supranational organisations. In this context supranational organisation or institution is one that has governmental or governmental like powers. The EU has its own institutions of government administration lawmaking and courts. The nature of all these institutions and the extent of the powers are defined in the European Union treaties.
In the areas prescribed by the EU treaties European institutions can make laws in accordance with the treaty rules. In many areas those laws are made by a qualified majority which means that they may become binding on member states without their consent. In practice most proposals for law are negotiated extensively, are the subject of very full consultation and are usually made in practice, with the consent of all member states. However within the scope of the treaties the European lawmaking institutions namely the EU Council and the EU Parliament can make laws which are contrary to the wishes of the government of the state concerned (which is represented on the EU Council and all of its members of the European Parliament. The courts of the member states guided ultimately by the European courts are obliged to give effect to European Union law over national law. They are obliged to diapply any inconsistent provision of national law.
The there are European courts to which courts on member states must refer any uncertain point of EU law. The European Union courts have developed the key freedoms under the treaty namely free movement of goods workers capital and services in ways which have the effect of invalidating and cutting through inconsistent national laws. Sometimes their decisions have been controversial and have seemed to go beyond earlier understandings of the position. Nonetheless their interpretation of the European Union laws and in particular the general principles and freedoms which are somewhat nebulous is binding and effect must be given to it by all states.
EU states are obliged to comply with an excuse EU law automatically. States can be subject to sanctions for failure to comply. The commission is the guardian of the treaties and they take action against governments for non-implementation or improper implementation of EU laws.
Brexit and the Evolution of the EU
To understand Brexit, both its cause and background and its likely effect, it is necessary to understand what the European Union is what it does and how it came to be. The European Union is unique. There is no other international institution or arrangement that has the same degree of powers or integration. The EU Treaties establish institutions including a government and administration (the Commission) a law-making arm (the Council and Parliament jointly) and courts which enforce EU law.
Over nearly 70 years, The European Union has evolved from being a community of six states dealing with coal and steel to a community of 27 (28 pre-Brexit) states which act as one across most business and economic areas as well as a wide range of social and political areas. It has come to be described as the European Union although it is a not a state or a federal state.
Leaving the EU involves the United Kingdom disentangling over 45 years of shared EU laws across the whole economy and taking an undefined path away from the remaining member states. The process is itself complex, and the effect is likely to be profound. Much of what has been taken for granted in everyday life and in business may be affected. The balance of advantages and disadvantages for the UK in leaving the EU will become apparent only in hindsight.
Direction of Travel
It is fair to say that the deal that is EU membership has changed over time and may continue to change in the future. A common criticism from a UK perspective is that the UK joined a common market and ultimately found itself in something, just short of a federal state. Since the outset and the notorious recital in the original EEC Treaty of an “ever closer union, “there are those who argue that the EU is on a journey to a unified federal state. Seen from this perspective, many in the UK believe that they have disembarked before it is too late.
The direction of travel points to ever closer union, but the journey also shows very significant breaks and limitations. There has been significant resistance to further integration and an effective two speed, or more accurately multispeed Europe in many key areas for almost 30 years. Many believe that the survival of the EU requires further accommodation of differing preferences in relation to degrees of integration.
Entering the 2020s, it appears likely that further significant integration of the EU states will be limited over the next decade. Political integration does not appear to have much support in any of the member states. More nationalist leaning governments have taken power in several EU states. There are fewer areas of competence left which member states might agree to transfer. Any such transfers would require the agreement of such states through significant amendments to the Treaty. | <urn:uuid:2a7c9834-3213-4986-b20f-c14cea01fbed> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://brexitlegal.ie/a-unique-supranational-body/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.971776 | 1,552 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Butterfly Adventures in Brisbane
This illustrated booklet was developed to provide Information and Inspiration for environmental educators at kindergarten, prep and early primary school level, or for parents who are keen to let their children explore and value nature. The booklet covers general information about butterflies, their migration, larval host plants, threatened species, attending ants etc. There is a chapter on moths, and there are tips on how to attract butterflies to your garden. Ideas for role play are offered to allow children to 'experience' compound eyes, drinking with a proboscis, shedding the exoskeleton, and learning about pheromones. A Dreamtime story rounds off the learning opportunities provided in this booklet.
Some of the information is provided in individual chapters under Resources on this website. If you would like to download the entire booklet please click here. | <urn:uuid:aa54460a-fce6-429a-8267-bdec660348d1> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://brisbanesbigbutterflycount.org.au/index.php/education-resources/butterfly-literature/108-for-educators.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.929316 | 171 | 3.46875 | 3 |
According to Statista aggregates, the virtualization software market is expected to grow from the roughly $40 billion it was in 2020 to nearly $150 billion in 2026. With so much buzz and planned investment around virtualization, the shifting market has raised some questions. What exactly is virtualization? And what will be the fate of one of the oldest forms of desktop virtualization, Windows virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)?
Virtualization is the process of abstracting software from the hardware on which it runs. A typical real-world example is when a user connects to a remote desktop. In this case, the user theoretically has a desktop-like experience as if the software were running on their local machine, but the operating system and all the applications are actually running on a server in a data center that could be located tens, hundreds or thousands of miles away.
In fact, the very same server could be running multiple instances of this desktop-like environment for different remote users. That’s why these instances are called virtual machines, or VMs. Their parameters are defined by software, not the true physical hardware that’s powering them. This software used to configure VMs is called the hypervisor, a futuristic-sounding term that actually dates back to the 1970s.
What’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)?
With a basic understanding of virtualization under our belts, the concept of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) should be fairly clear. This is a technology that was developed several decades ago to give users access to a desktop-style computing environment that was independent of the machine they were using to access it.
The “infrastructure” in VDI refers to the suite of hardware and software that needs to be in place to support a VDI environment. This involves hypervisor hosts—servers that are traditionally located in on-premises data centers—to support the virtual machines. Additional servers and software solutions are needed to broker connections, handle multi-session support and facilitate remote access.
In addition to this, many organizations also provide the fleet of devices on which users will interact with these virtual desktops. These are often what’s known as thin clients, with “thin” describing the fact that their core functionality relies almost entirely on the virtual machines. Zero clients, by comparison, have no functionality without a connection to the virtual desktop infrastructure.
The de facto technology standard for accessing virtual desktop environments is called Remote Desktop Services (RDS), with the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) being a key component of that architecture. RDS was developed by Microsoft back in the late 1990s. With the emergence of cloud-based technologies, VDI morphed into desktop as a service, or DaaS. This, in a nutshell, took the infrastructure of VDI and transferred it to the cloud. The paradigm stayed largely the same. Which is why Azure virtual machines are just the cloud service version of VMs hosted on-premises.
Now view that through the lens of Microsoft Windows
Circling back to the question posed in the title of this post: Windows virtual desktop infrastructure is simply VDI framed in terms of Microsoft Windows. Here, “desktop virtualization” is assumed to mean equipping end users with Windows desktops. The hypervisor host is taken to be running some variant of Windows Server. The users themselves are presumed to be Windows users, not macOS, Linux or ChromeOS users.
And, to be honest, that’s pretty much how VDI is usually framed anyway. Every single VDI and DaaS provider—whether you’re talking Citrix, VMware, Nutanix or Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop—has the same underlying approach, which is to provide users with a virtual Windows operating system environment on (mostly) any device. They equate delivering “desktops” with providing end users with Windows desktops in their entirety.
Some of the proposed use cases of Windows VDI include:
- Remote work: Users get the full, familiar Windows desktop experience even outside the office on BYOD clients.
- Workspace standardization: Virtual machines and VDI enable IT to create and manage a uniform computing experience across the organization.
- Cost-cutting initiatives: On account of their lower-spec hardware (e.g., CPU, RAM), thin and zero clients are less expensive than conventional workstations and laptops, making them more cost-effective.
- Dynamic or growing workplaces: Provisioning new end users with virtual desktops instead of standalone machines improves scalability and agility.
But the benefits of VDI aren’t quite as clear cut in these scenarios as the messaging would have you believe. Virtual desktop infrastructure, including DaaS, is a legacy approach to modern computing environments that would benefit more from cloud-native solutions. VDI is expensive, cumbersome and can even open up major security vulnerabilities. And as we’ll see, providing end users with a complete Windows desktop environment often just doesn’t even make sense.
Why Windows virtual desktops are a legacy approach
The fundamental issue with Windows-centric desktop virtualization is that it’s wedded to the traditional concept of the operating system. It’s not that there’s anything inherently wrong with Microsoft Windows per se. The bigger sticking point is that VDI is focused solely on giving end users a classic, old-school PC-style desktop experience — with all the potential drawbacks that entails.
Latency is just one such issue. Recreating the PC experience on a remote thin client can be far more data-intensive than just delivering a single software application. This can lead to input lag and lack of responsiveness that leads to a sub-optimal and unproductive experience for the end user.
Security is another concern. Providing Windows virtual desktops to remote users means that malicious actors have the power of full desktops at their disposal should one of those devices be compromised. Even if steps are taken to mitigate that, like using sandboxed virtual servers, the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and unsecured RDP ports can increase an organization’s attack surface.
And let’s not forget pricing. VDI is widely acknowledged as a huge investment. Although DaaS does take some of the on-premises hardware out of the equation, equipping users with Windows-based remote desktops still involves a significant outlay. There are much more efficient approaches that can suit varied workloads.
Finally, there’s the often-overlooked matter of ease of use. Windows-based virtual desktop environments create a bifurcated user experience where the user is on one OS, then has to use VDI to log into a Windows desktop session in order to access their apps. This bifurcation also exists in all-Windows scenarios where the user is on, say, Windows 11 and has to use a VDI environment running Windows 10.
A modern approach to virtualization: Virtual App Delivery
Instead of pushing all the complexity and security issues of the Windows operating system onto users’ devices, Virtual App Delivery (VAD) provides end users with straightforward, streamlined access to the apps they need.
Cameyo, a pioneer of VAD, embraces this app-centric approach because it suits the more flexible digital workspaces required by modern organizations. Through Cameyo’s VAD platform, end users have remote access to all the apps that are essential for their productivity, and they can seamlessly work with those apps right within their device’s native OS environment — whether it’s Windows 10, ChromeOS, macOS, IGEL, Android, iOS or Linux. That’s because Cameyo’s virtualized apps are delivered securely through the native Web browser, or as Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).
This creates a frictionless, high-productivity user experience even on BYOD devices. Compare that to a desktop virtualization solution like VMware Horizon or Citrix that still requires users to log back into a (virtual) Windows OS every time they need to access their apps and data. By contrast, Cameyo is quicker for IT to provision, more transparent to the end user and easier to optimize for different workloads.
That’s what makes Cameyo the only virtualization solution to move beyond the Windows operating system while still giving end users access to all of their Windows and Linux (and SaaS and internal web) apps on any device. Cameyo’s VAD platform provides a native application experience on any OS, which in turn feeds into a superior digital employee experience (DEX).
Getting started with Cameyo couldn’t be easier. Sign up today for your free trial and test drive our Virtual App Delivery solution in your own environment. If you’re not quite ready to take that step, that’s fine too. Feel free to schedule a demo with one of our engineers to have them show you the ins and outs of Cameyo. | <urn:uuid:1c81aa6b-4aca-4e37-a0f0-b752abe3a9ff> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://cameyo.com/what-is-windows-virtual-desktop-infrastructure-vdi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.925323 | 1,854 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Some chemists have moved beyond round-bottom flasks and started developing automated synthesis systems that use flow chemistry to make molecules. These systems usually synthesize compounds in a linear fashion, where all of the steps are happening simultaneously, like an assembly line, explains Kerry Gilmore of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. “Each time we choose a new target we have to reconfigure the entire system to accommodate that new process.” Although such reconfigurations can be automated with robots, Gilmore says that doesn’t address the fundamental problem.
Now, along with Sourav Chatterjee, Mara Guidi, and Peter H. Seeberger, Gilmore developed a new, radial, automated synthesis setup that can build multiple types of small molecules without having to reconfigure the setup for each compound or when changing reaction conditions. The approach relies on a central switching station that moves reagents to and from satellite reactors (Nature 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2083-5). The design could help speed the development of processes for making medicines and make multitudes of small molecules under standardized conditions.
Gilmore found inspiration to solve the problem of linear setups in touch-screen soda fountains, like the Coca-Cola Freestyle or Pepsi Spire, that make custom mixes of flavors into a single beverage. “It really got me thinking about how you can have one platform and whatever kind of, presumably disgusting, soda combination that you want,” he says. “I started thinking about how we can do that for chemistry.”
The radial setup provides access to many types of reaction conditions on demand. His team used it to prepare the anticonvulsant drug rufinamide via multiple routes and also to make a small library of rufinamide derivatives. What’s more, Gilmore says, “It really opens up the idea of remote accessibility for chemistry because it’s fully automated.” Chemists don’t need to be in the lab to swap in and out different reactors, like in a linear system. “I can log in from anywhere in the world and run my chemistry,” he says. That feature has become particularly relevant as Gilmore shuts down his lab during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This approach to automated synthesis will be at the core of many platforms in the future,” says Aaron Beeler, an expert in flow chemistry at Boston University. The Max Planck team, he says, “identified many of the limitations that are inherent in traditional linear automated platforms—issues that have plagued automated synthesis for decades,” and then used flow chemistry to develop “a platform that can be truly modular with minimal reconfiguration.” | <urn:uuid:b463baad-6bb6-471a-a03c-5bf602cc70d3> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://cen.acs.org/synthesis/radial-setup-helps-automated-synthesis/98/i11?utm_source=Staff&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=CEN | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.936617 | 571 | 3.1875 | 3 |
10 Relationship Rules from the Book of Ruth are nestled within the Old Testament. The Bible holds a timeless treasure trove of relationship wisdom. This enchanting narrative not only showcases a remarkable love story but also imparts invaluable relationship rules that continue to resonate with people of all backgrounds and beliefs. In this article, we will explore the enduring lessons from the Book of Ruth that can guide us in building healthy, loving, and lasting relationships. Whether you’re married, dating, or seeking guidance for any type of relationship, the story of Ruth offers a rich source of inspiration.
Top 10 Relationship Rules
- Loyalty and Commitment
The Book of Ruth begins with a poignant example of loyalty and commitment. Ruth, a Moabite widow, chooses to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi, even after the death of her husband. This demonstrates the importance of loyalty in relationships. Ruth’s unwavering commitment to Naomi sets the foundation for the entire narrative. It teaches us that in any relationship, loyalty and commitment are the cornerstones upon which trust and love are built.
- Selflessness and Sacrifice
As the story unfolds, we witness Ruth’s selflessness and willingness to sacrifice for the well-being of Naomi. She gleans in the fields of Boaz to provide for them both, displaying a remarkable act of love and care. This selflessness teaches us the importance of putting the needs of our loved ones before our own. Sacrifices made willingly and out of love often deepen the bond in relationships.
- Respect for Traditions
Boaz, a prominent character in the Book of Ruth, displays respect for the traditions and customs of his society. When Ruth approaches him at the threshing floor, he follows the proper procedures to ensure her security and honor. This respect for traditions teaches us to appreciate and understand the cultural and social norms that shape our relationships. It reminds us that respecting the values and traditions of our partners or loved ones can foster mutual understanding and harmony.
- Open Communication
Throughout the book, we see open and honest communication between the characters. Ruth and Naomi share their feelings and concerns with each other. Boaz communicates his intentions and feelings clearly, which ultimately leads to their union. Effective communication is a cornerstone of any healthy relationship. The Book of Ruth underscores the importance of sharing thoughts, feelings, and intentions openly, as it fosters trust and mutual understanding.
- Patience and Trust in the Timing
Ruth’s patience and trust in the timing of events are evident as she waits for Boaz to fulfill his role as a kinsman-redeemer. She doesn’t rush the process but instead waits for Boaz to make the necessary arrangements. This teaches us that patience and trust in the timing of events are essential in relationships. Rushing into decisions or expecting immediate results can sometimes lead to misunderstandings or heartache. Trusting that things will unfold in their own time can lead to more harmonious and successful relationships.
- Redemption and Second Chances
The concept of redemption is central to the Book of Ruth. Boaz serves as a kinsman-redeemer, not only redeeming Naomi’s land but also taking Ruth as his wife. This illustrates the power of second chances and the ability to redeem what may seem lost. In relationships, it’s important to recognize that mistakes happen, and forgiveness and redemption are possible. The Book of Ruth teaches us that it’s never too late to mend relationships and find happiness.
- Embracing Diversity and Inclusivity
Ruth, a Moabite, was welcomed into a foreign community and found love and acceptance among the Israelites. This exemplifies the importance of embracing diversity and inclusivity in relationships. Love knows no boundaries, and the Book of Ruth teaches us that accepting people from different backgrounds and cultures can lead to beautiful connections.
Relationship Rules from the Book of Ruth Conclusion
The Book of Ruth may be a biblical narrative, but its lessons on relationships are timeless and universal. Loyalty, selflessness, respect, communication, patience, redemption, and inclusivity are values that resonate with people from all walks of life. Whether you’re navigating the complexities of a romantic relationship, strengthening your bonds with family, or fostering connections with friends, the story of Ruth offers invaluable insights. By embracing these relationship rules from the Book of Ruth, we can build and nurture relationships that are not only enduring but also filled with love, trust, and fulfillment.
Top Christian Singles Categories | <urn:uuid:9b9fcb99-47d5-4fb2-8df9-abd04c673422> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://christian-dating-service-plus.com/blog/10-relationship-rules-from-the-book-of-ruth.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.937279 | 926 | 2.75 | 3 |
Source: African Union
Theme: “Civil Registration and Vital Statistics: An Essential Service for Monitoring and Mitigating the Impact of Emergencies”.
As the continent commemorates the Third Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Day in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to examine the role that civil registration and vital statistics can play in providing real-time information for the monitoring and mitigating the impact of such emergencies.
For decades, efforts aimed at improving CRVS systems in Africa were largely dominated by isolated project-based and ad hoc exercises with no link to national development frameworks or policy guidance. Since 2010, the biennial Conference of Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration provided policy directions necessary to transform and improve CRVS systems in the region. In 2016, African member States declared 2017-2026 to be “Decade for repositioning CRVS in Africa’s continental, regional and national development agenda.” The policy directions by the Ministerial conference and the political commitment at country level with governments taking leadership and ownership has brought a paradigm shift from a fragmented and ad hoc approach to holistic and integrated CRVS systems improvement initiatives.
Civil registration is defined as the universal, compulsory, continuous, permanent and confidential recording of the occurrence of all vital events. Civil registration provides individuals with special approbatory instruments which allow them to prove, with incontrovertible certainty, the facts relating their existence, identity, and personal and family situation. Thus, it is an invaluable source for comprehensive, regular and detailed vital statistics. Consequently, continuous and universal civil registration and the production of vital statistics are critical functions of government, as civil registration establishes the existence of a person under law. As these systems are being tested by the current COVID-19 pandemic, critical questions need to be asked:
(1) Are CRVS systems playing an active role in helping governments to address the pandemic?
(2) What is needed to ensure that CRVS systems remain relevant in meeting the demands of the future statistical landscape?
Lessons Learnt from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Emergencies like the current COVID-19 pandemic are disruptive for the provision of civil registration services. The current pandemic has shown the vulnerabilities of the civil registration system when actually the services are required the most.
The responses from the rapid assessment conducted by the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda Taskforce in April 2020 have shown that the reactions by governments differed across countries ranging from total shutdown, partial provision of services or “deprioritization” of registration of some vital events to uninterrupted services. Evidence is showing that access to civil registration is being hindered as a result of social distancing, restricted movement, and general apathy by the populace to go to registration centres and closure of local government services.
A fully-functional and complete CRVS system provides real-time data and is the gold standard for measurement of mortality in a population which is crucial during the pandemic. Data on new cases and deaths on a daily or weekly basis has been critical to show the trends and impact of the pandemic. Therefore, there have been heightened expectations of national statistical systems to provide data needed to manage the crisis including its socio-economic effects.
Civil Registration as an Essential Service
Civil registration should be classified as an essential service and strategies put into place to ensure business continuity during emergencies, including pandemics. Countries should have a “business continuity plan” on registration of vital events during disruptions such as pandemics, public health emergencies and disasters.
This plan should elaborate the requirements of minimum essential services during the special circumstances, including how to protect the workforce. Registration officials in countries where registration services have been disrupted or completely halted need support to minimize disruption and arrange for resumption of services and management of the backlog when normality returns.
Civil registration offices should prepare contingency plans to meet post-pandemic demand for registration services, working with the legislative branch to manage late and delayed registration penalties. Late registration fees can be waived for a given period of time even during the recovery phase or post-pandemic, in particular in those countries where CR is considered non-essential. Interventions to deal with backlog could include setting up temporary or mobile facilities and expanding staffing, creating awareness of availability of service and waiving fees for a specified period as incentive.
Legal Identity as a Human Rights Issue
Everyone has the right to be recognized as a person before the law, as enshrined in Article 6 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and several other international human rights and humanitarian law instruments. Functioning civil registration systems provide people with legal identity documents starting with a birth certificate that prove their legal status and help to safeguard their rights throughout their lives. This right is non-derogable, meaning it is considered such a fundamental human right that it can never be restricted nor be suspended, even in an emergency.
In the context of international human rights law, all Member States have the obligation to ensure the legal recognition of individuals in their territory. However, emergencies such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Ebola crises, displacements caused by natural disasters and conflicts have left people without proof of legal identity and hence the affected people may not be able to acquire a nationality and become stateless. Consequently, women and children may also be forced to resort to participation in the informal labour market, and risk being subjected to extremely poor working conditions, trafficking, sexual exploitation, lack of access to justice, and more.
Business Continuity for Civil Registration during Emergencies
The United Nations Legal Identity Agenda Task Force (2020) recommends that “Civil registration should be considered an ‘essential service’ mandated to continue operations during a pandemic. Although some physical offices may need to be closed, or opening hours limited or staggered, operations should be maintained as far as possible, whether in-person, or virtual, during the crisis” – [United Nations guidelines on Maintaining Civil Registration and Vital Statistics during the COVID-19 pandemic are available at: https://unstats.un.org/legal-identity-agenda/COVID-19/ ].
The following recommendations that are drawn from the United Nations guidelines and learnings from country experiences are made:
- Establishing disaster resilient civil registration systems that can continue to function under precarious circumstances.
- During the crisis, the CR system should be able to adapt and make temporary changes to registration processes, for example, through revision of existing standard operating procedures, business processes or rules to expand eligibility regarding who can notify civil registrars of births and deaths and to establish special processes/waivers for persons who may not have the documents that are required for registration (particularly considering those who are stateless) etc.
- Planning for handling the expected backlog – peaks are to be expected especially for death registration during the pandemic; however, significant backlog in birth and marriage registration also needs to be addressed
- The vital statistics function needs to be maintained to enable production of timely, accurate and disaggregated small area data for administrative and statistical use.
- Given the nature of pandemics, epidemics and other emergencies, there need to accurately target interventions, it may be essential for civil registration data to be made available for integration with key population datasets e.g. physical addresses and migration data (through a population register) to facilitate communication between governments and individual members of the population.
- Automated methods of data collection that reduce face-face interactions should be used. Digital technology, with extensive use of devices such as mobile phones, tablets etc, has incomparable opportunity for driving the agenda for Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of CRVS systems (APAI-CRVS) and Legal Identity for All on the continent. Emergencies are the best time to fully embrace and implement online and automated systems of registration. If the CRVS systems already offers services remotely, those services should be augmented, and the public should be encouraged to use online registration.
- Privacy and confidentiality of individuals should be maintained. Particular attention should be paid to those groups which may already face discrimination such as hard to reach or marginalized communities (e.g. ethnic and language minorities, refugees and migrants).
- The need for partnership with the health sector and particularly linking Civil Registration to maternal and child health services provides continuity of registration of births during emergencies.
African Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day
The fourth Conference of Ministers held in December 2017 in Nouakchott, Mauritania declared August 10 to be ‘African Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day,’ and advised African Union member States to observe the day. The AU Executive Council, during their 32nd Ordinary Session, 25-26 January 2018, endorsed the recommendations set out in the Ministerial Declaration.
The demand for registration services remain weak because many people have no adequate awareness about the importance of civil registration for them and their families and the implications that this has for improving access to core government services. African CRVS Day observed every year on the 10th of August helps to improve public awareness of the importance of making everyone visible in Africa through universal birth registration and certification. | <urn:uuid:d374a960-6f45-43c6-a60b-654f80ce0ff9> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/commemoration-of-africa-civil-registration-and-vital-statistics-crvs-day/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.93698 | 1,865 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Does anyone have suggestions for how to incorporate Independent Living Skills for a middle school student that is totally blind? He has a full academic schedule. I’m struggling to think creatively and come up with ideas.
Have the student be creative and come up a few different ways to organize and label items around their home. Have the student create a grocery list for their favorite meal, then accopany them to the grocery store to purchase items. This is a great lesson for students to begin understanding how grocery stores are laid out, how to use skills in technology, self advocacy and O&M. | <urn:uuid:40797793-887a-49ed-93f8-e19a7f8ec1ad> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://community.aphhive.org/t/additional-resources/249 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.963681 | 120 | 3.046875 | 3 |
In the history of the United States, the government has made important decisions that have affected the way society works and how the economy functions. These decisions, known as policies, have had a big impact on people’s lives. They have shaped how we live, work, and interact with each other. By understanding these policies, we can gain insight into why things are the way they are today. Let’s explore some notable historical policies and how they have influenced society and the economy.
Heading 1: New Deal
Subheading 1: Introduction to the New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs and initiatives implemented by the U.S. government in response to the Great Depression. It aimed to provide relief, recovery, and reform for the American people during this difficult time.
Subheading 2: Programs and initiatives of the New Deal
Under the New Deal, several programs and initiatives were launched to address the economic crisis. These included the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which provided employment to young men in environmental conservation projects, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which employed millions of Americans to carry out public works projects.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Social Security Act
One of the most significant impacts of the New Deal was the enactment of the Social Security Act. This act created a system of social welfare programs to provide support for the elderly, disabled individuals, and families in need. Social Security provided retirement benefits, disability insurance, and financial assistance for low-income families. This helped to alleviate poverty and ensure a basic level of economic security for many Americans.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Public Works Administration
Another important component of the New Deal was the establishment of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA funded large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the construction of roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals. These projects not only provided jobs for unemployed Americans but also improved the country’s infrastructure and stimulated economic growth.
Heading 2: Marshall Plan
Subheading 1: Introduction to the Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an initiative undertaken by the U.S. government after World War II to aid in the economic recovery of Europe. It was named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who proposed the plan.
Subheading 2: Goals and objectives of the Marshall Plan
The primary goals of the Marshall Plan were to promote economic stability, strengthen democratic institutions, and prevent the spread of communism in Europe. The plan provided financial assistance and resources to European countries for reconstruction efforts, trade development, and the stabilization of currencies.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Economic recovery
The Marshall Plan played a crucial role in the economic recovery of war-torn Europe. The financial aid provided through the plan enabled European nations to rebuild their economies, repair infrastructure, and create new jobs. This helped to improve the standard of living for people in these countries, restoring hope and stability after the devastation of war.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Foreign aid
From an economic perspective, the Marshall Plan not only benefited the recipient countries but also had positive effects on the U.S. economy. By stimulating economic growth in Europe, the plan created new export markets for American goods and services. This expansion of trade contributed to the prosperity of U.S. industries and increased employment opportunities.
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Heading 3: Civil Rights Act of 1964
Subheading 1: Introduction to the Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark legislation that aimed to end racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. It was passed during the civil rights movement, a time of widespread protests and activism for racial equality.
Subheading 2: Key provisions and significance
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended racial segregation in schools, workplaces, and public facilities, and prohibited unequal treatment in voting rights. The act also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce its provisions and investigate claims of discrimination.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Racial equality
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had a profound impact on society, marking a significant step towards racial equality. It dismantled the legal framework that perpetuated racial segregation and discrimination, opening the doors for African Americans and other minority groups to participate fully in American society. The act paved the way for advancements in civil rights and laid the foundation for subsequent legislation that further protected and expanded the rights of marginalized communities.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Equal employment opportunities
One of the key economic impacts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the promotion of equal employment opportunities. The act prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, ensuring that individuals are hired, promoted, and compensated based on merit rather than arbitrary factors. This helped to create a more inclusive and diverse workforce, fostering innovation, productivity, and economic growth.
Heading 4: Social Security Act
Subheading 1: Introduction to the Social Security Act
The Social Security Act, enacted in 1935, is one of the most significant pieces of social welfare legislation in U.S. history. It established a system of social insurance and assistance programs to provide economic security to Americans.
