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Can AR Enhance Design?
Though augmented reality brings benefits for collaboration and design review, hardware limitations make engineers wonder about its viability.
Image courtesy of Getty Images/gorodenkoff.
Propelled by a new generation of hardware and software, augmented reality (AR) appears poised to assume a significant role in product design. But how much of this perception is based on hype, and how much actual value will the technology add to the design process? Will AR technology dominate the design and development field, or will it be coupled with complementary technologies?
Before companies adopt AR technology and select a platform, they have to understand what this particular immersive technology offers, examine its strengths, recognize its shortcomings and decide if these visualization platforms will deliver enough value to their development efforts to justify the expenditure of time and resources to incorporate them into their designers’ toolkits.
Taking Design to the Third Dimension
Developers of the immersive technology have been working to leverage the technology’s chief strength, visualization, which has long been a core element in the design process.
Until recently, designers relied on CAD modeling, rendering and simulation to envision and shape product concepts early in the development process. Unfortunately, the constraints imposed by computer screens have hampered designers, with the 2D medium suffering from disconnects between the design concepts and the realities of scale and spatial context.
To break free of these constraints, AR system developers offer interactive visualization, promising to help designers shift from passive viewing to an immersive experience. This type of visualization has the potential to provide engineers with the ability to choose multiple paths of exploration, allowing them to examine relevant points of interests from different angles and at various scales. In addition, AR can visualize clusters of interrelated data. With simultaneous access to different data sources, design teams can make better informed decisions.
AR systems can also help engineers place their designs within the actual context of use and interact with their ideas, rather than try to glean insights by studying static images on screens. A real-time environment lets designers assess how a design responds to various conditions. It further enables engineers to understand connections between operations and product performance.
The challenge now confronting design teams is in determining the extent to which these promises are true.
Blending the Digital and Real Worlds
AR aims to provide an interactive experience, where the system overlays digital data on a real-world environment in such a way that it is perceived as an immersive aspect of the real environment.
“Interactions with the virtual product are far
from being ‘natural.’”
— Nicolas Dalmasso, ANSYS
The technology’s developers claim that their systems give designers the opportunity to manipulate 3D models with their hands and allow them to place design concepts in the real world, where they can walk around models and get a feel for form, proportion, mechanical processes and the product’s relationship with the environment.
“This is exactly where displaying results from a simulation on top of the real product can be extremely useful,” says Nicolas Dalmasso, chief technologist at ANSYS.
“It can help engineers and designers better understand how the product they are developing behaves within its real environment. For example, while developing HVAC [heating, ventilation and air-conditioning] systems, displaying CFD [computational fluid dynamics] results within the AR device on top of the real car really helps in the understanding of how shapes affect fluid propagation while adding the user within the environment.”
Incorporating semantic information or metadata from CAD systems directly into the AR environment can help explain or present product specifications during design reviews. For instance, gap and flush information, material properties and part information aid decision-making when reviewing the designed product.
“During the process of visualizing or creating an idea, there are many pieces of information required throughout the process: product specifications, interface specifications and resource requirements for every addition of a new or improved feature,” says Therese Fessenden, user experience specialist at the Nielsen Norman Group.
“Designers regularly must stop what they are doing mid-task to gather information that is not immediately on hand,” she says. “With AR, designers can continue working, dedicating mental energy toward the task at hand, without leaving or distracting themselves to gather that additional information.”
AR’s visualization strengths also include projection mapping, which has proven suitable for very large products or contexts. This feature, however, comes with a caveat.
“Space and relatively static locations become a limiting factor,” says Eric Kam, manufacturing business channel marketing and alliances director at the ESI Group.
With these features in mind, proponents of AR assert that the technology’s strengths can accelerate time to market and add new dimensions to collaboration. That said, the technology faces challenges that affect the productivity at the designer’s workbench.
Hardware Shortcomings, Performance Limitations
Some obstacles compromising AR’s ability to deliver enhanced visualization relate to hardware limitations. For example, consider the delivery devices used by AR systems. The devices fall into four general categories, each facilitating immersion to varying degrees. These include heads-up displays, holographic displays, smart glasses and handheld systems. The current technology suffers from shortcomings that prevent AR devices from achieving their full potential.
“Notable barriers for real AR adoption are lack of resolution, dynamic range and field of view, which are far from what a human eye can do,” says Dalmasso.
In addition, AR system providers also must address problems within the systems’ interaction capabilities.
“Interactions with the virtual product are far from being ‘natural,’” says Dalmasso. “Lack of haptic feedbacks and difficulty tracking gestures are some of the limitations slowing down adoption. Analyzing gaze (eye tracking) and some other human actions, such as voice, could help improve understanding of the user’s intent.”
AR device developers are still grappling with ergonomic issues. Users still find current AR systems relatively intrusive. Wearable devices can be heavy and cumbersome, and tethered systems can distract users while they are attempting to perform their task.
Developers could address these issues by reducing the size of the device, but if they do so that generally comes with a limitation of computation power. As a result, developers of these systems face tough trade-offs in balancing power demands with form factor limitations.
