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Leghorn chicken, relatively small, white-colored breed of poultry that currently dominates the American egg-producing class. The bird, as bred today, produces a good number of chalk white eggs, a feature which has brought it to the forefront of modern commercial egg production. Although only the "single comb" variety is popular today, many other strains with large egg, better shell, better interior egg qualities, or other desirable traits, are retained as breeding stock. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. More on Leghorn chicken from Infoplease: See more Encyclopedia articles on: Agriculture: Animals

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Dunmore Cave is located 10km from of Kilkenny City. History and geology blend here to give the visitor a unique learning experience. The cave has been known to man for many centuries and contains some of Ireland's finest calcite cave formations. History and geology blend at Dunmore Cave to give an interesting and unique insight into this County Kilkenny landmark. Consisting of a series of chambers formed over millions of years, the cave contains some of the finest calcite formations found in any Irish cave. The cave has been known to man for many centuries and is first mentioned in the 9th century Irish Triads. The most interesting reference however, comes from the Annals which tells of a Viking massacre at the cave in the year 928 AD. Archaeological finds within the cave confirm Viking activity. The visitor centre features an exhibition area, audio-visual presentation and the Cupcake Café tearoom which is open daily during the peak season. The audio-visual presentation covers four main topics aimed at all ages and interests: geology and evolution over 350 million years, animated formation of Dunmore Cave, ecology of the cave and its surrounds, and the myths and history of the cave. There is also an interactive Virtual Museum consisting of the several treasures found in the Cave including one of the most significant Viking finds in the country. Admission to Dunmore Cave is by guided tour only. The Cave is open all year round and has no wheelchair access but the visitor centre is fully accessible.

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Today, January 24th … Lobster Thermidor is an extravagant, indulgent, classical dish, a dish that no-one makes at home anymore - the reasons for which will become obvious shortly, but have nothing to do with the level of culinary difficulty. A popular story which may be history or myth, says that the dish was invented on this very day in 1894 at the restaurant Maire in Boulevard Saint-Denis in Paris, in honour of the first night of the play “Thermidor”, by Victorien Sardou. Its subject was the French Revolution, which was still a politically sensitive issue 100 years later, and the play was banned after only three performances. There are other stories of course, but whatever the route, the dish is ultimately named after the month of that name in the short-lived French Revolutionary calendar, one of the warm summer months (now July 19 to August 17). The play’s name was a reference to the political machinations called the “Thermidorean reaction” which occurred on 9 Thermidor 1794, and led to the end of the Reign of Terror and the execution by guillotine of Robespierre the following day. The lobster must think this explanation is particularly apt, in view of its own last moments and method of execution. Split a live lobster in two, lengthwise. Crack the shell of the claws and pick out the meat. Season both halves of the lobster with salt. Pour oil over them and roast them in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Dice the lobster flesh coarsely. Make a stock of white wine, fish fumet [stock] and meat gravy, flavoured with chervil, tarragon, and chopped shallots. Boil it down to a concentrated consistency. Add to this concentrated stock a little very thick Bechamel sauce and some English mustard. Boil this sauce for a few seconds, then whisk in fresh butter (one third of the volume of the sauce). Line the two halves of the carcases with a little of this sauce. Fill them with the flesh of the lobster, cover with the remainder of the sauce, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and melted butter and brown quickly in the oven. (Larousse Gastronomique). If this method of lobster execution makes you squeamish, please do use the standard method of death by immersion in boiling water – in which case a name change to “Lobster Plûvoise” would be doubly apt, since January 24th fell in the wet month of that name. Tomorrow: And so the Lord be thankit.

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In February of 1894, a feeble, one-armed man walked into the offices of Dr. W.T. Delaney in Bristol. His name was James Keelan, and though he was never one to take charity, he was in a bit of a pinch. His wife had died, and Keelan was the sole guardian of three granddaughters. And at age 76, he had no reasonable option for employment. However, the Tennessee legislature had funded a pension for former Confederate soldiers, and Keelan—claiming he was a veteran of the Civil War—was there to request his rightful payment. But when Delaney began to question the man about his service, he uncovered one of the most incredible and heroic stories he’d ever heard…which would forever earn Keelan a place in American Military history. This is his story: James Keelan was born in Virginia in 1818. The son of farmers, Keelan learned to hunt, fish, and farm at a young age. He led a relatively quiet existence until the onset of the Civil War. By that time, he was 43 years old, but still enlisted in the Confederate Army within the Will Thomas Legion. In October of 1861, unbeknownst to the Confederates, the pro-Union William B. Carter devised a plan to invade East Tennessee via the Cumberland Gap (a crucial crossing point for the Confederate Army). Without hesitation, the plan was approved by President Lincoln, General William Sheridan and General George Thomas. As the invasion started, some unexpected moves by the Confederates separated the Union regiments, and Carter’s army was left alone to invade Tennessee, burning bridges and destroying infrastructure. They were successful, to a point, until they reached the Strawberry Plains Bridge over the Holston River outside Knoxville. And as it turns out, the regiment assigned to protect the Strawberry Plains Bridge was none other than the Will Thomas Legion. On November 8, the only member of the Will Thomas Legion standing guard was Private James Keelan, and through the bitter cold wind, he heard the footsteps of nearly a dozen soldiers headed his way. From his post, he could see the invaders without being seen…and his heart raced as he saw the flicker of a match being struck and lighting pine splinters. He fumbled for his rifle, but couldn’t find it in the dark. Instead, he found his pistol, and slowly took aim. Then, in a flash, he fired the pistol and hit one intruder directly in the chest, killing him. As the intruders returned fire, Keelan grabbed his Bowie knife and began to swing furiously at the Union soldiers. Blood was shed, men fell, Keelan had shots fired at his chest and sabers swung at his head. Suddenly, the Union soldiers noticed burning lights at the nearby Stringfield residence, and knew their plan had been foiled. And those who were still alive quickly retreated, leaving Keelan alone. The years of hard labor and strong constitution had given Keelan a strong constitution and he managed to stay conscious, so he drug himself inch by inch off the bridge and towards the lights. And even though he was near death, Keelan kept crawling to the Elmore residence (afraid he would scare the ladies at the Stringfield residence). When William Elmore discovered Keelan, he was astounded that the man was still alive. “Jim,” said Elmore, “you’ve been drunk or asleep and let the train run over you!” “No Billy,” was Keelan’s reply. “They have killed me, but I saved the bridge.” A doctor was summoned, who treated three severe saber cuts to Keelan’s scalp, a gunshot wound in the right hand, right arm, and an inoperable bullet in his left hip. Keelan’s left hand, however, was the worst. It was removed and the bloody stump stitched up. The next day, Confederate investigators discovered the bodies of three young men, and estimated that another six or seven had been severely wounded. And more than 30 years later, in the office of W. T. Delaney, two of Keelan’s compatriots corroborated his story. Delaney sat back in shock, at what must surely have been one of the most amazing and heroic stories of the Civil War. After Keelan’s remarkable story had been made public in 1895, he passed away in Bristol and was laid to rest in the East Ridge Cemetary. And on his headstone, they carved a Confederate battle flag with the inscription: “James Keelan, Defender of the Bridge—The South’s Horatius.”

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1. to dim [verb] [dimde, gedimd] ['dim-mun'] The literal translation "dimmen" is not very exciting: to dim… However, in Dutch, "dimmen" is not only used to describe lowering the intensity of light(s), but also to describe lowering the intensity of certain (human) behaviour, see 2. - "Lezen bij gedimd licht is slecht voor je ogen." ("Reading with dimmed light is bad for the eyes.") - "Frank, kun jij het licht dimmen, zodat we de presentatie beter kunnen zien?" ("Frank, can you dim the lights so we can have a better view of the presentation?") - "Dimmer": dimmer(-switch). - "Donker": dark, gloomy. - "Verduisteren": to darken, to obscure, to embezzle. 2. to cool it [verb] [dimde, gedimd] ['dim-mun'] In this context, "dimmen" is used to describe lowering the intensity of certain (human) behaviour, hence the translation: "to cool it". You may see the following phrase a lot: "Effe dimmen!" ("Cool it!"). "Effe" is informal spoken language for the Dutch word "even", written phonetically. "Even" is used a lot in Dutch! It translates to "for a moment" or "just", but cannot always be translated like that literally. Sometimes "even" is omitted in the translation, as is the case in the first example. - "Effe dimmen, makker! Dit is niet leuk meer." ("Cool it, pal! This is not funny anymore.") - "Die gast moet nu dimmen, anders sla ik hem op zijn bek!" ("That dude should cool it right now, or I’ll punch him in the face!") - "Die topmannen moeten gewoon effe dimmen met die bonussen." – "Ik weet niet of ik dat met je eens ben." ("These captains of industry should just cool it on the bonuses." – "I don’t know if I agree with you on that.") - "Kalmeren": to calm (down). - "Rustig": calm, peaceful, quiet. - "Ontspannen": to relax.

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Contact: Morwenna Grills University of Manchester Caption: Professor Leigh’s molecular machine is based on the ribosome. It features a functionalized nanometre-sized ring that moves along a molecular track, picking up building blocks located on the path and connecting them together in a specific order to synthesize the desired new molecule. First the ring is threaded onto a molecular strand using copper ions to direct the assembly process. Then a “reactive arm” is attached to the rest of the machine and it starts to operate. The ring moves up and down the strand until its path is blocked by a bulky group. The reactive arm then detaches the obstruction from the track and passes it to another site on the machine, regenerating the active site on the arm. The ring is then free to move further along the strand until its path is obstructed by the next building block. This, in turn, is removed and passed to the elongation site on the ring, thus building up a new molecular structure on the ring. Once all the building blocks are removed from the track, the ring de-threads and the synthesis is over. Credit: Miriam Wilson Usage Restrictions: Please credit Miriam Wilson Related news release: Molecular machine could hold key to more efficient manufacturing

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Posted by KatNip on September 17, 1998 at 02:54:31: “[...] American law is closer to the [Roman] civil law than the English common law.” Roscoe Pound, The Formative Era of American Law (Little, Brown and Company. 1938), p. 138. “Examinations of witnesses upon Interrogatories,” he [John Adams for Hancock’s counsel] added, “are only by the Civil Law. Interrogatories are unknown to the common Law, and Englishmen and common Lawyers have an aversion to them if not an Abhorrence of them.” Adams’s argument in “Sewal v. Hancock,” in Wroth and Zobel, II, 194-207. Leonard W. Levy, Origins of the Fifth Amendment (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986), p. 398. . . . That the trial by jury, which is the grand characteristic of the common law, is secured by the constitution, only in criminal cases. 2. That the appeal from both law and fact is expressly established, which is utterly inconsistent with the principles of the common law, and trial by jury. The only mode in which an appeal from law and fact can be established is, by adopting the principles and practice of the civil law; unless the United States should be drawn into the absurdity of calling and swearing juries, merely for the purpose of contradicting their verdicts, which would render juries contemptible and worse than useless. . . . Minority of the Pennsylvania legislature, December 18, 1787, in opposition to the Constitution. Trial, following the civil-law tradition with which the maritime law is closely connected, was to the judge rather than to a jury, and procedure was rather non-technical and simple, though perhaps no more so than under any modern code. Grant Gilmore and Charles L. Black, Jr., The Law of Admiralty (N.Y.: Foundation Press, Inc., 1975), p. 35. Bishop Stubbs said (Letter, p. 159), the Roman law has been “a most pliant tool of oppression . . . no nation using the Civil Law has ever made its way to freedom . . . wherever it has been introduced the extinction of popular liberty has followed sooner or later.” Philip P. Wiener, ed., Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973), vol. 3, p. 686. “Under the Roman Civil Law, which postulates the State as of divine origin, all-wise and all-powerful, it becomes the duty of the State to seek to achieve happiness for all its subjects, in such manner as it may dictate, and, to that end, its own wisdom must override all private judgment in prescribing regulations for the whole range of human endeavor. Under this latter policy, an extensive system of admistrative law, with its particular and varied regulations, enforced by innumerable agents, boards and commissions, becomes necessary and inescapable. Under the Common Law, which denies the divinity, omniscience and omnipotence of the State, which concedes no privileges, which accords to every man the right to work out his own happiness free from intermeddling by government, save where his actions may impair the like right of others, and which recognizes but one system of general law for all, rich and poor alike, high and low, enforced in ordinary courts, there is no function for administrative law to perform and no reason for its existence. “While we may still think ourselves living under the free common law system, there has nevertheless developed in the United States, and in England as well, an omnious body of practice containing the same features, now open referred to as ‘administrative law.’ It has gotten its foothold in very recent years, mainly through the increasing number of boards, bureaus and commissions created by Congress, to which Congress had delegated the authority to make rules and regulations having the force of the law, to sit in judgment under them and enforce them.” Sterling E. Edmunds, The Federal Octopus in 1933: A Survey of the Destruction of Constitutional Government and of Civil and Economic Liberty in the United States and the Rise of an All-Embracing Federal Bureaucratic Despotism, 3rd. ed., (The Michie Company, 1933), pp. 30-31. “A free society has always put limits on the authority and power of civil law; our Bill of Rights indicates that our Founding Fathers knew of limits to the law.” A. C. Germann, Frank D. Day and Robert R. J. Gallati, Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, rev. ed., 25th Printing (Springfield, Illinios: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, 1976), p. 22. “An appeal is a process of civil law origin, and removes a cause entirely, subjecting the fact, as well as the law, to review and re-trial. A writ of error is a process of common law origin; and it removes nothing for re-examination, but the law.” Joseph Story, A Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States (1840), (Regnery Gateway, Inc., 1986), §379, p. 272. Appeal borrowed from civil law.——The appeal as practiced in the English courts of equity, admiralty and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, is borrowed from the civil law. The effect of such appeals is to remove the whole proceeding, and generally, though not always, to open both the law and the facts for re-examination. Republic of Texas v. Thomas I. Smith, No. XVI Dallam’s Decisions 407 (1841). “Jus emmins” is a term of the civil law used to designate the supreme power of the state over its members and whatever belongs to them. Gilmer v. Lime Point, 18 Cal. 229, 250 (S.Ct. 1861). jus eminens. (Civil law.) The supreme power of the state over its members and whatever belongs to them. Ballentine’s Law Dict., 2nd ed. 1948. “The judicial power, under the proposed constitution, is founded on well-known principles of the civil law, by which the judge determines both law and fact, and appeals are allowed from the inferior tribunals to the superior, upon the whole question; so that facts as well as law, would be re-examined, and even facts brought forward in the court of appeals; and to use the words of a very eminent civilian—‘The cause is many times another thing before the court of appeals, than what it was at the time of the first sentence.’ “That this mode of proceeding is the one which must be adopted under this constitution, is evident from the following circumstances: 1st. That the trial by jury, which is the grand characteristic of the common law, is secured by the constitution only in criminal cases. 2d. That the appeal from both law and fact is expressly established, which is utterly inconsistent with the principles of the common law and trials by jury. The only mode in which an appeal from law and fact can be established, is by adopting the principles and practice of the civil law, unless the United States should be drawn into the absurdity of calling and swearing juries, merely for the purpose of contradicting their verdicts, which would render juries contemptible and worse than useless. 3d. That the courts to be established would decide on all cases of law and equity, which is a well-known characteristic of the civil law, and these courts would have cognizance not only of the laws of the United States, and of treaties, and of cases affecting ambassadors, but of all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, which last are matters belonging exclusively to the civil law, in every nation in Christendom.” The Pennsylvania Minority: The Address and Reasons of Dissent of the Minority of the Convention of the States of Pennsylvania to their Constituents, Cecelia M. Kenyon (ed.), The Antifederalist (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1985), pp. 49-50. THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS...I NEED TO POLISH SOME SILVERWARE...BBL Post a Followup

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Classic Corner is a feature on Books Worth Remembering where I review classic titles to raise awareness for old books which are just as awesome as new ones. Title: Lord of the Flies Author: William Golding Publication Date: 1954 Lord of the Flies was the book I had to read for my English literature exam last year, I initially was a little disappointed for other classes were doing To Kill a Mockingbird or Of Mice and Men but I needn’t have been. Lord of the Flies is an intricately woven tale, tackling huge questions such as are humans inherently evil? Is evil predetermined? Are we destined to do bad things? Is there darkness in every man’s heart? The chilling events that take place really make you look at the nature of the human condition and to seriously question how you would react in this desert island situation. A common misconception about Lord of the Flies is most people think that it is about cannibalism, it isn’t. It tackles lots of other dark topics instead such as murder (I bet you’re interested now :P) Another common misconception when it comes to books you have to read and study is that the author never intended his books to be analysed in such a way, this is also not true for Lord of the Flies. William Golding wrote an essay, ‘Fable’ in which he discusses the reasons behind his story. Don’t worry you don’t have to go read that as well, I’ll tell you - he decided to write the book to write his opinion on the conflict in society between savagery and civilisation. Also how we pass on our hatred and intolerances to our children and through the generations. Another top message Golding was trying to send was that there is this darkness that is in humans, he based this on what he had seen and heard of first hand due to the Second World War in which men had done unspeakable things to one another. Still not convinced about Golding meaning these deep and complex meanings? Well Lord of the Flies is also an allegory, meaning everything means something. And by everything I mean everything. Which was great for me in my exam but also great for reading, I loved finding these meanings and looking at the text more complexly. Readers also need not worry about how it is written, it is simple and easy to understand and soon you’ll find yourself absorbed into the story even if you aren’t reading it because of an exam or because you’re looking for the answers to the metaphysical questions Lord of the Flies is throwing at you! I hope more people will read this book, I whole heartedly recommend it. Not only for it’s great plot and characters but because it is a truly interesting topic that will continue to be important in modern society.

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History of Western Theatre: 17th Century to Now/Spanish Romantic Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760-1828) continued excellent probing of social and psychological insight from the previous century with "La mojigata" (The prude, 1804) and "El sí de las niñas" (The maidens' consent, 1806). Another important figure of the Romantic Movement is Ángel de Saavedra, duke of Rivas (1791-1865), who wrote "Álvaro, o La fuerza del sino" (Don Álvaro, or the force of fate, 1835). Following interpretations by Tirso de Molina and Molière on the Don Juan legend, Josée Zorilla (1817-1893) wrote his own "Don Juan Tenorio in two parts (1844). "The prude". Time: 1800s. Place: Toledo, Spain. "The prude" text at ? Clara has so often been punished by her father, Martino, that instead of religion she has learned dissimulation. She intends to enter a convent. Her uncle, Luis, and Perico, servant to Claudio, whom he intends should marry his daughter, Ines, but is rejected by her, learn that Martino will inherit a large fortune from a dying cousin should Clara enter religious orders. From Perico Clara learns that Claudio loves her, not Ines. Though the news is pleasing, yet she intends to continue to dissimulate. "In this world, whoever does not cheat does not succeed," she avers. Perico intercepts a letter meant for Martino, asking for money so that Clara can enter the convent. Pretending to be the brother of Lorenzo, commissioner of the convent, Perico pockets up the full amount and, after speaking to Clara, reveals to his master that "the charming novice burns and dies for Claudio". Claudio and Clara are surprised during a secret meeting by Martino and Ines. Clara pretends she was "occupied in reading Kempis". Ines accuses her of illicitly meeting Claudio, which Clara denies, though admitting she is "a vessel of iniquity". Martino calls Ines a "vile liar, an odious viper". But Luis believes his daughter, not his brother. Claudio's father, Pedro, is set to arrive. Luis insists that Claudio in filial duty meet him in advance. Clara knows that this is done to separate the loving couple. She meets Perico and plans to marry Claudio in secret and be "freed of the execrable crew around me," she says. One day, she sees her father lurking behind her, but while speaking to Perico pretends not to, saying for his benefit: "My heart's desire is to become a shoeless nun, for when austerity is greater, the palm is more magnificent." Martino advises her how to conduct herself inside the convent. At the mere mention of the tempter, Clara, always the false prude, holds his hands and trembles. Luis, wishing to help his niece to a favorable marriage, asks her to be more honest with him, "to throw out the mask of devotion", so that he may defend her against the "strange obstinacy" of her father, but she persists in pretending, so that he wishes not to have anything more to do with her. Meanwhile, fearing Luis has discovered their plot, Claudio contemplates leaving immediately, but Lucia, the servant, assures him that Luis is willing to help him in this marriage despite Clara's distrust of him. Luis receives a letter from the cousin in Seville, saying that since learning of Clara's vocation, he has revoked his intentions and will give all his money to Ines instead. On learning this, Martino is in despair. Moreover, he discovers that his money was never received by the abbess. Perico's treachery is discovered and Claudio summoned, who reveals that he signed a marriage contract between himself and his daughter. Considering herself certain to receive the inheritance, Clara wishes to leave with Claudio, but Luis shows her the letter from Seville, revealing that Ines, not her, is heir to a fortune. But Ines reconciles father and daughter by sharing her inheritance with Clara. "The maidens' consent" "The maidens' consent". Time: 1800s. Place: Alcala de Henarès, Spain. "The maidens' consent" text at ? Diego and Irene rejoice at his upcoming marriage with her daughter, Francisca, fresh out of a convent. Irene is proud of her, she being "raised without artifice and far from the world's pitfalls". But Irene's servant, Rita, reveals to Calamocha, servant to a man named Felix, that Francisca, despite Diego's wealth, is in tears at the thought of marrying a man of fifty. To Francisca she reveals that Carlos, her lover, has arrived. "Forever gratitude and love!" exclaims Francisca. Irene's opinion is that Francisca should be thankful for her happiness, attributed to her aunts' prayers rather than her "your feeble advantages and my poor efforts," as she says. When Carlos arrives, he intends to prevent the marriage, mentioning a rich uncle from whom he is likely to inherit. "To love and to be loved, that's my ambition, my supreme felicity," Francisca responds. When Diego enters, Carlos discovers that his rival is the same rich uncle. Diego scolds his nephew for leaving his garrison and orders him to leave at once. Unwilling to defy his uncle openly, Carlos pretends to obey. Francisca discovers her lieutenant is gone. "My Lord God," she moans, "what is my crime? What is it?" Rita must hold up her distressed mistress as she walks back to her room. At three o'clock in the morning, Diego spies Francisca out of her room, apparently reacting to the sound of a guitar. Carlos is playing and he tosses a letter up to her, but in the darkness she is unable to find it. She hears a suspicious sound in the room and escapes back to hers. Diego finds the letter and orders the innkeeper to bring back Carlos. Francisca thinks the letter contains merely excuses for his abrupt departure. Discouraged, she hears Diego asking her to open her heart and promising to help her. She thanks him and leaves. Diego shows Carlos his own letter, explaining how he first met Francisca and promising to return to the garrison. He announces to Irene that her daughter loves someone, but not him. "Is it possible you are prepared for such a sacrifice?" asks Irena in wonder, to which he answers: "That is the faith we must yield to the maidens' consent." "The force of fate" "The force of fate". Time: 18th century. Place: Spain and Naples. "The force of fate" text at ? Rejected as a son-in-law by the marquis of Calatrava, Don Alvaro seeks to elope with Leonora, but is prevented by him. As he drops his pistol in submission, it goes off by accident and kills the marquis. Alvaro and Leonora flee but are separated after a battle ensues between his men and the marquis'. Leonora reaches the convent of the Holy Angels, where she requests the father superior's permission to live inside a hermitage in penance of her father's death. He accepts. The new marquis of Calatrava, Carlos, seeks to avenge his father's death and his sister's dishonor but is unable to find Alvaro. By chance, without knowing who he is, Alvaro saves his life in a tavern brawl. Both use assumed names while fighting in Naples against the Germans, when Carlos returns the favor by saving Alvaro's life. As Alvaro lies in surgery from a bullet wound in the chest, Carlos discovers who he is and, once recuperated, challenges him to a duel, although against the law as recently promulgated by Charles III of Spain. Alvaro hesitates before accepting this challenge, until Carlos mentions he knows his sister to be alive but intends to kill her, too. Alvaro kills him and is imprisoned for it. When the Germans attack the Spaniards, Alvaro is set free, vowing to enter a life of religion should he survive. He does so, entering the convent of the Holy Angels, where he is discovered by Carlos' younger brother, Alfonso, who also challenges him to a duel. Alvaro succeeds in stabbing him. Fearing his end near, Alfonso asks for spiritual comfort. To accede to his desire, Alvaro knocks at the hermitage door for the saintly hermit reported to be living there. Recognizing Leonora, Alfonso stabs her to death and dies by turning the weapon on himself. In despair at losing her, Alvaro plunges to his death down a deep ravine. "Don Juan Tenorio, part 1" "Don Juan Tenorio, part 1". Time: 1540s. Place: Seville, Spain. "Don Juan Tenorio, part 1" text at http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Spanish/Zorilla.htm Don Juan Tenorio and Don Luis Mejia have wagered on who should prove the most accomplished man within a year. Each boast of women cheated and men dead in duels, Juan being the winner in total numbers of both. Juan is ready to do more: steal away Donna Anna, Luis' betrothed. Their talk is interrupted by Don Gonzalo, commander of Calatrava, who was asked by Don Diego, Juan's father, to yield the hand of his daughter, Ines, in marriage to him, but overhearing this scandalous conversation, declares he will never have her. Affronted, Juan replies that either he gives her to him or he will take her away by force. Overhearing this, a masked man comes forth to say he will never know him more, at which Juan tears off the mask, revealing his father. These interruptions do not prevent Juan and Luis on betting who will obtain each other's intended. Both are arrested, as each denounced the other to the law, and both easily released. A worried Luis heads straight for the house where Anna stays the night before the promised wedding day, but so does Juan, whose servant, Cuitti, sneaks up behind Luis and ties him up while his master steals her away, as well as Ines from the convent. He removes Ines to his country house, where the liberated Luis arrives to challenge him, but they are interrupted by the arrival of Gonzalo, incensed at having lost his daughter. Juan tries to convince him of his conversion: "Commander, I adore Donna Ines, persuaded that heaven sends her to guide my steps in the path of goodness," he pleads. But the commander does not believe him. Angry at this refusal, Juan shoots Gonzalo to death and then stabs Luis to death before jumping in the river and entering a tug-boat as officers of the law contemplate the murder scene. "Don Juan Tenorio, part 2" "Don Juan Tenorio, part 2". Time: 1540s. Place: Seville, Spain. "Don Juan Tenorio, part 2" text at http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Spanish/Zorilla.htm Don Juan contemplates the pantheon paid for by his father before his death: statues of his son's victims: himself, Gonzalo, Luis, and Ines, dead after Juan abandoned her. A repenting Juan is astonished at seeing Ines' statue disappear over the pedestal and her shade appear before him, who reveals she will either save or lose her soul with his. Juan believes he is delirious. To shake it off, he invites two friends over to his house, where he says they will be alone unless the statues care to join them. As Juan sups with his friends, a knock is heard at the door, yet his servant, Ciutti, looking out from a window, can find no one. A second knock is heard with the same result, then five more times nearer and nearer inside the house until Juan asks the presence to enter through the chamber door, which the commander's statue does. The two friends faint at the sight of this vision, who reveals that Juan will die the next day, having one last chance to be converted, daring him to meet him, then disappearing through the wall. Juan next receives the visit of Ines' statue, who before disappearing the same way, discloses that tomorrow they will sleep in the same tomb. Seeing his friends awake, he accuses them of infusing a drug in the wine, as do they, so that a duel becomes as inevitable as the two friends' deaths. Juan goes back to the pantheon and finds a supper-table laid with snakes, garter-snakes, bones, fire, and ashes, followed by the commander's statue, who declares: "All that you see before you is where valor, youth, and power end" after which the death-knell sounds. The commander's statue takes hold of one hand to bring him down to hell, but the other hand is raised towards heaven and taken by Ines' statue. Don Juan is saved. "Let it be known to all," says he, "that the God of clemency is also that of Don Juan Tenorio."

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In photographical terms, EV is probably the single most important number you will have to understand, to understand the theory behind the art of photography. This goes from your tiniest, least significant compact camera, to your cock-on-the-table style medium format camera wit a digital back. Let us imagine a value called TCE. This TCE (The Correct Exposure) does not exist, because you might for a variety of reasons want a different exposure than the TCE. But for the sake of argument, let's assume TCE exists, and this is what you will want when you take a certain picture. To get a correct exposure, you will want to have EXACTLY the right amount of light to capture your image. Not too much, and not too little. So, what is it that might affect how much light comes to the film or imaging chip? - Shutter speed - Imagine a mug with a lid containing a mysterious source of light, and the room you stand in is covered in darkness. Shutter speed would be how long you open the lid. - Aperture - Same cup, same concept, but this time, how far you open the lid (if you open it a little - small aperture, i.e high aperture numbers (for example f/22). If you open it all the way - large aperture - i.e low aperture numbers (for example f/2.8) - These are the two basic ones. The last factor that comes into play is your film speed, or the light sensitivity of your surroundings while holding the cup if you will. That's all there is to it - these three factors combined allow you to manipulate the light in all kinds of ways (big depth of field through small apertures, freezing motion through fast shutter times, etc). So, to get TCE, you will want to combine these three factors into JUST the correct way. Now, if you replace TCE with TCEV (The Correct Exposure Value), you understand what I have been on about. EV is a number describing an exposure - any exposure - regardless of its "correctness". The definition of EV=0 is an exposure of 1 second at f/1 using ISO 100 film, or any equivalent thereof (2 seconds f/1.4, 4 seconds f/2.0 etc) The technical definition of EV is 2EV = LS/C. - EV = the exposure value - explained above - L = field (or zone) luminance - - C = Exposure Constant - This is a constant that depends on what unit you are using to express the luminance (L)If you use candelas/ft2, it is 1.3. If you are using candelas/m2*, it is 12.5*. If you use apostilb, it is 3,98. - S = film speed following the ISO standard *) some of you might know cd/m2 as lux or lumens/m2, This also means that 2ev = A2/T - A = the f-stop number of the aperture - T = shutter time in seconds Combining these two; EV = log2(A2/T) = log2(LS/C) - which is the only formula you are likely to need, if you want to understand the basics of mathematics behind photography. So what is the EV number used for? Ah.. Well, the EV number is used internally in cameras - an EV number of 10, for example, would refer to all the combinations of shutter times and apertures that would give a given exposure using ISO 100 film. This is useful, because a camera only has to add one thing to this equation; A light measurement. A camera with a lookup table or an algorithm to calculate the correct EV is all set for using all the different combinations that are able to give you the exposure you want. But why would I care, if the camera handles everything? Because the camera doesn't always get things right. You may also want to use alternative exposures for artistic reasons. Most cameras have an EV compensation wheel/dial, allowing you to choose how much you want to over/underexpose an image. This is usually measured in +/- 2EV, 1/3 steps. This means that you can over- or underexpose an image by two whole EV steps (which, incidentally, would mean the same as two full f-stops either way), in steps of 1/3 EV. I hope that made things a little clearer. Any corrections or questions are welcome! also see: Auto exposure bracketing , photography metanode

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Bruised Heel (Fat Pad Contusion) What Are Bruised Heels The largest bone in the foot is the heel bone. Physicians refer to this bone by its Latin name, the calcaneus. Of all the bones in the foot, it is the calcaneus that bears the most of our weight when we are standing, walking, jumping, and running. For this reason, it is more prone to injuries than other bones in the foot. The word contusion simply means a bruise. However, in the case of heel bruises, the underlying injury may be a flesh bruise, a bone bruise, or either one of these accompanied by a fracture of the calcaneus itself. The absolute most common type of foot injury due to athletics is a sprain of the ankle, but heel bruises are also common and can be very painful. They can also lead to difficulties engaging in physical activities as well as the normal tasks required in daily life. Symptoms of a Bruised Heel or Foot Pad Contusion There is a wide range of injuries associated with the heel. Damage to the heel bone or the fat pad covering it can vary from a mild bruise of the fat pad only, which will cause no lasting damage, to a severe fracture of the bone itself. In between these extremes it is possible to have a bone bruise or stress fracture of the calcaneus, both of which are regarded as moderately serious conditions . Common symptoms of heel bruises include all of the following: - Swelling in the heel area - Swelling around the heel area - Pain while walking, running, or jumping - Pain while standing still - A sensation of tenderness in the heel area, especially when it is subjected to pressure. This may be true even when the pressure is mild -- for example, when a patient presses against the heel area using his or her fingers. A more serious symptom is possible displacement of the fat pad covering the heel bone, meaning that the pad itself can shift to one side or the other, leaving part of the heel bone without its usual cushioning protection. If this has happened, there will be a flattened spot on the heel. Comparing the injured foot to the uninjured one will make this flat spot an obvious anomaly. Men or women who continue to engage in vigorous exercise despite the warning signs listed above might develop another symptom, one which is much more serious. Inflammation may set into the outside perimeter of the calcaneus. This area is referred to as the periosteum. Once inflammation has set in, it may become a chronic condition. At this point, the athlete has developed a debilitating injury. What Causes a Bruised Heel or Foot Pad Contusion? Heel bruises may result from either a series of repetitive small injuries or one single severe event. In moderate cases the injury will be restricted to the fat pad alone or to a bruise on the surface of the heel bone, but serious cases can involve a true fracture of the bone itself or even several fractures at once. There are two main causes of heel bruises: - Repetitive motions. These layer strain onto the heel and over time can cause injury. The phrase "repetitive stress injury" is apt in the case of foot pad contusions. Repetitive motions that can cause heel bruises include running or walking long distances at a single stretch. Marathon runners frequently develop one variety or another of the condition. - Sudden strong impacts. In many cases, the sudden impact is associated with landing too hard on one's feet, especially onto a hard surface. Athletes engaged in jumping events are at risk for developing heel bruises. Anyone who lands on their heels from a significant height, such as from up on a ladder, is also at risk. A more extreme example of this type of causation is associated with sky diving, a thrill sport that entails many serious risks of injury to a variety of bodily systems. In the case of the calcaneus or heel bone, a difficult landing during sky diving can cause it to shatter in several places at once. This would produce immediate severe pain as well as swelling and would require an extended convalescence during which walking would be ill advised if not impossible. However, a permanent deformation of the bone is not likely to result. Within the two main causes listed above, there are some associated and related causes: - Lack of adequate footwear for the physical activity undertaken. The classic example of this when it comes to heel bruises is participation in the military. Hours spent marching can lead to repetitive stress injuries, particularly when the shoes or boots worn do not have sufficient padding or other shock absorbing features. A general rule of thumb is that the harder the surface upon which an athlete or soldier will be running or marching, the more important it is to have shoes that provide shock absorption in order to shield the heel from excessive stress and strain. - Being overweight Excessive weight strains all body systems and places additional stress on weight bearing bones such as the calcaneus, making them more vulnerable to injury. As we get older, our bones become more brittle, particularly if we are not getting enough calcium or the calcium is not adequately absorbed. - Going barefoot This is particularly ill advised during athletic activities. Wear shoes that are well cushioned and when they begin to wear out, replace them. You can tell that shoes are beginning to wear out not only from their visual appearance but also from the feel of your foot inside them when you exercise. If you begin to suspect there is less cushioning now than previously, you are probably right. - Training surfaces that are uneven These can produce sudden shocks of stress to the foot, which is adapted to generally expect a level surface to walk or run upon. Think of how difficult it is to walk in sand, which constantly shifts its surface characteristics, and you will have a sense of how uneven surfaces can lead to foot strain. Hard surfaces are also a problem, although in some sporting activities such as standard tennis, they cannot be avoided. - Sudden changes of direction These can subject the foot to unexpected stresses for which the muscles and fat pad aren't prepared to compensate. Diagnosis of Heel Bruises or Fat Pad Contusions Most doctors can diagnose a heel bruise, but you may be referred to a sports medicine specialist for treatment. Visual inspection along with a thorough medical questionnaire and interview to ascertain your health history is usually sufficient to diagnose a simple bruise. In cases where the sports medicine specialist has cause to suspect that a fracture may be involved, a bone scan or x-ray may be ordered. X-rays are considered a definitive test when it comes to diagnosing a heel bruise that also encompasses a fracture. More advanced diagnostic tests such as magnetic resonance imaging are usually not required. Common Treatment Options for Heel Bruises or Fat Pad Contusions Initial treatment will consist of measures designed to decrease swelling and alleviate pain. These measures will sound familiar to anyone who has had a sprained ankle or indeed, any kind of bone injury to areas of the foot. They include common procedures outlines in any first aid manual: - Ice (and later on, heat) Experts recommend that icing take place for no longer than twenty minutes at a time in order to avoid causing cold injuries to the flesh surrounding the heel bruise. Applying ice for this span of time every two or three hours is usually sufficient to reduce swelling and assist with the patient's pain level. It is common to continue ice treatment for two or three days. Ice treatment may involve the direct application of an ice bag or ice gel pack (stored in the freezer to cause it to chill). Another method is to immerse the foot in water into which several ice cubes have been placed. Rest involves encouraging the injured party to avoid all use of the heel. This includes walking as well as athletic activities. If walking absolutely cannot be avoided, then it is acceptable to utilize crutches; the goal is to keep all weight off the injured heel. This phase of treatment should continue until the patient can place weight on the heel without experiencing pain. In this case, pain is the body's warning system, letting the patient know that more healing needs to occur and that rest, therefore, should be continued. When the patient or athlete first begins to put weight on the heel, even if the process is pain free, he or she should adopt a gradual approach. Do not jump right back into all your previous activities, but go slowly so that your heel bones can adjust back to full usage over time. An interesting twist to the treatment regimen is that after two or three days of ice treatment, the patient should be switched to a heat treatment. This should continue for another two or three days. Heat may be applied directly using an electrical heating pad or even an electric blanket for those who do not have a pad and may not wish to invest in one. An even more inexpensive alternative is to plunge the foot into heated water. Be sure that the heel area is completely immersed and that the water is not hot enough to burn. A Word About Pain Unfortunately, athletes in particular are sometimes encouraged to ignore pain and keep working out despite it. This is extremely ill advised in many types of injuries, including heel bruises. Exercising or engaging in sporting activities when the heel is in a painful state can lead to a host of other injuries, some of which are quite serious, so do let yourself heal. If not, you may find yourself in a position where you have developed a severe condition and have no alternative but to face a much longer convalescence than you would have had initially. A full return to sports activities should not take place until a physician has authorized it. Ongoing Treatment Options When the patient is ready to resume normal activities, it may be advisable to use some protective devices that are designed to shift weight away from the center of the heel. This will allow for standing, walking, and running with less stress being placed on the heel bone itself, as well as the fat pad covering and cushioning it. The two most common such devices are: - The protective donut - The heel cup The patient should also make sure that footwear is well cushioned and appropriate to the activity being undertaken. All of the other caveats discussed above also apply. Patients should avoid hard or uneven surfaces when possible and make efforts to lose weight. Prevention of Heel Bruises The single most important step you can take to prevent heel bruises is to wear proper shoes. They should be sized correctly for your feet and include enough cushioning and padding so that you can comfortably complete your tasks and / or sporting activities. For some sports, special shoes are available; these are designed specifically with that sport in mind. Avid athletes would be wise to invest in such shoes; even dabblers will often find them of great benefit. In the absence of sport specific shoes, a general purpose running shoe is appropriate for most sporting activities. Another important consideration in prevention is the fact that shoes should be replaced frequently to avoid repetitive stress injuries. Runners in particular should be vigilant to be sure that their current shoes still have all the shock absorption qualities now that they had when new. If not, purchase new. Other basic prevention measures include taking part in only those sporting activities that are appropriate for your age and physical condition, and losing weight. Recommended Products for Heel Bruises and Fat Pad Contusionsa Some of the home treatment options include heel cups and protective donuts. Indeed, physicians may advise the use of these products as well; they are not merely for home care. Such products are widely available at pharmacies and discount stores, as well as online. Some of the products below are rated at www.amazon.com with their highest rating: 5 of 5 stars. These ratings are generated by actual users of the product. Produced by Everything Track & Field, these heel cups received a 5 out of 5 rating from every person who evaluated them. They range in price from $5.00 to $23.00 depending on how many heel cups you purchase in a single pack and come in both regular size for adults and "junior" size for younger athletes. These heel cups are made of hard plastic and accomplish the job of nudging the fat pad on your heel back over the heel bone itself so that the heel is cushioned and physical activity becomes more comfortable. They do this by providing a rigid surface to either side of the heel, which keeps the fat pad from slipping sideways or spreading out too thin under pressure. The M-F Heel Cup Protector is recommended for slowing the advance of many problems associated with heel damage, which if not halted can change your way of standing and lead to problems far from the heel, such as in the lower back. They fit inside tennis shoes or any other type of shoe with a closed back. Foot health expert Dr. Scholl's produces these orthotics (shoe inserts). Rather than using the heel cup solution outlined above, these inserts are protective donuts that are affixed to the heel and provide cushioning. They retail for about $8.40 each, making them very economical. Also appropriate for the care of plantar fasciitis and heel spurs, Dr. Scholl's heel pain relief orthotics provide immediate relief from pain – and relief that last all day. Since these are a physical rather than a chemical solution to pain, there's no danger of liver damage or other health problems that can result from taking too much pain medication. The standard size of these orthotics fits women who wear shoe sizes ranging from 5 to 12, making them very versatile. Tuli's Heavy Duty Heel Gel Cups These heel cups were rated with 4 out of 5 stars. You might think that means you should choose the M-F cup listed above instead, but what the Tuli's cups have as an advantage is that they are specifically designed for people who weigh more than 175 pounds. They provide for absorption of shocks and bumps even for a person of large size who may be experiencing significant issues with the weight bearing bones in the foot – primarily the heel. These cups are also recommended for the treatment of plantar fasciitis and will reduce heel pain in a variety of injury situations. Check Out Some Possible Related Conditions:

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The Spiritualist movement sprung from humble origins. In 1848, twelve and thirteen year-old Katherine and Margaret Fox heard unexplainable knockings and rappings in their reportedly haunted family home in upstate New York. The girls, rather than being afraid, were thrilled, and established a simple code to communicate with the spirits. One early message read: “Dear friends, you must proclaim the truth to the world. This is the dawning of a new era; you must not conceal it any longer. When you do your duty God will protect you and good spirits will watch over you.” Spiritualism spread across America. Four years later, the accomplished American Mrs. Hayden traveled to England and introduced it to the fashionable world. During the height of the movement, while public spiritualists displayed thrilling shows- private home circles were venerated for instilling proper spiritual values and harmony within families. Spiritualism was a blessed relief to the countless Victorian families who’d lost children. Now, they were not only certain the soul survived, but they could also communicate with loved ones on the other side. Death was simply a transition to another realm which could be reached any time. It also appealed to those who were tired of dogmatism and wished to experience God in a personal way. The middle-class Theobald family of London became involved in Spiritualism in the 1860s. Morell Theobald lived with his wife and four children. His spinster sister, Florence, often stayed with them. Florence always stated she’d been born “sensitive” and immediately was drawn to this new religion. Florence began practicing automatic writing in 1863. After she received many loving messages from deceased relatives, the rest of the Theobald family became involved. Soon they were having regular family sittings in which Morell Theobald’s other children who’d died in early youth communicated with them. They spoke of their daily activities in heaven and answered some questions related to theology. As time passed, the spirits became more active. Throughout the house, raps broke out at will. The spirit children spelled out their love to “mama” through the furniture on her birthday. The spirits encouraged them to live life fully as well as care for their spiritual needs. The Theobalds became one of the most respected families in the spiritualist community. In the early 1880s, a new cook named Mary, entered their household. She claimed to have had psychic experiences as a child which resulted in being “whipped as a witch” by her parents. Mary related to the Theobalds that while working in Brighton she’d been “told” one day she would live with a kind, sympathetic family at Granville Park. (The Theobalds had moved there in 1873 after spirits warned Morell about the ill health effects of the clay soil in Highgate) The family sittings were their spiritual sphere and always began with prayer. The servants attended but stood to the side. In 1882, Mary announced she saw spirits. The Theobalds were impressed with her powers, yet she was a servant. Her place was downstairs. However, as time passed, and her powers became more and more evident, they welcomed her as a family member. After the rest of the servants gave notice, it was decided Mary would share the household duties with daughter, Nellie Theobald. They did not want any negative outside forces to interfere with their harmonious circle. In the class-obsessed Victorian era, associates were horrified. While the Theobalds were obviously legitimate and astute spiritualists, Mary must be a fake, an unscrupulous villain. Many friends severed ties with them. Morell Theobald refused to bow down to this prejudice. He defended their decision by publicly announcing in a journal: “Spiritualism comes somewhat as a leveler of social distinctions……” Mary became best friends with Nellie. They ran the house together and Nellie also began developing mediumistic abilities through writing. Soon, many bizarre ghostly happening occurred. The girls reported finding fires already lit in the morning. The dining table already set for breakfast. Mysterious letters were discovered in locked boxes. Spontaneous writings appeared on the ceiling. Mr. Theobald rose early and waited in the kitchen in order to see the spirits start the fires or set the table. They never came. During family sittings, the spirits informed him they could not perform fragile operations while being watched. In 1884, the family acquired a cabinet and were thrilled when Mary produced materializations of spirit hands and feet. After Mr. Theobald detailed some of their experiences in the spiritualist journal, Light, he was met with more scorn. The Society of Psychic Research insisted on drilling Mary through a set of tests. The Theobalds refused to force her through these brutal experiments. During this tension-filled time, Mary grew quite ill and took to bed. Morell claimed the Society was trying to disprove spiritualist ideas rather than observe and record its merits and distanced himself from them. Through the years, the Theobald family and Mary remained closely knit. Was Mary a fraud? On one hand, it was convenient that no one else saw the fires being lit or tables being set. Some claim Nellie was in cahoots, seeking special attention. On the other hand, the class prejudice can not be ignored. It had been perfectly fine when Mary participated in the sittings as a servant. It was only when the Theobalds regarded her as part of their family, that accusations of fraud circulated.

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). HPV is the virus that causes genital warts. In addition to causing genital warts, an HPV infection can mean trouble for both girls and guys: In females, HPV infection can cause problems with the that may lead to cervical cancer. HPV infection also can cause problems that may lead to cancer in the vagina, vulva, anus, mouth, and throat. In males, HPV infection may lead to cancer in the penis, anus, mouth, and throat. New research suggests that HPV maybe linked to heart disease in women. Both girls and guys can get HPV from sexual contact, including vaginal, oral, and anal sex. Most people infected with HPV don't know they have it because they don't notice any signs or problems. People do not always develop genital warts, but the virus is still in their system and it could be causing damage. This means that people with HPV can pass the infection to others without knowing it. Because HPV can cause serious problems such as genital warts and some kinds of cancer, a vaccine is an important step in preventing infection and protecting against the spread of HPV. That's why doctors recommend that all girls and guys get the vaccine at these ages: For girls: from age 11 or 12 through age 26 For guys: from age 11 or 12 through age 21 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the HPV vaccine as safe for both guys and girls ages 9 to 26 years old. The HPV vaccine is given as three injections over a 6-month period. The vaccine does not protect people who have been infected with HPV before they've been vaccinated. That's why getting the vaccine before having sex for the first time is the most effective way for it to help prevent the infection. The vaccine doesn't protect against all types of HPV. Anyone having sex should get routine checkups and girls should get Pap smears when a doctor recommends it. The HPV vaccine is not a replacement for using condoms to protect against other STDs when having sex. Most of the side effects that people get from the HPV vaccine are minor. They may include swelling or pain at the site of the shot, or feeling faint after getting the vaccine. As with other vaccines, there is a small chance of an allergic reaction. A few people have reported health problems after getting the shot. The FDA is monitoring the vaccine closely to make sure these are not caused by the vaccine itself. Most people have no trouble with the vaccine. You can lessen your risk of side effects like fainting by sitting down for 15 minutes after each shot. Protecting Yourself Against HPV For people who are having sex, condoms offer some protection against HPV. Condoms can't completely prevent infections because hard-to-see warts can be outside the area covered by the condom. Also, condoms can break. The only way to be completely sure about preventing HPV infections and other STDs is not to have sex (called abstinence). Spermicidal foams, creams, and jellies have not been proven to protect against HPV or genital warts. If you have questions about the vaccine or are concerned about STDs, talk to your doctor.

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IN a very elaborate and interesting book, published in the year 1867, the title of which, at length, is the following: Life and Work at the Great Pyramid, by C. Piazzi Smyth, Professor of Practical Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh, and Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Edinburgh, 1867: the conclusions (though a mistake) which we now supply from the author are offered as definitions, after infinite care, of this important name or word, 'PYRAMID'. 'Pyramid' is derived in this book from two Greek terms. πυρός, 'wheat'; μετρον, 'measure'; or from Coptic roots, signifying pyr, 'division'; met, 'ten'. However, we offer to deduce this term 'Pyramid' from quite another source. The present writer originally sought to do. this in the year 1860, in a dissertation on the origin and purpose of the 'Pyramids of Egypt'. It is well known that the letters P and F are radically the same letter (as is evidenced by their peculiar pronunciation in certain countries), and that they are interchangeable. In Professor Smyth's book, Πυρός is wrongly translated 'wheat'. It signifies 'product', or 'growth', or 'elimination'; in other words, and in the symbolical sense, it means 'sun-begotten', or 'fire-begotten'. The Coptic derivation (re-read by a new light) is the true one. Thus we obtain another reason upon which we rely as the real interpretation of the name of the pyramid, or obelisk, or great original altar or upright, raised in the divinity working secondarily in nature. Πυρ is fire (or Division produced by fire); Μετρον is Ten (or measures or spaces numbered as ten). The whole word means, and the entire object bearing this name means, the original Ten Measures or Parts of the Fiery Ecliptic or Solar Wheel, or the Ten Original Signs of the Zodiac. Therefore the Pyramids are commemorative altars raised to the divinity Fire. The Ophites are said to have maintained that the serpent of Genesis was the Λογος, and the 'Saviour'. The Logos was Divine Wisdom, and was the Bhudda, or Buddha, of India. The Brazen Serpent was called Λογος, or the 'Word', by the Chaldee Paraphrast (Basnage, lib. iv. ch. xxv). It is very certain that, in ancient times, the serpent was an object of adoration in almost all nations. The serpent-worshippers seem to have placed at the head, or nearly at the head, of all things (Maia), and most intimately connected with the serpent, a certain principle which they called 'Sophia'. This is clearly a translation of the word 'Bhudda' into Greek. It also reminds us that the old Bhuddas are always under the care of the Cobra-Capella. This is evidenced in all the Memnonian or Egyptian heads; and in the asp (or fleur-de-lis), more or less veiled or altered, displayed as the chief symbol upon the universal Sphynxes. The serpent, in one view, was the emblem of the evil principle, or destroyer. But, as we have seen before, the 'destroyer' was the 'creator'. Hence he had the name, among his numerous appellations, of ΟΦΙΣ; in Hebrew, אוב, Ob; and as he was the 'logus', or 'linga', he was also ΟΨ, and in Hebrew מרא∙מ. Query, hence, Συφαρ, a seraph or serpent?--see Jones's Lexicon (in voce), and Σοφος, wise. The Συφ and Σοφ are both the same root. The famous 'Brazen Serpent', called Nehustan, set up by Moses in the Wilderness, is termed in the Targum a 'Saviour'. It was probably a 'serpentine crucifix', as it is called a cross by Justin Martyr. All the foregoing is allegorical, and hides deep Gnostic myths, which explain serpent-worship, united with the adoration paid to a perpendicular. The three most celebrated emblems carried in the Greek mysteries were the Phallus, Ι; the Egg, Ο and the Serpent, Φ; or otherwise the Phallus, the Ioni or Umbilicus, and the Serpent. The first, in each case. is the emblem of the sun, or of fire, as the male, or active, generative power. The second denotes the passive nature, or feminine principle, or the element of water. The third symbol indicates the destroyer, the reformer, or the renewer (the uniter of the two), add thus the preserver or perpetuator--eternally renewing itself. The universality of the serpentine worship (or phallic adoration) is attested by emblematic sculpture and architecture all over the world. This does not admit of denial. Its character and purpose are, however, wholly misunderstood. Not only is the worship of the serpent found everywhere, but it everywhere occupies an important station; and the farther back we go, the more universally it is found, and the more important it appears to have been considered. The Destroyer or Serpent of Genesis is correctly the Renovator or Preserver. In Genesis there is a 'Tree of Knowledge' and a 'Tree of Life'. Here we have the origin of the Ophites, Ophiones, or Oriental emblematical serpent-worshippers, to account for whom, and for whose apparently absurd object of adoration, our antiquaries have been so much perplexed. They worshipped the Saviour-Regenerator under the strangest (but the sublimest) aspect in the world; but not the devil, or malific principle, in our perverse, mistaken ideas, and with the vulgar, downward, literal meanings which we apply. The mythic and mimetic art of the [paragraph continues] Gnostics is nowhere more admirably or more successfully displayed than in their hieroglyphs and pictured formulæ. Even in the blazonry and in the collars and badges of chivalry (which seems so remote from them), we find these Ophite hints. The heathen temples and the modern ritualistic churches alike abound in unconscious Gnostic emblems. State ceremony harbours them; they mix with the insignia of all the orders of knighthood; and they show in all the heraldic and masonic marks, figures, and patterns, both of ancient and of modern times. The religion of the Rosicrucians is also concealed, and unconsciously carried forward, perpetuated, and ignorantly fostered, by the very persons and classes who form, contrive, and wear decorations with special mysterious marks, all the world over. Every person, in unconsciously repeating certain figures, which form an unknown language, heired from the ancient times; carries into futurity, and into all parts of the world, the same carefully guarded traditions, for the knowing to recognize, to whose origin the sun, in his first revolution, may be figuratively said to be the only witness. Thus the great inexpressible 'Talisman' is said to be borne to the 'initiate' through the ages. Proposals were published some years ago for a book entitled, 'The Enigma of Alchemy and of Œdipus resolved; designed to elucidate the fables, symbols, and other mythological disguises, in which the Hermetic Art has been enveloped and signalized in various ages, in ecclesiastical ceremonies, masonic formulæ, astronomical signs, and constellations--even in the emblazonments of chivalry, heraldic badges, and other emblems; which, without explanation, have been handed down, and which are shown to have originated in the same universal mystic school, through each particular tracing their allusion to the means and mechanism.' This intended work was left in MS. by its anonymous author, now deceased, but was never published. The unknown author of it produced also in the year 1850, in one vol. 8vo, a book displaying extraordinary knowledge of the science of alchemy; which bore the name A Suggestive Enquiry into the Hermetic Mystery; with a Dissertation on the more celebrated of the Alchemical Philosophers. This book was published in London; but it is now extinct, having been bought up--for suppression, as we believe--by the author's friends after his decease, who probably did not wish him to be supposed to be mixed up in such out-of-the-way inquiries. The Vedas describe the Persian religion (Fire-Worship) as having come from Upper Egypt. 'The mysteries celebrated within the recesses of the "hypogea"' (caverns or labyrinths) 'were precisely of that character which is called Freemasonic, or Cabiric. The signification of this latter epithet is, as to written letters, a desideratum. Selden has missed it; so have Origen and Sophocles. Strabo, too, and Montfauçon, have been equally astray. Hyde was the only one who had any idea of its composition when he declared that "It was a Persian word, somewhat altered from Gabri of Guebri, and signifying FIRE-WORSHIPPERS".' See O’Brien’s Round Towers of Ireland, 1834, p. 354). Pococke, in his India in Greece, is very sagacious and true in his arguments; but he tells only half the story of the myths in his supposed successful divestment of them of all unexplainable character, and of exterior supernatural origin. He supposes that all the mystery must necessarily disappear when he has traced, and carefully pointed out, the identity and transference of these myths from India into Egypt and into Greece, and their gradual spread westward. But he is wholly mistaken; and most other modern explainers are equally mistaken. Pococke contemplates all from the ethnic and realistic point of view. He is very learned in an accumulation of particulars, but his learning is 'of the earth, earthy'; by which we mean that, like the majority of modern practical philosophers, he argues from below to above, and not, in the higher way, from above to below, or (contrary to the inductive, or Aristotelian, or Baconian method) from generals to particulars, or from the light of inspiration into the sagacities of darkness, as we may call unassisted world’s knowledge--always vain. The Feast of Lanterns, or Dragon-Feast, occurs in China at their New Year, which assimilates with that of the Jews, and occurs in October at the high tides. They salute the festival with drums and music, and with explosions of crackers. During the Feast, nothing is permitted to be thrown into water (for fear of profaning it). Here we have the rites of Aphrodite or Venus, or the Watery Deity, observed even in China, which worship, in Protean forms, being also the worship of the Dragon or Snake, prevails, in its innumerable contradictory and effective disguises, over the whole world. How like are the noises and explosions of crackers, etc., to the tumult of the festivals of Dionusus or Dionysius, to the riot or rout of the Corybantes amongst the Greeks, to the outcry and wild music of the priests of the Salii, and, in modern times, to the noises said to be made at initiation by the Freemasons, whose myths are claimed to be those (or imitative of those) of the whole world, whose Mysteries are said to come from that First Time, deep-buried in the blind, unconscious succession of the centuries! In the Royal-Arch order of the Masons, as some have said, at an initiation, the 'companions' fire pistols, clash swords, overturn chairs, and roll cannon-balls about. The long-descended forms trace from the oldest tradition; the origin, indeed, of most things is only doubt or conjecture, hinted in symbols. The Egyptian Deities may always be recognized by the following distinctive marks: Phthas, Ptah, by the close-fitting Robe, Four Steps, Baboon, Cynocephalus. Ammon, Amn, by a Ram's Head, Double Plume, Vase, Canopus. The Sun-God (Phre or Ra) has a Hawk's Head, Disc, Serpent, Uræus. Thoth, or Thoyt, is Ibis-headed (means a scribe or priest). Sochos, or Suches, has a Hawk. Hermes Trismegistus (Tat) displays a Winged Disc. The Egyptians, however, never committed their greater knowledge to marks or figures, or to writing of any kind. Figure 313: the Gnostics have a peculiar talisman of Fate (Homer's Αισα). This is one of the rarest types to be met with in ancient art. In Stosch's vast collection, Winckelmann was unable to find a single indubitable example. It is of brown agate, with transverse shades, and is an Etruscan intaglio or Gnostic gem. The Gnostics, p. 238, makes a reference to this figure. Later in our book (figs. 191, 300, 301) we give a figure of the 'Chnuphis Serpent' raising himself aloft. Over, and corresponding to the rays of his crown, are the seven vowels, the elements of his name. The usual triple 'S.S.S.' and bard, and the name 'ΧΝΟΥΒΙC', are the reverse of, this Gnostic gem. It is a beautiful intaglio on a pale plasma of the finest quality, extremely convex, as it has been found on examination. In the Ophic planetary group (Origen in Celsum, vi. 25) Michael is figured as a lion, Suriel as a bull, Raphael as a serpent, Gabriel as an eagle, Thautabaoth as a bear, Eratsaoth as a dog, Ouriel as an ass. Emanations are supposed to pass through the seven planetary regions, signified by these Chaldæan names, on their way to this world. It was through these seven planetary spiritual regions, or spheres, filled with their various orders of angels, that the Gnostics mythed the Saviour Jesus Christ to have passed secretly; disguising Himself and His Mission in order to win securely to His object. In evading recognition, in His acceptable disguises, through these already-created 'Princedoms of Angels', He veiled His purpose of His Voluntary Sacrifice for the Human Race till He was safe, in His investment in 'Humanity' for the accepted 'Propitiation'--through the 'Virgin' for production only; not for 'office'. There was deep mystery in the Gnostic method of teaching that, although the 'Sacrifice' (the source of sacrifice in all faiths) was complete and real and perfect, the Saviour did not--nor could--suffer bodily or be nailed really, and die upon the Cross, but that He suffered in appearance only, and vicariously--the Scripture being misread. The Gnostics maintained that Simon the Cyrenean--who, the Evangelist states, bore His Cross--did really bear it as the culprit, and suffered upon it. As human and divine are totally different, this could not impair the efficacy of the 'Crucifixion', for the substitution of persons was miraculous and remote (of course) from human sense.