Subheading 2: Creation of social welfare programs
The Social Security Act created several social welfare programs, including the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, commonly known as Social Security. This program provides retirement benefits, survivor benefits to family members of deceased workers, and disability benefits. Additionally, the act established the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which offered financial assistance to low-income families with children.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Retirement benefits
The Social Security Act has had a significant impact on society, particularly in ensuring financial security for retirees. The retirement benefits provided by Social Security offer a reliable source of income for older individuals, reducing the risk of poverty in old age. This has had a transformative effect on the lives of countless elderly Americans, providing them with a measure of financial stability and allowing them to retire with dignity.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Economic security
From an economic perspective, the Social Security Act has played a crucial role in fostering economic security for individuals and families. By providing a safety net for retired workers and their families, the act has reduced the strain on other social welfare programs and government resources. This stability has helped to bolster consumer spending, supporting economic growth and stability.
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Heading 5: Homestead Act of 1862
Subheading 1: Introduction to the Homestead Act
The Homestead Act of 1862 was a law that encouraged westward expansion and the settlement of public lands in the United States. It granted individuals the opportunity to claim a parcel of land, often up to 160 acres, from the federal government.
Subheading 2: Goal of promoting westward expansion
The primary goal of the Homestead Act was to promote westward expansion and encourage settlement in the less densely populated areas of the country. By offering land to individuals, the government aimed to populate and cultivate these frontier regions, thereby stimulating economic growth and development.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Encouraging settlement
The Homestead Act had a profound impact on society, particularly in facilitating the settlement of the American West. It attracted pioneers, immigrants, and individuals seeking new opportunities, encouraging them to migrate and establish farms and communities. The act played a significant role in shaping the demographic and cultural landscape of the western United States, as well as fostering a spirit of self-reliance and independence among settlers.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Stimulating agricultural growth
From an economic perspective, the Homestead Act contributed to the growth and development of the agricultural sector in the United States. Settlers who claimed land under the act engaged in farming and ranching, cultivating the land and producing food and other agricultural goods. This increased agricultural output, stimulated trade, and supported the expansion of the national economy.
Heading 6: GI Bill of Rights
Subheading 1: Introduction to the GI Bill
The GI Bill of Rights, officially known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided support to World War II veterans. It aimed to assist veterans in readjusting to civilian life after their military service.
Subheading 2: Benefits for World War II veterans
The GI Bill offered a range of benefits for World War II veterans. These included educational assistance, vocational training, low-interest home loans, and unemployment benefits. The bill aimed to empower veterans, providing them with the tools and opportunities they needed to pursue education, secure stable employment, and establish themselves in society.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Access to education
One of the most significant impacts of the GI Bill was the increased access to education for returning veterans. The bill provided funding for college and vocational education, enabling millions of veterans to pursue higher education and gain new skills. This not only benefited individual veterans but also contributed to the development of a highly educated workforce and a more prosperous society.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Workforce development
The GI Bill played a crucial role in workforce development and economic growth. By providing educational and vocational opportunities to veterans, the bill ensured a well-trained and skilled workforce. Veterans who received training and education through the GI Bill went on to contribute their expertise to various industries, helping to drive innovation, productivity, and economic development.
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Heading 7: Great Society
Subheading 1: Introduction to the Great Society
The Great Society was an ambitious set of policies and programs introduced by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s. It aimed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice, promote education, and improve the overall well-being of Americans.
Subheading 2: Lyndon B. Johnson’s vision for America
Lyndon B. Johnson envisioned a society where everyone had equal opportunities and access to the resources needed to thrive. He believed in the government’s role in addressing social issues and implementing policies to uplift disadvantaged communities.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Medicare and Medicaid
The Great Society had a significant impact on society, particularly through the implementation of Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare provided healthcare coverage for elderly and disabled Americans, ensuring access to medical services and reducing financial burdens. Medicaid, on the other hand, provided healthcare coverage for low-income individuals and families. These programs greatly improved healthcare accessibility and played a crucial role in enhancing the well-being of vulnerable populations.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Poverty reduction
The Great Society’s focus on poverty reduction had a profound impact on the economy. By implementing programs like Head Start, which provided early childhood education to low-income children, and the Job Corps, which offered job training and placement services, the Great Society aimed to break the cycle of poverty and create opportunities for upward mobility. These efforts contributed to economic growth, as more individuals were able to participate in the workforce and contribute to the economy.
Heading 8: Post-World War II Immigration Policies
Subheading 1: Introduction to post-WWII immigration policies
After World War II, the United States implemented significant changes to its immigration policies, marking a shift towards greater inclusivity and diversity.
Subheading 2: Immigration Act of 1965
The Immigration Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, was a landmark legislation that abolished the national origins quota system and replaced it with a preference system based on family relationships and employment. This act prioritized family reunification and opened the doors for immigrants from diverse countries and backgrounds.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Cultural diversity
The post-World War II immigration policies significantly impacted the fabric of American society, promoting cultural diversity and shaping the nation’s identity. The influx of immigrants from different parts of the world brought new traditions, languages, and perspectives, enriching American culture and fostering a more inclusive and tolerant society.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Labor force growth
From an economic perspective, the post-World War II immigration policies played a crucial role in labor force growth. Immigrants brought valuable skills, expertise, and innovation, contributing to various sectors of the American economy. They filled gaps in the labor market, helped fuel entrepreneurship, and played a vital role in driving economic growth and prosperity.
Heading 9: Affordable Care Act
Subheading 1: Introduction to the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, is a comprehensive healthcare reform law enacted in 2010. It aimed to increase the accessibility and affordability of health insurance for Americans.
Subheading 2: Expansion of healthcare coverage
The ACA introduced several provisions to expand healthcare coverage. It prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions, allowed young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until the age of 26, and established state-based health insurance marketplaces where individuals and small businesses could purchase affordable insurance plans. It also expanded eligibility for Medicaid, providing coverage to low-income individuals and families.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Increased insurance accessibility
One of the main impacts of the Affordable Care Act was increased insurance accessibility for millions of Americans. The provisions of the ACA allowed individuals who were previously uninsured or underinsured to obtain comprehensive health insurance coverage. This led to improved access to healthcare services, preventive care, and financial protection against high medical expenses.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Healthcare industry
The Affordable Care Act had a significant impact on the healthcare industry. It stimulated growth in the healthcare sector, as increased demand for healthcare services and insurance coverage created new job opportunities. The ACA also introduced reforms to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery, aiming to reduce healthcare costs and promote better health outcomes.
Heading 10: Reaganomics
Subheading 1: Introduction to Reaganomics
Reaganomics refers to the economic policies implemented by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. It was characterized by a focus on free-market principles, tax cuts, and deregulation.
Subheading 2: Supply-side economics and tax cuts
Reaganomics was rooted in the principles of supply-side economics, which advocate for reducing tax rates to incentivize investment, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. Reagan implemented significant tax cuts, particularly for high-income individuals and corporations, in an effort to stimulate productivity and job creation.
Subheading 3: Impact on society – Income inequality
One of the notable impacts of Reaganomics was the widening income inequality in the United States. While the tax cuts were intended to promote economic growth and prosperity for all, the benefits largely favored the wealthy. This led to a concentration of wealth at the top, exacerbating income inequality and creating socioeconomic disparities.
Subheading 4: Impact on economy – Economic growth
Reaganomics was also associated with robust economic growth. The tax cuts and deregulation policies implemented under Reagan contributed to increased business investments, expansion, and productivity. This resulted in higher GDP growth rates, job creation, and a generally favorable economic climate. However, the benefits of this growth were not distributed evenly, contributing to the income inequality mentioned earlier.
In conclusion, the U.S. government has implemented a multitude of notable historical policies that have had significant impacts on both society and the economy. From the New Deal’s Social Security Act and Public Works Administration to the post-World War II immigration policies and the Affordable Care Act, each policy has shaped various aspects of American life. These policies have aimed to address challenges, provide support, expand opportunities, and promote equality. While the impact of each policy has varied, they have collectively played a crucial role in shaping the nation’s history and progress. | <urn:uuid:e920d65d-b493-48b5-961c-decd46a62db8> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://conservative-times.com/what-are-some-notable-historical-policies-implemented-by-the-u-s-government-and-how-have-they-impacted-society-and-the-economy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.944657 | 3,248 | 3.78125 | 4 |
** The Hidden Culprit Behind Weight Gain****
In the battle against weight gain, many individuals find themselves perplexed by the lack of desired results despite efforts to adopt healthier lifestyles. While factors such as diet and physical activity play pivotal roles, an often overlooked aspect is the impact of health psychology on weight management. The intricate connection between our mental and physical well-being sheds light on why lack of knowledge of health psychology could be the hidden culprit behind weight gain.
Understanding Health Psychology and Weight Management
Health psychology delves into the relationship between psychological factors and health behaviors. When it comes to weight management, our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors significantly influence our food choices, eating habits, and overall lifestyle. Stress, emotional eating, self-image, and body acceptance are all factors rooted in health psychology that can impact our weight-related decisions.
Emotional Eating and Stress
Emotional eating, a common response to stress and negative emotions, often leads to consuming comfort foods high in calories, sugars, and unhealthy fats. In times of emotional distress, individuals may seek solace in food, unintentionally consuming excess calories and contributing to weight gain. Without recognizing these patterns and finding healthier coping mechanisms, managing weight becomes an uphill battle.
Self-Image and Body Acceptance
Body image perceptions and self-acceptance play a crucial role in weight management. Negative self-image and dissatisfaction with one's body may lead to restrictive dieting, binge-eating, or engaging in unhealthy weight loss practices. These behaviors, influenced by health psychology, can lead to a cycle of weight gain and frustration.
Breaking the Cycle: The Role of Health Psychology in Weight Management
Recognizing the impact of health psychology on weight gain is the first step towards breaking the cycle. Empowering individuals with knowledge and strategies to navigate these psychological factors is essential for successful weight management.
Mindful Eating and Emotional Awareness
Mindful eating, a practice rooted in health psychology, encourages individuals to be present and aware of their eating habits. By paying attention to hunger cues and emotional triggers, one can develop a healthier relationship with food, leading to better weight management outcomes.
Stress Management Techniques
Effective stress management techniques, such as meditation, yoga, or engaging in hobbies, can reduce emotional eating episodes triggered by stress. Developing healthy coping mechanisms enhances emotional well-being and positively impacts weight management efforts.
Building Positive Self-Image and Body Acceptance
Promoting body positivity and self-acceptance is crucial for weight management. Emphasizing health over appearance and celebrating individual strengths can foster a positive self-image, leading to healthier lifestyle choices.
Seeking Professional Guidance
Addressing health psychology's impact on weight gain may require professional guidance from psychologists or health coaches. These experts can provide personalized strategies to tackle emotional eating, stress management, and body acceptance, leading to improved weight management outcomes.
In the quest for weight management, understanding the role of health psychology is indispensable. Emotional eating, stress, self-image, and body acceptance profoundly influence our weight-related behaviors. By empowering individuals with knowledge and strategies to address these psychological factors, we can pave the way for successful and sustainable weight management journeys. Let's bridge the gap between physical and mental well-being to unlock a healthier and happier future.
Be the first to post a message! | <urn:uuid:5fb3c4d1-9031-48b0-bcea-1b9a22133697> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://corespirit.com/articles/lack-of-knowledge-of-health-psychology-07mpq0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.917678 | 675 | 3.1875 | 3 |
The term ‘‘Asian’’ is widely used for those individuals who have ethnic ties to Asia, which includes the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. This would consist of countries such as China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines. ‘‘Pacific Islands’’ refers to Hawaii, Guam, and Samoa, and other islands in the region. The concept of ‘‘Asian American’’ (and sometimes ‘‘Asian/Pacific Islander American’’) has been employed for statistical purposes, and although Asian Americans share some physical and cultural similarities, in no way does this term capture the tremendous diversity within this group. There are over twenty-five Asian/Pacific Islander groups; each group has a different migration history to the United States, and the sociopolitical contexts of their respective homelands vary widely from each other. Asian Americans are also different in terms of their acculturation levels, length of residency in the United States, their languages, their English-speaking proficiency, education attainment, socioeconomic status, and religion. There are approximately thirty-two different languages that exist within the Asian American category group; and sometimes within a single Asian subgroup (i.e., Chinese), multiple dialects exist.
According to the U.S. Census (2004), there are 11.9 million Asian and Pacific Islanders living in the United States. This constitutes 4.2 percent of the U.S. population. It is estimated that by the year 2020, there will be a 145 percent to 177 percent increase from 1990. The Chinese are the largest Asian American group, comprising 24 percent of the U.S. Asian population, followed by Filipinos (representing 18 percent) and Asian Indians (representing 16 percent). A third of Asian Americans were born in the United States, and similar proportions are foreign born but U.S. citizens and foreign born but not U.S. citizens.
I. Invisibility of Domestic Violence in Asian American Communities
II. Taking Culture into Account When Examining Domestic Violence
III. Prevalence of Domestic Violence in Asian American Communities
IV. Domestic Violence in an Asian Cultural Context
A. Women’s Status and Roles
B. Hierarchical Relationship Patterns
C. Collectivistic Orientation and Loss of Face
D. Religious Orientations: Intersection with Cultural Values
V. Implications for Counselors
Invisibility of Domestic Violence in Asian American Communities
‘‘Intimate violence,’’ ‘‘domestic violence,’’ ‘‘wife beating,’’ ‘‘partner abuse,’’ and ‘‘spousal abuse’’ are terms that are used interchangeably, but they do have different political connotations. These terms are used within the context of women’s issues, which were brought to the public’s attention by the feminist movement of the 1960s in the United States. The term ‘‘domestic violence’’ will be used in this entry and will refer primarily to female victims of male perpetrators. While it is also recognized that abuse can occur in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships, the emphasis here will be on heterosexual relationships.
In the 1970s, crisis hotlines for rape and sexual assault victims as well as the first battered women’s shelter were established. Although domestic violence was clearly portrayed as a women’s issue, this early domestic violence movement was criticized for not capturing the voices and needs of ethnic minority women. In part, this was because the women’s movement consisted primarily of white women. They argued that gender inequities and power imbalances were the main causes of domestic violence for all women, regardless of color. Other structural and cultural factors such as racism, ethnocentrism, class, and poverty were not taken into account in how they worked alongside gender in influencing domestic violence. Ethnic minority women, including Asian American women, remained invisible, and scholars, researchers, and practitioners often concluded that domestic violence did not affect Asian American and immigrant communities.
Several factors have contributed and continue to contribute to the invisibility of domestic violence in Asian American communities. First, Asian Americans and immigrants generally underutilize Western social and mental health services or tend not to use them at all. Furthermore, there are few organizations that provide culturally appropriate and sensitive services staffed with professionals who are linguistically competent, especially when it comes to communicating in a wide range of dialects, to service this population. Therefore, cases of domestic violence may not necessarily come to the attention of mainstream service providers and authorities. Second, the ‘‘model minority myth’’ has been applied to Asian Americans, which has distorted the public’s perceptions of them. The ‘‘model minority myth’’ disseminates the view that Asian Americans have ‘‘made it’’ and have become successful, particularly in the areas of educational and occupational achievements. This myth clouds the fact that there are many social problems in Asian American communities, and as a result, such problems tend to be ignored. Third, racism, prejudice, and discrimination have also contributed to the invisibility of domestic violence among Asian Americans. Many Asian Americans opt to keep silent about incidences of domestic violence because they fear further racial attacks and discrimination. Abused Asian women who seek help often end up feeling discriminated against and marginalized in settings that are not sensitive to their culture and ethnicity. In addition, they also realize that their batterers are more likely to be unjustly treated by the police and judicial systems. Finally, cultural factors also play a role in impeding Asian American women from disclosing experiences with domestic violence. This will be discussed later in this research paper.
Taking Culture into Account When Examining Domestic Violence
Demographic shifts in the United States highlight the need to take culture into account when investigating social problems. Culture, race, and ethnicity have become forefront issues in America. It has been estimated that by 2050, ethnic minority groups will comprise almost half (47.5 percent) of the total U.S. population. Whites will most likely be a minority group by the year 2056. This multicultural shift calls for policymakers and service providers to adequately meet the needs of ethnic minorities.
The life experiences and social realities of Asian American and immigrant women are very different from those of white women. Some have argued that gender brings women of all colors together, and to some extent that may be true; however, it cannot be denied that other factors, such as racism, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, language barriers, and different cultural values and belief systems, will influence how victimization is experienced. Some Asian American or immigrant women may face unique obstacles, which are not necessarily part of the social realities of white domestic violence victims. For example, language barriers or lack of English language proficiency can exacerbate the difficulties Asian American or immigrant women experience in navigating the U.S. legal system and accessing services. In other cases, the legal status of Asian immigrant women can complicate the already complex dynamics of domestic violence. In some domestic violence cases, husbands who are U.S. citizens who sponsor their Asian non-U.S. resident wife may threaten to withdraw their sponsorship. The victim is then reluctant to report the abuse for fear she will be deported back to her homeland and lose custody of her children.
Culture and ethnicity are important social categories that impact attitudes toward domestic violence. For example, to what extent do individuals approve the use of violence against women? Are there certain situations in which individuals are more likely to approve the use of domestic violence? How is domestic violence defined? Attitudes, definitions, and beliefs justifying violence are often examined because they are considered to be risk factors to violence and can guide prevention efforts. Gender role beliefs (views about women’s and men’s roles) are intertwined with cultural belief systems, and it has been documented that patriarchy and male privilege are linked to violence against women.
Focus groups were conducted with Laotian, Khmer, Vietnamese, and Southeast Asian Chinese men and women to explore their perceptions of physical violence toward spouses. Attitudes varied somewhat among the four ethnic groups. Physical violence against wives was deemed unacceptable in the Chinese group, but the Chinese men reported using indirect and nonviolent means to control their wives. On the other hand, the Vietnamese appeared more tolerant of physical violence—the women believed it was to be tolerated periodically, and the men admitted to hitting their wives when they were angry. Both the Khmer and Laotian participants stated that physical violence in marriages was common and tolerated.
In a large study of 507 Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian adults in the northeastern region of the United States, differences in attitudes toward domestic violence among these four Asian subgroups were examined. Among all four groups, in general, wife abuse was not sanctioned; however, the use of violence was justified in certain situations, such as a wife’s unfaithfulness, her nagging, her refusal to cook or keep the house clean, or her making fun of her partner. The Vietnamese and Cambodians were more likely to endorse male privilege and also more likely to justify the use of wife abuse. Interestingly, among Koreans, age of immigration was related with endorsing the use of marital violence. This study showed that cultural beliefs about women’s roles and male privilege influence attitudes toward wife abuse; however, there were variances in attitudes among Asians, which are influenced by an array of contextual factors such as immigration, sociopolitical conditions of their homelands, and level of education.
Feminist theory has argued that patriarchal ideologies influence violence against women. In a telephone survey of forty-seven South Asian women, the researchers were interested in whether patriarchal beliefs predicted perceptions of abuse. A vignette was read to participants describing a wife (from India) making dinner for her husband. They got into an argument whereby he accused her of making too many long-distance telephone calls. She denied it, stating that it was he who was making the calls. The husband lost his temper, pushed her, and slapped her on the face. She was holding a bowl with hot curry, which spilled and burned her foot. Is this scenario perceived as abuse? More than half of the women in this study stated that this Indian woman was a domestic violence victim, though those who endorsed patriarchal beliefs were less likely to state that the woman in the vignette was a domestic violence victim.
In another study, 289 Chinese American and 138 white undergraduate college students were surveyed to examine how students defined various acts of aggression and the extent to which they agreed that certain situations justified dating violence. The findings showed that Chinese American students were less likely to define dating violence in terms of psychological aggression compared with their white counterparts. Second, Chinese American students were more likely than the white students to agree that dating violence was justified in cases where the woman was caught having an affair, was drunk, screaming hysterically, unwilling to have sex, nagging, or flirting with someone else, and if the man was in a bad mood.
These findings were similar to results from another study that looked at gender differences in attitudes toward dating violence among 171 Filipino college students on a university campus. Although in general both Filipino males and females agreed that psychological aggression constituted dating violence, males did so to a significantly lesser degree. Again, while overall, Filipino students did not believe that dating violence was warranted under various circumstances, Filipino male students were more likely to justify violence if the female intimate partner/date was found flirting with another guy or having an affair. In both studies involving Chinese and Filipino college students cited here, it was speculated that in general, we live in a culture that sanctions retributive justice. Furthermore, culture affects how the world is interpreted. In certain Asian cultures, like the Chinese culture, aggression is condemned and looked down upon because of Chinese cultural norms that promote harmony and self-restraint in social relationships. Paradoxically, violence against women is condoned because of traditional views that place Asian women in subservient positions in the family and in society.
Finally, it is also crucial to examine culture in domestic violence because culture and ethnicity can influence help-seeking behaviors. In general, ethnic minorities are more reluctant to seek outside professional help, which may be attributed to their suspiciousness toward mental health and social services that are based on Western theoretical paradigms. Logistical factors such as financial limitations and inconvenient operational hours of many mental health and social service organizations also play a role affecting help-seeking behaviors. Finally, help-seeking behavior is in part influenced by the individual’s definition and understanding of the phenomenon, which is ultimately influenced by culture. If, according to the study described above, Chinese American college students are less likely than their white counterparts to define psychological abuse as dating violence, they may also be less likely to label the phenomenon as a problem and ultimately less likely to seek help. Ultimately, race, culture, and ethnicity influence how one perceives the world.
Prevalence of Domestic Violence in Asian American Communities
Since the 1990s, more empirical research has been done in the area of domestic violence and Asian American and immigrant women. The majority of these research studies have relied on using nonprobability sampling designs, which means it is not possible to get true prevalence rates. However, these studies offer us a glimpse of the scope of domestic violence in Asian American communities. These studies indicate that domestic violence does exist in them.
Domestic Violence in an Asian Cultural Context
Culture plays a role in influencing attitudes sanctioning, minimizing, or masking domestic violence. Culture can be defined as patterns of behaviors and customs such as food, dress, music, and the arts— the observable components of culture. They are passed down from generation to generation through verbal communication, instruction, and general observation. Yet, culture does not consist merely of practices or rituals, but it also exists in intangible forms such as language; artistic expression; religion; political, economic, and social structures; norms of behavior; and values. Culture also encompasses a worldview, which in turn encompasses assumptions and perceptions about the world and how it guides individuals’ behaviors and responses to their environment. It is not clear to what extent traditional Asian cultural values infuse the behaviors of Asian Americans living in the United States or how long it takes for Asian immigrants to begin adopting Western values, but it is known that acculturation is not a linear process whereby immigrant ethnic minorities move in stages in adopting the behaviors of their new environment. Culture is enduring, and cultural adaptation is not merely a process in which one selectively chooses to maintain and adhere to certain values and to discard others. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that Asian American and immigrant women may adhere to more Eastern values and belief systems, while others are more acculturated and may endorse more Western values.
Women’s Status and Roles
In Asia, patriarchal norms influence much of the social order and structure. Patriarchy involves the transmission of power and authority from father to eldest son, with key decision making and authority revolving around the male members. Consequently, relationships are based on a hierarchy involving traditional gender roles. The husband is the head of the household, the primary breadwinner, and the decision maker. The wife is the caretaker of the husband, his family, and the children. Girls are socialized to be dutiful, virtuous, and submissive wives who ultimately become mothers in order to bear sons so that the family name can be perpetuated. These views about women and their roles are also influenced by Confucian principles. For example, one major Confucian tenet, ‘‘Three Submissions,’’ asserts that females are first to be subservient to their fathers before they are married, then to their husbands, and finally to their eldest son when widowed. Socialized early on with the notion that Asian women have no other options but to be wives and mothers, many battered Asian women find it difficult to terminate abusive relationships. These rigid gender role expectations are colored with moral nuances (i.e., being a good mother), and it leaves women bearing all the responsibility. Terminating the marriage may mean leaving the children behind, and if women opt for this route, they might subject themselves to criticisms of being a ‘‘bad mother.’’ An Asian domestic violence victim not only bears the pressure of having to live up to the ideal image of a woman and fulfilling her duties but is also pressured to maintain the family. Ostracism and criticism can ensue if she does not fulfill her responsibilities.
In many Asian countries, there is a preference for having sons so that the family lineage is preserved, which can be done only by having a son perform the ancestral worship rituals. Sons also serve as a social security system for elderly parents, since daughters are married off and reside with their husbands’ families. Therefore, wives experience great pressure to have sons, and those who cannot produce sons are humiliated, publicly shamed, and sometimes beaten. The devalued status of women in Asia still exists, as demonstrated by China’s one child policy, which was designed to curb the increasing population growth. Because of Chinese families’ desire to have sons, demographers are discovering that many baby girls are unaccounted for. Couples who give birth to baby girls often abandon or kill them so that they can adhere to the one child policy and still have a son. Such a climate fosters and condones violence against women.
Hierarchical Relationship Patterns
In Asian cultures, patterns of relationships are characterized by hierarchy. In Western societies, however, relationships are more likely to be egalitarian. In other words, the structure of Asian society is vertical, reflecting the influence of Confucianism. Confucianism has been described as a philosophy that emphasized peace, hierarchy, and order. Confucius arrived in China during a period of economic, political, and moral confusion, and he advocated a highly structured and hierarchical society, where everyone was ascribed specific roles. Proper conduct would naturally flow from this structure. His most well known philosophy describes five basic social relationships between (1) sovereign and subject, (2) father and son, (3) elder and younger brother, (4) husband and wife, and (5) friend and friend. A husband, for example, is deemed the authority figure. His primary responsibility is to provide for and protect the family. In turn, the wife must submit, be loyal, and fulfill her obligations to her husband. A focus group with Asian women and men found that these values may influence attitudes toward violence. Some Asian men, for example, believe that they have the responsibility of disciplining their wives, with physical violence being one mechanism of discipline.
Collectivistic Orientation and Loss of Face
In the United States and many Western societies, autonomy and individualism are the guiding philosophies. Individuals are socialized and reinforced to be self-sufficient and independent, and personal success and achievement are highly valued. Conversely, Asian cultures are characterized as collectivistic. In other words, one’s identity, behaviors, and successes are rooted in collective units such as the family and community. Roles are interdependent and inextricably woven into social structures. Therefore, a decision made by an individual must take into account the whole (i.e., family) rather than merely the individual’s needs. Shameful behaviors do not merely reflect on the individual but ultimately on his/her entire family, lineage, and even community. One of the major barriers confronted by Asian domestic violence victims in seeking assistance is that they are ashamed about the abuse. In part, this stems from societal myths that disseminate the misconception that domestic violence victims must have in some way provoked the violence, and consequently, victims deserve the abuse.
However, the concept of guilt and shame can take on different connotations in different cultures. In Western culture, the guilt rests on the individual, and the individual bears the ramifications. However, in traditional Asian cultures, such as those of China, Japan, and Korea, ‘‘loss of face’’ means disgrace and loss of respect not only for the individual but also the immediate family and the entire ancestral lineage. Again, this is rooted in the collectivistic orientation described above. It is believed that the successes and failures are due to the blessings or anger of their ancestors, and similarly, positive and negative behaviors are believed to impact future generations. Therefore, Asian domestic violence victims may be reluctant to disclose the abuse for fear of shaming their families and communities.
Religious Orientations: Intersection with Cultural Values
A victim’s religious beliefs may also be a cultural barrier to seeking assistance in domestic violence situations. Buddhism, the dominant religion in many parts of Asia, emphasizes the importance of perseverance and endurance and that life is a cycle, with each state linked to another. Its doctrine is tied to the Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is painful; (2) Pain originates from desire; (3) For pain to end, desire must end as well; and (4) The path to the end of pain is righteous living. The ultimate state is Nirvana, which is a peaceful state, absent of desire. There is an emphasis on fatalism; that is, all human beings must bear whatever trials and challenges that have been placed in the journey of life. This is the essence of karma, a Buddhist doctrine which advocates that all life is subject to suffering. This fatalistic orientation has colored attitudes toward help-seeking in domestic violence cases, where many Asian domestic violence victims remain silent about the abuse and do not seek help because they believe that they have to persevere and that violence is part of their fate.
Taoism is considered both a religion and philosophy. The individual is regarded as an autonomous being but interconnected with the natural forces of life. One does not necessarily attempt to alter one’s environment; rather, the objective is to seek harmony with the natural order of things through rituals. The ultimate goal is to find peace and union between the individual and the cosmic forces of nature, aiming for harmony for the good of the whole. This religious and philosophical orientation often results in Asian domestic violence victims implicitly accepting the abuse, and at times, criticizing and ostracizing those who shake the status quo. Consequently, Asian American domestic violence victims may relegate their own needs in order to preserve harmony, as conflict or confrontations are culturally (and/or philosophically) dissonant.