Power limitations present more of a challenge than ergonomics for AR devices. This points to an even larger problem facing designers using AR.
“Current AR devices have limited compute capabilities and limited memory, which generally causes the devices to struggle to perform computationally intensive tasks,” says Dalmasso. “For example, AR devices generally come with limited GPU [graphics processing unit] capabilities, preventing them from using state-of-the-art rendering techniques like real-time ray tracing or complex lighting rasterization. As a result, a photorealistic or physically correct rendering of a product cannot be easily achieved within an AR environment.”
Prepping Data for AR
The constraints imposed by limited compute resources also hinder AR systems’ ability to process CAD data into a usable format for AR systems. Many AR systems simply have limited ability to render full CAD models.
“When discussing graphics with extended reality [which includes AR] professionals, you will find yourself often discussing numbers of polygons as a way of describing modeling complexity, since all the 3D models will at some point be broken down from complex solids into collections of smaller, more discrete polygonal or tessellated models,” says Kam. “The number of polygons that can be rendered in a 3D view is limited by the available computing power on the CPU and GPU of the extended reality system.”
Most—if not all—stand-alone, mobile device and handheld AR systems cannot load large polygon models. CAD data of something like a fully modeled automotive engineering dataset likely consists of tens or hundreds of millions of polygons, which exceeds the capacity of AR devices.
Therefore, designers using AR systems must perform an additional step, optimizing and simplifying the models’ geometry so that it fits the “low-poly” requirements of the device. Unlike full CAD model poly counts, these “low-poly” requirements are often measured in the tens of thousands of polygons or hundreds of thousands of polygons. This process reduces complexity and makes it possible to load and use the data in lightweight viewing.
An additional step called decimating reduces the model size by a factor of 10 or 100. Unfortunately, this process introduces inaccuracies in the representation of the model.
In other cases, engineers might manually “cull” the data by eliminating some CAD objects that they decide might not be needed for the immersive review. This introduces the risk that the engineer might cull influential objects for the intended review, in effect whitewashing (or greenwashing) the very problems that the review was meant to identify.
“For most engineering teams, this is a non-value added step,” says ESI Groups’ Kam. “It also introduces the chance that during the optimization of data, decision-making relevant data is simplified in a way that masks a potential issue.”
Automated Processing of CAD Data
Moving models from CAD systems to AR systems becomes problematic for a number of reasons. Designers run into roadblocks thrown up by shortages of compute resources. Furthermore, using existing simplification, optimization and decimation processes exposes the design to complications that slow and even compromise the development process.
The questions that surface include: Would these problems go away if the two systems were tightly integrated? Would this eliminate or mitigate the challenges arising from the need to transfer data between the two systems? Companies like PTC believe the answer to both questions is “yes.”
“It’s a multi-step process with errors and losses of time at each end,” says Luke Westbrook, product management specialist, PTC. “AR should never be a separate, labor intensive tool. If you’re switching between different tools, that’s suboptimal.
“The way we see it, users shouldn’t have to worry about optimizing anything to efficiently work in an AR environment,” he says. “But for this to happen, the CAD, simulation and AR tools need to be tightly integrated. The optimization should be done on your behalf and put into a format for the AR viewer.”
What Does the Future Hold?
Attempts to see what the future of AR holds inevitably lead to face-offs between AR and its chief competitor, virtual reality (VR). There is the assumption that one of these technologies will rise to the top, while the other fades into oblivion. That probably won’t happen.
“I think that AR and VR don’t have to be placed in such mutually exclusive buckets,” says Kam. “Instead, there are likely many workflows where the two display and visualization technologies are complementary.”
In the near future, advanced forms of AR devices will likely incorporate elements commonly associated with VR. This is why futuristic AR headsets like HoloLens glasses are often confusingly described as “mixed reality” devices.
Thoughtful consideration of the potential of the two technologies ultimately reveals that the binary distinction between AR and VR creates an inaccurate picture of the evolutionary path of immersive technologies. The fact is that the future will likely belong to devices that combine elements of both.
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Why do Some Cats have two different colored eyes?
The answer to this question is hidden in the Melanin.That is a pigment that is responsible for eye,skin and hair color in all animals.The process Mitosis by which the genes from their parents that has different eye colors most probably blue,green or golden join together and their product has two eyes of different colors.At the time of birth every single kitten has light blue eyes and the color changes as they grow up so it is also possible that because of the difference in amount of Pigment one eye color appears different than the other.
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Diesel vs Regular Gasoline - Which Is Better For The Environment
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With the implementation of alternative fuel sources on the minds of many, diesel is now under the microscope more than ever. Although diesel-powered vehicles have been around for a long time, gasoline is still the primary fuel source for most North American vehicles. Why has diesel not been used as a fuel source in more vehicles? Which is better for the environment? These are questions that are being asked more frequently as the search for alternative fuels is weighing heavily on more people's minds.