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After the big blow up, which is still being discussed, between Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields in 2005, many people wondered whether postpartum depression is ‘real’ or not. A news release from the NIH claims that researchers Istvan Mody and Jamie Maguire may have found a mechanism behind this disease (published in Neuron). Researchers have pinpointed a mechanism in the brains of mice that could explain why some human mothers become depressed following childbirth. The discovery could lead to improved treatment for postpartum depression. Supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, of the National Institutes of Health, the study used genetically engineered mice lacking a protein critical for adapting to the sex hormone fluctuations of pregnancy and the postpartum period. – NIH News Release Although it was first thought that this depression related to fluctuations in hormone levels, this theory was mostly disproved. Now, it seems that the hormones actually change the levels of a receptor in the brain. A mutation in this receptor in women suffering from postpartum depression may be the cause of this disorder (if women are anything like the mice used here). The question now is, will this research have Tom eating his words? Probably not, but we have to keep trying…

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is a Reform Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W... A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal... in Richmond, Virginia Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area... . Founded in 1789 by Spanish and Portuguese Jews Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on... as Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome (Hebrew: Holy Congregation, House of Peace,) it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States The designation of the oldest synagogue in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest congregation... When the congregation was founded, there were 100 Jews in Richmond's population of 3,900. After meeting for some years in leased space, the congregation built its first synagogue in 1822. It was a handsome if modest, one-story, brick building in Georgian style. The community grew and in 1841 the Ashkenazi members founded a new congregation called Beth Ahabah. In 1846 Beth Ahabah established the first Jewish school in Richmond, and 1846 built a synagogue at Eleventh and Marshall Streets. The Congregation moved toward Reform in 1867 with discussion of acquiring an organ , the decision to switch to family pews (mixing men and women,) and allowing women to join the choir. Beth Ahabah joined the Reform Movement Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1875. A new building was erected, also at Eleventh and Marshall, in 1880. In 1898 K.K. Beth Shalome formally merged with Congregation Beth Ahabah.http://www.bethahabah.org/our-history.htm On March 4, 1904 the congregation laid the cornerstone for its present building, known as the Franklin Street Synagogue The building was dedicated on December 9, 1904. The domed, Neoclassical synagogue was designed by the Richmond-based firm of Noland and Baskervill, who also designed nearby St. James' Church and the wings of the Virginia State Capitol. The synagogue has 29 stained glass windows. Most notable is a window on the building's eastern wall created and signed by the Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements... Studios in 1923. It depicts Mt. Sinai. The congregation maintains the Hebrew Cemetery of Richmond The Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, also known as Hebrew Burying Ground, dates from 1816. This Jewish cemetery, one of the oldest in the United States, was founded in 1816 as successor to the 1789 Franklin Street Burial Grounds of 1789. Among those interred here are Josephine Cohen Joel,... and the Cemetery for Hebrew Confederate Soldiers The Cemetery for Hebrew Confederate Soldiers a Jewish cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. It is the only Jewish military cemetery not located in Israel. The cemetery within the Hebrew Cemetery of Richmond, on historic Shockoe Hill, and is maintained by Congregation Beth Ahabah.-External links:*... , as well as the original site of the 1789 Franklin Street Burial Grounds, which was the first Jewish cemetery in Virginia. Beth Ahabah Museum Congregation Beth Ahabah is the home of the Beth Ahabah Museum & Archives , located at 1109 West Franklin Street. Established in 1977, the museum's focus is the history and culture of Richmond's Jewish community and the Southern Jewish experience. Three galleries feature changing exhibits. The museum is open from Sunday through Thursday.

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HEIDELBERG, Germany, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- German scientists say they've developed technology that allows paraplegics paralyzed from the hips down to wirelessly operate the right pedal of a piano. Researchers at the Orthopedic Clinic of Heidelberg University Hospital led by Rudiger Rupp said their technology overcomes disadvantages of other methods that do not allow half pedal or flutter. Rupp and his team developed a bite splint with a pressure-sensitive sensor a pianist can hold in his or her mouth to control the pedal according to the markings on the music. A wireless transmitter is connected to an electric motor attached to the pedals of the concert grand. A remote module -- a kind of miniature transmitter -- is placed in the pianist's right cheek. In the left cheek, the paraplegic pianist has a button cell that provides energy for 12 hours. When pedal markings appear in the notes, the paraplegic pianist literally grits his teeth, to a greater or lesser extent, to achieve the same differentiated sounds as a non-disabled pianist. Rupp, director of the research department at the hospital's spinal cord injury unit was honored for the invention with the award of 15,000 Euros by the German Paraplegic Foundation. |Additional Science News Stories| LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 18 (UPI) --A new computer algorithm that can give humans the ability to map their environments with sound could lead to an app to aid blind people, Swiss researchers say.

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|Uploaded:||September 28, 2009| |Updated:||September 29, 2009| This is a cool animal drawing that I did a few days ago. It is an animal character from a very funny animated movie called “Madagascar 2”, and I think you guys will find this lesson very fun, easy, and colorful. You will be getting a lesson on “how to draw a lemur step by step”. The three lemurs in Madagascar are King Julian, Maurice who is an aye-aye lemur, and then there is Mort who is the small one ounce mouse lemur. Of course as you can see this lemur is in cartoon form. That is because I wanted this online drawing lesson to be as easy as possible for you all to learn from. The lemur are small monkey like primates that live in their native land of Madagascar. I say that they are “monkey like” because that is exactly what these animals are. Lemurs are also known as being the primate before the primate or pre-primates. They have slender hands and feet that move just like a monkey, and they also have long snouts. Just like other monkey species, these animals come in a variety of colors ranging from grey, brown, a reddish color and even mixed shades. A lemur can weigh as little as one ounce, to fifteen pounds. The ones that weight around an ounce are called “pygmy mouse lemurs” and the largest of the species are called “indri lemurs”. These beautiful animals also have long tails that are either solid in color or striped. Like other primates these creatures are very social animals, which means they live in groups. They love spending most of their day in the trees and other bushes. The only species of lemur that splits up their days to the ground and trees, is the ringed tailed lemur. An interesting thing about these social animals is that they bath in the sun just like us, but they also do this to heat up their bodies. The diet of the lemur consist of leaves, different fruits, insects, and animals that are much smaller then themselves. All in all this is a cool lesson and I think you guys will like drawing one of the more popular character of the Dream Works movie Madagascar 2. Have fun teaching yourself “how to draw a lemur step by step” with this free online drawing lesson. I will be back once again with more fun things to draw. Peace out peeps and happy drawing!

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Act II, scene i The scene is the public square outside Corvino's home, slightly later in the day. Sir Politic Would-be, the English knight residing in Venice, and Peregrine, an English traveler who has just arrived in Venice, are strolling together. Sir Politic explains that is was his wife's wish that the two should go to Venice, for she desired to pick up some of the local culture. He asks Peregrine (whose name derives from the word peregrination, or wandering travel) for news from the home country, and says that he has heard many strange things from England; for example, a raven has been building a nest in one of the king' ships. Having decided that Sir Politic will believe anything anyone tells him, as his name indicates, Peregrine proceeds to let him tell some more improbable stories for his and the audience's amusement, including the one about Mas' Stone, the supposed drunken illiterate who Politic is convinced was a dangerous spy. According to Politic, Stone had secret messages smuggled out of the Netherlands in cabbages. To see just how much Politic will pretend to know, Peregrine mentions a race of spy baboons living near to China. Politic, of course, says he has heard of them, and calls them "the Mameluchi", another name for the Mamelukes (who were actually an Egyptian dynasty that had nothing to do with either China or baboons). Peregrine says, sarcastically, that he is fortunate to have run into Sir Politic, because he has only read books about Italy, and needs some advice on how to negotiate his way through Venetian life. Sir Politic seems to be agreeing when Peregrine interrupts him, asking him to identify the people entering the square. This scene introduces us to the Sir Politic Would-be subplot of Volpone. The subplot is a key component of Elizabethan drama; it is a secondary storyline which, like a variation on a theme, should take up the themes of the main story, or related themes, and treats them in a slightly different way, either with a different tone or with a different emphasis. The subplot usually often revolves around a central character that plays a less central role in the main plot. Volpone has been criticized for the fact that the central characters in its subplot-Sir Politic, Lady Politic and Peregrine-play almost no role in the central plot. But the satirical intent of the two plots and their light-hearted tone are similar, as are their focus on gullibility. In the main plot, the gullibility of the main characters is inspired by their greed. In the subplot instead of satirizing greed, Jonson attacks another selfish virtue, that of vanity. Sir Politic considers himself wise and learned, and wants everyone to see him that way; he speaks confidently of knowing the ways of Venetians, even though he has only lived in Venice a short while. His name gives us the central indication of his vice, that he "would be politic," or knowledgeable, if he could; his desire to appear so at all costs makes him agree to anything anyone says as if he knew it already, before trying to add his own bit of (usually incorrect) insight to the statement. His situation is ironic (situationally) because in trying so hard to appear knowledgeable, he in fact appears gullible and stupid to anyone who meets him for even the briefest period of time—such as Peregrine. The Sir Politic subplot is also directed to a specific segment of Jonson's audience, namely Italo-phile Englishmen like himself, for whom a very serious issue at the time was whether or not Englishmen in love with the grandeur of Italian civilization should take the risk of traveling to Italy. The "risk" involved was not that of disease or death, but of "moral degeneration"; Italy was seen as a corrupt and decadent place, full of liars, swindlers, and immoral hedonists, and Englishmen who traveled there risked bringing the moral contagion of vanity and deceit back to the mother country, as if introducing a previously unknown disease to their homeland. Indeed, Venice was the corrupt, decadent city; as we can see from the main plot, where every single character is engaged in some form of deceit, Jonson's portrayal of Venetian life fully buys into the stereotype, and the play's setting probably lent it a great deal of believability in the eyes of its English audiences. Sir Politic functions serves, then, as an example of all Englishmen who go to Italy and are corrupted by its decadent ways. The satire leveled against his vanity is also leveled against his desire to talk and act like Italians (in the eyes of Jonson's compatriots, they were just about the same thing). Peregrine, on the other hand, is a model of how one should behave in Italy; his named, which comes from the Latin for "wanderer", indicates that he is just passing through this foreign land. Furthermore, he has been instructed well by "he that cried Italian" to him, in other words his tutor, who instructed him using a "common grammar." This was probably one of the travel books then widely available, published by educated Italo-philes, giving instructions on how to go to Italy without being corrupt; they were full of various bits of helpful advice such as "never let a Venetian know where you live, or any other important facts about you"; and they were seen as a kind of inoculation, if you will, against whatever "virus" the Italians had that made them so mean. Readers' Notes allow users to add their own analysis and insights to our SparkNotes—and to discuss those ideas with one another. Have a novel take or think we left something out? Add a Readers' Note!

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Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, with approximately 27 million head of cattle, including around 6 million draught oxen, 24 million sheep, 18 million goats, 7 million equines, 1 million camels and 52 million poultry. The greatest concentration occurs in the highlands where 70 percent of the human population live. Livestock and livestock products contribute 35 percent of the agricultural output and additionally supply the power to cultivate virtually all of Ethiopia's 6 million ha of land cropped annually. Livestock (mainly donkeys) also contribute substantially to rural transport needs. Exports of livestock products are presently limited to hides and skins, but a great potential exists and maximum effort is being exerted for exports of beef, mutton and live animals, especially to the Middle East. Livestock is the second largest earner of foreign exchange after coffee. Since the mid-1970s, rural development has been organized within a socialist framework. However, collective farming through cooperatives and state farms accounts for less than 10 percent of the total cultivated area. Over 85 percent of agricultural output is still produced by individual subsistence smallholders who have farming rights over the land they till. Out of the total land area 55 percent are grasslands or permanent pastures. In the highland area animals are part of a mixed subsistence farming complex, while in the lowland area animals are kept by pastoralists. Only a very small proportion is commercially owned by state farms, cooperatives or private individuals. Livestock productivity, in general, is low throughout the country. Cows calve about every second year and cattle take four to five years to reach maturity. All types of animals suffer nutritional stress for much of the year because of the high cropping and grazing intensity. There are few opportunities for increased offtake under the present production systems and nutritional interventions, such as forage development or supplementation (or a combination of the two) which would be necessary to increase per head and animal production. Cattle, sheep and goats frequently walk long distances to water/graze and are housed or gathered at night, either with their owners or in simple shelters and barns made out of thorn bushes. Substantial areas are used for communal grazing. These commons are typically dominated by unpalatable and low productivity grass types. Severe overgrazing and erosion are evident in almost every part of the country. 2. FEED SUPPLIES 2.1 Crop residues: cereals, pulses and other crops These are the main sources of roughage for small-scale and commercial fatteners operating around crop farming areas. Cereal straws from teff, barley and wheat are the largest component of the livestock diets. The residues are stacked after threshing and fed during the dry season, as are pulse crop residues. Maize, sorghum and millet stovers are important residues in the lower altitude zones. Teff is widely grown in the highlands and barley replaces wheat at higher altitudes, where pulses increase in importance. Ethiopia's annual crop of about 4.6 million ha of cereals produces 6.5 million tonnes residue, and 0.8 million ha of pulses provide 0.4 million tonnes of haulms. Nutritive values of teff straw are equivalent to medium quality hay, whereas other cereal residues are only of poor to fair quality. However, pulse haulms are high quality roughage (5–8 percent crude protein). 2.2 Byproducts from the Ethiopian sugar industry On the average about 15 000 ha of cane are harvested each year with a yield of 110 tonnes cane/ha (FAO Production Yearbook 1985). Sugar mills are found at Wonji/Shewa and Metahara and are organized and run by the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation (ESC). Present molasses production is more than 70 000 tonnes per annum (Table 1) and molasses production is expected to reach 92 000 tonnes by 1991–92. The expansion will take place in 1988–89 (Wonji/Shewa) and 1989–90 (Metahara). The major part of molasses produced by the Sugar Estate is presently exported to Europe and USA through Djibouti and all the molasses from Metahara are exported (Table 2). Railway wagons are used as transport for exports. A part of the molasses produced in sold on the local market to distilleries and for cattle fattening (Table 3) Comparison, for each year, of the figures of production and export + local sales shows immediately that there is an important quantity of molasses which is neither used locally nor exported. Residual molasses could be available for additional livestock feed. The average excess for 1980, 81 and 82, is around 15 000 tonnes/year. This excess molasses is in fact dumped in ground pits existing in the Sugar Estates and used for road maintenance and the rest dumped down the river (Awash). Explanation of this situation is not the lack of export possibilities. ESC always finds international buyers but the Ethiopian railways cannot for the moment insure the transport of molasses. The surplus molasses will increase with the expansion programme and will reach 65 000 tonnes in 1991–92. However, the Government has started plans to convert all surplus molasses into ethanol including, presumably, the 50 000 tonnes which were to be exported. The most recent group to examine alternative use for molasses was an FAO team that visited Ethiopia in late 1984 to plan an emergency programme for livestock survival during the current drought. The team adovocated (and we all do) that all molasses should be used as livestock feed, both in times of drought and during normal seasons. Five thousand tonnes of molasses would fatten less than 10 000 head per annum. This is less than the number currently fattened by the Ministry of State Farms Development for export. Ethanol production conflicts with existing operations and future plans for cattle fattening in Ethiopia particularly if rations are to rely on molasses for the energy available for weight gain. There are substantial economic data and research results to support the argument that molasses should be used as a livestock feed, irrespective of the season. The FAO team that visited Ethiopia in late 1984 concluded that in times of severe drought, priority should be given to the use of molasses to assist with the survival of breeding cattle and that in normal years, fattening and feedlot finishing would be the most profitable alternative. 2.2.2 Cane tops, trash and bagasse Ethiopia's cane field produces 540 000 tonnes of cane tops and 270 000 tonnes of trash each year (380 000 tonnes of dry matter) and the factories produce about 476 000 tonnes (235 000 tonnes of dry matter) of bagasse. Some of the cane tops are collected by local peasants and fed to livestock without any charge. Usually most of the cane tops and trash are burnt to facilitate subsequent irrigation and cultivation of the ratoon crop. The three existing factories use most of the bagasse as boiler fuel. In any given year a minimum of 300 000 tonnes of dry matter in the form of cane tops and trash has been produced within the three sugar estates. This means that at the rate of 3 to 4 kg average dry matter intake per head per day for 90 days it will be sufficient to feed more than one million cattle. This is assuming efficient recovery of tops and trash but shows the enormous potential for productive utilization of available resources that are presently wasted. 3. Molasses as cattle feed Feeding practices in almost all fattening programmes in our country depend on liberal feeding of wheat bran, and middlings and noug cake supplemented with straw (and more recently sugarcane tops). Molasses is fed in limited quantities (less than 3 kg/day). Urea in most cases is not used. Average performance rate is between 500 and 600 per day. These feeding practices must change and are being changed because of the following major reasons: There is a shortage of wheat bran and middlings due to competition for existing supplies to livestock which make more efficient use of the resource (poultry, pigs and milking cows). Total production of wheat bran and wheat middlings that is physically available within the country does not increase by more than 30 000 tonnes annually. The only other concentrated energy resource available locally which can serve as the basis of a cattle fattening diet is molasses. The average production of molasses is some 70 000 tonnes. Drought has put further pressure on feed supplies. The pressing need to earn foreign currency and the rising price of good quality beef makes it imperative to expand the fattening programme using more and more molasses. To reduce the cost of fattening by making greater use of presently under-utilized feed resources (molasses). The use of molasses for cattle fattening has been developed in many countries under conditions resembling in some respects those presently prevailing in Ethiopia. Namely, shortage of foreign exchange, lack of conventional concentrate feeds, and the need to expand meat production to provide protein for the population. A high molasses feeding system proved economically successful since rates of animal performance and efficiency of feed utilization were almost doubled compared with the traditional method. In view of the export potential of molasses and foreign exchange cost associated with urea, the use of molasses/urea (blocks or liquid) must be associated with livestock production systems which either provide export earnings (finished beef animals) or provide substitutes for imports (dairy production). 3.2 Feeding and management systems on state farms 3.2.1 Beef cattle feedlots (at Wonji and Kuriftu) have started to feed ad libitum molasses with 500g/day of poultry litter, one kg/day of protein-rich oil cake (noug, cotton) and sugarcane tops or straw at the rate of approximately 1 kg dry matter per 100 kg liveweight per day. A mixed supplement of wheat bran and wheat middlings with oil seed cake is being replaced by oil cake and poultry litter. The supply of poultry litter is from the State Poultry Farm not too far from the feedlots (Debre Zeit). The ad libitum feeding of molasses is reached by providing steadily increasing quantities of molasses; it usually takes three weeks to reach ad libitum feeding. 3.2.2 Beef holding areas (Netle, Alemtena): These areas have water points and advantage was taken to situate cattle around the water troughs and to feed them molasses ad libitum. Oil barrels cut down the middle and concrete troughs made from drain pipes (60 cm diameter) are used to mix the molasses, 1 kg oil cake, and 500 g of poultry litter per head per day. Straw is fed on the ground (or on a rack) at daily quantities between 1 and 4 kg/head depending on the holding area grazing capacity (native pasture). Grazing time is between 3 and 7 hours per day and confined throughout the rest of the day and night (with adequate space) with easy access to the troughs. This system of feeding is also adapted to fattening of goats and sheep. The amount of oil seed cake and poultry litter is 150 kg and 50 g per head per day respectively. Molasses is sometimes sprinkled over the daily hay allowance at the rate of about 0.5 kg/head/day. 3.3 Storage and transport of molasses A system of mixing aqueous urea and molasses in standard oil tankers has been developed and is giving satisfactory results. The important points to note are that water should be added first to the tanker in amounts equivalent to 5 percent based on the weight of the final mixture. The system of introducing the water is to use a hose pipe and to measure the rate of flow with a watch. The approximate amount of water is then added to the tanker on a time basis. This is quicker and perfectly reliable for the purposes required. The urea (in amounts equal to 2.5 percent of the total weight of the mixture) can be added at the same time as the water. Care must be taken to ensure that there are no lumps in the urea. Lumps of urea can be easily broken with a spade or similar instrument. The urea and water must be put in the tanker at least some 10 km away from the sugar factory so that the urea will go into solution as the tanker is driven to the factory. At the factory the required amount of molasses (92.5 percent of the total weight of the mixture) is added. As molasses has a higher density (1.45) than fuel oil the loaded weight of the tanker is achieved when it is approximately two thirds full. The space that is left above the above the molasses together with the baffler inside the tanker ensure that the molasses and aqueous urea are completely mixed before the tanker arrives at its destination. The above system of transporting and mixing of urea was used during the drought feeding programme and to feedlots and holding areas of the State Farms. Storage of molasses on farm sites is a simple earth pit on a hill side. Tankers can unload and the molasses could flow out by gravity on tankers pulled by horses or tractors. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION Changes in feed availability and in the nature of the ingredients fed can be causal factors of the metabolic disturbances associated with high level feeding of molasses. Inevitably when a change is made from restricted feeding of molasses to ad libitum feeding, there will be a relatively high incidence of metabolic disturbances. The three metabolic disturbances that can occur are molasses toxicity (drunkenness), urea toxicity and bloat. The important step is to establish the feedlot on the ad libitum molasses system; then provide on a continuous basis both the molasses and the other supplements (e.g. oil seed cake and poultry litter) and measure the results in terms of animal performance, economics and disease incidence. The economic advantages of using high levels of molasses/urea are considerable apart from the fact that the use of high levels will enable the wheat bran/middlings presently used in the fattening ration to be allocated for other more appropriate purposes such as feeding of dairy cows, poultry and pigs. There is, therefore, a very strong incentive for a programme of research which will increase the understanding of the factor causing molasses toxicity; and to development of feeding and management systems in which the economic losses due to this disease are minimized to the point that they are more compensated by the greater rate and economy of fattening. Therefore, the following feeding trials should be the developmental research areas to be studied: the base of research areas will be on indigenous cattle, crop residues and agroindustrial byproducts available in Ethiopia. Evaluation of roughage sources and the interactions between these and supplementation with poultry litter and with the level of feeding of the molasses (e.g. restricted versus ad libitum feeding). Investigation concerning the use of cane tops as roughage source. This will include studies on the method of harvesting and processing (e.g. use of fresh green or burnt tops). Studies on the use of poultry litter and poultry excreta partly as additives for improving the rumen ecosystem and as a partial replacement for urea. Determination of response course to different protein supplements including levels with the use of molasses/urea blocks. The list of research areas is not comprehensive nor does it indicate the exact orders of priority. It is certain that considerable research will be needed both at the operational level and laboratory in order to optimize the use of molasses in livestock feeding systems in Ethiopia. In order to understand and implement strategic feeding systems the Ministry of State Farms Development and the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) have commenced collaborative programmes on development research and training since the beginning of this year (1986). This point of collaborative effort should be stressed because the result will not have application only to Ethiopia but to other African countries already contemplating a greater utilization of their own national feed resources. |Year||1984 – 85||1983 – 84||1982 – 83| |Wonji||11 917||14 358||11 547| |Shewa||13 988||15 158||12 565| |Metahara||44 856||43 727||40 629| |70 761||73 243||64 741| |Year||1984 – 851||1983 – 841||1982 – 83||1981 – 82| |From ESC tonnes||35 000||28 000||41 000||29 000| |Sale prices US$/tonne||50.0||47.8||61.9| |Year||1984 – 851||1983 – 841||1982 – 83||1981 – 82| |16 000||15 000||18 303||14 771| |15 000||9 800||821||724| 1 On estimate available from Ethiopian Sugar Corporation(ESC), 1984. |Total molasses production 1991–2||91 000| |Tonnage to be used for alcohol production and baker's yeast||66 000| |Tonnage required by the beverage industry||21 000| |Tonnage available for livestock||5 000| El ganado y los productos ganaderos representan el 35 por ciento de la producción agrícola de Etiopía, además de proporcionar energía de tiro para la producción agrícola y el transporte. Aunque las exportaciones de productos pecuarios se limita actualmente a cueros y pieles, se reconoce el beneficio potencial de la exportación de animales vivos y carne de vacuno y de carnero, y se están haciendo grandes esfuerzos en este sector. Los residuos de cosecha constituyen la principal fuente de forraje para los animales, y también se dispone localmente de subproductos de la industria azucarera, por ejemplo melaza, cogollos de caña, bagazo y paja. Una pequeña parte de la melaza producida por el Ethiopian Sugar Estate (Ingenio azucarero etíope) se vende localmente a destilerías y para el engorde de ganado, mientras que la mayor parte se exporta. En general, todo parece indicar que el sector ganadero no utiliza plenamente los recursos de piensos disponibles. Por consiguiente, es necesario realizar investigaciones sobre la utilización óptima de los recursos de piensos. La atención deberá concentrarse en la utilización de esos subproductos industriales por el ganado autóctono. Ello supondrá una evaluación de las fuentes de forrajes bastos y sus interacciones y suplementación con melaza/urea; investigaciones sobre la utilización de los cogollos de caña como forraje y de la gallinaza como aditivos y sustitutivos parciales de la urea; y la determinación de la respuesta de los animales a los diversos suplementos proteínicos. A este respecto, el Ministerio de Desarrollo de Granjas Estatales de Etiopía y el Centro Internacional para la Ganadería en Africa (ILCA) han iniciado un programa cooperativo de investigaciones y capacitación en desarrollo a comienzos de 1986.

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Nearly 8 million Americans go to work every day yet still live below the poverty line. That is in part because the federal minimum wage is too low. Currently, an individual with a full-time job at the minimum wage and a family of three to support will fall below the federal poverty line. These workers, despite putting in regular hours, are struggling to provide basic necessities for themselves and their families. By allowing the minimum wage to remain at a nearly unlivable level, we have deemed certain jobs not worthy enough to meet even our country's minimum standard of living. How have we been able to keep wages so low without significant social discord? By using tax revenue and a complicated government bureaucracy to subsidize low-wage employers and supplement minimum-wage salaries. Rather than firms paying a worker's true cost and customers paying an appropriate price for the services provided by those firms, the government provides workers with "income transfers" to help them meet basic needs. These include such programs as the earned income tax credit, food stamps and Medicaid. These government supports mask a job's true value and set an artificially low wage. They also represent the height of inefficiency. Raising the minimum wage means that the income required for basic needs is delivered in a one-step approach, via the paycheck directly from firm to worker, rather than requiring additional government expenditures. Beyond efficiency, there is also the matter of human dignity. Think about it: After a long day on the clock, you come home knowing that despite your hard work, you can't feed your family, cover their medical insurance or pay your rent without government support. What message does that send about the dignity of your work and the pride of taking personal responsibility for your family? Low wages push workers into shadow labor markets where they get paid under the table, avoid reporting income and evade tax responsibilities. Artificially low wages teach workers that their work is not valuable — a disastrous policy outcome. In his State of the Union speech, President Obama called for raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour. That would be a start toward restoring dignity and value to low-wage work. But it isn't enough. We propose raising the minimum wage, in stages, to $12.50 an hour, an amount that would allow an individual supporting a family of three to live modestly, at about 138% of the federal poverty line. That level offers workers a way to escape poverty, a chance to feed their families, buy basic medical insurance and live in secure housing without significant government support. The most common objection to raising the minimum wage is that it destroys jobs. But a slew of recent studies have pointed out that although raising the minimum wage does increase earnings and reduce poverty, it has a limited, almost negligible, effect on employment. Studies have also illustrated that restoring the dignity of work through higher wages reduces worker turnover and increases productivity. Some make the overstated claim that increasing the minimum wage would accelerate companies' off-shoring of jobs. But most low-wage jobs today are geographically fixed, or as economists call them, "non-tradable." A janitor or home-care worker's job, for example, can't be outsourced to China. What is sometimes understated is the likelihood of low-wage jobs being automated, a real and growing threat. But if a small growth in the minimum wage is enough to move an industry to automation, it is likely that automation was coming in short order anyway. Technological progress is inevitable and further automation unavoidable. If raising the minimum wage leads to productivity gains through investment in automation, so be it. In the meantime, we need to reward American workers for their efforts. Some argue that raising the minimum wage offers benefits to those who may not need them. This argument is also flawed. The Economic Policy Institute's latest analysis shows that most low-wage workers live in low-wage households, and 84% of the workers in low-wage jobs are at least 20 years old. But, regardless of age or need, anyone who shows up to work and puts in hard hours deserves a wage that keeps him or her out of poverty. Finally, critics of raising the minimum wage often suggest raising the earned income tax credit instead. But that would simply perpetuate the cycle of devaluing work. It also takes money out of the pockets of taxpayers rather than from the businesses that benefit from the credit, creating, in effect, a federal subsidy for low-wage employers. A higher minimum wage would help ensure that the earned income tax credit works more effectively and efficiently. Raising the minimum wage is about reducing inequality, but it is also about restoring the true value of work. Every American's hard work should be rewarded. Andy Stern is a senior fellow at Columbia University's Richman Center and former president of the Service Employees International Union. Carl Camden is president and CEO of Kelly Services and co-chairman of the board of trustees of the Committee for Economic Development.

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As Germany prepares to elect its next Chancellor, the two main candidates, Gerhard Schroeder and Edmund Stoiber, agree on one thing: unemployment must be reduced. Over the past two decades, high unemployment has transformed Europe in general and Germany in particular into a sociological time bomb. What will the unemployed - especially the long-term unemployed with only dim memories of integration into the world of work - do with themselves and their time? What will happen to confidence in governments that can not solve the problem? It is easy to forget that little more than 50 years ago, Europe was the world's most violent continent. Europeans spent the previous forty years slaughtering each other on a scale unprecedented in human history. Against this backdrop, Western Europe after 1950 was remarkably peaceful and stable, even taking into account the fall of the French Fourth Republic and the transitions from dictatorship to democracy in Portugal, Spain, and Greece. The most remarkable transformation of all was that of the Federal Republic of Germany. Anyone familiar with German history since 1800 is still astonished at the enthusiasm with which the nation that emerged from total defeat in 1945 embraced what many in previous generations would have called "unsuitable" Anglo-French political and economic models. Without the peace and stability that this assured in Germany - the largest linguistic nation west of Russia - it is difficult to imagine today's peace and stability in Europe as a whole. Germany owes its transformation in part to a combination of three factors: a backlog of unexploited technological opportunities to fuel rapid income growth, nearly full employment, and a state that shared the benefits of growth widely through public programs (rather than serving one class or interest as a weapon to concentrate wealth and power). Other factors - the memory of the Nazi catastrophe, the example of life east of the Iron Curtain, the potential threat posed by Stalin and his heirs - also clearly played an important role. But the fact that the system worked for almost everyone was the final buttress holding up the cathedral. To everyone's relief, political democracy and mixed market economies proved highly resilient against the oil price shocks of the 1970s. Incomes stagnated, but the institutional order endured. And it has also endured the subsequent emergence and persistence of high unemployment. Within the Federal Republic, where unemployment remains near its early-1980s peak, the failure to address the problem was offset by other successes. The early 1990s witnessed the reunification of Germany, and the elimination of even moderate inflation risks. The late 1990s delivered deeper European integration, culminating in European Monetary Union. In short, lack of progress on reducing unemployment could be excused in the past: Europe faced more urgent problems and opportunities. But what more urgent problem or attractive opportunity exists today? Inflation no longer threatens anyone's savings. Germany is unified. Monetary union has been accomplished. Whoever leads the next German government must tackle unemployment, both for the sake of the economically most vulnerable and to ensure public confidence in the current system. Unfortunately, whoever wins the election - Schroeder or Stoiber - will be helpless in the medium term to address the problem. Germany's Employment Commission has called for sweeping labor-market and social-welfare reforms, but it will be very difficult for any government to implement them. Without increased private-sector demand, the removal of supply-side restrictions that fuelled high "classical" unemployment will simply result in high "Keynesian" unemployment in the future. European integration was supposed to take care of this by driving decades of rapid economic growth as companies realize continent-wide economies of scale. So where is this demand-driven growth? The European Central Bank (ECB) seems more interested in keeping interest rates high enough to force insolvent firms into bankruptcy than in promoting higher employment. With private-sector demand stalling, the Employment Commission wants the government to serve as employer of last resort. But the Maastricht Treaty's Stability and Growth Pact limits fiscal deficits to 3% of GDP - a ceiling that Germany is already hitting. Unless a future government is bold enough to violate the pact with abandon, its only alternative will be to increase taxes, which would merely prolong the very downturn in private-sector demand that has kept unemployment high. Were it not for the Stability and Growth Pact, a Keynesian spending-led program could provide the demand needed to reduce unemployment. The problem could be solved once and for all if the ECB were willing to risk the following bargain with governments: if you liberalize product markets and make labor markets flexible, we will reduce interest rates and permit higher spending to fulfill the promise of near-full employment. But the ECB and the Stability and Growth Pact being what they are, both German parties are what they are: a sculptor who has promised to carve a marble statue overnight but has lost his chisel. There may be little cause for immediate worry. The sociological time bomb may simply continue ticking. As Adam Smith put it, "There is a lot of ruin in a nation." But while Western Europe's post-war institutional order has worked almost miraculously well in historical terms, voters have narrower views and focus on more private concerns. They are more likely to judge a party, a regime, or an institutional order by asking, "What have you done for me lately?" With the great tasks of reunification and European integration behind it, future German governments are increasingly likely to be forced to answer, "Not much."

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The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas, a case that could potentially change the way our country handles affirmative action. Here’s the bare-bones facts of the case. Abigail Fisher, a student whose application to the University of Texas was rejected, sued the school for discrimination. She’s white, and arguing that if she had been a racial minority, she would’ve been accepted. This isn’t the first time a case dealing with affirmative action has appeared in the court. 1978′s Regents of the University of California v. Bakke declared that a quota system, that is, saying that a certain number of spots are reserved for people of a certain race, is unconstitutional. 2003′s Grutter v. Bollinger, regarding the admissions policy at the University of Michigan, upheld affirmative action by arguing that a school has an interest in diversifying their student body, and should be permitted to consider race as a contributing factor in admissions. Like most Supreme Court cases, Ms. Fisher’s experience will ultimately not have much to do with the debate. That’s doubly true in this case, since she’s already graduated from a different university. Her circumstances aren’t particularly complicated; she just attended Louisiana State University instead of Texas. Instead, the case could become an argument over how we can decide when we’ve had “enough” affirmative action. At least, that seems to be the direction the justices were steering the conversation. In other words, at what point will the country decide that schools and other institutions are “diverse enough” and let the policy be race-blind? That may be a loaded question, but it’s hard to talk about affirmative action without using loaded questions.

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The Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) Project is a collaborative research project conducted by the Tulane University Health Sciences Center and the New Orleans Department of Health. The purpose of the project is to learn about the effects of mold and other indoor allergens on children with asthma in post-Katrina New Orleans. Another goal of the HEAL Project is to look at inherited differences in childrens response to mold and indoor allergens. The project is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), and the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN). NIEHS and NCMHD are part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Childhood asthma is on the rise in the United States, especially among minority inner-city children. Up to 24 percent of minority children living in cities like New Orleans may have asthma. Asthma is the number one reason children miss school due to chronic illness, and the second leading cause of childrens emergency department visits. The rapidly increasing rates of asthma are thought to be related in part to increases in allergies and environmental exposures, such as mold, moisture and other allergens. Another factor that worsens asthma is the lack of access to health care. In New Orleans and in many other cities, both poor access to health care and environmental exposures to mold and allergens are likely to contribute to asthma at the same time. The post-Katrina New Orleans environment presents an opportunity to determine ways to promote better medical management and safer home environments in an effort to improve the health of local children with asthma. HEAL has now gone to a phase II, and is being led by William Martin, M.D. , at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

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This issue is currently out of stock and will not be reprinted. Subscribe today and save! | The world's best-selling astronomy magazine offers you the most exciting, visually stunning, and timely coverage of the heavens above. Each monthly issue includes expert science reporting, vivid color photography, complete sky coverage, spot-on observing tips, informative telescope reviews, and much more! All this in an easy-to-understand, user-friendly style that's perfect for astronomers at any level. Looking inside the Sun The Sun rings with sound waves that may give away secrets hidden deep in the solar interior. A New Window on Star Birth New submillimeter telescopes will open up unexplored territory. The Curious Shapes of Cosmic Jets Individual circumstances determine why jets come in so many different shapes. The Many Faces of the Sun During the International Solar Month astronomers observed the Sun across the wavelengths for the first time. ASTRONOMY Sky Almanac Eight Lunar Wonders Odd lunar features have fascinated observers for centuries. Your Own Piece of the Solar System Create a three-dimensional model of your favorite planetary feature. Galaxy Hunting around the Big Dipper Springtime offers galaxies bright enough to be seen in binoculars and small telescopes. How to Observe Planets during the Day You don't have to wait until night to see planets and stars. Behind the Scenes Who Will Miss the Night Sky? Saturn's Hexagon Jet NASA's Mars Rover Capturing Mars on Paper Meetings and Events Readings and Resources Look for this icon. This denotes premium subscriber content. Learn more »

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Patti McGill Peterson Center for International and Intercultural Studies Generational Clashes: Spanish Women after the Franco Era I decided to focus my research on the relationships of mothers and their daughters in Spain and how Francisco Franco's dictatorship shaped that relationship. During Franco's regime, women were given a very strict Catholic upbringing, which instilled in them certain conservative beliefs. On the other hand, their daughters who have grown up in a mostly democratic government have had a much more liberal upbringing. This different kind of atmosphere shape the way in which both women think and view not only the world but most importantly their role as women in the world. In interviewing these women I came across many different standpoints, which surprised me. As a scholar, I made the mistake of going into the field with a certain expectation; for example, I thought that all the mothers would have Catholicism very internalized to the point that it would cause conflict with their daughters that are not as religious. However, that was not always the case; one of the mothers in particular expressed how much she not only hated the regime, for her family always believed in democracy which was the system of government in Spain before Franco, but she hated religion studies as well. She, like I expected the daughters to be, hated the norms that women needed to follow to be "good citizens", which was being a good wife under any circumstance, being religious and being nationalistic. Those where the three characteristics Spanish women needed to conform to, wifehood/ motherhood, Catholicism and patriotism. So I learned that as a researcher, the most important aspect and perhaps the hardest thing to do, is to go into the field without any expectations, that is the smart way of conducting research. Another aspect of the research that should be noted is that there is no doubt that Franco's regime and all it inscribed shaped the relationship of mothers and daughters, it helped define what these women believe to be womanhood. Whether the mothers and daughters agree that religion and what that signified during the Franco regime was just one more way for women to be controlled or if the mother believed that religion was an important aspect of her life and tried to force it on the daughter. The obvious point is that conflict resulted from both standpoints. The conflict go beyond what we believe to be normal due to the generational differences, these conflicts were deeply rooted in the Franco regime, because it doesn't matter how hard women tried not no internalize what the regime intended, it was impossible to avoid at least some of it. Franco's regime was totalizing and controlled perhaps every aspect of women's lives.

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It’s so easy with our step-by-step guide - Click here to buy your FREE 'Guide to Plant Breeding' leaflet. YES - you might just have something special, move straight to STEP C. NO - go to STEPS A and B and try your hand at plant breeding to create your own new plant. Plant breeding is not merely for boffins working in sterile laboratories or elaborate glasshouse breeding stations. Breeding can be fun and very rewarding and every plant you raise has the potential to be unique. The basic skills for plant breeding are patience and good observation. You do not need much room or space. Some gardeners have vied with each other to produce the ideal new plant in only the tiniest of back gardens. Plants like geraniums, dianthus, nasturtium, fuchsias, petunia and many others can be grown in pots and will take up little space. Many new varieties have arisen in the past from the observation of an improved or different type growing in a larger batch of plants. The more plants of one type you grow, the more chance there is of finding something different or unusual. Be observant as you go around the garden, looking out for anything unusual, e.g. more petals than normal, some variation in flower size or colour, or differences in plant height or habit. When you see it, label the plant, describing its important characteristics (e.g. double flowers, dwarf etc.) and try to isolate it from other similar plants so that no cross-pollination occurs (see step 2). Isolation prevents your special plant from being pollinated by its neighbour. This can be done by enclosing a number of flowers (still attached to the plant) within a large insectproof bag, either netting of some sort, grease-proof paper, or a plastic bag with small slits for ventilation (fig.1). Ensure there is no gap at the base of the bag for insects to get in. Use a soft wire twist or string to secure the bag but be sure not to bruise or damage the stem of the flower. Another way of isolating a plant is to carefully dig it up with minimum root disturbance, pot it on, and move it a good distance away. Be sure the plant is sufficiently watered during this process. High obstacles like a tall thick hedge form a good isolation barrier, preventing bees or other insects from cross pollinating the plants. Isolated plants or flowers will often still need to be pollinated to ensure that the seed will set. To do this, the flowers should be ‘self-pollinated’. This is when you use the same flower or a flower of the same plant to pollinate with. For instructions on pollinating, see the “how to pollinate” section. Although self-pollination naturally occurs in some plants, other types like Poppy (Papaver) or members of the Daisy (Compositae) family will not self-pollinate. This is due to self-incompatibility, an in-built mechanism in the plant that prevents self-pollination from occurring. If the plant is self-incompatible, you can select a second similar looking plant and cross the two together. When the seedpod is ripe (fig.2), it is best placed with a label into a seed packet and stored in a cool, dry place. Later, the seed should be extracted, cleaned and placed in a packet labelled with the name, special characteristics of the plant and date of harvesting. The following season you should sow the seed that you have harvested. Once they germinate, prick out as many seedlings as you can, thereby increasing your chance of good results. Try to plant the seedlings away from other plants of the same type. As the plants grow and develop, pull out any that do not resemble your original selection (referred to as ‘rogues’), do this immediately before they cross-pollinate. You may be left with only a few plants which fit your aim. You could then leave the bees to cross your selections. Harvest the seed of your plants separately, for best results. The selection process may take two or more seasons. It should continue until all or most of the seed sown produces plants resembling your new type very closely. Find out as much as possible about the genus or species you are working on before you start. This is also a good way to check that there are no similar plants already in cultivation before you submit your entry. Did you know? Poppy ‘Angels Choir’ is a good example of the ‘eyes open’ method; the first variety of this type was actually seen growing in a field of red poppies. Wild flowers in the hedgerow or the plants in your garden may unexpectedly produce something different every so often, this is referred to as a ‘sport’. When you deliberately set out to create a new plant variety, cross-pollination is an invaluable method in breeding. As an example, you could potentially create a dwarf yellow flowered plant by crossing two plants of the same genus, maybe a tall yellow flowered plant (x) with a dwarf red flowered one (y). Or you could try crossing an annual with a perennial. In year one, you will need to cross plant x with y or vice versa, following the pollination method shown within this guide. At the end of the season, harvest the seed. In year two, sow the results of the cross (referred to as the F1 generation) and grow in an isolated area and then harvest seed from these plants. During the third year, you should sow out the harvested seed. This next generation (referred to as the F2) is where you should see the results of your original cross. Select plants that have the desired trait (using our above example, these would be plants that are dwarf and have yellow flowers). Once selected, the plants can be self-pollinated (pollinating the same flower with itself, or using a flower from the same plant). If they are self-incompatible, then they can be crossed with a plant with very similar characteristics. In the subsequent years following your hybridisation, you should use the selection method to get your seed true to type. Remember to sow the seeds of individual selections separately to increase your chances of attaining seed true to type quicker. Sometimes you may have a problem with your desired plant trait not coming through into the offspring. You may need to ‘back-cross’ some of the crossed plant selections with the original parent (either x or y, whichever has the characteristic that you are having problems with). The term back-cross simply refers to the method by which seedlings or offspring are cross pollinated back onto one of the parents involved in the original cross. It is very important to label your plants accurately, and to also keep a small sample of seed from every stage of the breeding, in case you encounter a failure and need to retrace your breeding steps. This 'fast-track' method can be used on occasions when you've already found a unique plant. It means you can replicate your plant without the need for any additional breeding work. 1. If you spot an unusual plant out of a bunch of seedlings, either as a selection or from the result of the 'cross-pollination' method, you can often reproduce the plant vegetatively (by cuttings). 2. Simply take cuttings from the plant, preferably using material from near to the base. 3. You should also try to avoid using the tips of any shoots that have buds or flowers, as they will produce poorer plants. 4. Package your cuttings as instructed on the entry form. 5. Send them in to Thompson & Morgan for assessment Mid-morning is usually a good time to pollinate flowers. There is no dew on them and temperatures are adequate for the pollen to be effective. Avoid pollinating on a wet day, as any water on the pollen will kill it. 1. Grow a bed of each of the two plant types to be crossed. On the plant you intend to pollinate, use any buds or flowers that have colour in them, but have not yet opened. 2. Open the buds and remove the anthers containing pollen (fig.1 & 2). Dust pollen from the plant to be used as the pollinator (fig.3) onto the stigma of the one to be pollinated (fig.4). Members of the Compositae (Daisy) family, e.g. Rudbeckia, Chrysanthemum, Tagetes and Dahlia have flowers made up of many tiny florets that open from the outer edge in towards the centre. These small florets should be pollinated on consecutive days as they open inwards. 3. Plants can be pollinated either using a paintbrush or in some cases by rubbing the two flowers together. You can sometimes tell when the stigma is at its most receptive by the presence of a sticky or shiny solution appearing on the tip. In some plant types the stigma can also swell or change shape when receptive. 4. As you pollinate each flower, cover it with a bag or place an insect proof cage over the whole plant (see ‘Isolating your plant’ under The ‘Selection Method’ section). 5. Once successful fertilisation has occurred, plants have various trigger mechanisms which indicate success. Some will drop petals, on others the stigma will blacken and shrivel. After a period of time the ovule where the seed forms will begin to swell and ripen. Continue with more pollinations on other flowers as they open and label each cross with a lightweight label marked with pencil. When using cross-pollination, avoid the use of F1 hybrid varieties as they often have very involved parentage, which can slow down breeding in the early stages. F1 hybrids can, however, be a good source of variation when using selection to find new material. When you have problems ‘fixing’ a particular trait within a plant, you can cross it back with your original parent plant that had the desired trait. Simply the process of transferring pollen from one plant to another, in order to create a hybrid. F1 Generation The result of the first cross-pollination between two plants. The result of the seeds saved from the first cross. This is the process of discarding any unwanted plants that do not show the characteristics you are looking for in your breeding work. A breeding method that relies on close observation, you simply harvest seed from unusual or different plants that arise in the garden. You then select the best plants from the harvested seed, and so on. When a plant is unable to set seed after it has been self-pollinated. To ‘fix’ certain traits in a plant, you can pollinate it with itself. Self-pollination is the action of transferring pollen from a flower onto the stigma of a flower on the same plant. After a trialling process with Thompson & Morgan (which can take anything from 6 months to 6 years), we will contact you to discuss your plant. We currently pay £500 for each successful entrant, rewarded as a lump sum when the product goes on sale. At Thompson & Morgan’s discretion, outstanding or rare new products could receive more. We ask that the originator agrees to be involved in any subsequent publicity about the new plant. 1. Once you are happy that your plant is suitably different to any others available or that a high percentage of the seed comes true, you are ready to send in a sample. 2. If you wish to send cuttings (if you have chosen the vegetative route), send them in a zipped plastic bag with holes punched in the top for air movement. The area around the roots should also be wrapped in damp tissue, so that the plants do not dry out. 3. Then simply label your seeds/plants and package in either a small box or envelope and send by first class mail. 4. Always keep some seeds or plants in your possession, in case anything is lost in transit. 5. Your submission should be sent with the entry form below. Please try to post you entry early in the week, so that weekend postal delays are avoided. Terms and conditions apply. Please click here for details. A T&M customer sent us the first star-shaped petunia, a white-flowered petunia that was very different from the normal round-flowered ones. The new flower shape is now available in an array of colours, but it all started from the one plant discovery! Another customer spotted a nasturtium that was different from any other, and T&M introduced this new flower shape into other nasturtiums by using the cross pollination method. In order to fast-track market release of this very new nasturtium, we then used vegetative breeding and took cuttings from the very best plants. One of our customers in Scotland sent in some seed of a tall, border marigold with unusual, striped blooms that they had found growing in their garden. We then crossed the plant with a modern, dwarf variety in order to reduce the height, and achieve a more compact habit. A keen customer tried his hand at vegetable breeding when he crossed small-fruited, extra-sweet tomato variety, Sungold, with a larger type. The result is lovely, large-fruited fruits without the bitter tang of some tomatoes. A customer in Suffolk spotted an unusually short and compact foxglove, with primrose yellow blooms appearing in whorls all around the stem. Thinking this was very unusual for a foxglove, the customer sent the seeds to us and our breeders further selected the original plant for 2-3 years in order to stabilise the habit, form and colour An amateur breeder raised this divine blue sweet pea and entered the variety into RHS trials in 2002 and 2003, winning awards each time. They came to Thompson & Morgan for help in launching the variety. From a handful of seeds to a major catalogue introduction took 7 years. It is now Thompson & Morgan's Flower of the Year in our seed catalogue range.

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November 26, 1988 | A strong earthquake rattled much of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada on Friday, shaking buildings in both nations, knocking out power and phone service in much of Quebec province and frightening thousands of people, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injury. The Canadian government said that the earthquake, which was measured at a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale, was the most powerful temblor to strike the region since 1935. November 15, 1987 An earthquake shook objects from shelves in southeastern Alaska and adjacent sections of Canada, geologists said. The quake, which measured 5.3 on the Richter scale, was centered just southeast of Haines, Alaska, Bob Horner, a seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, said in a telephone interview from the Pacific Geoscience Centre in Sidney, British Columbia. July 24, 1987 | A light earthquake rattled the Toronto area of Canada early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The survey's earthquake monitors at Golden, Colo., said the tremor measured 3.2 on the Richter scale.

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Wild Thing is an occasional series where JHU Press authors write about the flora and fauna of the natural world—from the rarest flower to the most magnificent beast. Guest post by Uldis Roze Having grown up in large cities where porcupines are absent, I was in my 30s before I saw my first porcupine in the wild. We met at night, in the light cone of my flashlight, as the porcupine was chewing our freshly-built cabin at a woods edge in the Catskills. The animal looked surreal and wild, but I had no doubt about its identification. It had quills, therefore it was a porcupine. But the quills that give porcupines their easy identification and shape their natural histories are themselves the source of endless mystery and mystification. Do porcupines throw their quills? All scientific accounts assure readers to the contrary, but it wasn’t always so. Writing in the April 16, 1956 issue of Sports Illustrated, Dr. William J. Lang describes a porcupine he had surprised in a woodshed: “With an upward flick of his tail, one quill grazed my cheek, another stuck in my hat brim . . . three more clung by their barbed tips to the cedar splits.” Dr. Lang notwithstanding, porcupines can no more throw their quills than dogs can throw their hair, and if they somehow evolved the capacity to do so, it would do the throwers no good. This is for reasons of fundamental physics: the energy residing in a moving body is given by its momentum, the product of its mass times velocity. Because a porcupine quill has negligible mass, it would carry negligible momentum, and serve very poorly in the animal’s defense. A porcupine misunderstood. The royal crest of Louis XII of France featured a crested porcupine, shown throwing a shower of quills at distant enemies, while keeping other quills in reserve for an impregnable defense. Perhaps because Louis XII lost most of his military engagements, his successors abandoned the porcupine symbolism. Photo by Philippa Moore. Perhaps the flying quill hypothesis is so persistent because when quills arrive in human skin, they materialize in a microsecond, faster than the eye can follow. But quills do not arrive in flight–they arrive on the surface of the tail. And because the mass of the incoming is not the mass of the quill alone but the mass of the quill plus tail, the momentum is high and the quill can penetrate deeply. Another source of quill confusion is the one-way barbs. True or false: all porcupine quills have barbed tips. False! No Old-World porcupine (11 spp.) carries barbed quills. With a single exception, all New-World porcupines (15 spp.) carry barbed quills. The presence or absence of barbs is possibly the most fundamental difference between quills of the 2 porcupine families. Old-World porcupines are large animals, with some species reaching weights of 50 lbs in the wild. They are defended by large quills with sharp, knife-like tips that can kill lions and leopards. Large quills require large bodies for delivery. But large bodies are not an option for New-World porcupines, who live in trees. Their small bodies carry small quills. With the evolutionary invention of barbs, these small quills can travel deep inside a predator’s body, pulled by the predator’s own muscles until they either strike an organ or exit the body, far from the point of entry. That said, there are limits to the defense offered by small quills. Unlike their Old-World cousins, who can stand up to the large cats of Africa and Asia, New-World porcupines have no effective defense against their North American predator, the mountain lion. Rick Sweitzer, who studied a porcupine population in the Great Basin desert of Nevada, reports what happened when a single mountain lion started preying on his porcupines. In a 3-year period, the population plummeted from 82 animals to just 5. Instead of avoiding the quills, mountain lions eat their porcupines whole, and accept the consequences. Mountain lions autopsied in Oregon routinely showed quill tips embedded in the gums, where they had come to rest against the jawbone. How many quills does a North American porcupine carry? An answer given by one respondent is “roughly 658, but I lost count after they kept stabbing me.” A more common answer is “around 30,000.” The number, enshrined in the biological literature, seems to make sense because hundreds of quills may be lost with each predator attack, and lost quills require months to replace. Therefore carrying a hundred-fold excess represents an effective safety (pin)cushion. But the source of the 30,000 quill figure cannot be found. The earliest mention of the number is by Donald Spencer in 1950, in a National Geographic article. Spencer gives no indication that he counted the quills himself, nor identifies the source who did. Much else about porcupine quills remains unknown or misunderstood. Quills of North American porcupines carry surface antibiotics, and help disseminate a warning odor. Do other porcupine species show the same capabilities? We don’t know and can’t predict, because North American porcupines follow a unique life style, even within its New-World family. Shouldn’t we approach porcupines with the same openness we extend to our wives, husbands, lovers: work to know them as they are, not as we perceived them on first meeting? Uldis Roze is professor emeritus at Queens College in New York City. He is a contributor to Natural History magazine and is the author of Porcupines: The Animal Answer Guide, published by JHU Press.

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During its first cycle, from 2004 to 2008, VI-EPSCoR studied the bio-complexity of coral reefs in the territory, looking at various aspects of reefs such as structural function. During the second cycle, which began in 2008 and will end in 2013, researchers studied ridge-to-reef relationships, incorporating all elements to find out how they act and interact. “We want the third phase to fold into the human dimension – how we impact and are impacted,” said Nick Drayton, assistant director of the project. While a few suggestions about the human dimension arose, a majority of residents were concerned about the threat invasive lionfish pose to the territory. Drayton said lionfish have gained international attention for their invasive behavior, but researchers are still looking for solutions to the problem. The local EPSCoR group originally wanted to promote lionfish as an edible species, but with the discovery of ciguatera in many of the fish, program researchers worry it’s a dead end. According to Henry Smith, VI-EPSCoR director, lionfish could become part of EPSCoR’s research as a small piece of the puzzle that includes hundreds of invasive species affecting our ecosystem. Attendees also discussed projects such as generating power by harnessing water energy, while others suggested moving away from marine research into other areas that heavily affect the territory, such as agriculture and health issues. Smith said they will narrow down the list of suggestions based on NSF’s priorities. He said the foundation has certain areas they will support. For example, research should be relevant to the territory and the University of the Virgin Islands should have the capacity to do the research. Smith said researchers will evaluate NSF criteria, come up with general areas that include as many suggestions as possible and use that as a jumping off point. Those ideas that do not fit into the general theme but are worthy of more research can receive incubator grants that fund additional research to help flesh out ideas so they can be part of the bigger picture in upcoming cycles. “We’re helping generate revenue that not only goes to researchers, but finds its way into the community,” Drayton said, adding that EPSCoR is more of a facilitator. “We provide funds for people to do things.” The proposal for the third cycle is not due until October, so residents still have time to submit ideas. Please visit http://epscor.uvi.edu/ to submit information.