Practical Implications for Counselors
With all clients, building rapport or engagement is an integral part of the clinical process. However, when working with Asian American and immigrant domestic violence victims, particularly those who may be less acculturated, counselors need to convey authority, credibility, and legitimacy. Many Asian American or immigrant clients come into counseling believing that the counselor will quickly identify the problem and provide a solution. When the counselor does not do so, he or she loses legitimacy in the eyes of the client. Therefore, the counselor needs to overtly establish authority. Employing professional titles, displaying diplomas and professional licenses are some examples of overtly establishing legitimacy. Furthermore, obtaining sufficient information about the client and family and offering some explanation of the cause of the client’s problems can facilitate credibility. Consequently, counselors need to be very knowledgeable about domestic violence (from both a victim’s and a perpetrator’s perspective) and have strong links to community resources such as medical, family, and financial services, social services, legal assistance, and child care and immigration aid services. Clients will expect to take away something concrete (i.e., a solution), which is reinforced by cultural values of pragmatism. On the other hand, if the counselor focuses too much on facilitating emotional disclosure, Asian clients are more likely to terminate counseling prematurely.
When working with Asian American and immigrant domestic violence victims, it is also important to acknowledge their feelings of guilt and shame. The shame, and in this case, loss of face, stems from two sources—the emotional turmoil caused by the abuse, and the fact that the victim has had to seek outside assistance, particularly for issues considered to be private, sensitive family matters. Consequently, it is crucial for counselors to help victims work through their ambivalence about seeking help as well as their guilt for feeling that they are at fault for the abuse.
Empowering Asian American and immigrant domestic violence victims is another component of work with this population. However, it is important for counselors to keep in mind that the term ‘‘empowerment’’ is a social construction used in the fields of feminist studies, domestic violence, and the helping professions. Empowerment is based on principles of autonomy, individualism, and self-determination, which are primarily Western ideologies and are at times dissonant with traditional Asian values that revolve around collectivism, such as importance of the family, community, marriage, and relegating one’s own needs for the greater good. Therefore, counselors should not immediately coach Asian or Asian American domestic violence victims to leave the marriage, because it may not be congruent with their value systems. As with all domestic violence victims, their voices have been silenced, and it is vital to have their voices heard and to respect and support their decisions. Part of this entails educating them about what abuse entails, the dynamics of abuse, and facilitating and linking them to both informal and formal services.
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- Yoshioka, Marianne R., Jennifer DiNoia, and Komal Ullah. ‘‘Attitudes toward Marital Violence: An Examination of Four Asian Communities.’’ Violence against Women 7, no. 8 (2001): 900–926. | <urn:uuid:4c80843d-088a-4824-a138-a86f319dba49> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://criminal-justice.iresearchnet.com/types-of-crime/domestic-violence/asian-americans/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.94522 | 7,264 | 3.46875 | 3 |
The conditioned freezing response in rats has been much used both by psychologists and neuroscientists to investigate the behavioural effects of brain lesions and of changes in motivational state. The primary advantage of the freezing response is that it can be used without motivational manipulations such as food or water deprivation. Previously, freezing has been measured by a human observer either from video recordings or during the test sessions themselves. But these methods of data collection have potential disadvantages. In the present paper, we describe a new, computer controlled, automated procedure for assessing conditioned freezing. Each conditioning chamber contains a mini-video camera. Behaviour is analysed on-line by means of a programme which compares every two adjacent seconds of video tape to generate a screen representing the percentage difference between them. A difference of < 0.05% (50 pixels) is classified as a freezing response. Experiments are described in which we measure conditioned freezing and its development over time, in response to contextual cues and to a discrete tone which had been paired with foot shock. We demonstrate our apparatus and methods of data analysis to be sensitive to: number of tone-shock pairings, rat strain and tone pre-exposure.
- Latent inhibition | <urn:uuid:671d5423-51cc-478d-9512-98034971134a> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://cris.tau.ac.il/en/publications/a-computer-controlled-analysis-of-freezing-behaviour | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.953375 | 238 | 2.6875 | 3 |
“When curiosity turns to serious matters, it's called research.”
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
All the latest inventions that humans are enjoying today are the results of curiosity that intrigued the mind of brilliant geniuses around the globe. In every sector, whether it is technology, healthcare, manufacturing, or education, research has been the cornerstone that made all the advancements possible and subsequently every sector is flourishing today.
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Another crucial fact that’s worth our attention is that research is never a one-day task. It requires constant effort and determination to look into different field subjects and understand the concepts in a way no one did. Most works of research that have added value to the world or have reshaped the world took years or even decades to conclude.
Let’s give you an example, do you know the annual budget that the US allocates to NASA for research and exploration in the field of outer space? The allocated budgetary resources of NASA for the FY 2022 stands at a whopping USD 10.4 billion. This shows the importance research holds at a global level.
Here, we also need to take the fact into consideration that such important works of research involving multi billion dollar investments cannot be conducted haphazardly, right? When it comes to research, there is a proper framework that exists inclusive of research questions, research problems, research methodologies and hypotheses. Besides, while some aspects are explored with quantitative research, others are described by the end results of qualitative research.
Speaking of research questions in particular, they mark the beginning of works of research that can reshape the world and its ways. But research questions also need to be framed in a systematic way so that you can carry out your whole research smoothly. In fact, for students and researchers, research questions hold immense importance in dissertation research or writing.
Do you face difficulties as a student to frame research questions? Do you often get confused when it comes to brainstorming research questions and formulating them? This is your ultimate guide to framing effective research questions.
This guide will effectively highlight meticulous information about the research question along with mentioning some of its key examples that can assist you in comprehending the concept more precisely. Starting off, the first section sheds light on providing information about what is a research question.
What is a research question?
The research question refers to the specific inquiry that the researcher aims to answer throughout the whole research process. Based on the research question, the researcher tends to decide the methodology, hypothesis, and collecting data that defines the ultimate research process. Hence, the research question is the cornerstone on which the whole research process relies.
To continue, the research process cannot be started without formulating a good research question. Hence, the next section sheds light on how to write a research question. So, let’s dive right in without further ado.
Formulating a research question
A good research question basically assists the researcher in narrowing down the research from its broad domain. Prominent researchers have highlighted some effective ways for budding researchers to pass down the legacy of formulating a good research question (Fandino, 2019). One effective method is to follow the framework of FINERMAPS which is an acronym for:
The feasibility of a research question refers to the ability of the researcher to carry out the research. This implies that you should always frame a research question as per your feasibility to carry out the research. While framing a research question, you have to ensure that you have good access to the data, documents, or the people you want to involve in the research.
The next qualifying criterion is that your question should be interesting. It should be intriguing enough to keep you motivated throughout your whole research process.
In this, you will ensure that your research question should not be similar to any other published research question or research. This implies that it should offer something new to the readers or fellow researchers interested in your subject field.
A good thumb rule of a good research question is that you should ensure that your research question should not hurt the sentiments of anyone. Considering the ethical aspect of a research question does not only involve your readers but also the people that are concerned with your research in one way or another.
You have to make sure that your RQ should not involve any such element that ends up hurting the sentiments of any of the stakeholders of your research. You need to be considerate of the ethical issues in research at all times.
The relevancy of your research should appeal to the other intellectuals interested in your field of study. The relevance of your research should be directly related to your field of subject. You will only be able to create a relevant RQ when you offer something that adds value to the current state of the art of your subject field.
For example, you identified a gap in the existing research topics of your subject field and after conducting a gap analysis, you will be able to identify the relevant gap. A question that intends to fill a gap would be a relevant research question.
The manageable section of the FINERMAPS is quite similar to the feasibility part through which the researcher rectifies whether the research question is manageable enough to be carried forward through the whole research process or not. In this, you have to consider different constraints of time and accessibility of resources for yourself to manage the whole research process effectively.
In this section, you will relate the appropriateness of your RQ with its value in your subject field by adhering to its logical and practical approach. You can identify the appropriateness of your research question by supporting your RQ with enough substantial evidence.
8. Potential value and publishability
Research papers are often written to get them published in academic journals. Hence, you have to ensure that your research questions offer something that has the potential to get published. This can be identified by ensuring that your research question is relevant or interesting enough to intrigue the curiosity of your fellow or budding researchers.
A systematic RQ refers to the question where the researchers can systematically carry the research from the beginning to the end in order to successfully attain the goals of your research process.
In this, you will ensure that you have a systematic approach or method to carry out your research through all the phases beforehand. Otherwise, a lack of clarity in a systematic approach will lead to confusion throughout your research.
Common errors while framing research question
A simple mistake in a research question can adversely affect your whole research process and can also result in different conclusions than your expectation. Hence, it is essential to avoid some of the common errors researchers make while formulating their research questions. That being the case, this section will shed light on a few common errors of researchers while framing research questions.
1. The question remains vague
A research question often starts with a simple question that arises in the mind of the researchers. However, this does not imply that the same can be your research question throughout the research process. A vague question often gets quickly answered in the yes or no form.
2. Uncontrollable parameters to cover
whenever researchers frame a research question, it is essential to also keep in mind that your research question should have certain parameters. These parameters will define the aspects in which you will thoroughly conduct your research.
But sometimes, researchers choose a topic that sometimes has uncontrollable parameters to cover. With uncontrollable parameters, it gets difficult for researchers to conduct in-depth research and get relevant information and results.
3. Un-researchable problems
Lastly, another common mistake that occurs while framing research questions is that research questions often reflect unresearchable problems. With un-researchable questions, it often gets difficult for researchers to adequately answer the research questions using the available methods and processes. Let’s take a look at an example for better comprehension. Let’s assume that we framed a research question:
“Does CSR impact business performance?”
Now as per the FINERMAPS formulation framework, this question is appropriate, but a mistake in the above-given question that it reflects vagueness as it can easily be answered in the yes or no form. Additionally. It has multiple parameters that could be considered while conducting research on this question.
In order to avoid such instances, it is really important to refine your research question to get the most efficient results for your research process. That being the case, the next section will effectively illustrate a step-wise approach to how you can refine your research question.
How to refine your research question?
Refining a research question is a crucial element that defines the successful accomplishment of the research process. Refining a question assists you in narrowing down your broader topic of research to a specific subject field. The more refined your research question will be, the more smoothly you will be able to carry out your research.
The reason is, that when you limit your research question to a certain subject field, you can go more in-depth and effectively fill out the gaps in the current state of the art of the subject. Otherwise, covering a broader topic will not allow you to go in-depth because the broader the topic, the more aspects it will cover. To effectively refine your research question, you need to follow 5 steps.
Step 1: Area of research
The very first step is to select a broad topic subject of your interest in which you wish to research. This will be the major domain in which you will choose to carry out your research. You can select your RQ from any domain such as IT, management, medical sciences, or humanities. Let’s take the same example, “Does CSR impact business performance?”
As per the above-given question, the chosen area of research is management.
Step 2: Narrow the area
After selecting the domain, the next step is to narrow down your domain into a subdomain. In this, you will focus on the specific field you wish to conduct research on. Taking the same example, in order to narrow it down, with the addition of a subdomain, the question will become, “Does CSR impact brand equity?”.
Step 3: Identify gaps
After choosing the topic, it is essential to know the current state of the art by conducting a literature review and identifying the relevant gaps through an effective gap analysis. After identifying the gap, the last step would be to focus the narrowed topic on a final research question.
Step 4: Focus
Following the clarity on domain and subdomain and finding the key gaps, you will now highlight the major focus of your research question by considering the following points.
Do I have any time constraints that I can add to make RQ more specific?
Do I need to add any geographical dimensions to the RQ?
Do I need to add any specific event or aspect in the RQ to make it more definite?
Finally, following the same example, the final focused research question will be, “Is there any correlation between CSR spending and brand equity?"
Step 5: research question
The last step considering all the above-given aspects is to create a specific research question following the framework of FINERMAPS. Further, based on this research question, you will conduct the whole research.
After you have effectively understood the effective guide to formulate and refine the research question, now it’s time to look at some of the research question examples.
Research question examples
Example 1. Research question about the impact of covid 19 on education.
In this, we have chosen the impact of covid on education as a major topic around which we wish to conduct research through a good research question. Now to refine this question,
Area of research- The impact of Covid 19 on Education.
Narrow- Impact of covid 19 on international students
Identify gaps- After conducting a literature review we found that we do not have enough literature to understand the impact of Covid 19 on the student's mobility to different countries.
Focus- In this, as per the preference, we would like to add the specificity of Canada.
Research question- By considering every factor given above and refining it, the final research question will be:
What is the impact of covid19 on international students' mobility to Canada?
Example 2. Research question on the present scenario of Breast Cancer Care Centre.
Another example of a research question would cover the condition of the Breast Cancer Care Centre in medical science.
Area of research- The present scenario of the Breast Cancer Care Centre for women.
Narrow- By narrowing the topic of research, we will focus on the present scenario of the Breast Cancer Care Centre for women suffering from breast cancer.
Identify gaps- Through effective gap analysis, we concluded that there were very few resources that covered the current condition of the Breast Cancer Care Centre for women suffering from breast cancer. As the number of breast cancer is increasing, we would conduct research to find the current scenario of the Breast Cancer Care Centre.
Focus- In order to make this research more focused, the specificity we would like to add is that we would like to conduct research on a particular country i.e. India.
Research question- By considering every section discussed above, the final research question would be:
What is the present scenario of the Breast Cancer Care Center for women in India?
The difference between research problem & research question
Research problem refers to specific gaps or issues in the current state of the art that researchers intend to address through their research. A well-identified research problem will assist you in creating a focused and manageable research paper.
Whereas a research question refers to a question that is formed to narrow down the border topic of research to specify to the researcher what all research is about. There can be one single or multiple research questions that would be addressed through a whole research paper.
Moreover, there is a key difference between the nature of the research problem and the research question because the research problem focuses on the key gaps that are to be analyzed in the research paper. Furthermore, the research problem also focuses on highlighting the significance of the topic and how this topic will add more value to the subject field.
On the other hand, the research question explores the research topics and elaborates on the different aspects that will be covered in the research.
To conclude everything given above, a research question is one of the crucial elements that need to be effectively formulated and refined to carry out meaningful research. It is really essential to understand the importance of research questions and formulate them systematically. Hence, the above guide will effectively assist you in formulating a good research question.
What is the difference between a research question and a research objective?
A research question is an inquiry that seeks to be answered through the study, while research objectives are specific, measurable goals that outline what the study aims to achieve.
Can a research question be revised or refined during the research process?
Yes, research questions can be refined or revised based on emerging findings, new insights, or changes in the research focus. Flexibility is essential during the research journey.
How can I frame research questions for qualitative research?
For qualitative research, use open-ended and exploratory language in your research questions to elicit detailed responses and capture the richness of participants' experiences.
Fandino, W. (2019). Formulating a good research question: Pearls and pitfalls. Indian Journal Of Anaesthesia, 63(8), 611. doi: 10.4103/ija.ija_198_19 | <urn:uuid:fadbb894-8e1d-4e93-aa98-de2cbd7d4a43> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://crowjack.com/student-resources/guide-on-formulating-research-questions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.934642 | 3,167 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Cultural events are listed here with basic background details. For specific events, dates, and times, please see the Featured Events on the Cultural Calendar main page.
Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year celebration, with the word itself meaning the last day of the year in the Scots language.
There are a variety of traditions associated with Hogmanay, many of which have their roots in pagan winter celebrations and the use of fire to ward off darkness dwelling evil spirits. Bonfires, fireworks, and torchlight processions are all features of Hogmanay, and the north-eastern coastal town of Stonehaven has the amazing Fireball Ceremony, which sees the locals parade up and down the High Street swinging giant fireballs around their heads before throwing them in the harbour!
Perhaps the most famous Hogmanay tradition is that of the first-footing, which associates luck for the coming year with the first person to cross the threshold of a home after midnight on New Year's Day. This is a tradition shared with the North of England and the Isle of Man and bears many similarities to New Year's traditions from other countries such as Greece, Georgia, and Vietnam.
In Scotland, the first-footer should be either a brand-new visitor to the house, or have left before midnight to return afterward, and ought to come bearing a gift such as shortbread or the pastry covered fruitcake known as black bun. Other traditional first-footing gifts include coal to symbolise warmth, coins for prosperity, and whisky for good cheer. Tradition also asks that the first-foot be a tall, dark-haired man. It is thought that the association of ill-luck with fair hair stems from the time of the Viking invasions.
The singing of Auld Lang Syne to herald in the New Year is a Hogmanay tradition which has become common all over the world.
In New Zealand, Hogmanay events are organised each year by Scottish societies and associations all over the country.
Hogmanay is the last day of the year. December the 31st every year. | <urn:uuid:cbbacd5f-34f3-4b35-a480-a06604db6c4e> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://culturalcalendar.nz/hogmanay | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.951656 | 427 | 3.125 | 3 |
Table of Contents
A smart port is a port that uses smart technologies like the Internet Of Things (IoT), blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital twin technology, and Big Data to improve the quality and the performance of the port ultimately reducing the cost factors.
Asian Development Bank describes a smart port as a port that ensures “no waste of space, time, money and natural resources.”
The whole world is running towards a data-oriented platform with innovations towards sustainability. There is no exception for the ports rather than joining the competition. A Seaport has a dynamic environment as it includes activities not limited to logistics, transportation, warehousing, and value addition. Being involved with shipping lines, logistics service providers, and client ports are big data generators.
Port of Hamburg is one of the leading ports taking initiative towards the smart port concept. The Hamburg port uses an IoT platform for managing traffic congestion, pollution, and road safety which consists of the 3 pillars, Smart Port infrastructure, intelligent traffic flows, and intelligent trade flows. For example port of Hamburg uses AGT International SmartPort Solution to track barges using RFID tags. This enables getting real-time information on the barges.
Ports being in the unique place of a supply chain, conduct experiments on different types of technologies to become smart. Thus technologies aggregated from the Internet Of Thing (IoT) Artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain solutions, and other smart technologies for the development of performance, economic competitiveness, and sustainability in the industry would be the baseline in most cases. These technologies connect the digital and physical world enabling real-time data and optimizing resources. The words look simple, yet ports have a long way to go even with the current initiative to become truly a “Smart Port”.
Even the basic function of a port is to facilitate trade, the use and the requirement of ports are changing with time. At the initial stage, ports were used to load and unload cargo. A study by Deloitte shows Ports in Western Europe are faced with a concentration of ports in a stagnating mature market where efficiency and protection of market share become central. The survival of a port no longer depends on its capacity but on how efficient and smart the port is.
A port could adopt the smart technologies for Electronic Data Interchange, Vessel Traffic Management System (VTS), Terminal Operations System (TOS), Port Community System (PCS), as well for Terminal Equipment fleets management.
A smart port increases its efficiency in services, resource use, minimizes wastage and idling of resources. More streamlined work of the port would definitely cut down the cost factors in monetary and non-monetary terms.
The Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has implemented mobile technology and wireless connectivity to improve efficiency, communications, and crew satisfaction in the Port of Singapore (PSA)
The Port Authority of Cartagena uses the Posidonia SmartPort application to share instant information on vessel movements, operations, traffic history, and forecasts.
Some ports go beyond the concept of smart ports and work towards the “Smart City” concept. For example port of Antwerp has taken five pillars initiatives to develop the Belgium city with IoT technology.
Hamburg, Singapore, and Rotterdam ports try for a top-down approach and NxtPort has a bottom-up approach of becoming a smart port.
Maersk, the global leader in container transportation has partnered with IBM to explore the implementation of blockchain concepts in cross-border cargo clearance. They have tested the blockchain on customs declarations submission and cross-border supply chain solutions. IBM has also tested a payment solution based on blockchain to facilitate international trade.
Becoming a smart port may not be feasible for every port around the world due to the investment in resources including human and IT infrastructure. Thus the smart ports will be well efficient, it could become a burden to the small ports which are unable to adopt the changes.
“Smart ports are the only ports that will survive.” prof. dr. Olaf Merk
The majority of the ports are changing their port model from fully owned government ports toward landlord ports and privatization. As such, the number of parties involved in the port operation is higher and they may not willing to agree on a data sharing policy. Looking at the broader concept of the smart port from a different perspective, it requires the collaboration of the parties involved with the port. Hence eliminating paperwork and relying on digitization may not be the choice of every party. Of course, the cross border trade may need paperwork for border controller inspection purposes even the trade gets slowed down.
We have spoken on how hard it could be to become truly a smart port and how it becomes stressful to small ports. Having said that, do small ports have a way forward? Can they become smart ports? No doubt they can.
Any port can become smarter
Being smart doesn’t have defined limitations or a scale for the solutions or size for the port. All ports may not be able to adopt the same smartness, there could be limitations. But they can become smart ports within their capacities.
Being a smart port is a long term concept. It may require partnerships with clients and the collaboration of port users. If the port is unable to invest in smart solutions or automation, they may go for joint ventures with shipping lines for developing terminals, or with other logistics service providers to have automated warehouses or to provide end to end business solutions.
Digitalization and telematics are the two great initial drivers of automation while Artificial Intelligence will be the main factor in port automation. Avoiding human errors, faster turn around time, and reduced port congestions are a few benefits of automation.
The most important component of the smart port is data as all the spoken technologies develop with the data. Hence the availability of accurate data in a timely manner is essential to implement technologies. Concentration on cybersecurity is second to none as the big data are fed to the systems.
Smart ports require continuous innovations, improvements, and adoptions over time.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), International Maritime Organization (IMO), and European Union (EU) have implemented regulations and policies to make sure the necessary regulatory frameworks towards smart ports.
What are the drivers for the adoption of smart port technology
Improved productivity while reducing the operational cost could discuss under this. Automation, using intelligent infrastructure, and productivity could discuss under this. A container terminal can have a system where the system identifies the container number which mounted to a truck and open the automatic gate after verifying the container details through the system. Or automated cranes at the quay are also good for operational efficiency.
Sensors, GPS/DGPS, RFID/OCR/LPR, GNSS, DGNSS, TOS, Bluetooth, WLAN, mobile devices, the Cloud, port community systems, port monitor system, port road management system, intelligent railway, smart maintenance, vessel traffic management, and parking space management, are few applications of intelligent infrastructure.
Asset management requires the regular maintenance of the resources. This is to avoid sudden system failures and unexpected operational costs.
Business resilience speaks on the tools that support commercial business operations. The technologies we have discussed could become the business resilience of the port. For example, using digital twins could identify the ability to berth a new vessel at the port which ultimately supports the port’s revenue generation.
Safety and security
Safety and security are applicable to both cargo and humans as well as to the technologies. The less the cybersecurity of the system more the database becomes vulnerable to risks. CCTV could use to improve the security of cargo. Container screening is another good example of using smart technology for security.
The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) is a security measurement by IMO (International Maritime Organisation) while International Safety Management Code (ISM) is for security purposes.
Energy efficiency is another framework discussed under the smart port concept. Moving to electric power and other sustainable and future fuel could discuss under this. Cold ironing is an example of efficient energy use.
ISO 50001, an international standard for energy management systems is a policy framework for energy management by the International Organization for Standardization.
Environment management could discuss under 4 main subcategories as an environmental management system, emission and pollution control, waste management, and water management. Contributing to GHG reduction would be a good environmental management practice a port could have. Ports are bound to adopt environmental-friendly practices with the international conventions of climate change.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed the ISO 14001, which is the framework for environmental management. The EU EcoManagement and Audit Scheme (EMAS), Environmental Review System (PERS), and MARPOL (Convention on Marine Pollution) are other frameworks on environmental management.
Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution which is the current and ongoing automation of traditional practices. The automation of Industry 4.0 is a revolution that comes with the machine to machine (M2M) communication and the Internet Of Things (IoT).
Mr. Klaus Schwab, a German engineer who was the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum has introduced the concept in 2015.
Industry 4.0 is expected to be a breakthrough for the technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the internet of things, the industrial internet of things, decentralized consensus, fifth-generation wireless technologies, 3D printing, and fully autonomous vehicles.
Royal HaskoningDHV described a 5 development stages framework on becoming a smart port.
1. Data capture
Capturing data would be the initial step of becoming a smart port. Gathering data is required to validate, justify, to actively feed into decision-making support or an automated tool, and to monitor the improvements. Even it is easy to capture the basic and small set of data, collecting bid data is much broader and requires IoT for big data management, presenting new and varied data to port stakeholders.
Digitization plays a key role in data capturing as it converts manual and paper-based data into digital form. Digitized data shows clearer pictures of analyzed results.
Collaboration is needed to share the information extracted from the data. Analyzed data could share internally and with external shareholders. Sharing information could be customized according to the stakeholder type.
3. Decision support
Smart ports present visualized and more organized information to make decisions. Real-time data could capture and improve the operation efficiency, compare with the set target, and set optimized routes to transport cargo.
Since the data visualizing, analyzing, and presenting part is done by the system, humans can go beyond and think of methods for better performance. Strategies could be set for port development.
This could manage either by a theoretical simulation or by an actively managed digital twin.
Simulation allows recreating of the port and the required area using technology. This helps to compare and make decisions on different scenarios by simulation.
The digital twin is a method beyond statistics. It uses real-time port data to create the scenario as in the real world. This could use for engineering requirements while doing port constructions as it could use to create quey walls, breakwater, and other areas using digital twin.
Real time visualized information support with more accurate decisions too.
5. Digital transformation
Digital transformation is the ultimate step of the port being matured or being a smart port. Here the human who was doing daily processes will be replaced by machines/robots.
Digital transformation can be used for unmanned gates and auto stevedoring or land and delivery calculation and invoicing.
Quick Wins & Long Term Strategies
Asian Development Bank has introduced short term and long term strategies to become smart ports. They have introduced the strategies under four frameworks.
“The new rule for the future is going to be, ‘Anything that can be connected,’ will be connected.”- Forbes
Some Smart Port Applications
- Automated mooring systems to mooring vessel safely
- Automated cranes for que transfer of cargo
- Robots to load and unload containers at the yard
- Using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) in warehouses to track the cargo location
- Vessel traffic management systems( VTMS) to coordinate vessel traffic at the port
- Link real-time data using a terminal management system (TOS) to an application to which client/port user has access with login
- Use big data and alert the consignee on cargo arrival at port
- LED lighting
- Renewable energy to generate electricity ( solar power, wind)
- Use electric vehicles
Challengers to become smart ports
- Cybersecurity would be a major challenge with the development of technologies
- Employee adoption of technology would be a critical factor. Some may resistant to learn and adopt the new skill needed. Some may not want to adopt the technology due to the risk of losing their jobs
- Stakeholders’ expectations could be varied. It will be difficult to make them all have the same view
- The capital cost for implementing projects will be costly. A proper budget should be allocated to reach the goal of being a smart port in the long term
- Some government-owned ports focus on generating jobs rather than being efficient where implementing technologies becomes a hassle
- Proper data sharing policies must be established as users could miss use the data/ information | <urn:uuid:d418455b-2b88-4ef3-9674-79f835592820> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://dailylogistic.com/smart-port/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.915443 | 2,756 | 3.078125 | 3 |
California’s 1,264 miles of coastline run between the 42nd and 32nd latitudes. That’s a stretch of the globe equal to 11 Eastern states, from New Hampshire to Georgia. The mighty Coast Ranges direct the lay of the land from Oregon to Santa Barbara, and the San Andreas Fault’s temperamental plates shift beneath much of the state’s seaside spine.
From Pelican State Beach at the Oregon border to Imperial Beach at Mexico’s door, the state seems to be three in one: Northern, Central, and Southern. Ancient forests, fast-flowing rivers, offshore sea stacks, rocky coves, verdant pastureland, and perilous sea cliffs characterize California’s top third. On the Central Coast, the terrain descends from dizzying heights and calms, with the exception of Big Sur, into wetlands, dunes, bays, and sloughs. Near Point Conception, the wide beaches and consistently mild weather of Southern California appear on cue. For work, play, and education, all of these land, and seascapes give access to every form of water, from salty Pacific depths to freshwater rivers to alpine snow and ice. | <urn:uuid:6441a787-d028-4b9d-99cc-694d7f5aa8e6> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://deborahkernahan.com/blog/coastal-living | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.883115 | 250 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Nearly one third of the Venezuelan population — about 9.3 million people — are food insecure, malnourished, or suffer from hunger. This acute food insecurity is in serious danger of worsening. These were some of the warnings from the United Nations (U.N.) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) in the FAO-WFP “Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Insecurity Hotspots” report, released in November.
“The macroeconomic crisis further exacerbated by the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19-related measures, is particularly concerning for Venezuela,” the report notes, which projects a 25 percent decrease in the country’s gross domestic product in 2020.
Currently 96 percent of the Venezuelan population is poor, of which 79 percent is under extreme poverty. This scenario is also worsened by hyperinflation, caused by currency depreciation, setting the price of the U.S. dollar at more than 1 million bolívares. This has had a drastic impact on food availability and people’s purchasing power. Currently, the price of 1 kilogram of rice is equivalent to the salary of a Venezuelan citizen earning minimum wage.
The concern is even more alarming for the 5.5 million Venezuelans who in the last few years migrated from the country to neighboring nations, mostly Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. “Venezuelan migrants are among those hardest hit due to their disproportionate reliance on informal jobs, exclusion from social safety nets, and lack of support networks,” the U.N. study indicates.
Harassment of charities
In a move contrary to combating hunger, agents of the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro regime invaded offices and froze bank accounts of the charity Feed the Solidarity. The attack happened in late November, under unfounded allegations that the organization was politically subverting the citizens.