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Tuesday April 19 2011 It is particularly important to eat a healthy diet during pregnancy “A mother’s diet during pregnancy can alter the DNA of her child and increase the risk of obesity,” reported BBC News. The news story is based on a study that looked at maternal diet and how it might be associated with “epigenetic changes” in the offspring. Epigenetics is the study of how genes can be influenced by the environment, without their DNA sequence being directly changed. Researchers asked women to fill out food questionnaires during pregnancy, and then measured the fat levels of their offspring when they were older. They then compared these findings with DNA samples taken from the children’s umbilical cords. This well conducted study found associations between maternal diet, the likelihood that the child would have more fat at the age of six or nine, and chemical changes to a region containing a specific gene. However, the researchers highlight that their findings demonstrate associations only. They do not show that maternal diet during pregnancy caused these changes, or that the epigenetic changes caused the children to have more fat. Further research is needed into whether this is the case. No recommendations for diet during pregnancy can be made based on this research. A healthy diet is an important part of a healthy lifestyle at any time, but it is especially vital if you're pregnant or planning a pregnancy. See our pregnancy care planner for more advice. Where did the story come from? The study was carried out by researchers from The University of Southampton, the University of Auckland and the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences. Funding was provided by WellChild, the University of Southampton, The Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health. It was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Diabetes. What kind of research was this? This genetics study looked at “epigenetic” changes to the DNA taken from umbilical cords of newborns and related these to the mother’s diet. Epigenetics is the study of how the environment can affect the function of genes. Signals from the environment can cause chemicals to be attached to DNA. These epigenetic chemical changes do not change the basic structure of DNA, and a gene that has had epigenetic changes will still make the same protein, but these changes may affect when the gene is switched on and the amount of protein the gene makes. The researchers were interested in factors that affect the risk of human obesity and metabolic disease. They say that genomic variations (differences in the gene DNA sequences between people) explain only a fraction of the risk of obesity. Besides the child’s diet after birth, they say there is increasing epidemiological evidence that the mother’s diet during pregnancy may affect the child’s development. They also say that animal studies suggest that maternal diet during pregnancy may lead to epigenetic modifications that alter the body composition of the offspring in adulthood. However, as yet there is no direct evidence in humans that such epigenetic processes during pregnancy are involved in children's later likelihood of obesity and there has been considerable debate about whether these modifications are significant enough to affect the children's development. The researchers measured one type of epigenetic change called DNA methylation. They wanted to see if these changes were associated with the foetal environment in the womb and, furthermore, whether they were associated with the child’s weight at the age of six or nine years. What did the research involve? The study involved women that had been recruited into two different study groups (or cohorts) in Southampton. One group, from the Princess Anne Hospital (PAH) study, was made up of Caucasian women aged over 16 and less than 17 weeks pregnant with a single baby. The other group, from the Southampton Women’s Survey (SWS) was made up of women between 20 and 34 years who were not pregnant when they were recruited, but were then followed if they did become pregnant. Women with diabetes or hormonally induced conceptions were excluded. The women in the PAH group were given a food frequency questionnaire when they were 15 weeks pregnant. The researchers then contacted them when their offspring reached nine years of age, and asked them to attend a clinic for follow-up. Of these, 219 children attended a clinic to have their fat levels measured. A DNA sample from the umbilical cord was available for 78 of these children. In the SWS group, 239 children had both umbilical cord DNA available and childhood fat measurements when they were six years old. From the DNA samples, the researchers selected 78 candidate genes that could be subject to epigenetic changes. From a subsample of 15 children from the PAH cohort, they looked at which genes from the umbilical cord sample had methylation changes above a 5% level. They then looked at which of these methylated genes were associated with obesity at nine years of age, and focused on five of these genes that could plausibly be involved in fat regulation. What were the basic results? The researchers found that similar numbers of mothers smoked in the two cohorts (21-34%). The average age of the mothers in the PAH cohort was 28, and 31 in the SWS cohort. The average body mass index (BMI) of the mothers was 22.3 in the PAH cohort, and 24.3 in the SWS cohort (a BMI of above 25 is considered overweight). In the PAH cohort, the methylation of two genes was associated with childhood fat mass at nine years of age. These were the retinoid X receptor–α (RXRA) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). The researchers calculated that gender and these neonatal epigenetic changes were associated with more than 25% of the childhood variation in fat levels. Higher levels of methylation of RXRA, but not eNOS, were associated with a lower maternal carbohydrate intake in early pregnancy. Fat and protein intake had no effect. The amount of methylation at sites on two other genes (PIK3CD and SOD) was associated with the infant’s birth size. For the SWS cohort, data were available for epigenetic methylation of genes from the umbilical cord and for fat levels at the age of six. In this group, eNOS methylation did not show an association with increased fat levels, but there was a similar association between RXRA methylation and fat levels as seen in the PAH cohort. Sequencing of the RXRA gene showed that there were no particular sequence trends that could account for the differences in methylation seen between individuals. This means that it is unlikely that the differences seen stemmed from genetic variations between individuals. How did the researchers interpret the results? The researchers say that “greater methylation on the RXRA gene was associated with greater fat levels in later childhood”. They say that epigenetic measures at birth may be used to identify children at risk of obesity. This, they say, could potentially lead to programmes to optimise the mother’s health and nutrition with the aim of long-term benefits for the offspring. However, further research looking at methylation measurements in early life and comparing them with those in later life would be needed to evaluate how feasible this would be. This was well conducted preliminary research, showing an association between methylation of one gene and increased fat levels in children when they were six or nine years of age. However, it should be noted that this was a relatively small study and further follow-up is needed to see how strong the association is. The researchers found an association between lower consumption of carbohydrates during early pregnancy and increased methylation of the RXRA gene. It is important to emphasise that these associations do not necessarily mean that the mother’s diet caused this effect, or that different methylation patterns on genes cause childhood fat retention. The researchers also point out that, although the food questionnaire is a validated study tool, there can be inaccuracies in people’s dietary reporting. The study did find an association between lower carbohydrate and the methylation of the gene. However, is it unknown whether the amount of carbohydrate the women ate was within a healthy range. The researchers also did not say which foods the women had consumed. As such, it is not possible to say from this study whether the mother’s diet was “poor”. Further research is needed to explore which food groups, if any, are associated with epigenetic changes if any dietary recommendations are to be made to pregnant women. Lastly, this study did not assess whether it is possible to control weight gain in the child associated with epigenetic changes by changing the diet during pregnancy. A healthy diet is an important part of a healthy lifestyle at any time, but it is especially vital if you're pregnant or planning a pregnancy. See our pregnancy care planner for more advice.

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Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) or the higher it “ranks”, the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of searches, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. As an online marketing strategy for increasing a site’s relevance, SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people search for. SEO efforts may involve a site’s coding, architecture, and graphical layout, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully crawling a site. Another class of techniques, known as black hat SEO or spamdexing, use methods such as link farms and keyword stuffing that tend to harm search engine user experience. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques and may remove them from their indexes. The initialization “SEO” can also refer to “search engine optimizers”, terms adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term “search engine friendly” may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems, URLs, and shopping carts that are easy to optimize. Webmasters and content providers began optimizing sites for search engines in the mid-1990s, as the first search engines were cataloging the early Web. Initially, all a webmaster needed to do was submit a page, or URL, to the various engines which would send a spider to “crawl” that page, extract links to other pages from it, and return information found on the page to be indexed. The process involves a search engine spider downloading a page and storing it on the search engine’s own server, where a second program, known as an indexer, extracts various information about the page, such as the words it contains and where these are located, as well as any weight for specific words and all links the page contains, which are then placed into a scheduler for crawling at a later date. Site owners started to recognize the value of having their sites highly ranked and visible in search engine results. They also recognized that the higher their site ranking the more people would click on the website. According to industry analyst Danny Sullivan, the earliest known use of the phrase search engine optimization was a spam message posted on Usenet on July 26, 1997. Early versions of search algorithms relied on webmaster-provided information such as the keyword meta tag, or index files in engines like ALIWEB. Meta tags provided a guide to each page’s content. But using meta data to index pages was found to be less than reliable because the webmaster’s account of keywords in the meta tag were not truly relevant to the site’s actual keywords. Inaccurate, incomplete, and inconsistent data in meta tags caused pages to rank for irrelevant searches. Web content providers also manipulated a number of attributes within the HTML source of a page in an attempt to rank well in search engines. By relying so much on factors exclusively within a webmaster’s control, early search engines suffered from abuse and ranking manipulation. To provide better results to their users, search engines had to adapt to ensure their results pages showed the most relevant search results, rather than unrelated pages stuffed with numerous keywords by unscrupulous webmasters. Since the success and popularity of a search engine is determined by its ability to produce the most relevant results to any given search allowing those results to be false would turn users to find other search sources. Search engines responded by developing more complex ranking algorithms, taking into account additional factors that were more difficult for webmasters to manipulate. Graduate students at Stanford University, Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed “backrub”, a search engine that relied on a mathematical algorithm to rate the prominence of web pages. The number calculated by the algorithm, PageRank, is a function of the quantity and strength of inbound links. PageRank estimates the likelihood that a given page will be reached by a web user who randomly surfs the web, and follows links from one page to another. In effect, this means that some links are stronger than others, as a higher PageRank page is more likely to be reached by the random surfer. Page and Brin founded Google in 1998. Google attracted a loyal following among the growing number of Internet users, who liked its simple design. Off-page factors such as PageRank and hyperlink analysis were considered, as well as on-page factors, to enable Google to avoid the kind of manipulation seen in search engines that only considered on-page factors for their rankings. Although PageRank was more difficult to game, webmasters had already developed link building tools and schemes to influence the Inktomi search engine, and these methods proved similarly applicable to gaining PageRank. Many sites focused on exchanging, buying, and selling links, often on a massive scale. Some of these schemes, or link farms, involved the creation of thousands of sites for the sole purpose of link spamming. In recent years major search engines have begun to rely more heavily on off-web factors such as the age, sex, location, and search history of people conducting searches in order to further refine results. By 2007, search engines had incorporated a wide range of undisclosed factors in their ranking algorithms to reduce the impact of link manipulation. Google says it ranks sites using more than 200 different signals. The three leading search engines, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Live Search, do not disclose the algorithms they use to rank pages. Notable SEOs, such as Rand Fishkin, Barry Schwartz, Aaron Wall and Jill Whalen, have studied different approaches to search engine optimization, and have published their opinions in online forums and blogs. SEO practitioners may also study patents held by various search engines to gain insight into the algorithms. Webmasters and search engines By 1997 search engines recognized that webmasters were making efforts to rank well in their search engines, and that some webmasters were even manipulating their rankings in search results by stuffing pages with excessive or irrelevant keywords. Early search engines, such as Infoseek, adjusted their algorithms in an effort to prevent webmasters from manipulating rankings. Due to the high marketing value of targeted search results, there is potential for an adversarial relationship between search engines and SEOs. In 2005, an annual conference, AIRWeb, Adversarial Information Retrieval on the Web, was created to discuss and minimize the damaging effects of aggressive web content providers. SEO companies that employ overly aggressive techniques can get their client websites banned from the search results. In 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported on a company, Traffic Power, which allegedly used high-risk techniques and failed to disclose those risks to its clients. Wired magazine reported that the same company sued blogger Aaron Wall for writing about the ban. Google’s Matt Cutts later confirmed that Google did in fact ban Traffic Power and some of its clients. Some search engines have also reached out to the SEO industry, and are frequent sponsors and guests at SEO conferences, chats, and seminars. In fact, with the advent of paid inclusion, some search engines now have a vested interest in the health of the optimization community. Major search engines provide information and guidelines to help with site optimization. Google has a Sitemaps program to help webmasters learn if Google is having any problems indexing their website and also provides data on Google traffic to the website. Yahoo! Site Explorer provides a way for webmasters to submit URLs, determine how many pages are in the Yahoo! index and view link information. The leading search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, use crawlers to find pages for their algorithmic search results. Pages that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted because they are found automatically. Some search engines, notably Yahoo!, operate a paid submission service that guarantee crawling for either a set fee or cost per click. Such programs usually guarantee inclusion in the database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search results.Yahoo’s paid inclusion program has drawn criticism from advertisers and competitors. Two major directories, the Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory Project both require manual submission and human editorial review. Google offers Google Webmaster Tools, for which an XML Sitemap feed can be created and submitted for free to ensure that all pages are found, especially pages that aren’t discoverable by automatically following links. Search engine crawlers may look at a number of different factors when crawling a site. Not every page is indexed by the search engines. Distance of pages from the root directory of a site may also be a factor in whether or not pages get crawled. Main article: Robots Exclusion Standard To avoid undesirable content in the search indexes, webmasters can instruct spiders not to crawl certain files or directories through the standard robots.txt file in the root directory of the domain. Additionally, a page can be explicitly excluded from a search engine’s database by using a meta tag specific to robots. When a search engine visits a site, the robots.txt located in the root directory is the first file crawled. The robots.txt file is then parsed, and will instruct the robot as to which pages are not to be crawled. As a search engine crawler may keep a cached copy of this file, it may on occasion crawl pages a webmaster does not wish crawled. Pages typically prevented from being crawled include login specific pages such as shopping carts and user-specific content such as search results from internal searches. In March 2007, Google warned webmasters that they should prevent indexing of internal search results because those pages are considered search spam. White hat versus black hat SEO techniques can be classified into two broad categories: techniques that search engines recommend as part of good design, and those techniques that search engines do not approve of. The search engines attempt to minimize the effect of the latter, among them spamdexing. Industry commentators have classified these methods, and the practitioners who employ them, as either white hat SEO, or black hat SEO. White hats tend to produce results that last a long time, whereas black hats anticipate that their sites may eventually be banned either temporarily or permanently once the search engines discover what they are doing. An SEO technique is considered white hat if it conforms to the search engines’ guidelines and involves no deception. As the search engine guidelines are not written as a series of rules or commandments, this is an important distinction to note. White hat SEO is not just about following guidelines, but is about ensuring that the content a search engine indexes and subsequently ranks is the same content a user will see. White hat advice is generally summed up as creating content for users, not for search engines, and then making that content easily accessible to the spiders, rather than attempting to trick the algorithm from its intended purpose. White hat SEO is in many ways similar to web development that promotes accessibility, although the two are not identical. Black hat SEO attempts to improve rankings in ways that are disapproved of by the search engines, or involve deception. One black hat technique uses text that is hidden, either as text colored similar to the background, in an invisible div, or positioned off screen. Another method gives a different page depending on whether the page is being requested by a human visitor or a search engine, a technique known as cloaking. Search engines may penalize sites they discover using black hat methods, either by reducing their rankings or eliminating their listings from their databases altogether. Such penalties can be applied either automatically by the search engines’ algorithms, or by a manual site review. One infamous example was the February 2006 Google removal of both BMW Germany and Ricoh Germany for use of deceptive practices. Both companies, however, quickly apologized, fixed the offending pages, and were restored to Google’s list. As a marketing strategy Eye tracking studies have shown that searchers scan a search results page from top to bottom and left to right (for left to right languages), looking for a relevant result. Placement at or near the top of the rankings therefore increases the number of searchers who will visit a site. However, more search engine referrals does not guarantee more sales. SEO is not necessarily an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be much more effective, depending on the site operator’s goals. A successful Internet marketing campaign may drive organic traffic to web pages, but it also may involve the use of paid advertising on search engines and other pages, building high quality web pages to engage and persuade, addressing technical issues that may keep search engines from crawling and indexing those sites, setting up analytics programs to enable site owners to measure their successes, and improving a site’s conversion rate. SEO may generate a return on investment. However, search engines are not paid for organic search traffic, their algorithms change, and there are no guarantees of continued referrals. Due to this lack of guarantees and certainty, a business that relies heavily on search engine traffic can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors. It is considered wise business practice for website operators to liberate themselves from dependence on search engine traffic. A top-ranked SEO blog Seomoz.org has reported, “Search marketers, in a twist of irony, receive a very small share of their traffic from search engines.” Instead, their main sources of traffic are links from other websites. At SDH Interactive our seo experts have over 12 years of experience optimizing complex dynamic websites obtaining top 10 search engine rankings in a timely manner. our Fortune 500 SEO strategist will attain a long term value to your web properties by positioning them on the top of search engine rankings for your relevant keywords and vertical. Contact us today at 786-709-8591 This information has been provided by Wikipedia.com

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Distinguishing between Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses in This Question ?? Hi! I have an English exam very soon, so I need the answer of this fast. THE QUESTION SAYS: Decide whether these sentences contain defining or non-defining relative clauses: 1- The person who is talking to Carrie is her uncle. 2- He comes from Seoul which is the capital of South Korea. 3- Carrie who has never been to Seoul would like to go there one day. 4- She would like to meet her cousins who have never been to America. 5- She goes to a school which is very popular in Santa Monica. Re: Distinguishing between Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses in This Questio I hope this helps you decide whether these sentences are defining or non-defining relative clauses. Defining clauses give important information which tells us exactly what is being referred to. That book which you lent me is really good. Everyone who got to the sales early found excellent bargains. The person who finishes first will be the winner, of course. Non-defining clauses add extra information, separated by commas in writing, and intonation in speaking. The book, which I hadnít read, was still on the shelf. Davidís sister, who likes cats, offered to take one of the kittens. Helen picked up the book, which had a green cover. Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO

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Geography of Massachusetts Massachusetts, the 7th smallest state in the United States, resides in the New England region of the northeastern United States, and has an area of 10,555 square miles (27,340 km2). It is bordered on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, on the west by New York, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. It is the most populous New England state. Massachusetts is called "the Bay State" because of several large bays, which distinctly shape its coast: Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay, to the east, and Buzzards Bay, to the south. A few cities and towns on the Massachusetts–Rhode Island border are adjacent to Narragansett Bay. At the southeastern corner of the state is a large, sandy, arm-shaped peninsula, Cape Cod. The islands Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket lie south of Cape Cod, across Nantucket Sound. Boston is the largest city, at the inmost point of Massachusetts Bay, the mouth of the Charles River, the longest river entirely within Massachusetts. Most Bay Staters live in the Boston area, which cover most of eastern Massachusetts. Eastern Massachusetts is fairly densely populated and mostly suburban. Western Massachusetts is more rural and sparsely populated, especially in the Berkshires, the branch of the Appalachian Mountains that dominates the western quarter of the state. The most populous part of western Massachusetts is the Pioneer Valley, straddling the Connecticut River, which flows across Western Massachusetts from north to south. Massachusetts has 351 cities and towns. Every part of the state is within an incorporated city or town, but many towns include large rural areas. The state's 14 counties have few government functions and serve as little more than judicial districts. In Eastern Massachusetts, Boston is located at the innermost point of Massachusetts Bay, at the mouth of the Charles River. The Charles River is longest river located entirely within Massachusetts; however the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts is the Commonwealth's longest river. Most of the population of the Boston metropolitan area (approximately 4.4 million) lives outside of the city proper. In general, Eastern Massachusetts, including and surrounding Boston, is densely populated. Boston's suburbs stretch as far west as the City of Worcester in Central Massachusetts. Central Massachusetts encompasses Worcester County. It features the large city of Worcester, and the smaller cities of Fitchburg, Leominster, Gardner, and Southbridge. Central Massachusetts also includes many rural hill towns, forests, and small farms. The Quabbin Reservoir borders the western side of the county; it is the main water supply for Greater Boston. West of the Central Massachusetts hill towns, the Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts features the Commonwealth's richest soil. The major city of Springfield sits beside the Connecticut River amidst a broad valley, a mere five miles (8 km) north of the Connecticut border and only 24 miles (39 km) from Connecticut's capital city, Hartford. The densely populated Springfield-Hartford region, called the Knowledge Corridor, is the second most populous region in New England (approximately 1.9 million.) As in Eastern Massachusetts, most residents live outside of the region's two principal cities, (i.e. Springfield and Hartford.) Other cities in the Massachusetts portion of the Knowledge Corridor include Chicopee, Agawam, West Springfield, Westfield, Holyoke, and the college towns of Northampton and Amherst. West of the Knowledge Corridor is mountainous, including the hilltowns immediately to the west of the Valley. Further west rises a range of rolling, purple mountains known as the Berkshires. Near the New York border, the Taconic and Hoosac Ranges cross into Massachusetts; however, in general, the area is known as The Berkshires. The region was populated by aborigines until the 18th century when Scotch-Irish settlers arrived, after having found the fertile lowlands along the Connecticut River settled. On reaching the Berkshires, settlers found poor soil for farming, but discovered numerous fast-moving rivers for industry. Pittsfield and North Adams grew into small, prosperous cities. A number of smaller mill towns exist along the Westfield and Housatonic Rivers, interspersed among wealthy vacation resort towns. The National Park Service administers a number of natural and historical sites in Massachusetts. Along with twelve national historic sites, areas, and corridors, the National Park Service also manages the Cape Cod National Seashore and the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. In addition, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation maintains a number of parks, trails, and beaches throughout the commonwealth. Physical geography Massachusetts extends from the mountains of the Appalachian system in the west to the sandy beaches and rocky shorelines of the Atlantic coast. The entire state was covered in ice during the Wisconsin glaciation, which shaped today’s landscape. Much of the state remains covered in glacial till and dotted with typical glacial features, such as kettle ponds, drumlins, eskers, and moraines. Apart from a few alluvial floodplains, soils tend to be rocky, acidic, and not very fertile. Part of the state is uplands of resistant metamorphic rock that were scraped by Pleistocene glaciers that deposited moraines and outwash on a large, sandy, arm-shaped peninsula called Cape Cod and the islands Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket to the south of Cape Cod. Upland elevations increase dramatically in Western Massachusetts. These uplands are interrupted by the downfaulted southern Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut River and further west by the Housatonic Valley separating the Berkshire Hills from the Taconic Range along the western border with New York. The highest peak in the state is Mount Greylock at 3,491 feet (1,064 m) near the northwest corner. Elevation and relief are greatest in the western part of the state and increase somewhat from south to north. The Taconic Mountains, part of the Appalachian system, run along the western border with New York, reaching 2,624 feet (800 meters) at Mount Everett in the state's southwest corner, and including the state’s highest point, Mount Greylock, at 3,491 feet (1,064 meters) in the northwest corner. The Housatonic-Hoosic valley separates the Taconics from The Berkshires, a broad belt of steeply rolling hills that are a southern extension of the Green Mountains of Vermont. They extend south to the border of Connecticut. Mount Greylock lies on the western edge of the Taconic Range, across the Hoosic River from the Hoosac Range to the east. The Hoosac Range connects the Green Mountains with the Berkshires. Between the Berkshires and the rest of the state lies the Connecticut River Valley, known within Massachusetts as the Pioneer Valley. This ancient rift valley appeared in the Mesozoic Era when North and South America broke away from Europe and Africa. Dinosaur footprints near Mount Tom bear witness to that era, and series of basalt and sedimentary rock ridges (collectively known as the Metacomet Ridge) including Mount Toby, Mount Holyoke, Mount Tom, and others extending south to Long Island Sound and the valley's abrupt thousand-foot (300 meter) western escarpment illustrate the tectonic forces. More than a hundred million years later, as the Pleistocene epoch ended, receding glaciers left moraines that dammed the Connecticut River, creating Lake Hitchcock. Lacustrine silt deposits replaced soil scraped away by the glaciers, leaving behind deep, productive soil after the river breached the obstructing moraine and the lake disappeared. East of this valley is an area of rolling uplands dotted with lakes and dissected by streams flowing into the Connecticut River in the west and into the Merrimack, Quinebaug, Blackstone, or Charles rivers, or into other shorter, coastal rivers in the east. Just to the east of the Pioneer Valley, hills rise steeply toward the divide between the Connecticut River basin and the river basins to the east. This divide runs through central Massachusetts, though the summit of Mount Wachusett, the highest point in the state east of the Connecticut River, rising to 2,006 feet (611 meters). To the east of this divide, the elevation of the hilltops gradually decreases, and the landscape is more gently rolling. Within 30 miles (50 kilometers) of the coast, few hills exceed 300 feet (100 meters) in elevation. Near the coast, swamps, marshes, and ponds alternate with low hills. However, the Blue Hills, just south of Boston, rise above the surrounding landscape. The state probably takes its name from the Massachusett name for their highest point, Great Blue Hill, with an elevation of 635 feet (194 meters). The Massachusetts coastline is deeply indented with bays, coves, and estuaries, separated by narrow promontories. Some of these form natural harbors that gave rise to the state’s historic ports, including Newburyport, Gloucester, Salem, Boston, and New Bedford. The state has a few small barrier islands, the largest of which is Plum Island. The state’s largest promontory is the Cape Cod peninsula. Its backbone is formed by glacial moraines, but much of its coastline has been shaped by the longshore drift of coastal sand, which forms many of its famous sandy beaches. To the south of Cape Cod, glacial moraines rise above the ocean surface to form the state’s largest islands: Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, the Elizabeth Islands, and Monomoy Island. Massachusetts has a humid continental climate. Winters are cold, with average January temperatures below freezing nearly throughout the state, and summers are warm. The hilly western interior of Massachusetts has the coldest winters. Stockbridge, in the Berkshires, has a January average temperature of 21.6°F (-5.8°C). Winters are more moderate along the eastern coast. Boston has the state's highest maximum January temperature—35.6°F (2 C), but this temperature is elevated by an urban heat island. The average January temperature in Hingham, also on the coast but 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Boston, is 27.5°F (-2.5°C). Summer temperatures are highest in the state's urban centers, due to the heat island effect. Boston's July temperature averages 81.7°F (27.6°C), and the July temperature in the central Massachusetts city of Worcester averages 79.2°F (26.2°C), which is measured at the Worcester Airport, at an elevation of over 1,000 feet (300m). By contrast, the coolest average summer temperatures occur in the Berkshires and on the state's offshore islands. The average temperature in August, the warmest month on Nantucket Island, is 68.7°F (20.4°C). The average in July in Stockbridge is 68.9°F (20.5°C). Both daily and seasonal variation in temperature are greatest in the western interior and lowest along the coast. Precipitation is fairly evenly spread throughout the year in Massachusetts. Boston averages 43 in (1091 mm) of precipitation annually, with a maximum monthly average of 4.3 in (109.2 mm) in November and a minimum monthly average of 2.9 in (73.7 mm) in July. Springfield, in the Pioneer Valley, averages 45.8 in (1163.9 mm) of annual precipitation, with a 4.6 in (116.8 mm) maximum monthly average in June and a 2.7 in (68.6 mm) minimum monthly average in February. Interior Massachusetts tends to have a summer precipitation maximum due to convection in air masses heated over the interior, which gives rise to frequent thunderstorms. These occur less frequently over the coast, due to the relative lack of convection over the cooler ocean waters. On the other hand, cold, dry air masses over the interior of the state tend to suppress winter precipitation. All of Massachusetts experiences substantial snowfall in a typical winter. Total annual snowfalls average 43.3 in (110.0 cm) in Boston and 69.1 in (175.5 cm) in Worcester. The ground is often covered with snow for weeks at a time in January and February. Although Massachusetts has a humid climate, its climate is sunny compared to other humid climates at the same latitude. In Boston, the average percentage of possible sunshine for every month is at least 50%. In summer and early autumn, the average percentage of possible sunshine is greater than 60%, according to National Weather Service data. The hottest temperature recorded was 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.8 degrees Celsius). The primary biome of inland Massachusetts is temperate deciduous forest. Although much of the state had been cleared for agriculture, leaving only traces of old growth forest in isolated pockets, secondary growth has regenerated in many rural areas as farms have been abandoned. The areas most affected by human development include the Greater Boston area in the east, the smaller Springfield metropolitan area in the west, and the largely agricultural Pioneer Valley. Animals that have become locally extinct over the past few centuries include gray wolves, elk, wolverines, and mountain lions. A number of species are doing well, despite, and in some cases because of the increased urbanization of the commonwealth. Peregrine falcons utilize office towers in larger cities as nesting areas, and the population of coyotes, whose diet may include garbage and roadkill, has been increasing in recent decades. White-tailed deer, raccoons, wild turkeys and eastern gray squirrels are also found throughout Massachusetts. In more rural areas in the western part of the state, larger mammals such as moose and black bears have returned, largely due to reforestation following the regional decline in agriculture. Massachusetts is located along the Atlantic Flyway, a major route for migratory waterfowl along the Atlantic coast. Lakes in central Massachusetts provide habitat for the common loon, while a significant population of long-tailed ducks winter off Nantucket. Small offshore islands and beaches are home to roseate terns and are important breeding areas for the locally threatened piping plover. Protected areas such as the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge provide critical breeding habitat for shorebirds and a variety of marine wildlife including a large population of gray seals. Freshwater fish species in the commonwealth include bass, carp, catfish, and trout, while saltwater species such as Atlantic cod, haddock and American lobster populate offshore waters. Other marine species include Harbor seals, the endangered North Atlantic right whales, as well as humpback whales, fin whales, minke whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Most of Massachusetts is forested. Even suburban eastern Massachusetts is heavily wooded. Trees tend to grow around houses in this region, such that when one looks out over eastern Massachusetts from the top of a high hill, one sees a vista of treetops, punctuated only occasionally by a church steeple, smokestack, or radio tower. According to U.S. government data , 46% of Massachusetts land is devoted to forest. Another 7% is rural parkland, which is also mainly forested. Urban and suburban development takes up 36% of the state’s land, but even this land, outside of the main urban centers, consists largely of houses on wooded properties. About 4% of the state’s land is cropland, and less than 1% is pasture. About 2% of the state’s land is marsh or other wetland. The remainder of the land is taken up with other uses, such as transportation. Three ecoregions comprise the natural environment of Massachusetts. Atlantic coastal pine barrens occur on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. These are fire-prone temperate coniferous forests growing on the sandy soils of the coastal plain. The other two ecoregions are temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. Across most of the state, including eastern Massachusetts, south central Massachusetts, and the Connecticut River Valley, the Northeastern coastal forests are a mix of hardwood deciduous oak, maple, beech, and hickory and coniferous pine trees. In the Berkshires and north central Massachusetts, the more boreal New England-Acadian forests prevail. These consists mainly of coniferous spruce and hemlock, occasional pine, and deciduous birch trees. Roughly since the Civil War, farms have reverted to woodland. Lumbering activity has decreased in recent decades, so the more undisturbed forests have reclaimed some characteristics of old growth. The forests (and wooded suburbs) are home to a variety of invertebrate and vertebrate animal species. The state has an abundance of white-tailed deer, and there have been concerns about deer overpopulation because many of the deer’s natural predators, such as wolves, have historically been hunted to extinction within Massachusetts. However, coyotes have been moving into Massachusetts to fill the ecological niche formerly occupied by wolves. Bears, wild turkey, and even moose have returned from northern refuges. In 1846 Thoreau traveled to Northern Maine to observe and write about moose, which he thought were well on the way to extinction. If he were alive today, he might find them almost within walking distance of Walden Pond. Pollution, dams, and introduction of exotic species have decimated some native fish populations. Efforts to mitigate these problems and restore Atlantic salmon to the Connecticut River watershed have had very little success. The other widespread native salmonid, the brook trout, persists in cold upland streams, particularly above waterfalls and other barriers that exclude introduced brown and rainbow trout. American shad runs have retained at least a fraction of their former abundance, and smallmouth bass, sunfish, and pike populations are healthy enough to support angling. Wetlands, including swamps and both salt- and fresh-water marshes, are important ecologically in Massachusetts. Many of the state’s fish and bird species inhabit wetland environments. The state’s urban environments are partly wooded but also bear a heavy load of built structures and human environments that are not hospitable to many other species. At the same time, pollutants in waterways, mainly from urban sources, can be toxic to many species or may support algae and bacteria that lead to hypoxia and the death of aquatic animals. However, Greater Boston boasts extensive parklands, and efforts have been made in Massachusetts to reduce environmental pollution in both urban and rural parts of the state. The Northeast megalopolis extends into Massachusetts. It occupies most of eastern Massachusetts starting at Worcester as well as the Springfield-Holyoke-Northampton urbanization that joins Connecticut's Hartford-New Haven urbanization. According to the definitions of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), all of Massachusetts falls within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), except for the offshore islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. According to 2005 Census estimates, 62% of the population of Massachusetts lives within the Boston MSA. Other Massachusetts metropolitan areas are the Worcester MSA (with 12% of the state's population), the Springfield MSA (11%), the Providence-Fall River-New Bedford MSA (9%), the Barnstable (Cape Cod) MSA (4%), and the Pittsfield MSA (2%). In each of these metropolitan areas, population is concentrated in a number of densely populated cities and towns. In the Boston MSA, for example, the City of Boston and a cluster of densely populated inner suburbs within the Route 128 belt account for more than half of the population of the metropolitan area. The older cities of Lawrence, Lowell, and Brockton lie outside this urban core but are also densely populated. However, population is growing fastest in the outer peripheries of the state's metropolitan areas, where new housing construction is adding dwelling units. While the state as a whole shows little population growth, or even a population decline in some years due to a net loss from migration, the belt of towns along Interstate 495, near the western edge of the Boston MSA, shows steady population growth. The Springfield and Worcester MSAs include some very thinly populated rural areas. In the Berkshires and in the hills west of Worcester are a number of towns with population densities below 40 per square mile (compared with the state average of 810 per square mile). Although the U.S. Census Bureau prepares population estimates for MSAs, these statistical units are defined by county borders. Because Massachusetts counties are relatively large and may contain several urban centers, MSAs are an imprecise way to describe the state’s urban clusters. For example, Lawrence, Lowell, and Brockton all have closer economic ties with neighboring towns than they do with one another. The Lowell region draws commuters from nearby New Hampshire who might not consider commuting all the way to Boston. Yet these areas are all part of the Boston MSA. Similarly, the cities of Leominster and Fitchburg form the core of a distinct urban cluster. Because they lie within Worcester County, however, they are considered part of the Worcester MSA. Economic geography A finer-grained statistical unit than the MSA is the New England City and Town Area, or NECTA. NECTAs take advantage of the administrative subdivision of the entire territory of Massachusetts and other New England states into towns and cities. (No part of Massachusetts is unincorporated county territory.) Each NECTA consists of a cluster of cities and towns defined by commuting patterns, which therefore correspond roughly to local labor markets. While the U.S. Census Bureau defines metropolitan areas by county boundaries, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) offers data on employment by NECTA. By far the largest NECTA in Massachusetts is the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy (Greater Boston) NECTA, which covers eastern Massachusetts and extends into southern New Hampshire. This NECTA consists of a central Boston-Cambridge-Quincy NECTA Division, including the City of Boston and the surrounding cities and suburbs. The other satellite NECTA divisions in the Greater Boston NECTA are the Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton NECTA Division, the Framingham NECTA Division, the Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury NECTA Division (extending well into southeastern New Hampshire), the Lawrence-Methuen-Salem NECTA Division (extending into southern New Hampshire), the Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford (or Lowell) NECTA Division (extending into southern New Hampshire), the Lynn-Peabody-Salem NECTA Division, the Nashua NECTA Division (mainly in New Hampshire but including a few Massachusetts towns), and the Taunton-Norton-Raynham NECTA Division. The other Massachusetts metropolitan NECTAs are the Barnstable Town NECTA (covering most of Cape Cod), the Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner NECTA (in north central Massachusetts), the New Bedford NECTA (in southeastern Massachusetts), the Pittsfield NECTA (in far western Massachusetts), the Springfield NECTA (in the Pioneer Valley and extending into northern Connecticut), and the Worcester NECTA (in central Massachusetts, extending into northeastern Connecticut). According to the BLS, total nonfarm employment in Massachusetts in 2005 was about 3.2 million. About half of these jobs were located in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy NECTA Division, which lies entirely within Massachusetts, although this NECTA accounted for only about 43% of the state’s population, according to 2005 Census estimates. This indicates either a higher labor participation rate in central Greater Boston or a surplus of commuters traveling to work from other parts of Massachusetts or neighboring states. Clearly, Greater Boston dominates the employment and economy of Massachusetts. The other major centers of employment in Massachusetts are the Springfield and Worcester NECTAs. The Springfield NECTA accounts for slightly more than 10% of the jobs in Massachusetts, while the Worcester NECTA accounts for slightly less than 10% of the state’s jobs. (Although both of these NECTAs extend into Connecticut, the towns that they include in Connecticut account for only a small portion of their population and, probably, of their employment). In every Massachusetts NECTA, service-sector jobs far outnumber goods-producing (natural resources, construction, and manufacturing) jobs. Beyond this generalization, there are some differences in the employment and economic structures of the state’s NECTAs and NECTA divisions. In the far southeastern corner of Massachusetts, the Barnstable Town NECTA, nearly coterminous with the summer resort region of Cape Cod, has an atypical employment structure. It has the lowest share of employment in goods-producing jobs, which account for only 9.5% of its employment. Most of these jobs are in the construction sector. Manufacturing jobs account for only 3.3% of employment, compared with 9.6% for the state as a whole. On the other hand, the Cape Cod NECTA has the state’s highest percentages of employment in retail trade (17.9%, versus 11.1% for the state) and in leisure and hospitality (16.9%, versus 9.1% for the state). These numbers reflect the continuing importance to Cape Cod of summer tourism. The central Boston-Cambridge-Quincy division of the larger NECTA with the same name also has a relatively low percentage (6.7%) of manufacturing employment. Although this division accounts for about half of the state’s total employment, it has only about a third of the state’s manufacturing jobs. Its largest manufacturing subsector is the production of computers and electronic products (28% of the division’s manufacturing jobs). This subsector is centered not in Boston’s urban core, but in the suburbs to the north and west, along Route 128. The economy of central Greater Boston is even more biased toward service provision than that of the rest of the state. The particular economic strength of central Greater Boston is knowledge-intensive activities. It accounts for 62.2% of the state’s information sector jobs, and 66.0% of the jobs in the software-publishing subsector. Central Greater Boston has 68.8% of the state’s financial sector jobs, and 92.5% of the jobs in the investment subsector. It has 69.3% of the state’s jobs in management and technical consulting. Greater Boston is noted nationwide for its prestigious institutions of higher education, such as Harvard University and MIT, and the region is home to 77.8% of the state’s higher-education employment. Together, the knowledge-intensive information, financial, professional and business services, and education sectors account for 36.6% of the jobs in central Greater Boston, compared with 28.8% of the jobs in Massachusetts as a whole and 23.2% for the United States as a whole. The satellite NECTA divisions that lie on the periphery of the Greater Boston NECTA all have higher percentages of employment in manufacturing than central Greater Boston or than Massachusetts as a whole. Many of these satellite NECTA divisions are centered on historic manufacturing cities, such as Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, and Brockton. The BLS breaks down manufacturing employment only for the Framingham and Lowell NECTA divisions, to the west and northwest of Boston, respectively. In both of these divisions, computer and electronics manufacturing accounts for well over half of manufacturing employment. Except for Lowell, these satellite NECTA divisions also have higher shares of employment in retail trade than central Greater Boston or Massachusetts as a whole. These divisions, located along the major highways radiating from Boston, are particularly rich in shopping centers and wholesalers. The Lowell and Framingham divisions have even higher shares of employment in the information sector than central Greater Boston. This reflects the strength of these regions in the software publishing and telecommunications subsectors. On the other hand, these satellite divisions have lower shares of employment in financial services and in health and education services than the state average, reflecting the regional dominance of central Greater Boston in these areas. The Framingham division, however, has the state’s highest percentage of jobs in professional and business services (18.5% of employment versus 14.4% statewide), reflecting that region’s strength in technology. The New Bedford NECTA has the state’s second-highest percentage (16.6%) of manufacturing employment. It has the state’s lowest percentages of employment in the financial sector (3.1%) and in professional and business services (6.25%). The Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner NECTA has the state’s highest percentage (17.8%) of manufacturing employment. It has by far the state’s lowest percentage of employment (1.0%) in the information sector and the second-lowest rate of employment in professional and business services (6.73%). On the other hand, this NECTA has the state’s highest percentage of employment (16.4%) in government. The Worcester NECTA has a relatively high percentage (12.0%) of employment in manufacturing. Next to the Barnstable Town NECTA, it has a high percentage (14.9%) of employment in the healthcare sector. It has the lowest percentage of employment (8.7%) in the leisure and hospitality sector, reflecting the relative underdevelopment of its tourism industry. The Springfield NECTA also has relatively high (12.9%) manufacturing employment. It has the state’s largest percentage of employment in the transportation and utilities subsector (4.5%, versus 2.6% for the state as a whole). It has the second-highest percentage (16.3%) of jobs in government. Despite the small size of the Pittsfield NECTA, its employment by sector is similar to that of Massachusetts as a whole for most sectors. However, it has the state’s highest percentage of employment (20.4%) in the education and healthcare sector. It also has the second-highest share of employment (13.2%) in the leisure and hospitality sector. This reflects the importance of tourism in the Berkshires to the region’s economy. See also - List of mountains in Massachusetts - List of Massachusetts rivers - Northern boundary of Massachusetts - "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density (geographically ranked by total population): 2000". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2010-05-30. - "Charles River Watershed". Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved 2010-05-23. - The North Quabbin Woods: www.northquabbinwoods.org - PDF (390 KB) (map; see text on map). Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved January 14, 2007. - "Massachusetts". National Park Service. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Massachusetts State Parks". Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Trail Maps". Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Getting Wet!". Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Elevations and Distances in the United States". U.S Geological Survey. 29 April 2005. Retrieved November 6, 2006. - Forest Physiography: Physiography of the United States and Principles of Soils in Relation to Forestry, Isaiah Bowman (New York: Wiley and Sons, 1911): p. 681. - "A Short Introduction to Terrestrial Biomes". www.nearctica.com. Retrieved 2009-10-17. - Stocker, Carol. Old growth, grand specimens drive big-tree hunters The Boston Globe. Novemberttp://www.umass.edu/ruralmass/currentresearch.html - "Massachusetts Forests". MassWoods Forest Conservation Program — The University of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2009-03-19. - "Northeastern Coastal Zone — Ecoregion Description". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-10-17. - "State Mammal List". Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2009-10-17. - "Peregrine Falcon". Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Eastern Coyote in Massachusetts". Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Wild Turkey in Massachusetts". Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Moose in Massachusetts". Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Black Bears in Massachusetts". Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Atlantic Flyway". University of Nebraska. Retrieved 2010-05-22. - "Common Loon". Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2010-05-28. - "Telemetry Research:Long-Tailed Ducks". Mass Audubon. Retrieved 2010-05-28. - "Roseate Tern". Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2010-05-28. - "Coastal Waterbird Program". Mass Audubon. Retrieved 2010-05-28. - "Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge - Wildlife and Habitat". United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2010-05-26. - "Best Bets for Fishing". Massachusetts Division of Wildlife & Fisheries. Retrieved 2010-05-30. - "Species Profiles". Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Retrieved 2010-05-30. - Olson, D. M, E. Dinerstein, et al (2001). "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth". BioScience 51 (11): 933–938. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2. ||This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2008)|

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Next: Common Underpinnings Up: Extensible Security Architectures for Previous: Security in Java We now present three different strategies for resolving the inflexibility of the Java sandbox model. All three strategies assume the presence of digital signatures to identify what principal is responsible for the program. This principal is mapped to a security policy. After that, we have identified three different ways to enforce the policy: - A number of traditional operating systems were based on unforgeable pointers which could be safely given to user code. Java provides a perfect environment for implementing capabilities. - Extended stack introspection - The current Java method of inspecting the stack for unprivileged code can be extended to include principals on the call stack. - Name space management - An interesting property of dynamic loading is the ability to create an environment where different applets see different classes with the same names. By restricting an applet's name space, we can limit its activities. In this section, we will focus on how each method implements interposition of protective code between potentially dangerous primitives and untrusted code. In section 4, we will compare these systems against a number of security-relevant criteria.