Feed the Solidarity was part of the U.N. humanitarian program in Venezuela, with financial support from the European Union. The institution is responsible for managing community kitchens and serving meals in many regions of Venezuela, reaching 25,000 children, said its founder, Roberto Patiño. According to interviews with the New York Times, the meals served by the organization are often children’s only chance to eat that day.
The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, now known as the Venezuelan Affairs Unit, which operates out of the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, called the attack on Twitter “a despicable act of the regime.” | <urn:uuid:c9d05486-e256-4c22-8d72-26f36aa5ba8d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/venezuela-among-top-20-countries-in-the-world-at-higher-risk-of-furthering-population-hunger/?amp=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.952694 | 521 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Disabled students have long faced the impact of systemic and structural ableism in education, from early learning through postsecondary education. Yet despite nearly fifty years of civil rights advocacy and legislative victories, disabled students still face routine denials of access in the classroom, inaccessible pedagogies, and exclusionary technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened and sharpened disparities in learning and digital access for disabled students of all ages, with the burden falling most heavily on disabled students further marginalized by racism, classism, and other forms of oppression. Disabled students are less likely to have reliable access to web-based technologies, while websites, software, and course tools are often inaccessible to disabled users despite their near ubiquity in the pandemic. This Article explores the opportunities created by and limitations inherent to disability rights laws as a means of bridging the increasing digital divide in education and offers starting points for charting a path forward informed by radical anti-ableism and disability justice movement work. | <urn:uuid:ed911c33-9a85-4025-9759-d4435bae49f1> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://drexel.edu/law/lawreview/issues/Archives/v13-4/hankerson_brown/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.947774 | 197 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Understanding alternative dispute resolution for the rural women in Bangladesh: Some illustrations from BRAC HRLS rogram
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During the last decade, Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) gained enormous currency in the rural development arena as an informal justice institution in Bangladesh, and BRAC’s HRLS Program has contributed in the domain of ADR of Bangladesh significantly. This study explored the contribution of ADR of HRLS program in ensuring social justice for the rural poor women in Bangladesh. Data were collected in two phases applying qualitative methods. The first phase observed 26 trial sessions from the legal aid program and in second phase 10 ADR cases were selected to interview regarding parties. ADR provided the functional alternative of traditional shalish to the rural poor women. The study observed the disputes of ADR were the demand for dower and maintenance, the demand for dowry money and assets, regain of conjugal rights and appeal for separation and divorce. But all the cases had a common background in terms of physical torture, mental abuse, not to provide adequate food. The ADR process contributed to providing social protection to the women victims and kept social harmony in a short-range. The process sometimes gets crippled for the weak procedure, alleged as women-biased, lack of skills and resources. Most of the Program Organizers (POs) had no legal background, upgrade knowledge and skills as they often had to apply their common sense and defector experiences in conducting the sessions. In conclusion, it can be said that the whole ADR process has contributed a lot in providing social justice to women. HRLS program can initiate publicity through billboard, miking, TV and radio commercial, cinema hall advertisement for ADR, which may enhance participation and level of awareness and ensure access to information on ADR services. HRLS program also may consider some initiatives to reduce insecurity and vulnerability of the clients during and post ADR period. | <urn:uuid:ccd9f1eb-5bfc-4852-8b31-8c723db12988> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://dspace.bracu.ac.bd/xmlui/handle/10361/15941 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.950581 | 388 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Editor: Peter F. Anthonissen
The fact that we live in a transparent world means that no organization is immune to the threat of a potential crisis . That (a crisis) does not necessarily mean a disaster that occurs. You can significantly limit the damage and sometimes turn it into an opportunity through the right communication. That communication can make or break you.
It is the transparency of communication, where most managers struggle, that allows the organization to create an image of openness. This is most appreciated by the stakeholders, they trust this the most. Preparation, speed, transparency and efficiency are the concepts that are of great importance.
A crisis plan (and a crisis communication plan) is an important asset in the VUCA world. Immunity does not exist, but dealing with a crisis and turning it into an opportunity is an art. Targeted and fast communication can even strengthen the reputation of the organization. Stakeholders and courts judge according to the approach. It is necessary to put people first, for the interests of the company. In that case, the organization often gets a second chance.
Training is essential if you ever need to speak to the media or get on the radio. Preparation is the key to success there too. That sometimes hurts the board members of an organization: they are busy, do not see the usefulness of it, or do not dare to reveal themselves. That can lead to a worsening of the situation when it comes to that.
The chance of being confronted with a crisis increases over time. Why? Which things cause a crisis? Human action errors, errors of judgment, not responding in a timely manner, not anticipating signals, mechanical errors, or simply denying that a crisis can affect anyone. It is also a fact that organizations are increasingly confronted with liability, which they have to make public. The public wants immediate accountability. And she wants to know what is being done about the crisis and how the problems are being tackled.
Some successful crisis communication principles are:
– Always assume the worst case scenario
– Make sure you have a CMP (Crisis Management Plan) and CCP (Crisis Communication Plan)
– Don’t waste time, don’t delay, so prepare
– People always come first
– Speed of reaction to take and keep control of the situation
In addition: learn lessons from the crisis. It is not because the acute crisis situation is over that it is over. Take initiatives so that the same crisis can no longer occur. But also learn from crises that occur in the competition, or even in other sectors. The actions to be taken during a crisis must also be trained. Role plays can help with that. This shows the internal and external environment that the organization takes the crises seriously and is actively preparing. The crisis awareness of the employees is increasing and it is building credit with the public. | <urn:uuid:c523c5b7-fc76-42e7-a271-9242f83f5cf4> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://emannuel.eu/crisis-communication-practical-pr-strategies-for-reputation-management-and-company-survival/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.95605 | 580 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Holding a dead fish, Junior Pereira looks grimly at a puddle that used to be part of Brazil's Xingu river, a mighty Amazon tributary that has been desiccated here by the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam.
Pereira, a member of the Pupekuri Indigenous group, chokes up talking about the impact of Belo Monte, the world's fourth-biggest hydroelectric complex, which locals say is killing one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth and forcing them to abandon their way of life.
"Our culture is fishing, it's the river. We've always lived on what the river provides," says Pereira, 39, who looks like a man trapped between two worlds, wearing a traditional Indigenous necklace and a red baseball cap.
He gazes at the once-flooded landscape, which Belo Monte's water diversion has made a patchwork of puddles dotted with stranded fish.
"We've lost our river," he says.
"Now we have to buy food in the city."
'Like a permanent drought'
Stretching nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), the Xingu ebbs and flows with the rainy season, creating vast "igapos," or flooded forests, that are crucial to huge numbers of species.
They are also crucial to an estimated 25,000 Indigenous people and others who live along the river.
Belo Monte diverts a 100-kilometer stretch of the Xingu's "Volta Grande," or Big Bend, in the northern county of Altamira to power a hydroelectric dam with a capacity of 11,233 megawatts -- 6.2 percent of the total electricity capacity of Latin America's biggest economy.
Built for an estimated 40 billion reais ($7.5 billion) and inaugurated in 2016, the dam diverts up to 80 percent of the river's water, which scientists, environmentalists and residents say is disastrous for this unique ecosystem.
"The dam broke the river's flood pulse. Upstream, it's like it's always flooded. Downstream, it's like a permanent drought," says Andre Oliveira Sawakuchi, a geoscientist at the University of Sao Paulo.
That is devastating fish and turtle populations whose feeding and reproduction cycles depend on the igapos, he says.
Sitting by the Xingu's breathtaking Jericoa waterfalls, which the Juruna people consider sacred, Indigenous leader Giliarde Juruna describes the situation as a clash of worldviews.
"Progress for us is having the forest, the animals, the rivers the way God made them. The progress white people believe in is totally different," says Juruna, 40.
"They think they're doing good with this project, but they're destroying nature and hurting people, including themselves."
Lula under scrutiny
Proposed in the 1970s, Belo Monte was authorized under ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) -- who just won a new term in Brazil's October elections.
As Lula, 77, prepares to take office again on 1 January, the project is drawing fresh scrutiny from those hoping the veteran leftist will fulfill his promise to do a better job protecting the Amazon than outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, who presided over a surge in deforestation.
Touted as a clean-energy source and engine of economic development, Belo Monte has not exactly lived up to expectations.
According to the company that operates it, Norte Energia, the dam's average output this year has been 4,212 megawatts -- less than half its capacity.
A recent study meanwhile found its operations tripled the region's greenhouse gas emissions -- mainly methane released by decomposing forest that was killed by the flooding of the dam reservoir.
A new plan
In 2015, researchers from the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA) conservation group teamed up with the Juruna to document the devastation.
They have devised a new, less-disruptive way for Belo Monte to manage water, the "Piracema" plan -- named for the period when fish swim upriver to spawn.
Researchers say the plan is a relatively small tweak to the dam's current water usage, adapting it to the natural flood cycles.
Brazil's environmental regulator is due to rule soon whether to order Norte Energia to adopt it.
The company declined to comment on the proposal, saying in a statement to AFP that it instead "recognizes the plan established in the plant's environmental licensing."
The decision is vital, says biologist Camila Ribas of the federal government's National Institute for Amazon Research.
"When you completely alter the flood cycle, forests die," she says.
"These are incredibly intricate, interlinked systems. If Belo Monte and other hydroelectric projects disrupt them too much, it could spell the end of the Amazon." | <urn:uuid:85bbb00c-2513-4341-8ab0-8ea8fdf1c6cc> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://en.prothomalo.com/environment/pollution/razhv9zhb0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.953713 | 1,014 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Canine Head Tilts: Why Do They Do It?
Dogs have a special way of communicating with us, often leaving us wondering about their thoughts and feelings. One intriguing behavior that captures our attention is the head tilt.
You've probably noticed your furry friend tilting their head to the side when you speak to them. But why do dogs tilt their heads? In this article, we will delve into this endearing canine behavior and explore the various reasons behind it.
The Head Tilt Phenomenon
Observing the Behavior
The head tilt is an unmistakable canine quirk. When a dog tilts its head, it typically turns its ear toward the source of the sound, indicating an attempt to better understand what's being said. This behavior is often accompanied by a curious expression, leaving us utterly charmed.
Many pet owners have contemplated why dogs tilt their heads. While dogs can't verbally express their curiosity or confusion, researchers have come up with several theories to explain this phenomenon.
One possibility is that it helps them adjust their ears to hear better. It's as if they're fine-tuning their auditory receptors to capture every nuance of sound.
Understanding Canine Communication
To decipher the head tilt, we must consider the broader context of canine communication. Dogs primarily rely on body language to express their emotions and intentions. A head tilt is just one element in their rich repertoire of non-verbal cues.
In addition to body language, dogs also use vocal cues to communicate. Their barks, whines, and howls convey different emotions and needs. The head tilt can be seen as a combination of both auditory and visual communication methods, making it a fascinating aspect of their behavior.
Cognitive and Auditory Factors
One leading theory suggests that dogs tilt their heads to enhance their sound localization skills. By adjusting the position of their ears, they can pinpoint the source of a sound more accurately.
This behavior is particularly pronounced when dogs hear a high-pitched or unfamiliar noise.
Dogs are highly attuned to our emotions, and the head tilt may be their way of displaying empathy or concern. They may tilt their heads in response to our tone of voice or facial expressions, showing their emotional connection with their human companions.
In some cases, a persistent head tilt could be a sign of an underlying health issue. Ear infections can cause discomfort and pain, leading dogs to tilt their heads as a response.
If your dog's head tilt is consistent and seems unrelated to external stimuli, it's essential to consult with a veterinarian.
Dental problems can also result in head tilting. A sore tooth or gum issue may lead your dog to adjust its head position to alleviate discomfort. Regular dental check-ups are crucial for maintaining your pet's oral health.
Training and Bonding
The head tilt is not just a cute behavior; it can also be an opportunity to strengthen the bond between you and your dog. Encouraging this behavior through positive reinforcement can enhance your communication and understanding of each other.
In conclusion, the head tilt is a charming and intriguing behavior displayed by our canine companions. While it's a complex phenomenon with various possible explanations, it's a reminder of the unique and intricate bond we share with our four-legged friends.
Understanding the head tilt enriches our appreciation for the depth of canine communication.
Save this PIN for Later 😊
Don't forget to Follow us on Pinterest and be part of this great community of Pets Lovers! | <urn:uuid:fb77248a-0c43-4ea0-bd67-19cdfa6adcce> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://enjoythepets.com/canine-head-tilts-why-do-they-do-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.947775 | 711 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Percentage Practice Sheet is a ready-to-use excel template which enables the student to practice and easily learn to find the percentage of given numbers.
In addition to the above, you can also conduct a test to check the learning curve. You don’t need to change numbers manually in all cells. It automatically changes numbers between a prescribed range just by clicking a button.
Furthermore, this template also consists of printable sheets which you can give to your child to practice.
Table of Contents
What is the Percentage?
In mathematics, a percentage is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is a club of two words (Per + Cent). “Per” means “Out Of ” and “Cent” means “100” in mathematical language.
% is the sign used for percentage. All percentage amounts can be expressed in fractional and decimal equivalents.
The percentage is the part of of our daily lives. It is used in schools, colleges, business maths, UPSC exams, competitive exams, etc. We and our children must learn this.
Thorough grip over this helps the child to calculate proportionate values in fractions of seconds.
Formula To Calculate Percentage
Let us understand the above formula with some examples.
Example – Calculating Percentage
For example, a test of 5 subjects was taken each having 100 marks. Thus, a total of 500 marks of which a test is taken.
Now the number of marks obtained by any student will be a portion of this number. Let us assume that a student obtained 400 marks.
Thus, applying the above formula, the calculation will be as follows:
400 / 500 X 100 = 80%
Formula to Calculate Percentage Value
Let us understand the above formula with some examples.
Example – Calculating Percentage Value
For example, if there are 200 apples and 20% are rotten. Applying the formula given above, the calculation will be as follows:
200 X 20 / 100 = 40 apples are rotten.
Percentage Practice Sheet Excel Template
To simply the learning process and learn with the play we have created a simple and easy to Percentage Practice Sheet Excel Template with predefined formula and macros.
This sheet helps you to practice percentage and test your knowledge also. In addition to this, it also consists of a printable version which helps to do practice on printed sheets.Click here to Download All Educational Excel Templates for ₹299.
You can download other useful educational templates like Student Study Planner, MCQ Test Sheet, Basic Division Test Sheet, Basic Subtraction Test Sheet, Basic Addition Test Sheet, and Multiplication Table Test Sheet.
Let us discuss the contents of the template in detail.
Contents of Percentage Practice Sheet Excel Template
This template consists of 7 sheets as follows:
- Basic Percentage Practice Sheet.
- Basic Percentage Test Sheet.
- Printable Basic Percentage Practice Sheet.
- Advanced Percentage Practice Sheet.
- Advanced Percentage Test Sheet.
- Printable Advanced Percentage Practice Sheet.
- Tips and Tricks Sheet.
Basic Percentage Practice Sheet
This sheet consists of two tables. Each table consists of 15 sums, that is 30 sums for practicing percentage. The sheet consists of a color pattern that you need to follow.
The cells with dark blue cells have predefined formulas and thus you don’t need to enter any data in it. Make sure you instruct your child for the same.
Above the first table insert the percent you want your child to find for every given number in the table. For example 10%. A formula is applied to the cell adjacent to the answer cell. This identifies whether the answer to the given percentage is right or wrong.
First and foremost, insert a range of numbers that you wish your child to practice. It can be 2,3 or 4 digit. Insert the desired range.
Click the “New Number” button below the range. It will change the questions between the given range. It chooses random numbers from the range and displays it in questions.
Give the sheet to the child to practice. If the answer is right the cell adjacent to answer will display “Good Job” and if the answer is incorrect then it displays “Try Again!” and turns the cell red.
Once your child completes the test, tell them to click on “New Number” button to get another set of questions. Your child can practice until the child and you are satisfied with the learning.
That’s it. Isn’t it so easy for you and also for your child to practice Percentage sums?
Basic Percentage Test Sheet
On completion of practice, it is necessary to test the knowledge of the child. A test sheet has been created for this purpose.
For taking a test. Follow the following steps:
- Insert Range of numbers for the macro to generate the sums.
- Click on “New Numbers” button.
- Hide row 38 to Row 47.
As soon as the child completes the test, unhide the rows and it will display the test results.
Printable Basic Percentage Practice Sheet
In case you are a tutor and want to conduct a test for multiple students, then this printable version of the Basic Practice Sheet is a great option.
You can conduct a test in two ways:
- Giving a similar sheet to your students.
- Giving different sheet to each child to avoid copying.
To give a different sheet:
- Take the first print.
- Click on “New Numbers”
- Take another print.
- Repeat the same to the desired number of sheets required.
Before taking the print, make sure you check the print preview.
Advanced Percentage Practice Sheet
This sheet is different from the basic percentage sheet. In basic, your child finds one percentage for all numbers whereas in this sheet it helps to practice a different percentage for each number. This sheet is for students studying in higher grades as it involves odd number percentage calculations.
In this sheet, there are two ranges, one for the percentage and other for the numbers.
Similar to the above sheet, you need to insert the ranges and click on “New Numbers” button. This will generate the percentage of sums from the given percentage range and number range.
Leave the child with the sheet to practice advanced percentage sums. The cell adjacent to the answer displays “Good Job” if the answer is correct and “Try Again!” if the answer is incorrect.
Click on “New Number” button. This will change the question and your child can practice another set of sums for more practice. Your advanced percentage practice is done.
Advanced Percentage Test Sheet
After practice, comes the task of testing the child’s knowledge. As discussed earlier, this sheet is for elder kids as it has hard sums.
To take a test, just follow the below-given steps:
- Insert range for both, Percentage and numbers that you wish to take.
- Click on “New Numbers”.
- Hide Row 41 to Row 52.
Unhide the rows after the test is complete. This will display the test result. No hassle to make test sheets, check them and calculate marks. All is done by itself.
Printable Advanced Percentage Practice Sheet
Similar to the printable basic practice sheet you can take a test in two ways. One is by printing the same sheet multiple times and second by giving a practice sheet with different questions to each student.
To give a different sheet, you just have to take the first print and click on “New Numbers” and then print. Repeat the same for the desired number of sheets.
Tips and Tricks Sheet
In the end, a sheet with some pro tips has been given which will help you to understand the concept of percentage and give you tricks on how to easily find percentage in fractions of seconds.
These tips are given by profound teachers and make the student faster in calculating the percentage.
We thank our readers for liking, sharing and following us on different social media platforms.
If you have any queries please share in the comment section below. We will be more than happy to assist you. | <urn:uuid:4cd81af9-5876-4570-b350-259a6cd61f91> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://exceldatapro.com/percentage-practice-sheet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.877054 | 1,699 | 3.75 | 4 |
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed “Huey”) is a utility military helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine, with two-blade main and tail rotors.
The first member of the prolific Huey family, it was developed by Bell Helicopter to meet a United States Army‘s 1952 requirement for a medical evacuation and utility helicopter, and first flew in 1956. The UH-1 was the first turbine-powered helicopter to enter production in 1960 for the United States military, and more than 16,000 have been built since.
The Iroquois was originally designated HU-1, hence the Huey nickname, which has remained in common use, despite the official redesignation to UH-1 in 1962. The UH-1 first saw service in combat operations during the Vietnam War, with around 7,000 helicopters deployed. The Bell 204 and 205 are Iroquois versions developed for the civil market.
In 1952, the U.S. Army identified a requirement for a new helicopter to serve as medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), instrument trainer, and general utility aircraft.
The Army determined that current helicopters were too large, underpowered, or too complex to maintain easily. In November 1953, revised military requirements were submitted to the Department of the Army. Twenty companies submitted designs in their bid for the contract, including Bell Helicopter with the Model 204 and Kaman Aircraft with a turbine-powered version of the H-43. On 23 February 1955, the Army announced its decision, selecting Bell to build three copies of the Model 204 for evaluation with the designation XH-40.
While earlier “short-body” Hueys were a success, the Army wanted a version that could carry more troops.
Bell’s solution was to stretch the HU-1B fuselage by 41 in (104 cm) and use the extra space to fit four seats next to the transmission, facing out. Seating capacity increased to 15, including crew. The enlarged cabin could also accommodate six stretchers and a medic, two more than the earlier models. In place of the earlier model’s sliding side doors with a single window, larger doors were fitted which had two windows, plus a small hinged panel with an optional window, providing enhanced access to the cabin. The doors and hinged panels were quickly removable, allowing the Huey to be flown in a “doors off” configuration.
In 1962, the United States Marine Corps held a competition to choose an assault support helicopter to replace the Cessna O-1 fixed-wing aircraft and the Kaman OH-43D helicopter.
The winner was the UH-1B, which was already in service with the Army. The helicopter was designated the UH-1E and modified to meet Marine requirements. The major changes included the use of all-aluminum construction for corrosion resistance,[N 3] radios compatible with Marine Corps ground frequencies, a rotor brake for shipboard use to stop the rotor quickly on shutdown and a roof-mounted rescue hoist.
The United States Air Force‘s (USAF) competition for a helicopter to be used for support on missile bases included a specific requirement to mandate the use of the General Electric T58 turboshaft as a powerplant.
The Air Force had a large inventory of these engines on hand for its fleet of HH-3 Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopters and using the same engine for both helicopters would save costs. In response, Bell proposed an upgraded version of the 204B with the T58 engine. Because the T58 output shaft is at the rear, and was thus mounted in front of the transmission on the HH-3, it had to have a separate offset gearbox (SDG or speed decreaser gearbox) at the rear, and shafting to couple to the UH-1 transmission. | <urn:uuid:0d61f810-1cd2-4a30-9937-42bfd5ab0bdf> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://flythehuey.co.za/about/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.967367 | 801 | 3.375 | 3 |
Food safety is nothing but utilizing various resources in order to ensure that all types of foods are properly started, prepared and preserved. Hence, they are safe for consumption. Internal auditing should be conducted on a repeated to make external auditing a smooth-running process. The priority should lie in maximizing food sales, and giving away or selling foods past their prime involved risks that may undermine sales. Times have moved on towards reaching perfection with technology being updated almost every passing hour in the twenty-four. Food wastage, in more than a certain method is gripping problem in the rising scientific scenario. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) admits, wastage of food has become a perilous question and an issue in our society affecting both poor and rich nations. Food wasting also means wasting “the time and energy” of producing and procuring food, our natural resources and the available land for agriculture. It has a very big and deep and everlasting impact on the economics of a nation affecting the overall greenhouse gas emission. Our focus in this review paper is to create social awareness by reducing food wastage and recycling wasted food wasted through embedded systems. | <urn:uuid:50393618-63d4-4a03-8ba9-e38386071cf3> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://food-chemistry-technology-conferences.magnusgroup.org/program/scientific-program/2022/food-wastage-and-disorganized-management-a-new-age-concern | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.952323 | 232 | 3.171875 | 3 |
From its nascent stages, the <strong>Internet of Things (IoT) has become an integral part of our daily lives, with IoT development driving innovation at an unprecedented rate. As a result, this vast web of interconnected smart devices, embedded with sensors and software, enables seamless data exchange. This has opened a world filled with possibilities for automation, in-depth analytics, and user-centric experiences.
The Profound Impact on Personal Lives
The penetration of IoT in our personal lives is deep and expanding rapidly. Smart thermostats that intuitively adjust room temperatures based on our habits, wearable fitness trackers that not only monitor our health metrics but also provide actionable insights, and voice-activated assistants catering to our every need, exemplify how IoT tailors our experiences to individual preferences. Beyond mere convenience, IoT emphasizes enhancing our quality of life, ensuring safety, and promoting proactive health and wellness.
Revolutionizing Various Industries
IoT’s influence is reshaping industries, bringing about transformative shifts:
Healthcare: Beyond remote monitoring, IoT facilitates predictive analytics, leading to early intervention and personalized medicine. This not only improves patient outcomes but also reduces healthcare costs.
Agriculture: Smart farming driven by IoT allows for micro-level field analysis. Sensors track everything from soil quality to pest activity, ensuring optimal resource use and maximizing yields.
Retail: IoT transforms shopping experiences. Smart shelves, dynamic pricing, and AR-based try-ons are just a few innovations enhancing the retail landscape.
Transportation: Beyond smart cities, IoT plays a pivotal role in developing autonomous vehicles. Real-time data exchange ensures safer, more efficient transportation modes.
Elevating Home Environments
Our living spaces have been transformed into responsive environments. Smart lighting systems not only adjust to natural light but also sync with our biological clocks. Intelligent refrigerators plan meals based on available ingredients, while security systems use facial recognition to offer selective access, ensuring unparalleled safety and convenience.
Challenges and Prospects Ahead
With IoT’s monumental growth come pressing concerns, predominantly data privacy and security. Ensuring encrypted data transfers, robust firewall protections, and user consent transparency are essential. But with challenges come opportunities. As edge computing and 5G technology gain momentum, IoT devices’ capabilities will surge, ushering in a new era of hyper-connectivity.
Business Advantages Stemming from IoT Development
IoT offers businesses more than just a competitive edge—it promises transformation. Real-time data insights facilitate predictive decision-making, optimized operations, and personalized customer interactions. By leveraging IoT, businesses can anticipate market shifts, refine supply chains, and foster innovation, ensuring not just survival but dominance in their sectors.
IoT and the Blueprint for Sustainable Living
Sustainability and IoT go hand in hand. Smart grids balance and distribute energy consumption, solar panels equipped with IoT devices maximize energy generation based on weather patterns, and IoT-enabled waste management systems optimize recycling processes, propelling us towards a more sustainable future.
Envisioning the Future of IoT
The future holds immense promise for IoT. With global tech conglomerates channeling resources into <strong>IoT development and startups introducing novel solutions, we’re on the brink of a world where everything from our coffee makers to entire cities will be interconnected, adaptive, and intelligent.
In sum, the Internet of Things (IoT), propelled by advanced IoT development, is a transformative force. It’s not merely about devices talking to each other & mdash ; it’s about creating a harmonious, responsive, and sustainable ecosystem that enhances every facet of our existence. | <urn:uuid:b08fb1a0-ce56-461a-ba85-e4f79439adf2> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://forbesnewshub.com/transforming-everyday-life-how-iot-development-is-changing-the-game/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.869371 | 747 | 2.515625 | 3 |
But how close are we to actually achieving equal rights for women?
In spite of sub-zero temperatures, rain, sleet and snow, thousands of women around the world marked the one year anniversary of the Women’s March in protest of Donald Trump’s presidency.
One year in and things have moved on. Time’s Up took centre stage as the global surge against sexism, sexual harassment and assault continues to boil over. This kinetic energy, which has carried both a grass roots movement in #MeToo and a more organised establishment elite initiative in Time’s Up, have been the product of ‘a year in our lives’ which began with the election of Trump, and ended in revelations about Harvey Weinstein.
As British Labour Co-operative politician Stella Creasy said when she took to the stage yesterday: “A year ago, everyone told us this was a flash in the pan. They said women will march and then they’ll go home and nothing will change. That’s the point.
“Everything has to change because #MeToo isn’t just some hashtag, it’s saying we’re not going to cope any more, we’re going to change the rules.”
In her speech Creasy announced that a Time’s Up fund, similar to the one launched by a collective of Hollywood women, would be started in the UK so that women from all backgrounds can have access to resources to pay legal costs when pursuing sexual harassment or assault claims.
Those who argued that the momentum of 2017’s Women’s March couldn’t be sustained have been proven wrong, the public discussions we are now having about sexism in Western society are testament to that. It was always bigger than Donald Trump.
In a year when we will celebrate the centenary of (some women) being awarded the vote because of a hard-fought campaign by the women of the suffragette movement, we must not overlook how much work there is still to be done.
Indeed, as polling from Ipsos Mori has found most men and women do not think that their governments are doing enough to promote equal opportunities for women. Surveying people in 23 countries, they found that less than half of women surveyed (45%) think they have equal opportunities to men, while six in ten (60%) men think they do.
In many places around the world, women around the world still do not have basic human rights. In England, women are scrutinised for not regularly showing support for their neighbours in Northern Ireland who are still yet to be granted the abortion rights that they’ve had since 1967.
Where were they when protests took place outside the Irish embassy last year? What did they do when it was reported that the gender pay gap won’t close until 2069? How often do they join the likes of Sisters Uncut en masse when they stage feminist actions on domestic violence?
Alongside equal education, free contraception and abortion on demand, one of the demands of the first ever national conference on the Women’s Liberation Movement in Oxford, which took place in 1970, was free 24-hour childcare. We know, beyond a doubt, that the gender pay gap is explicitly linked to both the financial and temporal cost of childcare. We know that other countries offer women a better deal but there are also women elsewhere in the world that still don’t have the freedoms and rights we have been taking for granted.
It is fitting and important that Time’s Up took centre stage at the Women’s March London. If Time’s Up and #MeToo are the legacy of last year’s marches then we can all be reassured that change is – albeit slowly – coming, but, we shouldn’t be complacent and we must keep asking ourselves what more we can do as individuals to help those women who can’t march on a cold Sunday in London – or anywhere else in the world. It’s not enough to turn up once a year.
Words: Victoria Spratt
Photos: Getty Images
This article originally appeared on thedebrief.co.uk | <urn:uuid:e7181a28-f2c9-4115-ae54-5cbd4aec4c8b> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://fq.co.nz/womens-march-2018-one-year-on-womens-rights/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.970212 | 860 | 2.59375 | 3 |
BALLB sample question answer Liberty and law: In this post you will read about Explain relations between Liberty and Law, Define law. Also explain the main sources of law,Discuss relations between Law and Morality, Law and Public Opinion ,Explain how liberty can be safeguarded ?
LIBERTY AND LAW
Q. 1. Explain relations between Liberty and Law.
Ans. Relations between Liberty and Law or Sovereign. Liberty is available only in the state. Outside the state there can be no liberty. State defines and protects liberty without which it becomes meaningless. Now the question arises what is the relation of liberty with law and sovereignty. There are two opposite views on this point. Some scholars as of the view that both are opposed to one another, where there is
law there is not liberty and more the laws less the liberty. But other view is that liberty and laws are closely related to one another, where there is no law there is no liberty.
Liberty and Law are opposed to each other. There are scholars who say that liberty and laws are opposed to each other. According to them where there is law there is no liberty because laws put restriction on the actions of the individual and also compel them to do something they do not like or they do not want to do. Individualists and Anarchists are of this view and say that laws limit the liberty of the individual. Individualists want to minimise the functions of the state to maximise liberty o the individual and Anarchists want to do away with the state. According to them, that government is best which governs the least. J.S. Mill was of this view. According to him, “Mankind are much gainer by allowing each other to do what seems good to themselves, than by compelling each other to do as seems good to the rest.” Godwin says that law is the most harmful for individual liberty.
Liberty and Law are related to each other. But these days the above view is not accepted by most of the scholars. Those who consider liberty and law as opposed to each other, do not know the real meaning of liberty. Liberty does not mean absence of all restraints. Liberty is the existence of reasonable restrictions on the actions of man in place of unreasonable ones. Liberty means the freedom to do something worth doing. It is the law which defines liberty and protects it. It is the law which puts reasonable restrictions and creates an atmosphere in which every individual can enjoy liberty. Laski has rightly said, “Where there is no law, there is not freedom.” Where there is no law freedom can be enjoyed only by the rich and mighty, nor by the poor and the weak. It is the law which does not let the stronger encroach upon the liberty of the weaker.
According to Hockings, “The greater the liberty a person desires, the greater is the authority 10 which the should submit himself.” There. can be no liberty outside the state. In a state of nature only the physical power or brute force survives. But in state even the weak enjoys liberty. According to Ritche, “Liberty in the sense of positive opportunity for self development, is the creation of the law and not something that could exist apart from the action of the state.” T.H. Green has rightly said, “Much modern legislation interferes with the freedom of contract in order to maintain the conditions without which a free exercise of the human faculties is impossible” and accordingly he has said that the function of
the state is to hinder hindrances. According to Rousseau, “Obedience to a law which we prescribe to ourselves is liberty.” According to Gettel, “Liberty in any real and dependable sense in possible only if sovereignty exists and becomes more perfect as sovereignity is more completely… organised.”
Thus it can be safely said that law and liberty have close relation and can be summed up as under :
(1) Liberty in the real sense is positive, not absolute or negative. (2) Liberty is possible only in a state, not outside the state. (3) Liberty is created, defined and protected by law.
(4) Laws are.csscntial for enjoyment of liberty because laws create peace and order.
(5) Laws create that atmosphere in which development of human personality is possible and that is also the aim of liberty.
Does every law protect libérty ? Are all laws helpful to liberty ? All laws are not always good. In a democratic set up generally the laws protect and enhance liberty. But in a despotic state, laws are made to crush the liberty of the individuals. During British regime the Government of India made many laws which were against our liberty and interest and they were opposed. Thus only good laws are supplementary to and protector of liberty. Gettel has said that the excess of laws also destroys liberty and excess of liberty also creates anarchy.
At the end it can be concluded that liberty has close relatior, with law and sovereignty. Ultimate aim of both is the same – welfare of the individual and society, development of personality of citizens.*
Table of Contents
Q. 2. Define law. Also explain the main sources of law.
Ans. Law. Man has to act according to law. He cannot act otherwise. Peaceful life is not possible in the society in the absence of laws. It is the jaw that regulates various relationships in the society, protects the life and property of the people, maintains peace and order, delines and protects individual liberty.
Meaning and Definition of Law. Law has been derived from the Teutonic word ‘Lag’ which means definite, permanent. It means definite rule. Thus ordinarily those rules of the society which are definite and are enforced by the state are called laws.
Various definitions of law are given below : According to Woodrow Wilson, “Law is that portion of established thought and habit which has gained distinct and formal recognition in
the shape of uniform rules backed by the authority and power of govemment,”
In the words John Austin, “Law is a command given by a superior to an inferior.”
Holland says, “Law is the general rule of external human action enforced by a sovereign political authority.”
According to Salmond, law is “The body of principles recognised and applied by the state in administration of Justice.”
According to T.H. Green law is “The system of rights and obligations which the state enforces.”
Feature of Law. On the basis of the various definitions of law it can be said that laws are the rules which the state recognises and enforces in respect of various relationships in the society and which are applied in the administration of justice. Following are the main features of law : .
1. Law exist in the state, not outside the state. There can be no law. without the state.
2. Law is concerned only with the external actions of individuals. It is not concerned with his internal actions. It regulates only external behaviour of the individuals.
3. Laws are made, recognised and enforced by the state.
4. Laws are definite and universal. !.aws are applicable to all the members of the society. Law is not made for a particular individual.
5. Laws are made to regulate the various human relations in the society for social good, for peace and order, for the protection of life, property and liberty of the people. I
: 6. Law has the force of the state behind it. If an individual violates the law, he is liable to be punished by the state.
Sources of Law. Generally the law are made by the legislative wings of the government, but there are some other sources also, which make the laws. Following are the main sources of law :
1. Customs and Tradition. Most of the laws have their origin in customs and traditions. i. is the most ancient source of law. In the beginning the members of the society maintained their relations on customs and traditions. Customs and traditions are those rules which have developed with the passage of time on account of their usefulness. When some disputes arise about these customs and traditions, due to changing circumstances, the government has to step in. It defines them, makes them certain and gives them the shape of law. No government,
however despotic, can dare to make laws against the customs and traditions. Most of the laws are based on customs and traditions. – Common law of England is based on customs and traditions.
2. Religion. Another important source of law from the ancient times has been religion. It plays an important role in the life of man. People do not obey a law which is against their religious beliefs. A custom or tradition when supported by religion is obeyed most. In ancient times. laws were made according to religious beliefs. There was a time when even the king had to seek recognition from religious head. There used to be Priest Kings. Even today many laws are based on religion, particularly laws relating to marriage, divorce, succession and irheritance. India has Hindu Law, Muslim Law, etc. It is an important sources of law.
3. Judicial Decisions. In modern times judicial decisions are an: important source of law. Law courts decide disputes that are presented.before them, according to the laws. While doing so they have to interpret. the laws and make the laws clear and definite. Sometimes through interpretation of laws, they give a new shape to the laws, Decisions and interpretations given by the law courts become precedents, and take the shape of law for the people and the law courts for future cases. Through its decisions judiciary creates many new laws.
4. Equity. Equity is another source of law from ancient times. – Many times the court has to hear novel type of cases about which there is no law in force. Such cases are decided by the court on equity, which means fairness, justice, honesty, impartiality. That case is decided on the basis of what appears to be just to the court in the circumstances of the case and the laws in force. The decision given on equity, becomes law for similar types of cases for future. . .
5. Scientific Commentaries by Jurists. Eminent jurists, advocates, scholars and experts on constitutional law give their opinion and commentaries on existing laws, their positive and negative points, scope of amendments in the laws, and desirability of some new laws. These commentaries have their impact on the politicians, law-makers and even on the judiciary. These commentaries play an important role in making, unmaking or changing the laws.
6. Legislature. In the modern times, legislature is the most important source of law. Every government has its legislative wing which makes new laws, unmakes outdated laws and also makes changes in The laws according to the need of time. In democracies the legislatures
are composed of members elected by the people. These elected representatives make laws according to public opinion and have to give due consideration to the customs and traditions, religious beliefs and need of time. Thus people themselves make the laws through their representatives.
Q. 3. Discuss relations between Law and Morality, Law and Public Opinion :
Ans. Law regulates the relations between the individuals, between the individuals and the state. We cannot think of a state without law because it is through the laws that the will of the state is expressed and fulfilled and peace and order is maintained. It creates that atmosphere in the society in which the individual can attain his best self. Law are obeyed because they are good, they are for the benefit of the individuals, because they protect the life and property of the people, and they are liked by them. Laws have also relation with morality and public opinion. Law contrary to morality and public opinion are not easily obeyed by the people.
A. Relation between Law and Morality
Political science and Ethics have close relation and in the same. way law and morality are closely related. There has been close relation between the two in the ancient times and even today. Before the emergence of state, the people used to regulate their relations according to the principles of morality. Later the state recognised many principles of morality and gave them the name of laws. In ancient Greece the end of the state was considered to be the highest moral development of the people. According to Plato, “The best state is that which is nearest in virtue to the individual.” Morality has great impact on the life of the individual and even affects his conscience. Individual do not want to do anything against his conscience. He wants to do only that thing which is morally good. Moral principles are for the development of the life of individual and that is the aim of the law also. According to Foy what is morally wrong cannot be a politically right. Ivor Brown considers political science to be a developed form of Ethics. Moral principles are incomplete in the absence of political principles and political principles are meaningless is not accompanied by moral principles. According to Gilchrist”…. The acts of the state must have an integral connection with the moral end of man.” Laws should be such that help in the fullest moral development of the life of the individual. A law which is in conformity with the moral principles will be willingly obeyed by the
people. Any law which is against the morality will not be con good by the people and will be resisted.
Difference between Law and Morality. But there is also a d difference between the two. The difference is clear from the following: points :
(1) Scope of morality is wider than that of the law. Morality touches the whole life of man, his external as well as internal actions. Morality tells us not even to think evil of others. But law is concerned only with the external actions of the man. Law is not concerned with what the man thinks. L (2) Morality has no legal sanction behind it. It means if a man acts contrary to moral principles he cannot be punished by a law court. But law has legal sanction behind it. If a law is violated law courts punish the person who has violated the law.
(3) Law is more clear and definite as compared to principles of morality. Many times moral principles are vague, indefinite and not clear. People can have different opinions about moral principles. But law is written definite and clear.
(4) Moral principles are not uniform and universal. One moral principles does not apply to all the people everywhere. They can differ from man to man and from place to place. But laws are the same and apply equally all the people. What is illegal in one part of the territory of a state cannot be legal in another part.
(5) There are some acts of the people which can be against the law but may not be against morality. For example if a man breaks traffic rule, he can be punished by law but morality has nothing to do with it. There are some actions which are against morality but may not be against the law. To think evil of others is against moral principles but it has nothing to do with the law.
Conclusion. We can conclude that law and morality are different from one another, but are closely related. A law based on moral principles will be widely obeyed and will give good results. A law against moral principles will be disobeyed. Similarly law defines principles of morality and protects them by giving them legal shape. Where there appear some defects in moral principles, law tries to remove these defects. Both are complementary to on another.. B. Relation between Law and Public Opinion
Law and Public Opinion are also closely related. Laws are based liron public opinion. Public opinion is the opinion of the majority of
the society but is for the good of the whole society. What is good as the whole society is naturally liked by the society and the law accordance with the good of the whole society will be respected and obeyed by the society. People obey laws “not because of the fear of punishment, but because it is for their benefit, for their welfare, laws protect their life and property, because they create peace and order, because they create an atmosphere in which individual can make his fullest development. According to T.H. Green “will, not force, is the basis of the state.” It means the state is based on the will of the people and the laws are based on the public opinion. If a law is made against the public opinion, the people will considerate harmful and will resist it, will defy it. Even in a despotic state, laws made against public opinion cannot last long, somewhere they are opposed earlier, somewhere they are opposed later. In a democracy, the government which does not make laws according to public opinion and does not run the administration according to their wishes, is bound to fail and is not voted to power again. People oppose bad laws and even agitate to get them repealed. According to Hume all governments. however bad they may be, are ultimately based on public opinion for their authority. No government, however powerful it may be, can stand against public opinion. A law is obeyed only when the people feel convinced that it is in their benefit. Thus it is clear that law and public opinion are closely related and laws have the ultimate sanction of public opinion behind them.”
Q. 4. Explain how liberty can be safeguarded ?
Ans. Liberty is very essential for the development of life of individual. But it always remains in danger. Generally the executive and unsocial elements always try to interfere with the liberty of individual. It needs many safeguards and it is said that constant vigilance is the price of liberty and it is not easy to keep liberty protected. A democratic set up is essential for giving and protecting liberty of the individuals. Many other steps have also to be taken for safeguarding the liberty.
Safeguards of Liberty
Following steps. should be taken for the safeguard of liberty :
1. Democratic set up. Democracy is the first essential step for the safeguard of liberty. It is only in a democratic set up their liberty can be given to the people to the maximum extent. In other forms of government so much liberty is not given to the citizens. Liberty and equality are two main pillars of democracy. In a monarchy or in a
despotic government individuals are given minimum liberty. In democracy the representatives to the people run the administration, they are responsible to the people and they cannot easily encroach upon liberty..
2. Declaration of Fundamental Rights. It is desirable that the rights and liberties of the people should be constitutionally declared and protected. According to Laski, liberty is the credit of rights. When the rights are included in the constitution, they become well known and it becomes difficult for the executive or the legislature to encroach upon them. Declaration of the fundamental rights in the constitution also minimizes the possibility of making frequent change in them. They remain protected also because the judiciary would not let any encroachment upon such rights.
3. Decentralisation of Powers. Decentralisation of powers also safeguards liberty. Concentration of powers in the hands of the one person or a body is bound to make him or that body tyrannical. Concentration of powers leads to dictatorship. More decentralised the powers are, more safeguarded the liberty of the people remains. Powers of administration should be distributed amongst as many bodies as possible, for example in central government, provincial government, local bodies like municipal committees and village panchayats. Exercise of powers by the local bodies creates and promotes consciousness of liberty amongst the people and that also helps in the safeguard of liberty.
4. Separation of Powers. Theory of separation of powers. is also helpful in the safeguard of liberty Concentration of all three powers – legislative, executive and judicial in the hands of one person is very harmful for liberty and for democracy. It makes the person despotic. Judicial and executive powers must be separated from one another. If the same person is allowed to exercised both executive and judicial powers, he will act arbitrarily and the liberty of the individual cannot remain unassected. Madison has rightly said that the concentration of all the three powers in the hands of the same person or body of persons is the very definition of tyranny and in tyranny there is no room for liberty.
5. Rule of Law. To safeguard liberty it is desirable that the principle of rule of law should be adopted, not the rule of man. It means that There should be no person above law and all persons irrespective of
their status in the administration and in the society should be equal in the eyes of law and equal laws should apply to all. All person should be equally liable to be punished for the violation of law. There should be no privileged class in the society. According to MacIver, the rule of law creates a feeling amongst the people that the government is a part of the society and will work according to law. Rule of law is an essential safeguard of liberty.
6. Independent and Impartial Judiciary. To keep liberty safeguard it is also very important to establish independent and impartial judiciary. Whenever the individual is wronged and cannot get justice al the hands of the executive, he knocks at the door of judiciary. If the judiciary is under the influence and pressure of the executive or is not impartial due to some other reason, it cannot give justice and the liberty of the people will become meaningless. Judiciary has always played the role of the protector of liberty and rights of the people and this can be done by an independent and impartial judiciary.
7. Free and Impartial Press. Press is the watchdog of rights and liberties of citizen in democracy. Whenever the executive makes an attempt to curb the liberty of the people or the legislature tries to make law dangerous for liberty, it is the press that has to raise voice against it, creates public opinion and compel the executive or legislature not to go ahead with its proposal. Free and impartial press imparts political education to the people and keeps them vigilant. If the press is neither free no impartial liberty of the people will vanish soon.
8. Economic Equality and Security. Liberty and equality go together. Political liberty in the absence of economic equality is a mere myth. Laski has said, “Were there are rich and poor, educated and uneducated, we always find a relation of master and slave.” A poor man cannot enjoy his liberty. Every man should be sure of minimum standard of living, he should be sure of good conditions of work and economic security in case of illness, old age and disablement. A poor man does not enjoy even social liberty and social equality. Mathew Arnold has said, “Economic inequality materialises over upper class, vulgarises over-middle class and brutalises over lower class.” Where there is much gap between the rich and the poor, there can be no liberty for the poor.
9. Well organised Political Parties. Political parties also play an important role in the safeguard of liberty. Opposition parties act as
watchdog on the activities of the ruling party and are ready to criticise its every wrong step. They criticise the government whenever it tries to encroach upon the liberty of the people. But the political parties should be disciplined, well organised and should be based on sound political and economic basis. Parties based on communal, regional and linguistic basis can be harmful to the nation. ;
10. Vigilance of the People. According to Laski, “Etemal : vigilance is the price of liberty.” The real and most effective safeguard of liberty is the vigilance of the people. If they are conscious and alert about their freedom and are ever ready to raise their voice against any encroachment on it, nobody can dare destroy it. Whenever the citizen are careless or indifferent about their rights and freedom, some one or the other will take them away. Laski has said , “The threat of contingent march is a safeguard against the abuse of government.” In the opinion of Jafferson, “No country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that the people preserve the spirit of resistance.” Laski has also said, “It is the proud spirit of the citizens, rather than the letter of the law, that is the most real safeguard of liberty.” | <urn:uuid:cbb0420d-bd2b-410d-83e9-06eabb815787> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://freegooglenotes.com/ba-llb-sample-question-answer-liberty-and-law/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.970958 | 5,000 | 3.34375 | 3 |
MULTILATERALISM & CLIMATE CHANGE
What will it take for the US to embrace a multilateral approach to confront climate change? In your answer, please consider:
Overall US attitudes toward multilateralism and global governance
What terms for a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol might the US find acceptable?
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (n.d.) (UNFCCC), climate change is a complex problem. It touches all aspects of our lives, be it environmental or our very purpose in this world. We need to educate one another on the impacts of climate change globally. The centre of this environmental issue as agreed by everyone is the need to reduce emissions. In 2010, the countries in the UNFCCC had reached a consensus that the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be reduced and managed in such a way that global temperature does not see any hike by more than 2 degrees Celsius.
It is clear that global warming is a serious issue. The American public and the rest of the world saw Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. So why did the US fail to legislate a policy on climate change? According to Skjaerseth, Bang & Schreurs, (2013), there are three possible explanations on this matter, namely, differences in agenda-setting privileges, potential for issue linkages and law-making procedures and formal leadership. Agenda-setting privileges refer to the setup of lawmakers in the US. The lawmakers have to tip the balance between promoting an agenda for greater good in the interest of the constituencies and getting a re-election. Issue linkages essentially involve a joint negotiation of two or more issues where it is believed that linkages can improve the chance of an agreement. Lastly, the law-making procedures, these are the political institution settings. The American setting is such that the bill sponsors or the leaders who champion the policy proposal have to trade off rules, procedures and norms in the legislature with the home state economics, in order to arrive at a winning coalition. The US Senate is represented by states which have different interests individually. For instance, coal, agricultural and manufacturing states are commonly against carbon pricing as it adds to their production costs.
One may tempt to accuse the US as pure selfish for not acting in concerted effort to stem global warming. The US is the world’s largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter and yet it refused to join the multilateral effort of the Kyoto Protocol (KP). 191 countries and the European Union signed the KP cooperation to curtail the average global temperature hikes and the consequential change in global climate. The developed member countries of the KP are legally bound to achieve a target in emission reduction in the KP’s first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. In December 2012, the Doha Amendment to the KP was adopted which launched a second commitment period, starting on 1 January 2013 until 2020.
KP was governed by the UNFCCC, see UNFCCC (1997). Because of the higher level of GHG emissions are caused by the developed countries, the KP is therefore binding on these countries to achieve those set target. The developed countries have contributed to more GHGs in the atmosphere since they have gone through more than 150 years of industrialisation, hence the heavier burden.
Why was the US unable to embrace multilateralism? Multilateralism can be defined as the practice of coordinating national policies in groups of three or more states, through ad-hoc arrangements or by means of institutions (Keohane, 1990). Since the commencement of the KP, the European Union (EU) has been successful in legislating KP in its member states. According to Skjaerseth, Bang & Schreurs, (2013), the EU, in December 2008, has passed a comprehensive legislation on the 20-20-20 targets. They called for a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emission, a 20% increase in the share of renewable energies in overall energy consumption and a 20% cut in primary energy consumption.
So why didn’t the United States become a party to the KP? US President Bill Clinton signed the 1997 KP but never submitted it for Senate consideration. This example of a failure by the US to ratify an environmental treaty is not exceptional. The US Department of State (n.d.)’s website reported of many major multilateral environmental agreements that had failed to achieve ratification from the Senate.
According to Hovi et.al. (2010), the way the KP was designed, it stood no chance of getting any ratification from US Senate. In 1997, five months before the KP meeting, the Senate passed the Byrd–Hagel resolution (Byrd–Hagel). In 2001, President Bush echoed the sentiments of Byrd–Hagel: ‘I oppose the Kyoto Protocol because it exempts 80% of the world, including major population centers such as China and India, from compliance, and would cause serious harm to the US economy.
What would it take for the US to have a hand in the global governance of climate change? It has after all made itself the world’s policeman in some war-torn areas. It had negotiated responses to problems that affect more than one country. So clearly, the US has no qualm in embracing global governance then. Now, what would it take for the US to change its mind on joining KP in its second commitment period? Will it enter the fray if developing countries like China and India sign up? Or does it take an international embargo on these major GHGs to reduce their carbon footprints? Hovi & Skodvin (2008) concludes that any efforts to seek the US to sign up with the successor of the KP are likely to fail. One main reason is that the US cannot be threatened to sign on any trade or technology cooperation as the threat would just be unbelievable.
A common approach by the U.S. is “to act first at home and then to build on it at a global level”, see Purvis (2004). So instead of facing the divided government and upcoming elections, the US lawmakers can focus on its own internal environmental regime. This federal climate policy can mimic the KP’s requirement that is to reduce the GHG emissions to 7% below 1990. Successful policies were implemented nationwide on the renewable energy. While others agreed on cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emission from power plants. This way, perhaps the American public would be more inclined to push for the US’ role in international level.
The key to the success of the implementation of the KP lies on its effective compliance commitment by the member countries. Therefore the world leaders have to come together and decide if confronting the issue of global warming is indeed a priority. If they are worried about the loss of economic bargaining chips, the same can be said about the potential from creating renewable energy sources and making them available to the world. So KP is an excellent platform for the world communities to embark on this green mission to preserve planet earth.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (n.d.). Background on the UNFCCC: The international response to climate change. Retrieved from:
Skjaerseth J.B., Bang G & Schreurs M.A. (2013). Explaining Growing Climate Policy Differences Between European Union and the United States. Global Environmental Politics Vol. 13, No.4. p. 61-80.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (1997). Kyoto Protocol.
Retrieved from: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php
Keohane, R.O. (1990). Multilateralism: an agenda for research. International Journal Vol. 45, No. 4. p. 731-764.http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sageltd Retrieved from:
US Department of State. (n.d.) Treaties Pending in the Senate (updated as of May 7, 2014). Retrieved from: www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/pending/index.htm
Hovi, J, Sprinz, D.F. and Bang, G. (2010). Why the United States did not become a party to the Kyoto Protocol: German, Norwegian, and US perspectives. European Journal of International Relations. DOI: 10.1177/1354066110380964
Hovi, J & Skodvin, T. (2008). Which Way to U.S. Climate Cooperation? Issue Linkage versus a U.S.-Based Agreement. Review of Policy Research. Volume 25, Issue 2, p. 129–148.
Purvis, N. (2004). The perspective of the United States on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol. International Review for Environmental Strategies 5(1). P. 169–178. | <urn:uuid:2e8b7518-5f0b-45fa-b376-332f49412d29> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://fromemuseum.org/multilateral-approach-to-climate-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.931222 | 1,837 | 3.078125 | 3 |
After the Bolshevik Revolution, Bolsheviks inherited a vast multinational empire. The Soviet Union inherited the Russian Empire’s multiethnic character. Composing just over half the population, ethnic Russians shared the world’s first socialist state with more than 100 minorities, some numbering in the millions and others numbering in the low thousands. Some, such as the Poles, were Westernized and urbanized. Others, such as the peoples of the Caucasus and Siberia, lived in small villages and tribal-based societies. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Jews all inhabited Russia and had needs that presented challenges to any state. The problem of what to do with all these different ethnic groups in the new state formed the center of the “nationality question.” In order to promote the integration of the non-Russians into the Soviet state, Lenin’s nationality policy was practical and flexible enough. Unlike the late tsarist era, when non-Russian ethnic groups were discriminated by the imperial regime, the nationalities enjoyed formal political equality. This was seen as an important requirement for obtaining equal socioeconomic and cultural rights across various peoples and helping less developed nationalities to overcome their backwardness. Lenin believed that this strategy would eliminate ethnic discrepancies and settle the “nationalities question” for good and Lenin advocated recognition of the various peoples of the old empire as separate nationalities. In the localities the Soviet authorities pursued the policy of “indigenization” (korenizatsiia), designed to increase steadily the proportion of the representatives of the indigenous nationality in the local party and state administration. In addition, during the 1920s, the center actively co-opted representatives of non-Russian elites into central governing bodies. Moreover, the early nationalities policy of the Bolshevik government displayed considerable tolerance of non-Russian languages and cultures and even systematically encouraged the development of “minor” languages. All this helped expand the ranks of non-Russian educated elites and led to a flowering of literature, the arts, and sciences in some of the republics and national autonomies.
Korenizatsiia set the stage for the Soviet Union’s current crisis of authority among the non-Russians. As an integrated linguistic, cultural, and personnel policy it sought to legitimate multiculturalism in the Soviet Union without creating multiple centers of power. The implementation of this policy during the dislocation wrought by industrialization raised the prestige of non-Russian languages and cultures and created the social bases necessary for multiculturalism. The establishment of multiple official languages and creation of social bases of support for them guaranteed “long-term or permanent linguistic division”. Korenizatsiia, in effect, “institutionalized and legitimated linguistic conflict and thus maintained it and perpetuated it”.
The liberal language policies and the indigenization drive endured until the mid-1930s, helping to enlist the support of broad sections of non-Russian populations for the party and the Communist regime. More controversially, they accelerated the process of nation building among major nationalities and nudged some of the minor ones in the same direction. The “indigenized” administrations tended toward greater independence from the center and craved greater national and cultural autonomy. They became breeding grounds for the spread of national communism in the republics as the desire to combine Communist ideas with national traditions. Contrary to the expectations of the Communist authorities, their policies did not do away with nationalism, but gave rise to nationalist ideologies and to gradual consolidation of nationalities into nations. It was clear that the evolving national elites would not remain content for long with formal equality and would sooner or later claim greater political rights to complement their cultural and language rights.Between 1933 and 1938, korenizatsiia was not actually repealed. Its provisions merely stopped being enforced. There also began purges of the leaderships of the national republics and territories. The charge against non-Russians was that they had instigated national strife and oppressed the Russians or other minorities in the republics. In 1937 it was proclaimed that local elites had become hired agents and their goal had become dismemberment of the Soviet Union. Stalin’s radical policies were accompanied by purges among republican elites to curb any nationalist tendencies and “deviations.” They soon escalated into an all-encompassing wave of terror that peaked in 1936-38. It dealt a crushing blow to the administrative elites in the republics. The terror affected the elites of all nationalities, but its consequences in the union republics were particularly severe as it undermined many of the achievements of indigenization. Stalin’s policies and the methods used to enforce them to a great extent put a chill on the process of nation building that had begun in the 1920s. As a result of the Stalin revolution, many of the ideological imperatives of the Soviet nationality policy were transformed. In the 1920s the party leadership had sought to eradicate all vestiges of the imperial mentality of Russians, derided as “Great Russian Chauvinism.” Now the emphasis was reversed, and local nationalism was perceived a much bigger threat. The calls for international solidarity of proletarians were replaced by the new integrating ideology of Soviet patriotism and by the leader’s cult.