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Please Read How You Can Help Keep the Encyclopedia Free The term ‘homosexuality’ was coined in the late 19th century by a German psychologist, Karoly Maria Benkert. Although the term is new, discussions about sexuality in general, and same-sex attraction in particular, have occasioned philosophical discussion ranging from Plato's Symposium to contemporary queer theory. Since the history of cultural understandings of same-sex attraction is relevant to the philosophical issues raised by those understandings, it is necessary to review briefly some of the social history of homosexuality. Arising out of this history, at least in the West, is the idea of natural law and some interpretations of that law as forbidding homosexual sex. References to natural law still play an important role in contemporary debates about homosexuality in religion, politics, and even courtrooms. Finally, perhaps the most significant recent social change involving homosexuality is the emergence of the gay liberation movement in the West. In philosophical circles this movement is, in part, represented through a rather diverse group of thinkers who are grouped under the label of queer theory. A central issue raised by queer theory, which will be discussed below, is whether homosexuality, and hence also heterosexuality and bisexuality, is socially constructed or purely driven by biological forces. - 1. History - 2. Historiographical Debates - 3. Natural Law - 4. Queer Theory and the Social Construction of Sexuality - 5. Conclusion - Academic Tools - Other Internet Resources - Related Entries As has been frequently noted, the ancient Greeks did not have terms or concepts that correspond to the contemporary dichotomy of ‘heterosexual’ and ‘homosexual’. There is a wealth of material from ancient Greece pertinent to issues of sexuality, ranging from dialogues of Plato, such as the Symposium, to plays by Aristophanes, and Greek artwork and vases. What follows is a brief description of ancient Greek attitudes, but it is important to recognize that there was regional variation. For example, in parts of Ionia there were general strictures against same-sex eros, while in Elis and Boiotia (e.g., Thebes), it was approved of and even celebrated (cf. Dover, 1989; Halperin, 1990). Probably the most frequent assumption of sexual orientation is that persons can respond erotically to beauty in either sex. Diogenes Laeurtius, for example, wrote of Alcibiades, the Athenian general and politician of the 5th century B.C., “in his adolescence he drew away the husbands from their wives, and as a young man the wives from their husbands.” (Quoted in Greenberg, 1988, 144) Some persons were noted for their exclusive interests in persons of one gender. For example, Alexander the Great and the founder of Stoicism, Zeno of Citium, were known for their exclusive interest in boys and other men. Such persons, however, are generally portrayed as the exception. Furthermore, the issue of what gender one is attracted to is seen as an issue of taste or preference, rather than as a moral issue. A character in Plutarch's Erotikos (Dialogue on Love) argues that “the noble lover of beauty engages in love wherever he sees excellence and splendid natural endowment without regard for any difference in physiological detail.” (Ibid., 146) Gender just becomes irrelevant “detail” and instead the excellence in character and beauty is what is most important. Even though the gender that one was erotically attracted to (at any specific time, given the assumption that persons will likely be attracted to persons of both sexes) was not important, other issues were salient, such as whether one exercised moderation. Status concerns were also of the highest importance. Given that only free men had full status, women and male slaves were not problematic sexual partners. Sex between freemen, however, was problematic for status. The central distinction in ancient Greek sexual relations was between taking an active or insertive role, versus a passive or penetrated one. The passive role was acceptable only for inferiors, such as women, slaves, or male youths who were not yet citizens. Hence the cultural ideal of a same-sex relationship was between an older man, probably in his 20's or 30's, known as the erastes, and a boy whose beard had not yet begun to grow, the eromenos or paidika. In this relationship there was courtship ritual, involving gifts (such as a rooster), and other norms. The erastes had to show that he had nobler interests in the boy, rather than a purely sexual concern. The boy was not to submit too easily, and if pursued by more than one man, was to show discretion and pick the more noble one. There is also evidence that penetration was often avoided by having the erastes face his beloved and place his penis between the thighs of the eromenos, which is known as intercrural sex. The relationship was to be temporary and should end upon the boy reaching adulthood (Dover, 1989). To continue in a submissive role even while one should be an equal citizen was considered troubling, although there certainly were many adult male same-sex relationships that were noted and not strongly stigmatized. While the passive role was thus seen as problematic, to be attracted to men was often taken as a sign of masculinity. Greek gods, such as Zeus, had stories of same-sex exploits attributed to them, as did other key figures in Greek myth and literature, such as Achilles and Hercules. Plato, in the Symposium, argues for an army to be comprised of same-sex lovers. Thebes did form such a regiment, the Sacred Band of Thebes, formed of 500 soldiers. They were renowned in the ancient world for their valor in battle. Ancient Rome had many parallels in its understanding of same-sex attraction, and sexual issues more generally, to ancient Greece. This is especially true under the Republic. Yet under the Empire, Roman society slowly became more negative in its views towards sexuality, probably due to social and economic turmoil, even before Christianity became influential. Exactly what attitude the New Testament has towards sexuality in general, and same-sex attraction in particular, is a matter of sharp debate. John Boswell argues, in his fascinating Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, that many passages taken today as condemnations of homosexuality are more concerned with prostitution, or where same-sex acts are described as “unnatural” the meaning is more akin to ‘out of the ordinary’ rather than as immoral (Boswell, 1980, ch.4; see also Boswell, 1994). Yet others have criticized, sometimes persuasively, Boswell's scholarship (see Greenberg, 1988, ch.5). What is clear, however, is that while condemnation of same-sex attraction is marginal to the Gospels and only an intermittent focus in the rest of the New Testament, early Christian church fathers were much more outspoken. In their writings there is a horror at any sort of sex, but in a few generations these views eased, in part due no doubt to practical concerns of recruiting converts. By the fourth and fifth centuries the mainstream Christian view allowed for procreative sex. This viewpoint, that procreative sex within marriage is allowed, while every other expression of sexuality is sinful, can be found, for example, in St. Augustine. This understanding leads to a concern with the gender of one's partner that is not found in previous Greek or Roman views, and it clearly forbids homosexual acts. Soon this attitude, especially towards homosexual sex, came to be reflected in Roman Law. In Justinian's Code, promulgated in 529, persons who engaged in homosexual sex were to be executed, although those who were repentant could be spared. Historians agree that the late Roman Empire saw a rise in intolerance towards sexuality, although there were again important regional variations. With the decline of the Roman Empire, and its replacement by various barbarian kingdoms, a general tolerance (with the sole exception of Visigothic Spain) of homosexual acts prevailed. As one prominent scholar puts it, “European secular law contained few measures against homosexuality until the middle of the thirteenth century.” (Greenberg, 1988, 260) Even while some Christian theologians continued to denounce nonprocreative sexuality, including same-sex acts, a genre of homophilic literature, especially among the clergy, developed in the eleventh and twelfth centuries (Boswell, 1980, chapters 8 and 9). The latter part of the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, however, saw a sharp rise in intolerance towards homosexual sex, alongside persecution of Jews, Muslims, heretics, and others. While the causes of this are somewhat unclear, it is likely that increased class conflict alongside the Gregorian reform movement in the Catholic Church were two important factors. The Church itself started to appeal to a conception of “nature” as the standard of morality, and drew it in such a way so as to forbid homosexual sex (as well as extramarital sex, nonprocreative sex within marriage, and often masturbation). For example, the first ecumenical council to condemn homosexual sex, Lateran III of 1179, stated that “Whoever shall be found to have committed that incontinence which is against nature” shall be punished, the severity of which depended upon whether the transgressor was a cleric or layperson (quoted in Boswell, 1980, 277). This appeal to natural law (discussed below) became very influential in the Western tradition. An important point to note, however, is that the key category here is the ‘sodomite,’ which differs from the contemporary idea of ‘homosexual’. A sodomite was understood as act-defined, rather than as a type of person. Someone who had desires to engage in sodomy, yet did not act upon them, was not a sodomite. Also, persons who engaged in heterosexual sodomy were also sodomites. There are reports of persons being burned to death or beheaded for sodomy with a spouse (Greenberg, 1988, 277). Finally, a person who had engaged in sodomy, yet who had repented of his sin and vowed to never do it again, was no longer a sodomite. The gender of one's partner is again not of decisive importance, although some medieval theologians single out same-sex sodomy as the worst type of sexual crime. For the next several centuries in Europe, the laws against homosexual sex were severe in their penalties. Enforcement, however, was episodic. In some regions, decades would pass without any prosecutions. Yet the Dutch, in the 1730's, mounted a harsh anti-sodomy campaign (alongside an anti-Gypsy pogrom), even using torture to obtain confessions. As many as one hundred men and boys were executed and denied burial (Greenberg, 1988, 313-4). Also, the degree to which sodomy and same-sex attraction were accepted varied by class, with the middle class taking the narrowest view, while the aristocracy and nobility often accepted public expressions of alternative sexualities. At times, even with the risk of severe punishment, same-sex oriented subcultures would flourish in cities, sometimes only to be suppressed by the authorities. In the 19th century there was a significant reduction in the legal penalties for sodomy. The Napoleonic code decriminalized sodomy, and with Napoleon's conquests that Code spread. Furthermore, in many countries where homosexual sex remained a crime, the general movement at this time away from the death penalty usually meant that sodomy was removed from the list of capital offenses. In the 18th and 19th centuries an overtly theological framework no longer dominated the discourse about same-sex attraction. Instead, secular arguments and interpretations became increasingly common. Probably the most important secular domain for discussions of homosexuality was in medicine, including psychology. This discourse, in turn, linked up with considerations about the state and its need for a growing population, good soldiers, and intact families marked by clearly defined gender roles. Doctors were called in by courts to examine sex crime defendants (Foucault, 1980; Greenberg, 1988). At the same time, the dramatic increase in school attendance rates and the average length of time spent in school, reduced transgenerational contact, and hence also the frequency of transgenerational sex. Same-sex relations between persons of roughly the same age became the norm. Clearly the rise in the prestige of medicine resulted in part from the increasing ability of science to account for natural phenomena on the basis of mechanistic causation. The application of this viewpoint to humans led to accounts of sexuality as innate or biologically driven. The voluntarism of the medieval understanding of sodomy, that sodomites chose sin, gave way to the modern notion of homosexuality as a deep, unchosen characteristic of persons, regardless of whether they act upon that orientation. The idea of a ‘latent sodomite’ would not have made sense, yet under this new view it does make sense to speak of a person as a ‘latent homosexual.’ Instead of specific acts defining a person, as in the medieval view, an entire physical and mental makeup, usually portrayed as somehow defective or pathological, is ascribed to the modern category of ‘homosexual.’ Although there are historical precursors to these ideas (e.g., Aristotle gave a physiological explanation of passive homosexuality), medicine gave them greater public exposure and credibility (Greenberg, 1988, ch.15). The effects of these ideas cut in conflicting ways. Since homosexuality is, by this view, not chosen, it makes less sense to criminalize it. Persons are not choosing evil acts. Yet persons may be expressing a diseased or pathological mental state, and hence medical intervention for a cure is appropriate. Hence doctors, especially psychiatrists, campaigned for the repeal or reduction of criminal penalties for consensual homosexual sodomy, yet intervened to “rehabilitate” homosexuals. They also sought to develop techniques to prevent children from becoming homosexual, for example by arguing that childhood masturbation caused homosexuality, hence it must be closely guarded against. In the 20th century sexual roles were redefined once again. For a variety of reasons, premarital intercourse slowly became more common and eventually acceptable. With the decline of prohibitions against sex for the sake of pleasure even outside of marriage, it became more difficult to argue against gay sex. These trends were especially strong in the 1960's, and it was in this context that the gay liberation movement took off. Although gay and lesbian rights groups had been around for decades, the low-key approach of the Mattachine Society (named after a medieval secret society) and the Daughters of Bilitis had not gained much ground. This changed in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, when the patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, rioted after a police raid. In the aftermath of that event, gay and lesbian groups began to organize around the country. Gay Democratic clubs were created in every major city, and one fourth of all college campuses had gay and lesbian groups (Shilts, 1993, ch.28). Large gay urban communities in cities from coast to coast became the norm. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its official listing of mental disorders. The increased visibility of gays and lesbians has become a permanent feature of American life despite the two critical setbacks of the AIDS epidemic and an anti-gay backlash (see Berman, 1993, for a good survey). The post-Stonewall era has also seen marked changes in Western Europe, where the repeal of anti-sodomy laws and legal equality for gays and lesbians has become common. Broader currents in society have influenced the ways in which scholars and activists have approached research into sexuality and same-sex attraction. Some early 20th century researchers and equality advocates, seeking to vindicate same-sex relations in societies that disparaged and criminalized it, put forward lists of famous historical figures attracted to persons of the same sex. Such lists implied a common historical entity underlying sexual attraction, whether one called it ‘inversion’ or ‘homosexuality.’ This approach (or perhaps closely related family of approaches) is commonly called essentialism. Historians and researchers sympathetic to the gay liberation movement of the late 1960s and 1970s produced a number of books that implicitly relied on an essentialist approach. In the 1970s and 1980s John Boswell raised it to a new level of methodological and historical sophistication, although his position shifted over time to one of virtual agnosticism between essentialists and their critics. Crompton’s work (2003) is a notable contemporary example of an essentialist methodology. Essentialists claim that categories of sexual attraction are observed rather than created. For example, while ancient Greece did not have terms that correspond to the heterosexual/homosexual division, persons did note men who were only attracted to person of a specific sex. Through history and across cultures there are consistent features, albeit with meaningful variety over time and space, in sexual attraction to the point that it makes sense of speak of specific sexual orientations. According to this view, homosexuality is a specific, natural kind rather than a cultural or historical product. Essentialists allow that there are cultural differences in how homosexuality is expressed and interpreted, but they emphasize that this does not prevent it from being a universal category of human sexual expression. In contrast, in the 1970s and since a number of researchers, often influenced by Mary McIntosh or Michel Foucault, argued that class relations, the human sciences, and other historically constructed forces create sexual categories and the personal identities associated with them. For advocates of this view, such as David Halperin, how sex is organized in a given cultural and historical setting is irreducibly particular (Halperin, 2002). The emphasis on the social creation of sexual experience and expression led to the labeling of the viewpoint as social constructionism, although more recently several of its proponents have preferred the term ‘historicism.’ Thus homosexuality, as a specific sexual construction, is best understood as a solely modern, Western concept and role. Prior to the development of this construction, persons were not really ‘homosexual’ even when they were only attracted to persons of the same sex. The differences between, say, ancient Greece, with its emphasis on pederasty, role in the sex act, and social status, and the contemporary Western role of ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ are simply too great to collapse into one category. In a manner closely related to the claims of queer theory, discussed below, social constructionists argue that specific social constructs produce sexual ways of being. There is no given mode of sexuality that is independent of culture; even the concept and experience of sexual orientation itself are products of history. For advocates of this view, the range of historical sexual diversity, and the fluidity of human possibility, is simply too varied to be adequately captured by any specific conceptual scheme. There is a significant political dimension to this seemingly abstract historiographical debate. Social constructionists argue that essentialism is the weaker position politically for at least two reasons. First, by accepting a basic heterosexual/homosexual organizing dichotomy, essentialism wrongly concedes that heterosexuality is the norm and that homosexuality is, strictly speaking, abnormal and the basis for a permanent minority. Second, social constructionists argue that an important goal of historical investigations should be to put into question contemporary organizing schemas about sexuality. The acceptance of the contemporary heterosexual/homosexual dichotomy is conservative, perhaps even reactionary, and forecloses the exploration of new possibilities. (There are related queer theory criticisms of the essentialist position, discussed below.) In contrast, essentialists argue that a historicist approach forecloses the very possibility of a ‘gay history.’ Instead, the field of investigation becomes other social forces and how they ‘produce’ a distinct form or forms of sexuality. Only an essentialist approach can maintain the project of gay history, and minority histories in general, as a force for liberation. Today natural law theory offers the most common intellectual defense for differential treatment of gays and lesbians, and as such it merits attention. The development of natural law is a long and very complicated story, but a reasonable place to begin is with the dialogues of Plato, for this is where some of the central ideas are first articulated, and, significantly enough, are immediately applied to the sexual domain. For the Sophists, the human world is a realm of convention and change, rather than of unchanging moral truth. Plato, in contrast, argued that unchanging truths underpin the flux of the material world. Reality, including eternal moral truths, is a matter of phusis. Even though there is clearly a great degree of variety in conventions from one city to another (something ancient Greeks became increasingly aware of), there is still an unwritten standard, or law, that humans should live under. In the Laws, Plato applies the idea of a fixed, natural law to sex, and takes a much harsher line than he does in the Symposium or the Phraedrus. In Book One he writes about how opposite-sex sex acts cause pleasure by nature, while same-sex sexuality is “unnatural” (636c). In Book Eight, the Athenian speaker considers how to have legislation banning homosexual acts, masturbation, and illegitimate procreative sex widely accepted. He then states that this law is according to nature (838-839d). Probably the best way of understanding Plato's discussion here is in the context of his overall concerns with the appetitive part of the soul and how best to control it. Plato clearly sees same-sex passions as especially strong, and hence particularly problematic, although in the Symposium that erotic attraction could be the catalyst for a life of philosophy, rather than base sensuality (Cf. Dover, 1989, 153-170; Nussbaum, 1999, esp. chapter 12). Other figures played important roles in the development of natural law theory. Aristotle, with his emphasis upon reason as the distinctive human function, and the Stoics, with their emphasis upon human beings as a part of the natural order of the cosmos, both helped to shape the natural law perspective which says that “True law is right reason in agreement with nature,” as Cicero put it. Aristotle, in his approach, did allow for change to occur according to nature, and therefore the way that natural law is embodied could itself change with time, which was an idea Aquinas later incorporated into his own natural law theory. Aristotle did not write extensively about sexual issues, since he was less concerned with the appetites than Plato. Probably the best reconstruction of his views places him in mainstream Greek society as outlined above; the main issue is that of active versus a passive role, with only the latter problematic for those who either are or will become citizens. Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, was, according to his contemporaries, only attracted to men, and his thought had no prohibitions against same-sex sexuality. In contrast, Cicero, a later Stoic, was dismissive about sexuality in general, with some harsher remarks towards same-sex pursuits (Cicero, 1966, 407-415). The most influential formulation of natural law theory was made by Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century. Integrating an Aristotelian approach with Christian theology, Aquinas emphasized the centrality of certain human goods, including marriage and procreation. While Aquinas did not write much about same-sex sexual relations, he did write at length about various sex acts as sins. For Aquinas, sexuality that was within the bounds of marriage and which helped to further what he saw as the distinctive goods of marriage, mainly love, companionship, and legitimate offspring, was permissible, and even good. Aquinas did not argue that procreation was a necessary part of moral or just sex; married couples could enjoy sex without the motive of having children, and sex in marriages where one or both partners is sterile (perhaps because the woman is postmenopausal) is also potentially just (given a motive of expressing love). So far Aquinas' view actually need not rule out homosexual sex. For example, a Thomist could embrace same-sex marriage, and then apply the same reasoning, simply seeing the couple as a reproductively sterile, yet still fully loving and companionate union. Aquinas, in a significant move, adds a requirement that for any given sex act to be moral it must be of a generative kind. The only way that this can be achieved is via vaginal intercourse. That is, since only the emission of semen in a vagina can result in natural reproduction, only sex acts of that type are generative, even if a given sex act does not lead to reproduction, and even if it is impossible due to infertility. The consequence of this addition is to rule out the possibility, of course, that homosexual sex could ever be moral (even if done within a loving marriage), in addition to forbidding any non-vaginal sex for opposite-sex married couples. What is the justification for this important addition? This question is made all the more pressing in that Aquinas does allow that how broad moral rules apply to individuals may vary considerably, since the nature of persons also varies to some extent. That is, since Aquinas allows that individual natures vary, one could simply argue that one is, by nature, emotionally and physically attracted to persons of one's own gender, and hence to pursue same-sex relationships is ‘natural’ (Sullivan, 1995). Unfortunately, Aquinas does not spell out a justification for this generative requirement. More recent natural law theorists, however, have tried a couple different lines of defense for Aquinas' ‘generative type’ requirement. The first is that sex acts that involve either homosexuality, heterosexual sodomy, or which use contraception, frustrate the purpose of the sex organs, which is reproductive. This argument, often called the ‘perverted faculty argument’, is perhaps implicit in Aquinas. It has, however, come in for sharp attack (see Weitham, 1997), and the best recent defenders of a Thomistic natural law approach are attempting to move beyond it (e.g., George, 1999, dismisses the argument). If their arguments fail, of course, they must allow that some homosexual sex acts are morally permissible (even positively good), although they would still have resources with which to argue against casual gay (and straight) sex. Although the specifics of the second sort of argument offered by various contemporary natural law theorists vary, the common elements are strong (Finnis, 1994; George, 1999). As Thomists, their argument rests largely upon an account of human goods. The two most important for the argument against homosexual sex (though not against homosexuality as an orientation which is not acted upon, and hence in this they follow official Catholic doctrine; see George, 1999, ch.15) are personal integration and marriage. Personal integration, in this view, is the idea that humans, as agents, need to have integration between their intentions as agents and their embodied selves. Thus, to use one's or another's body as a mere means to one's own pleasure, as they argue happens with masturbation, causes ‘dis-integration’ of the self. That is, one's intention then is just to use a body (one's own or another's) as a mere means to the end of pleasure, and this detracts from personal integration. Yet one could easily reply that two persons of the same sex engaging in sexual union does not necessarily imply any sort of ‘use’ of the other as a mere means to one's own pleasure. Hence, natural law theorists respond that sexual union in the context of the realization of marriage as an important human good is the only permissible expression of sexuality. Yet this argument requires drawing how marriage is an important good in a very particular way, since it puts procreation at the center of marriage as its “natural fulfillment” (George, 1999, 168). Natural law theorists, if they want to support their objection to homosexual sex, have to emphasize procreation. If, for example, they were to place love and mutual support for human flourishing at the center, it is clear that many same-sex couples would meet this standard. Hence their sexual acts would be morally just. There are, however, several objections that are made against this account of marriage as a central human good. One is that by placing procreation as the ‘natural fulfillment’ of marriage, sterile marriages are thereby denigrated. Sex in an opposite-sex marriage where the partners know that one or both of them are sterile is not done for procreation. Yet surely it is not wrong. Why, then, is homosexual sex in the same context (a long-term companionate union) wrong (Macedo, 1995)? The natural law rejoinder is that while vaginal intercourse is a potentially procreative sex act, considered in itself (though admitting the possibility that it may be impossible for a particular couple), oral and anal sex acts are never potentially procreative, whether heterosexual or homosexual (George, 1999). But is this biological distinction also morally relevant, and in the manner that natural law theorists assume? Natural law theorists, in their discussions of these issues, seem to waver. On the one hand, they want to defend an ideal of marriage as a loving union wherein two persons are committed to their mutual flourishing, and where sex is a complement to that ideal. Yet that opens the possibility of permissible gay sex, or heterosexual sodomy, both of which they want to oppose. So they then defend an account of sexuality which seems crudely reductive, emphasizing procreation to the point where literally a male orgasm anywhere except in the vagina of one's loving spouse is impermissible. Then, when accused of being reductive, they move back to the broader ideal of marriage. Natural law theory, at present, has made significant concessions to mainstream liberal thought. In contrast certainly to its medieval formulation, most contemporary natural law theorists argue for limited governmental power, and do not believe that the state has an interest in attempting to prevent all moral wrongdoing. Still, they do argue against homosexuality, and against legal protections for gays and lesbians in terms of employment and housing, even to the point of serving as expert witnesses in court cases or helping in the writing of amicus curae briefs. They also argue against same sex marriage (Bradley, 2001; George, 2001). With the rise of the gay liberation movement in the post-Stonewall era, overtly gay and lesbian perspectives began to be put forward in politics, philosophy and literary theory. Initially these often were overtly linked to feminist analyses of patriarchy (e.g., Rich, 1980) or other, earlier approaches to theory. Yet in the late 1980's and early 1990's queer theory was developed, although there are obviously important antecedents which make it difficult to date it precisely. There are a number of ways in which queer theory differed from earlier gay liberation theory, but an important initial difference can be gotten at by examining the reasons for opting for the term ‘queer’ as opposed to ‘gay and lesbian.’ Some versions of, for example, lesbian theory portrayed the essence of lesbian identity and sexuality in very specific terms: non-hierarchical, consensual, and, specifically in terms of sexuality, as not necessarily focused upon genitalia (e.g., Faderman, 1985). Lesbians arguing from this framework, for example, could very well criticize natural law theorists as inscribing into the very “law of nature” an essentially masculine sexuality, focused upon the genitals, penetration, and the status of the male orgasm (natural law theorists rarely mention female orgasms). This approach, based upon characterizations of ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’ identity and sexuality, however, suffered from three difficulties. First, it appeared even though the goal was to critique a heterosexist regime for its exclusion and marginalization of those whose sexuality is different, any specific or “essentialist” account of gay or lesbian sexuality had the same effect. Sticking with the example used above, of a specific conceptualization of lesbian identity, it denigrates women who are sexually and emotionally attracted to other women, yet who do not fit the description. Sado-masochists and butch/fem lesbians arguably do not fit this ideal of ‘equality’ offered. A second problem was that by placing such an emphasis upon the gender of one's sexual partner(s), other possible important sources of identity are marginalized, such as race and ethnicity. What is of utmost importance, for example, for a black lesbian is her lesbianism, rather than her race. Many gays and lesbians of color attacked this approach, accusing it of re-inscribing an essentially white identity into the heart of gay or lesbian identity (Jagose, 1996). The third and final problem for the gay liberationist approach was that it often took this category of ‘identity’ itself as unproblematic and unhistorical. Such a view, however, largely because of arguments developed within poststructuralism, seemed increasingly untenable. The key figure in the attack upon identity as ahistorical is Michel Foucault. In a series of works he set out to analyze the history of sexuality from ancient Greece to the modern era (1980, 1985, 1986). Although the project was tragically cut short by his death in 1984, from complications arising from AIDS, Foucault articulated how profoundly understandings of sexuality can vary across time and space, and his arguments have proven very influential in gay and lesbian theorizing in general, and queer theory in particular (Spargo, 1999; Stychin, 2005). One of the reasons for the historical review above is that it helps to give some background for understanding the claim that sexuality is socially constructed, rather than given by nature. Moreover, in order to not prejudge the issue of social constructionism versus essentialism, I avoided applying the term ‘homosexual’ to the ancient or medieval eras. In ancient Greece the gender of one's partner(s) was not important, but instead whether one took the active or passive role. In the medieval view, a ‘sodomite’ was a person who succumbed to temptation and engaged in certain non-procreative sex acts. Although the gender of the partner was more important than in the ancient view, the broader theological framework placed the emphasis upon a sin versus refraining-from-sin dichotomy. With the rise of the notion of ‘homosexuality’ in the modern era, a person is placed into a specific category even if one does not act upon those inclinations. What is the common, natural sexuality expressed across these three very different cultures? The social constructionist answer is that there is no ‘natural’ sexuality; all sexual understandings are constructed within and mediated by cultural understandings. The examples can be pushed much further by incorporating anthropological data outside of the Western tradition (Halperin, 1990; Greenberg, 1988). Yet even within the narrower context offered here, the differences between them are striking. The assumption in ancient Greece was that men (less is known about women) can respond erotically to either sex, and the vast majority of men who engaged in same-sex relationships were also married (or would later become married). Yet the contemporary understanding of homosexuality divides the sexual domain in two, heterosexual and homosexual, and most heterosexuals cannot respond erotically to their own sex. In saying that sexuality is a social construct, these theorists are not saying that these understandings are not real. Since persons are also constructs of their culture (in this view), we are made into those categories. Hence today persons of course understand themselves as straight or gay (or perhaps bisexual), and it is very difficult to step outside of these categories, even once one comes to seem them as the historical constructs they are. Gay and lesbian theory was thus faced with three significant problems, all of which involved difficulties with the notion of ‘identity.’ Queer theory thus arose in large part as an attempt to overcome them. How queer theory does so can be seen by looking at the term ‘queer’ itself. In contrast to gay or lesbian, ‘queer,’ it is argued, does not refer to an essence, whether of a sexual nature or not. Instead it is purely relational, standing as an undefined term that gets its meaning precisely by being that which is outside of the norm, however that norm itself may be defined. As one of the most articulate queer theorists puts it: “Queer is … whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant. There is nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without an essence” (Halperin, 1995, 62, original emphasis). By lacking any essence, queer does not marginalize those whose sexuality is outside of any gay or lesbian norm, such as sado-masochists. Since specific conceptualizations of sexuality are avoided, and hence not put at the center of any definition of queer, it allows more freedom for self-identification for, say, black lesbians to identify as much or more with their race (or any other trait, such as involvement in an S & M subculture) than with lesbianism. Finally, it incorporates the insights of poststructuralism about the difficulties in ascribing any essence or non-historical aspect to identity. This central move by queer theorists, the claim that the categories through which identity is understood are all social constructs rather than given to us by nature, opens up a number of analytical possibilities. For example, queer theorists examine how fundamental notions of gender and sex which seem so natural and self-evident to persons in the modern West are in fact constructed and reinforced through everyday actions, and that this occurs in ways that privilege heterosexuality (Butler, 1990, 1993). Also examined are medical categories which are themselves socially constructed (Fausto-Sterling, 2000, is an erudite example of this, although she is not ultimately a queer theorist). Others examine how language and especially divisions between what is said and what is not said, corresponding to the dichotomy between ‘closeted’ and ‘out,’ especially in regards to the modern division of heterosexual/homosexual, structure much of modern thought. That is, it is argued that when we look at dichotomies such as natural/artificial, or masculine/feminine, we find in the background an implicit reliance upon a very recent, and arbitrary, understanding of the sexual world as split into two species (Sedgwick, 1990). The fluidity of categories created through queer theory even opens the possibility of new sorts of histories that examine previously silent types of affections and relationships (Carter, 2005). Another critical perspective opened up by a queer approach, although certainly implicit in those just referred to, is especially important. Since most anti-gay and lesbian arguments rely upon the alleged naturalness of heterosexuality, queer theorists attempt to show how these categories are themselves deeply social constructs. An example helps to illustrate the approach. In an essay against gay marriage, chosen because it is very representative, James Q. Wilson (1996) contends that gay men have a “great tendency” to be promiscuous. In contrast, he puts forward loving, monogamous marriage as the natural condition of heterosexuality. Heterosexuality, in his argument, is an odd combination of something completely natural yet simultaneously endangered. One is born straight, yet this natural condition can be subverted by such things as the presence of gay couples, gay teachers, or even excessive talk about homosexuality. Wilson's argument requires a radical disjunction between heterosexuality and homosexuality. If gayness is radically different, it is legitimate to suppress it. Wilson has the courage to be forthright about this element of his argument; he comes out against “the political imposition of tolerance” towards gays and lesbians (Wilson, 1996, 35). It is a common move in queer theory to bracket, at least temporarily, issues of truth and falsity (Halperin, 1995). Instead, the analysis focuses on the social function of discourse. Questions of who counts as an expert and why, and concerns about the effects of the expert's discourse are given equal status to questions of the verity of what is said. This approach reveals that hidden underneath Wilson's (and other anti-gay) work is an important epistemological move. Since heterosexuality is the natural condition, it is a place that is spoken from but not inquired into. In contrast, homosexuality is the aberration and hence it needs to be studied but it is not an authoritative place from which one can speak. By virtue of this heterosexual privilege, Wilson is allowed the voice of the impartial, fair-minded expert. Yet, as the history section above shows, there are striking discontinuities in understandings of sexuality, and this is true to the point that, according to queer theorists, we should not think of sexuality as having any particular nature at all. Through undoing our infatuation with any specific conception of sexuality, the queer theorist opens space for marginalized forms. Queer theory, however, has been criticized in a myriad of ways (Jagose, 1996). One set of criticisms comes from theorists who are sympathetic to gay liberation conceived as a project of radical social change. An initial criticism is that precisely because ‘queer’ does not refer to any specific sexual status or gender object choice, for example Halperin (1995) allows that straight persons may be ‘queer,’ it robs gays and lesbians of the distinctiveness of what makes them marginal. It desexualizes identity, when the issue is precisely about a sexual identity (Jagose, 1996). A related criticism is that queer theory, since it refuses any essence or reference to standard ideas of normality, cannot make crucial distinctions. For example, queer theorists usually argue that one of the advantages of the term ‘queer’ is that it thereby includes transsexuals, sado-masochists, and other marginalized sexualities. How far does this extend? Is transgenerational sex (e.g., pedophilia) permissible? Are there any limits upon the forms of acceptable sado-masochism or fetishism? While some queer theorists specifically disallow pedophilia, it is an open question whether the theory has the resources to support such a distinction. Furthermore, some queer theorists overtly refuse to rule out pedophiles as ‘queer’ (Halperin, 1995, 62) Another criticism is that queer theory, in part because it typically has recourse to a very technical jargon, is written by a narrow elite for that narrow elite. It is therefore class biased and also, in practice, only really referred to at universities and colleges (Malinowitz, 1993). Queer theory is also criticized by those who reject the desirability of radical social change. For example, centrist and conservative gays and lesbians have criticized a queer approach by arguing that it will be “disastrously counter-productive” (Bawer, 1996, xii). If ‘queer’ keeps its connotation of something perverse and at odds with mainstream society, which is precisely what most queer theorists want, it would seem to only validate the attacks upon gays and lesbians made by conservatives. Sullivan (1996) also criticizes queer theorists for relying upon Foucault's account of power, which he argues does not allow for meaningful resistance. It seems likely, however, that Sullivan's understanding of Foucault's notions of power and resistance are misguided. The debates about homosexuality, in part because they often involve public policy and legal issues, tend to be sharply polarized. Those most concerned with homosexuality, positively or negatively, are also those most engaged, with natural law theorists arguing for gays and lesbians having a reduced legal status, and queer theorists engaged in critique and deconstruction of what they see as a heterosexist regime. Yet the two do not talk much to one another, but rather ignore or talk past one another. There are some theorists in the middle. For example, Michael Sandel takes an Aristotelian approach from which he argues that gay and lesbian relationships can realize the same goods that heterosexual relationships do (Sandel, 1995). He largely shares the account of important human goods that natural law theorists have, yet in his evaluation of the worth of same-sex relationships, he is clearly sympathetic to gay and lesbian concerns. Similarly, Bruce Bawer (1993) and Andrew Sullivan (1995) have written eloquent defenses of full legal equality for gays and lesbians, including marriage rights. Yet neither argue for any systematic reform of broader American culture or politics. In this they are essentially conservative. Therefore, rather unsurprisingly, these centrists are attacked from both sides. Sullivan, for example, has been criticized at length both by queer theorists (e.g., Phelan, 2001) and natural law theorists (e.g., George, 1999). Yet as the foregoing also clearly shows, the policy and legal debates surrounding homosexuality involve fundamental issues of morality and justice. Perhaps most centrally of all, they cut to issues of personal identity and self-definition. Hence there is another, and even deeper, set of reasons for the polarization that marks these debates. - Bawer, Bruce, 1993, A Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in American Society. New York: Poseidon Press. - –––, 1996. Beyond Queer: Challenging Gay Left Orthodoxy. New York: The Free Press. - Berman, Paul, 1993, “Democracy and Homosexuality” in The New Republic. Vol.209, No.25 (December 20): pp.17-35. - Boswell, John, 1980, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. - –––, 1994, Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe. New York: Vintage Books. - Bradley, Gerard V., 2001, “The End of Marriage” in Marriage and the Common Good. Ed. by Kenneth D. Whitehead. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine's Press. - Butler, Judith, 1990, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge. - –––, 1993, Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”. New York: Routledge. - Carter, Julian, 2005, “On Mother-Love: History, Queer Theory, and Nonlesbian Identity” Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol.14: 107-138. - Cicero, 1966, Tusculan Disputations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. - Crompton, Louis, 2003, Homosexuality and Civilization. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. - Dover, K.J., 1978, 1989, Greek Homosexuality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. - Faderman, Lillian, 1985, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present. London: The Women's Press. - Fausto-Sterling, Anne, 2000, Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. New York: Basic Books. - Finnis, John, 1994, “Law, Morality, and ‘Sexual Orientation’” Notre Dame Law Review 69: 1049-1076. - Foucault, Michel, 1980, The History of Sexuality. Volume One: An Introduction. Translated by Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage Books. - –––,1985, The History of Sexuality. Volume Two: The Use of Pleasure. New York: Pantheon Books. - –––, 1986, The History of Sexuality. Volume Three: The Care of the Self. New York: Pantheon. - George, Robert P., 1999, In Defense of Natural Law. New York: Oxford University Press. - –––, 2001, “‘Same-Sex Marriage’ and ‘Moral Neutrality’” in Marriage and the Common Good. Ed. by Kenneth D. Whitehead. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine's Press. - Greenberg, David F., 1988, The Construction of Homosexuality. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. - Halperin, David M., 1990, One Hundred Years of Homosexuality: and other essays on Greek love. New York: Routledge. - –––, 1995, Saint Foucault: Towards a Gay Hagiography. New York: Oxford University Press. - Jagose, Annamarie, 1996, Queer Theory: An Introduction. New York: New York University Press. - Macedo, Stephen, 1995, “Homosexuality and the Conservative Mind” Georgetown Law Journal 84: 261-300. - Malinowitz, Harriet, 1993, “Queer Theory: Whose Theory?” Frontiers, Vol.13: 168-184. - Nussbaum, Martha, 1999, Sex and Social Justice. New York: Oxford University Press. - Phelan, Shane, 2001, Sexual Strangers: Gays, Lesbians, and Dilemmas of Citizenship. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. - Plato, The Symposium. Translated by Walter Hamilton. New York: Penguin Books, 1981. - Plato, The Laws. Translated by Trevor Saunders. New York: Penguin Books, 1970. - Rich, Adrienne, 1980, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” in Women, Sex, and Sexuality. Edited by Catharine Stimpson and Ethel Spector Person. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. - Sandel, Michael J., 1995, “Moral Argument and Liberal Toleration: Abortion and Homosexuality” in New Communitarian Thinking: Persons, Virtues, Institutions, and Communities. Edited by Amitai Etzioni. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. - Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky, 1990, Epistemology of the Closet. Berkeley: University of California Press. - Shilts, Randy, 1993, Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military. New York: St. Martin's Press. - Spargo, Tasmin, 1999, Foucault and Queer Theory. New York: Totem Books. - Stychin, Carl F., 2005, “Being Gay” Government and Opposition, Vol.40: 90-109. - Sullivan, Andrew, 1995, Virtually Normal: An Argument about Homosexuality. New York: Knopf. - Weitham, Paul J., 1997, “Natural Law, Morality, and Sexual Complementarity” in Sex, Preference, and Family: Essay on Law and Nature. Edited by David M. Estlund and Martha C. Nussbaum. New York: Oxford University Press. - Wilson, James Q., 1996, “Against Homosexual Marriage” Commentary, Vol.101, No.3 (March): 34-39. How to cite this entry. Preview the PDF version of this entry at the Friends of the SEP Society. Look up this entry topic at the Indiana Philosophy Ontology Project (InPhO). Enhanced bibliography for this entry at PhilPapers, with links to its database.

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Painting (c.1610) of Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) entitled "The Triumph of Neptune and Click on image for full size Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: The George W. Elkins Collection. Amphitrite was one of the sea-nymphs called the Nereids. One day the sea god Poseidon saw her dancing and fell desperately in love with her. He promptly asked her to marry him but unfortunately she refused. Not discouraged by Amphitrite's refusal, Poseidon (Neptune) sent one of his servants, a dolphin to convince her. The dolphin pleaded Neptune's cause so well that she changed her mind. Neptune and Amphitrite married and as a reward for his help, Neptune placed the image of the dolphin among the stars as the constellation Dolphinus, the Dolphin. Among their children was a son, Triton, whose name was given to the principal moon of the planet Neptune. They also had a daughter, Rhodes after whom is named the island of Rhodes. The next largest moon of the planet Neptune was discovered by Gerard P. Kuiper in 1949 and named Nereid to celebrate Amphitrite. Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store! Our online store on science education, ranging from evolution , classroom research , and the need for science and math literacy You might also be interested in: Ahsonnutli was the sky father and chief god for the Navajo. He created heaven, Earth, and the sky. Each of the four directions, or cardinal points, are supported by a giant. Each direction is symbolized...more Amphitrite was one of the sea-nymphs called the Nereids. One day the sea god Poseidon saw her dancing and fell desperately in love with her. He promptly asked her to marry him but unfortunately she refused....more Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She was known to the Romans as Venus. To the perfection of her figure and the purity of her features she added an innocent grace. On her sweet face she...more In Greek mythology, Apollo was the son of Jupiter(in Greek Zeus) and Leto (Letona). He was the god of the Sun, logic, and reason, and was also a fine musician and healer. Leto travelled all over Greece...more According to an ancient Greek legend, the figure of a gigantic crab was placed in the nighttime sky by the goddess Hera to form the constellation Cancer. Hera swore to kill Heracles, the most famous Greek...more In the Northern Hemisphere sky is the constellation Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, and that of his wife Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia claimed that she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than the sea nymphs,...more According to Navajo mythology, the Milky Way was created by the mischievous behavior of the god, Coyote. When the world was created, the Holy People gathered around Black God to place the stars in the...more

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Learning Goals and Objectives Goal 1: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the major concepts, historical and theoretical perspectives, and empirical findings in microeconomics and macroeconomics. Goal 2: Students will demonstrate ability to apply economic principles and theories to a range of economic and social problems and issues. Goal 3: Students will understand and apply basic research methods in economics, including data analysis and reporting. Goal 4: Students will use critical and creative thinking skills and hone communication skills.

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A comprehensive history of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II, from an officer of that famed unit. Wartime Chief of Staff George Marshall viewed airborne troops, at the division level, as a means to transform the battlefield as a whole, and incorporated the idea in his 1941 draft invasion plan for April 1943. He backed the officers like Matthew Ridgway and James Gavin who brought the division into existence and organized its tactics and supplies. However, after the unit's first mission in Sicily, Eisenhower, who was unsure of a deployment based on relatively independent small units acting on their own initiative, wanted the division units disbanded. Marshall prepared a “Plan C” for Eisenhower's consideration for D-Day in 1944, suggesting a proposal to drop two or three divisions of airborne troops into the Orleans Gap 85 miles inland from the Normandy beaches to cut German supply lines and communications. Marshall called this proposal “vertical envelopment.” As LoFaro ably shows, this strategic conception was subordinated to both staff caution and inter-allied intrigue, which limited the application of the unit's potential but not the heroism of its troopers in combat against the Germans. They were never deployed in the way Marshall envisioned. LoFaro singles out as exemplary both Ridgway and Gavin, who led their troops from the front. A tour de force for military historians and WWII buffs, and a lesson on the leadership skills required to effectively conceive and coordinate a mission.

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Gov‘t strengthens regulations on asbestos levels The government said Tuesday it will tighten regulations on the use of asbestos by examining levels of the carcinogenic construction material in public buildings and other sites. Asbestos exposure becomes a health concern when high concentrations of asbestos fibers are inhaled over time, causing asthma, respiratory disease or even lung cancer. South Korea has banned the material's use in new construction projects since the late 1990s for health and safety reasons. At a weekly Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, the government passed an enforcement ordinance to require all state or public institution buildings with a total floor area of 500 square meters or more to survey their asbestos levels. Buildings with at least 50 square meters of asbestos-containing material will have to take control measures, Cabinet members agreed. The government said it will also limit the permissible level of asbestos near sites removing the material to 0.01 part per cubic centimeter. Any imports or production of material possibly containing asbestos will need the approval of the environment minister, it added. (Yonhap)

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The late Harvard law professor Derrick Bell joins the list of radical bogeyman influences on Barack Obama – alongside the activist and educator Bill Ayers and the Chicago community leader and pastor Jeremiah Wright. Bell, one of the originators of "critical race theory," has been recently "discovered" by conservative commentators, who claim that Bell was a “radical” and a “racist” – and a dangerous influence on the young, naïve then-student Obama. Riled-up conservatives got some things right: Bell was, undoubtedly, a radical in that he dared to challenge the prevailing idea and notions of society on which this society was based. And he did have an influence – as he did on many of his students – on Obama, possibly for the better. The issue where his detractors stumble is the notion of "critical race theory," lumping in a genuinely progressive view on society with radical, violent racism. Bell never advocated for a violent overthrow of society; he only asked that society consider what prejudices it secretly carried. Critical race theory assumes that the causes of racial inequality were not necessarily the products of institutionalized legal oppression alone – from slavery to Jim Crow to segregation – but were also perpetuated by social institutions, attitudes, and ideologies. Dismantling legal racism was only the first step in a long road to equality. Tearing down formal racial barriers was one thing. That was the goal of the Civil Rights movement, requiring the bravery, selflessness, and strength of millions to shame and discredit racism’s legal protection. It took a tremendous, coordinated national effort – and finally, in some cases, the long arm of the federal government and the military – to shatter segregation but this was done at little cost – except maybe a blow to inflated egos and pride – to dominant white society. Political, economic, and social power was still – overwhelmingly and disproportionately – in the hands of the white middle- and upper-classes. The next step – and what critical race theory prescribes – is to make progress in establishing justice for all, ensuring – in some distant future – that equal opportunities are truly available regardless of background. This is where things get rather tricky and where critical race theory made its most important criticisms. Racism wasn’t embedded in any single legal structure – it wasn’t just prevalent in slavery, or segregation, or in always and only electing a white president – it had, and has, deep-seated roots in perceptions, ideas, and society. In other words, it was institutional. Race, and issues about race, pervades practically all interracial interactions, distorting – consciously and subconsciously – attitudes and policies. This idea isn’t so far-fetched or outdated as critics of Bell’s work might make it out to be. It wasn’t so long ago that the dominant narrative on welfare depicted a sub-class of government-dependent African-Americans. Perceptions of criminality – and attendant conviction and incarceration rates – also paint a heavily racially-skewed picture in contemporary America. Immigration laws in certain Southern states may no longer explicitly mention race but instead rely on other racially-suggestive criteria to demand “one’s papers." And race still divides society at large. In a supposedly-national economic downturn, African Americans still suffer the highest unemployment rate. So when conservatives decry Bell as a radical, it’s true. He was radical in the sense that he wanted society to truly understand how race and racism had shaped America – and in that way, he wanted to revolutionize society. He saw the fight for justice as an ongoing struggle, requiring constant evaluation and reevaluation. The dismantling of legal structures of oppression was not enough – and never sufficient in of itself. Justice, instead, required a constant struggle and vigilance – and courage, always courage to see what was needed and what could be done – to probe and analyze the deeper, underlying mechanisms of race. And if Obama picked up that lesson, then it made him a better man and – possibly – a better president. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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(SOURCE: University of Colorado Cancer Center, news release, Sept. 24, 2012) SUNDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Mailing sun-protection kits, which contain information about the dangers of exposure to the sun's harmful UV rays and skin cancer, as well as swim shirts, hats and sunscreen, increases the number of people who take steps to protect their children from sun exposure, according to a new study. Researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado Cancer Center found that the kits prompted more people to provide their kids with sun-protective clothing, hats and sunscreen. The kits also encouraged more people to avoid midday sun. The investigators noted that because the kits were inexpensive and delivered by mail, they could be widely distributed. "This is a low-cost, effective intervention that could be an important component in efforts to reduce sun exposure in children during the years that they acquire much of their risk for skin cancer," the study's first author, Lori Crane, investigator at the Cancer Center and chair of the department of community and behavioral health at the Colorado School of Public Health, said in a news release from the center. The study involved 676 children, all 6-year-olds, and their parents. All participants were surveyed to assess their level of sun-protective behaviors as well as parents' knowledge about melanoma and their understanding of their child's lifetime risk for this form of skin cancer. Skin exams also revealed the children's level of tanning and number of potentially dangerous moles they had. Half of the participating families were randomly selected to receive sun-protection kits in the mail in April and May of 2005, 2006 and 2007. The study, published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, revealed that those who received the sun-protection kits gained more awareness about sun exposure and had greater adherence to sun-protective behaviors. The most significant behavioral changes the people reported were those emphasized in each yearly kit, the researchers noted. "After we emphasized long clothing in the spring of 2005, we saw a difference in clothing behavior in the summers of 2005 and 2006, not in 2007. Then after emphasizing hats in 2006, we saw a difference in hat use that year. And then after highlighting shade in 2007, we saw a corresponding increase in parents' awareness and use of shade as a sun-protective behavior," Crane explained in the news release. More research is needed to determine how the kits affect children's risk for skin cancer and if it changes behavior in the long term, the study authors added. The researchers warned in the news release that children and teens who develop a blistering sunburn have a more than doubled risk of skin cancer in adulthood, and long-term sun exposure accumulated over many years may be equally harmful. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about sun protection. Copyright © 2013 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved. HealthDayNews articles are derived from various sources and do not reflect federal policy. healthfinder.gov does not endorse opinions, products, or services that may appear in news stories. For more information on health topics in the news, visit Health News on healthfinder.gov.

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Monday, April 04, 2005 Origin of the term "Sons of the Republic" It has often been inquired of the Sons of the Republic regarding the origin of our name. Granted, there are other names that are shorter and more easily entered into a Web browser. However, the term has significance to us for a number of reasons. First, we are, after all, sons of the Republic of the United States of America. We were born and raised in this blessed land. We owe what we have, what we are, and what we will become in our lifetimes to our forebears, our liberties as protected by our government, and most of all, the God that created us and this "more perfect union." The term "Son of the Republic," however, has additional and less well known significance. The following is a reprint of an account told by General George Washington while at Valley Forge, PA. In this account, General Washington tells of receiving a heavenly messenger who refers to him as "Son of the Republic." Read account of General George Washington's experience at Valley Forge...

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Smithsonian American Art Museum: Teaching with 19th-Century Art "Landscape with Rainbow" Suzannah Niepold: Alright, gather up where you can see this painting. I'm covering up the label on purpose; I want you to look before we get any sort of background information. What's the whole picture about? Teacher 1: I begin by looking for what's underneath the rainbow. Suzannah Niepold: Okay. What is underneath the rainbow? Teachers: A home. A church; it looks like a church. Suzannah Niepold: So you notice this tiny little house, sometimes that takes a while to see. And that's at the foot of the rainbow; so what's that about? Why did the artist do that? Teacher 2: Well, homestead. Out west that was the big American dream—have your own land, have your own house, and not be subject to anybody's control. Suzannah Niepold: Fantastic. So that's the American dream—to have your own spot surrounded by land. Okay. What else do you notice? We've used the words beauty, paradise, how else would you describe this particular landscape? Teachers: Vast, open. Teacher 3: You've got two little [unintelligible] over here. I mean, it's not totally alone but it's pretty [unintelligible]. Suzannah Niepold: You're not totally alone, but you don't have right next-door neighbors to deal with. The house is really small; it is really hard to see. What does the artist do to make sure your eye goes there eventually? How does he point it out? Teachers: The rainbow. Suzannah Niepold: Right, it's right at the end of the rainbow. But that really wasn't enough for him. How else does your eye go there? Teacher 4: You've got that slope coming from here too that angles up. Suzannah Niepold: You have what coming up? Teacher 4: The slope, the road. It comes up right here and you've got a lot of water right here. Suzannah Niepold: Absolutely. [unintelligible mummers and answers from visitors] Suzannah Niepold: Fantastic, you have all of these lines—this little sort of drop of light leading up here, the water, the path, the pointing. So that really let's you know that this is the main subject of the story. It's kind of the American dream. The title is Landscape with Rainbow, it was painted in 1859, and the artist is Robert Duncanson, Robert Scott Duncanson. So, if this is painted in 1859, why would you choose this subject at about that time in American history? Lets consider, first of all, what's going on. . . . Teacher 5: People are beginning to go West, also. Teacher 6: The American dream, with all the politics going on, is in some ways disappearing. Suzannah Niepold: The American dream, this idea has come up several times, so that's really maybe challenged, is that what you're saying? Teacher 6: I'm saying with the conflict, the regional conflict, some of the ideals of America are in question. Suzannah Niepold:: The other thing to add that isn't on this label—but it is available on our website in the biography of the artist—is that this artist is African American. Does that change the painting for you at all? Okay, I'm hearing "Oh, oh, interesting." Teacher 3: Going north to the promised land. Suzannah Niepold:: So it's not just the American dream, it's the promised land? Teacher 1: Yeah, but then why would he put two white people there? Teacher 3: Dominant cultures. Teacher 2: Because he's hiding behind his work. His work's not going to be respected. He's an African American. So he paints white people on it because a white man's going to look at a painting with white people in it, they're not going to look at a painting if there's a black one in it. Suzannah Niepold: It's going to change the meaning. If you’re thinking of contemporary viewers, you're right; it's going to change the meaning. Duncanson was funded by abolitionists, and their goal was to show how ridiculous this idea [was] that a race was lesser by showing how skilled an African American artist could be. So he's showing off technical skill, as well as maybe this dream—this kind of American dream on the eve of the Civil War. There are kind of three eras of African American art. Everything before the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s is kind of what you see here of trying to say, "We're just as good; this is ridiculous, we can do everything that you can do." It's not until the Harlem Renaissance that it's saying, "We don't have to show your world, we can show our own." "Among the Sierra Nevada, California" Teacher 1: Wouldn't you like to just be standing right there on the water? Teacher 2: Okay, that's the whole point. That's what you're supposed to do. That's what he was doing. He's been on traveling shows to encourage people go to out West. Teacher 1: Oh! Teacher 2: So you got it. Suzannah Niepold: In fact the way the curators hung this, with this curtain here is meant to kind of hint at that history. And that Bierstadt painted these giant landscapes and that he would tour with them, and he would keep them behind a curtain and you would pay admission. Then he would whip back the curtain. But how does Bierstadt accomplish what we just talked about? How does he make you want to step into this landscape and just say, "Wow!" Teacher 2: Its size. Teacher 3: It's a huge picture. It's not just a picture [where] you're like, "Hey, I wonder what that is?" Teachers: It's like a window; it looks peaceful. Suzannah Niepold: Peaceful. How does he create this idea of peacefulness? Teachers: The deer; the calm water; calm waterfalls; the light; the soft clouds; the softness of the whole picture. Teacher 3: It's almost alluding kind of like Heaven and angels right where all the top comes out and the clouds are. You kind of think you would see this in a church or whatever, and a church is supposed to be one of the most peaceful places. Teacher 1: And everything goes up. All the trees go up, the mountains go up, everything is pointing up. Suzannah Niepold: Things that you notice and the specific details that you're pointing out. Like how still the water is and how the deer—they're not spooked, there's nothing coming up behind them. And we have this . . . some people call it the "Godly light" kind of peeking through. What role does God play in this period of American history? Why might he have a part of this landscape, or why might he. . . . Teacher 1: Manifest destiny. God wants us to go there. Suzannah Niepold: Manifest destiny. God wants us to go there. Teacher 2: When was this painted? Suzannah Niepold: Look at the label over here. Suzannah Niepold: 1868. Yes, it's called Among the Sierra Nevada. So it's California in 1868. So, again, why might he paint this in 1868? Teacher 3: It's after the Civil War. It's a calming . . . well, it's supposed to be calming because what's really going on between the South and the North during Reconstruction still is not very calm. And this is an escape. It's an escape for everyone. Teacher 4: But it's also the year that the Transcontinental Railroad is finished. Suzannah Niepold: But it's funny that you don't see any of that, right? You don't see the modernity, the advancement of civilization has no place here; it's still this ideal. And I think it's going to what you're saying is that the Civil War ripped up the East Coast. If you search our website for Civil War photographs, we have plenty, you'll see just destroyed landscapes. You just walked down that hallway past Niagara and all these sort of "New Eden"-y paintings. We sort of saw ourselves as the new world, new opportunity, and the Civil War maybe destroyed that image a little bit. And so the East Coast loses its "shininess" and we start looking out here for our peace and our majesty and our hope. Teacher 1: May I? Suzannah Niepold: Go ahead. Teacher 1: It's like a staircase almost, with the sides. It goes up there, and it goes on, and it takes you into. . . . Suzannah Niepold: To make sure your eye goes all the way back there. "Storm King on the Hudson" Suzannah Niepold: Okay, let's start with this one just by looking at the right-hand side; just block out—just pretend the other half isn't there. Okay, so, it's nice and peaceful, how else would you describe it? Teacher 1: Old-school. You see the boats with the sails and the hand fishing in the rowboat. It's kind of the way they've always done it. Suzannah Niepold: Okay, so the way it's always been done. And what is being done? What's going on on these boats? Teacher 2: In the front one they’re fishing. Suzannah Niepold: And how are they powered? Teacher 3: It's manual. Suzannah Niepold: Still on the right side. So [by] oar. It's manpower. Teachers: Sailing; wind; natural. Suzannah Niepold: Alright, switching to the left-hand side, what do you see over there? Teacher 4: Pollution. Suzannah Niepold: Yeah, it's funny when we look at it with our eyes you see smog, pollution, this horrible environmental travesty. How might they have seen it in 1866? Teachers: Progress; power of progress. Suzannah Niepold: So you have to consider the transition in how our modern eyes see things versus how they might have been perceived back then. Different kinds of power—maybe steam power, progress, industry. Look at the landscape on both sides, how is it different? Teacher 5: This over here [on the right] is clear, you can see… Teacher 6: It's greener. Suzannah Niepold: So which do you think the artist liked better, the "old school" or the "new school." Which did he support in this painting and how can you tell? I don't know the answer to this. It's a matter of. . . . Teacher 1: To me it looks like old school because he paints that front rowboat so very, very clear; sitting from back here you can see just about every detail of the gentlemen. Teacher 7: But the industry is made larger. It's much larger; more powerful. And it's closer to you. So he wants you to look at this. Suzannah Niepold: We talked some about light and dark, and how artists can use that. Which side has the sunlight? Teacher 5: They both do. You're focusing here, and then you're focusing there. It's almost like you're doing this— Teacher 7: When you look at the sky, this one is lighter [right side]; but when you look down, this one is lighter [left side]. Teacher 5: Yeah, on the water. He's presenting both sides of the issue. [Indecipherable, multiple teachers talk at once] Teacher 1: It's like you said, most of the sunlight is on this side [left side], but look at the smoke coming from it. It's changing it, it's turning it dark. Suzannah Niepold: I want to come back to what you were saying though; because look there is sort of this blue sky up here, and here it's the man-made smoke that's covering that up. But here [right side], we have the natural storm. So again, he's almost setting up that equivalent. Teacher 8: Well, you just said the word storm. Is the storm bringing in this change? "Lee Surrendering to Grant at Appomattox" Suzannah Niepold: You came from Gettysburg—am I right about that? Teachers: Yes ma'am; yeah. Suzannah Niepold: So the Civil War is fresh in your mind, right? This is a tiny little scene of Appomattox—feel free to come closer, maybe, you know, take a look, and then let someone else come in. It is a challenge sometimes to work with these much smaller paintings. This is the scene of the surrender; Grant and Lee are meeting in order to officially end the war. Although of course, it wouldn't exactly end right at this moment. How has the artist chosen to present the scene? If you're all the way over here, feel free to come in and fill in the front. Teacher 1: You can tell who won. Suzannah Niepold: You can tell who won. That's very interesting. How can you tell who won? Teacher 1: Well, because the Union soldier is in the front, and he's got his hand on the desk and his whole chest is facing out towards the audience. It's almost like a teacher stance with somebody, if you're scolding a child. You're looking at them like, "I can't believe you just did this." That's what he's doing. Because Lee was such a highly regarded officer in the military at the time, it's almost like he's looking at him like "Why did you do this to yourself, and to us?" Kind of like he's being scolded. Suzannah Niepold: What about Lee though? It's not exactly like he's cowering in a corner. How does the artist show him? How did he show this highly respected, regarded man in this tough moment? Teacher 2: I think he's got his hands up like, "I can't believe I had to do this, that it came to this." Suzannah Niepold: So it's very hard for him to do this. What else do you notice about the scene? Teacher 3: You've got light right on the midline. So that . . . I don't know if that means like, the light, the focus is in the middle where they're agreeing, maybe, to quit fighting. Suzannah Niepold: That is, maybe, the highlight of the moment where the two sides are coming together. And let's use that to talk about composition. It is two sides, right? With the uniforms. How are those two sides equal? Are they? Teacher 4: We've got three soldiers on one end and two soldiers on the other end. Suzannah Niepold: Okay, so there's a little bit more weight over here. Even if you just look at the height of the two generals, [it's] roughly equal the way they're presented. You're right that Grant is slightly forward in that sort of authority stance. But if you look into surrender orders, the fact that Lee was allowed to keep his sword is a huge step. What does this say about what the North was hoping for the end of the war? The way that this scene is presented in terms of a surrender. How did they want to treat the South now that everything was over? Teacher 1: In this moment, it looks like they want to . . . it's like brothers fighting, [it's] done, over, let's go back to the way things were, let's forget about it. And of course we're history teachers, and we know that doesn't actually happen. Teacher 4: Yeah, but when you look at this guy's— Teacher 3: He's not real happy. Teacher 4: [He's like,] "Hey, you know, I really don't care about this." Teacher 3: Grant wasn't wearing his general bars. Suzannah Niepold: A few things are historically accurate. We know that he had mud on his pants, he had rushed there on his horse. Teacher 3: He had borrowed a jacket, so he wasn't wearing his general's jacket. Suzannah Niepold: But he wasn't wearing his general's jacket. So anytime you see an inaccuracy—or you see something you know is actually wrong from the way it happened. For me, that's actually the most valuable part of an artwork because that's pointing out a decision that the artist made in order to help tell a story. Teacher 3: Washington Crossing the Delaware. Suzannah Niepold: Exactly! So actually if we read the accounts of this scene, and there are many of them, there were a ton of people in this room. So why might the artist have chosen just to show a few? Teacher 3: Make it more intimate. Suzannah Niepold: How does that help tell the story. Teacher 1: He had to illustrate the significance of the famous Lee having to surrender, which ultimately became the turning point in the war. Suzannah Niepold: Okay, so it highlights him more if there are fewer people in the room, okay.

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You need to see your doctor. Doctors call yellow discoloration of the eyes jaundice. Its almost always related to elevated levels of bilirubin in the blood. This is especially true if you also have urine that is tan or brown in color. Bilirubin is produced during the normal turnover of red blood cells. When old red blood cells die, hemoglobin is released into the blood stream. The old hemoglobin is converted to bilirubin. Bilirubin circulating in the blood is picked up by the liver. Then, its processed by liver cells for delivery to the bile ducts. In a healthy person, the process keeps the blood bilirubin level less than 1.2 milligrams per deciliter. There are many reasons for high blood bilirubin levels. These include: - Excessive destruction of red blood cells. If many red cells break down at the same time (a problem called hemolytic anemia), this produces more bilirubin than the liver can handle. - Liver cell abnormalities. Hepatitis from any cause can impair the liver cells' ability to release bilirubin into the bile. So, it backs up into the blood stream. - Liver enzyme deficiencies. Otherwise normal liver cells may have an enzyme defect that does not allow the normal movement of bilirubin into the bile ducts. The most common disorder is Gilbert's syndrome. - Blocked bile duct. A blocked bile duct from a stone or tumor can raise the blood bilirubin level. - Cirrhosis. A damaged, scarred liver cannot process bilirubin normally. It will also elevate the blood level.

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Cholera in Sierra Leone - update 8 September 2012 - The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) is closely working with partners at national and international levels to step up response to the cholera outbreak that has affected Sierra Leone since the beginning of the year. As of 5 September 2012, a total of 16 360 cases including 255 deaths with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 1.6% have been reported from 12 out of 13 districts. The western area of the country where the capital city of Freetown is located, reported more than 60% of all new cases. The President of Sierra Leone has declared the cholera epidemic a "humanitarian crisis". A high level Presidential Cholera Task Force was established to oversee coordination, mobilization of resources and guide the response. A multi-sectoral approach to the response has been adopted involving the MOHS and other line ministries such as Finance, Information and Communication, and local governments together with partners and stakeholders. With support from national and international partners and donors, including UNICEF, Oxfam, British Red Cross, Save the Children, Care, Concern MSF, DFID, OCHA, IRC, and WHO, the MOHS is scaling up the response particularly in the areas of coordination of the overall response, surveillance and case management. A Cholera Control and Command Center (C4) has been established at the WHO Country Office in Freetown to strengthen coordination, and support the MOHS and other health providers to implement activities related to the Cholera Preparedness and Response Operation Plan (CPROP), in order to bring the epidemic under control as soon as possible. The C4 will also provide information to guide the decision-making of the national task force. Emphasis is being placed on early detection of cases and timely provision of treatment at the district levels in order to reduce deaths. Cholera cases are managed in cholera treatment units (CTUs) and where there are no established CTUs, emphasis is placed on designating specific areas within the health facilities for isolation purposes. WHO through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) has provided experienced case management and laboratory experts from the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) to build capacity among health-care workers and laboratory technicians in case management and laboratory diagnosis. Laboratories at the national level are being supplied with appropriate materials and reagents to collect, transport and analyze laboratory specimens. Laboratory confirmation is important, particularly in new areas experiencing the cholera outbreak. There are ongoing community interventions on cholera prevention and control activities. More than 200 traditional healers have been oriented on cholera. Community meetings are organized in Freetown to raise awareness of the importance of avoiding drinking water from unprotected water sources. Text messages are also being used to channel information to the public by telephone companies. UNICEF and other partners are supporting water, sanitation and hygiene activities. With respect to this event, WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Sierra Leone.

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Space Station Deploys Five CubeSats Five research CubeSats – all with Amateur Radio communication systems – were successfully deployed from the International Space Station beginning around 1430 UTC today. The satellites were launched from the Kibo station module using a specially equipped robotic arm. The group includes… TechEdSat, a collaboration among NASA’s Ames Research Center; San Jose State University; the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will be sending AX.25 packet telemetry at 437.465 MHz. The TechEdSat team is asking for assistance from amateurs in decoding and relaying data. Follow the mission on their Twitter page. More information about decoding and submitting packet data is available here. FITSAT-1, designed and built at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Japan, will test the feasibility of high-speed microwave data downlinks in low Earth orbit. It will transmit telemetry on 437.445 MHz and 5.84 GHz. They welcome signal reports from amateurs at their website. WE WISH, from the Meisei Electric Company Radio Club, Japan, will send CW telemetry and occasional SSTV images at 437.505 MHz. RAIKO, designed and built by students at Wakayama University, Japan, will transmit high-speed data at 2.2 and 13 GHz. F-1, built by students at FPT University in Hanoi, Vietnam will send telemetry at 145.980 and 437.485 MHz using 1200-baud packet and CW. Amateurs are asked to monitor and submit reports. More information is available here.

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If you work in a loud environment, you have many options for protecting your ears. Why protect your ears? Prolonged exposure to loud noise can damage hair cells in your ears, leading to permanent hearing loss. You may have to try several different types of ear protection until you find one that is comfortable enough to wear for the length of your work shift. Expandable foam plugs are made from a formable material. You can roll the plugs into a small cylinder, then insert them into your ear canals. The foam will expand into the shape of your ear. People with smaller ears and ear canals may have trouble rolling the plugs small enough to fit into the ear canal, although some manufacturers do offer smaller sized plugs. However, you should make sure your hands are clean before rolling and inserting the plugs. Pre-molded plugs may be made from silicone, plastic, or rubber. They are often available in several sizes, and should seal the ear canal without being uncomfortable. You may need to try several different sizes to find one that fits right; you may also need a different size for each ear. Pre-molded plugs are relatively inexpensive, washable, and reusable. Canal caps are earplugs on a flexible band. The band may go over the head, under the chin, or behind the neck. When the work area is quiet, you can use the band to hang the earplugs around your neck. The earplugs are handy when the noise level goes up again. Earmuffs block noise by completely covering the outer ear. Ear cup size varies; many different models are available. If you have a heavy beard, sideburns, or glasses, you may have a hard time getting the earmuffs to completely seal out noise. Earmuffs can also be hot and heavy in some environments.

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The Names Of The Nine Muses The nine Muses were daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, daughter of Gaia and Uranus, the personification of memory. According to the myth, after his prevalence over the Titans, Zeus was united with Mnemosyne for nine consecutive nights on the mountain of Pieria. One year later, Mnemosyne gave him nine daughters, the nine Muses that personify the inspiration for creation and protectresses of all the arts. Their names were Calliope, Cleio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia and Urania. Leader of the muses’ chorus was Apollo, god of sun and music and for this he is often called “musagetis” (muses’ leader). The oldest chant of the muses is supposed to be the one that they were singing when the Olympians defeated the Titans, to celebrate the birth of a new world. The Muses were living in the mountain of Olympus, where they were entertaining the gods with their music – other locations that people believed as the Muses’ residences are either the mountains of Pieria or in Elikon or even around the fountains of Hippokrene and Aganippe, where many poets were going to find their inspiration. According to a myth, Pieria’s king, Pieros had also nine daughters that are often mistaken for muses. The Pierides dared to challenge the Muses on a contest, on which of course the Muses prevailed. After this, Apollo, as a punishment, transformed Pieros’ daughters into magpies. Also the Sirens dared to challenge the Muses on a song contest – the Sirens were winged creatures that by bewitching sailors with their song, they were calling them to come to their shores and then they would eat them (we find them in the myths of the Argonauts and in Odyssey). Naturally the Muses prevailed on this contest as well, they chopped their opponents’ wings and the Sirens were drowned in to the sea. There is no specific myth about the Muses. We mostly find them intervening as bards (singers) in the great feasts of the gods. They appear at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, parents of Achilles, or at the wedding of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and Harmony, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. They also appear as judges in musical contests, such as the one between Apollo and Marsyas. Marsyas was a Silenus, a kind of satyr (creatures with goat-legs and horns on their heads, as Panas was, that were usually Dionysus’ companions). According to the myth, goddess Athena created the double-flute using deer bones and that she played the new instrument in a symposium of the gods. But Hera and Aphrodite laughed at her as her cheeks inflated while she was blowing the flute. Athena became so frustrated, that she threw the flute, which fell on the land of Phrygia, cursing at the same time anyone that would find it. The flute was found by Marsyas – according to some myths Marsyas was actually the one that created the instrument – who was very proud of his discovery. Thinking that this was the finest music in the world, Marsyas on his pride dared to challenge Apollo, god of music, into a music contest. Apollo accepted the challenge and they agreed that the Muses were the most appropriate judges for this contest. At first where was no result, as both the flute and the lyre produced divine melodies. Then Apollo started playing his lyre by holding it upside down – of course Marsyas could not do the same with his flute. The Muses ruled Apollo as winner and Marsyas’ punishment for challenging a god was terrible – Apollo hanged him from a tree (a pine or a platan tree) and skinned him. After this punishment thought, Apollo regretted for his act and on his sorrow he crushed his lyre and transformed Marsyas into a river. Who Are The Nine Muses Calliope: Calliope was at the highest rank, the first and most prominent among the Muses. Protector of all fine arts and particularly of Epic Poetry, she is the one that epic poets were invoking in order to gain her favour, to remember all their words and be inspired to praise the deeds of the heroes. “Tell me, o muse, about the ingenious man that travelled far for many years after he had conquered Troy’s sacred castle…” – this is how Homer’s Odyssey begins, with an invocation to the muse Calliope, to sing for him the deeds of Ulysses (Odysseus). Also in Iliad, Homer asks Calliope’s help to sing about the wrath of the mighty Achilles: “sing, goddess, the destructive wrath of Peleus’ son, Achilles, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans and sent to Hades many valiant souls of heroes made them spoil for dogs and birds…”. Calliope is often depicted wearing a golden crown – which according to Hesiod indicates her superiority among the Muses – and she is also carrying quills and tablets and sometimes a trumpet. Calliope, whose name means “she that has a beautiful face”, is considered to be the mother of the legendary musician Orpheus, by the god Apollo, and also mother of the famous musician Linos. Cleio: Cleio was the muse of History. Her name derives from the word cleos (glory). Herodotus, known as the father of history, named his first book after this muse. Cleio is often depicted wearing a laurel garland and carrying parchments. She is considered mother of Hyacinth by the king Pieros. Terpsichore: Terpsichore was initially the muse of Dance – her name means the one that likes to dance – and also the muse of Lyric Poetry. She is depicted holding a lyre and she is considered to be mother of the Sirens. Melpomene: Melpomene was initially the muse of chants and lyric songs and then the muse of Tragedy (theatre). She is often depicted wearing a cypress garland and holding a tragedy mask on her left hand and a bat on her right. She also considered being the mother of the Sirens, by the river Achelous. Thaleia: Thaleia was the muse of Comedy. She is often depicted holding a comedy mask and wearing an ivy garland. Euterpe: Euterpe was the muse of Music and the art of flute. She is considered to be the mother of Ressus by the river Strymonas, chief of the Thracians, who was killed in the war of Troy by Diomedes, king of Argos. She is often depicted holding a flute and she was the one that gave the inspiration for the creation of Panas’ flute and Marsyas’ double flute – according to other myths Euterpe was the one that actually created the flute. Polyhymnea: Polyhymnia, whose name means “many hymns”, was initially the muse that inspired the Hymns in honour of the gods and heroes and then she became the muse of Learning and Memorization. In the Roman times she was considered as the muse of Mimetic Art. She is always depicted pensive and sometimes she is mistaken for her mother, Mnemosyne. Erato: Erato is the muse of Hymns and Lyric and Love Poetry. She is often depicted half-naked and she is the one that Apollonious from Rhodes invokes at his fourth book of Argonautica, in order to inspire him to sing about the love of Jason and Medea. Urania:Urania was the muse of Astronomy. She is depicted wearing a star crown, holding the celestial sphere on her left hand and a diabetes on her right. She was also known for her prophetic abilities. You may also interested in: Encyclopedia of Mythology You may also interested in: Penguin Books Coupons Author: Tessy Parker

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|Travels in Tahiti| Despite urbanization, much of Tahiti’s former beauty still remains. In the interior of the island, tropical forests ascend into the central mountains, and some of the forest trails end in lovely tall waterfalls, whose pools of clear fresh water are surrounded by lush vegetation. One of the best views on the island is from the overlook on Taharaa Point, which Captain Cook had once named “One-Tree Hill” for the large Banyan tree a few yards uphill from the lookout point. From here, the view across Matavai Bay toward Moorea (Tahiti’s sister island) is spectacular, framed with palm trees, Bougainvillea, and breadfruits. Matavai Bay was the place where the British explorer Samuel Wallis first anchored when he visited Tahiti in 1767, the first European to land on the island. The bay was also a favorite anchorage of Captain Cook, as famously depicted in a painting by William Hodges (ship’s artist during Cook’s second voyage of 1772-1775). Not far from Taharaa Point is Point Venus, named for Captain Cook’s observations of that planet during his first voyage of 1768-1771. Cook set out to observe the ‘transit of Venus’ across the face of the sun (which astronomers at England’s Royal Observatory in Greenwich predicted would occur in 1769). The transit would be timed in three different parts of the world, and it was hoped that this information would allow the distance from the earth to the sun to be calculated. (Unfortunately, contemporary scientific instruments were not accurate enough to achieve this, despite Cook’s efforts.) Today, Point Venus is a popular beach and picnic spot. There is a lighthouse (built in 1867), tree-lined paths to walk along, several souvenir shops, and a (very un-Tahitian) hot dog stand. A look around reminds one how much things can change in two and a half centuries. Another lovely spot on Tahiti is the Gauguin Museum, situated on the southeast of the island near the peninsula of Tahiti Iti (“Little Tahiti”). There is a scenic view over the bay toward the peninsula, whose green hills slope downward toward the coast. The artist Paul Gauguin lived and worked here in the 1890s, and the Tahitian-themed images he painted during this time did much to influence Western views of this island. The museum’s buildings encircle a wide expanse of grass, on which sit several tiki (traditional carved statues) and a memorial to Gauguin. Few of the artist’s original paintings are on display, but the exhibits provide a good description of his life on Tahiti, including a reconstruction of the house in which he lived. Although only 40 minutes by high-speed ferry (the Arimiti 4, spacious, air conditioned, and populated mostly by Australian tourists), a visit to the neighboring island of Moorea is like a journey back in time, to what Tahiti once was like. Like Tahiti, Moorea is a high island, with volcanic peaks and a green carpet of vegetation, and fringing coral reefs. Now mainly geared toward tourism and agriculture, Moorea is a quiet island, where the pace of life is slow. The scenery here is even more breathtaking than on Tahiti. Strolling down the nearly empty roads lined with coconut palms and frangipani, with the mist-covered mountains rising in the distance, you really do feel like you are in the midst of a tropical paradise. I was amazed by the picturesqueness of the landscape. It seemed that almost every view could have been a painting, a perfect harmony of colors and contrasts: the shadowed greens and browns of the volcanic hills, the intense blue of the sky with its patches of white clouds, the clear lagoon with its shades of green and turquoise. Flowers and fruit grow in abundance along the roadsidesbright red hibiscus, pale fragrant tiare and frangipani, bananas, pineapples, breadfruit. The breadfruit has an interesting history. This large, round, light-green fruit is native to French Polynesia, where it is known as uru or maiore. The fruit, which has a grainy texture, is a staple of Tahitian cooking. It is not really sweet, and is more comparable to a starchy vegetable like a potato. The bark of the tree is used to make a thin cloth called tapa. The breadfruit was first described by Cook’s naturalist Joseph Banks, who suggested transporting it to the West Indies to feed the enslaved Africans on plantations there. Captain William Bligh (who had accompanied Cook on his second voyage) set out to convey the plants, on his infamous voyage of 1787 aboard HMS Bounty. That ended rather badly (Bligh was set adrift in a small boat by his mutinying crew for 41 days, until he finally managed to make landfall in Timor), but Bligh made another attempt and successfully delivered the trees in 1791. Ironically, the slaves thought the fruit tasted bland, and it never really took off as a staple crop in the Caribbean. On the way back to the ferry terminal, my travel companion and I spotted a humorous contrast to the lush surrounding vegetation: a cell phone tower disguised aswhat else?a palm tree. It was good for a laugh, but in a sense it also gives one pause, a sign that 21st century life is fast encroaching in this region. There is at least one place in the Society Islands that still seems very far removed from the 21st century, and that is Tetiaroa. It is an atolla low-lying ring of coral islets (called motu) surrounding a shallow central lagoon. Although only 40 km from Tahiti, Tetiaroa seems about as remote as an island can be. The entire small atoll (55 km in circumference; 7 km in diameter) was owned by the reclusive actor Marlon Brando until his death in 2004, when the only hotel on the atoll was permanently closed. Regular transport to the island also ceased, and now the only way to get there is by chartered boat. We went by catamaran, leaving from Papeete harbor at 7 a.m. The two and a half hour sail was brisk and refreshing, spent sipping black coffee and chatting with the mostly French crew, one or two of whom were casting fishing lines from the stern and reeling in the occasional catch. Website designed by Lisa Breslof and Jay Holmes Copyright 2008 John Burroughs Association, All Rights Reserved Content Specialist: Lisa Breslof Webmaster: Jay Holmes

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- The way copyright infringements are signalled in relation to lexicological content - Do we want to emulate what others have done, or are we masters of our own destiny - Where are the French, the Swahili, the Kannada and the words of all the other languages that are equally deserving attention With WiktionaryZ we have the opportunity to use Wikipedia as our corpus. In Wikipedia we find the words as they are used today. When we concentrate our effort on these words, we provide added value to the information contained in Wikipedia and at the same time Wikipedia adds value to WiktionaryZ because it allows us to show words in context. In Wikipedia we have people from many countries that contribute, they do use words that are normal in their locale. With the "OED and AHD" we do not necessarily get these words. It is not a bad thing that people interested in English concentrate on English. As such I welcome this effort. However, in my opinion the emphasis is too much on main languages like English. In these languages it is hard for WiktionaryZ to become relevant. To become relevant we have to do things that others do not. Relevancy can be gained in many ways; translation to minor languages is a way for some, counting the characters in a word makes is a way for others. From my perspective, we become relevant by harbouring communities, special interest groups and allow them to make WiktionaryZ their project. When we maintain our core values of Freedom, of inclusiveness, of non-discriminatory access, of open standards we will be relevant to some if not to all.

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More challenge, not less, turns kids onto math William Johntz was casting about for ways to engage inner-city remedial students in math. Finally, it hit him: Give them harder material.Skip to next paragraph Subscribe Today to the Monitor The year was 1963. But the counterintuitive approach that the mathematician, psychologist, and math teacher set in motion during his lunch hours in Berkeley, Calif., is going strong four decades later. The failure of all American students to excel at math, particularly at high levels, has become a top issue among US educators. But minority students are an even greater concern. According to the 1996 National Assessment for Educational Progress, 78 percent of black students and 68 percent of Hispanic eighth-graders scored below the basic level for math achievement, as opposed to 39 percent of white students. Project SEED (Special Elementary Education for the Disadvantaged) is out to balance that equation - based on Mr. Johntz's hunch that such students connect far better with rigorous math than they do with the remedial fare they are often offered. The Socratic method Its approach has remained largely unchanged since its start. Mathematicians are recruited to teach algebra, geometry, and calculus to kids in Grades 3 to 8 in participating public schools. They're trained in what SEED officials call the "Socratic method" of teaching: rapid-fire delivery of a series of questions designed to stimulate student thought. In an ideal SEED lesson, the teacher poses between 140 and 150 questions, but never answers a single one. The students ultimately provide all the answers. The class analyzes wrong answers as earnestly as correct ones, until everyone understands what works and why. In order to keep all engaged, every student is called on at least once during the lesson, although any student who isn't comfortable volunteering an answer may simply pass the question on to a classmate. To keep things lively, the kids learn hand signals (a shake of the hands means "disagree" and a wave of the arms means "agree") so there is rarely a moment during class when the students are not physically participating in what's being said or put on the board. SEED lessons have a crispness and energy that begins the moment the instructor steps in front of the blackboard and greets the students with the words, "Good morning [or afternoon], mathematicians." It carries on throughout the class as students are required to both use correct mathematical terms and demonstrate proper classroom etiquette when they provide answers, make comments, or ask questions. Sixth-grader Aprile Reynolds, for example, has just spent the past 45 minutes engaged in a lively classroom discussion about the multiplication and division of exponents in algebraic equations. She's a student at an inner-city Philadelphia public middle school with test scores that sag well below the average. Her class is not a grouping of advanced students, but rather a mix of kids of all ability levels, including several classified as "special education" students. Asked to sum up her feelings about algebra, Aprile shoots back: "Fun!"

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For the first time ever, a child infected with HIV has been declared cured by scientists. An unnamed two-year-old child in Mississippi no longer shows any detectable levels of HIV following aggressive treatment of antiretroviral drugs in its first days alive, and after receiving no medication for the past 10 months. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced the findings today, and they will be formally presented at a medical conference in Atlanta on Monday by doctors Deborah Persaud and Katherine Luzriaga, who lead the case. This is only the second well-documented case of anyone being cured of HIV. Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the “Berlin Patient,” was cured in 2011 after receiving a stem cell transplant. The hope from today’s announcement, of course, is that scientists will be able to replicate the technique to help other children infected with HIV. “Despite the fact that research has given us the tools to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, many infants are unfortunately still born infected,” NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a statement today. “With this case, it appears we may have not only a positive outcome for the particular child, but also a promising lead for additional research toward curing other children.” The child was born prematurely to a mother who didn’t receive prenatal care or antiretroviral medication. The child began liquid antiretroviral treatment at just 30 hours, and it was discharged after a week in the hospital with slightly different liquid treatment. After a month, the detected viral load in the child had fallen significantly (less than 50 copies of HIV per millileter of blood, according to the NIAID). The child continued to receive treatment until it was 18 months old (January 2012). When the child was tested again in the fall of 2012, doctors found undetectable levels of the virus. The child is now being treated by Dr. Hannah Gay at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “This case suggests that providing antiretroviral therapy within the very first few days of life to infants infected with HIV through their mothers via pregnancy or delivery may prevent HIV from establishing a reservoir, or hiding place, in their bodies and, therefore, achieve a cure for those children,” Dr. Persaud said in a statement today. Today’s announcement will likely go down as a major milestone for how children with HIV are treated. We’ll be exploring similar medical milestones, as well as the rise of smart health technology in general, at our HealthBeat conference later this year.

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- Special Sections As I walked around our backyard, I noticed that our rose bushes and various perennial plants are becoming green and lush. The tulip and daffodil bulbs have sprouted, dotting our landscape with flowers in shades of red and yellow. After our mild winter, I am mapping out our container gardens and flower beds. Yes, I like growing things. After all, “Garden” is my middle name. I couldn’t resist saying that. I can’t wait to get my hands dirty and test out the skills I learned in the Master Gardener classes last year. If you never have considered participating in this Extension Service program available in most states, if not all, think about it. Many people save gardening for their retirement years. Actually, gardening can have positive health benefits throughout life. Some researchers have found that when you live near a garden or participate in gardening as a child, you are more likely to show an interest in gardening as you grow older. However, if childhood gardening wasn’t part of your life, don’t be deterred. Be aware of the health benefits and the satisfaction that comes with gardening. Gardening can increase our physical activity, improve our fruit and vegetable consumption, and promote mental health. Some researchers have linked a decreased risk for diabetes and osteoporosis to the physical activity accumulated during gardening and other yard work. Physical activities, as well as balanced nutrition, are keys to managing diabetes. As we walk and lift, we put weight on our bones, which strengthens them and helps prevent osteoporosis. People who grow vegetables are more likely to eat them. According to a Michigan State University survey of 766 adults, participating in a community garden resulted in eating more fruits and vegetables. In fact, they were 3.5 times as likely to eat fruits and vegetables five times per day. Other studies have shown that gardening promotes bonding with your family and fosters life skills, including responsibility. If you have trouble sleeping or are coping with stressful life situations, gardening may help. Some researchers have found that gardening has a calming effect. If you are inspired to garden but do not have a lot of space for gardening, consider planting in containers. Container gardens can be grown on a patio, step or even in a window box. Try a salsa garden with tomatoes and peppers or try growing herbs in a window box. Tending your minigarden will not take a lot of time but could provide you with quite a bit of food. Here are some tips for planting in containers: Be sure your container has drainage holes so extra water doesn’t pool at the bottom and damage the roots. If you want to grow tomatoes, peppers or eggplant, gardening experts usually recommend 5-gallon containers. Smaller pots work well for green onions, lettuce and herbs. Add potting mix, not plain soil from your yard. Your soil needs to drain well. Choose seeds or plants. You can start your own seedlings in egg cartons or even an old cake pan. Fill the container with potting soil, add seeds and cover with about a half-inch of soil. Cover with a clear plastic bag, place in a warm, sunny area and water regularly. When the seedlings have four or more leaves, they are ready to transfer into the final pot. Find a sunny spot for your container. If your plants aren’t doing well in the spot you chose, move the container to a better place. Water often and fertilize according to the directions on the container. Container gardens need to be watered more than regular gardens, ideally at least once every morning. Add enough water on top of the soil so it begins to leak out the bottom. Be sure to pull weeds regularly. Weeds compete for space, water, nutrients and sunlight. For more information about growing plants and using your fresh produce and preserving it, see the NDSU Extension Service “Garden to Table” materials available at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/ndsuag/food-nutrition/from-garden-to-table. Here’s a colorful one-skillet recipe that features fresh peppers and onions. Fiesta Chicken and Vegetables 2 tsp. chili powder 1/4 tsp. pepper 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 pound total) 1 Tbsp. canola oil 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans 1 cup corn (canned or frozen) 3/4 c. bell pepper, diced (red, green, yellow) 1/2 c. onion, diced 1 c. salsa Combine the chili powder and pepper; rub over both sides of the chicken. In a large nonstick skillet, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for five to six minutes on each side or until meat thermometer reaches a temperature of 165 degrees. Remove and keep warm. Add the beans, corn, bell peppers, onion and salsa to skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for two to three minutes or until heated thoroughly. Transfer to serving dish and place chicken on top of the vegetable mixture. Makes four servings. Each serving has 320 calories, 7 grams (g) of fat, 33 g of protein, 30 g of carbohydrate, 8 g of fiber and 370 milligrams of sodium. Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D., R.D., L.R.D., is a North Dakota State University Extension Service food and nutrition specialist and associate professor in the Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences.

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Orange Oil and Limonene The use of Orange Oil has become a popular alternative to harsh and sometimes dangerous household cleaners, pesticides and solvents. Because of its safeness and effectiveness, it is now considered an excellent alternative to many cleaning products and toxic chemicals that are often used as pesticides. How Orange Oil Is Produced The rind of an orange fruit contains glands that produce the essential Orange Oil. During the production of orange juice, this oil becomes a by-product through either steam distillation or extraction. The extraction process begins after the harvesting of oranges. The oranges are shipped to a processing and packaging plant where they are steam distilled for the production of orange juice. The essential oil of the Orange Oil is mainly composed of d-limonene that is extracted naturally from the orange rinds. The Benefits of Orange Oil and Limonene Limonene is considered environmentally friendly and relatively safe, which makes it a good alternative to harsh and toxic chemicals. With its powerful antiseptic abilities, it is a highly effective cleaning product. It also contains solvent properties that are often used in many products such as stain removers, strippers and adhesives. Due to its pesticide properties, it is now being used as a safe alternative to toxic poisons that are often used by the pesticide industry. Limonene is also the source of the citrus fragrance, giving Orange Oil products their pleasant citrus aroma. Due to the safeness of Limonene, which is the major ingredient of Orange Oil, using Orange Oil around plants, people and animals is considered a better choice than potentially dangerous chemicals. Because of the many positive benefits of Orange Oil, it can be found in many building supply centers and retail stores as replacements for solvents, household cleaners and pesticides. Safety Issues of Orange Oil Although Orange Oil is considered safe, it can cause mild skin irritation and may irritate the respiratory tract. Gloves should be worn as well as proper ventilation when using Orange Oil. These products should always be kept in a safe place away from children. They are considered safer than other synthetic and caustic chemicals, but Orange Oil can still be toxic and should never be ingested. Orange Oil products are also flammable. Making Orange Oil Extract The essential oil from oranges offers many health benefits. To make at home the orange peels must be dried and then grinded. They are then placed in a mason jar and covered with grain alcohol. The jar should then be shaken vigorously for a couple of minutes and then shaken again in a couple of days. Using grain alcohol that has been warmed will help produce more orange oil. The mixture should then be drained through a coffee filter and poured into a shallow dish. Cover the dish using a cloth material to allow the mixture to breathe and evaporate the alcohol. Once this is completed, the remaining liquid will be the orange oil. When making your own orange oil, be sure to wear gloves and keep away from children and open flames. This also applies to the finished product, as orange oil is very corrosive and flammable. For cleaning uses, use a quart of water mixed with a quarter of an ounce of oil. Always test the oil before using on large areas. Read also about some citrus oils: lemon oil, lime oil and lemongrass oil. And other useful essential oils such as lavender oil and many uses in aromatherapy, jojoba oil and its incredible benefits, peppermint oil and its natural healing, grapeseed oil.

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A unionized job once meant a secure path to a middle-class life. Labor unions are still big political players, but they have seen a steady decline in membership and clout since their heyday in the 1950s. Where they stand: President Barack Obama has signed a series of executive orders that encourage the use of union labor in federal construction projects, ease union financial reporting requirements and more. He has also appointed labor-friendly members to the National Labor Relations Board, which has approved new rules to help union organizers and has more strictly enforced laws against anti-union misconduct. Republican Mitt Romney says he will reverse all of Obama’s executive orders that help unions, seek to prohibit unions from using automatic dues deductions for politics and strive for national right-to-work legislation that prohibits unions from collecting dues from nonmembers. Why it matters: Unions long have been viewed as a way for workers to gain job protections, boost wages and achieve benefits. Many business leaders see unions as limiting employer flexibility and sapping profits. About 14.8 million Americans are members of labor unions. The number has been declining for decades as domestic manufacturing jobs go overseas and businesses take a tougher approach in opposing union organizers. Organized labor now makes up just 11.8 percent of the work force — down from about a third of all workers in the 1950s. Union leaders have looked to the White House and Congress for help in organizing new members and increasing their influence in the workplace. But favorable union organizing rules approved by Obama’s appointees at the National Labor Relations Board have been tied up in the courts. And an effort to get Congress to pass card-check legislation, which would let unions organize new members simply by signing cards instead of holding elections, went nowhere during Obama’s first term. Obama didn’t do much to push the card-check law, which faced vigorous business opposition, but he did please unions with his federal bailout of the auto industry and passage of a huge stimulus package — both credited with saving thousands of union jobs. Romney opposed both moves. Last year, the labor board’s general counsel outraged business groups when he filed a lawsuit against Boeing Co., saying the company was punishing union members in Washington state by opening a new plant in right-to-work South Carolina. While both sides ultimately settled the dispute, Romney says he wants to amend labor laws to prevent the board from interfering with business investment decisions. In the public sector, where unions had seen some of their steadiest growth in recent years, Republican governors in states such as Wisconsin and Ohio have pushed laws seeking to curb collective bargaining rights for state workers. They argue that such limits are necessary to roll back generous pension and benefit packages that cash-strapped governments no longer can afford. Romney has praised efforts to limit collective bargaining rights for public workers, while Obama has denounced them. In fact, the Obama administration for the first time granted limited union rights to more than 40,000 federal workers who screen passengers at the nation’s airports. Despite massive public protests against measures limiting union rights and some court successes by organized labor, polls find unions less popular than in past decades. They were viewed favorably by 52 percent of Gallup respondents in August. Even Democratic leaders in New York, California and other states have sought to limit pensions for state employees and make union members contribute a greater share of health benefits. Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP More Related Stories - Is the Environmental Defense Fund ruining environmentalism? - Top 5 investigative videos of the week: "Winning" Afghanistan - Jester clowns Westboro Baptist Church - GOP: Party of crybabies - Developers evict historic women's shelter to build luxury hotel - Guantánamo prisoner on hunger strike cries for help on Twitter - 3 possible solutions to international tax avoidance - “I just want the U.S. to send my father home” - Army weapons engineer tied to white nationalist organizations - Ted Cruz against the world - David Vitter's hypocritical, punitive, horrible new amendment - Louie Gohmert: Women should be forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to term - Could hackers destroy the U.S. power grid? - Democrats may be even worse than Republicans at regulating Wall Street - Eric Holder versus journalism - A progressive defense of drones - There's no substitute for government disaster relief - Holder signed off on search warrant for reporter - Mississippi could begin prosecuting women for miscarriages - Mike Judge: "Bowling for Columbine" made me pro-gun - Closing Gitmo is not enough Featured Slide Shows The week in 10 picsclose X - 1 of 11 Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town. Credit: AP/LM Otero Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences. Credit: AP/Matt Rourke A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy! Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage. Credit: AP/Molly Riley Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press. Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial. Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme. Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin. Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin Recent Slide Shows - 1 of 11

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June 1, 2010 Six public health challenges and data needs are evident, based upon lessons learned from the 2009 influenza pandemic. These are the conclusions of Maria Van Kerkhove and colleagues published in this week's PLoS Medicine, which they argue can help shape the response and readiness for future pandemics. As the global epidemiology of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza (H1N1pdm) virus strain unfolds into 2010, substantial policy challenges will continue to present themselves for the next 12 to 18 months. These are: measuring age-specific immunity to infection; accurately quantifying severity; improving treatment outcomes for severe cases; quantifying the effectiveness of interventions; capturing the full impact of the pandemic on mortality; and rapidly identifying and responding to antigenic variants. The authors argue that serological surveys and monitoring time-sources are critical sources of pandemic data, which need better dissem ination. They suggest that "some of the most valuable data, such as estimates of age-specific serological attack rates, have not become available until far after the time when it would have been needed to support decision making." Other social bookmarking and sharing tools: - Van Kerkhove MD, Asikainen T, Becker NG, Bjorge S, Desenclos J-C, et al. (2010). Studies Needed to Address Public Health Challenges of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Insights from Modeling. PLoS Med, 7(6):e1000275 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000275 Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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The pharmaceutical industry reaps billions from the sale of statins, the top selling prescription drug in the world. But instead of taking drugs, putting some thought and discipline in a cholesterol-lowering diet could bring better results. Plus, a recent study found that a combination of cholesterol-lowering foods gets rid of more bad LDL cholesterol than a diet low in saturated fat. As the science of dietary therapy to reduce cholesterol has evolved, eating a diet based on certain combinations of foods with cholesterol-lowering properties has shown promise, but for the first time, Dr. David Jenkins, a professor of nutrition and metabolism at University of Toronto designed a study comparing the long term effects of such a diet with conventional wisdom. His research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that so called cholesterol-friendly foods, like soy products and tree nuts produce superior results when it comes to lowering LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol levels. The cholesterol lowering diet Jenkins and his colleagues recruited 351 people with high cholesterol levels from four Canadian universities. They designed two separate diets. The control diet was based on foods recommended by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for lowering cholesterol. The alternative diet combined foods the latest research has shown to deliver the maximum benefit in lowering cholesterol and preventing heart disease, including tree nuts and lots of fiber from oats, barley and vegetables. Butter was replaced with margarine enriched with naturally occurring phytochemicals and meat was replaced with soy-based products. After six months of the study, participants eating the alternative diet based on cholesterol-lowering foods saw their LDL “bad” cholesterol levels decrease a whopping 13 percent. Bad cholesterol for those following the traditional diet low in saturated fats decreased just 3 percent. The alternative diet produced those impressive results with a strict vegetarian regimen and many participants fell by the wayside. However, the study demonstrated that even small changes in the way one eats, if those changes are designed by a nutritionist with knowledge of the most appropriate food combinations, can significantly lower cholesterol without statin drugs. The most potent cholesterol-lowering foods Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods: Five to 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your total and LDL cholesterol. Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas, you’ll add about 4 more grams of fiber. Fish and omega-3 fatty acids: The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are in, mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, salmon and halibut. Walnuts, almonds and other nuts: nuts are high in calories, so a handful a day will do. (1.5 ounces, or 42.5 grams). To avoid eating too many nuts, replace foods high in saturated fat with nuts. For example, instead of using cheese, meat or croutons in your salad, add a handful of nuts. Olive oil: contains a potent mix of antioxidants that can lower your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol but leave your “good” (HDL) cholesterol untouched. Sauté. vegetables in it, add it to a marinade, or mix it with vinegar as a salad dressing. You can also use olive oil as a substitute for butter when basting meat or as a dip for bread. Foods with added plant stanols: stanols are natural phytochemicals that block the absorption of cholesterol. Margarines, orange juice and yogurt drinks with added plant sterols can help reduce LDL cholesterol by more than 10 percent and don’t appear to affect levels of good cholesterol.

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli archaeologists are scratching their heads over a possible 8,500-year-old murder mystery after discovering two skeletons at the bottom of an ancient well. Flint sickle blades and arrowheads found in the eight-meter (26 foot)-deep Stone Age well in the Jezreel Valley in Israel's Galilee region, suggest it was used by the area's first farmers. But archaeologists cannot explain why the skeletal remains of a woman, believed by archaeologists to have been aged about 19, and those of an older man were also uncovered deep inside the now-dry well. "How did these come to be in the well? Was this an accident or perhaps murder? As of now the answer to this question remains a mystery," the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement. Yotam Tepper, who directed the excavation on behalf of the Authority, said that "what is clear, is that after these unknown individuals fell into the well, it was no longer used for the simple reason that the well water was contaminated and was no longer potable". (Writing by Jeffrey Heller, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Date of this Version One factor that potentially affects coyote (Canis latrans) abundance is recreational and commercial trapping for harvest of coyote fur. Herein I report how the economic impact of coyote pelts has changed from 1979-94 for landowners and trappers from the Texas. Pelt values accounted for over 50% of the variability observed during this 15-year period. The future of this economic incentive for managing coyotes is questionable because of the impending ban by the European Union of furs from North America.

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Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers for National Geographic News |August 5, 2008| Deep in the hinterlands of the Republic of the Congo lies a secret ape paradise that is home to 125,000 western lowland gorillas, researchers announced today. The findings, if confirmed, would more than double the world's estimated population of gorillas. Western lowland gorillas are a subspecies classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Their numbers have been devastated in recent years by illegal hunting for bush meat and the spread of the Ebola virus. Just last year scientists projected the animals' population could fall as low as 50,000 by 2011. Now those predictions may have to be dramatically reworked to incorporate findings released today by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). A first ever ape census in northern Congo found 73,000 of the gorillas in that country's Ntokou-Pikounda region and 52,000 more in the Ndoki-Likouala area. The Ndoki population includes an obscure group of nearly 6,000 gorillas living in close quarters in isolated swamps near Lac Télé. "We knew there were apes there, we just had no idea how many," said WCS's Emma Stokes, one of the lead researchers in the two-year project. The gorillas have thrived thanks to their remoteness from human settlements, food-rich habitats, and two decades of conservation efforts in one of the world's poorest countries, Stokes said. Shy, But Plentiful Lowland gorillas are more common than their mountain cousins. The animals are found in tropical forests and swamps in Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Wary of humans, gorillas are notoriously hard to tally in the wild. To assess their populations, WCS researchers instead used data on the numbers and ages of so-called sleep nests, temporary bedding made of leaves and branches. Each group of lowland gorillas has a range of about 7.7 square miles (20 square kilometers), and the animals build the nests to sleep in each night before moving on in the morning. The census work involved crossing hundreds of miles to count nests, then loading data into a mathematical model that estimated the number of gorillas living within a defined area. In the 17,400-square-mile (28,000-square-kilometer) Ndoki-Likouala region, for example, the nest census found an estimated population density of 1.65 gorillas per square kilometer (equal to about 0.3 square mile). This means that about 46,200 western lowland gorillas likely live in the area, which runs west of the Sangha River to the border of the Central African Republic. An additional 6,000 gorillas reside in the region's 646-square-mile (1,040-square-kilometer) Batanga swamps. These wetlands, which are inaccessible to humans for more than half the year, house an estimated five to six apes per square kilometer. "That's the highest density I've seen," Stokes said, adding that the data suggest Ndoki-Likouala is the subspecies' "largest remaining stronghold." The discovery "shows that conservation in the Republic of Congo is working," said WCS president Steven Sanderson. Almost half the surveyed area lies within officially protected zones or inside timber concessions where logging companies have banned transport of protected animals and weapons on their roads. Researchers hope the latest census will encourage the government of Congo to establish a new national park in the Ntokou-Pikounda region. The census was presented today at the International Primatological Society conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, and some of the data will appear in an upcoming issue of the conservation journal Oryx. Perils of Counting Apes Several experts greeted the survey findings with a mix of excitement and caution. "If these new gorilla census figures are confirmed by further surveys, it would be the most exciting ape conservation news in years," said Craig Stanford of the Jane Goodall Research Center at the University of Southern California. "Nest census data are notorious for varying from one method to the next, however, and I think we should be cautious before assuming the world's known gorilla population has just doubled." Nesting data were among the factors used in a 2007 IUCN population assessment that placed the western lowland gorilla on the organization's Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN estimated the gorillas had declined by more than 60 percent over the past 25 years, and its scientists projected the apes' population could fall to 50,000 as the deadly Ebola virus penetrated deeper into their habitat. That report came with a caveat about the reliability of nest counts: "Technical problems with the conversion of ape nest density to estimates of gorilla density preclude a rigorous estimate of range-wide gorilla abundance." Peter Walsh of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, led the 2007 IUCN assessment. He repeated those concerns when he learned of WCS's findings in northern Congo. "It is not that I think that the numbers are necessarily too high," Walsh said. "It is just that I do not trust the assumptions made by the estimation models that are being used." John Oates, professor emeritus of anthropology at Hunter College in New York, noted that "what does seem clear is that there are still plenty of western gorillas in northern Congo." He remains cautious, however, about whether the new research should signal a change in status for the great apes. In addition to habitat loss and hunting, in recent years Ebola has ravaged gorilla habitats bordering the Ntokou-Pikounda survey area, killing 60 percent of the apes in nearby Odzala National Park. While WCS's Stokes said her survey found "no evidence of Ebola in Ntokou-Pikounda, our general philosophy is Ebola can hit anywhere, anytime." And with a 90 percent mortality rate among infected gorillas, Stokes thinks the animals deserve all the protection they can get. In general, the WCS findings demonstrate that our intensely observed planet still has its biological secrets, added Richard Bergl, curator of research at the North Carolina Zoo. "It is extraordinary that in this day and age," he said, "there could be a population of a hundred thousand or more gorillas that were essentially unknown to science." |© 1996-2008 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.|

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Can the Indian Point nuclear power plant in NY meet proposed new water intake rules? New York environmental regulators finalized rules to reduce cooling water intake by power plants and other industrial facilities to reduce fish kills by 90 percent. But this rule is about more than just fish and water. It could lead to the shutdown of the giant Indian Point and threaten the reliability of New York City's power supply. The state does not want to give Entergy Corp a water permit for the 2,045-megawatt Indian Point nuclear power plant unless the New Orleans-based company spends up to $2 billion to install a new water cooling system to protect fish in the Hudson River just 45 miles north of Manhattan. Without the state water permit, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission cannot relicense Indian Point's two reactors for another 20 years. The current reactor licenses expire in 2013 and 2015. The shutdown of Indian Point would cause power reliability problems and boost electric prices in New York City, according to the state's power grid operator, the New York ISO, and the city's power company, Consolidated Edison. Power plants use water to cool plant systems and condense the steam used to turn the turbine that generates electricity back into water. "Billions of fish are killed each year when they are caught up in the intake of cooling water for industrial processes," New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens said in a release. "The policy we are implementing today will reduce fish kills by 90 percent while allowing flexibility for the industry to reach our goal of protecting aquatic wildlife," he added. The DEC said it would flexible because it recognizes that all existing facilities may not be able install a closed cycle cooling system like the one the state wants at Indian Point. The DEC listed several existing power plants on its website that the state has allowed to modify open cycle cooling systems without installing closed cycle systems, including: NRG Energy's Dunkirk, Huntley and Arthur Kill, Entergy's FitzPatrick, GenOn Energy's Bowline, TransCanada's Ravenswood and Dynegy's Danskammer. "Closed-cycle cooling is not always an available technology for existing facilities as issues of space availability and compatibility of new technology with the facility's original design frequently make it infeasible to implement," the DEC said.

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03-21-2007 02:34 PM - last edited on 10-26-2007 11:06 AM by Jessica About To the Lighthouse The novel that established Virginia Woolf as a leading writer of the 20th century, To the Lighthouse is made up of three powerfully charged visions into the life of one family living in a summer house off the rocky coast of Scotland. As time winds its way through their lives, the Ramsays face, alone and simultaneously, the greatest of human challenges and triumphs -- the capacity for change. A moving portrait in miniature of family life, the novel also has profoundly universal implications, giving language to the silent space that separates people and the space that they transgress to reach each other. About Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf, who would become one of the 20th century's most celebrated novelists, was born in London on January 25, 1882, to Leslie and Julia Duckworth Stephen. The Stephens were a prominent family among England's literary and cultural elite. Leslie Stephen was a leading author and critic, as well as the founding editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, and his first wife, Harriet, was the daughter of the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray. Virginia had access to the works in her erudite father's extensive library, and she read them voraciously. Unlike her brothers, however, the brilliant, self-taught young woman was denied access to a university education, a fact that would inform her influential feminist works A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas. When Virginia was 13, her mother died, a traumatic event that triggered a mental breakdown, the first in a life intermittently plagued by severe depression. Virginia suffered another breakdown following the death of her father in 1904. While convalescing at the home of a family friend, she began to publish essays and reviews in the Guardian and the Times Literary Supplement. Later that year, Virginia moved with her siblings Vanessa, Thoby, and Adrian to a house in the Bloomsbury section of London. There, Thoby began holding informal gatherings of his Cambridge friends. Known as the Bloomsbury Group, this legendary artistic circle included artist Clive Bell, economist John Maynard Keynes, and writers Lytton Strachey and E. M. Forster. It was within this group that Virginia met novelist Leonard Woolf, whom she married in 1912. In 1917, Virginia and Leonard founded the Hogarth Press, which they ran from their home. Hogarth would become an influential press, publishing works by Katherine Mansfield, T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Vita Sackville-West, among others. Woolf wrote prolifically and in many forms: from extensive letters, diary entries, essays, and literary reviews to short stories and novels. She authored some of the most influential novels of the early 20th century, including Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and The Waves (1931). Her superb ear for language and her narrative conception of experience as "moments of being" earned her both renown among her contemporaries, as well as critical and financial success. Increasing depression and the impending atrocities of World War II proved too much for Woolf's sensitive nature. After completing her final novel, Between the Acts, amid bomb warnings and nationwide anxiety, Woolf penned a short suicide note to Leonard, filled her pockets with stones, and drowned herself in the River Ouse on March 28, 1941. Learn more about Virginia Woolf in Meet the Writers. Message Edited by Jessica on 10-26-2007 11:06 AM

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One day, a man, harried by the nagging of his wife, wandered into the Catskills near his home. The adventure that follows is one of America's most cherished folktales – Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle. For nearly two centuries, the myth of Henry Hudson's ghost and Rip's lengthy slumber have endured, adding to the delightful enchantment the Great Northern Catskills hold for many contemporary visitors. Rip is one of the Great Northern Catskills best-loved figureheads – a link to the past, as well as a present reminder of the region's unique place in American history. His tale goes something like this: Set in pre-Revolutionary New York, Rip Van Winkle lives a life of ease – much to the chagrin of his wife, Dame Van Winkle. Rip's passions include wandering through the Catskill Mountains and old-growth forests, being idle and enjoying life. He doesn't work for long however, and though itinerant, he is well loved by all in town. The children especially love the fanciful stories he tells. One day, Rip wanders off into the woods to escape his nagging wife. Hearing thunder, he unwittingly follows the ghosts of Henry Hudson's men deep into the wilderness. As the men play nine-pins, Rip imbibes a "magic potion" - quietly falling into a deep sleep. He wakens 20 years later, his beard grown long and his beloved dog, Wolf, nowhere to be found. Rip makes his way back into the village and discovers that the American Revolution has taken place. He is no longer recognizable, nor does he know any of the townspeople who greet him. Rip's luck holds out and it isn't long before he finds his place among his grown children – though much of his family has passed on – and resumes his habitual idleness. His tale is repeated and solemnly taken to heart by hen-pecked husbands who wish they could have shared in Rip's good fortune and slept through the atrocities of war. From the pages of Irving's cautionary tale, the sense of adventure and intrigue have taken on a life of their own. Even now, the lush mountains, verdant valleys, rivers and streams of the Great Northern Catskills have the enduring power to enchant, delight and rejuvenate. Rip Van Winkle today In the Great Northern Catskills of New York – Rip is everywhere. His legend is almost as big as Hudson's. From celebratory events and commemorative statues, to numerous business names and wonderful paintings at many of the historic lodges and resorts – Rip lives. The Rip Van Winkle Wine and Cheese Festival kicks off each year in May – celebrating the bounty of regional cheese-makers, wineries and much more. Play the "Catskill Seven," a series of golf courses along the Rip Van Winkle Golf Trail offering incredible views of the mountains and valleys. Explore the attractions such as the legendary "cloves" where Rip took his marathon nap. View the colorfully painted statues placed around the mountain-top region or hike to the top of Hunter Mountain and discover a larger-than-life sculpture of Rip Van Winkle. Envisioned by David Slutzky and carved by sculptor Kevin Van Hentenryck, the blue sandstone carving is meant to depict Rip as he awakens to discover his curious predicament. Discover the Great Northern Catskills of Greene County – a land steeped in lore, mythologized by history and loved by visitors and literary legends alike.

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Find DOE Collections DOE Physicists at Work Profiles of representative DOE-sponsored physicists doing research at universities and national laboratories Compiled by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information How do you figure out what is underground without digging a hole? Maybe you want to find oil, or a gas line; manage underground contamination; or locate a tunnel. A geophysicist can make measurements at the earth's surface and use that information to estimate what's underground - the structure, composition, and distribution of soil, rocks, fluids, and voids. "Geophysics is fun," says Patricia Berge, a geophysicist by training and now Division Leader for Earth Science within the Energy and Environment Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). "It's also often cheaper, faster, safer, and more practical than digging holes." For instance, you may want to avoid excavations or drilling because you have a large area to cover, or it would be expensive to dig holes, or you might spread contaminants or disturb artifacts, or it would simply take too long. "Now, the catch is what to measure and where," says Dr. Berge. "That is the challenge, the puzzle - where the fun really begins." The basic idea is to identify some measurable physical property that can be observed at the earth's surface and a value that will change with changes in the subsurface. This is a combination of physics and earth science, requiring an understanding of the earth and earth materials as well as an understanding of physical properties. Examples of the physical properties geophysicists use for underground imaging are the speed of sound in rocks (seismic measurements), small local changes in the earth's gravity field, and electromagnetic properties of rocks and soils. Careful placement of measurement equipment and ready availability of fast computers makes it possible to estimate the three-dimensional picture of the subsurface from the geophysical measurements. "Sometimes making the measurements can be tricky," says Dr. Berge. "When I worked at the U.S. Geological Survey, I flew in helicopters to put seismometers on rocky outcrops next to Alaskan glaciers." Over the course of her career, she's donned a wet suit to check a seismometer on the bottom of a lake; measured the speed of sound in the seafloor on a research ship that happened to be caught in a typhoon ("That part wasn't so much fun," says Dr. Berge); and taken measurements in 120-degree heat in Nevada. With all the excitement geophysics offers, still Dr. Berge chose a management path in physics. "Although my own research was fascinating, I wanted to influence future directions of research at a larger scale and contribute toward solving bigger problems of concern to the taxpayers," says Dr. Berge. Challenges include energy supply, environmental cleanup, hazard mitigation, and national security. "I would like to see the U.S. invest more research dollars in geothermal energy, cheaper and more effective monitoring of environmental cleanup, innovative hazard mitigation such as satellite-based tsunami warning systems, better methods for detecting and characterizing buried bunkers, and better methods for screening cargo containers," says Dr. Berge. "The world cannot afford to delay developing technical solutions to these difficult problems and it may take all the scientific expertise we have in the whole global population to make any progress at all," says Dr. Berge. "I became a manager in order to contribute to LLNL's vision for the future of earth science research, what areas we should be directing our efforts toward, where we should be going to solve problems that will be increasingly important over the next ten to twenty years." Though most of these challenges are not within her subspecialty in geophysics, significant progress will require geophysics research and interdisciplinary work by large teams of scientists - and that's where management comes into play. "As part of the management at LLNL, I can influence the future direction of research in earth science to be relevant to the nation's and the world's problems," says Dr. Berge. Dr. Berge received a BS in Geophysics and an AB in History from Stanford University in 1982 and worked for the Seismology Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey until 1986. In 1991 she received a PhD in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Hawaii and then joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher in the Earth Science Department. She was hired in a staff position at LLNL in 1994 and worked as a research geophysicist until 2002, when she assumed her current position. Her research at LLNL focused on how things like sand grains, clay, fluid-filled pores, and cracks might influence the speed of sound and other physical properties. "I hope this basic research will help geophysicists to make better and better images of the subsurface, improving current techniques and inventing new ones for use in geothermal fields, environmental cleanup sites, and anywhere that we need to do underground imaging in the future," says Dr. Berge. Dr. Berge’s articles accessed via OSTI: Please search the Information Bridge for additional papers by this researcher.

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- published: 29 Mar 2012 - views: 2435 - author: AlJazeeraEnglish The United States has suspended food aid to North Korea in response to a planned rocket launch next month. Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports from Washington. In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, or foreign aid) is a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another, given at least partly with the objective of benefiting the recipient country. It may have other functions as well: it may be given as a signal of diplomatic approval, or to strengthen a military ally, to reward a government for behaviour desired by the donor, to extend the donor's cultural influence, to provide infrastructure needed by the donor for resource extraction from the recipient country, or to gain other kinds of commercial access. Humanitarianism and altruism are, nevertheless, significant motivations for the giving of aid. Aid may be given by individuals, private organisations, or governments. Standards delimiting exactly the kinds of transfers that count as aid vary. For example, aid figures may or may not include transfers for military use: to cite one instance, the United States included military assistance in its aid figure until 1957 but no longer does. The most widely used measure of aid, "Official Development Assistance" (ODA) is such a figure. It is compiled by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The United Nations, the World Bank, and many scholars use the DAC's ODA figure as their main aid figure because it is easily available and reasonably consistently calculated over time and between countries. The DAC consists of 22 of the wealthiest Western industrialised countries plus the EU; it is a forum in which they coordinate their aid policies. Humanitarian aid or emergency aid is rapid assistance given to people in immediate distress by individuals, organisations, or governments to relieve suffering, during and after man-made emergencies (like wars) and natural disasters. The term often carries an international connotation, but this is not always the case. It is often distinguished from development aid by being focussed on relieving suffering caused by natural disaster or conflict, rather than removing the root causes of poverty or vulnerability. The provision of humanitarian aid or humanitarian response consists of the provision of vital services (such as food aid to prevent starvation) by aid agencies, and the provision of funding or in-kind services (like logistics or transport), usually through aid agencies or the government of the affected country. Humanitarian aid is distinguished from humanitarian intervention, which involves armed forces protecting civilians from violent oppression or genocide by state-supported actors. The Geneva Conventions give a mandate to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other impartial humanitarian organizations to provide assistance and protection of civilians during times of war. The ICRC, has been given a special role by the Geneva Conventions with respect to the visiting and monitoring of prisoners of war. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is mandated to coordinate the international humanitarian response to a natural disaster or complex emergency acting on the basis of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/182. The Sphere Project handbook, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, which was produced by a coalition of leading non-governmental humanitarian agencies, lists the following principles of humanitarian action: Development aid is aid given by developed countries to support development in general which can be economic development or social development in developing countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid as being aimed at alleviating poverty in the long term, rather than alleviating suffering in the short term. Official Development Assistance (ODA), mentioned above, is a commonly used measure of developmental aid. Development aid is given by governments through individual countries' international aid agencies and through multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, and by individuals through development charities such as ActionAid, Caritas, Care International or Oxfam. The offer to give development aid has to be understood in the context of the Cold War. The speech in which Harry Truman announced the foundation of NATO is also a fundamental document of development policy: In addition, we will provide military advice and equipment to free nations which will cooperate with us in the maintenance of peace and security. Fourth, we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas. More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas. For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and skill to relieve the suffering of these people. Aid from various sources can reach recipients through bilateral or multilateral delivery systems. Bilateral refers to government to government transfers. Multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank or UNICEF, pool aid from one or more sources and disperse it among many recipients. Aid is often pledged at one point in time, but disbursements (financial transfers) might not arrive until later. Private giving includes aid from charities, philanthropic organizations or businesses to recipient countries or programs within recipient counties. Most monetary flows between nations are not counted as aid. These include market based flows such as foreign direct investments and portfolio investments. Remittances from migrant workers to their home countries are not counted in aid numbers even though, by volume, it is twice as large as what is counted as aid. Additionally, military support is not counted. A major proportion of aid from donor nations is tied, mandating that a receiving nation spend on products and expertise originating only from the donor country. For example, Eritrea is forced to spend aid money on foreign goods and services to build a network of railways even though it is cheaper to use local expertise and resources. US law requires food aid be spent on buying food at home, instead of where the hungry live, and, as a result, half of what is spent is used on transport. Oxfam America and American Jewish World Service report that reforming US food aid programs could extend food aid to an additional 17.1 million people around the world. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as primary holders of developing countries' debt, attach structural adjustment conditionalities to loans which generally include the elimination of state subsidies and the privatization of state services. For example, the World Bank presses poor nations to eliminate subsidies for fertilizer even while many farmers cannot afford them at market prices. In the case of Malawi, almost five million of its 13 million people used to need emergency food aid. However, after the government changed policy and subsidies for fertilizer and seed were introduced, farmers produced record-breaking corn harvests in 2006 and 2007 as production leaped to 3.4 million in 2007 from 1.2 million in 2005, making Malawi a major food exporter. In the former Soviet states, the reconfiguration of public financing in their transition to a market economy called for reduced spending on health and education, sharply increasing poverty. Aid is seldom given from motives of pure altruism; for instance it is often given as a means of supporting an ally in international politics. It may also be given with the intention of influencing the political process in the receiving nation. Whether one considers such aid helpful may depend on whether one agrees with the agenda being pursued by the donor nation in a particular case. During the conflict between communism and capitalism in the twentieth century, the champions of those ideologies, the Soviet Union and the United States, each used aid to influence the internal politics of other nations, and to support their weaker allies. Perhaps the most notable example was the Marshall Plan by which the United States, largely successfully, sought to pull European nations toward capitalism and away from communism. Aid to underdeveloped countries has sometimes been criticized as being more in the interest of the donor than the recipient, or even a form of neocolonialism. S.K.B'. Asante lists some specific motives a donor may have for giving aid: defense support, market expansion, foreign investment, missionary enterprise, cultural extension. In recent decades, aid by organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank has been criticized as being primarily a tool used to open new areas up to global capitalists, and being only secondarily, if at all, concerned with the wellbeing of the people in the recipient countries. Besides criticism of motive, aid may be criticized simply on the grounds that it is not effective: i.e., it did not do what it was intended to do or help the people it was intended to help. This is essentially an economic criticism of aid. The two types of criticism are not entirely separate: critics of the ideology behind a piece of aid are likely to see it as ineffective; and indeed, ineffectiveness must imply some flaws in the ideology. Statistical studies have produced widely differing assessments of the correlation between aid and economic growth, and no firm consensus has emerged to suggest that foreign aid generally does boost growth. Some studies find a positive correlation, but others find either no correlation or a negative correlation. In the case of Africa, Asante (1985) gives the following assessment: Summing up the experience of African countries both at the national and at the regional levels it is no exaggeration to suggest that, on balance, foreign assistance, especially foreign capitalism, has been somewhat deleterious to African development. It must be admitted, however, that the pattern of development is complex and the effect upon it of foreign assistance is still not clearly determined. But the limited evidence available suggests that the forms in which foreign resources have been extended to Africa over the past twenty-five years, insofar as they are concerned with economic development, are, to a great extent, counterproductive. The economist William Easterly and others have argued that aid can often distort incentives in poor countries in various harmful ways. Aid can also involve inflows of money to poor countries that have some similarities to inflows of money from natural resources that provoke the resource curse. Many individuals and organizations criticize U.S. Aid. Emergency funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, for instance, are linked to a wide range of free-market policy prescriptions that some argue interfere in a country's sovereignty. Policy prescriptions from outsiders can do more harm as they might not fit the local environment. The IMF can be good at helping countries over a short problematic financial period, but for poor countries with long lasting issues it can cause harm. In his book The White Man's Burden, Easterly argued that if the IMF only gave adjustment loans to countries that can repay it, instead of forgiving debts or lending repetitively even if conditions are not met, it would maintain its credibility. In addition to the above criticisms, the logistics in which aid delivery occurs can be problematic. An earthquake in 2003 in Bam, Iran left tens of thousands of people in need of disaster zone aid. Although aid was flown in rapidly, regional belief systems, cultural backgrounds and even language seemed to have been omitted as a source of concern. Items such as religiously prohibited pork, and non-generic forms of medicine that lacked multilingual instructions came flooding in as relief. An implementation of aid can easily be problematic, causing more problems than it solves. James Shikwati, a Kenyan economist, has argued that foreign aid causes harm to the recipient nations, specifically because aid is distributed by local politicians, finances the creation of corrupt government such as that led by Dr Fredrick Chiluba in Zambia bureaucracies, and hollows out the local economy. In an interview in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, Shikwati uses the example of food aid delivered to Kenya in the form of a shipment of corn from America. Portions of the corn may be diverted by corrupt politicians to their own tribes, or sold on the black market at prices that undercut local food producers. Similarly, Kenyan recipients of donated Western clothing will not buy clothing from local tailors, putting the tailors out of business. In an episode of 20/20, John Stossel demonstrated the existence of secret government bank accounts which concealed foreign aid money destined for private purposes. Some believe that aid is offset by other economic programs such as agricultural subsidies. Mark Malloch Brown, former head of the United Nations Development Program, estimated that farm subsidies cost poor countries about US$50 billion a year in lost agricultural exports: "It is the extraordinary distortion of global trade, where the West spends $360 billion a year on protecting its agriculture with a network of subsidies and tariffs that costs developing countries about US$50 billion in potential lost agricultural exports. Fifty billion dollars is the equivalent of today's level of development assistance." In response to aid critics, a movement to reform U.S. foreign aid has started to gain momentum. In the United States, leaders of this movement include the Center for Global Development, Oxfam America, the Brookings Institution, InterAction, and Bread for the World. The various organizations have united to call for a new Foreign Assistance Act, a national development strategy, and a new cabinet-level department for development. As a result of these numerous criticisms, other proposals for supporting developing economies and poverty stricken societies. Some analysts, such as researchers at the Overseas Development Institute, argue that current support for the developing world suffers from a policy incoherence and that while some policies are designed to support the third world, other domestic policies undermine its impact, examples include: One measure of this policy incoherence is the Commitment to Development Index (CDI) published by the Center for Global Development . The index measures and evaluates 22 of the world's richest countries on policies that affect developing countries, in addition to simply aid. It shows that development policy is more than just aid; it also takes into account trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology. Thus, some states are beginning to go Beyond Aid and instead seek to ensure there is a policy coherence, for example see Common Agricultural Policy reform or Doha Development Round. This approach might see the nature of aid change from loans, debt cancellation, budget support etc., to supporting developing countries. This requires a strong political will, however, the results could potentially make aid far more effective and efficient. It is true that aid is rarely given for motives of pure altruism. However, it is important to look at where aid goes. For example, “only about one fifth of U.S. aid goes to countries classified by the OECD as ‘least developed.’” This “pro-rich” trend is not unique to the United States. According to Collier, “the middle income countries get aid because they are of much more commercial and political interest than the tiny markets and powerlessness of the bottom billion.” What this means is that, at the most basic level, aid is not targeting the most extreme poverty. The form of aid must also be considered. The World Bank, until recently, issued only loans, meaning that the country must repay both the loan and the interest rates. In contrast, the European Commission issues grants, which countries need not worry about paying back. This means that “loans have been going to the poorest countries and the grants to the middle-income countries.” Furthermore, consider the breakdown, where aid goes and for what purposes. In 2002, total gross foreign aid to all developing countries was $76 billion. Dollars that do not contribute to a country’s ability to support basic needs interventions are subtracted. Subtract $6 billion for debt relief grants. Subtract $11 billion, which is the amount developing countries paid to developed nations in that year in the form of loan repayments. Next, subtract the aid given to middle income countries, $16 billion. The remainder, $43 billion, is the amount that developing countries received in 2002. But only $12 billion went to low-income countries ($15 billion for all developing countries) in a form that could be deemed budget support for basic needs. The basic criticism of aid is that it neither goes where it was intended nor helps those intended. According to Collier, there are four known traps that contribute this problem. The first such trap is known as the conflict trap. Aid should not be used to finance military endeavors. It is difficult to “design aid in such a way that it works even in the environments of poor governance and poor policy that are most at risk of conflict.” The second trap is called the natural resource trap. Countries that are resource rich already have a large volume of capital flowing into their economies. However, it is not being used to its potential. The third trap occurs when a country is entirely landlocked, making it difficult for the country to engage in global trade. The fourth trap is that of bad governance. However, “there are three ways in which aid can potentially help turnarounds: incentives, skills, and reinforcement.” Policy conditionalities, or structural adjustments, were reservations put on aid until a government agreed to aid implemented in the 1980s. This did not work. Aid needs to somehow provide incentives for giving the people power. Power needs to be transferred from the governments to the people. Aid should be restructured in order to allow for skills building in country. According to Collier, “technical assistance is not negligible – money spent on countries with the skilled people who constitute technical assistance is a quarter of total aid flows.” The problem is not that too little money is being provided, rather that technical assistance is not country specific. Aid is also given as budget support, reinforcement for failing states. There is an opportune moment for assisting failing states but it must be done at the right time. Aid cannot be continually poured into failing states and be expected to produce a turnaround. However if aid is given at the opportune political moment, it can support turnarounds. Collier suggests that when that moment occurs “pour in the technical assistance as quickly as possible to help implement reform” and “then, after a few years, start pouring in the money for the government to spend.” Peter Singer argues that over the last three decades, “aid has added around one percentage point to the annual growth rate of the bottom billion.” He argues that this has made the difference between “stagnation and severe cumulative decline.” Aid can make progress towards reducing poverty worldwide, or at least help prevent cumulative decline. Currently, donor institutions make proposals for aid packages to recipient countries. The recipient countries then make a plan for how to use the aid based on how much money has been given to them. Alternatively, NGO's receive funding from private sources or the government, and then implement plans to end their specific issues. In the views of many scholars, this system is inherently ineffective. If we hope to eliminate poverty, we must reexamine how we distribute funding, and how we attack problems. According to Sachs, we should redefine how we think of aid. The first step should be to learn what developing countries hope to accomplish and how much money they need to accomplish those goals. Goals should be made with the Millennium Development Goals in mind for these furnish real metrics for providing basic needs. The “actual transfer of funds must be based on rigorous, country-specific plans that are developed through open and consultative processes, backed by good governance in the recipient countries, as well as careful planning and evaluation.” Possibilities are also emerging as some developing countries are experiencing rapid economic growth, they are able to provide their own expertise gained from their recent transition. This knowledge transfer can be seen in donors, such as Brazil, whose $1 billion in aid outstrips that of many traditional donors. Brazil provides most of its aid in the form of technical expertise and knowledge transfers. This has been descried by some observers as a 'global model in waiting'. Since the 1960s, improving the efficiency of foreign aid has been a common topic of academic research. There is debate on whether foreign aid is efficacious, but for the purposes of this article we will ignore that. Given that schema, a common debate is over which factors influence the overall economic efficiency of foreign aid. Indeed, there is debate about whether aid impact should be measured empirically at all, but again, we will limit our scope to increasing the economic efficiency. At the forefront of the aid debate has been the conflict between professor William Easterly of New York University and his ideological opposite, Jeffrey Sachs, from Columbia University. Easterly advocates the "searcher's" approach, while Sachs advocates a more top down, broad planned approach. We will discuss both of these at length. William Easterly offers a nontraditional, and somewhat controversial “searching” approach to solving poverty, as opposed to the “planned” approach in his famous critique of the more traditional Owen/Sachs, The White Man’s Burden. Traditional poverty reduction, Easterly claims is based on the idea that we know what is best for those countries, which are impoverished. He claims that they know what’s best. Having a top down “master plan,” he claims, is inefficient. His alternative, called the “Searchers” approach, uses a bottom up strategy. That is, this approach starts by surveying the poor in the countries in question, and then tries to directly aid individuals, rather than governments. Local markets are a key incentive structure. The primary example is of Mosquito nets in Malawi. In this example, an NGO sells Mosquito nets to rich Malawians, and uses the profits to subsidize cheap sales to the impoverished. Hospital nurses are used as middle-women, profiting a few cents on every net sold to a patient. This incentive structure has seen the usage of nets in Malawi spike over 40% in less than 7 years. One of the central tenets in Easterly’s approach is a more bottom up philosophy of aid. This applies not only to the identification of problems, but to the actual distribution of capital to the areas in need. In effect, Easterly would have countries go to the area which needed aid, collect information about the problem, find out what the population wanted, and then work from there. In keeping with this, funds would also be distributed from the bottom up, rather than being given to a specific government. Easterly also advocates working through currently existing Aid organizations, and letting them compete for funding. Utilizing preexisting national organizations and local frameworks would not only help give target populations a voice in implementation and goal setting, but is more efficient economically. Easterly argues that the preexisting frameworks already "know" what the problems are, as opposed to outside NGOs who tend to "guess". Easterly strongly discourages aid to government as a rule. He believes, for several reasons, that aid to small “bottom up” organizations and Individual groups is a better philosophy than to large governments. Easterly states that for far too long, inefficient aid organizations have been funded, and that this is a problem. The current system of evaluation for most aid organizations is internal. Easterly claims that the process is biased because organizations have a large incentive to represent their progress in a positive light. What he proposes as an alternative is an independent auditing system for aid organizations. Before receiving funding, the organization would state their goals and how they expect to measure and achieve them. If they do not meet their goals, Easterly proposes we shift our funding to organizations who are successful. This would prompt organizations to either become efficient, or obsolete. Easterly believes that aid goals should be small. In his opinion, one of the main failings of aid lies in the fact that we create large, utopian lists of things we hope to accomplish, without the means to actually see them to fruition. Rather than establish a utopian vision for a particular country, Easterly insists that we shift our focus to the most basic needs and improvements.If we feed, clothe, vaccinate, build infrastructure, and support markets, the macroscopic results will follow. The “Searching Approach” is intrinsically tied to the market. Easterly claims that the only way for poverty to truly end is for the poor to be given the capability to lift themselves out of poverty, and then for it to happen. Philosophically, this sounds like the traditional “bootstrap” theory, but it isn’t. What he says is that the poor should be given the fiscal support to create their market, which would give them the ability to become self reliant in the future. In the end of his book, Easterly proposes a voucher system for foreign aid. The poor would be distributed a certain amount of vouchers, which would act as currency, redeemable to aid organizations for services, medicines, and the like. These vouchers would then be redeemed by the aid organizations for more funding. In this way, the aid organization would be forced to compete, if by proxy. Sachs presents a near dichotomy to Easterly. Sachs presents a broad, proscriptive solution to poverty. In his book, The End of Poverty, he explains how throughout history, countries have ascended from poverty by following a relatively simple model. First, you promote agricultural development, then industrialize, embrace technology, and finally become modern. This is the standard “western” model of development that has been followed by countries such as China and India. Sachs main idea is that there should have a broad analytical “checklist” of things a country must attain before it can reach the next step on the ladder to development. Western nations should donate a percentage of their GDP as determined by the UN, and pump money into helping impoverished countries climb the ladder. Sachs insists that if followed, his strategy would eliminate poverty by 2025. Sachs advocates using a top down methodology, utilizing broad ranging plans developed by external aid organizations like the UN and World Bank. To Sachs, these plans are essential to a coherent and timely eradication of poverty.He surmises that if donor and recipient countries follow the plan, they will be able to climb out of poverty. Part of Sachs’ philosophy includes strengthening the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the United Nations. If those institutions are given the power to enact change, and freed from mitigating influences, then they will be much more effective. Sachs does not find fault in the international organizations themselves. Instead, he blames the member nations who compose them. The powerful nations of the world must make a commitment to end poverty, then stick to it. Sachs believes it is best to empower countries by utilizing their existing governments, rather than trying to circumnavigate them. He remarks that while the corruption argument is logically valid in that corruption harms the efficiency of aid, levels of corruption tend to be much higher on average for countries with low levels of GDP. He contends that this hurdle in government should not disqualify entire populations for much needed aid from the west. Sachs does not see the need for independent evaluators, and sees them as a detractor to proper progress. He argues that many facets of aid cannot be effectively quantified, and thus it is not fair to try to put empirical benchmarks on the effectiveness of aid. Sachs’ view makes it a point to attack and attempt to disprove many of the ideas that the more “pessimistic” Easterly stands on. First, he points to economic freedom. One of the common threads of logic In aid is that countries need to develop economically in order to rise from Poverty. On this, there is not a ton of debate. However, Sachs contends that Easterly, and many other neo-Liberal economists believe high levels of Economic freedom in these emerging markets is almost a necessity to Development. Sachs himself does not believe this. He cites the lack of Correlation between the average degrees of Economic Freedom in countries And their yearly GDP growth, which in his data set is completely Inconclusive. Also, Sachs contends that democratization is not an integral part of having Efficient aid distribution. Rather than attach strings to our aid dollars, or only Working with democracies or “good governments”, Sachs believes we should Consider the type of government in the needy country as a secondary Concern. Sachs’ entire approach stands on the assertion that abject poverty could be Ended worldwide by 2025. Dollar/Collier showed that current allocations of aid are allocated inefficiently. They came to the conclusion that aid money is given in many cases as an incentive to change policy, and for political reasons, which in many cases can be less efficient than the optimal condition. They agree that bad policy is detrimental to economic growth, which is a key component of poverty reduction, but have found that aid dollars do not significantly incentivize governments to change policy. In fact, they have negligible impact. As an alternative, Dollar proposes that aid be funneled more towards countries with “good” policy and less than optimal amounts of aid for their massive amounts of poverty. With respect to “optimal amounts” Dollar calculated the marginal productivity of each additional dollar of foreign aid for the countries sampled, and saw that some countries had very high rates of marginal productivity (each dollar went further), while others [with particularly high amounts of aid, and lower levels of poverty] had low [and sometimes negative] levels of marginal productivity. In terms of economic efficiency, aid funding would be best allocated towards countries whose marginal productivities per dollar were highest, and away from those countries who had low to negative marginal productivities. The conclusion was that while an estimated 10 million people are lifted from poverty with current aid policies, that number could be increased to 19 million with efficient aid allocation. In a followup study to Collier, Dalgaard finds that regardless of policies and utility, aid seems to be less efficient per dollar in the tropics. He states that aid dollars are likely to be just as effective anywhere, so there must be a mitigating externality that is not being accounted for. New Conditionality is the term used in a paper to describe somewhat of a compromise between Dollar and Hansen. Paul Mosely describes how policy is important, and that aid distribution is improper. However, unlike Dollar, “New Conditionality” claims that the most important factors in efficiency of aid are income distributions in the recipient country and corruption. One of the problems in foreign aid allocation is the marginalization of the fragile state. The fragile state, with its high volatility, and risk of failure scares away donors. The people of those states feel harm and are marginalized as a result. Additionally, the fate of neighboring states is important, as economies of the directly adjacent states to those impoverished, volatile “fragile states” can be negatively impacted by as much as 1.6% of their GDP per year. This is no small figure. McGillivray advocates for the reduced volatility of aid flows, which can only be attained through analysis and coordination. Beynon revisits Collier/Dollar’s “efficient aid allocation” and finds much of the same results, although he believes that the model needs to be more robust, with more samplings, and take into account other Millennium Development Goals. Aid often comes with conditions on its allocation. This is called Aid Conditionality. The two types of conditionality are Outcome and Process based conditionality. Outcome conditionality ties aid to a certain goal, while process conditionality ties aid to a certain method of implementation. These two forms of conditionality are often seen together. The problem with aid conditionality is that it not only restricts the local legislatures in how they shape their own country, but often removes local populations from the goal setting and decision making process entirely. Academic research has shown that in many instances, aid is conditionally tied due to political motives, rather than notions of proper policy and implementation. The European Union double standard of trade policy mentioned above is more illustrated in its trade with Latin America. In their April 2002 publication,Oxfarm Report reveals that aid tied to trade Liberalization by the donor countries such as the EU with the aim of achieving economic objective is becoming detrimental to developing countries.For example, the EU subsidizes its agricultural sectors in the expense of Latin America who must liberalize trade in order to qualify for aid. Latin America having, a comparative advantage on agriculture and mainly forms its export sector losts $ 4bn annually due to the EU farm subsidy policies. The aid money actually, instead of being used to finance other development infrastructure, ends up being used to fund terms of trade deficit brought about by trade liberalization. This inequalities and many others imposed upon developing countries have actually benefited the donor rather than the recipient.This cases clearly illustrate the evolution of development aid assistance from providing financial resource to fuel development to being a foreign policy tool used by donor countries to promote their domestic interests. while this can be considered controversial issues, addressing them adequately may help attain some effectiveness in development aid assistance goals. Axel Dreher showed that over the period 1951-2004, there was a robust positive relationship between United Nations Security Council membership and participation in Internation Monetary Fund programs. Additionally, conditions placed on Security Council member nations' aid are lower in number and severity. Member nations of the UNSC received on average .8 more World Bank loans per year. Seemingly in support of Bill Easterly's searcher's approach, Carlos Santiso found evidence that conditionality is quite harmful to development, and advocates a "radical approach in which donors cede control to the recipient country". Santiso also argues that neither good governance or democracy is sustainable without the other. Former USAID official Carol Lancaster, in her book Foreign Aid (2007) defines foreign aid as: "a voluntary transfer of public resources, from a government to another independent government, to an NGO, or to an international organization (such as the World Bank or the UN Development Program) with at least a 25 percent grant element, one goal of which is to better the human condition in the country receiving the aid." (p 9.) Both definitions employ the concept that benefit to the people of the receiving country must be one but not necessarily the only objective. 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Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.); Death notices Two newspaper clippings in plastic. The top clipping is smaller than the bottom clipping. Both clippings begin with "DEATH OF THE LORD JUSTICE CLERK --". Black paper inserted to offset page during scanning process. Dried rose petal. The bottom of the rose petal is a light brown color, and the middle and top of the rose petal are a dark brown color. The left side of the petal folds over. Blue paper inserted to offset page during scanning process. Dried petals in plastic. There are four individual dried flower petals, and two dried flowers with the stem and the petals still connected -one of the dried flowers has three petals still connected and the other dried flower has four petals still... Dried petals and a stem in plastic. The petals are light brown edged with dark brown. The stem is dark brown. There are four petals - two on each side of the stem. Green paper inserted to offset page during scanning process.