Yuri Slezkine has described the USSR as a “communal apartment” in which each national group had its own “room”. To be sure, not all “rooms” were of the same size or importance. It should be noted, however, that to the very end of its existence the USSR remained at least rhetorically, but also in many practical ways, committed to the idea of cultural diversity. Russian culture was certainly “first among equals – primus inter pares”, but a certain space was always granted to non-Russian language and culture. The Soviet Union was a communal apartment, where each of the national republics had a separate room. They could decorate the room however they liked. They got to make the major decisions, but never pretended that they owned the apartment. He gives details the “Great Transformation” of 1928-1932, during which ethnic diversity was highlighted and celebrated; it then explains the “Great Retreat” during the 1930?s, when nationalism as a whole was discouraged except those select nationalities that reinforced socialist ideas and contributed to the overall success of the USSR. The author states to the fact that certain nationalities were seen as more worthy, therefore superior to others. It may not be along class lines, but the people of the Soviet Union were still divided. This promotion of nationalism most likely created more problems for the Soviet government in the long-term as nationalism grew stronger and threatened the Soviet’s unity and control. | <urn:uuid:81075726-cf92-4908-8997-7eac14cc8ca9> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://fromemuseum.org/soviet-nationalities-policy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.966321 | 1,386 | 4.15625 | 4 |
The eyes are a crucial part of the body that we use for almost everything we do. For that reason, it’s equally crucial that we keep our eyes in good shape. So, what role do sunglasses play in eye health?
Sunglasses help protect the eyes from debris and harmful sun rays. If you don’t protect your eyes, they could suffer corneal burns, cataracts, and other degrading conditions. When you go outside, wear sunglasses that offer 100% UV protection — even if it’s winter or partly cloudy.
But are there any circumstances when you don’t need to wear sunglasses outside? Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits of wearing sunglasses as well as when you should be wearing them.
How Do Sunglasses Benefit Your Eyes?
Believe it or not, sunglasses actually provide several important benefits for your eyes:
1. Sunglasses Offer a Barrier From Debris
While sunglasses are most well known for protecting your eyes from the sun’s rays, they actually protect your eyes from other things as well, such as dust, debris, and moisture.
For example, if it’s summertime and you’re headed to the beach, a sudden wind could blow sand into your eyes. This can be both painful and annoying. Sunglasses can help prevent this from happening.
It’s also important that your sunglasses fit your face properly—which is why we’ve created a fitting guide here.
2. Sunglasses Help Prevent Eye Disease
Too much exposure to the sun can cause your eyes to develop diseases like cataracts, macular degeneration, and pterygium. All of these diseases can cause your vision to degrade.
Wearing sunglasses with the proper UV protection can help prevent the damaging rays of the sun from reaching your eyes, thus preventing these nasty diseases.
3. Sunglasses Can Prevent Light Triggers
If you are one of the many people who suffer from migraines or headaches that are caused by light, then going out during a sunny day can be downright painful. Sunglasses, especially darker lenses, help to block this light and prevent your condition from triggering.
4. Sunglasses Protect Eye Skin
If you’re worried about the way the skin around your eyes looks, you should definitely be wearing sunglasses. Besides just protecting your eyes from the sun, they also protect the skin around your eyes, which is very thin.
Placing a barrier like sunglasses that cover the area under and above your eyes can help protect this skin from sun spots, skin cancer, and signs of aging.
5. Sunglasses Protect Your Eyes From Burns
Did you know that it’s possible to burn your corneas? These parts of your eyes are delicate, and looking at the sun without sunglasses can cause them to burn — which is incredibly painful.
Sunglasses can help protect your eyes from corneal burns by blocking out the parts of the sun’s rays that cause these burns.
Should You Wear Sunglasses Every Time You Go Outside?
It’s critical to wear sunglasses every time you go outside, even if it’s winter or slightly cloudy. Sunglasses help to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays that can still reach your eyes, even if it isn’t summer.
While a fully cloudy day likely won’t require sunglasses (and they may even make it dangerous to drive in such conditions), it’s important to have your sunglasses with you just in case there’s a break in the clouds that may allow sunlight to filter through.
Should Your Sunglasses Be 100% UV Protected?
Any pair of sunglasses you buy should offer 100% UV protection. Without this protection, there’s a chance that harmful sun rays can get through your sunglasses and reach your eyes. Exposing your eyes to direct sunlight can cause corneal burn, as well as other long-term eye conditions.
You should also look for sunglasses that cover as much of your eye area as possible, such as a wide lens or wrap-around style (on Amazon). These will keep your eyes best protected from the sun.
Are Polarized Lenses Better for Your Eyes?
As you’re shopping for sunglasses, you’ll probably notice that some are labeled as polarized lenses. While polarized lenses aren’t necessarily better for your eyes, they can help your sunglasses to be more comfortable.
Polarized lenses help reduce glare, which can make your sunglasses more useful — and encourage you to wear them more often. Just make sure any polarized lenses you plan to purchase also offer 100% UV protection. UV protection is much more important than polarization.
Sunglasses provide numerous benefits to the eyes, from protecting them from debris to guarding them against the sun’s rays, which can cause eye diseases.
No matter what concerns you have about your eyes, sunglasses should always be worn to help protect them from damage. Just make sure that any pair of sunglasses you buy filters our 100% UV rays to ensure your eyes are fully protected. | <urn:uuid:39a4b1dd-f3ab-42c2-ae0b-f17700801a5d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://glasshelper.com/benefits-of-sunglasses-to-eyes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.929382 | 1,057 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Collaboration is essential for the successful learning of any language. This will allow people to support one another when they are undergoing the learning process. All parties can benefit when people assist one another in clarifying or answering each other’s questions. People will challenge one another in the group setting, alongside assisting and collaborating with one another. It is well established that when speaking to a group, individuals alter their delivery. This will help people who are less skilled at public speaking catch up on their techniques.
Human beings are social animals who like to spend time with others. Learning a new language in a group will help people meet new people and build new relationships. Learning in a group will also give them opportunities to interact in the language they are learning, further improving their speaking skills. Group members can also discuss various enjoyable methods to learn the language, like watching movies or reading novels, and do them together.
Learning a language in a group can also help promote cultural sensitivity. The group will be made up of people belonging to different communities, and this will help the members develop qualities like inclusivity. This will also aid in their future endeavors. | <urn:uuid:03a5cd91-2521-4904-9d86-0feb4286391b> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://globibo.blog/how-language-learning-in-a-group-benefits-you/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.963502 | 231 | 3.59375 | 4 |
Heritage Conservancy empowers students to protect environment
To inform elementary students on why reducing single-use plastic waste is so important, Heritage Conservancy led a kick-off assembly on November 5 about reusable water bottles at Keystone Elementary School. Heritage Conservancy presented on how reusable water bottles help the environment and taught students the proper way to use them.
“Students learned that what we do on the land can impact our water and that even when we think trash or a single-use plastic bottle is gone from our view after we discard it, it doesn’t mean that it’s gone from the environment,” said Shannon Fredebaugh-Siller, community engagement programs manager at Heritage Conservancy.
“Our hopes are that the assembly motivated the students to make changes in their daily lives that will have a positive impact on the environment,” added Kati Bryson, fourth grade teacher at Keystone Elementary School.
Students also learned about upcoming classroom programs that will be held throughout the school year. Heritage Conservancy staff, volunteers, and educators from Silver Lake Nature Center will be running programs with students in the upcoming month. During these activities, students will learn how to dispose of products and whether they should be recycled, trashed, reused or composted. Students will choose their own adventure in an interactive “Life of a Plastic Bottle” storyboard and learn about litter’s impact on humans and wildlife. Meanwhile, younger students will listen to the story “I Can Save the Earth!” to help generate ideas on how to help the environment.
“Throughout all activities and discussions, students will talk about the problems and challenges but also look towards solutions and ways that they can be a part of those solutions,” said Fredebaugh-Siller.
Classes received reusable water bottles from the Conservancy the following week. “The students were very excited to show their bottles to their families and share their new passion for the environment,” said Bryson.
Students in each class will have the opportunity to sign a pledge board to commit to using their reusable water bottle at school each day. The boards will be displayed in the classrooms as a reminder of the students’ commitment, and signs around the school will remind students of the reasons why keeping single-use plastic out of the environment is so important.
“Keystone would like to thank Heritage Conservancy for their continued support for our school and community,” added Bryson. | <urn:uuid:c7c08fc4-ce7b-453c-bebe-ed253c7a89d1> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://greatpaschools.com/story/heritage-conservancy-empowers-students-to-protect-environment/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.952655 | 509 | 3.171875 | 3 |
This weekend, people across Wales will meditate on the words of First World War poet John McCrae: “In the fields of honor the poppies blow.”
However, for many people commemorating their fallen Welsh, neither poppies nor Flanders have much resonance.
Up to 40% of Welsh soldiers served in other theaters of war and never set foot in Belgium or France.
The 53rd (Welsh) Division, mainly from mid and north Wales, saw action in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Yet while the 38th (Welsh) Division is commemorated with a sculpture of a Welsh dragon at Mametz Wood in France, no such tribute exists for the men of the 53rd.
Historian Nia Griffiths, from Llanidloes, Powys, covered what she calls “the forgotten war” as part of her master’s thesis.
She discovered that of the 114 names on the city’s war memorial, 35 died in battle in Gallipoli and Gaza, but also in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Thessaloniki, Greece.
She said: “It is true to say that 68 of the dead were killed on the Western Front and they should rightly be honoured, but around 40% died in the Middle East, and that is surely a high enough percentage so that the stories of these men are also taken into account. heard?”
She thinks official commemorations can be “a bit lazy” because every Remembrance Sunday “we say they will never be forgotten”, but Ms Griffiths believes a large proportion of the men are forgotten.
She added that in addition to the death toll, in terms of numbers the impact on rural Welsh communities was often even more pronounced.
“In all four parishes of Llanidloes, many men volunteered at the start of the war,” she said.
“They were the first to enthusiastically embrace Kitchener’s Pals Battalions, perhaps because there was a stronger community spirit than in the industrialized south, perhaps because the work was not as abundant or financially rewarding in mid and north Wales, but the effect was that often entire generations of rural towns and villages were wiped out.”
Sian Nicholas, professor of modern British history at Aberystwyth University, said the situation was very similar in her town.
As part of a Heritage Lottery Fund program to mark the centenary of the First World War in 2014, she created an interactive map of the approximately 1,000 Aberystwyth servicemen known to have taken part in the action and the locations where they fought.
She said she was surprised by the results.
“Yet every time I teach schoolchildren, or even college students, and I ask them the first thing that comes to mind when they think of the First World War, almost all of them answer: mud , trenches, poppies, etc. mentions sand, camels or flies.
Retired journalist Rhys David, from Cardiff, has written an account of his father’s wartime experiences, based on his letters home, called Tell Mum Not to Worry.
Dewi David was only 17 when he lied about his age to volunteer in 1915.
As a postal worker he was posted to the Royal Engineers, fighting with the 53rd Division, to install vital telegraph and telephone systems.
He spent the agonizing winter of 1915 trying to hold on to Gallipoli, during an extremely difficult campaign.
Rhys David said: “I don’t think we should look at this in purely Welsh terms – as a story of south versus mid and north Wales – Dewi was from Cardiff, and even then he felt the injustice of the forgotten war. just as bitterly as the troops you speak of in Llanidloes.
“I think the ‘Forgotten War’ is something that all of Britain is guilty of, not just us here in Wales.”
He said that initially his letters were “bright and airy”, but by 1918 they increasingly painted a picture of him being fed up.
Professor Nicholas said: “We call it the First World War, but our focus is still on a hundred square kilometers in the north of France.
“If we are ever to properly understand the conflict, we must appreciate the truly global aspects of it and ensure that this is better reflected in our school curricula.” | <urn:uuid:1f5e3077-4bfa-4e51-8f9e-805e823039ad> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://grecoamerico.com/armistice-day-and-the-welsh-soldiers-of-the-forgotten-war/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.979089 | 934 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Diploma in Marine Medicine is a speciality post-graduate course offered for students who wish to pursue marine medicine as a career.
Marine Medicine is a relatively new field in the field of medical science which found relevance during the sixties when naval warfare was introduced. The unfamiliar undersea environment exposed humans to new health hazards creating a demand for medical practitioners who were equipped with the knowledge and expertise to encounter health problems that arise in the marine ecosystem. Even though the history of marine medicine is tied up with naval warfare, marine medicine is also becoming relevant to researchers carrying out study in the area of marine drugs. This study stems from the philosophy of understanding the ocean as the source of many natural products which can be used for pharmacological benefits. Some examples of these include marine sponges, algae, corals and molluscans which are primary sources for biomedical compounds. Marine medicine is giving hope to fight many deadly diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis. Hence humans entering undersea require diagnosis, prevention and treatment for underwater conditions. Since the field of marine medicine is in a premature stage, there is vast scope for future research in the same and at the same time creating the demand for marine medicine experts.
Diploma in Marine Medicine is a speciality post-graduate course offered for students who wish to pursue marine medicine as a career. The course curriculum can be briefly divided into three domains which are marine medicine, dive medicine and medicine at sea. Dive medicine, which is also called undersea and hyperbaric medicine (UHB) is an important module in the course which concerns the diagnosis, prevention and treatment conditions caused by marine hazards mainly for divers. Another important subject covered in the course is human physiology with a focus on topics such as the effects of high pressure on the human body, temperature regulation and respiratory system. Training cells are also located in the institute which imparts theoretical and practical expertise for the candidates. The course will also be research-oriented and mandates a research project and thesis submission at the end of the course. Many publically funded projects associated with the course are ongoing so students will also get to become part of the same. Some of the teaching methods that are being adopted for the students are didactic lectures, symposiums, seminars and lab training methodologies. National seminars and workshops organized will be government-funded. Other student enrichment programmes include soft skill programmes, monthly clinical meetings, guest lecture series and research methodology workshops.
The only institute in India which offers postgraduate degree for marine medicine is the Institute of Naval Medicine, Aswini (INHS). The institute is located in the city of Mumbai. Course duration is two years and the eligibility to opt for the course is having completed MBBS from an institute recognized by the Medical Council of India (MCI). The admission process will be based on NEET PG entrance examination. Completing the course opens the door for doctors to join the Indian Navy. Doctors who are already employed in the Navy can also improve the job position with the help of this course. | <urn:uuid:01a8ab83-d623-4d2b-810a-c6754dfa8caf> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://gyanvitaranammedicalcollege.com/course-details/1400/diploma-marine-medicine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.962309 | 618 | 2.765625 | 3 |
What Is Supercritical CO2 Extraction?
Do you know what the terms supercritical or C02 extracted mean? A supercritical fluid has unique properties that allow it to selectively extract a desired compound while leaving other compounds behind. This results in a supercritical oil that is highly concentrated and free of impurities.
Supercritical can be thought of as the “fourth state” of a material. It’s not a solid, a liquid, or a gas–and appears as something like a vapor. So, to picture supercritical water, think about a familiar example: the vapor that rises as water boils on the stove.
Supercritical oils have a wide range of applications, including aromatherapy, cosmetics, and food flavoring. They are also used in medical research and are being investigated as potential treatments for cancer and other diseases.
We all want to use the purest products. Merchants realize this and as technology improves, they find ways to give us what we want. Traditionally, cold-pressed oils are oils made by first grinding the vegetable, seed, or nut into a paste. The resulting paste is then pressed to force the oil out.
Sometimes, the merchant will use heat to extract more oil as in steam distillation, but this changes the color and chemical makeup of the oil. Since heat is used, the oil may not be 100 percent identical to its source. In other words, some components are destroyed or altered in the process.
Using solvents is another option, but that requires lots of processing as well as chemicals. In solvent extraction, plant materials are mixed with a solvent which pulls out the oil together with any impurities. Then another process removes the solvent, and the oil is mixed with alcohol and purified. Yet another process removes the alcohol and any remaining contaminants.
Supercritical Fluid Extraction Demo
This method is gaining in acceptance because it combines the best of the other two extraction methods and produces very pure oil. The best explanation I can find, is from the book Aromatherapy for Beginners—
Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction uses carbon dioxide under extremely high pressure to extract essential oils. Plants are placed in a stainless steel tank and, as carbon dioxide is injected into the tank, pressure inside the tank builds. Under high pressure, the carbon dioxide turns into a liquid and acts as a solvent to extract the essential oils from the plants.
When the pressure is decreased, the carbon dioxide returns to a gaseous state, leaving no residues behind. Many carbon dioxide extractions have fresher, cleaner, and crisper aromas than steam-distilled essential oils, and they smell more similar to the living plants. Scientific studies show that carbon dioxide extraction produces essential oils that are very potent and have great therapeutic benefits. This extraction method uses lower temperatures than steam distillation, making it more gentle on the plants. It produces higher yields and makes some materials, especially gums and resins, easier to handle.
Many essential oils that cannot be extracted by steam distillation are obtainable with carbon dioxide extraction. In the future, many botanicals that are not now available may possibly be obtained through carbon dioxide extraction.
What Are the Benefits of Using CO2 Over Other Methods?
Scientific studies show that carbon dioxide extraction produces essential oils that are very potent and have great therapeutic benefits. This extraction method uses lower temperatures than steam distillation, making it more gentle on the plants. It produces higher yields and makes some materials, especially gums and resins, easier to handle.
Now that you’re up to speed on supercritical fluids, are you ready to try some? Here is a list of some popular supercritical oils.
List of Supercritical Oils
Are There Any Side Effects of Supercritical Oils?
While supercritical oils are generally safe to use, there are a few potential side effects that you should be aware of. The most common side effect is skin irritation. If you experience any irritation, discontinue use, and wash the affected area with soap and water.
In addition, supercritical oils should be stored in a cool, dark place to prevent them from going rancid. When used properly, supercritical oils can be an incredibly powerful tool for promoting health and well-being. | <urn:uuid:30e4ba1d-3b2d-4d95-9efb-b0eafff3d1bf> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://healing-oils.info/supercritical-co2-extraction/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.942914 | 871 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Bleeding stomach ulcer is a type of ulcer that is present in the digestive tract. In this article we will discuss the causative factors, signs and treatment options of this disorder…
A bleeding stomach ulcer, which is also known as a peptic ulcer, is an ulcer that is formed in the gastrointestinal tract. The peptic ulcer or peptic ulcer disease (PUD) causes abrasions in the mucosal lining of the stomach. Though this condition is called stomach ulcer, lesions may often occur in the duodenum, which is the starting point of the small intestine, rather than in the stomach. These can also develop in the entire gastrointestinal tract.
One of the main causes of ulcers is an injury to the gastric mucosal lining, which can lead to the destruction of the intestinal lining due to hydrochloric acid, which is a major component of the digestive juices in the stomach. Too much caffeine, alcohol and smoking may trigger the unnecessary growth of lesions in the digestive tract.
Older age people, individuals suffering from chronic stress, diabetes, repetitive stress injuries, fibromyalgia are at a higher risk of suffering from this problem. According to a research, this condition is also passed down through generations. This condition can be quite painful and prove to be life-threatening in the absence of proper treatment.
Bleeding Ulcer Symptoms
The symptoms of a bleeding ulcer in the stomach may be similar to stomach flu or an upset stomach. An individual suffering from a perforated stomach ulcer will show the following symptoms:
- Burning Sensation: A common indication of an ulcer is burning sensation in the stomach. This sensation can cause extreme discomfort to the person and can last up to four hours. In some cases, this discomfort tends to be misinterpreted for heartburn. The pain may also become severe with the passage of time and may have to be brought to the attention of the doctor.
- Abdominal Pain: When the ulcer becomes severe, the inner lining of the stomach tends to become perforated, leading to the accumulation of undigested food material and stomach acids in the abdominal cavity. This condition can cause severe and unbearable abdominal pain, which may increase, even with the slightest movement. If the ulcer grows into the stomach lining, the pain may become frequent and extreme.
- Belching: One of the symptoms of bleeding peptic ulcer that tends to be ignored is continued or excessive belching. Belching can also be accompanied with acid reflux disease and abdominal pain.
- Changes in Weight: Since the signs of a stomach ulcer are often misunderstood to be those of a heartburn or some other ailment of the stomach, the individual, in order to ease these signs tends to overeat. This may lead to the person becoming overweight.
- Bloating: When the bleeding lesion is present at the base of the duodenum of the small intestine, then a scar tissue may form which can block the path between the stomach and the duodenum. This condition is also known as duodenal ulcer. The individual may experience bloating, abdominal fullness and a feeling of nausea followed by vomiting.
Treating Stomach Lesions
Before administering treatment, the physician may conduct a few diagnostic tests like a physical exam, blood tests, upper gastrointestinal (GI) series and endoscopy to determine the intensity of the problem. He may also analyze the previous medical history and assess the signs exhibited. Treatment for bleeding ulcer involves certain types of medication. These drugs include antibiotics and antihistamines like H2 blockers. Antibiotics are used to treat the ulcers, if they are caused by the presence of a kind of bacteria called H. pylori.
Antacids may also be prescribed to reduce acidity in the stomach. In severe cases, if the situation gives rise to complications, then the individual may have to undergo surgery. A diet for this condition must include nutrients to reduce the effect of the ulcer. The diet must contain food that is rich in fiber to aid proper and better digestion of food. Intake of protein rich foods must also be increased to help in the quicker healing and repair of the tissues.
Bleeding stomach ulcers can be avoided by practicing a healthy lifestyle and avoiding the consumption of alcohol and smoking. The chances of getting a bleeding ulcer can also be reduced by curbing the excessive use of anti-inflammatory and non steroidal medication. Take care! | <urn:uuid:7af062a1-2b1a-4659-a4d6-87d887165e9a> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://healthhearty.com/bleeding-stomach-ulcer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.94197 | 917 | 3.25 | 3 |
An anti virus for home windows is a useful tool for safeguarding your PC via various types of viruses. While the Windows operating system comes with its built-in UTAV software (known as Ms Defender), it isn’t able to look after your system because thoroughly because you would like. Therefore, it is recommended to use a separate antivirus system, such as Norton AntiVirus or perhaps AVG Anti-virus. Both free of charge and paid versions of malware software typically offer a great deal of coverage.
Another benefit for using an antivirus pertaining to windows can be its capacity to protect your privacy. Even as use the internet, companies are collecting info on all of us that allows them to serve targeted advertisements. These businesses use browser trackers and adware to our actions and collect data. Adware could be intrusive and slow down your device. Ant-virus for windows PCs avoids these spyware and from launching and shields your www.godthearchitect.com/travel/general-guide-to-electric-bicycles/ system from the latest hazards. There are two major types of spyware and: adware and trojans.
Malware application must not be a drain on PC assets. If your ant-virus software triggers your computer to run slowly, it may cause different programs to operate slowly or even just cause data files to copy bit by bit. Most antivirus programs come with free trials, that can be used to test all of them before getting a full rendition. In addition to that, you can also download a free of charge trial version of the software, which can be ideal for anyone who is unsure regardless of whether to purchase a great antivirus application. | <urn:uuid:8070a825-679b-42e5-9959-e4a91bfe3549> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://heathertex.com/why-you-ought-to-use-an-anti-virus-for-glass-windows/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.94313 | 347 | 2.59375 | 3 |
The celebration of a new year gives us an opportunity to mark another milestone in the timeline of history 𐆑 another 365 days completed. Charlotte Mason believed that the chronology of history formed the framework for much of a child’s education. She wrote, ‘It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the background of one’s thoughts…The present becomes enriched for us with the wealth of all that has gone before.’
To help children understand this chronology, early Charlotte Mason educators used a ‘Book of Centuries’ 𐆑 essentially a timeline in a book in which each two-page spread covered one hundred years. One described it in this way: ‘Every child’s “Book of Centuries” should bear witness to “a liberal and generous diet of History.” The children should be free to enter on their pages events and drawings which have interested them in their wide general reading ….As time goes on the pages become fuller, and fascinating historical facts are discovered which shed light on contemporary and consecutive history in each century.’
Heritage pupils learn history in keeping with the same principles; through narration, in chronological order. They also keep a Book of Centuries 𐆑 for Juniors, a small binder divided into the Ancient World, The Middle Ages and The Modern World 𐆑 to be filled by the pupil over time with written narrations, maps, and pictures. (Years 7 and 8 also keep a more traditional Book of Centuries as part of the Enrichment Programme.) Entries include authors, composers, scientists and artists as well as historical figures. All elements of learning therefore hang together with the timeline, allowing them to make their own connections and providing a visual ‘peg’ to hang their knowledge of history on. Pupils begin to see for themselves the progression of human society, and history becomes a captivating story to remember for a lifetime rather than dry, disconnected names and dates to memorize for an exam.
Again, Charlotte Mason: ‘Let a child have the meat he requires in his history readings, and in the literature which naturally gathers around this history, and imagination will bestir itself without any help of ours; the child will live out in detail a thousand scenes of which he only gets the merest hint.’ | <urn:uuid:1c284343-9786-4578-b04f-e79fdba7a725> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://heritageschool.org.uk/the-book-of-centuries-reflections-for-the-new-year/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.949569 | 491 | 3.75 | 4 |
Control of Penicillium decay of garlic
AuthorArthur S. Greathead
Author AffiliationsArthur S. Greathead is Farm Advisor, Monterey County.
Hilgardia 32(6):18-18. DOI:10.3733/ca.v032n06p18. June 1978.
AbstractTrials conducted in 1976 and 1977 showed that various fungicides, when used on cloves before planting, increased stand and yield of garlic.
Greathead A. 1978. Control of Penicillium decay of garlic. Hilgardia 32(6):18-18. DOI:10.3733/ca.v032n06p18
Also in this issue:Fish farming in California
Agricultural mechanization and public policy
Bracken fern control with several herbicides
Sugar beet: An efficient user of soil nitrogen
Parasitic nematode seeks out navel orangeworm in almond orchards
Effects of prolonged drying and harvest delay following ethephon on walnut kernel quality
Avoiding ethylene concentrations in harvested lettuce
Furadan controls root weevil on strawberries
Some principles and perspectives of agriculture
Research in progress
A diallel cross analysis of heading date in wheat | <urn:uuid:97e6b1ff-c46e-4feb-8d86-7375a01b4e35> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://hilgardia.ucanr.edu/Abstract/?a=ca.v032n06p18 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.766746 | 259 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Historic England Resources for Researchers
Here you can find some of the key Historic England resources that researchers can use.
Our reference collections
Historic England has a number of reference collections accessible to researchers
Zooarchaeological reference collection
We hold a collection of around 3100 skeletons; approximately 110 species of mammals, 210 species of birds, 50 species of fish, and some reptiles and amphibians. Visit our Zooarchaeology page to download the reference collection list and to find further details on how to access the collection.
Archaeobotanical reference collection
Our archaeobotanical seed collection currently includes around 4500 specimens of seeds and fruits of mainly British species. We also hold collections of wood and charcoal, charred tubers, mosses and slides of animal and plant fibres. Visit our Archaeobotany page to download the seed reference collection catalogue and to find further details on how to access the collection.
Human skeletal remains reference collection
We are responsible for collections of archaeological human skeletal remains, representing about 5000 individuals. They are all from England and mainly date to the Roman and medieval periods. Visit our Human Osteology page for details on how to access the collection.
Intertidal and coastal peat database
We curate a national Intertidal and Coastal Peat database, which details the known sites and the extent of peat deposits around the English coastline and includes their location, nature, age and related archaeology.
Sharing resources and equipment
As a member of the National Heritage Science Forum we enable collaboration by listing resources on the NHSF kit-catalogue; indicating which items are available for sharing or external use, and under what circumstances.
As well as specific equipment this may also include use of our skeleton preparation facility and flotation and wet-sieving laboratory under certain circumstances.
Historic England research reports database
Our Research Report series includes research carried out by Historic England as well as work we have funded other organisations to carry out on our behalf. Reports are downloadable for free as PDFs from the database.
The Historic England Archive & Library
The Historic England Archive holds major collections of national importance, covering archaeology, architecture, social and local history. Our collections include photographs, drawings, plans and documents.
- We hold files on over 70,000 individual buildings such as: reports, including sales particulars, survey notes, drawings and photographs and hold over 56,000 architectural drawings, including plans, elevations, sketches and watercolours. We also hold over 60,000 plans and drawings of English Heritage properties.
- We are one of the largest photographic archives in the country, with over nine million photographs documenting the historic environment of England. These include historic collections, aerial photography, survey photography and specialist collections.
- Our reference library holds over 60,000 books, journals and reports covering all aspects of the historic environment, including Pevsner’s Buildings of England series; Victoria County History; selected Post Office and Kelly’s Directories and RCHME Inventory volumes. We add 1,000 new titles each year, and we have around 400 current journal subscriptions.
The Historic England reference library catalogue is also searchable via the Copac website for researchers. As well as using our online resources, researchers are welcome to visit our Search Room and Library in Swindon, Wiltshire. | <urn:uuid:bb11b341-4705-47cb-9ff6-e5d38dd0ede0> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://historicengland.org.uk/research/support-and-collaboration/resources-for-researchers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.90436 | 684 | 3.09375 | 3 |
People can cause allergy symptoms to occur by exercising outside at wrong times, leaving windows open, having pets sleep in the bed and not being aware of the pollen count in the area, according to Health Magazine’s website.
Exercising outdoors in the morning or early afternoon, according to Dr. Myngog Nguyen, chief of allergy at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, can cause allergy symptoms. The website said that trees and grasses start releasing pollen at sunrise.
The levels then peak in the morning and early afternoon. According WebMD, the pollen count is highest between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Nguyen advises exercising later in the day to reduce exposure to pollen in the air.
“I always suggest people run after work in the late afternoon or evening,” Nguyen said.
Leaving the windows open can also attract pollen inside. Using the air conditioner in the car can also cut pollen breathed in by 30 percent, according to Nguyen. WebMD also suggests cleaning window frames regularly for mold and mildew.
Having pets sleep in the same bed as their owner can also cause allergy symptoms. According to Dr. David Rosenstreich, an allergy and asthma specialist, pets can bring in pollen, dust, mold and various allergens from outside.
Rosenstreich said that it is important to make sure that pets do not get on the bed.
“Your bedroom should essentially be an allergy-free zone,” Rosenstreich said.
Rosenstreich also suggests having bare floors in the bedroom or using a rug than can be washed regularly.
Being aware of the pollen count can also prevent symptoms from occurring, according to Rosenstreich. Websites like pollen.com document where allergy season begins in particular areas. It also provides four-day allergy forecast in certain zip codes.
“People should make an effort to be aware of the pollen count and when the pollens are out that bother them,” Rosenstreich said. | <urn:uuid:800e6441-2961-489a-b13b-432615f89d2c> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://houstoniannews.com/2013/11/06/everyday-activities-can-make-allergy-symptoms-worse/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.945769 | 412 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Dependable Systems (Sommersemester 2011)
Website zum Kurs:
- Semesterwochenstunden: 4
- ECTS: 6
- Einschreibefrist: 1.4.2011 - 30.9.2011
- Lehrform: Vorlesung
- Belegungsart: Wahlpflichtmodul
Studiengänge, Modulgruppen & Module
- IT-Systems Engineering A
- IT-Systems Engineering B
- IT-Systems Engineering C
- IT-Systems Engineering D
Continous service provisioning is a key feature of modern hardware und software server systems. These systems achieve their level of user-perceived availability through a set of formal and technical approaches, commonly summarized under the term dependability.
Dependability is defined as the trustworthiness of hardware and software systems, so that reliance can be placed on the service they provide. The main dependability attributes commonly known and accepted are availability, reliability, safety, and security.
The Dependable Systems course gives an introduction into theoretical foundations, common building blocks and example implementations for dependable IT components and systems. The focus is on reliability and availability aspects of dependable systems, such as reliability analysis, fault tolerance, fault models or failure prediction. Amongst other things, the following topics are covered:
- Dependability definitions and metrics
- Design patterns for fault tolerance
- Analytical evaluation of system dependability
- Hardware dependability approaches
- Software dependability approaches
- Latest research topics
Students taking this course need to have basic knowledge in operating systems and middleware technology.
The complete list of recommended readings is available on a separate page. The list is constantly updated during the course.
Lern- und Lehrformen
On request of at least one participant, the course will be given in English.
The final course grade is the oral exam grade.
1.06.2011 abweichend in Raum H-2.57
28.06.2011 abweichend in Raum H-2.58
Project Decision / Final Course Enrollment:
Project Report Submission: | <urn:uuid:cf66897d-78fb-4487-8213-7962f1acf909> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://hpi.de/studium/im-studium/lehrveranstaltungen/it-systems-engineering-ma/lehrveranstaltung/sose-11-711-dependable-systems.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.734858 | 457 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Argonne National Laboratory, headquartered in Argonne, is researching photosynthesis and the creation of solar fuel. Refined by nature over a billion years, photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide (CO2), water and energy from the sun into chemical energy. It has given life to the planet, providing an environment suitable for the smallest, most primitive organism all the way to our own species.
While scientists have been studying and mimicking the natural phenomenon in the laboratory for years, understanding how to replicate the chemical process behind it has largely remained a mystery — until now. We are now one step closer to harvesting “solar fuel.”
Lisa M. Utschig, a bioinorganic chemist at Argonne for 20 years, said storing solar energy in chemical bonds such as those found in hydrogen can provide a robust and renewable energy source. Burning hydrogen as fuel creates no pollutants.
“We are taking sunlight, which is abundant, and we are using water to make a fuel,” said Utschig, who oversaw the project. “It’s pretty remarkable.” Unlike the energy derived from solar panels, which must be used quickly, hydrogen, a solar fuel, can be stored.
Sarah Soltau, a postdoctoral fellow at Argonne who conducted much of the research, said “The key finding of Argonne’s most recent research is that we were able to actually watch the processes of electrons going from a light-absorbing molecule to a catalyst that produces solar fuel. This piece of knowledge will help us develop a system to work more efficiently than the one we can create now, and, years on, may allow us to replace oil and gas.”
Argonne has been studying photosynthesis since the 1960s but this particular experiment has been pursued for about a year. Soltau said scientists may be several years from using these techniques to generate storable solar fuels to power cars or households, but that this could be made possible once researchers learn ways to make the process more efficient.
“We need to look at ways to make solar fuel production last longer,” she said. “Right now, the systems don’t have the stability necessary to last weeks or months.”
For more, visit www.anl.gov. | <urn:uuid:8158d0c7-ad8e-46fa-ab6f-25f608e05b5f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://icl.coop/photosynthesis-process-could-create-solar-fuel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.94354 | 476 | 4.21875 | 4 |
India is a land of various cultures and a rich heritage. It is the seventh-largest country by area and the second-most populous country globally. The peacock is India’s national bird, and the Bengal Tiger is the country’s national animal. The national song is named Vande Matram (written by Bankimchandra Chatterji ). ‘Jana Gana Mana (written by Rabindranath Tagore),’ India’s national anthem, is sung in 52 seconds. The tri-colored national flag is called ‘tiranga’ , designed with saffron, white and green with the Ashok Chakra in navy blue at the center of the flag. ‘Lion Capital of Ashoka’ is the country’s national emblem.
India is a land of many different languages and many different religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Hinduism, etc. India shares its borders with countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It also shares its borders with Sri Lanka and the Maldives. It is a secular and democratic country that respects all religions and the people of India have the liberty to practice any religion they want. There are various food styles and dressing styles depending on the regions of the country, setting the perfect example of unity in diversity.
New Delhi is the capital of India and the business capital of India is Mumbai. The currency of India is rupees. India’s largest state by area in Rajasthan and the smallest state is Goa. India has the largest coastline. India is the only country all over the world which is named after an ocean; Indian Ocean. India also has two islands named Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. There are many languages spoken in India, but Hindi is the national language. Like the languages, India has a huge land diversity with the mountains, plateau, plains, delta, desert, rivers, and seas. Nature and temperature are also different, in the hilly area the temperature is low, in desert temperature are high, and in the plateau, plane, and seashore area the temperature is pleasant. The main occupation of the people of India is agriculture. | <urn:uuid:b845fda7-67a3-470c-a253-735fca90c653> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://iistimes.net/india/news-roundup/5957/13/50/11/19/06/2023/superadmin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.931358 | 461 | 2.734375 | 3 |
About one million Tibetan minority children in China have been separated from their families and placed into Government-run boarding schools, forcing their assimilation into the dominant culture, said UN human rights experts.
“We are very disturbed that in recent years the residential school system for Tibetan children appears to act as a mandatory large-scale programme intended to assimilate Tibetans into majority Han culture, contrary to international human rights standards,” the experts said in a statement.
Residential schools provide educational content and an environment centred around Han culture, according to the independent experts: Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education, and Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.
Moreover, they said that children of the Tibetan minority are forced to complete a ‘compulsory education’ curriculum in Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) without access to traditional or culturally relevant learning. The Putonghua language governmental schools do not provide a substantive study of Tibetan minority’s language, history and culture, they added.
“As a result, Tibetan children are losing their facility with their native language and the ability to communicate easily with their parents and grandparents in the Tibetan language, which contributes to their assimilation and erosion of their identity” the experts said.
INCREASE IN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS
The experts raised concerns about a reported substantial increase in the number of residential schools operating in and outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the number of Tibetan children living in them.
While residential schools exist in other parts of China, their share in areas populated by the Tibetan minority is much higher, and this percentage has been increasing in recent years. While on the national level the percentage of boarding students is more than 20%, information received point to the vast majority of Tibetan children in residential schools, almost one million children in total.
CLOSURE OF RURAL SCHOOLS
“This increase in the number of boarding Tibetan students is achieved by the closure of rural schools in areas which tend to be populated by Tibetans, and their replacement by township or county-level schools which almost exclusively use Putonghua in teaching and communications, and usually requiring children to board,” the experts said. “Many of those residential schools are situated far from the family homes of students boarding in them.”
“We are alarmed by what appears to be a policy of forced assimilation of the Tibetan identity into the dominant Han-Chinese majority, through a series of oppressive actions against Tibetan educational, religious and linguistic institutions,” the experts said.
UN experts said the policies run contrary to the prohibition of discrimination and the rights to education, linguistic and cultural rights, freedom of religion or belief and other minority rights of the Tibetan people.
“This is a reversal of policies which were more inclusive or accommodating in some respects,” the experts said. | <urn:uuid:682a7ee5-9166-46c9-ab59-ffd2852a6c32> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://indianf.com/tibetan-children/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.954488 | 608 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Recycling Yellow Brass in Colorado
The mix of copper and zinc makes a compound known as yellow brass solids. Individuals ordinarily portray brass as an element metal, paying little respect to brass not having an element symbol. Yellow brass solids get their golden shading due to the greater proportion of zinc instead of copper. Producers can ordinarily tell when they have scrap yellow brass because of the shading, yet it is not a bad plan to get a specialist opinion. Yellow brass is ordinary in daily existence which makes recycling yellow brass in Colorado essential. When looking around at ordinary items, one can find yellow brass in these spots:
- Household plumbing
In addition to these items, various individuals use yellow brass solids when decorating their home because of the enriching elements of yellow brass. Yellow brass normally makes up various dishes, faucets, and even some jewelry. When manufacturers require a material that can’t light, most of the time, they use brass. Yellow brass gives a low-friction, soft, and safe material.
Scrap Yellow Brass
The high proportion of scrap yellow brass makes an intense requirement for recycling yellow brass in Colorado. Yellow brass solids accept a significant role in the bronze and brass industries. Thus, the brass and bronze industries cause the sporadically high expenses for yellow brass. Manufacturers produce yellow brass in the form of:
- Brass sheets
- Tubing rods
The Recycling Process
Manufacturers produce a huge amount of scrap, yet yellow brass should not be disposed of. Interco buys scrap yellow brass and takes it through a recycling technique. Today, almost 90% of all brass products are reused. In order to be most effective at recycling yellow brass in Colorado, Interco must find yellow brass that has low degrees of aluminum and manganese bronze. This kind of yellow brass can be easily reused but proves to be hard to come by.
It is normal for brass to have a mix of nonferrous and ferrous materials. On the chance that this occurs, the two kinds of materials need to be isolated. The isolation process starts with a powerful magnet that confines the two kind of metals. The way toward separating the different materials shows to be basic since brass is nonferrous.
The process of recycling yellow brass is especially similar to the process of recycling other non-ferrous metals. After figuring out the different kinds of metals and completing the separation process, Interco will:
- Compact the yellow brass solids into very small pieces so they do not take up as much space
- Place the metals into a furnace that will reach very high temperatures which will cause the brass to soften
- Pour the metal into a mold for it to cool
Interco purchases yellow brass from wherever in the United States. Because of transportation costs, recycling materials that are large distances away can cause difficulties. Despite these difficulties, Interco continues to develop and grow.
Yellow brass is an essential metal in everyday life. Considering the raised measures of yellow brass, recycling yellow brass in Colorado remains a necessity. We must strive to recycle more than 90% of all brass things. If you have any inquiries regarding how to deal with your scrap yellow brass, please contact Interco here. | <urn:uuid:c6cda011-ca64-4361-9731-42243d42033f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://intercotradingco.com/recycling-yellow-brass-in-colorado/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.925529 | 654 | 3.140625 | 3 |
BBC Article affirms verses of the holy Qur’an –Animals Guided by Stars.
Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
In the Qur’an, Allah Exalted He informs us that one of the wisdoms behind the creation of the stars is their usage in guiding.
In a BBC article dated 24th Jan 2013 entitled ‘Dung beetles guided by Milky Way’
“Scientists have shown how insects will use the Milky Way to orientate themselves as they roll their balls of muck along the ground. Humans, birds and seals are all known to navigate by the stars.” Whilst I was reading the article, a certain verse of the Qur’an sprung up in my mind immediately and I was just amazed upon the truthfulness and accuracy of the Words of the Qur’an.
Simply put, there are two things we learn from the verses which the article confirms – Firstly, that [as in so many aspects – but this context specifically] species behave in communities like Humans and secondly, stars are used to help navigate and guide not only us but animals too.
Please reflect on these verses deeply – look and study each word
First Ayat=Verse: Behavioural Patterns of Species are like Humans
“And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] communities like you” [al-An’am 6:38]
Key words – ‘communities like you [i.e. humans]’ – Here The Creator informs us that the community structure and behavioural patterns of every single set of species in existence [as Allah [swt] does not exclude any] is similar to how we as human beings are – some of us live as married couples, single parents, groups of small family, large tribes, etc you see this amongst the various manifestations in species on land, sea and air.
Second verse: Function of Stars as a guide
“And it is He who placed for you the stars that you may be guided by them through the darknesses of the land and sea. We have detailed the signs for people who know”. [al-An’am 6:97]
Keywords – ‘that you may be guided by them’ – Hence on land and on sea during the darkness of the night stars function as means to guide – and one of the reasons why The Creator has placed these stars in their positions within the galaxy is to function as a means to guide us.
Finally – In describing The Creator of all that exists in the Galaxies and Earth, the Qur’an says that He is
“…He who gave everything its creation and then guided [it].” [Taha 20:50]
Note – every single entity – From the stars in the galaxies to every living species, to every different type of cell in an organism to the molecular level of an atom – every single entity has its function and role that is inherent within it – i.e. created and then guided. Is this not a sign of a miraculous truth only known by the Creator Himself?
Anyone who studies how species behave, will know that in their own ecosystems, every animal from the bee, the pigeon to the butterfly – each of them has been born with inherent and instinctive patterns of behavior that drives and guides them in all aspects of their lives from seeking food to seeking a mate – take for example a monarch butterfly – born never meeting even its parents but knows exactly what to eat, where to fly to, how to attract a mate – examples like these are endless –
Now with these reflections from the blessed verses of the Qur’an – read the full article below in the reference area.
Dung beetles guided by Milky Way By Jonathan Amos – 24 January 2013 –
They may be down in the dirt but it seems dung beetles also have their eyes on the stars.
Scientists have shown how the insects will use the Milky Way to orientate themselves as they roll their balls of muck along the ground.
Humans, birds and seals are all known to navigate by the stars. But this could be the first example of an insect doing so.
The study by Marie Dacke is reported in the journal Current Biology.
“The dung beetles are not necessarily rolling with the Milky Way or 90 degrees to it; they can go at any angle to this band of light in the sky. They use it as a reference,” the Lund University, Sweden, researcher told BBC News.
Dung beetles like to run in straight lines. When they find a pile of droppings, they shape a small ball and start pushing it away to a safe distance where they can eat it, usually underground.
Getting a good bearing is important because unless the insect rolls a direct course, it risks turning back towards the dung pile where another beetle will almost certainly try to steal its prized ball.
Dr Dacke had previously shown that dung beetles were able to keep a straight line by taking cues from the Sun, the Moon, and even the pattern of polarised light formed around these light sources.
But it was the animals’ capacity to maintain course even on clear Moonless nights that intrigued the researcher.
So the native South African took the insects (Scarabaeus satyrus) into the Johannesburg planetarium where she could control the type of star fields a beetle might see overhead.
Importantly, she put the beetles in a container with blackened walls to be sure the animals were not using information from landmarks on the horizon, which in the wild might be trees, for example.
The beetles performed best when confronted with a perfect starry sky projected on to the planetarium dome but coped just as well when shown only the diffuse bar of light that is the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Dr Dacke thinks it is the bar more than the points of light that is important.
“These beetles have compound eyes,” she told the BBC. “It’s known that crabs, which also have compound eyes, can see a few of the brightest stars in the sky. Maybe the beetles can do this as well, but we don’t know that yet; it’s something we’re looking at.
However, when we show them just the bright stars in the sky, they get lost. So it’s not them that the beetles are using to orientate themselves.”
And indeed, in the field, Dr Dacke has seen beetles run into trouble when the Milky Way briefly lies flat on the horizon at particular times of the year.
The question is how many other animals might use similar night-time navigation. It has been suggested some frogs and even spiders are using stars for orientation. The Lund researcher is sure there will be many more creatures out there doing it; scientists just need to go look.
“I think night-flying moths and night-flying locusts could benefit from using a star compass similar to the one that the dung beetles are using,” she said.
But for the time being, Dr Dacke is concentrating on the dung beetle. She is investigating the strange dance the creature does on top of its ball of muck. The hypothesis is that this behavior marks the moment the beetle takes its bearings.
Source: A.B. al-Mehri [Official/QP]
Allah knows Best.
Almighty Allah is the highest and most knowledgeable, and the attribution of knowledge to him is the safest.
Right from Almighty Allah and wrong from me and Satan
Prepared by Mohamad Mostafa Nassar-
Make sure to copy and email this post for your reference, you might need it later.
Arrogance is not only a sign of insecurity, but also a sign of immaturity. Mature and fully realised persons can get their points across, even emphatically without demeaning or intimidating others. | <urn:uuid:334b6bbc-a912-4f48-a817-0eafc7b6ebbc> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://islamcompass.com/bbc-article-affirms-verses-of-the-holy-quran-animals-guided-by-stars/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.958602 | 1,657 | 2.625 | 3 |
Have your child think about how they’re feeling at that moment, and have them compare it to the kind of weather it may relate to on the worksheet above. You can have them only draw the weather and a picture of how they feel or they can draw and then write down what they drew to bring it all together.
Want to go a bit further? Take them outside, have them document the current weather.
- Did going outside change their mood?
- Do you like this weather?
- What does the weather look like today?
- If this is not your favorite weather, what is?
We can’t wait to see what you draw and how your feeling! Be sure to share your worksheet and any journal pages you may have used with us by tagging @iWRITElit and using the hashtag #iWRITEathome. | <urn:uuid:f1d95e02-4c46-4560-aacc-a35218b2b704> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://iwrite.org/creative-writing-activities/weather-and-feelings/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.962847 | 179 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Does your little one ask 100+ (super random) questions a day?
They have so much natural curiosity and wonder for the world around them…and why not? There is always so much to learn (and this goes for us as parents too!).
Lucky for us, Genevieve Muir from @connectedparentingau says that one of the best ways we can teach our children about the world around us is through play.
And as we dive into their big questions and ideas, we can see their curiosity and critical thinking skills come alives. Even the most innocent of questions like, ‘Do fish go to bed?’ can spark and engage their cognitive and problem skills as you play out and explore the question together.
We’ve come with LEGO® DUPLO® to show you the power of curious little minds. Because when you are having fun and exploring questions together, you will be amazed to see how big of a splash this makes in their learning. | <urn:uuid:06cb3358-b0aa-43f7-898e-8b375ae06d9c> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://kiindred.co/watch-toddler/curious-little-minds-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.958418 | 202 | 2.78125 | 3 |
A bunion is a bony bump that forms on the joint at the base of the big toe. It occurs when the bone or tissue at the big toe joint moves out of place, causing the joint to become enlarged and misaligned. Bunions can be painful and cause discomfort, particularly when wearing shoes or walking.
Bunions can be caused by a variety of factors, including:
- Genetics: Bunions may be inherited from family members who also have the condition.
- Footwear: Tight, narrow, or high-heeled shoes can put pressure on the toes and contribute to the development of bunions.
- Foot structure: People with flat feet or other foot structural abnormalities may be more prone to developing bunions.
- Arthritis: Arthritis can cause inflammation and deformity in the joints, including the big toe joint.
Symptoms of a bunion can include pain, swelling, redness, and difficulty moving the big toe. Treatment options for bunions may include wearing comfortable shoes with adequate space for the toes, using bunion pads or splints to help realign the toe, taking pain medications or anti-inflammatory drugs, and performing exercises to improve flexibility and reduce pain. In some cases, surgery may be required to correct the misalignment of the joint. | <urn:uuid:6c04c73b-9d74-4d6c-a109-156370a9da29> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://kingsfordpodiatry.com.au/what-is-a-bunion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.932096 | 264 | 3.375 | 3 |
Today we explored the complicated nitrogen cycle. IF YOU MISSED CLASS TODAY you can add details about the nitrogen cycle to your notebook page 69. Be sure to include information about why organisms need nitrogen; what might happen in a community if all the nitrogen-fixing bacteria died; AND outline the major steps in the nitrogen cycle (illustrate the cycle). Tomorrow we bring the conversation of food and "you are what you eat" back into the chemical cycling discussion.
RETIRED Science Teacher
Trouble viewing attachments? | <urn:uuid:9ee071fb-b0bc-4cb5-8206-c0276cf034dc> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://kmssciencehunt.weebly.com/hunts-ramblings/cycles-work-continues-lets-add-nitrogen | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.863623 | 105 | 3.703125 | 4 |
What is pseudocode?
Pseudocode is non-formal and non-language specific way of writing algorithms. The idea behind it is that you can describe a programmable solution specifically enough that programmers will be able to implement it in their chosen language. It isn’t subject to normal language rules and logic is more important than syntax.
There is no agreed specification to pseudocode so technically you can write what you like as long as it is logically correct and pseudocode-like
What is CIE pseudocode?
When CIE designed their pseudocode spec they didn’t want to give programmers of a particular language an advantage so they used a mix
Do I need to write CIE Pseudocode in the exam?
Technically you don’t need to stick to the CIE pseudocode in the exam, since pseudocode has no agreed definition – as long as the examiner understands your logic then they should give you the mark. However in reality you can’t guarantee the examiner will understand your logic if you write pseudocode in another manner – so you’re best off stick as close as possible to the CIE guide. | <urn:uuid:69a393b8-1949-4b3b-a2bf-61b4466f1d04> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://learnlearn.uk/alevelcs/cie-pseudocode-introduction-inputoutputvariables/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.929029 | 249 | 3.46875 | 3 |
The term α-Gal syndrome describes a novel IgE-mediated immediate-type allergy to the disaccharide galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-Gal). Its classification as a syndrome is proposed on the basis of its clinical relevance in three different fields of allergy: food, drugs, and tick bites. The main focus of the present article is on α-Gal as an eliciting allergen in food allergy. It was recently shown that immediate-type allergies to pork kidney and other mammalian innards belong to the spectrum of α-Gal syndrome. These allergic reactions manifest as classic immediate-type allergies with a typical latency of under 1 h. The phenomenon of a delayed-onset immediate-type allergy with a latency of 3–6 h following ingestion of mammalian meat is considered pathognomonic for α-Gal syndrome. This clinically distinct type of presentation can be explained using the concept of food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA). However, clinical observations and challenge testing in this constellation reveal that individual sensitivity in α-Gal patients is highly variable and which broadens our basic understanding of α-Gal syndrome.
The identification of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated immediate-type reactions to the disaccharide galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-Gal) fundamentally altered our understanding of the allergenic potential of carbohydrate structures and formed the starting point for further discoveries in the area of immediate-type allergy . α-Gal is a typical component of glycoproteins in mammals. However, in the course of evolution, primates and humans have lost the enzyme required for α-Gal production, galactosyltransferase . As a result, this disaccharide is immunogenic in humans . α-Gal syndrome was recently proposed as a new term to better describe this novel disease that occurs worldwide [2, 3]. The term α-Gal syndrome is clinically defined by three facets of this allergy (Fig. 1 ): Firstly, as a food allergy with type-I allergic reactions of typically delayed onset following the ingestion of mammalian meat and innards ; secondly, as drug allergy, particularly in the case of parenteral administration of drugs obtained from cells or tissue from mammals (e. g., cetuximab or gelatin-based colloids) [1, 5]; and thirdly, by allergic reactions to tick bites . Local allergic reactions to tick bites are regularly reported on a global basis [6, 7, 8]. Reports of the regular occurrence of anaphylaxis due to techniques used to remove adult ticks of the Ixodes holocyclus species from the host are restricted to Australia . According to the current state of knowledge, tick bites are ascribed a central role in the development of type-I sensitization to α-Gal . The aim of the present article is to outline the clinical spectrum of α-Gal-related food allergy and demonstrate how geographically local phenomena may be helpful in our understanding of this complex disease.
Discovery and symptoms of α-Gal syndrome in Germany
The story of α-Gal in Germany and France begins with immediate-type allergies following the consumption of pork kidney. Although immediate-type reactions following the ingestion of kidney are globally rare, their occurrence in Europe is nonetheless so frequent as to be recognized as a phenomenon by European physicians active in the field of allergology [9, 10, 11]. The reason behind this is that innards are consumed as local delicacies in many regions of Europe, as well as being used in sausage products. Kidney, tripe, heart, sweetbread, lungs, brain, and tongue from pork, beef, and lamb are processed in such delicacies and consumed. The partially higher content in terms of cholesterol, vitamin A, purines, enriched toxic substances, as well as a higher susceptibility to spoilage have lead in recent years to a discussion on the consumption of innards. One only has to look at restaurant menus to see that demand in the population for innards is on the decline. A recent epidemiological study conducted by our working group in southern Germany also sampled participants on their attitude to the consumption of innards. Of 845 participants, 96.8 % stated that they had eaten beef or pork in the previous 12 months. Of these subjects, 53.4 % had consumed beef or pork innards at least once. Innards are consumed more frequently by men compared with women (62.8 % vs. 40.2 %) and more frequently by older adults (> 60 years) compared with children or young adults (< 20 years) (66.4 % vs. 25.8 %) (unpublished data). This study shows that the consumption of innards remains widespread and is practiced in all age groups. One can assume that cultural eating habits are reflected in the prevalence of allergic reactions to innards. Interestingly individuals allergic to kidney consumed pork/beef meat regularly and reported to have tolerated these well. Therefore a cross reaction between muscle meat and innards was not initially assumed. Unknown kidney-specific proteins, as well as pseudo-allergenic substances that accumulate in the kidneys as an excretory organ, were discussed as possible triggers of these immediate-type reactions to kidney. In 2005, the working group lead by Dr. Jappe began collecting cases of immediate-type allergy following consumption of pork kidney, with the aim of identifying the eliciting allergen [12, 13]. Based on a patient with coincidental anaphylaxis to cetuximab, Dr. Jappe was the first German allergologist to recognize and follow-up an association between immediate-type allergy to pork kidney and the α-Gal sensitization first described in the US. She developed a Western blot using cetuximab as an α-Gal-bearing target structure to detect specific IgE antibodies to α-Gal . Between 2008 and 2011, 32 patients with allergic reactions to mammalian meat and/or kidney and other innards were identified in Germany . IgE sensitization to α-Gal was detected in 79 % of these patients using Western blot and in 88 % using experimental ImmunoCAP® tests. This case study collection also showed that, contrary to expert opinion, a number of the affected patients developed allergic reactions not only after consuming pork kidney, but also following mammalian meat. Initially, however, an explanation for this phenomenon remained elusive. The delayed onset of systemic allergic reactions, with a 3- to 6-h latency between consumption and manifestation of the reaction, was considered pathognomonic for α-Gal-related meat allergy. In contrast, systemic allergic reactions/anaphylaxis following the consumption of pork kidney typically manifested as classic immediate-type allergies within 1 h. In 2012, the French allergologist Dr. Morisset published a series of cases of 14 patients with anaphylaxis following the consumption of pork kidney . Using CAP inhibition testing, she demonstrated that pork kidney contains quantitatively more α-Gal compared to pork meat. Based on a careful analysis of the patient histories, she put forward the concept of food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA) to explain the unexpected difference in temporal dynamics of the reaction. The relevance of these co- or augmentation factors in the elicitation of an immediate-type systemic allergic reaction is enjoying ever greater general acceptance in allergology, despite the fact that the precise underlying mechanisms remain the subject of research . Exactly how α-Gal is absorbed is not yet clear. It is assumed, however, that lipid and glycolipid digestion plays a crucial role . This digestion process can be quantitatively and kinetically modulated by individual, or a combination of exogenous and endogenous factors (e. g., physical exercise, alcohol, non-steroidal analgesics, infections, menstruation). According to the concept of FDEIA, these cofactors are assigned the key role until modulating intestinal absorption of a food allergen in the body a critical allergen concentration capable of eliciting an allergic reaction is reached.