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Angioi, Simonetta Agostina and Rau, Domenico and Nanni, Laura and Bellucci, Elisa and Papa, Roberto and Attene, Giovanna (2011) The Genetic make-up of the European landraces of the common bean. Plant Genetic Resources: characterization and utilization, Vol. 9 (2), p. 197-201. eISSN 1479-263X. Article. Full text not available from this repository. Here, we present a brief overview of the main studies conducted on the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Europe and other countries outside its centres of origin. We focus on the proportions of the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools, and on the inter-gene pool hybridization events. In Europe, for chloroplast microsatellites, 67% of European germplasm is of Andean origin. Within Europe, interesting trends have been seen; indeed, the majority of the Andean type is found in the three macro-areas of the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and central-northern Europe, while, in eastern and south-eastern Europe, the proportion of the Mesoamerican type increased. On a local scale, the contribution of the Mesoamerican type is always low. On other continents, various situations are seen using different markers: in China and Brazil, the Mesoamerican gene pool prevails, while in an African sample, overall, both gene pools are equally represented, with differences in individual countries. The frequency of European bean genotypes deriving from at least one hybridization event was 44% with an uneven distribution. Interestingly, hybrids tend to have intermediate seed size in comparison with ‘pure’ Andean or Mesoamerican types. On other continents, very few hybrids are found, probably because of the different marker systems used. I documenti depositati in UnissResearch sono protetti dalle leggi che regolano il diritto d'autore Repository Staff Only: item control page

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Ryder's wealth derived from a simple idea that revolved around an easier way to package and sell seeds. You know those little paper envelopes that seeds can be purchased in? It was Ryder who first came up with the idea of selling seeds in packets. And the Ryder Cup competition germinated from another of his ideas. The Walker Cup, pitting teams of British and American amateur golfers, began play in 1922. A London newspaper report from 1925 states that Ryder had proposed such a competition for professional golfers. In 1926, Ryder commissioned and paid for the trophy that now bears his name, and the first official Ryder Cup competition was played in 1927. Back to Ryder Cup FAQ Index

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The Brazilian compose, Heitor Villa-Lobos, learned music from his father, who was a widely-read, highly-cultured amateur of music and a librarian. By the turn of the century Villa-Lobos had turned himself into a professional musician. He earned his living as a cafe musician; his instrument was the cello. n 1905 Heitor Villa-Lobos made the first of his trips to Brazil's north-eastern states, to collect folk music. Such trips would continue in the future, though Villa-Lobos spun a web of mystery around them; his own testimony of adventures with the cannibal tribes of the North-East is not always trustworthy. Afterwards, he studied at the National Institute of Music in Rio de Janeiro, though his compositional style never conformed to any academic norms. His music remained always personal and idiosyncratic. As Villa-Lobos himself said many years later: "My music is natural, like a waterfall." Also: "One foot in the academy and you are changed for the worst!" After another ethno-musicological trip to the Amazonian interior in 1912, Heitor Villa-Lobos returned to Rio de Janeiro. There, on November 13, 1915, he turned the city on its ear with a concert of his new music. By 1923, he had attracted enough official favour to win a government grant to study in Paris. On his return in 1930, Villa-Lobos was made director of music education in Rio de Janeiro. Thus began Heitor Villa-Lobos' glorious second career: pedagogue of music for his country. He designed a complete system of musical instruction for generations of Brazilians, based upon Brazil's rich musical culture, and rooted in a deep and always explicit patriotism. He composed choral music for huge choirs of school children, often adaptations of folk material. His legacy in the Brazil of today, even amongst new generations brought up with the samba-schools or MTV, is a strong feeling of pride and love, intertwined with similar feelings for their country. This is surprising, considering that this is a "classical" composer dead now for more than 35 years; a North American parallel would be hard to find. In 1944, Heitor Villa-Lobos made a trip to the United States to conduct his works, to critical and even some popular acclaim. Important new works were commissioned by American orchestras, and he even wrote a movie score for Hollywood, for the interesting 1945 film The Green Mansions. The 1940's were a period of triumph on an international scale. As a composer and conductor of his own music, Villa Lobos was lionized from Los Angeles to New York to Paris. In spite of his world travels, his home was always in Rio de Janeiro. There he died, on November 17, 1959. Heitor Villa-Lobos' His earliest pieces originated in guitar improvisations, for example Panqueca ("Pancake") of 1900. The concert series of 1915-1921 included first performances of pieces demonstrating originality and virtuosic technique. Some of these pieces are early examples of elements of importance throughout his œuvre. His attachment to the Iberian Peninsula is demonstrated in Canção Ibéria of 1914 and in orchestral transcriptions of some of Enrique Granados' piano Goyescas (1918, now lost). Other themes that were to recur in his later work include the anguish and despair of the piece Desesperança - Sonata Phantastica e Capricciosa No. 1 (1915), a violin sonata including "histrionic and violently contrasting emotions", the birds of L'oiseau blessé d'une flèche (1913), the mother-child relationship (not usually a happy one in Villa-Lobos's music) in Les mères of 1914, and the flowers of Suíte floral for piano of 1916-1918 which reappeared in Distribuição de flores for flute and guitar of 1937. Reconciling European tradition and Brazilian influences was also an element that bore fruit more formally later. His earliest published work Pequena suíte for cello and piano of 1913 shows a love for the cello, but is not notably Brazilian, although it contains elements that were to resurface later. His three-movement String Quartet No. 1 (Suíte graciosa) of 1915 (expanded to six movements c1947) is influenced by European opera, while Três danças características (africanas e indígenas) of 1914-1916 for piano, later arranged for octet and subsequently orchestrated, is radically influenced by the tribal music of the Caripunas Indians of Mato Grosso. With his tone poems Amazonas (1916, first performed in Paris in 1929) and Uirapurú (1916, first performed 1935) he created works dominated by indigenous Brazilian influences. The works use Brazilian folk tales and characters, imitations of the sounds of the jungle and its fauna, imitations of the sound of the nose-flute by the violinophone, and not least imitations of the uirapurú itself. His meeting with Artur Rubinstein in 1918 prompted Heitor Villa-Lobos to compose piano music such as Simples coletânea of 1919 - which was possibly influenced by Rubinstein's playing of Ravel and Scriabin on his South American tours - and Bailado infernal of 1920. The latter piece includes the tempi and expression markings "vertiginoso e frenético", "infernal" and "mais vivo ainda" ("faster still"). Carnaval des crianças of 1919-1920 saw Villa-Lobos's mature style emerge; unconstrained by the use of traditional formulae or any requirement for dramatic tension, the piece at times imitates a mouth organ, children's dances, a harlequinade, and ends with an impression of the carnival parade. This work was orchestrated in 1929 with new linking passages and a new title, Momoprecoce. Naïveté and innocence is also heard in the piano suites A Prole do Bebê ("The Baby's Family") of 1918-1921. Around this time he also fused urban Brazilian influences and impressions, for example in his Quarteto simbólico of 1921. He included the urban street music of the chorões, who were groups containing flute, clarinet and cavaquinho (a Brazilian guitar), and often also including ophicleide, trombones or percussion. Villa-Lobos occasionally joined such bands. Early works showing this influence were incorporated into the Suíte popular brasileiro of 1908-1912 assembled by his publisher, and more mature works include the Sexteto místico (c1955, replacing a lost and probably unfinished one begun in 1917), and Canções típicas brasileiras of 1919. His guitar studies are also influenced by the music of the chorões. All the elements mentioned so far are fused in Villa-Lobos's Nonet. Subtitled Impressão rápida do todo o Brasil ("A brief impression of the whole of Brazil"), the title of the work denotes it as ostensibly chamber music, but it is scored for flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, celesta, harp, piano, a large percussion battery requiring at least two players, and a mixed chorus. In Paris, his musical vocabulary established, Heitor Villa-Lobos solved the problem of his works' form. It was perceived as an incongruity that his Brazilian impressionism should be expressed in the form of quartets and sonatas. He developed new forms to free his imagination from the constraints of conventional musical development such as that required in sonata form. The multi-sectional poema form may be seen in the Suite for Voice and Violin, which is somewhat like a triptych, and the Poema da criança e sua mama for voice, flute, clarinet, and cello (1923). The extended Rudepoema for piano, written for Rubinstein, is a multi-layered work, often requiring notation on several staves, and is both experimental and demanding. Wright calls it "the most impressive result" of this formal development.The Ciranda, or Cirandinha is a stylised treatment of simple Brazilian folk melodies in a wide variety of moods. A ciranda is a child's singing game, but Villa-Lobos's treatment in the works he gave this title are sophisticated. Another form was the Chôro. Villa-Lobos composed more than a dozen works with this title for various instruments, mostly in the years 1924-1929. He described them as "a new form of musical composition", a transformation of thBrazilian music and sounds "by the personality of the composer". After the revolution of 1930, Villa-Lobos became something of a demagogue. He composed more backward-looking music such as the Missa São Sebastião of 1937, and published teaching pieces and ideological writings. Heitor Villa-Lobos also composed between 1930 and 1945 nine pieces he called Bachianas brasileiras ("Brazilian Bach pieces"). These take the forms and nationalism of the Chôros, and add the composer's love of Bach. Villa-Lobos's use of archaisms was not new (an early example is his Pequena suíte for cello and piano, of 1913). The pieces evolved over the period rather than being conceived as a whole, some of them being revised or added to. They contain some of his most popular music, such as No. 5 for soprano and 8 cellos (1938-1945), and No. 2 for orchestra of 1930 (the Tocata movement of which is O trenzinho do caipira, "The little train of the Caipira"). They also show the composer's love for the tonal qualities of the cello, both No. 1 and No. 8 being scored for no other instruments. In these works the often harsh dissonances of his earlier music are less evident: or, as Simon Wright puts it, they are "sweetened". The transformation of Chôros into Bachianas brasileiras is demonstrated clearly by the comparison of No. 6 for flute and bassoon with the earlier Chôros No. 2 for flute and clarinet. The dissonances of the later piece are more controlled, the forward direction of the music easier to discern. Bachianas brasileiras No. 9 takes the concept so far as to be an abstract Prelude and Fugue, a complete distillation of the composer's national influences. Villa-Lobos eventually recorded all nine of these works for EMI in Paris, mostly with the musicians of the Orchestre National de France; these were originally issued on LP's and later reissued on CD's. He also recorded the first section of Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 with Bidu Sayão and a group of cellists for Columbia. During his period at SEMA, Villa-Lobos composed five string quartets, Nos. 5 to 9, which explored avenues opened by his public music that dominated his output. He also wrote more music for Segovia, the Cinq préludes, which also demonstrate a further formalisation of his composition style. After the fall of the Vargas government, Villa-Lobos returned full-time to composition, resuming a prolific rate of completing works. His concertos - particularly those for guitar, harp and harmonica— are examples of his earlier poema form. The harp concerto is a large work, and shows a new propensity to focus on a small detail, then to fade it and bring another detail to the foreground. This technique also occurs in his final opera, Yerma, which contains a series of scenes each of which establishes an atmosphere, similarly to the earlier Momoprecoce. Villa-Lobos's final major work was the music for the film Green Mansions (though in the end, most of his score was replaced with music by Bronislaw Kaper), and its arrangement as Floresta do Amazonas for orchestra, and some short songs issued separately. In 1957, he wrote a 17th String Quartet, whose austerity of technique and emotional intensity "provide a eulogy to his craft". His Benedita Sabedoria, a sequence of a capella chorales written in 1958, is a similarly simple setting of Latin biblical texts. These works lack the pictorialism of his more public music. Except for the lost works, the Nonetto, the two concerted works for violin and orchestra, Suite for Piano and Orchestra, a number of the symphonic poems, most of his choral music and all of the operas, his music is well represented on the world's recital and concert stages and on CD.

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the Great Giovanni Belzoni Rev. George Lee ’s change from a foreign controlled province to a territory of the occurred in 1798. became a state. On December 10, 1817, was formally admitted to the Every year more counties were added in the state and The present Belzoni area was at that time in the new and was completely isolated from its county seat, , and the rest of the county with no roads, no law, no name, no organization of any kind, and very few settlers that we know of. This area was known as the Dark Corner of Washington County, for it was too far away for the county law enforcers to bother about. became a state, the Indians were removed between 1830 and 1840, and about 7,500,000 acres of land were sold. The wealthy aristocrats were beginning to recognize the fact that this was rich land and began to seek government land grants in this area by 1820 and 1830. The corn was high, the cotton was great, and there was no longer an Indian threat. Wild game was plentiful and this was a land of opportunity for those willing to brave the wild, uncleared and unhealthy territory. The first large land grant of this area was awarded in 1832 to William Hamer of and probably from Vicksburg, and Alvarez Fisk, a wealthy aristocrat. Hamer must have been a land speculator, as his half of the grant was sold immediately to Fisk. The first records refer to his property as Fisk Plantation, and later it is recorded as Fisk or Belzoni Mr. Fisk played a prominent role in educational, philanthropic and religious activities. He founded and donated the property for the library which was once called the Fisk Library or the Natchez Public Library. Mr. Fisk also gave property upon which to construct the Natchez Institute, a public school. Mr. Fisk was a shrewd business man and knew a good thing when he saw it. Such an opportunity occurred in 1832 when he obtained a sizable portion of land which now comprised the Belzoni area. Government entry of the Fisk-Hamer land grant is dated May 2, 1832. The consideration on the grant was listed as $217.75. Three years later we find that Fisk gave a General Warranty Deed to A.T. McMurtray, Stephen Castleman, and Oscar Ross. They were sold only a portion of the land (on the east side of the river) for $80,000 described as a tract lying in Washington County fronting on river, 60 miles above Manchester (the name of Yazoo City then) consisting of 2,120 acres. The Fisk family retained the land on the west side of the River, known as Fisk Landing or Belzoni Landing, a part of Belzoni Plantation, and what is now the City of Belzoni. Alvarez Fisk so admired The Great Belzoni that he named his plantation for this Italian showman, engineer, and explorer of Egyptian antiquities. The first settlement was at Burtonia Landing, a little south of Fisk Landing, but due to the area burning in 1888, the entire population moved farther up the river and began to rebuild on the present site of the City of First known as “Greasy Row” for the row of saloons along the river front, it was in 1895 that Steve Castleman went to to see Governor Stone and secured a charter of incorporation from the state naming Belzoni a village. Steve Castleman was appointed the first The first fight for began as far back as 1870 when Col. James R. Powell, owner of Daybreak, conceived the idea of forming a new county from parts of the other counties. With Burtonia as the county seat, the new county was to be named He had a survey and map of the county made and went before the legislature that year. He fought the battle practically alone, and went before every Legislature for something like 12 years. When he died and efforts for the new county seemed to have died with him, nothing more was done about it until ten years later when Col. R. V. Powers of caught the vision and undertook to renew the fight. He was unsuccessful in his attempts. In 1912 the fight was renewed, but failed. In 1916 a new administration was put in power and state politics again entered the matter. In 1918 the fight was renewed proposing to name the The facts and figures published and scattered on the desks of the Senators and Representatives were that the creation of the county would take from Washington County 155 square miles leaving that county 722 square miles. From Sharkey it would take 18 square miles, leaving 2465; from Sunflower some 22 square miles leaving 668; from Yazoo 143 Square miles leaving 895; and from Holmes 74 square miles leaving 760 - thus making Humphreys County 412 square miles. was named for former Governor Benjamin Grubbs Humphreys, 1865-1868.

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The paradigmatic example of “crimes against humanity” is what the Nazis did to the Jewish people. This is where the concept of “crimes against humanity” originally came from. And this is what the U.N. Human Rights Council determined that Israel is doing to the Palestinian people. - Flawed Financial System: Governments Held Hostage by the “Too Big to Fail” Banks (TBTF) - No Bear Market In Gold. “Bullish Sentiment” in the Market for Physical Gold Bullion - European Union Directly Funds Al Qaeda Looting of Syrian oil - Is EVERY Market Rigged? - Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan? - Threat to the Hegemony of the US Dollar? Rigged Gold Bullion Market Law and Justice After four weeks of testimony and over 70 witnesses in a civil trial in Memphis, Tennessee, twelve jurors reached a unanimous verdict on December 8, 1999 that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. The crimes committed in the name of 9/11 involving acts of war are far-reaching, resulting in the deaths of millions of people as well as the destruction of entire countries.

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We do magic to Maps *Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons For more than two decades, the Emperor of Japan had instituted sweeping changes to the culture of his country, diminishing the influence of the shoguns in order to bring the nation into the 19th century politically. On February 11, 1889, a new Meiji Constitution established a European-style monarchy hinted at by the Restoration of 1868. In creating the new system, leaders created a formal legal code for the first time in Japanese history. Much of what passed for law in Japan amounted to little more than tradition for better than a thousand years. Sometime in the 500s, a ritsuryo copied from the Chinese gave the Emperor power over a labyrinthine system of bureaucrats and local rulers. Periodically revised to provide explanations or streamline statutes for two centuries, the final document along these lines, the Yoro Code, was produced in 757. From then on, however, the imperial government devolved into a series of shogunates. These military-focused dictatorships operated much like their European counterparts of the same era: a shogun exercised control over a wide swath of territory with a number of loyal shugos (governors) ruling smaller sections which were, in turn, divided up amongst gokenin. When the call went out to raise an army for the shogun, each level of government gathered those below it. The imperial court, for its part, was forced to compete against the different shogunates in order to curry favor amongst the warrior class, leaving Japan with central authority defined by a group’s ability to exert military force and reward the soldiers who secured victory more than anything. In the middle of the 1800s, the most powerful faction of the Japanese ruling elite was the Tokugawa Shogunate, based in central Japan at Edo (modern Tokyo). Sakamoto Ryoma, a young samurai working in the Tokugawa Shogunate, became enamored with the ideas for modernization espoused by his boss, Katsu Kaishu. Believing imperial control would provide the best opportunity for Japan to rise to the level of the British, Russian and American militaries increasingly exerting influence in -- and bringing trade to -- Asia, Ryoma guided a negotiation for an alliance amongst the Satsuma and Choshu provinces to exert pressure on the Tokugawa. By the end of 1867, Emperor Meiji regained the position as head of state for the country thanks to this cooperation. (Ryoma did not live to see the fruits of his efforts, had been assassinated on December 10th.) The 16-month Boshin War followed, consolidating political power in Emperor Meiji’s Imperial Court as the remaining shoguns and samurai were slowly decimated. For the most part, the government quickly focused on the development of a more modern economy and a military capable of defending the homeland against the steel warships floating through the Sea of Japan. Some citizens wished for more. By the early 1880s, the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement voiced frustration with the lack of an elected representative body in the new system. Eager to see European ideals instituted beyond the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, the group clamored for civil rights and decreased taxes -- the Emperor and the small group of people surrounding him with direct control was no longer good enough. In response, Emperor Meiji directed Ito Hirobumi to travel the world studying the constitutional systems of the United States, Britain, France, Spain and Germany. Upon his return in 1885, Ito took over as Prime Minister and established a Privy Council to advise the Emperor in affairs of state. The last remnants of the classic Japanese government -- a Chancellor and Ministers of the Right and Left -- were gone. Following two years of discussion, evaluation and revision, the constitutional committee presented a draft to the Emperor in April 1888. Satisfied with its provisions and the protection of his role as the supreme figure in government, Emperor Meiji announced the new legal system to the public on February 11, 1889. The document would not come into force until late November 1890 but, in some ways, it hardly provided more for the Japanese public. (The only people allowed to vote, for example, were those men with enough land to pay large sums in property taxes.) Over the next 70 years, however, the full effects of the constitution would be seen by the world: Imperial power would be central to two wars with China, one with Russia and the involvement of the United States in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Following the Japanese surrender, the Meiji Constitution was replaced by a parliamentary system on May 3, 1947. Also On This Day: 1531 - King Henry VIII of England is recognized as the head of the Church of England 1826 - Swaminarayan composes Shikshapatri, a central text in the Swaminarayan Faith sect of Hinduism 1971 - The Seabed Treaty bans nuclear weapons testing in international waters 1979 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini takes control of Iran after the Islamic Revolution 1990 - Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison near Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years behind bars

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Legal Decisions Archive This section contains legal decisions regarding native treaty fishing rights. Quotes are taken directly from the decisions. Many Columbia River Indians reserved in their treaties "the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed places, in common with citizens of the Territory, and of erecting temporary buildings for curing them; together with the privilege of hunting, gathering roots and berries, and pasturing their horses and cattle upon open and unclaimed land." Treaty between the United States and the Yakama Nation of Indians, concluded at Camp Stevens, Walla Walla Valley, 9 June 1855, ratified by the Senate, 8 March 1859, proclaimed by the President of the United States, 18 April 1859. United States v. Winans, 1905 Only a limitation of [those aboriginal rights], however, was necessary and intended [by the treaties], not a taking away. In other words, the treaty was not a grant of rights to the Indians, but a grant of rights from them -- a reservation of those not granted. * Upheld the right of easement over private property Williams v. Seufert, 1916 * A test of the Winans decision in Oregon Tulee v. Washington, 1942 * Denied the state authority to demand that Indian fishers purchase licenses when fishing off-reservation * States can regulate Indian fishing is needed for conservation Puyallup V. Washington, 1968 The right to fish at those respective [off-reservation] places is not an exclusive one. Rather it is one 'in common with all citizens of the Territory.' Certainly the right of the latter may be regulated. And we see no reason why the right of the Indians may not also be regulated by an appropriate exercise of the police power of the state. * Indian off-reservation treaty fishing rights are subject to state regulation if necessary for conservation U.S. v. Oregon, 1969 Fishers asked the court to define the legal extent of state regulation of their fisheries. U.S. v. Oregon Judgement, 1969 * Indians have a right to a fair share of the harvestable catch Washington v. Puyallup, 1973 The Treaty does not give the Indians a federal right to pursue the last living steelhead until it enters their nets. * Set the standard for necessity of regulation for conservation in favor of the state Settler v. Lameer, 1974 * Protected tribal control of off-reservation fishing sites United States v. Washington, 1974 If alternative means and methods of . . . conservation regulation are available, the state cannot lawfully restrict the exercise of off-reservation treaty right fishing, even if the only alternatives are restriction of fishing by non-treaty fishermen, either commercially or otherwise, to the full extent necessary for conservation of fish. * Found that many state fishing laws were discriminatory to Indians * The state must prove that regulation is necessary for conservation * A fair share (as introduced in U.S. v. Oregon) is fifty percent of the harvestable catch Sohappy v. Smith, 1976 The state may limit treaty fishing only to the extent necessary to prevent the exercise of that right in a manner that will imperil the continued existence of the fish resource. * Fourteen members of the Yakama Nation sued Washington state. The state argued that treaty fishing rights were tribal, not individual and, therefore, the individuals had no standing in the court. The court decided on behalf of the Indians. David Sohappy was arrested several times for fishing the Columbia River. He defend his right to fish in court cases that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

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Playtime can be as important as class time for helping students perform their best. Recess is most children’s favorite period, and parents and teachers should encourage that trend, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Recess can be a critical time for development and social interaction, and in a new policy statement published in the journal Pediatrics, pediatricians from the AAP support the importance of having a scheduled break in the school day. “Children need to have downtime between complex cognitive challenges,” says Dr. Robert Murray, a pediatrician and professor of human nutrition at the Ohio State University who is a co-author of the statement. “They tend to be less able to process information the longer they are held to a task. It’s not enough to just switch from math to English. You actually have to take a break.” The AAP committee that developed the statement began its research in 2007, expecting to discover that recess is important as a physical outlet for children. What they found, however, was that playtime’s benefits extend beyond the physical. “We came to the realization that it really affects social, emotional and cognitive development in a much deeper way than we’d expected,” she says. “It helps children practice conflict resolution if we allow them unstructured play, and it lets them come back to class more ready to learn and less fidgety.” The policy could be a lifeline for the dwindling role recess plays in the school day as districts trim budgets and hours of instruction, and squeeze more academic subjects into existing or even fewer school days, often sacrificing recess in the process. A year ago, a national survey found that just six states — Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Illinois and Iowa — adhere to standards from the National Association for Sports and Physical Education that schoolchildren participate in 150 minutes a week of physical education. And just three states — Delaware, Virginia and Nebraska — have 20 minutes of mandatory elementary-school recess a day, according to research published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Since the 1990s, 73% of elementary school students through sixth grade have some form of daily recess, though it can vary widely between districts and even from school to school. That inconsistency could have serious implications for children’s health, says Catherine Ramstetter, Murray’s co-author and a health educator at Cincinnati’s Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences. As recess started to disappear, for example, researchers noticed a spike in childhood-obesity rates. A school volunteer, Ramstetter has personally encountered the challenges of maintaining regular recess. The inner-city Catholic school in Cincinnati where she offers her services has no playground. Recess takes place irregularly in the school gym or at a local park, and only for students through fourth grade. And teachers often withhold recess as punishment. She and her fellow committee members say that could be a mistake. Banning unruly kids from recess can backfire since these students are precisely those who may potentially benefit the most from the break that recess represents. It’s also important to distinguish recess from physical education, says Ramstetter. While gym class offers kids a chance to stretch their legs and get their heart rate up, it is still considered instructional time, with very different goals from those of the unstructured downtime of recess. Likewise, it’s important to let kids play what they want — that means playground monitors shouldn’t organize kids to play kickball or soccer. “When it’s structured, it’s not a break in the day,” she says. The new statement is not meant to be a recipe for rescuing recess; it does not specify how long recess should last, but calls for more studies to determine the optimal length of breaks in the school day. But the authors do advise that recess should be a protected time, a sacrosanct period of free play that is no less important than the hours devoted to math or reading. That understanding reflects a growing body of research documenting the power of some time off for improving concentration and even creativity. “Everyone, not just kids, benefits from regular breaks in the day,” says Murray. Adults rarely sit down and spend two or three hours focusing on a single task. “We get up, we get coffee, we mix and match our tasks during the day so our concentration can stay sharp,” says Murray. “With kids, we have to schedule these breaks.” Without such intentional periods of play, the AAP committee says, it’s not just children’s waistlines that may suffer, but their ability to pay attention, and ultimately their academic performance as well.

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Gwen Keyes Fleming: Florida making progress on water pollution Published: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 9:40 a.m. Last Modified: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 9:40 a.m. Nutrient pollution, the excess nitrogen and phosphorus that causes algal blooms and fish kills, is a major source of water quality impairment across the state of Florida. Nutrient pollution threatens human health and the environment, hurts businesses and costs jobs, reduces property values, diminishes recreational opportunities and impacts your quality of life. EPA has long held that limits are necessary to protect Florida’s waters from nutrient pollution. The Clean Water Act (CWA) designates primary responsibility for protecting water quality with states, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has worked for years to collect data on the condition of statewide waters and adopt its own numeric nutrient standards. Recently, EPA approved FDEP’s revised rules to reduce nutrient pollution in Florida’s treasured waters. After careful review, EPA determined FDEP’s rules and supporting documentation meet CWA requirements and applicable federal regulations for the water bodies they cover. EPA commends the FDEP for taking this significant step towards protecting and restoring the quality of Florida’s waters. FDEP’s rules use scientifically sound approaches to protect the many uses of Florida’s waters; from fishing and swimming to drinking. Because Florida and EPA worked together to develop the science, the numeric limits for nitrogen and phosphorus in springs, lakes and streams (outside South Florida) are virtually identical to those in EPA’s 2010 rule developed to protect these same waters. DEP also has adopted additional biological and chemical indicators that are used to identify and prevent nutrient pollution in streams and protect sensitive downstream waters. These tools were used by FDEP in the Santa Fe River to determine that it was impaired and needed restoration. Using numeric limits has also helped protect estuaries in Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, and South Florida marine waters. We are pleased that FDEP has also recently adopted numeric limits for nutrient pollution in additional Panhandle estuaries, and we look forward to receiving these for review under the CWA. However, in accordance with a 2009 consent decree with the Florida Wildlife Federation, EPA is also proposing two federal nutrient rules for only those waters not already protected by Florida's new standards. The first rule proposes numeric limits on the amount of nutrient pollution allowed in Florida’s estuaries and coastal waters, as well as in flowing waters in South Florida. The other serves to clarify some provisions in EPA’s 2010 rule and proposes numeric limits on the amount of nutrient pollution for those inland waters not addressed in the FDEP’s current rules. These common sense measures will help protect the water that communities across Florida use for drinking, swimming, and fishing. EPA welcomes public comment on its proposals and will host a public information session and web-based public hearings to gather input. While EPA is prepared to finalize these rules next year under its consent decree obligations, it is also prepared not to move forward and instead defer to Florida's rules for any Florida waters that become protected under state law in accordance with CWA requirements. Clean water is vital for Florida, and the state is now on a path to establishing and implementing its own nutrient pollution rules that will allow everyone to enjoy cleaner water. Gwen Keyes Fleming, EPA Southeast Regional Administrator EPA Region 4’s website is: www.epa.gov/region4

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Regions of Ireland SUB-NATIONAL GOVERNANCE IN IRELAND The Republic of Ireland, which covers a land area of 68,895 sq. km and has a population of 4.1 million (2006), has a relatively centralised administration. However, the local and regional levels have important responsibilities in a number of key areas. Local authorities are the main providers of local government services at county/city level. At regional level 8 Regional Authorities ( NUTS III) co-ordinate certain activities of the local authorities and play a monitoring role in relation to the use of EU Structural Funds. The country is further designated into two NUTS II Regions and two Regional Assemblies are responsible for managing the Objective 2 Regional Competitiveness & Employment programmes. An amendment to the Constitution of Ireland in 1999 gave clear constitutional status to local government for the first time and made it a mandatory requirement for local elections to be held every five years. There are no direct elections to the two regional levels: instead members are nominated to these levels by their local authorities.

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Warts are a surface infection caused by human papilloma virus (HPV). They may occur on any area of the skin, including around the nose, mouth, and genitalia. Children frequently have warts, but they occur in adults as well. They are mildly contagious and may be spread from person-to-person by touching or from one part of the body to another by scratching. Warts are in the very top layer of skin and so they do not effectively trigger the body’s immune system. One can be a completely healthy person and still have warts. There is no perfect way to treat warts, and no one can guarantee the success of wart treatment. Warts are stubborn and frequently more than one or two treatments are needed. Treatments vary depending on the area of skin or mucous membrane involved, the age of the patient, and the number of warts. - Liquid nitrogen. This treatment involves a a very cold liquid that is sprayed or applied to the warts causing a small controlled area of frostbite. The frozen area usually develops a blister (sometimes a blood blister) that heals in about two weeks. Freezing is painful. It hurts for the 10-15 seconds it takes to freeze the warts and for the minute or two afterwards while the area thaws. Often children can tolerate having one or two warts frozen, but even the toughest adult may not be able to stand having many warts frozen. The Cheyenne Skin Clinic almost never freezes warts on the bottom of the foot, as this is extremely painful. - Bleomycin. A dilute form of chemotherapy agent injected into the wart kills cells which are growing more rapidly, like those with the wart virus in them. The injection itself hurts, and there is usually a little pain afterward. - Diphenciprone (DPCP) immunotherapy. DPCP has been useful when other treatments have been unsuccessful or when a child has had several warts and cannot tolerate other treatments. A small amount of medicine is applied to the skin and left on for two hours. Treatment begins by applying a small bandaid with medicine on it to the hip. An area of skin covered by clothing is used because often there is a brown mark that remains for several months. A rash develops in the area indicating the body’s immune system recognizes the medication. Three weeks later, the patient has a follow up appointment with the Cheyenne Skin Clinic for the physician or nurse to apply a dilute concentration of the DPCP to the warts. Ideally, a mild irritation develops around the warts, and they slowly go away over a period of 2-3 months. Frequently, several visits spaced every 3-4 weeks are needed. Sometimes the irritation is more pronounced, and the skin becomes very inflamed. If this occurs, one has to decrease the use of medicine tiering the amount used with the amount of irritation. This is a slow approach, but is inexpensive, a relatively painless, and can be used on any new warts that arise during the course of treatment. - Carbon dioxide laser. This laser can be used to vaporize the stubborn warts. First the area is numbed with an injection of local anesthetic, which in itself is somewhat painful. Next the laser destroys the wart and surrounding skin leaving an ulcer which slowly heals in over a period of two to four weeks. For the first week the ulcer is often painful, and there is usually a scar when healing is complete. - Topical Acid. This treatment comes in the form of either a liquid, gel, or pad that can be applied to the wart. This peels off the top layers of the skin where the wart lives. This is a slow approach to taking an average of one to two months, but is inexpensive, relatively painless, and can be used on any new warts that appear during the course of treatment. Genital warts, caused by human papilloma virus (HPV), are moderately contagious and may be spread from person-to- person by sexual contact. Warts are in the very top layer of skin and thus do no effectively trigger the body’s immune system. One can be a completely healthy person and still have warts. It is very important to treat genital warts, as research shows there has been an increase in cervical carcinoma in some patients with genital warts. - Podophyllin. This medicine is derived from a brown liquid plant extract that kills cells that are growing rapidly. It is usually applied to warts on mucous membranes like that in the vulvar and perianal region. After the first treatment, the medication should be removed by bathing after two to four hours. (The medication will work better if it is left on longer after subsequent treatments.) Podophyllin stings a little when first applied and the areas may become more painful over the next two to three days. It can only be applied in our office as it can cause serious reactions, including seizures, if it is applied too generously. - Condylox (podophyllotoxin). This treatment can be applied at home. The medication is applied for three days in a row followed by four days of rest, repeating this each week for four weeks. - Liquid nitrogen. This very cold liquid is sprayed or applied to the warts causing a small controlled area of frost bite. The frozen area usually develops a blister (sometimes a blood blister) that heals in about two weeks. Freezing is painful. It hurts for the 10-15 seconds it takes to freeze the warts and for the minute or two afterwards while the area thaws. - Carbon dioxide laser. With this treatment , the area is numbed with an injection of local anesthetic, which in itself is somewhat painful. Next the laser destroys the wart and surrounding skin leaving an ulcer which slowly heals in over a period of two to four weeks. For the first week the ulcer is often painful and there is usually a scar when healing is complete. - Aldara Cream. This prescription cream is applied to the warts Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at bedtime for up to 12 weeks. Unfortunately, this is a very expensive medication. HERPES SIMPLEX (COLD SORES AND GENITAL HERPES) Herpes is a name used for some 50 related viruses. Herpes simplex is related to the viruses for infectious mononucvleosis (Epstein-Barr Virus) and for chicken pox and shingles (varicella zoster virus). The herpes simplex virus can cause blister-like sores almost anywhere on a person’s skin. It usually occurs around the mouth and nose or the buttocks and genitals. HSV infections can be very annoying because they can reappear. The sores may be painful and embarrassing. For some chronically ill people and newborn babies, the viral infections can be serious but rarely fatal. There are two types of HSV-Type 1 and Type 2. - Type 1. Studies show that most people get Type 1. It affects the lips, mouth, nose, chin or cheeks during infancy or childhood. They usually catch it from close contact with family members or friends who carry the virus. If can be transmitted by kissing or by using the same eating utensils and towels. A rash or cold sores in the mouth and gums appear shortly after exposure. Symptoms may be barely noticeable or may need medical attention for relief of pain. - Type 2. It most often appears following sexual contact with an infected person. It has reached epidemic numbers, affecting anywhere between 5 and 20 million persons in the United States, or up to 20% of all sexually active adults. Herpes Simplex Type 1 Called fever blisters or cold sores, HSV Type 1 infections are tiny, clear, fluid filled blisters most often seen on the face. Type 1 infections may also, less often, occur in the genital area. Type 1 may also develop in wounds on the skin. Nurses, physicians, dentists, and other health care workers sometimes contract a herpetic sore after HSV enters a break in the skin of their fingers The number of blisters varies from one to a whole cluster. Before the blisters appear, the soon-to-be affected skin may itch or become very sensitive. The blisters then break by themselves or as a result of minor injury, allowing the fluid inside the blisters to ooze. Eventually, crusts form and fall off, leaving slightly red skin. Though the primary infection heals completely, rarely leaving a scar, the virus that caused it remains in the body. It migrates to nerve cells where it remains in a resting phase Hot news about cold sores Some individuals suffer from "sun blisters" that develop on their lips after exposure to the sun. Boating, beaching, gardening, or bicycling are activities frequently associated with this problem in the summer. The eruption is caused by the herpes simplex virus. Its appearance may be heralded by itching, burning, or swelling of the lips, followed by the rapid outbreak of groups of blisters. The rash, which can be painful, can spread to the face, and might take one to two weeks to resolve. In some cases, infection with bacteria can complicate the problem. Professional evaluation by a dermatologist is a wise idea since other conditions can produce blisters on the lips. Treatment can include oral medications and antiviral cream. The regular use of high SPF sunscreens on the lips can help prevent outbreaks of sun blisters. Many products that women use cosmetically now contain sunscreen. But what about men? Men need not wear lipstick to protect their lips from UV light; there are many natural looking, non-greasy lip balms that contain sunscreen. And there is no reason for men not to use a plain moisturizing lotion containing sunscreen on a daily basis. Herpes Simplex Type 2 Infection with herpes simplex virus Type 2 usually is below the waist, on the buttocks, penis, vagina, or cervix, two to twenty days after contact with an infected person. Sexual intercourse is the most frequent means of contracting the infection. Symptoms of both primary and repeat attacks can include a minor rash or itching, painful ulcers, fever, aching muscles, and a burning sensation during urination. HSC Type 2 can also occur in locations other than the genital area. As with Type 1, sites and frequency of return bouts vary. The initial episode can be so mild that a person does not realize that he or she has a herpetic infection. Years later, when there is recurrence of HSV, it may be mistaken for an initial attack. This can lead to unfair accusations by a sexual partner. After the initial attack, the virus moves to nerve cells near the brain or spinal cord remaining there until set off again by a menstrual period, fever, physical contact, stress or something else. Pain or unusual tenderness of the skin may begin between one to several days before both primary and recurrent infections may develop. This is called prodrome. How are the HSV infections diagnosed? The appearance of HSV is often so typical that no further testing is necessary to confirm an HSV infection. However, if the diagnosis is uncertain, as it may be in the genital or cervix areas, a specimen may be taken and sent to the laboratory for analysis. How do you prevent transmission? Between 200,000 and 500,000 persons “catch” genital herpes each year and the number of Type 1 infections is many times higher. Prevention of this disease, which is contagious before and during an outbreak, is important. If tingling, burning, itching, or tenderness-signs of recurrence-occur in an area of the body where you had a herpes infection, then that area should be kept away from other people. With mouth lesions, one should avoid kissing and sharing cups or lip balms. For persons with genital, this means avoiding sexual relations and oral and/or genital contact during the period of symptoms or active lesions. Towels should not be shared nor clothing exchanged. Studies have shown viral shedding between attacks. Other serious implications of HSV - Eye infections - Infections in babies - HSV and the seriously ill There is no vaccine that prevents this disease from occurring. Oral anti-viral medications, acyclovir and valacyclovir, have been developed for severe or frequently recurring infections. Low doses of medications are helpful in reducing the number of herpes attacks in people with frequent outbreaks. Molluscum contagiosum is a virus-caused growth which appears as a small bump on the skin, often with a small, central, dimple-like depression. It may occur on any part of the body and there may be a single growth or as many as 50 or more. As the name suggests, these growths are contagious and are spread from place to place on the body and to other people by physical contact. Sometimes they are spread by sexual contact and if this is the case, sexual partners should be examined for presence of lesions. Treatment consists of physically removing these superficial growths from the skin. This may be done by curettement (scraping them off with a special surgical instrument), application of various medicines to the growths or by freezing them with liquid nitrogen. Molluscum contagiosum lesions may also become infected with bacteria and may sometimes require antibiotic therapy. Since molluscum contagiosum lesions sometimes go away by themselves, treatment by cautery or surgery requiring stitches is avoided because of the scarring that results from these methods. Sometimes new lesions keep appearing after treatment. This is probably because some growth were in an early stage at the time of the treatment and could not be seen with naked eye. Eventually, after all visible and incubating lesions have been destroyed the appearance of new molluscum contagiosum lesions will stop. Herpes Zoster, also known as shingles or zoster, is a viral infection caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. Anyone who has had chicken pox can develop develop herpes zoster. The virus remains dormant or inactive in certain nerve root cells of the body and only when it reactivates does herpes zoster occur. About 20% of those people who have had chicken pox will get zoster at some time during their lives. Fortunately, most people will get zoster only once. It is not clear what prompts the virus to reactivate or “awaken” in healthy people. A temporary weakness in immunity ( the bodies ability to fight infection) may allow the virus to multiply and move along nerve fibers toward the skin. Although children can get zoster, it is more common in people over age 50. Illness, trauma, and stress may trigger a zoster attack. What are the symptoms of Zoster? The first symptom of zoster is burning pain, tingling, or extreme sensitivity in one area of the skin usually limited to one side of the body. This may be present for one to three days before a red rash appears at that site. There may also be fever or headache. The rash soon turns into groups of blisters that look a lot like chicken pox. The blisters generally last for two to three weeks. The blisters start out clear but then pus or dark blood collects in the blisters before they crust over (scab) and begin to disappear. The pain may last longer. It is unusual but possible to have pain without blisters or blisters without pain. Where does zoster usually appear on the body? Zoster is most common on the trunk and buttocks but it can also appear on the face, arms, or legs if nerves in these areas are involved. Great care is needed if the blisters involve the eye because permanent eye damage can result. Blisters on the tip of the nose signal possible eye involvement. A dermatologist will usually refer the patient to an ophthalmologist (eye specialist) immediately. What are the complications of zoster? Post-herpectic neuralgia is constant pain or periods of pain that can continue after the skin has healed. It can last for months or even years and is more common in older people. The use of medication in the early stages of the zoster may help prevent this complication. A bacterial infection of the blisters can occur, and can delay healing. If pain and redness increase or reappear, you should return to the dermatologist. Antibiotic treatment may be needed. Another complication is the spread of zoster all over the body or to internal organs. This can also happen with chicken pox. It occurs rarely and most often in those with weakened immunity. How is zoster diagnosed? The diagnosis is based on the way blisters look and a history of pain before the rash on one side of the body. The dermatologist may scrape skin cells from a blister onto a glass slide for examination. The glass slide is then examined under a microscope for changed characteristic of zoster. If there is any doubt, blister fluid containing virus can be sent to the laboratory for special testing. Is zoster contagious? The virus that causes zoster can only be passed on to others who have not had chicken pox and then they will develop chicken pox, not zoster. Zoster s much less contagious than chicken pox. Persons with zoster can only transmit the virus if blisters are broken. Newborns or those with decreased immunity are at the highest risk for contracting chicken pox from someone who has zoster. Patients with zoster rarely require hospitalization. Herpes usually clears on its own in a few weeks and seldom recurs. Pain relievers and cool compresses are helpful in drying the blisters. If diagnosed early, oral anti-viral drugs can be prescribed to decrease both viral shedding and the duration of skin lesions. They are routinely prescribed for severe cases of zoster -with eye involvement for example- or for those with decreased immunity. Corticosteriods, sometimes in combination with anti-viral drugs, also are used for severe infection such as in the eyes and to reduce severe pain. Nerve blocks can also help to control pain. Now, two new drugs appear to be more effective than the old standby medication for shingles, acyclovir, in slowing the virus down before it can do permanent nerve damage. For maximum effect, famciclovir should be taken within 3 days after acute pain begins. It, like valaciclovir (another recently approved drug), seems to work well to reduce the pain of shingles and slow its progression. Also, a new vaccine call Zostavax is available for persons age 60 and over. The vaccine decreases the incidence by 2/3 and those who do get shingles, the severity is decreased by 2/3 too.

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Slope and deep-sea abundance across scales: Southern Ocean isopods show how complex the deep sea can be Kaiser, Stefanie; Barnes, David; Brandt, Angelika. 2007 Slope and deep-sea abundance across scales: Southern Ocean isopods show how complex the deep sea can be. Deep Sea Research II, 54 (16-17). 1776-1789. 10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.07.006Full text not available from this repository. How animals are distributed in the world's largest surface environment, the deep sea, is poorly understood. The ANDEEP (ANtarctic benthic DEEP-sea biodiversity, colonisation history and recent community patterns) III cruise probed richness and abundance of one group, peracarid crustaceans (isopods, amphipods, cumaceans, tanaidaceans, mysidaceans), as a model of deep-sea fauna across Southern Ocean (SO) sites. Analysis of samples from the ANDEEP cruises reveals SO isopods to be highly abundant, rich and endemic as many other taxa in the region are known to be. Samples taken across three spatial scales include sites tens, hundreds and thousands of kilometers apart, sites stretching from the Southern Cape Basin (South Atlantic) to continental Antarctica and including depths from 1030 to 5000 m. Across these spatial scales we investigated ecological success (abundance) of peracarids at order, family, and species levels. Remarkably no significant relationship was found between abundance and spatial scale at any taxonomic level. That is, the variability in abundance at major regional scale is no different to that across just tens of kilometres. Most taxa were represented in only a few samples, but we suggest most inhabitants of the deep Weddell Sea environment to be very patchy rather than rare. Separate plots of family, genus, and species abundance by sample number revealed this to be true—nearly all genera and species are an order of magnitude more abundant than ‘background’ levels in just one or two samples. Our isopod and amphipod samples reveal the Atlantic sector of the SO, one of the most dynamic and important regions influencing the global deep-sea environment, to be highly complex. Our study suggests that, at least with regard to the study taxa and area, the typical comparisons of regions that are made by ecologists miss the scale at which crucial ecological variability happens. Even without ice scours creating topographical complexity (as on the shelf) the deep Weddell Sea is clearly complex at scales smaller than that measured to date. |Programmes:||BAS Programmes > Global Science in the Antarctic Context (2005-2009) > Biodiversity, Functions, Limits and Adaptation from Molecules to Ecosystems| |Additional Keywords:||Patchiness; Antarctica; Peracarida; Rarity; Ecological success| |NORA Subject Terms:||Marine Sciences |Date made live:||05 May 2009 14:44| Actions (login required)