In January 2012 the introduction of a specific IgE test — initially limited to scientific applications — using bovine thyroglobulin as an α-Gal-bearing target structure simplified the diagnosis of α-Gal syndrome significantly. By Spring 2015, we had diagnosed α-Gal syndrome in 55 patients (Tab. 1 ). If one estimates the prevalence of α-Gal syndrome in this pilot region using the Australian example as a guidance, one can assume a prevalence of at least four cases per 100,000 inhabitants in Baden-Württemberg, Germany (Virginia, USA: 13 cases/100,000 inhabitants; New South Wales, Australia: 113 cases/100,000 inhabitants) . The German patients were aged between 27 and 83 years (median 59 years) at the time of first diagnosis. The current patient cohort consists of more men than women (female to male ratio, 1 : 1.75) (Tab. 1 ). In contrast to the US, there have been no conclusive cases of α-Gal syndrome in children or adolescents in Germany as yet . The children and adolescents known to us to have allergic reactions to meat have hitherto been diagnosed with other meat allergy entities (e. g. pork-cat syndrome, beef-milk syndrome, or poultry meat allergy) [20, 21, 22]. According to their patient histories, 65.5 % of adult α-Gal syndrome patients had experienced dangerous systemic allergic reactions on at least one occasion (anaphylaxis > II according to Ring/Messmer), and 34.5 % urticaria/angioedema (anaphylaxis I according to Ring/Messmer) . Against the backdrop of reactions at short intervals, the diagnosis of chronic urticaria or idiopathic angioedema was incorrectly made in seven patients. Allergic reactions to mammalian meat only were reported by 43.6 % of α-Gal syndrome patients. These patients stated that they had never knowingly consumed innards. In some of these cases, reactions occurred following consumption of sausage products containing an unknown proportion of innards. Reactions were most frequently reported after ingesting beef (53 %) and pork (47 %), less often after lamb (9.1 %) or deer (7.3 %). Of the α-Gal syndrome patients, 29.1 % reported systemic allergic reactions after consuming both mammalian meat and pork kidney. Two of these patients had also experienced reactions to other innards (tripe, lung, heart) in their histories. A typical feature in this patient group was that reactions were seen with a time delay of 3–6 h when muscle meat was consumed, whereas reactions occurred within as little as 1 h following the consumption of pork kidney [16, 24]. Reactions following the consumption of pork kidney were reported by 27.3 % of α-Gal syndrome patients. The fact that mammalian meat was consumed regularly and had never caused allergic reactions, even when evaluated over long periods, was also typical for this patient group . Allergic reactions in these patients with no additional allergy to muscle meat typically occurred with a time delay of 3–6 h after consuming pork kidney. Milk products such as milk, cream, and cheese were tolerated by the patients known to us. One highly sensitized patient exhibited an α-Gal-dependent immediate-type reaction after consuming a large quantity of gelatin-containing sweets (e. g., gummy bears) . Adverse events following the infusion of α-Gal-containing drugs (e. g., cetuximab or gelatin-based colloids) have also been observed in southern Germany; however, due to a lack of data, it has not been possible to assess their frequency as yet. We are also aware of one fatality due to anaphylaxis upon initial administration of cetuximab.
Diagnostic workup and risk management of α-Gal syndrome in Germany
Since prick test solutions that are authorized and available in Germany show very low sensitivity in α-Gal-allergic patients, they confer no diagnostic benefit. Unfortunately, intradermal tests for meat have not been available in Germany since 2007; indeed, no officially authorized test allergens for intradermal testing for foodstuffs have been available since autumn 2014 anymore. Using older case studies in Germany as a guide, one can assume that intradermal testing with meat extracts would provide a sensitive diagnostic workup [9, 26]. Prick-to-prick tests using fresh meat and kidney preparations offer a remedy here. The use in particular of pork or beef kidney proved to be more sensitive in the prick-to-prick test compared with muscle meat from the respective species. An intradermal test with 4 % gelatin polysuccinate (Gelafundin) is easier to perform compared with fresh meat and kidney preparations and offers comparable sensitivity . However, here again, the discontinuation of standardized positive controls for intradermal testing makes this diagnostic approach more challenging. Therefore, measuring specific serum IgE to α-Gal represents the most important diagnostic tool. A CE-certified test allergen has been available to this end since June 2015.
Oral challenge testing is useful to assess the clinical relevance of a type-I sensitization to α-Gal, as well as in individual allergologic dietary counseling. Since challenge tests are difficult to control due to the delayed onset of reactions, these tests should be performed by experienced allergists on an inpatient basis with emergency response measures in place. Sensitivity to α-Gal in mammalian innards or meat is subject to variation (Fig. 2 ). Standardized challenge tests confirmed that combining cofactors (primarily physical exercise, alcohol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) in the testing process may be necessary in order to trigger an allergic reaction following meat consumption (Fig. 3 ). However, according to own experience to date, exposure to muscle meat elicits a systemic allergic reaction in only 30 % of α-Gal-syndrome patients even when cofactors are included. Exposure to pork kidney without cofactors triggered systemic allergic reactions in 78 % of exposed patients at our hospital. These observations support findings from France that kidney contains a higher concentration of α-Gal compared with muscle meat, and that digestion involving more rapid release and/or intestinal absorption of α-Gal from innards is possible .
All α-Gal-syndrome patients are prescribed an allergy emergency kit, comprising an adrenaline auto-injector, oral antihistamine, and corticosteroids, and issued with an anaphylaxis identification card . This anaphylaxis identification card includes a warning about the use of α-Gal-containing drugs. Cetuximab and gelatin-derived colloids are proven to be hazardous . The human antibody panitumumab, which also targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), can be used instead of cetuximab in chemotherapy-refractory metastatic malignancy, such as head and neck or colorectal cancer . Follow-up observations to date have shown that only a small number of affected individuals adopt a vegetarian diet following diagnosis. Most α-Gal-syndrome patients successfully prevent recurrent episodes of anaphylaxis by reducing the quantity of meat they consume and by eating more α-Gal-free poultry as a substitute. Observations of individual patients in Munich and Tübingen have yielded evidence that complete avoidance can potentially result in anaphylaxis to even tiny quantities of meat, thereby pointing to possible mechanisms of oral tolerance (personal communication, F. Rueff; follow-up case study ).
Prevalence of type-I sensitization to α-Gal in Germany
Recent epidemiological studies put the prevalence of α-Gal sensitization [as measured by positive sIgE (> 0.1 kUA/l) to α-Gal] in Europe at 5.5 %–8.1 % , whereby it is assumed that sensitization rates vary considerably from region to region. Over the last 2 years, studies on the prevalence of α-Gal syndrome have been carried out with the support of the Baden-Württemberg State Health Office. The studies concentrated on Tübingen, Reutlingen, Böblingen, Esslingen, and Stuttgart, all districts located around the Schönbuch nature park. Investigations began with hunters and foresters, subsequently extending to the general populations of these districts. Analysis of the data is still ongoing. However, a distinctly higher prevalence can be seen for this area compared with the prevalence published for Europe to date. Sensitizations are also seen as frequently in children as in adults. An association with tick bites is assumed. Pronounced local reactions lasting between 14 days and several weeks at the site of bites from the Ixodes ricinus tick have been observed in α-Gal-sensitized individuals in southern Germany . Since tick bites are usually only associated with infections (primarily Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis), affected individuals tend not to spontaneously report local reactions of this kind. Anaphylaxis upon tick removal, as observed in Australia, has not been reported in southern Germany . The comparatively high prevalence seen in southern Germany underlines the medical need for oral challenge testing to assess the clinical relevance of type-I sensitization to α-Gal in terms of mammalian meat consumption.
Demonstrating that muscle meat and innards are a source (of varying potency) of allergic reactions in α-Gal syndrome represents an important European contribution to the understanding of α-Gal syndrome. Pork innards elicit the highest rate of reactions in challenge tests in α-Gal-syndrome patients. It has been demonstrated that the concept of FDEIA is important in the clinical picture of α-Gal syndrome [16, 24]. This also explains why the consumption of meat does not always elicit allergic reactions in affected patients. European observations also reveal that there are α-Gal-syndrome patients with extremely high triggering thresholds that can only be reached in daily life by consuming pork kidneys with/without cofactors. This makes it more challenging to assess the individual risk of type-I α-Gal sensitization for patients and underlines the medical benefit of oral challenge testing.
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Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
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Fischer J, Yazdi AS, Biedermann T. Clinical spectrum of α-Gal syndrome: from immediate-type to delayed immediate-type reactions to mammalian innards and meat. Allergo J Int 2016;25:55–62 DOI: 10.1007/s40629-016-0099-z
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Cite this article
Fischer, J., Yazdi, A.S. & Biedermann, T. Clinical spectrum of α-Gal syndrome: from immediate-type to delayed immediate-type reactions to mammalian innards and meat. Allergo J Int 25, 55–62 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40629-016-0099-z | <urn:uuid:166ba9f8-c7c4-4dcd-803b-c1b2ef7dd17f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40629-016-0099-z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.900545 | 5,965 | 3 | 3 |
Life skills education has become commonplace today, but many people do not know what it means.
However, as the world changes, so do many things, including how we define and look at life skills education.
Generally, life skills education pertains to teaching essential life skills. These skills help children and young adults develop the knowledge, attitudes, and values they need later in life.
This type of education is not focused on teaching young people to pass exams and go to university but rather prepares them to live useful and successful lives.
Life skills are essential because they form the foundation for success in many areas of life.
The approach is integrated into all individuals’ contexts and needs. That includes situations that happen while growing up and starting work, among other things.
This article examines the importance of life skills education, what life skills are, and the benefits of learning them.
What are life skills?
Life skills are adaptive and positive behavior abilities that enable you to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.
It describes a set of core skills considered crucial to an individual’s social functioning. That can be a means of obtaining employment and/or living independently.
In the case of children and youth, the emphasis is usually on areas such as; social skills, interpersonal communication, reasoning, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and self-management (across a range of areas, including time management).
Additionally, these kinds of skills are broad and transferable. That means they are applicable across different situations in life, including; home, work, community settings, and leisure activities.
Also, a second dimension to life skills often focuses on managing your health throughout your lifespan.
This includes personal hygiene practices like; nutrition, physical fitness, mental health, and prevention of harmful levels of substance use.
It also includes your knowledge about how to access health care when needed.
Why is life skills education important?
Life skills education empowers young people to lead healthy, productive lives.
This skills-based education also helps young people acquire the skills necessary to make informed decisions, communicate effectively, develop caring and responsible behaviors, and cope with challenging situations.
Also, life skills training for all young people is critical. Human development specialists agree that youth need a particular life skill competencies to thrive, stay healthy, and succeed.
Additionally, this training is essential to learn how to set and achieve positive goals and feel confident in who you are.
Also, it helps you to manage your emotions and behavior, establish healthy relationships, make responsible decisions, and enjoy learning.
In addition to planned activities in the classroom and at school, adolescents develop these life skills by engaging in social situations.
It is a strategy for promoting mental health that focuses on creating a positive and supportive school environment.
What are the benefits of life skills education?
Life skills education has proven so essential for child development that governments and education authorities in many countries have introduced it as an essential part of the school curriculum.
This education gives children the confidence and ability to make healthy choices, manage their emotions, and build strong relationships.
Training in life skills can give children a toolbox of approaches, strategies, and coping mechanisms to support their learning.
Getting a life skills education has several key benefits. They include:
1. Strengthens the self-respect of children
Self-respect is necessary for children to build healthy relationships and make wise life choices. Life skills education strengthens the self-esteem of children in a supportive environment.
Self-esteem is a child’s belief in her worth as a person or friend. When your child develops healthy self-esteem, she branches out from family and friends, exploring the world and trying new things.
Furthermore, children who develop self-respect have a better chance of successful lives.
Experts have found that self-respect is much more valuable than you’d think, and life skills training can help strengthen that in children.
2. Gives children tools to improve their quality of life
Life skills training teaches children essential skills to help them navigate real-world challenges like conflict resolution, managing finances, goal-setting, and time management.
Through life skills education, students learn essential skills to benefit their peace of mind and quality of life.
Also, they learn how to manage stress, calm their minds and bodies, exercise, eat healthy, set goals, stay on top of their responsibilities, and more.
These powerful tools enable children to handle everyday challenges and crises.
3. Kids develop a sense of social responsibility
Life skills training encourages kids to become more responsible while respecting and valuing their peers, teachers, and school community.
Also, community service projects and fun activities teach children positive life skills and foster a sense of responsibility.
It also fosters an understanding of teamwork and leadership that applies to every situation throughout their lives.
4. Life skills education develops teamwork skills
Developing teamwork skills is crucial for academic success and beyond.
Children who have learned life skills are better prepared to tackle academic courses, build strong relationships with peers, and succeed socially and emotionally.
Also, young people participating in life skills training can take the lead in teamwork-based activities that empower them with leadership skills.
5. It helps students feel more confident
A life skills training program helps students feel more confident about their ability to solve problems, make good decisions, and take responsibility for their actions.
Students also learn to be more proficient in communication, child development, food proficiency, money management, and physical activity.
6. Children learn to use resources wisely
Life skills training helps children use their essential life resources-time, space, and materials wisely.
In addition, the ability to utilize these resources wisely is essential for success in all work and leisure areas.
Children learn to use resources wisely as they explore possible solutions to problems, develop decision-making techniques, and practice patience through trial and error.
7. Life skills education makes students self-sufficient and confident adults
Children who learn to develop their life skills early are more likely to be successful as adults. Life skills help kids learn how to handle obstacles and take responsibility for their actions.
Also, life skills training helps develop their social skills, allows them to express and manage their emotions, and gives them the confidence they need to succeed.
8. Helps with focus and attention skills
Help your child develop the focus and attention skills needed to thrive in school and beyond.
The life skills curriculum covers critical topics like stress management, respectful communication, self-advocacy, sensory processing, executive functioning, and memory in a fun and engaging environment.
9. Improves time management skills
Research shows that life skills education improves time management skills and helps children plan for their goals.
Students also learn how to set a schedule, stick to it, determine resources to allocate, and see which tasks are urgent.
By practicing these skills, children also learn how important it is to set goals and how rewarding it is to reach them.
10. Life skills education encourages independence in kids
While life skills training can help a child in school and socially, it can also help with other aspects of their future success.
From interviewing for a job to managing finances, life skills education can be the key to living a fulfilling life as an adult.
Although teaching these skills can seem daunting, there are many small ways to encourage independence in your child from a young age.
11. Life skills education gives a boost to academic success
Why is life skills education important, and how does it help? Life skills education.
Also, early life lessons give students an advantage as they progress through school and beyond.
12. Develops observation and critical thinking skills
Simulation activities are a great way to help young learners build on their observational and critical thinking skills.
The activities should also promote the development of fine motor and communication skills, visual observation, and cognitive thinking abilities.
What are the challenges affecting life skills education?
The challenges affecting life skills education include; a lack of resources, inadequate teacher and learner training, family support problems, dual responsibility to meet literacy and life skills targets, and managing cultural sensitivities.
Also, this problem is compounded by gender-related issues, including a lack of investment in adolescent girls (compared to boys), cultural barriers, and social norms that limit girls’ access to education.
Additionally, there is little interest (or opportunity) in teaching life skills education in schools since they may appear as only benefitting low achievers and “non-cognitive” students.
However, the reality is that life skills education can help all students, including high achievers.
This occurs by encouraging them to think about what they want from their education and how it helps them develop as a whole person.
What are the categories of life skills?
Life skills include interpersonal and self-awareness skills, communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and coping with emotions.
These categories encompass many life skills, from physical to mental health.
Self-awareness skills are the ability to reflect on your thoughts, feelings, and actions. They are also essential for developing a sense of self.
Recognizing your strengths and challenges makes it easier to develop empathy for others and regulate your emotions.
Communication skills are talents and abilities that enable you to convey your thoughts, feelings, ideas, and information to others.
These may include listening, speaking, gesturing, and questioning (such as reflectively).
Decision making skills
Decision-making involves identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative resolutions.
Organizing relevant information and alternatives helps you make more deliberate, thoughtful decisions.
Problem solving skills
Having problem-solving skills can help you overcome obstacles creatively and find workable solutions.
The better your problem-solving skills are, the more asset you will be to an employer or project team.
Coping skills are techniques that help children, adolescents, and adults deal with emotional distress.
They are used to increase self-control and emotional regulation to better handle disappointment, frustration, and other negative feelings.
How does life skills education affect society?
Life skills education equips individuals with the knowledge and competencies necessary to establish the life skills necessary to live successfully in society.
Also, minors who participate in life skills education are more likely to be respectful and responsible towards their community.
Why is life skills education necessary for employment?
Life skills training provides young people with the knowledge and experience they will need to succeed in their careers.
It covers communication, problem-solving, goal setting, self-management, and resilience, which are necessary for any profession. In addition, it teaches habits like punctuality, getting along with coworkers, and showing up on time for work.
Why is life skills education crucial to a child’s development?
You use life skills education to teach children how to make and maintain friendships, better communicate their needs, and resolve conflict.
This teaching method helps children develop social-emotional skills essential for school achievement and success in adulthood.
Also, through life skills, children learn to deal with transition, stress, emotion, impulse control, self-esteem, and evaluation of consequences.
Life skills education is proven to impact children in the following ways: – Improved academic performance, improved social and emotional health, improved mental health, decreased stress, burnout, and anxiety.
In addition, this education is the best way to teach children observation and critical thinking skills to solve problems in their lives and recognize the opportunities that come their way.
Finally, teaching children adaptive skills also helps them maximize their potential.
These are practical abilities that children need to function and meet the demands of daily living. Learn more about adaptive skills and how important they are.
I hope you found this article helpful. Thanks for reading. | <urn:uuid:519c95c2-3d69-4d75-a791-920b6d32b9b2> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://lmshero.com/what-is-life-skills-education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.950237 | 2,439 | 3.734375 | 4 |
Bee pollen is the pollen ball that has been packed by worker honeybees into pellets. Bee bread is the bee pollen with added honey and bee secretions and stored in brood cells.
Benefits Of Bee Pollen
Vitamins and minerals are not all that bee pollen offers. It is also rich in proteins, free amino acids, hormones and trace elements.
No other food on earth offers such a broad spectrum of nutrition so naturally.
All over the world honeybee pollen is recognized not only as an ideal food source but as a food source with wide-acting medicinal properties, including:
1. Restore lost sexual desire and energy.
2. Alleviate menstrual cramps.
3. Speed the healing of wounds.
4. Alleviate depression and fatigue.
5. Normalize digestive problems.
6. Alleviate migraine headaches.
7. Relieve various prostate problems.
8. Improve fertility in females and males.
9. Reduce cholesterol.
10. Greatly improve energy levels.
11. Weight Control
12. Using bee pollen daily can help you build up a resistance to airborne pollen allergies.
Modern researchers today are proving what our ancestors already knew yesterday; that eating bee pollen every day will keep many maladies at bay. | <urn:uuid:0668c9d3-0b06-4eb1-bb99-91d7d8ee9161> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://magnoliahousehoney.com/collections/holiday-collection-1/products/bee-pollen-8oz | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.888871 | 261 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Behaviour management and maths manipulatives
How to introduce and use manipulatives so they are seen as tools and not toys
Teachers are inundated with the latest tips and advice, frustratingly, often by those who have never stepped foot in a classroom! Maths manipulatives (also known as resources) are recommended but we’ve all been there, handed out the resources and the next thing you know, three children have made a gun out of cubes, two children are trying to pocket the shiny counters and several are fighting over who gets the most multilink… so they can build the tallest tower!
What are manipulatives?
It can sound complicated but manipulatives are simply physical and visual aids that can be used to support the teaching and learning of mathematical concepts. Through play, exploration and modelling, most children find that manipulatives help them get to grips with the very abstract notions of numbers.
Commonly used manipulatives include:
- Multilink cubes
- Cuisenaire rods
- Bead strings
- Balance scales
- Clock faces
- Digit cards
- Hundred squares
You don’t need to have the above. If budgets are limited then why not try some of these DIY manipulative ideas? By creating your own, you will have enough manipulatives that all children have access to them.
Why are they important?
Over the past two decades, research has indicated the positive impact of using manipulatives in the classroom. A 2013 report published in the Journal of Educational Psychology identified “statistically significant results” when teachers used manipulatives compared with when they only used abstract maths symbols.
The NCETM agrees that physical manipulatives should play a central role in maths teaching. “Manipulatives are not just for young pupils, and also not just for those who can’t understand something. They can always be of help to build or deepen understanding of a mathematical concept,” the organisation said in a post entitled 'Developing your use of manipulatives in maths teaching'.
Once children are confident using manipulatives or ‘concrete’ resources, they can then move onto pictorial representations or the ‘seeing’ stage. Here, visual representations of concrete objects are used to model problems. This stage encourages children to make a mental connection between the physical object they just handled and the abstract pictures, diagrams or models that represent the objects from the maths problem.
Introducing manipulatives — let them play!
Whether you have a bumper pack of manipulatives, a shared bank of resources or your very own DIY versions, it is important to teach the children how to use them independently. If manipulatives aren’t accessible to children, they become a novelty and of course, they will then be excited and want to play with them (even more!) It is essential therefore to give children an opportunity to play with and explore the manipulatives before trying to teach with them.
Introduce the manipulatives one at a time — if you don’t have enough for each child then set up a table with the manipulatives of your choice, so turns can be taken to explore them. This works well with younger years where ‘choosing tables’ are set up and there is a teacher-led ‘maths table.’
Through play and exploration, children can have a chance to work out what they think the resource would be useful for — ask questions such as:
- How could you use this?
- How could this help you when adding/subtracting?
- Why do you think they are different sizes — what could that represent?
Once the children have explored the resource and know its name, introduce a simple maths problem and ask them to use the manipulatives to help solve it. You can then model how to solve the problem using the manipulatives and guide the children step by step. This will need to be practised and reinforced regularly in younger years to build independence. Once you have done this with one resource, you can move on to another resource type, for example numicon, and repeat the same process.
Once you have introduced your resources, speak as a class and explain that they should come up with a set of rules for how they are treated and used. Giving children ownership over the manipulatives as well as the respect to make their own rules will make them feel accountable and lessen the likelihood of negative behaviours when using manipulatives. Write the rules up as a class and display them so they can be referred to.
NRICH recommends children having access to manipulatives “Give open access to all the resources and allow the children free reign in choosing what to use to model any problem they may be tackling. I would make sure that children of all ages had this access from 3 to 11 years old and beyond.” While this is exactly what teachers would like to replicate in their classrooms, not all classes learn in the same way and this isn’t always achievable due to space, budgets and children’s prior experiences of manipulatives.
Once you have introduced a manipulative, decide as a class where you should store it. You know what works best for your class, so consider different options such as communal drawers, a maths table, individual student packs or a collection of manipulatives for each table. Set clear rules around using and treating manipulatives to ensure they are not broken or lost. Additionally, you could create a monitor for each resource so the children can take ownership and make sure they stay tidy and accounted for.
Maths areas and tables
Creating a classroom culture that uses manipulatives will aid children’s fluency and help develop their ability to solve problems, reason mathematically and share! If manipulatives are introduced in a considered and gradual way, with clear boundaries from an early age, children should see them as part of everyday learning and they will not be a novelty. They will be seen as tools instead of toys — and hopefully no more multilink towers or guns!
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Help every learner succeed with strategies for managing behaviour, supporting mental health, and differentiating instruction for all attainment levels. | <urn:uuid:b950c2d5-5d90-408c-8209-f988a87d6304> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://mathsnoproblem.com/blog/teaching-tips/behaviour-management-and-maths-manipulatives | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.947575 | 1,393 | 4.375 | 4 |
At some level or another, regardless of your business size, someone deals with the Human Resources part. To function effectively in business, one must stick to a plan to reach the planned organisational goals. This is where HR Planning comes in.
An effective human resource planning process helps organisations maximise human capital and build a future-ready workforce. Let’s delve into the importance of human resource planning in more detail and what the process looks like.
What is human resource planning?
Human resource planning (HRP) describes an ongoing, data-driven process where a company systematically plans for the future through human resources to ensure that available jobs are suited to appropriately skilled employees.
It identifies critical HR initiatives for the period ahead to help the organisation achieve its strategic goals and maintain its competitive advantage without staffing shortages or excesses.
Importance of human resource planning
Organisations must be able to adapt their human capital to sustain the continuous shifts in technology, local and global economics, product innovation, and culture. Human resource planning is integral to maximising a well-equipped workforce, and it offers other advantages that assist in accomplishing your organisation’s mission.
Challenges of Human Resource Planning
The challenges to HRP include forces that are constantly changing, such as employees getting sick, getting promoted, or going on vacation. HRP ensures there is the best fit between workers and jobs, avoiding shortages and surpluses in the employee pool.
To satisfy their objectives, HR managers have to make plans to do the following:
- Find and attract skilled employees.
- Select, train, and reward the best candidates.
- Cope with absences and deal with conflicts.
- Promote employees or let some of them go.
Investing in HRP is one of the most vital decisions a company can make.
HR planning aims to ensure that the company has the necessary skills and resources to achieve its business objectives. This process typically involves four steps:
1. Analysing Labor Supply
The first step of human resource planning is identifying the company’s current human resources supply. In this step, the HR department studies the organisation’s strengths based on the number of employees, their skills, qualifications, positions, benefits, and performance levels.
2. Forecasting Labor Demand
The second step requires the company to outline the future of its workforce. Here, the HR department can consider specific issues like promotions, retirements, layoffs, and transfers—anything that factors into a company’s future needs.
The HR department can also look at external conditions impacting labour demand, such as new technology that might increase or decrease the need for workers.
3. Balancing Labor Demand With Supply
The third step in the HRP process is forecasting the employment demand. HR creates a gap analysis that lays out specific needs to narrow the company’s labour supply versus future direction. This analysis will often generate a series of questions, such as:
- Should employees learn new skills?
- Does the company need more managers?
- Do all employees play to their strengths in their current roles?
4. Developing and Implementing a Plan
The answers to questions from the gap analysis help HR determine how to proceed, which is the final phase of the HRP process. HR must now take practical steps to integrate its plan with the rest of the company. The department needs a budget, the ability to implement the plan, and a collaborative effort with all departments to execute it.
By following these steps, companies can ensure that they have the necessary human resources plan to achieve their business goals.
Why document your strategic HR plan?
Now that you know the steps to strategic human resource planning, it’s time to adapt those steps to your organisation and determine how to execute them.
There are many reasons to document your strategic human resources plan, particularly in a visual format like a flowchart. Through documentation, you standardise the process, enabling repeated success. Documentation also allows for better evaluation, knowing what parts of your plan need work. In addition, a properly documented plan will allow you to better communicate the plan throughout the organisation, including how everyone, from the top down, can contribute to making sure it works.
Document every step of the process, from beginning to end, and find room for improvement in your human resources process.
Let’s wrap it up
Companies can stay competitive in today’s fast-paced economy and adapt to change quickly and effectively with effective HR planning. Planning for the future is always a challenge when there is no way to be sure of what it holds, and you can’t foresee every possible development. Nevertheless, it is worth the effort. With some preparation, human resources managers can avoid spontaneously improvising in more situations.
With an accurate understanding of the dynamics of human resources, you have the essentials for an effective human resource planning process that results in a concrete, actionable plan. To develop and carry out your human resource plan, thoroughly analyse your current situation and future needs. If this sounds like a bit too much for your liking, why not consider outsourcing it?
Find your ideal Human Resource (HR) Planning Solution
The benefit of outsourcing your Human Resource planning is that it can help you take the pressure off and give you peace of mind. Outsourcing your Human Resource planning to a trusted vendor like MASA can save you money in the long run and might make a bit more sense depending on the growth stage your business is in.
If you require professional assistance with more than just human resource planning but hiring, onboarding, and training new employees, make sure to contact us to leverage the top staffing employment and labour outsourcing services in SA.
MASA is a leading national and international employment/staffing agency capable of effectively managing the critical elements of your employment/staffing needs. | <urn:uuid:edccdca9-3648-44e4-a981-1aa1cdf91704> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://measuredability.com/a-four-step-guide-to-human-resource-hr-planning/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.92449 | 1,194 | 2.828125 | 3 |
When Good Discoveries Go Bad: Antibiotics
Bacteria are a type of prokaryote that are absolutely everywhere in the world, from dirt to food, and even inside other living creatures. In the past 60 years, scientists have developed some incredible drugs, called antibiotics, to fight bacterial infections. These drugs have saved millions of lives.
There is, however, a downside to the development of antibiotics, their overuse. Since the late 1970s, antibiotics have been prescribed more and more, and for less and less serious infections, which has led to many bacteria developing a resistance to these drugs. When this happens, bacteria very quickly lose their vulnerability to these antibiotics, leaving humans once again susceptible to infection.
For this reason, many people think that the over prescription of antibiotics by doctors and their addition in products like antibacterial soaps and kitchen wipes, have led to the evolution of “superbugs” that cannot be killed by normal antibiotics. Others take a different view, believing that antibiotics are chemicals like any other, and they should be allowed to be prescribed at-will and included in household products. | <urn:uuid:adf17045-fd4f-42ed-ac73-ab2c4e8c9042> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://meganursingtutors.com/%E2%80%8Bwhen-good-discoveries-go-bad-antibiotics-biology-homework-help/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.968943 | 227 | 3.046875 | 3 |
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