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Category Archives: War Crimes and Criminals Current British premier David Cameron praised Lady Thatcher for having “saved Britain” and for making the has-been colonial power “great again”. Tributes poured forth from French and German leaders, Francoise Hollande and Angela Merkel, while US President Barack Obama said America had lost a “special friend”. Former American secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev also lamented the loss of “an historic world figure”. Polish ex-president Lech Walesa hailed Margaret Thatcher for having brought down the Soviet Union and Communism. Such fulsome praise may be expected coming from so many war criminals. But it is instructive of how history is written by the victors and criminals in high office. Obama, Cameron, Hollande and Merkel should all be arraigned and prosecuted for war crimes in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia and Mali, among other places. Kissinger has long evaded justice for over four decades for his role in the US genocide in Southeast Asia during the so-called Vietnam War in which over three million people were obliterated in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The British state is to give Thatcher, who died this week aged 87, a full military-honours funeral. The praise, eulogies, wreaths and ceremonies are all self-indictments of association with one of the most ruthless and criminal political figures in modern times. So, here is a people’s history of Thatcher’s legacy. She will be remembered for colluding with the most reactionary elements of Rupert Murdoch’s squalid media empire to launch a war over the Malvinas Islands in 1982, a war that caused hundreds of lives and involved the gratuitous sinking of an Argentine warship, the Belgrano, by a British submarine. By declaring war, rather than conducting political negotiations with Argentina over Britain’s ongoing colonial possession of the Malvinas, Thatcher salvaged her waning public support in Britain, and the bloodletting helped catapult her into a second term of office in Downing Street. Her political “greatness” that so many Western leaders now eulogize was therefore paid in part by the lives of Argentine and British soldiers, and by bequeathing an ongoing source of conflict in the South Atlantic. It wasn’t just foreigners that Thatcher declared war on. Armed with her snake-oil economic policies of privatisation, deregulation, unleashing finance capitalism, pump-priming the rich with tax awards subsidised by the ordinary working population, Thatcher declared war on the British people themselves. She famously proclaimed that “there was no such thing as society” and went on to oversee an explosion in the gap between rich and poor and the demolition of social conditions in Britain. That legacy has been amplified by both successive Conservative and Labour governments and is central to today’s social meltdown in Britain – more than two decades after Thatcher resigned. Laughably, David Cameron, a protégé of Thatcher, claims that she “saved” Britain. The truth is Thatcher accelerated the sinking of British capitalism and society at large. What she ordered for the Belgrano has in a very real way come to be realised for British society at large. During her second term of office in the mid-1980s, the Iron Lady declared war on the “enemy within”. She was referring to Britain’s strongly unionised coal-mining industry. Imagine declaring war on your own population. That is a measure of her pathological intolerance towards others who did not happen to share her obnoxious ideological views – ideological views that have since become exposed as intellectually and morally bankrupt. For over a year around 1984, her Orwellian mindset and policies starved mining communities in the North of England into submission. Her use of paramilitary police violence also broke the resolve and legitimate rights of these communities. Miners’ leader Arthur Scargill would later be vindicated in the eyes of ordinary people, if not in the eyes of the mainstream media. Britain’s coalmines were systematically shut down, thousands of workers would be made unemployed, and entire communities were thrown on the social scrap heap. All this violence and misery was the price for Thatcher’s ideological war against working people and their political rights. The class war that Thatcher unleashed in Britain is still raging. The rich have become richer, the poor decidedly more numerous and poorer. The decimation of workers’ rights and the unfettered power given to finance capital were hallmarks of Thatcher’s legacy and are to this day hallmarks of Britain’s current social decay. But that destructive legacy goes well beyond Britain. The rightwing nihilistic capitalism that Thatcher gave vent to was and became a zeitgeist for North America, Europe and globally. The economic malaise that is currently plaguing the world can be traced directly to such ideologues as Margaret Thatcher and former US President Ronald Reagan. A final word on Thatcher’s real legacy, as opposed to the fakery from fellow war criminals, is her role in Ireland’s conflict. Her epitaph of “Iron Lady” is often said with admiration or even sneaking regard for her supposed virtues of determination and strength. In truth, her “iron” character was simply malevolent, as can be seen from her policies towards the Irish struggle for independence from Britain. In 1981, 10 Irish republican prisoners, led by a young Belfast man by the name of Bobby Sands, died from hunger strikes. The men died after more than 50 days of refusing prison food because they were demanding to be treated as political prisoners, not as criminals. Thatcher refused to yield to their demands, denouncing them as criminals and callously claiming that they “took their own lives”. No matter that Bobby Sands had been elected by tens of thousands of Irish voters to the British House of Parliament during his hunger strike. He was merely a criminal who deserved to die, according to the cold, unfeeling Thatcher. As a result of Thatcher’s intransigence to negotiate Irish rights, the violence in the North of Ireland would escalate over the next decade, claiming thousands of lives. As with Las Malvinas dispute with Argentina, Thatcher deliberately took the military option and, with that, countless lives, rather than engage in reasoned, mutual dialogue. Her arrogance and obduracy blinded her to any other possibility. As the violence gyrated in Ireland, Thatcher would also embrace the criminal policy of colluding with pro-British death squads. Armed,funded and directed by British intelligence, these death squads would in subsequent years kill hundreds of innocent people – with the knowledge and tacit approval of Lady Thatcher. It was a policy of British state terrorism in action, sanctioned by Thatcher. One of those victims was Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane, who was murdered in February 1989. He was shot 12 times in the head in front of his wife and children by a British death squad, after the killers smashed their way into the Finucane home on a Sunday afternoon. Thus whether in her dealings with Las Malvinas row with Argentina, the British working people or Irish republicans, Margaret Thatcher was an intolerant militarist who always resorted to demagoguery, violence and starvation to get her political way. She was a criminal fascist who is now proclaimed to be a national hero. Reports this week say that Thatcher died with Alzheimer’s, the brain-degenerating disease in which the patient loses their faculty for memory. Western leaders, it seems, would also like to erase public memory of Thatcher’s criminal legacy. Jewish hasbara bodies aiding and abetting Israeli crimes must face the full force of the law By Nureddin Sabir Editor, Redress Information & Analysis The world of Jewish politics is so back to front and upside down that, when it comes to Israel, bad is good and wrong is right. That is the sad fact of which we need to remind Israel flag wavers, such as failed US politician Katrina Lantos Swett, who from time to time rear their heads to bleat “anti-Semitism” and decry the “deligitimization of Israel”, which they blame for allegedly rising anti-Jewish sentiment. On 5 April the Times of Israel reported that a Jewish organization in Melbourne, Australia, could face expulsion from the country’s Jewish umbrella body for launching a campaign that calls for the boycott of products from West Bank settlements. These settlements – colonies and squatter camps, in fact – are illegal under international law and, with their rapid expansion under successive Israeli governments, both of the left and the right, are terminally undermining any prospect of a two-state solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Boycott settlements call The Australian campaign “Don’t Buy from the Settlements” was launched on 26 March by the Melbourne-based Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS) with the aim of encouraging Australian Jews to avoid buying products made in Jewish colonies and squatter camps located in the Palestinian territories occupied after the 1967 war. In a media release published on its website, the AJDS said: Israeli settlements are seen around the world as a major obstacle to creating peace between Israelis and Palestinians. One way to take a stand against the harm they create is not to buy the products they produce. This sends a clear message that we will not be complicit in the settlement programme. According to Jordy Silverstein, an executive member of the AJDS: Not buying products from settlements will not work on its own, but it is one small step that we can take. When we add in the possibility of sharing knowledge about what the settlements mean and what they do … we can work alongside Palestinians, Israelis and people throughout the diasporas to create an exciting, liberating future. However, this principled stance of the AJDS quickly prompted Australia’s Israel hasbara (propaganda) groups to gang up against it. For them, anything short of total, unconditional support for Israel, its illegal occupation and colonization of Arab territories, its war crimes and its crimes against humanity is tantamount to treason. Orgy of Jewish solidarity with Israel So, first came the umbrella Jewish organization, the Zionist Federation of Australia, which described the call for boycott as “immoral” and “repugnant”. Then came the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, which consists of more than 50 Jewish organizations in the state. Its president, Nina Bassat, touted the idea of expelling the AJDS for having the audacity to call for action against Israeli criminality. Bassat was joined in this orgy of Jewish tribal solidarity with the racist Israeli state by Peter Wertheim, of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, who also called for the AJDS to be expelled from Australia’s Jewish umbrella body. “The AJDS campaign is repugnant to the strong anti-BDS policies of every Jewish communal roof body in Australia,” he bleated, referring to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, “and to the ECAJ [Executive Council of Australian Jewry] platform of support for Israel and its legitimacy as the state of the Jewish people”. “Anti-Semitism” and support for Israel If there is indeed a rise in anti-Jewish sentiment anywhere in the world, then to find the cause look no further than the above-mentioned types of frenzied Jewish defence of Israeli crimes. There is a strong case for nurturing a worldwide culture at grassroots level that promotes international legality and opposes crimes committed or sponsored by states. As a first step towards this, it is necessary to bring to account groups and individuals that support criminal actions committed or sponsored by states. Just as in most civilized countries there are laws against aiding, abetting and glorifying terrorism, and against crimes such as rape and drugs trafficking, so there should also be laws that proscribe supporting or glorifying state crimes. If neo-Nazis and Nazi holocaust deniers can be prosecuted in Germany, France and elsewhere in Europe, so should organizations that support Israeli crimes also be prosecuted, whether in Australia or anywhere else, for aiding, abetting and/or glorifying Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity. During the presentation by Ivanov data was shared which shows that 820 tons of heroin makes its way into Europe and Russia every year. Most of it is trafficked through the unstable Middle East and Africa as is part of the 994 tons of cocaine that is consumed in the U.S. and Europe. “… First, there is no impartial intervention. Entering the conflict is to take sides. Ronald Reagan, 241 Marines, and 17 American embassy personnel learned that lesson in Lebanon in 1983. Washington had proclaimed its commitment to peace by aiding one force in a multi-sided civil war. By becoming a de facto combatant the administration turned Americans into targets. Aiding Syria’s opposition means becoming a participant in that conflict. Paradoxically, aiding the resistance could drive some Syrians who desire a negotiated solution toward the government. The Financial Times recently reported: “As the civil war becomes ever dirtier, rebels’ actions are starting to mirror those of the regime.” In fact, opposition fighters increasingly kill regime soldiers and supporters, and have turned to crime, including kidnapping, to raise funds. Second, there is no magic elixir that combines riskless intervention with speedy conquest. In Libya the allies provided the rebels with air support, but only enough to drag out the conflict for five months, during which time thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands, of Libyans died. By being prudent and cost-conscious the allies were not humanitarian, their professed objective….” The 9/11 attacks were criminal acts intended as reprisals for American-sponsored oppression in the Middle East Anti-war campaigners gathered in Trafalgar Sqaure on April 1, 2009 to protest against the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The protest, organised by the Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, was part of a day of protests in advance of tomorrows G20 summit in London. The protest began outside the US Embassy and then marched through Central London to Trafalgar Square. (Photo: Simon Kimber) River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog! The U.S. Global Strangulation of Iran has nothing to do in the short or intermediate terms with any fear Iran will get a nuclear weapon. American intelligence and former heads of Israel’s Mossad agree with the international assessment that there is no evidence Iran is now trying to produce nuclear weapons or that they could do so in less than several to ten years if they tried to do so. There is also nearly universal agreement among serious analysts, including U.S. intelligence sources going back many years, that attacking Iran would likely lead to severe cuts in oil supplies from the Persian Gulf that would produce a severe shock to the global economy, especially in this time of financial crisis. This does not mean Obama or the entire U.S. leadership at the top is going insane or trying to destroy the U.S. Empire. There is a “method to this seeming madness,” a very clear grand strategic goal involved in these constant threats and attacks on Iran. The general goal is to save the U.S. Empire and its domination and exploitation of the world to stop the accelerating decline and disintegration of the Empire and the American financial system and economy. The specific goal of all the attacks on Iran is to stop the rise of the Iranian-Shia superpower in the Middle East and its rapidly growing alliance with Islamist Sunni powers growing across North Africa, the Middle East, South Central and Central Asia. Iran is also the core leader in the growing alliance of Shia and Islamist Sunnis with the vast nations of Russia, India and China against the U.S. Empire’s energy and dollar imperialism. all of this makes Iran and its allies a mortal threat to the U.S. global empire and the present U.S. financial system tied to that empire. this is why the U.S. is taking such desperate risks to try to strangle Iran and to destroy its central position in this anti-American imperialism coalition that is growing rapidly. Iran and its Shia Allies across the whole Middle East are a very real threat to the U.S. Global Empire’s domination and exploitation of this whole vast region. That Iranian superpower Shia bloc’s rapidly growing alliance with Islamist Sunnis makes Iran the core of a very grave threat to the U.S. global empire which I believe has already developed far enough to prevent the U.S. from continuing its imperialist suppression of muslim nations with totalitarian, puppet regimes and the use of those to exploit this vast region. But I think these would be temporary set-backs for Iran and its great alliance of nations lining up against the U.S. Empire. I think the world sees the Giant is crippled severely by its losing wars, by the decline of the U.S. economy relative to the rising nations around the world, the so-called BRICKS, though one must add another I to that for Iran [in addition to India] – BRICKS, and The Great Global Financial Crisis the U.S. produced and is making worse and worse with vast help from its puppets in the EU and elsewhere, as even the “liberal” Brookings Institute just reported on the basis of global indices they analyze. By attacking Iran and all of the Shia and Islamist Sunni nations allying more and more closely with Iran, most obviously Syria right now, the U.S. is in fact turning the vast Muslim World of nearly one and a half billion mostly young and very fertile people and much of the rest of the world against its brutal Empire. This desperate grand strategy has, therefore, put the existence of the U.S. empire and of the U.S. financial system dependent on it at grave risk. at the very least, the U.S. is “going for broke” – “playing for all the marbles” – in its blatantly brutal, imperialistic strangulation of Iran and now some of its allies such as Syria. The U.S. destroyed the Sunni block to the rise of Shia Iran as a Super Power in the Middle East when it destroyed Hussein’s Iraqi military machine, which the U.S. had earlier secretly supported in Iraq’s vast invasion of Iran [which led to the defeat of Iraq and the U.S.] Sunni Iraq was the only major block to the rise of the Shia as a Super Power at the heart of the Middle East. When the U.S. also installed a totalitarian Shia military power in Iraq which from the beginning was quietly allied with their brother Shia in Iran [where many of the new rulers of Iraq had lived for many years to escape Hussein's secret police], the new, rising Shia Super Alliance of Iran and Iraq became a huge military power of 100,000,000 mostly young people who loathe the U.S. and control more oil and gas than the Saudi Arabian and UAE puppets of the U.S. Iran was by then already building its Super Alliance with Syria, Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine, an Alliance at the very heart of the Arab World and the Middle East. That alliance grew very rapidly after Hizbollah defeated Israel and drove them out of Lebanon for the second time. Beginning over a year ago the U.S. puppet Sunni regimes across North Africa started falling to popular revolutions against the puppets and, above all, against the U.S. Empire which replaced the U.K. and French Empires that had oppressed them earlier. The revolutions are still going on in almost every U.S. Sunni puppet nation, but in almost all of them the people are winning their revolutions and moving steadily into a new age of Islamist governments which are in fact very anti-American and becoming more so as the U.S. allys itself more and more openly with the most hated totalitarian regimes, such as the Egyptian Army. the absurd, monarchical and pseudo-democratic tyrannies in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen and a few others. From the beginning of these new Sunni Islamist movements and governments, the Iranians and their Shia allies have allied themselves more and more with the Sunni Islamists, based largely on their common loathing of the Great Satan – the U.S. – and the terrorist threat it poses to all of them. Turkey has not had an Islamist revolution, but the Sunni Islamists are taking over more and more in Turkey and becoming more and more Islamist, more and more anti-American and more and more quietly allied with the Iranians and the rising Sunni Islamists. At the same time the U.S. was enraging the people of the Middle East against itself, the U.S. was enraging the Afghans and Pakistanis in the same way only more virulently with its terrorist murders and raids everywhere. The hearts and minds of nearly 200,000,000 Afghans and Pakistanis are now virulently anti-American. Though they are not yet allied with the rising Iranian Super Alliance, they are becoming more friend;y and will almost certainly find more and more common causes against the U.S. as the U.S. and its European [Nato] puppets flee the rising power of the Islamist guerilla armies. The U.S. has lost its terrorist war against Afghanistan and Pakistan and pushed them closer and closer to both iran and china, and even to some degree india and russia, to counter-balance the u.s. in its final desperate war against the world. All of these vast developments are being hidden from the American and European peoples as much as possible by vast propaganda Media Wars against Iran and its grand global alliance against the U.S. But intelligent leaders around the world see the U.S. is desperate and is losing and even in Latin America the few remaining puppet regimes of the U.S. Empire, notably Mexico and Colombia, are turning more and more against the U .S. even in full public view. This happened just this weekend in Cartagena, Colombia, where Obama and his motley crowd of Key Stone Cop “security guards” were publicly humiliated by the still partially puppet regime of Colombia which needs vast U.S. military help in oppressing the peasants of the North for the vastly rich landowning families of the South. All 30 Latin Leaders there opposed even a future meeting of this sort with the U.S. without the U.S. allowing Cuba to attend and almost all insist as well on an end for support of the U.K. puppet regime’s claims to the Falklands off the coast of Argentina. Hugo Chavez, the elected president of Venezuela, was not even there because he is getting more cancer treatment in Cuba [not Miami]. He is more and more an ally of Iran, as is even Brazil on crucial matters like opposition to Dollar Imperialism and Inflation Thievery. Had he and his few very close allies from Latin America, Ecuador and Nicaragua, been there, the anti-American thrust would have been even greater. As it is, the Cartagena police wound up mortally embarrassing the Secret Key Stone Cops, the U.S. Army and Obama by taking U.S. security guards into custody over refusal to pay a prostitution bill for servicing rendered. Obama et al were made a laughing stock in a way that never happened before when these terrorized nations were ruled by oppressed puppet regimes. [Like Congressman Issa, I think these were SOP activities which led to police custody and massive public exposure for the first time. The U.S. Empire is losing its grip even on still dependent puppets.] The U.S. has gotten very desperate in the Middle East. It is not only risking a cut off of oil by Iran over the U.S. strangulation of Iran, but the U.S. is now more and more openly involved in supporting the Sunni revolt against Syria and the Sunni oppression of Shia revolt against Bahrain by Saudia Arabia, the only major U.S. puppet left in the Middle East and a tyrannical monarchy loathed by the whole vast region and its own population [as far as we can tell in such an extremely closed police state]. It is always possible the U.S. will realize it is risking its entire Empire in this grand strategy, or that Iran will buckle under the strangulation pressures and retreat, or an Iranian ally like Syria will start a war inadvertently with another, more important ally, Sunni Turkey, that might reverse the growing great alliance. Maybe the U.S. will become more wise in its mix of sticks and carrots in dealing with Iran. I think the U.S. is desperately fighting its last great imperial war against the world. I think the U.S. will lose this WAR and destroy its Empire and its global financial system. Obama has become the Undertaker of the U.S. Global Empire and, if he and his desperate strategists keep attacking the world, he will be the Undertaker of the U.S. as it now exists. By all indications, they will continue to destroy the U.S. unless some greater power, perhaps a Great Awakening of the American people who would prefer not to be impoverished or torn apart by the Obama Undertaker Strategy. River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog! The U.S. Global Strangulation of Iran has nothing to do in the short or intermediate terms with any fear Iran will get a nuclear weapon. American intelligence and former heads of Israel’s Mossad agree with the international assessment that there is no evidence Iran is now trying to produce nuclear weapons or that they could do so in less than several to ten years if they tried to do so. There is also nearly universal agreement among serious analysts, including U.S. intelligence sources going back many years, that attacking Iran would likely lead to severe cuts in oil supplies from the Persian Gulf that would produce a severe shock to the global economy, especially in this time of financial crisis. This does not mean Obama or the entire U.S. leadership at the top is going insane or trying to destroy the U.S. Empire. There is a “method to this seeming madness,” a very clear grand strategic goal involved in these constant threats and attacks on Iran. The general goal is to save the U.S. Empire and its domination and exploitation of the world to stop the accelerating decline and disintegration of the Empire and the American financial system and economy. The specific goal of all the attacks on Iran is to stop the rise of the Iranian-Shia superpower in the Middle East and its rapidly growing alliance with Islamist Sunni powers growing across North Africa, the Middle East, South Central and Central Asia. Iran is also the core leader in the growing alliance of Shia and Islamist Sunnis with the vast nations of Russia, India and China against the U.S. Empire’s energy and dollar imperialism. all of this makes Iran and its allies a mortal threat to the U.S. global empire and the present U.S. financial system tied to that empire. this is why the U.S. is taking such desperate risks to try to strangle Iran and to destroy its central position in this anti-American imperialism coalition that is growing rapidly. Iran and its Shia Allies across the whole Middle East are a very real threat to the U.S. Global Empire’s domination and exploitation of this whole vast region. That Iranian superpower Shia bloc’s rapidly growing alliance with Islamist Sunnis makes Iran the core of a very grave threat to the U.S. global empire which I believe has already developed far enough to prevent the U.S. from continuing its imperialist suppression of muslim nations with totalitarian, puppet regimes and the use of those to exploit this vast region. But I think these would be temporary set-backs for Iran and its great alliance of nations lining up against the U.S. Empire. I think the world sees the Giant is crippled severely by its losing wars, by the decline of the U.S. economy relative to the rising nations around the world, the so-called BRICKS, though one must add another I to that for Iran [in addition to India] – BRICKS, and The Great Global Financial Crisis the U.S. produced and is making worse and worse with vast help from its puppets in the EU and elsewhere, as even the “liberal” Brookings Institute just reported on the basis of global indices they analyze. by Rania Khalek on March 20, 2013 The United States may be finished dropping bombs on Iraq, but Iraqi bodies will be dealing with the consequences for generations to come in the form of birth defects, mysterious illnesses and skyrocketing cancer rates. Al Jazeera’s Dahr Jamail reports that contamination from U.S. weapons, particularly Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions, has led to an Iraqi health crisis of epic proportions. “[C]hildren being born with two heads, children born with only one eye, multiple tumours, disfiguring facial and body deformities, and complex nervous system problems,” are just some of the congenital birth defects being linked to military-related pollution. In certain Iraqi cities, the health consequences are significantly worse than those seen in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Japan at the end of WWII. The highest rates are in the city of Fallujah, which underwent two massive US bombing campaigns in 2004. Though the U.S. initially denied it, officials later admitted using white phosphorous. In addition, U.S. and British forces unleashed an estimated 2,000 tons of depleted uranium ammunitions in populated Iraqi cities in 2003. DU, a chemically toxic heavy metal produced in nuclear waste, is used in weapons due to its ability to pierce through armor. That’s why the US and UK were among a handful of nations (France and Israel) who in December refused to sign an international agreement to limit its use, insisting DU is not harmful, science be damned. Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s refusal to release details about where DU munitions were fired has made it difficult to clean up. Today, 14.7 percent of Fallujah’s babies are born with a birth defect, 14 times the documented rate in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fallujah’s babies have also experienced heart defects 13 times the European rate and nervous system defects 33 times that of Europe. That comes on top of a 12-fold rise in childhood cancer rates since 2004. Furthermore, the male-to-female birth ratio is now 86 boys for every 100 girls, indicating genetic damage that affects males more than females. (On a side note, these pictures are rather sanitized compared to other even more difficult to look at images. See here if you can bear it.) If Fallujah is the Iraqi Hiroshima, then Basra is its Nagasaki. According to a study published in the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, a professional journal based in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg, there was a sevenfold increase in the number of birth defects in Basra between 1994 and 2003. According to the Heidelberg study, the concentration of lead in the milk teeth of sick children from Basra was almost three times as high as comparable values in areas where there was no fighting. In addition, never before has such a high rate of neural tube defects (“open back”) been recorded in babies as in Basra, and the rate continues to rise. According to the study, the number of hydrocephalus (“water on the brain”) cases among new-borns is six times as high in Basra as it is in the United States. This isn’t isolated to Fallujah and Basra. The overall Iraqi cancer rate has also skyrocketed: Official Iraqi government statistics show that, prior to the outbreak of the First Gulf War in 1991, the rate of cancer cases in Iraq was 40 out of 100,000 people. By 1995, it had increased to 800 out of 100,000 people, and, by 2005, it had doubled to at least 1,600 out of 100,000 people. Current estimates show the increasing trend continuing. As Grist’s Susie Cagle points out, “That’s potentially a more than 4,000 percent increase in the cancer rate, making it more than 500 percent higher than the cancer rate in the U.S.“ Dr. Mozghan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, told Jamail that “These observations collectively suggest an extraordinary public health emergency in Iraq. Such a crisis requires urgent multifaceted international action to prevent further damage to public health.” Instead, the international community, including the nation most responsible for the health crisis (hint: it starts with a “U” and ends with an “S”), is mostly ignoring the problem. To make matters worse, Iraq’s healthcare system, which was once the envy of the region, is virtually nonexistent due to the mass exodus of Iraq’s medical doctors since 2003. According to recent estimates, there are currently fewer than 100 psychiatrists and 20,0000 physicians serving a population of 31 million Iraqis. Dahr Jamail was on Democracy Now this morning discussing the horrific effects of military-related pollution in Iraq: Yanar Mohammad, President of the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq was also on Democracy Now and addressed the toxic legacy of birth defects in Iraq. (I interviewed Mohammed for a piece I wrote for Muftah about the deterioration of Iraqi women’s rights since the invasion, which you can read here.) If they had a scintilla of decency, Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell and John Scarlett would not show their faces in public again Ten years ago today, American and British tanks stormed across the border of Kuwait into Iraq, precipitating a torrent of violence which has since cost more than 100,000 Iraqi and Allied lives. We, the British people, were told by our leader Tony Blair that the invasion was indispensable to Britain’s national security because Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction which could be used against us. Soon after Western forces reached Baghdad, it became plain that no such weapons existed. Moreover, it also emerged that the Prime Minister had assured President George Bush of Britain’s armed support in deposing Saddam Hussein, well ahead of the WMD claims, because he wished to assist the Americans in doing what he considered a good deed in the world. Blair’s trusted henchman, Alastair Campbell, colluded with John Scarlett, chairman of Britain’s Joint Intelligence Committee, to produce a document which afterwards proved to be a mass of falsehoods, offering ‘evidence’ of the case for war. |Alastair Campbell (left), colluded with John Scarlett, chairman of Britain’s Joint Intelligence Committee, to produce a document which has proved to be a mass of falsehoods, offering ‘evidence’ of the case for war All three men thus committed what seems to some of us a heinous political crime. They concocted a false manifesto to justify taking Britain to war, with the loss of 179 British servicemen’s lives. Yet a decade on, not only are those responsible walking the streets of London as free men, but they are without shame. Blair said this week on BBC’s Newsnight that he does not regret the war. ‘If we hadn’t removed Saddam from power, just think, for example, what would be happening if these Arab revolutions were continuing and Saddam, who’s probably 20 times as bad as Assad in Syria, was trying to suppress an uprising in Iraq.’ |Blair, Campbell and Scarlett thus committed what seems to some of us a heinous political crime. They concocted a false manifesto to justify taking Britain to war, with the loss of 179 British servicemen’s lives| I feel passionate because I was among those duped by the WMD claims. Before 2003 I wrote many times in these pages that Britain should have nothing to do with a recklessly irresponsible American Republican adventure in Iraq. But then I read the government’s report on Saddam’s weapons. I felt that this had to be believed, and an invasion reluctantly supported. My wife Penny, who never swallowed Blair and Campbell’s claims, argued bitterly with me. I said pompously: ‘It’s impossible that the Government and the Secret Intelligence Service would lie to us about something this big.’ I was as wrong as I could be. Blair, Campbell and Scarlett made fools of many of us. What seems to make it all much worse is that they got away with it. Scarlett, whom Campbell described to the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War as ‘a mate’, was discredited as an intelligence officer by his role in the scandal. He was the professional spook who processed the material he and Downing Street then served up to the nation. He formed an unholy partnership with his political masters. When it was all over, however, instead of posting him to Ulan Bator as he deserved, Blair rewarded Scarlett’s misconduct by making him director of the Secret Intelligence Service. Much of the secret service was thoroughly unhappy about the appointment. But the Prime Minister used his power, and Scarlett served his term. Not only that, but having retired from the SIS, he now serves as an ‘independent director’ of The Times newspaper, a role in which Vladimir Putin would be more credible. Campbell, meanwhile, has become the darling of the BBC, forever a guest on its chat shows and invited to air his views on news programmes as if he was an elder statesman rather than spinmaster of the most mendacious government of modern times. Campbell’s off-camera behaviour, as a foul-mouthed bully, was brilliantly captured in the political satire The Thick Of It. But the man himself is nowadays welcomed into studios as if he was a national treasure. Why have we lost our capacity for anger? I suspect that much of the public is content to forgive these people not from Christian charity, but because it does not care much about anything any more. I spoke at a dinner last week at which a guest asked me how I would behave if Tony Blair walked in. There was obvious surprise and even disbelief when I said that I would decline to shake his hand. But I meant what I said. It seems outrageous the former Prime Minister is travelling the world, collecting tens of millions of pounds in consultancy and speaking fees, masquerading black-comically as a Middle East ‘peace envoy’, while in Iraq the killing goes on and on. Yet Blair still insists the invasion was a splendid idea. Amazingly, David Cameron has invited him into Downing Street to give advice — no doubt about how to persuade the British people that we should get stuck into Syria. Most of Blair’s former Cabinet colleagues, by contrast, have distanced themselves to some degree from the war. John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister in 2003, said this month that the Iraq invasion ‘cannot be justified’ and offered a bizarre excuse for his support at the time — that he thought George Bush had a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prescott was, of course, the Blair government’s resident buffoon rather than a serious politician, but at least he has brains enough now to see that he was complicit in a disaster. Some people think that public and political attitudes to Blair and Campbell (nobody outside Whitehall remembers Scarlett’s name, luckily for him) will change when the interminable Chilcot Inquiry’s report is published later this year. I will believe that only when it happens. Official inquiries have a long history of making their conclusions so equivocal that, somehow, nobody ends up getting blamed. A dispute is continuing between Chilcot and the Cabinet Secretary, who has refused to release pre-war correspondence between Blair and President Bush deemed likely to prove that the Prime Minister signed up for the Republicans’ war long before the issue of WMDs was even raised. Whatever the outcome of this argument, I shall be amazed if Chilcot’s report displays the courage and clarity of thought to say what most of the British people know already — that Blair and his associates are guilty as hell. Some people say: ‘Oh, but it’s all a long time ago and, anyway, we are out of Iraq now.’ True, but the nightmare Bush and Blair created continues, with scores dead in a bomb blast in Baghdad only yesterday. The two Western ‘crusaders for freedom’ achieved the remarkable feat of precipitating the killing of almost as many Iraqis as Saddam Hussein accounted for during his murderous rule. Yet Tony Blair now lives in a splendour that seems to satisfy even his wife’s sybaritic tastes. Alastair Campbell is said to be advising Ed Miliband on how to get into Downing Street and will probably end up with a peerage for his pains. The former prime minister and his spin doctor have wrought such tragedy and grief in the world that they should be regarded as pariahs. But people choose to forget. Political rage focuses instead on phone-message hackers from the Press. Yet at least their crimes, repulsive as they were, never killed anyone. That is more than can be said for those of the former tenant of Downing Street. "Now, in 2013 another band of manipulators is seeking to take the US to war in Syria. Americans – Beware!"

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Do you like spiders? On the first part of this tutorial we'll go through the process of creation of a spider web. In part one, we're going to model the web using bèzier curves. It's a pretty manual process, so take breath and prepare for it! Made by SchematicWorks

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What Is It? The middle ear is the space behind the eardrum, which is connected to the back of the throat by a passageway called the Eustachian tube. Middle ear infections, also called otitis media, can occur when congestion from an allergy or cold blocks the Eustachian tube. Fluid and pressure build up, so bacteria or viruses that have traveled up the Eustachian tube into the middle ear can multiply and cause an ear infection. Middle ear infections are the most common illness that brings children to a pediatrician and the most common cause of hearing loss in children. Middle ear infections can also cause a hole (perforation) in the eardrum or spread to nearby areas, such as the mastoid bone. Adults also can get middle ear infections. Children in day care have an increased risk of middle ear infections. The increased exposure to other infected children increases your child's chances of getting infected. The most common symptoms of a middle ear infection are pain and decreased hearing. Inside the middle ear, three tiny bones (ossicles) normally transfer sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear, where they are turned into nerve impulses that your brain understands as sound. In people with otitis media, however, inflammation and infection may change this normal process. Other symptoms can include fever, general body discomfort, rubbing or pulling of the ears in children, vomiting and diarrhea in infants, dizziness, loss of balance and fluid draining from the ear. Your doctor will ask about ear pain, any discharge from the ear and fever. He or she will examine the ears with an otoscope -- an instrument with a lighted, cone-shaped end piece for looking in the ear canal at the eardrum. The doctor will look for redness and bulging of the eardrum and will check to see if it moves normally by blowing a puff of air through the otoscope. (Eardrums do not move if they are too stiff or if there is fluid behind them.) Your doctor may also do a hearing test called an audiogram to check for hearing problems or a test called a tympanogram that measures how the eardrum moves. Symptoms of otitis media usually improve within 48 to 72 hours, but the fluid that has built up in the middle ear may last for up to 3 months. You may be able to lower your child's risk of otitis media by doing the following: The treatment of a middle ear infection depends on how bad the symptoms are and what's causing the infection. Many infections will go away on their own and the only treatment necessary is medication for pain. Up to 80% of ear infections may go away without antibiotics. Antibiotics are prescribed for any child younger than 6 months and for any person with severe symptoms. Sometimes a doctor will write a prescription for antibiotics but will ask the patient or family to wait 48 to 72 hours before filling it, to see if symptoms improve. In cases of particularly severe infections or those that do not respond to treatment, a tube may need to be inserted through the eardrum. This is done by a specialist in illnesses of the ears, nose and throat (an otolaryngologist), usually under anesthesia. If enlarged adenoids or tonsils cause recurrent or persistent infections, the specialist may recommend surgery to remove them. When to Call a Professional Call your doctor if you or your older child complains of an earache or has trouble hearing. If your baby child has a fever, is unusually irritable or can't sleep, frequently rubs or pulls his or her ears, has vomiting or diarrhea or does not respond normally to sounds (doesn't startle when a door slams or pots clang), call your doctor promptly. The outlook in most people with a middle ear infection is very good. The infection and its symptoms usually go away completely. In severe cases that go untreated, the infection can spread, causing an infection in the mastoid bone (called mastoiditis) or even meningitis, but this is rare. Hearing difficulties can occur. While they are not necessarily permanent, they can affect the speech and language development of younger children. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders National Institutes of Health 31 Center Drive, MSC 2320 Bethesda, MD 20892-2320 American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery One Prince St. Alexandria, VA 22314-3357

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View your list of saved words. (You can log in using Facebook.) In mathematics, the useful concept of a process with no end. As represented by the symbol , it is often mistakenly thought to be the largest number or a place on the real number line. Instead, it is the idea of a limit, as in the expression x , which suggests that the variable x increases without bound. For example, the function f(x) = 1/x, or the reciprocal of x, tends toward 0 as x approaches infinity as a limit. This process of approaching is crucial to the definition of the derivative and the integral in calculus, as well as to many other concepts of mathematical analysis. This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the full entry on infinity, visit Britannica.com.

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See what questions a doctor would ask. Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill off not only "bad" bacteria, but can also kill the "good" bacteria in the gut. This leads to "digestive imbalance" where there are too few remaining "good" bacteria in the digestive system. The treatment is typically to use "probiotics", such as by eating yoghurt cultures containing more of the good bacteria. See digestive imbalance and probiotics. Some of the causes, which may potentially be dangerous or fatal if left undiagnosed, may include: The following list of conditions have 'Scrotum infection' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom. Select from the following alphabetical view of conditions which include a symptom of Scrotum infection or choose View All. Search Specialists by State and City

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The Tachi Yokut Indians have inhabited the San Joaquin valley for centuries. Our forefathers made their living peacefully through farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering grains, nuts and fruits. Our lands consisted of fertile valleys, marshlands and rolling foothills. With the arrival of the American settlers, we gradually lost the land where we once lived. Our land was given away by the government or sold to farmers and ranchers, sometimes as bounty for killing our people. By the end of the 19th century, the Tachi Yokut Tribe was split across the central and southern parts of California. Here in the San Joaquin Valley, our people were marched on foot from the valley to the foothills to make way for farmers and ranchers. When oil was discovered near Coalinga, we then were marched back to a desolate spot in the central valley near the present location of our reservation. The Citizenship Act of 1924 gave all Indians American citizenship rights while allowing them to retain their tribal citizenship but it made little difference in the way we were treated by the government. As part of our integration into white society, the federal government sent our children to government schools, our religion was banned, and the teaching of our language and culture was all but forbidden. Even after the land grabs and removal efforts had ceased, the damage had been done. The division of our people, the suppression of the Indian culture, and the influence of white society left our people with few ties to the past. Aspirations for the future were being destroyed by the resulting economic hardships and prejudice. For generations our people have tried to support themselves as seasonal field laborers. Government regulations produced long term economic stagnation on the reservation, resulting in 85% unemployment, a crumbling infrastructure, and a cycle of poverty which ground away at the hope for a better future for our children. Also see: THE SANTA ROSA RANCHERIA

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errno - error return value The lvalue errno is used by many functions to return error values. Many functions provide an error number in errno, which has type int and is defined in <errno.h>. The value of errno shall be defined only after a call to a function for which it is explicitly stated to be set and until it is changed by the next function call or if the application assigns it a value. The value of errno should only be examined when it is indicated to be valid by a function's return value. Applications shall obtain the definition of errno by the inclusion of <errno.h>. No function in this volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 shall set errno to 0. The setting of errno after a successful call to a function is unspecified unless the description of that function specifies that errno shall not be modified. It is unspecified whether errno is a macro or an identifier declared with external linkage. If a macro definition is suppressed in order to access an actual object, or a program defines an identifier with the name errno, the behavior is undefined. The symbolic values stored in errno are documented in the ERRORS sections on all relevant pages. Previously both POSIX and X/Open documents were more restrictive than the ISO C standard in that they required errno to be defined as an external variable, whereas the ISO C standard required only that errno be defined as a modifiable lvalue with type int. An application that needs to examine the value of errno to determine the error should set it to 0 before a function call, then inspect it before a subsequent function call. Error Numbers, the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <errno.h> First released in Issue 1. Derived from Issue 1 of the SVID. The following sentence is deleted from the DESCRIPTION: "The value of errno is 0 at program start-up, but is never set to 0 by any XSI function". The DESCRIPTION also no longer states that conforming implementations may support the declaration:extern int errno; Obsolescent text regarding defining errno as:extern int errno Text regarding no function setting errno to zero to indicate an error is changed to no function shall set errno to zero. This is for alignment with the ISO/IEC 9899:1999 standard. IEEE Std 1003.1-2001/Cor 2-2004, item XSH/TC2/D6/23 is applied, adding text to the DESCRIPTION stating that the setting of errno after a successful call to a function is unspecified unless the description of the function requires that it will not be modified.

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The business of HIV Battling the virus A huge, strange drug market THE coming weeks may bring a victory in the long war against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. A drug called Truvada already treats the disease. By June 15th American regulators are expected to approve its use to prevent the transmission of HIV, too. The past 30 years have produced several triumphs. A flood of money has helped scientists to invent new drugs and health workers to deliver them to those in need (see chart 1). These drugs have transformed a fatal disease into a chronic one. They have also made HIV a big business. Sales of antiretroviral drugs in America and the five biggest European markets reached $13.3 billion in 2011, according to Datamonitor, a research outfit (see chart 2). The market is as unusual as it is large, both buoyed by government support and worryingly dependent on it. The past decade has brought fancier medicine in rich countries and copious aid for poor ones. But the war is far from won. Publicly funded research has played a larger role in developing drugs for HIV than for other diseases. A study published last year in Health Affairs found that HIV drugs were three times as likely to involve a patent from the public sector. HIV also has special status among regulators. America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) created a faster way to review HIV drugs, allowing them on the market before the most expensive stage of clinical trials. In total, public and private investment has yielded more than two dozen HIV drugs. In 1987 Burroughs-Wellcome (now part of GlaxoSmithKline) introduced the first one, tackling an enzyme that helps the virus progress inside human cells. In 1995 Hoffmann-La Roche, a Swiss drug firm, launched the first protease inhibitor, which interrupts the virus at a later stage of replication. Today different medicines are combined to suppress resistance or reduce side-effects. The rise of combination therapy has brought a flurry of cross-licensing: companies strike deals to sell each other's drugs in carefully calibrated cocktails. One company stands out: Gilead, of California. A late entrant to the HIV race, Gilead quickly took the lead. Its strategy was simple: the more convenient the treatment, the better. In 2004 Gilead launched Truvada, a once-a-day, one-pill combination of two drugs. In 2006 it introduced Atripla, a once-a-day, one-pill combination of Truvada and another treatment. Atripla's average wholesale price in America is nearly $25,000 per patient, per year. In 2011 its global sales reached $3.2 billion. More good news for Gilead has come in recent weeks. An FDA panel recommended Truvada for preventive use: ie, to protect healthy people from contracting the virus. Another FDA panel endorsed Gilead's new Quad pill, which is the simplest, most effective combination drug to date. If the process for developing HIV drugs has been unusual, selling them has been even more so. America is the rich world's biggest market, with 841,000 patients diagnosed—ten times as many as in Britain. More than 60% of HIV drugs in America are bought with public money. Insurers give HIV special treatment: patients are rarely pressed to buy the cheapest pills, as they might be if they had another disease. Distributing drugs in poor countries is harder. A decade ago, hardly any poor people could afford them. At first, drugs firms handled this badly. In 1998, 39 big Western firms sued South Africa to protect their HIV patents. Global uproar ensued; the firms backed down in 2001. Then two things changed. First, rich countries started donating vast sums to fight AIDS in poor ones. In 2000 there was less than $2 billion for HIV programmes each year; by 2010 there was $15 billion, thanks to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and George Bush junior's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Second, the price of AIDS drugs plunged. In May 2000 a year's “triple cocktail” therapy cost $10,000 or so. By 2011 the same pills sold for $62 in poor countries. PEPFAR cash buys generic versions of patented drugs, which may be supplied only to poor countries. Last year two drugmakers won most of PEPFAR's contracts: Aurobindo, an Indian firm, and Matrix, an Indian firm acquired in 2007 by Mylan, an American one. PEPFAR's bidding system keeps margins slim even by the standards of the generics industry, says Rajiv Malik, the president of Mylan. But volumes are huge. Can treatment expand further? Despite the subsidies and the plunge in prices, less than half of those infected with HIV take HIV drugs. Those who do, however, live a long time, and they have to keep taking the pills. What's more, new studies show that it helps to start treating patients early, so demand is sure to rise. Alas, aid dipped in 2009 and 2010, thanks to the financial crisis. To make matters more complicated, there is a trade-off between more drugs and better ones. Most patients in poor countries get outdated pills, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. Allowing generics firms to copy yet more patented drugs might help. Since 2006 Gilead has licensed drugs to generics firms for 5% royalties. Last year it went further, agreeing to license drugs to a “patent pool” to centralise royalty deals for a range of firms. So far, however, Gilead is the only Western company to join. Even in rich countries, public willingness to pay for the best drugs may be waning. Express Scripts manages drug costs for American employers. With Gilead's expensive Quad poised to enter the market, employers have started asking Steve Miller, the chief medical officer, to contain HIV costs, possibly by nudging patients towards cheaper drugs. There are two distinct HIV markets. In rich countries, many good treatments jostle for market share. The best will generate fat profits, since patients have to take their pills every day. But Datamonitor predicts that growth will slow after 2017, as many drugs lose patent protection and prices crash. In poor countries, by contrast, Big Pharma makes very little money but the most efficient copycats thrive. Meanwhile, the world still waits for a cure. From the print edition: Business

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Carbon Monoxide (Blood) Does this test have other names? CO blood test, CO blood gas, arterial blood gas What is this test? This test measures the level of carbon monoxide (CO) in your blood. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, tasteless, and odorless gas made by combustion. Breathing in CO can be fatal because it doesn't allow oxygen to get to your heart and other organs. This test looks for carboxyhemoglobin. This substance is created in your blood when hemoglobin combines with carbon monoxide instead of oxygen. Most deaths from CO result from smoke inhalation. Other sources include malfunctioning heaters, improperly ventilated kitchen stoves, improperly vented tools, camping stoves, charcoal grills, water heaters, and cars with their engines running in an enclosed space like a garage. All of these can cause CO to spread throughout a building. Why do I need this test? You may need this test if your doctor suspects that you have CO poisoning. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include: Severe poisoning can produce nerve system symptoms, such as: Carbon monoxide poisoning can be more difficult to identify in very young children than in adults. For example, a child may merely appear fussy and not want to eat. You may also have this test if you have been exposed to CO, especially if you inhaled smoke during a fire. You may also have this test if you've been near a car that's had its engine running in an enclosed space for an extended amount of time. What other tests might I have along with this test? Your doctor may also order these tests: Your doctor may also order an MRI scan if you also have symptoms of nervous system problems. What do my test results mean? Many things may affect your lab test results. These include the method each lab uses to do the test. Even if your test results are different from the normal value, you may not have a problem. To learn what the results mean for you, talk with your health care provider. Results are given as a percentage or as a decimal. These are the normal ranges for CO levels in the blood: Adults: less than 2.3 percent, or 0.023 Adult smokers: 2.1 to 4.2 percent, or 0.021 to 0.042 Adult heavy smokers (more than two packs a day): 8 to 9 percent Hemolytic anemia: Up to 4 percent Newborn: greater than 12 percent If your levels are higher, you may have CO intoxication or poisoning. How is this test done? The test requires a blood sample, which is drawn through a needle from a vein in your arm. Does this test pose any risks? Taking a blood sample with a needle carries risks that include bleeding, infection, bruising, or feeling dizzy. When the needle pricks your arm, you may feel a slight stinging sensation or pain. Afterward, the site may be slightly sore. What might affect my test results? Other factors aren't likely to affect your results. How do I get ready for this test? You don't need to prepare for this test. But be sure your doctor knows about all medicines, herbs, vitamins, and supplements you are taking. This includes medicines that don't need a prescription and any illicit drugs you may use.

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The monument in Neckarzimmern recalls into memory the fate of the Jews of Baden. On October 22, 1940, the SS deported the Jewish residents of 137 Baden communities to France. They were interned in the Gurs camp by order of the French Vichy Government. Many of the Jews from Baden perished in the Auschwitz death camp after being deported from Gurs by orders of the SS in 1942. In 1940, all of the Jews residing in Alsace and Lorraine were deported to the southern part of France controlled by the collaborating government in Vichy. At the time, the two provinces were administered by Robert Wagner and Josef Bürckel, in charge of the neighbouring districts of Baden and Saar-Palatinate respectively. These deportations prompted Wagner and Bürckel to also expel the Jews from Baden and Saar-Palatinate to France. The orders had not come from the Reich government in Berlin; the operation was kept a secret and had been initiated by the two »Gauleiter«. The so-called »Wagner-Bürckel-Aktion« was put into effect on October 22 and 23, 1940 - it was among the first deportations of Jews from the German Reich. Members of the Gestapo rounded up the Jews from the regions of Baden and Saar-Palatinate, giving them one hour to pack only few belongings before gathering at public squares. From there they were chased onto trucks and buses and transported to larger train stations. A total of nine trains had been prepared to take them to France. The French authorities had not been informed about the plan. Disguised as transports of the Wehrmacht the trains could pass the border to France undetected. When the Vichy Government found out who had been on the train, it decided that the Jews were to be interned at the Gurs camp near the Spanish border. The camp was completely unprepared to take 7,000 new inmates. The men and women were separated at Gurs and allocated to barracks. Within a few months, many of those interned at Gurs fell ill and died due to the insufficient food and medical supplies as well as a lack of hygienic facilities at the camp. About 6,000 Jewish children, women and men from the district of Baden were deported to the Gurs internment camp. Over 1,000 Jews from the district of Saar-Palatinate were deported. How many of them died due to the conditions they were subjected to at Gurs is not known. When then National Socialists decided on the »final solution of the Jewish question«, Theodor Dannecker, responsible for implementing the new policy in France, ordered the deportation of all Jews held at Gurs to Auschwitz in August 1942. Many Jews from Baden were among those deported. The memorial project was brought about by a cooperation of the catholic youth section of the Freiburg archdiocese and the protestant office for youth work at the state church of Baden. It was dedicated on October 23, 2005, on the grounds of the protestant youth conference centre in Neckarzimmern. The cement foundation of the memorial in the form of a Star of David measures about 25 metres on each side. It is currently the only monument in Baden in honour of all the Jews deported from Baden. The memorial follows a dynamic concept: there are plans to set up a total of 137 individually designed stones around the memorial, one for each of the 137 towns in Baden from which Jews were deported. - Mahnmal zur Erinnerung an die deportierten badischen Juden - +49 (0)761 514 424 7 - +49 (0)761 514 476 244 - Accessible at all times - Newsletter of the Peace Workgroup

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This is a MLDesigner/SatLab model of an Earth Orbiting Satellite. The satellite carries a payload of instruments that collect and store data, then download it on command to ground stations. The satellite is power by batteries that are recharged by a solar array. One set of parameters define the operational environment--satellite orbital details, date and time, ground station positions etc. A second set of parameters define the satellite environment—power consumption settings (on, off, standby, operational), Low and high transmit energy consumption, memory power requirements, charge and discharge values, solar panel angles and solar flux, data fame size, memory size, etc. The model simulates the operation of the satellite (collecting data when over land , storing it in memory, and transmitting it on request.) It also simulates the operation of the power system as it provides power for data collection, storage and transmission and is recharged when the solar panels face the sun. The model links to SatLab which generates the orbit and provides positional information to MLDesigner. The top level model consists of an environmental model and a satellite model. The environmental model defines the operational environment for the system. The top-level satellite model consists of an instrument system, a control system, a transmission system, and a power system. The instruments are connected to memory through a data bus. Data from the instruments is transferred through the data bus to memory until it can be transmitted to ground stations. The power system consists of solar panels that feed a power controller. When ground stations are in view, the satellite transmits data stored in memory to the ground station.

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Complete Steps 1 – 5. Step One: Watch the power point presentation on shapes. (See below: Attachment File 1) Step Two: Complete the Shape Activities at the end of the presentation. Step Three: Click on http://www.lil-fingers.com/shapes/ to watch Draw Me Shapes, by David Lumerman. Step Four: Color, cut, and paste the school bus worksheets. (Teacher should have the worksheets printed before the student completes this activity, It may be found at (cut & paste address) Step Five: In your journal, draw and name each shape. Then make up a story using each one. Take your activity sheets home to review the shapes that you have

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mysqld, also known as MySQL Server, is the main program that does most of the work in a MySQL installation. MySQL Server manages access to the MySQL data directory that contains databases and tables. The data directory is also the default location for other information such as log files and status files. The mysqld program has many options that can be specified at startup. For a complete list of options, run this command: MySQL Server also has a set of system variables that affect its operation as it runs. System variables can be set at server startup, and many of them can be changed at runtime to effect dynamic server reconfiguration. MySQL Server also has a set of status variables that provide information about its operation. You can monitor these status variables to access runtime performance characteristics. For a full description of MySQL Server command options, system variables, and status variables, see Section 5.1, "The MySQL Server". For information about installing MySQL and setting up the initial configuration, see Chapter 2, Installing and Upgrading MySQL. Copyright © 1997, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it only under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License. This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with the program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA or see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

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The English Castle| by David Dawson This article is the first in a series which attempts to outline the development of the English Medieval castle and to describe its major features. Where possible, reference is made to existing castles within a comfortable day's journey of London so that the visitor who wishes to view a selection of English castles, but has limited time at his or her disposal, need not travel far from the capital Perhaps the first issue to be dealt with is an answer to the question, "what is a castle?" The English Medieval castle, like its counterparts in Europe, is a unique phenomenon. Most buildings are created to fulfil a single, specific purpose: a church, a house, a factory, a school, a bank, a hotel etc. A castle, depending upon the status of the man who occupied it, could be variously, a military base, a seat of government, a court and a stronghold for the surrounding region. It could be any or all of the above but it was principally the private residence of its owner, his family and his dependents. England had known fortifications before the advent of the castle. The Iron Age peoples of Ancient Britain fortified hilltops with massive earthworks, such as Maiden Castle in Dorset, for tribal defense. The Romans dotted the countryside with innumerable military encampments and built the impressive chain of fortresses, known as the Saxon Shore forts (e.g. Portchester Castle, below), to guard South-East England from Saxon raiders in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The Normans later built castles within the walls of two of these Roman Saxon Shore forts, at Pevensey in Sussex and Portchester in Hampshire. The Anglo-Saxons and the Danes entrenched their towns behind earthen banks and timber palisades to create fortified towns, burhs, from which is derived the modern word "borough." Yet, all these structures were for, essentially, communal purposes. What distinguishes the castle from these and other, later fortifications is its function as a private residence. Castles were the product of that period of Medieval history termed the Age of Feudalism. Feudalism is a much misused word. It is strictly applied to the military society which was created in Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries AD and which reached its most developed form in Normandy in the 11th century. Very simply put, feudal society resembled a pyramid. At its apex was the king who, in theory at least, owned all the land in his kingdom. Immediately below the king was a group of major landholders who held their land directly from him, his tenants-in-chief. These were the great lords and magnates of the kingdom. In return for their land, they swore to give the king military service; that is, they and their retainers would fight for the king whenever and whereever he chose. The tenants-in-chief let out land to their tenants, the lesser barons and lords, on the same terms. This process was repeated all the way down the pyramid to the knight who was the local lord of the manor. The amount of land a man held was directly proportional to the amount of military service he could render. A knight might only be liable to appear at the muster with a horse, his weapons, a suit of chain mail and one or two servants as men-at-arms. A tenant-in-chief would be expected to provide scores of knights and several hundred men-at-arms. This decentralisation of land-holding and power required that each landholder provide himself with a base from which to operate. This base should also be designed to afford protection to himself, his family and all those who lived on and worked his lands. The great magnates and many of the lesser barons would hold lands in different parts of the kingdom and require several bases.The landholdings of a knight, being much smaller, would usually be concentrated within a single locality and would require only one base. As Mediaeval government was frequently incapable of guaranteeing peace and order, such bases needed to be defensible. Thus the castle was born. Although these articles deal with the development of the English Medieval castle by ascribing successive types and forms of castles to various periods in history, only a small number of castles assumed the form we see today in the course of one period of building. Most were the product of several centuries of modification and rebuilding, as new forms of defense were raised to counter new means of attack. It should also be realized that life in a castle was predominantly a quiet, peaceful process. Castles were primarily the residences of the nobility and the gentry and the life lived in them was very much akin to that of the later country house. Indeed, we shall see that towards the close of the Medieval period, as society became more peaceful, castle design began to lay more stress on the comforts of life and less on the needs of defense. Contrary to the image portrayed by Hollywood, castles were not continuously in a state of siege, crowded with armed men and ringing with the clash of arms! In times of peace, the castle would contain the owner's family and servants. The owner might frequently be absent, in which case, the castle would be occupied by only the caretaker and a few servants. In time of war, the castle would be garrisoned by the lord's tenantry, fulfilling one of their feudal obligations; castle-guard. Once the crisis was past, the garrison would revert to being farmers and farm workers. The Norman Conquest and the First Castles The Norman conquest of England in 1066 introduced feudalism to England. We have already seen that castles were a feature of feudalism so it follows that the Normans introduced castles to England. In fact, castles were the means by which William the Conqueror and his followers secured their hold on England following their victory over the English army at the battle of Hastings. The chroniclers of the period frequently refer to the castle building activities of the Normans. Immediately after Hastings, according to Ordericus Vitalis, William ordered castles to be raised at Warwick, Nottingham, York , Lincoln, Cambridge and Huntingdon. The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" tells us that in the following year, 1067, while William himself was away dealing with affairs in Normandy, his two co-regents in England, Bishop Odo of Bayeux and Earl William fitz Osborn wrought castles widely thoughout the kingdom and oppressed the poor people. The practice of castle buiding was not confined to William and his chief ministers. Virtually every Norman baron must have felt the need to raise some sort of defensive structure (e.g. castle) to secure his newly acquired lands and to protect himself and his family from a sullen, resentful and potentially hostile Saxon populace. "My son" said the Norman Baron, "I am dying and you will be heir The Domesday Book, the great national land register which William commanded to be compiled and which was completed in 1087, records innumerable castles and "defensible houses" raised by every class of Norman overlord. What were these first castles like? They were most definitely not what we usually think of when visualizing a castle; a massive edifice of stone with towers and battlements. The first Norman castles were hurriedly constructed of earth and timber, in many cases using forced labour and most conformed to a basic plan; that of the motte and bailey. To all the broad acres in England that William gave me for my share; When we conquered the Saxon at Hastings, and a nice little handful it is. But before you go over to rule it I want you to understand this; "The Saxon is not like us Normans. His manners are not so polite. But he never means anything serious till he talks about justice and right. When he stands like an ox in the furrow with his sullen set eyes on your own, And grumbles, 'This isn't fair dealing', my son, leave the Saxon alone." Norman and Saxon The motte was a large conical mound with a flat top (at right, Launceston Castle in Cornwall, showing the motte). Where possible use was made of natural hillocks or outcrops of rock, but most mottes were raised by digging a deep ditch around its site and heaping up the result soil. Frequently more material was needed to produce the required size and height of mound and this was obtained elsewhere. Archeological evidence has revealed that on occasion, the Normans even made use of material from demolished Saxon houses in raising a motte. The bailey was a simple enclosure with its own ditch. Motte and bailey castles came in a variety of configurations but the most common was a single mound and enclosure, with the motte at one end of the bailey and separated from it by its ditch. Both mound and enclosure were defended by the ditch and an earthen bank behind the ditch, topped with a timber stockade. Where practicable, the ditches were filled with water and in some instances had a raised bank in front as well as behind, known as a counterscarp which may have had a hedge of thorns or briars planted on it. A splendid example of this type of motte and bailey castle can be seen at Berkhamstead in Hertfordshire. Here, the later stonework has all but vanished revealing the original Norman earthworks (shown at left, outlined in red). Within the stockade of the mound, there would have been a timber tower. Tower and motte formed the strongpoint of the castle; the last defense if attackers overran the bailey. The tower was also the residence of the castle's owner and had to be large enough to contain his family and their servants. Within the bailey were the buildings, also of timber, necessary for the running of the castle; the hall where everyone in the castle usually gathered for meals and other social events, the kitchens, barns, workshops, stables and the chapel. The entrance to the bailey was by means of a strongly defended gate, fronting a bridge over the ditch. The primary advantage of motte and bailey castles was that they were quick and cheap to erect, particularly if you had forced labour at your disposal. Yet, in spite of its primitiveness, such a castle would have presented a formidable obstacle to attackers equipped with the weapons of the period. Mottes ranged from 25-30 feet to over 80 feet in height, with the timber tower giving the defenders a further advatange. The bailey could cover anywhere from one to three acres. It was usually laid out so that any point on its circumference would be within bowshot of the tower. Many of England's existing castles began as motte and bailey castles. Windsor Castle, Berkshire, perhaps England's most famous castle and the favorite home of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is in origin a motte and bailey castle. In fact, it has two baileys (see illus. at right), one on each side of its motte, as does Arundel Castle in Sussex, home of the Dukes of Norfolk, hereditary Earl Marshals of England. Today, the mottes in both of these castles are crowned with stone towers, known as shell keeps. The conversion of the timber defences of motte and bailey castles to walls and towers of stone forms the next article in this series. The English Castle, Part #2 The English Castle, Part #3 ©2007 Britannia.com Design and Development by SightLines, Inc.

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I. E. Coop In such a wide field as pastures and crops it is impossible in the time and space available, to do more than summarise the main lines of research and development of recent years having special reference to underdeveloped countries. In the long-term the greatest advances have been made in fundamental knowledge, such as - the basic physiology and biochemistry of plant growth, the significance of the C4 pathway in tropical plants, genetic engineering, embryo transfer in animals, remote sensing photography, the ecology of the world's grasslands. The pressing problems of rangeland degeneration, and social and economic change in human societies, are also better understood. The immediate problem and the task of this paper is to descend to a lower practical level of what has been learned about the possibilities of increasing pasture and forage production, and of utilising feed grown in the most efficient manner. Approximately one half of the sheep and three quarters of the goats in developing countries are within the tropics, the remainder being in a band from North Africa through the Near East to China. It is useful to have some classification of climatic zones governing plant growth, and for the tropics it is given below: |Zone||Rainfall1 (mm)||Rainfall2 (mm)||Growing Period (days)||Dry Season (months)| |Arid||< 400||< 500||< 90||> 8| |Semi-arid||400 – 750||500 – 1000||90 – 180||6 – 8| |Sub humid||750 – 1200||1000 – 1500||180 – 270||4–6| |Humid||> 1200||> 1500||> 270||< 4| 1 From Unesco (1979) 2 From Jahnke (1982) for Africa A feature of research and development work in the tropics, with the exception of the arid zone, is that cattle rather than sheep and goats have been used, so that in the absence of good data on small ruminants one has unfortunately to interpret from cattle data. It is proposed to discuss briefly the recent pasture utilisation studies with sheep in the temperate zone and then move to the arid and semi-arid pastoral zones, followed by the cropping/livestock situation in the semi-arid and subhumid zones and finally to the subhumid and humid zones. 4 RD, Christchurch, New Zealand. PASTURE UTILISATION IN THE TEMPERATE ZONE Research activities, and the methods derived therefrom, for increasing ruminant production in developed countries follow fairly standarised lines - breeding and selection for improved cultivars, determination of plant nutrient (fertiliser) requirements, determination of animal feed requirements, grazing management studies aimed at integrating pasture growth and animal requirements with maximum efficiency on a year round basis. In the temperate zone under favourable conditions grass-legume pastures are capable of yielding 10–20t DM/ha/ annum on cultivatable land and 5–10t DM/ha/annum on hill land oversown with clovers especially (Trifolium repens). While these studies have progressed on a broad front, in recent years special attention has been devoted to the most difficult and complex area - the efficient use of pasture under-grazing (Morley, 1981; Parsons et al., 1983). Techniques have been developed for measuring herbage mass, ratio of green to dead leaf, net DM growth of green material under various grazing pressures, the intake of the grazing sheep (or goat) at various levels of pasture availability, the pasture availability needed to promote given levels of production, and the residual pasture (DM/ha) at which production falls below critical levels. Concurrently research has determined the critical and non-critical nutritional periods in the annual cycle of the ewe, and the extent to which the resilience of the ewe to gain and lose body fat may be used to buffer seasonal peaks and troughs of pasture growth (Coop, 1982; Milligan, 1983). Finally to put this into practice requires control of pasture growth and control or rationing of intake of the grazing sheep. This can only be achieved by adequate subdivision with fencing. This has been greatly facilitated by the development of electric fencing and in really intensive systems by the additional use of cheap portable electric fencing. Such fencing is also used for strip grazing of forage crops, in order to get maximum utilization of the forage. The efficient conversion of pasture to animal production is a highly complex matter because of the interactions between the grazing animal and the pasture, interactions which vary with season. At low stocking rates percentage utilisation is low and continuous grazing is as good as, or better than, rotational grazing. However to obtain high animal production per hectare intensive grazing at high stocking rates is required in order to give a high percentage utilisation. In this case rotational grazing is superior. In practice compromises become necessary because pasture growth is seasonal, there are periods when utilisation is sacrificed in the interests of achieving high individual animal growth rates and others, such as in winter, when utilisation is much more important than liveweight gain. The efficiency of utilisation of native pasture in extensive grazing systems running less than 2 sheep/ha is estimated in recent research to be below 30%. When such pasture is improved by oversowing, fertilisation and fencing, utilisation can be increased to 60–70%. On really intensively grazed cultivated pastures efficiencies of 70–85% are possible on a year-round basis. Some appreciation of intensive grazing and utilisation may be gauged from the current practice of wintering pregnant ewes in New Zealand, where the ewes are rotated, at a density of 1000 ewes per hectare, on a daily shift behind electric fences. In the Northern Hemisphere where winters are colder, greater reliance on hay and silage is made for winter feed. It is estimated that the percentage utilisation of metabolisable energy (ME) of the original pasture, when consumed as hay, is below 50%. For this, and for reasons of cost, the Southern Hemisphere grazing countries place emphasis on utilisation of pasture by the grazing animal with minimal use of conserved fodder. Advances in grazing management and utilisation have nevertheless been made in northern countries. One example of this is the “two pasture” system developed for the wet cold hill country of Britain, whereby a smaller area of improved pasture is integrated with the larger area of unimproved hill land and utilised at strategic points in the annual cycle of the ewes. Another is the “three pasture” system aimed at minimising worm parasite problems. Finally in all the major grazing countries there is increasing evidence that cattle, sheep and goats can all be beneficial to one another, the special grazing characteristics of each being complimentary to the other. With coats this is seen especially in their preferences for weeds and pasture species not relished by sheep. If proof is needed that modern pasture/sheep technology can lead to increased animal production the case of New Zealand may be quoted, where from approximately the same area of grazing land, sheep numbers have increased from 33 millions in 1950 to 53 millions in 1965, to 70 millions in 1982 with proportionate increases in meat and wool output. While only some of this temperate zone technology is immediately transferrable to developing countries, the objectives and the principles certainly are. ARID AND SEMI-ARID ZONE RANGELANDS The extensive rangelands of the arid and semi-arid zones of developing countries and the peoples they support are in varying degrees of crisis as a result of rangeland degradation, brought about by overstocking. The area is traditionally used solely by pastoralists under nomadic and transhumant systems, but the pressure of human population has led to the incursion of agriculturalists with their livestock into marginal areas, so putting an unbearable pressure on the rangeland vegetation. Much has been written about the current state of rangeland vegetation, the social and economic impediments as well as the technical difficulties in reversing the deterioration (e.g. Unesco, 1979; Jahnke, 1982; Harrington, 1982 and Malechek, 1982). While there are cases or instances of potential improvements or improvements actually made, the concensus of opinion of authors is that the only solution short and midterm is to reduce grazing pressure. It is recommended that this be achieved by destocking, or by deferred grazing or some other form of grazing management which would permit a more even grazing and reduce severe overgrazing on critical areas. A recent FAO review (FAO 1984) commented that there is need for rehabilitation by the introduction of good management, that forage cultivation is not yet generally accepted and conservation of hay and silage rarely practised. There is a need to introduce forage trees and browze shrubs, but there was little likelihood of increasing forage availability in the near future due to pressure of livestock combined with the persistence of drought. The productivity of the arid and semi-arid zone rangelands is low. Jahnke (1982), quoting other authorities, gives a figure of 2.5kg DM/ha/annum per mm rainfall, or It DM/ha/annum at 400 mm which is likely to be inefficiently utilised. Such yields cannot hope to generate enough income to provide incentive to introduce improved species even if this were technologically feasible. While acceptance by the inhabitants and by Governments that reduction in grazing pressure is the only short term solution, one must not be entirely negative. Observation and development project results indicate that there are avenues for improvement and some specific examples of these are listed below. Grain yields and sheep production were twice as great in South Australia through replacing fallow with subterranean clover and medic pasture, compared with Algeria having a similar Mediterranean climate but not integrating crop and sheep grazing (Allden, 1982, quoting Carter). In the Drought Prone Areas Programme in Western India the introduction of Cenchrus ciliaris and Lasiurus sindicus increased DM yield from 0.4 t to 3t/ha/annum (Jain, 1983). Depleted rangeland in China has been shown to be capable of yielding 3t DM/ha/annum by oversowing with milk vetch and fertiliser (Chinzagco project, pers. comm). In another site having 300 mm rainfall, all in summer, the yields of native grassland have been doubled with fertiliser alone, while in cultivated areas the use of newer cultivars of sorghums, maize, and annual grasses for silage, and native grass for hay has also doubled the number of stock carried as well as improving them greatly (FAO 1983). The Syrian Arab Republic Rangeland Conservation and Development Project is one of the best known, reviving the ancient “Hema” system of grazing control, introducing Atriplex spp. planting fodder trees and creating lamb fattening cooperatives (Draz 1978). The wide ranging development project in Morocco where Agropyron elongatum has been introduced into a Stipa-Artemisia ecosystem in a 300 mm rainfall area (El Gharbaoui, 1984). The introduction of Atriplex and Kochia spp. in Saudia Arabia (Hassan 1984), The legumes Stylosanthes humilis and to a lesser degree S. guyanensis have been shown to be capable of being oversown or direct drilled on sites in the semi-arid zone. There are also arid or semi-arid rangelands in the temperate zone (U.S.A., South America, South Africa, Australia) which have also degenerated under overstocking during the last 100 years and it is significant that in all of these stock numbers have declined. The most intensively studied are those in the U.S.A. and in a recent review of rangeland management and reseeding results, it is commented that “a considerable portion of western rangelands currently support vegetation assemblages greatly below their potential” (Herbel, 1984; Young et. a!., 1984). Wilson, A.D. (1982) in another review concludes that “there are no technological improvements in the pipeline that will lead to major productivity gains. The basic restrictions of sparse vegetation, low rainfall and a harsh climate are not subject to technological innovation”. Nevertheless there are instances that in all of these countries improvements are technically possible. To take but one example, Stevens and Villalta (1983) at high altitudes in Peru were able to establish ryegrass-clover pastures and to direct-seed lucerne into rangeland with large increases in sheep numbers carried. The problem is that research and development projects in both developed and developing countries on which the possibilities if improvement have been shown, have high inputs of technical and economic aid. Whether they can survive in a straight commercial sense and whether it is economic to attempt to increase production is highly dubious. In the more favourable sites it may be so, but for most of it, the problem is to halt further deterioration. The poor income-generating power of the extensive rangelands dictates that any improvements must be ecologically sound and low cost, and should act in a catalytic role to permit better utilisation of the much larger area of unimproved land. Research priorities suggested should include grazing management studies to provide more even grazing pressure, forage conservation, selection of species and cultivars extending growth into the dry period, integration with cropping systems. (Unesco, 1979; Malechek, 1982; Butterworth et.al,1984). CROP - LIVESTOCK INTEGRATION Crop production is an occupation of agriculturalists living in villages mostly in the semi-arid and subhumid zones. Traditionally some nomads have included the grazing of crop stubbles in their annual movement, while transhumant pastoralists have also made use of stubbles and crop residues during the dry period. The increasing sedentarisation or semi-sedentarisation of nomads and transhumants, together with movement of agriculturalists with their own livestock in the opposite direction into drier areas, is reducing the areas available for grazing and also increasing the risks of crop failure. The integration of cropping with sheep and goats is primarily in the semi-arid zone but extends into the subhumid zone. Although the cropping regime yields more DM/ha in the form of stubbles, straws and byproducts available for stock the increases in stock numbers more than offsets this. Nevertheless cropping systems and the more intensive and settled human existence in villages or permanent abodes, offers an environment much more amenable to technological change and improvement than does the rangeland. The following research developments in recent years are some of the more promising. The breeding of improved cultivars of human feed crops - wheat, maize, sorghum, groundnuts etc. and research on fertiliser responses, together with an appreciation that in subsistence agriculture, fertilizer put on crops increases yield sufficiently to release land for planting in animal forage crops. Research and demonstration has shown that forage production can be expanded considerably by inter-row sowing of legumes with the cereal, using improved cultivars of forage species, and especially replacing the traditional fallow with sown perennial or annual forage crops. Legumes such as Stylosanthes and vetches, and other tropical legumes in higher rainfall areas, are much preferred since their nitrogen level and nutritive value are high and they increase soil nitrogen for the next cereal crop. High yields have been obtained in Cyprus from barley and barley/vetch forage made into hay (Osman and Nersoyan, 1984; Unesco, 1979; FAO, 1983). If a move to greater use of forage crops and more efficient use of grazing stubbles is to be made then control of the sheep and goats becomes important. Attempts should therefore be made to gain acceptance of the electric fence by herders and cultivators. Intensive fattening of lambs and kids, on locally grown roughage plus concentrates and byproducts, has a double advantage of controlled marketing with a superior product and more importantly of removing young animals to be fattened from the overgrazed rangeland, thereby reducing the grazing pressure. Lamb fattening trials have been reported from several countries showing typically that weaned lambs make gains of 100 – 250 g/day with feed conversion ratios of 6 to 10 according to the energy content of the diet. There is a need to examine what effect this has on the total system. Some arid and semi-arid areas have water available for irrigation, which is used mainly for cereal or cash crops (cotton) but some is available for forage. Water from the Nile is used in Egypt and Sudan, underground water in Libya and Saudi Arabia. Extremely high yields of lucerne (Medicago sativa ) and Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum) are obtained and provide a high protein source for cattle, sheep and goats. Improving the utilisation of low quality roughages is also possible. Low protein levels characteristic of tropical forages during the long dry period are a limiting factor in animal intake and performance. (Minson, 1982). A considerable amount of research work has been done over the last 20 – 25 years on the use of urea to improve the voluntary intake of straws and other low quality roughages by cattle, sheep and goats. Trials conducted in pens have almost universally given good results but selective grazing by animals in the field has caused some doubts about its application in a grazing context (Coombe 1981). A more recent discovery is that alkali or ammonia treatment of straw can increase digestibility by 10–15units, e.g. from 45% to 55–60%. Encouraging results are being obtained from the technique at both the village level (Dolberg et.al., 1981), and the factory level (Creek et.al., 1984). A much better understanding of protein requirements of sheep and goats has been developed during the last decade, with recognition of the significance of rumen nondegradable protein. This is of special importance in the tropics (Lindsay, 1984). The outlook then for improvements in pasture and crop production, and of utilisation by sheep and goats in the cropping areas is reasonably encouraging. Whether it can keep pace with the increases in human population is another matter. Fortunately much of the research done in developed countries is less sensitive to environment in a cropping activity than in a grazing activity, and is therefore more likely to find application in the cropping scene. The most important fields of research in the cropping areas as far as sheep and goats are concerned are likely to be further integration of pastoral ism with cropping, conservation and forage production for the dry period, and improvements in the utilisation of straws. Somewhat similar problems exist in the semi-arid/cold regions of the world such as in the arc from Turkey to China. Here the winter replaces the dry period of the tropics. In the USSR and Northern China for example, many pastoralists have been semi-or wholly sedenterised, and winter bases exist in villages or have been especially constructed. The growing of forage, partly for grazing but mostly for conservation as hay and silage, is a dominant feature of the system (Demiruren, 1982). SUBHUMID AND HUMID ZONES Though the line of demarkation between the semi-arid and subhumid zones is diffuse, there is a distinct trend towards tree crop agriculture as well as cropping, towards tall-grass pasture species and a greater density of villages, especially where associated with rice culture. This is accompanied by a shift in the relative importance of large and small ruminants. Whereas in developing countries sheep and goats outnumber cattle by nearly 2 : 1 in the arid and semi-arid zones, cattle outnumber sheep and goats in the subhumid and humid zones. As far as sheep and goats are concerned there are no longer any pastoralists and nearly all the animals are associated with village and cropping agriculture. Tropical Pasture Development Present native pastures consisting of Hyperrhenia, Andropogon, Themeda and many other species exist in a savanna landscape derived from forest or woodland. Soils are heavily leached, grazing is primarily with cattle and fire plays an important part in the grass, scrub, tree balance. The most important development in this area in the last few decades has undoubtedly been the selection, breeding and cultivation of improved cultivars of tropical grasses and legumes. The legume is particularly important because of the low nitrogen status of tropical soils. Though this work has been carried out in several tropical environments the driving force has been the CSIRO Division of Tropical Pastures in Queensland, Australia (Mannetje, 1982; Minson, 1982). Now there are established cattle ranches and cattle projects in most tropical countries with rainfall in excess of 800–1000 mm. Unfortunately, in relation to sheep and goats, the basic grazing experiments and present projects are almost wholly involved with cattle. There are good reasons for this cattle dominance, but not for the exclusion of small ruminants. Very high yields of pasture DM are attainable - up to 30 – 40t/ha/annum but control of pasture growth, maintenance of the grass-legume balance, and ingress of weeds do present greater problems than with temperate pastures (Mannetje, 1982). Nevertheless the potential of these tropical pasture species for small ruminants with or without cattle should be explored. Some trials using sheep and goats have been recorded (Boulton and Norton, 1982; Potts and Humphreys, 1983; Susetyo et.al. 1983) but not yet on a farm scale. Some of the improved species, especially legumes such as Stylosanthes humilis and S. guyanensis, Macroptilium, Desmodium spp are also finding use as forages for establishment on fallows which are grazed by sheep and goats in both semi- and subhumid zones. Sheep and Goats in the Village The place of sheep and goats in the village is much the same as described for the arid and semi-arid zones. The scope for increases in numbers and production especially of goats has been emphasised (Devendra, 1980; Roy-Smith, 1982; Zulkifli et.al., 1980; Wilson, R. T. 1982), involving greater utilisation of the considerable byproducts available from cereal and tree crop production, the introduction of improved grass and legume species in available land and recognition of the part which the milking goat rather than the cow could play. The opportunity to exploit the production of tropical grasses and legumes is facilitated by the fact that many sheep and goats, especially in the humid zone, are fed under a cut and carry system, or are let out during the day time on a controlled grazing system. There is no doubt that small ruminant production in this zone could be increased and there are good reasons why it should. Most of the arguments about the relative merits of cattle, sheep and goats are based on personal factors, and on calculations of what ought to be, and there is a need for comparisons to be made on a strictly scientific basis. It is encouraging that recognition of animal production potential in the humid tropics is evidenced by the creation of the joint Australian/Indonesian Centre for animal research and development in Ciawi, Indonesia in 1975. Utilisation of Pasture in Plantations In the humid tropics there are large areas of tree crops such as coconut, rubber and oil palm. They are established in association with a tropical legume cover crop which in time regresses to grasses and weeds. Except in coconut plantations often grazed by cattle the herbage available is generally not used at all. Attention has been given by the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (Tan and Abraham, 1980) to using sheep to consume this herbage and to reduce the high cost of weed control. Promising results are being achieved, confirming that a considerable potential exists for the utilisation of this large feed resource. Forage Trees and Tree Byproducts The utilisation of edible trees and shrubs, and of tree byproducts such as leaves, pods and seeds has received considerable attention in recent years. The characteristics and feed values of tree crops have been reviewed recently by Hutagalung (1981). Particular attention has been given to leguminous trees-such as Leucaena, Gliricidia, Tagasaste spp. since the leaves of leguminous trees, and especially L. Leucocephala, have protein levels in excess of 20%. Recent evidence (Bamualim et.al., 1984) shows that the protein is a good by-pass protein, capable of enhancing intake of low quality roughages where these form the main diet. Acacia spp prevalent in many parts of the tropics can also be valuable in droughts (Snook, 1984). Leguminous trees and edible shrubs are not confined to the subhumid and humid zones, but can contribute also in the semi-arid zone, and are likely to be utilised much more than in the past. There is considerable scientific evidence that both pasture and animal production can be increased substantially in all except the arid zone. The major problems are lack of capital to implement improvement and uncertainty about its viability, economically. The greatest and quickest responses in pasture and forage production are likely to be in the subhumid zone, and also in cropping systems. To maintain impetus in research it is suggested that priority be given to: breeding and selection of pasture species for the semi-arid zone aimed at increasing the length of the growing period. Selection of low phosphate demanding legumes for this zone. studies of the utilisation of tropical pastures by sheep and goats. pasture conservation for the dry period, forage production on cropping land. studies to increase the complementarity (or integration) of rangeland and cropping land. continuation of studies aimed at improving the utilisation of low quality roughages by sheep and goats. Allden, W. G. 1982. In Nutritional Limits to Animal Production from Pastures. (Ed. J. 0. Hacker), pp. 45–65. Comm. Agr. Bur. Bamualim, A., Weston, R. H., Hogan, J. P. and Murray, R. M., 1984. Anim. Prod. in Australia, 15: 255–258. Boulton, P. and Norton, B. W.,1982. Anim., Prod, in Australia, 14:641. Butterworth, M. H., Lambourne, L. J. and Anderson, K., 1984. Proc. 2nd Int. Rangeland Congr., Adelaide. (In Press). Coombe, J. B.,1981. In Grazing Animals (Ed. F. W. H. Morley), pp. 319–332, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Coop, I. E., 1982. In Sheep and Goat Production (Ed. T. E. Coop), pp. 351–375, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Creek, M. J., Barker, J. J. and Hargus, W. A., 1984. World Anim. Rev., 15: 12. Demiruren, A.,1982. In Sheep and Goat Production (Ed. I. E. Coop), pp. 425–440, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Devendra, C, 1980. J. Anim. Sci., 51:461–473. Dolberg, F., Saadullah, M., Haque, M. and Ahmed, R., 1981. World Anim. Rev., 38: 37–41. Draz, 0., 1978. Proc. 1st Int. Rangeland Congr., Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. El Gharbaoui, 1984. Proc. 2nd Int. Rangeland Congr., Adelaide. (In Press). FAO, 1983. Pilot Demonstration Centre for Intensive Pasture, Fodder and Livestock Production. Peoples Republic of China. FAO - CPR/79/001. FAO, 1984. World Anim. Rev. 51: 2–11. Harrington, G. N., 1982. In Grazing Animals (Ed. F. W. H. Morley), pp. 181–202, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Hassan, A. A.,1984. Proc. 2nd Int. Rangeland Congr., Adelaide.(In Press). Herbel, C. A., 1984. In Developing Strategies for Rangeland Management. pp. 1167–1178, NRC/Nat. Acad. Sci., Westview Press. Hutagalung, R. I., 1981. In Intensive Animal Production in Developing Countries ( Ed. A. J. Smith and R. G. Gunn) pp. 151–184. Jahnke, H. E., 1982. Livestock Production Systems and Livestock Development in Tropical Africa Kieler W. b. V. Vauk. 253 pp. Jain, H. K., 1983. Proc. XIV Int. Grassl. Congr., p. 440. Lindsay, J. A.,1984. Anim. Prod, in Australia, 15:114–117. Malechek, J. C, 1982. Proc. 3rd Int. Conf. on Goat Prod. and Disease, pp. 404–408. Mannetje, L. 't., 1982. Nutritioanl Limits to Animal Production from Pastures. (Ed. J. B. Hacker), pp. 67–85. Comm. Agr. Bur. Milligan, K. G., 1983. Controlled Grazing Systems. Aglink FPP 681, N.Z. Min. Agr., Fish., Wellington. Minson, D. J., 1982. In Grazing Animals (Ed. F. W. H. Morley), pp. 143–158, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Morley, F. H. W.,1981. In Grazing Animals (Ed. F. W. H. Morley), pp. 379–400. Elsevier, Amsterdam. Osman, A. E. and Nersoyan, N., 1984. Proc. 2nd Int Grassl. Congr., Adelaide. (In Press). Parsons, A. J., Leafe, E. L., Collett, B., Penning, P. D. and Lewis, J., 1983. J. Appl. Ecology, 20: 127–139. Potts, A. and Hymphreys, L. R., 1983. J. Agr. Sci, 101: 1–7. Roy-Smith, F., 1982. In Intensive Animal Production in Developing Countries (Ed. A. J. Smith and R. G. Gunn), pp. 387–394. Brit. Soc. Anim. Prod. Pub. No. 4. Snook, L. C, 1984. Anim. Prod, in Australia, 15:589–592. Stevens, E. J. and Villalta, P., 1983. Proc. 14th Int. Grassl. Congr., p. 176. Susetyo, S., Whiteman, P. C. and Humphreys, L. R., 1983. Proc. XIV Int. Grassl. Cong r., p. 412. Tan, K. H. and Abraham, P. D., 1980. Proc. 1st Asian Australasian Anim. Sci. Congr., Malaysian Soc. Anim. Prod. Unesco/UNEP/FAO, 1979. Tropical Grazing Land Ecosystems - a State of Knowledge Report. Unesco, Paris. 655 pp. Wilson, A. D., 1982. In Sheep and Goat Production (Ed. I. E. Coop), pp. 309–330. Elsevier, Amsterdam Wilson, R. T., 1982. Proc. 3rd Int. Conf. on Goat Prod, and Disease, pp. 186–195. Young, J. A., Evans, R. A. and Eckert, Jnr. R. E., 1984. In Developing Strategies for Rangeland Management, pp. 1259–1300. NRC/Nat. Acad. Sci., Westview Press. Zuikifli, S. D., Zulficar and Rachmat Setiadi, 1980. Proc. 2nd Ruminant Seminar, Ciawi, Indonesia. pp. 42–54.

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A safety demonstration of the latest automobile technology let reporters take a peek at what could possibly be the future of our nation’s highways. The technology being shown off is known as Vehicle to Vehicle Communication, also known as V2V. It’s something that you may have heard of, especially if you follow this blog regularly. It basically works like this: vehicles equipped with the safety technology will essentially be able to communicate directly with one another, exchanging data on speed, direction, and more. This data can then be computed to determine if a crash is imminent. At a demonstration recently, reporters were able to view a Ford Taurus driving toward an intersection. Before the vehicle was able to get there, though, red lights blinked in the driver’s field of view and a warning of imminent danger was issued. The driver stopped at the intersection just before a vehicle hidden behind a truck blasted through the intersection on a perpendicular path. In that instance, and in many more potentialities, the technology might save a life in a real-world situation. Current technologies often relies on lasers, and thus a line of sight must be achieved in order to maintain optimum working ability, but the newest form of the tech won’t require that kind of vision. Drivers will be alerted without even having to see the danger looming. This year will see 3,000 vehicles implementing the technology in Ann Arbor, Michigan as part of a test to see how the automobiles will handle V2V in the real world.

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Short Watershed Courses University of British Columbia Integrated Watershed Management "Integrated Watershed Management: A Hyper-Media CD-ROM" was developed for use with the University of British Columbia graduate level Internet course, the core course mentioned in the UBC Watershed Certificate Program above. Issues relating to urban, rural, agricultural, forestry, groundwater, and stream water are treated in an interdisciplinary manner. Basic theory is presented, specific land use and watershed issues are integrated, and numerous case studies are described. The CD is reportedly ideal for practicing professionals, graduate students, resource managers and planners and as a source book for watershed partnerships. Containing more than 700 computer frames, 400 images, numerous graphics, text and over 400 searchable references, the CD costs $100 (Canadian). Contact: Institute for Resources and Environment, 2206 E. Mall, Univ. of British Columbia, 5997 Inonia Dr., Vancouver BC V6T1Z1. Phone (604) 822-1450; fax (604) 822-1499. Web: http://www.ire.ubc.ca The California Watershed Academy Teaching Resource Professionals About Watershed Processes Pete Cafferata, Forest Hydrologist Calif. Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) Jim Steele, Biologist Calif. Dept. of Fish and Game (CDFG) The increase in the number and complexity of the California's state forest practices rules in the last ten years has been dramatic. Hundreds of changes, additions and many new concepts have added to the complexity of designing, approving and conducting a timber harvest operation. Pushing this increase is the Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection extended to the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, red legged frog, coho salmon and steelhead trout, and controversy over old growth forest logging. A forester today is expected to know more and have a technical background far greater than expected a few years ago. Often, natural resource protection concepts embedded in a rule are not understood by either the forester, decision maker or the public. A way of advancing new concepts and pragmatic methods was needed. Five versions of the "Watershed Academy" have been presented to about 200 resource professionals over the past four years. Primary goals have been to provide up-to-date information on key processes affecting aquatic habitats, and to improve students' hydrologic IQ and their analysis and risk assessment skills. Resource professionals completing the academy are trained to understand the basics of natural resource protection law theory, fluvial-geomorphological processes, determine current watershed condition, evaluate whether proposed practices will adversely impact aquatic resources, and develop appropriate mitigation measures to both avoid or minimize additional impacts and accelerate recovery from past practices. The first three watershed academy sessions were State interagency efforts while the last two were presented by University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE). Mr. Gary Stacey, CDFG, was the lead person for the interagency efforts managed by Jim Steele and Dr. Richard Harris, UCCE, led the more recent academies. The first sessions using some paid instructors were funded jointly by CDFG and CDF augmented by voluntary instructors from several agencies. The latter sessions with mostly paid instructors were funded by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and some staff support from CDFG. The curriculum for the Watershed Academy has been modified for each session based on participant feedback and decisions made by lead persons for each academy session. The lecture portion of the first academy covered the broadest range of topics: fish biology/life history, aquatic amphibian biology/life history, benthic macro-invertebrates, hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, geology, soils, watershed processes, risk assessment for biological and physical parameters, problem synthesis, monitoring, data management and natural resource law. The field portion covered road problem recognition, field assessment techniques for hillslope and instream issues, and stream parameter measurements. Topics covered in the second academy included: natural resource law, fish biology, hydrology, geology, fluvial geomorphology, and watershed assessment procedures. Field topics included road inventory techniques, field examples of differing fish habitat and streamside quality, and demonstrations of instream monitoring techniquesóincluding rapid bio-assessment procedures. The more recent academies held in the fall of 1998 differed somewhat in philosophy. Rather than emphasizing background information on various watershed related topics, students were asked to study a comprehensive binder of readings to provide a basic level of understanding prior to attending the course. Presenters were primarily from universities, consulting firms and the US Forest Service, with less emphasis on lecturers from state agencies. Lecture topics included: fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, hillslope stability, fish habitat requirements, monitoring, and management issues related to roads and crossings, water quality, and riparian zones. Field exercises stressed hillslope stability assessments, road inventory techniques, and assessing off-site impacts of timber operations. General impressions from the various academy sessions include the following points: 1) readers and/or binders with large numbers of watershed related papers are taken home for reference, but usually not studied before or during the session itself (however this information was valuable as reference for future timber harvesting plans), 2) the most successful learning experiences take place in the field where practical discussions occur, 3) it is difficult for all the students in a given class to be brought up to a minimum level of understanding for all the background disciplines related to watershed processes (both physical and biological), 4) lecture material should cover half day segments, with the remainder of the day spent in the field illustrating points covered in lecture, 5) no more than one-week should be spent on the academy because of other time commitments for students, and 6) all material presented should be as practically oriented as possible, with specific examples provided to illustrate points covered in lectures. Material presented by Dr. Bill Weaver of Pacific Watershed Associates on issues related to roads, landings, and watercourse crossings has often been cited as the most important information received by the students in each session. The important concept to be advanced, through understanding watershed function, is how to conduct land management activities compatible with natural resources. Since all natural resource laws are similar in their intent but differ in decision process, having the ability to focus on desired outcomes can streamline a knowledge based permit process, and lower government and private sector costs. Water codes, endangered species protection, and public process can all be included in the same permitting effort if there is confidence in the project's outcome. The Watershed Academy is part of a larger package which attempts to achieve this confidence, including the watershed process courses for professionals and baseline watershed analysis, database consolidation, field studies of watershed principles, and effectiveness monitoring programs. It is unclear at this time how future offerings of the watershed academy will be presented. Clearly, there is a need for this type of information as most of the North Coast watersheds are listed as impaired water bodies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and require development of Total Maximum Daily Load allocations (TMDLs). Additionally, state and federal listings of threatened and endangered species that depend on properly functioning aquatic habitats make this type of training very important. Eventually, CDF would like to have all of its Forest Practice staff participate in the academy. Many private RPFs have also expressed an interest in future sessions. Options will be discussed by state and federal agency managers in 1999. Contact: Pete Cafferata at (916) 653-9455 or Jim Steele at (916) 653-6194. The Council of State Governments Working at a Watershed Level (Interagency Course) Summary: Oneweek course covering all facets of watershed work, including stream ecology, system dynamics, assessment and analysis, planning methodologies, restoration/management techniques, public involvement strategies and outreach program development. The Council of State Governments Center for Environment and Safety and other regional organizations are now offering a new watershed training curriculum. Working at a Watershed Level was developed by a consortium of federal agencies, state/local groups and private organizations to improve crossagency watershed training. The course is designed as an introductory level basic training program for agency personnel newly assigned to watershed teams, veteran watershed managers in need of a refresher course and members of citizens groups interested in a cooperative approach to watershed issues. The Interagency Watershed Training Cooperative, composed of representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, provided leadership for developing the course outline. The Council of State Governments, International City/ County Management Association, Ecological Society of America and other partners assisted with final curriculum design and content. Working at a Watershed Level covers the principles of watershed ecology, system dynamics, assessment and analysis, planning methodologies, restoration/management techniques, public involvement strategies and outreach program development. The course provides a basic but very broad foundation for considering both ecological and socioeconomic issues in watershed work across a wide range of public and private organizations. One of the motivating forces for developing the course was the need for a more cooperative, coordinated approach to watershed management and a common orientation to the science and societal issues involved. While it is recognized that state and federal agencies will continue to have unique needs and somewhat discrete processes for watershed planning, management and restoration, it is hoped that Working at a Watershed Level will help to develop a broad, common framework capable of accommodating the disparate interests that may be involved. Public agencies and private interests can only benefit by working together within a watershed, though each may have slightly different approaches and requirements. Ideally, agencies and other stakeholders will be able to use Working at a Watershed Level to identify areas where multiagency interdisciplinary teams can work together on management issues while retaining the ability to satisfy organizational, statutory or regulatory needs. An outline of the course can be found at the U.S. EPA's Watershed Academy web site at http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/wacademy/interfed/shedcors.html 1999 Course Schedule June in the San Joaquin River Basin in California (tentative). Early September, 1999 in Lafayette, Indiana (tentative). Late September, 1999 in New England (tentative). Contact: Barry Tonning, Environmental Policy Analyst, The Council of State Governments, P.O. Box 11910, Lexington, KY 405781910; (606) 244-8228; fax: (606) 244-8239. E-mail: email@example.com . For updates on the training schedules: http://www.statesnews.org/ecos/ The "Working at a Watershed Level" Course A Student Review by William Zigler CSU Fresno Senior in Geography I had the opportunity to attend the January 11-15, 1999 session of the Working at a Watershed Level training course held in Chico, California. Working for the Sequoia National Forest as a trainee in hydrology with a background in geography, I had hoped to gain enough foundational information to get me started "out in the field". The course exceeded my expectations, progressing systematically from structural stream elements to geomorphology to public outreach and education strategies. It was a great experience! Because of the course's potential benefit, I would like to provide a synopsis. Working at a Watershed Level is a watershed management training course conducted on the California State University Chico campus, through which flows Big Chico Creek. This course received much popular support in Northern and Central California, drawing many from local, state and federal agencies as well as from consulting firms, local watershed conservancies, irrigation districts, and agriculture. Not all attendees were local: some came from the distant points of West Virginia, Vermont, and Vancouver, British Columbia. In fact, the course was so popular that organizers were forced to limit seating to just over 100 while maintaining a waiting list of about 40. (Organizers are considering providing another training session later this year for those who were unable to attend.) The interest in the course reflects an increased awareness of the importance of watersheds today, especially with a growing population and its requisite demands on the environment. The course was comprised of classroom training sessions, group discussions, field trips, and two evening social gatherings. During a dinner sponsored by The Nature Conservancy, the speaker, Donald Outen of the Baltimore County, Maryland Dept. of Environmental Protection and Resource Management, gave an in-depth presentation on Baltimore County's Integrated Watershed Management Program. He addressed federal nonpoint source pollution control mandates, State initiatives for restoration of Chesapeake Bay, and local priorities for cooperative water quality projects. Mr. Outen was a knowledgeable speaker who demonstrated effective methods of managing an important watershed surrounding a growing urban center. Other speakers involved with the course were equally credible. They represented a distinguished and diverse group from academia (CSU Chico, Univ. of Montana, Univ. of Washington, UC Berkeley, and Shasta Community College), state and federal agencies (USFWS, Council of State Governments), private industry (Tetra Tech, Inc.), and conservation groups (Center for Natural Lands Management, Tuolumne River Preservation Trust, Mill Creek Watershed, and Stanislaus River Project). The curriculum was effectively organized, progressing logically with each new theme building upon the last. The curriculum provided something for everyone, focusing on the many aspects of watershed management. While the classroom sessions were informative, I especially enjoyed our training outside the classroom where we observed watershed management practices in action (with varying degrees of effectiveness). Two afternoons were dedicated to field trips to Butte, Big Chico, and Sycamore Creeks. Professors Matt Kondolf, Paul Maslin, and Morgan Hannaford led groups through a watershed assessment on Butte Creek. Butte Creek was an interesting study in the instream effects of flood control measures. The flood control channel was hastily excavated after a major flood event to divert high flows of water downstream during future flood events. The channel was effective as diverting flood waters away from the narrow main channel; however, it created a problem of sediment deposition at the point bar of the main channel, effectively closing the main channel after a flood event. Closing the main channel posed several problems, such as increased stream velocity, altered erosion patterns, and the inability to provide water at the irrigation diversion dam for agriculture. Currently, the main channel has been reopened but repeated manual removal of sediment at the point bar is required to maintain the main channel. A different field trip took us to a flood control diversion on Big Chico Creek and the flood outflow area on Sycamore Creek. A similar approach to the Butte Creek flood control diversion was used on Big Chico Creekwith similar results. Point bar sedimentation is a problem on Big Chico Creek while Sycamore Creek has experienced significant streambed degradation. The accumulation of sedimentation on Big Chico Creek is manageable, but the control of erosion along Sycamore Creek is less certain. Both field trips provided excellent examples of good intentions (the protection of property from flood impacts) gone bad. When flood control efforts are undertaken without proper scientific research, the results can be more devastating that the flood event itself. In summary, Working at a Watershed Level was an excellent experience for a novice like myself. I now have a better feel for how the many subsystems within a watershed comprise the whole, and how we are all impacted by the general health of our watersheds. I enjoyed the enthusiasm and professionalism displayed by our host of speakers and appreciate the material produced by those who put their energy and talent into developing the course. I especially valued the opportunity to view first-hand the effects of inappropriate flood control measures. I would heartily recommend this course to anyone desiring a deeper appreciation and understanding of watersheds. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Within EPA's Office of Wetland, Oceans and Watersheds (OWOW) is the Watershed Academy. The Academy offers several of its own training courses supporting watershed approaches and publicizes watershed courses sponsored by others. In addition, EPA's Office of Water sponsors its own courses that are related to watershed management. The Academy courses are not offered every year and they are apparently not always co-taught or co-sponsored through a university or college. Those that are generally available are listed below: - Watersheds 101: Applied Watershed Management - Watersheds 102: Statewide Approach to Watershed Management - Watersheds 103: TMDL Training for State Practitioners - Watersheds 104: Executive Overview of the Watershed Approach - Watersheds 105: Watershed Management Tools Primer - Watersheds 106: Watershed Partnership Seminar - Watersheds 107: Using Internet Resources Watershed Academy 2000 Distance Learning As part of its Watershed Academy, EPA is developing Academy 2000 Distance Learning, using the Internet as a classroom. Academy 2000 consists of training modules on watershed science, effective communications, and organizational management and development. Modules include: - Principles of Watershed Management - Watershed Restoration - Economics of Sustainability - Monitoring Consortiums - Watershed Modeling - Executive Overview of the Watershed Approach The website contains 13 modules, with at least seven more planned. Running time for each module is about two hours. The website is www:epa.gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/acad2000/index.html Inventory of Watershed Training Courses EPA's Watershed Academy has recently produced an Inventory of Watershed Training Courses, updating its earlier document titled "Watershed Academy Catalogue of Watershed Training Opportunities" (May 1997). Listed as a key action in the Clean Water Action Plan, the inventory provides information on available watershed-related training courses sponsored by governmental and non-governmental organizations. The target audience includes federal, state, and local agency staff; tribes, and watershed groups. EPA took the lead in updating this inventory, while working with the Interagency Watershed Training Cooperative, Natural Resources Training Council, EPA's Office of Water Watershed Training Work Group, and others. Included courses focus on protecting or restoring watersheds (or aquifers), cover important tools used in watershed protection, or address one aspect of the watershed management cycle (e.g., planning, implementation, evaluation). In addition to agency courses, University training courses are also listed. Check the website for its availability: www:epa.gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/catalog.html INTERDISCIPLINARY WATERSHED CENTERS University of California at Davis Center for Integrated Watershed Science and Management In the Spring of 1998, UC Davis established a center that highlights and expands the campus role in watershed-related research, teaching, and outreach. Under the auspices of the John Muir Institute for the Environment and with guidance from the Commission on the Environment, the new Center for Integrated Watershed Science and Management has a threefold mission: · develop, coordinate and track current and future campus efforts at integrated watershed study, with an emphasis on expanding the research support base and promoting the leadership role of the campus in watershed issues; · support existing and future graduate and undergraduate programs that offer integrative watershed education; · provide knowledge-based services and support to watershed stakeholders and decision-makers and promote the development of university/agency/foundation partnerships in watershed research. A broad array of public and private institutions have noted that the next frontier in watershed study lies in the integration between disciplines. Authors have noted that failed attempts to manage multiple use in watersheds stem from traditional single agency, single issue approaches. This problem is exacerbated by academic and government institutions who continue to promote hierarchical, discipline-specific research programs in watershed. To date, no academic program has been singled out as successfully promoting such integration and taking a leadership role in this emerging field. The University of California, Davis, with its diverse intellectual and technical resources, its numerous watershed-related research and teaching programs, its extensive public outreach program, and its long history of collaboration with federal, state and local watershed agencies, believes that it is ideally suited to become a national and international leader in integrated watershed studies. The Center is intended to be an administrative and intellectual link between the numerous watershed-related programs currently operating on the UC Davis campus as well as watershed decision-makers and stakeholders. The mission of the Center is guided by a Steering Committee, made up of directors or heads of campus programs, and an Advisory Board, composed of watershed experts outside of the UC system. A goal of the Center will be to become self-sustaining within three years through recharge for knowledge-based services, indirect cost return monies, and agency or foundation support. New faculty positions are being created and filled to expand watershed education and research at UCD. For example, an Assistant Professor in Watershed Hydrology was recently added to the Hydrology Program to develop a quantitative field-experimental research program in Watershed Hydrology. The appointee is expected to lead a team-taught field course in hydrology, an undergraduate course in watershed hydrology, and a graduate level course in experimental watershed hydrology. The measure of success of the education and teaching mission of the program will be the changes in the curriculum of existing programs on campus, the development of new programs, and the number of students who attend courses associated with the center. An additional measure will be the number of student internships and fellowships sponsored through the center. Contact: Dr. Jeff Mount, Dept. of Geology, UC Davis, E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org Also: Hydrology Program, Dept. of Land, Air and Water Resources, http://lawr.ucdavis.edu University of Idaho Eco-hydraulics Research Group More recent approaches to river management are multi-objective, balancing beneficial uses for power generation, water supply and agriculture with the protection and enhancement of the riverine habitat, water quality, recreational use and aesthetics. These restoration and enhancement approaches place an emphasis on allowing the physical processes to drive the ecological healing by natural evolution, rather than an instantaneous engineering fix. Implementing this restoration philosophy, developing management plans, simulating the hydrological or ecological responses and untangling the complexities of aquatic systems require an interdisciplinary approach, which crosses the boundaries of science and engineering programs. The term "Eco-hydraulics" comes from the new forum created in 1996 by the International Association for Hydraulic Research (IAHR). To address the specific problems of the Pacific Northwest, the University of Idaho's Eco-hydraulics Research Group comprises faculty from the Departments of Fish and Wildlife Biology, Geography, and the College of Engineering. Faculty expertise includes decision theory, GIS, stream ecology, fisheries biology, biological and microbiological processes, hydrology, hydraulic engineering, sediment transport, geomorphology, computer simulations and computational hydraulics. Collaboration occurs with state and federal agencies, the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute, and international researchers. Graduate student opportunities exist leading to M.S., M.Engr. or Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering, Fish and Wildlife Resources, or Geography. Studies can be undertaken at the Moscow or Boise Campus of the U-I. The Eco-hydraulics laboratory also offers a range of residential short courses for practicing engineers, scientists and planners involved in ecological restoration and natural resource management. Contact: Eco-hydraulics Research Group, University of Idaho, 800 Park Blvd., Suite 200, Boise ID 83712. (208) 387-1745; Fax (208) 387-1246. Website at: www.engbio.uidaho.edu Pennsylvania State University Center for Watershed Stewardship The Center for Watershed Stewardship is an initiative begun in 1998 that is co-led by the Dept. of Landscape Architecture and School of Forest Resources and funded by a major grant from the Heinz Endowments. Its purpose is "to create the next generation of watershed professionals by combining interdisciplinary capabilities with strong disciplinary bases in a community-oriented context." Inaugural programs include a graduate option in watershed stewardship and a continuing education program of short courses, seminars, and conferences for natural and water resources professionals and community leaders. Topics to be offered by the Continuing Education and Outreach Program will be: stream corridor management and restoration, community land use planning and design, GIS applications for watershed planning and management, non-profit organizational development and fiscal administration, legal and institutional aspects, water quality management for rural and urban watersheds, natural processes in watersheds, wetland restoration and design, and fisheries restoration and enhancement. Specific courses will be designed to accommodate a diverse range of participants including landscape architects, community planners, watershed association and land trust staff, community volunteers and activists, natural resource managers, regulatory agency personnel, and environmental consultants, designers, and engineers. Other offerings are being developed through the Center or being co-hosted with other agencies, educational institutions, and departments at Penn State. Contact: Kerry Wedel, Director, Center for Watershed Stewardship, The Pennsylvania State University, Room 8B, Ferguson Bldg., University Park, PA 16802-4302; (814) 865-8911, fax (814) 865-3725. E-mail: email@example.com Internet Sites for the Professional Watershed Job Market American Water Resources Association Universities Council on Water Resources COMMUNITY OUTREACH SERVICES Portland State University Community Watershed Stewardship Program By Kristin Schaeffer, Graduate Assistant for CWSP The Community Watershed Stewardship Program (CWSP) is a partnership between Portland State University (PSU) and the City of Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) in order to facilitate research and public outreach cultivating stewardship ideology. Our mission is to serve as a catalyst for community ownership of watershed health. Program goals are to: - Raise awareness and open avenues for actions to improve watershed health. - Foster an increased sense of stewardship and promote community initiated projects to improve water quality and habitat in the watersheds of Portland. - Promote community access to communication systems, training and education about watershed issues and activities. - Foster partnerships between schools, businesses, interest groups, neighborhood associations, government agencies and individuals in watershed activities. - Promote citizen evaluation and monitoring of watershed health and activities. - Strive to be reflective of a diverse community, their values and evaluation. - Information dissemination and awareness building - Education and training - Restoration and enhancement - Evaluation of the health of watersheds The role PSU takes in the Stewardship Program is multifaceted. We have two faculty members who are very involved in the management of our program and coordinate graduate assistant (GA) recruitment each year. As well, they facilitate other professor involvement in the Stewardship Program by offering access to our program resources. Since the program works intensively with community efforts, there are watershed research materials and connections we have made with the public. This collective data is then shared with professors who can use the resources to help base their curriculum on. In the past three years, PSU has instituted a Capstone Class requirement for undergraduate seniors. These classes are intended to get the students involved in community outreach work and offer a number of different classes for specific fields, such as watershed education and awareness. We have found that our program has been getting more involved as a resource for Capstone students and helping to energize stewardship efforts through curriculum development. Currently, our program funds four graduate assistants who work on average 15 hours a week. Three of the GAs focus on watershed stewardship efforts for a specific watershed, and one GA focuses on the administrative needs of the program and helps to facilitate the Stewardship MiniGrants Program. The GAs come from a variety of backgrounds and departments at PSU, which can change every one to two years. For example, we recruited Joe Blowers who is focusing on a Masters of Science in Teaching Science, Steve Gilchrist is focusing on a Ph.D in the School of Education, Kristin Schaeffer is focusing on a Masters of Public Administration emphasizing on Natural Resources Policy and Administration, and Clint Wertz is focusing on a Masters of Urban Studies and Planning. At this time, a degree program does not exist in any of the schools or programs at PSU. For the past three years, the Stewardship Program has developed a Watershed 101 course available to communities in which they receive a certificate upon completion. In the past it was a course that was only offered at PSU, but some time was spent last year in developing it for Neighborhood Associations, Watershed Councils and other interested community groups who will have access to the course beyond the campus. We are still in the process of refining this educational component. For more information, please contact us at phone (503) 8235625, or 'firstname.lastname@example.org' Oregon State University Extension Service Watershed Stewardship Guide OSU Extension's 1998 publication, Watershed Stewardship: A Learning Guide, is intended to help residents and volunteers be good stewards of their watershed. The driving force for the development of this guide was the 1995-97 Oregon Coastal Salmon Restoration Initiative which focused primarily on coho salmon. However, the contents are relevant to all salmonids west of the Cascades. Contained within a two-inch thick 3-ring binder, the material is organized into 3 "user-friendly" sections: IWorking Together to Create Successful Groups, IIUnderstanding and Enhancing Ecosystems, IIIConnecting Resource Management to Watershed Ecosystems. Copies can be ordered for $32.00 per copy of OSU Extension publication EM 8714 from: Publications Orders, Extension & Station Communications, Oregon State University, 422 Kerr Administration, Corvallis OR 97332-2119. Fax: (541) 737-0817. Discounts are offered on orders of 100 or more copies. Call (541) 737-2513 for price quotes. Also contact them for the latest catalog of publications, software, and videotape programs. Some other watershed-related materials from Extension include: - Healthy Watersheds videotape (20 min.) , VTP 019, $20.00 - We All Live Downstream videotape (29 min.) , VTP 021, $30.00 - The Miracle at Bridge Creek Case Study videotape (30 min.), VTP 013, $30.00 - Community Ventures: Interest-Based Problem Solving Process and Techniques, WREP 134, $1.50 - Maintaining Woodland Roads, EC 1139, $1.25 - Water Quality and Our Forests: Western Oregon Research videotape, VTP 014, $25.

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Weather, temperature, carbon, water, soil and all other kinds of climate related open data. Including (but not limited to) data about: - the atmosphere - the weather - air quality - the ocean - water levels - water quality - carbon emissions - soil erosion Existing Lists of Climate Datasets to Migrate Here 7 datasets gevonden. About About page states: The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (Thomas A. Boden, Director), which includes the World Data Center for Atmospheric Trace Gases, has served as the... About From website: Long-term mean sea level change is a variable of considerable interest in the studies of global climate change. The measurement of long-term changes in global mean... About Guardian website says: UK and US temperature changes, by weather station, for the last century. The Met Office has released data from 1300 weather stations around the world which... About From Laboratory profile: NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory develops and deploys NSF Lower Atmospheric Observing Facilities (LAOF) and provides field project support and data... About Meteorological Station Location Information (Observation Sites) Openness Open. Data is in the public domain. Disclaimer page states: The information on government servers are in... About The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder. NSIDC supports... About Background page states: The United States Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) is a high-quality data set of daily and monthly records of basic meteorological variables from 1218...

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- Special Sections - Public Notices The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and numerous conservation organizations will observe Endangered Species Day on Friday to recognize conservation efforts underway across the nation aimed at helping America’s imperiled species. To date, the Endangered Species Act, which became law in 1973, has helped to prevent the extinction of hundreds of species. Co-administered by the Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the purpose of the Act is to conserve imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Chiefland Citizen, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below. Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label. If you are new to the award winning Chiefland Citizen and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account.

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Have you ever wondered why the Postal Service offers free rates for the blind, balloting materials for overseas voters, and items sent by some consular officials? Or why it offers reduced rates to qualified nonprofit organizations, election officials, local newspapers, and publishers of educational material? It is because Congress mandates that the Postal Service provide free or reduced rates to these mailers and then appropriates money to reimburse the Postal Service for the revenue “forgone.” Initially, Congress reimbursed the Postal Service for all types of reduced rate mail. Over the years, as rates increased and the number and size of nonprofit organizations grew, the revenue forgone appropriation more than doubled from $441 million in fiscal year (FY) 1972 to $970 million in FY 1985. The increase spurred a debate about who should bear the cost of reduced rates: taxpayers or other mailers. To address these concerns as well as other matters, the Congress passed the Revenue Forgone Reform Act of 1993. Under the Act, the annual appropriation for free postage for the blind, overseas absentee balloting materials, and consular officials continued; however, new appropriations for reduced rate mail stopped. The Act required nonprofit mailers to cover more institutional or overhead cost and shifted the rest of these costs to other mailers. Currently, nonprofit mailers that use Standard Mail pay approximately 60 percent of commercial Standard Mail regular rates. The remaining share is absorbed within rates charged to other mailers. Congress continues to reimburse the Postal Service for revenue forgone for free mail, but the amount appropriated is usually less than the Postal Service requests. For example, although the Postal Service requested $124 million in FY 2008 to cover the costs of revenue forgone, free mail and adjustments from previous years, it received only about $89 million. What do you think are some of the pros and cons of offering free or reduced rates to certain organizations? Tell us what you think.

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BirdLife Statement on Avian Influenza April 12, 2006 There are several ways in which H5N1 can be spread within and between countries. Three major potential routes are the movements of infected poultry (and poultry products), movements of caged wild birds in trade, and movements of wild birds. Effective responses need to focus on all of these possible means of spread. Outbreaks among wild birds in Europe and Iran during 2006 show that wild birds are capable of carrying the virus to new sites after infection, possibly in a “leap-frog” fashion by travelling for a short time and passing on infection to another group of birds before dying. Many questions remain concerning the effects of the virus on wild birds and how efficiently they can spread it to other wild birds or to domestic poultry. (See section “The role of wild birds”.) By contrast, recent outbreaks in Cameroon, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Niger, Nigeria and Pakistan originated within the poultry industry. Here, as in most other H5N1 outbreaks, there is strong circumstantial evidence that movements of poultry and poultry products are responsible. The timing and location of these outbreaks do not match the movements of migratory birds. Moreover in many of these countries poultry outbreaks occurred almost simultaneously in multiple large-scale poultry operations, indicating that migratory birds were an unlikely agent of the transmission. For south-east Asia, recent comprehensive analysis of viral lineages concludes that poultry movements were responsible for multiple reintroductions, both within and between countries, and that “transmission within poultry is the major mechanism for sustaining H5N1 endemicity in the region”. As H5N1 continues to spread, there is need for responses to be calm, balanced, prompt and effective. In particular, BirdLife urges: In some parts of the world, authorities have proposed attempting to control the spread of H5N1 by culling wild birds, or destroying their habitats, or displacing them from breeding and roosting grounds. These approaches are unlikely to prevent the transmission of the disease and may in fact spread it to non-infected areas by forcing already-infected birds to disperse. They are at best ineffective, probably counterproductive, and distract from more suitable interventions. They could also add to the stresses already imposed on some species through habitat loss. The risk of humans contracting H5N1 remains very low. Practically all human cases have resulted from frequent and intimate contact with poultry, but in relation to the number of humans, especially in Asia, who have this degree of contact, the number of known human infections is tiny. BirdLife believes that greater collaboration between veterinarians, the poultry industry and food, agriculture, health and environment bodies is needed to tackle the threat of avian ‘flu effectively. BirdLife participates actively in a task force on avian influenza comprising scientists and conservationists from nine different international organizations, including four UN bodies, convened by the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). The role of wild birds Outbreaks among wild birds in Europe during 2006 show that wild birds are capable of carrying the virus to new sites after infection — at least during the early stages of infection. It is possible the birds spread the disease in a “leap-frog” fashion by travelling for a short time and passing on infection to another group of birds before dying. It is also possible that the initial outbreaks in Europe in February related to movements of birds away from the Black and Caspian Sea regions in response to unusually cold weather. These areas are known to have widespread H5N1 infection in poultry, and limited biosecurity measures in place. In contrast to the recent European incidents, the movement of wild birds are not to date the main cause of the spread of H5N1 in Asia over the decade since the virus was first discovered there. Prior to April 2005, wild birds found dead or dying with H5N1 in Asia were largely sedentary species that scavenge near poultry, live markets or captive bird populations. In May to July of 2005 there were significant die-offs of migratory wild birds in Qinghai Lake (1,500–6,300 birds) and Mongolia (126 birds). The majority of the birds affected in May of 2005 in Qinghai Lake were Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus. Deaths from H5N1 in the geese occurred weeks after their arrival from wintering grounds in India, suggesting that the source of the H5N1 infection was local to Lake Qinghai. Furthermore no Bar-headed Geese or other wild birds were found dead in other wetlands near to Qinghai Lake. In Mongolia, at Lake Erhel, the main species found dead or dying with H5N1 in July 2005 were Bar-headed Geese and Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus. Both species would have arrived to breed in Mongolia several months earlier, and during the outbreak the birds would have been near to completing their annual feather moult, during which they are sedentary. Bird surveys carried out during the same period at eight wetlands in Mongolia found no other birds with H5N1. These facts point to the source of H5N1 infection being local to Lake Erhel and that the infected wild birds did not spread the disease to new locations. It is possible that in some Asian and Australasian countries where little or no surveillance work has been done, infected wild birds have gone undetected . However, in Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Australia, where there has been extensive surveillance, there have been no infected wild birds identified. Countries such as the Philippines, on a major migration route from south-east Asia, remain free of H5N1. Japan and South Korea have both remained free of the disease after early outbreaks confined to poultry were brought under control by closing borders to poultry imports. Wild birds have tested positive to H5N1 in Asia. Six out of more than 13,000 wild birds tested in China were positive, and 3% of this total had antibodies to H5N1. However, out of 16,000 wild birds tested over the last decade in Hong Kong, not a single live bird infected with H5N1 has been found. This finding is particularly striking since Hong Kong is so close to centres of infection in poultry in mainland China. The lack of a trail of H5N1 infections along migratory pathways from infected breeding habitats in Mongolia, China and Russia to southern wintering areas in Asia suggests that migratory wild birds are not spreading the disease long distances between continents. With few exceptions, there is limited correlation between the pattern and timing of spread among domestic birds and wild bird migrations. Nevertheless some authorities argue that the timing and location of outbreaks in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea in the autumn of 2005 did follow the southern migration routes of birds. These outbreaks occurred after H5N1 was detected in poultry in Russia and wildfowl in south west Russia in the summer of 2005. However, there appeared to be no trails of death along this migration route; wild bird deaths were localised and at least in some instances were restricted to a few individuals from larger flocks. Equally plausible explanations for the spread of avian influenza westwards during the latter half of 2005 are the movements of poultry and poultry products (See section “Movements of poultry and poultry products”). BirdLife believes that it is unlikely that migratory wild birds carried H5N1 to Africa. There is strong circumstantial evidence that movements of poultry and poultry products are responsible. The timing and location of these outbreaks do not match the movements of migratory birds. Moreover in countries such as Nigeria and Egypt poultry outbreaks occurred almost simultaneously in multiple large-scale poultry operations, indicating that migratory birds were an unlikely agent of the transmission. If H5N1 was carried by wild birds, outbreaks should have occurred in key wetlands for migratory birds, especially in East Africa where there has been surveillance of wild birds in place over the past six months. Understanding of the epidemiology of H5N1 in wild birds, and the behaviour of the virus in the wider environment, remain very inadequate. Most of the research on H5N1 has been on domestic animals in laboratory environments. How easily infected wild birds can pass the disease on to other wildfowl or poultry remains an important, unanswered question. The limited evidence that exists suggests tremendous variability in transmission rates and virulence between different host species and different strains of the virus. Better quality data collection and reporting is crucial to understanding general patterns in outbreaks, possible routes of transmission, and the potential impacts on migratory bird populations. This information can be used to focus contingency efforts, to predict future outbreaks, and to guide effective policy to reduce the economic and conservation impacts of avian influenza. In the interests of all those attempting to control the spread of HPAI H5N1, BirdLife believes that all surveillance and test data, whether positive or negative, should be published and made freely available to researchers. There are several ways in which H5N1 can be spread within and between countries. It is therefore essential to monitor and control those activities which are known or strongly suspected to spread H5N1. These include the movements of untreated poultry and poultry products, the re-use of inadequately cleansed transportation crates, and the trade in wild birds. Further investigation is also needed of the use of potentially infected poultry manure as fertiliser in agriculture and as feed in fish-farms and pig farms, described by the UN Food and Agriculture organisation as a high-risk activity. Movements of poultry and poultry products Most outbreaks in south-east Asia can be linked to movements of poultry and poultry products (or accidental transfer of infected material from poultry farms, such as water, straw or soil on vehicles, clothes and shoes). Globally, the most important route of spread remains unrestricted poultry movements. A recent paper (Chen et al., “Establishment of multiple sublineages of H5N1 influenza virus in Asia: Implications for pandemic control”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 21 February 2006) analyses the viral lineages and concludes that poultry movements were responsible for multiple reintroductions in south-east Asia, both within and between countries. Live animal or ‘wet’ markets may have played a major part in spreading the virus in south-east Asia, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and World Health Organisation (WHO): “In 1992, live poultry markets in the USA were considered the ‘missing link in the epidemiology of influenza’. They were identified as the source of the H5N1 infection in chicken farms in Hong Kong in 1997 when approximately 20% of the chickens in live poultry markets were found to be infected. The same situation was seen in Viet Nam, where the circulation of H5N1 in geese in live bird markets in Hanoi had been documented three years before the 2004 outbreaks in chicken farms.” (FAO/OIE/WHO Consultation on avian influenza and human health: Risk reduction measures in producing, marketing, and living with animals in Asia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 2005). There is also a huge international trade in poultry—both legal and illegal. The legal trade involves literally millions of hatching eggs and poultry being shipped to destinations world-wide. For example, prior to the outbreaks in Egypt, the country was reported to export 180 million day-old-chicks plus 500,000 mature fowl a year. Almost 12 million live chickens were officially imported into the Ukraine in 2004 and more than 16 million into Romania. In Turkey, one factory has the capacity to produce over 100 million hatching eggs per year, many of them exported to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Recent outbreaks in India, Nigeria and Egypt originated within the poultry industry, and there is strong circumstantial evidence that movements of poultry and poultry products are responsible. For obvious reasons, little information is available on the extent of the unregulated and illegal poultry trade. However, recently it was revealed that poultry meat is being illegally imported from Asia into the USA; in October 2005 3,000 chickens were intercepted by Italian customs after being smuggled into the country from China; and in November 2005 the UK authorities revealed that large quantities, possibly hundreds of tonnes, of chicken meat had been illegally imported from China, and fraudulently relabelled before being sold on to food manufacturers across the country. In February 2006, 20 kg of chicken tongues from China were found by customs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and 21 tonnes of (mainly) poultry meat from China were confiscated in southern Spain. These indicate continuing lapses in border controls, despite the widely publicised risks. Illegal poultry movements are reported to be extensive in central Asia. In 2005, Ukraine’s State Department of Veterinary Medicine said there had been substantial illegal re-exportation of meat from Ukraine to Russia from third countries. Illegal trade in cage birds Faeces as fertiliser and livestock feed Initial investigations reveal that Russian fish farms have recently started using chicken faeces as fertiliser, and this practice is followed in Eastern Europe where poultry faeces are also spread onto agricultural land and discharge inevitably runs off into waterways. The collection and transport of untreated poultry manure could be a highly effective way of spreading the virus. The FAO recommends “that the feeding of poultry manure/poultry litter should be banned in countries affected by or at risk from avian influenza, even if correctly composted, ensiled or dried with heat treatment.” For more information see BirdLife's March 2006 report, Fish farming and the risk of spread of avian influenza (PDF, 200 KB). Prevention and control The best veterinary advice concerning issues such as confinement of free-ranging flocks and vaccination should be sought and followed. Vaccination may be effective — providing there is adequate antigen in the vaccine. Poor-quality vaccines stop the signs of the disease but allow the virus to continue replicating, spreading and evolving. There is continuing debate among virologists, veterinarians and politicians over the merits of vaccination. The role of wild birds must be seen in the much larger context of the global poultry industry and the movements of huge quantities of poultry products around the world. Focusing on wild birds alone is misplaced and a potentially dangerous diversion of energy, effort and resources. Attempts to cull migratory wild birds or destroy their habitat are highly misguided—experience shows that this approach is completely ineffective, and indeed is likely to make matters worse. Risks to people In the last 100 years there have been at least three major pandemics of human influenza A, which killed many people around the world. The origins of these deadly virus strains remain uncertain, but at least two are thought to have arisen when bird flu and human influenza viruses came together, possibly in pigs, and reassorted their genetic material. Continued outbreaks of H5N1 increase the chances of this happening again, especially as the current strain of H5N1 is exceptional in that it can pass directly from poultry to humans, without the intervention of an intermediate host. There are a few anecdotal reports of humans contracting the virus directly from wild birds, but none confirmed as yet. Almost always, human infections have occurred in people who have been closely associated with poultry. Given the substantial number and distribution of outbreaks in domestic poultry and waterfowl, there have been relatively few cases in people, indicating that the transmission of the virus from poultry to man remains inefficient. Activities such as bird watching and feeding garden birds are completely safe, if simple common sense precautions are followed. These include avoid touching carcasses of wild birds, and washing hands with soap and water after filling or cleaning bird feeders. Both measures are advisable as birds can carry other potentially dangerous pathogens. Terrestrial sites of known H5N1 outbreaks should be avoided, for at least six weeks after the last recorded case. However, as avian influenza viruses can survive a very long time in water (up to 100 days depending on PH, salinity or temperature) it is recommended that people avoid swimming in infected water bodies for much longer. In countries where H5N1 outbreaks have occurred, people working with poultry or other captive birds need to take stricter precautions, to minimise the risk of carrying infection to the birds they work with. They should avoid direct contact with wild birds and should also avoid contact with water from ponds and other sources which are used by wild birds as much as possible. Conservation implications for wild birds There have been reports in the media of wild birds being demonised. In some countries politicians have called on hunters to wipe out or frighten away incoming migrant birds. Some governments have reportedly revived plans to drain wetlands, under the pretext of denying waterfowl landing and breeding places. Nests of birds, such as Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica and House Martin Delichon urbica, which breed in close proximity with man have been destroyed in the mistaken belief that this measure will lessen the risk of contracting bird ‘flu. None of these measures will control the spread of avian influenza, instead putting wild birds and other biodiversity in jeopardy The virus is generally highly pathogenic (causes a high level of mortality) to wild birds. However, the total number of wild birds affected has so far been small: very many more birds die of other, commoner avian diseases each year. Nevertheless, H5N1 could be damaging to species that are already threatened, and/or congregate in just a few localities. One globally threatened bird species may already have been affected. In February 2006, the virus was isolated from a Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis in Greece. This is of concern as 90% of the world population of 88,000 is confined to just five roosts in Romania and Bulgaria, both affected countries. It is also estimated that between 5% and 10% of the world population of the Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus perished in the outbreak at Lake Qinghai, in China in spring 2005. BirdLife International is a member of a task force on avian influenza comprising scientists and conservationists from nine different international organizations including four UN bodies, convened by the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). The task force seeks much better data and information on the cause of the spread of the disease. It is convening a meeting in early April 2006 to assemble some of the top scientists to examine the latest information on avian influenza.

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