Gasoline vs. Diesel
It turns out that gasoline is more volatile than diesel, not because of what its base consists of, but because of the additives it contains. In addition, vehicles that use diesel tend to be more fuel-efficient and produce less greenhouse gasses. In that respect, diesel is more environmentally friendly. Diesel actually produces 15% more in greenhouse gasses than gasoline when compared by the litre rather than the gallon. Yet it is through the 20-40% improvement in fuel economy over gasoline that offsets the higher emissions per litre. In actuality, the carbon dioxide emissions are considerably less than gasoline, but diesel does contain 2,778 grams of carbon per gallon, whereas gasoline contains 2,421 grams per gallon. But, again, it is the fuel economy of diesel that accounts for the smaller rate of carbon emissions.
Then again, diesel fuel contains larger quantities of sulphur. The United States has what is considered to be the dirtiest diesel, but as of June 1, 2010 this is going to be different. U.S. diesel fuel has a lower measure of ignition quality. This means that when it is cold outside, ignition performance is poor and can result in higher emissions. This is why you see truck drivers idling their trucks all night long in cold weather rather than risk a troublesome start in the mornings.
But, the sulphur in the diesel that is emitted during cold ignitions and long engine idling is still harmful to the environment because the sulphurs prevent the control of diesel particulate emissions through diesel particulate filters. This is changing, though, since new advanced technologies such as nitrogen oxide absorbers are being developed to reduce these emissions.
As for gasoline, it is the non-aliphatic hydrocarbons as well as carcinogenic additives that avoid engine-knocking that threaten the public's health and the environment. This exposure happens in the case of gasoline leaks and then, of course, there are the carbon emissions we hear a lot about. Leaks occur when trucks begin leaking the gasoline they are carrying, storage containers are not stored properly, and from motor vehicle leakage. The harmful additives in gasoline can get into groundwater and contaminate public water supplies.
However, Dieselization is becoming a more common use of diesel as a fuel in motor vehicles, although it is determined that both diesel and gasoline have harmful effects on the environment. When we look at the carbon emissions of both, we find that diesel will emit more per gallon (or litre), but when you look at how much you have to fill the fuel tank with diesel versus how much you have to fill with gasoline, you will find that the percentage of emissions is offset for diesel, which can be friendlier on the pocketbook. On the other hand, sulphur is emitted by diesel and diesel does not perform as well in cold weather as gasoline, so until 2010 when diesel is cleaned up, gasoline may be slightly more environmentally friendly than diesel in respect to the emissions from automobiles. As for ground contamination, diesel has an edge over gasoline in keeping our world clean.
About the Author
Fleet fuel cards are applicable for both gasoline and diesel engines. It's important take the environment into consideration when choosing a vehicle.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2008-02-03 19:38:46 in Business Articles
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Architecture by Influence: Leadership
There was a great discussion on Twitter today regarding influence, mandates, and leadership. My interest started with a tweet from Chris Venable, directed at Burton Group/Gartner EA analyst, Mike Rollings:
If EA is so important, why must it do everything through influence? No one ever says that to the CIO…
I thought this was a great question, and after retweeting it, a debate ensued around influence, mandates, and leadership among myself, Mike, Philip Allega of Gartner, Chris Lockhart, and others. In a nutshell, the question is this: Is it possible to be an effective leader without mandates?
My gut answer to this is yes, and I even feel that issuing mandates puts you at risk of being ineffective. As I dug into this, however, I realized that it’s not about the term mandate, it’s about the approach you take to providing leadership. Why is that the case? Look at the definitions for mandate, direction, and guidance, courtesy of
Mandate: An authoritative command or instruction
Direction: An authoritative indication; an order or command
Guidance: Leadership, instruction, or direction
I don’t see a big difference, do you? Yet, I’m sure we’d all agree that those terms are perceived very differently. Would you rather work for a manager that gave you direction or issued you a mandate? According to the dictionary, it’s really one and the same. Now look at influence:
Influence: A power affecting a person, thing, or course of events, especially one that operates without any direct or apparent effort.
The definition for influence actually mentions the word “power” which could be perceived as a negative, but more importantly, it goes on to state that we use the term more frequently when the power is imperceptible. This is where the difference lies. If mandate and direction mean the same thing, the real difference is when the leader can give that direction and influence the outcomes of the company without pushing so hard that it is perceived as something out of the ordinary at the time it happens.
An arbitrary mandate is like a shove in the back. It will be noticed, and it will be perceived in a negative manner. A justified mandate can be equally jarring, but can be acceptable in the short term. “I shoved you to the side so you wouldn’t walk into the huge pit of snakes that was in front of you because you were looking elsewhere.” The problem with both of these is that they’re “in the nick of time” decisions, and have to be jarring because there’s no other choice. The natural question then, is how did we get here in the first place?
This is where true leadership comes into play. Leadership is about setting people up to be successful from the beginning. That doesn’t mean that course corrections might be needed, but you set expectations early. How many of you have had an architecture review, or even worse, a performance review, where you were criticized for something you didn’t even know was expected? That’s bad leadership. Set the expectations and give people a chance to be successful. In setting the expectations, it must first be about the desired effect (note that nearly all the definitions for influence include either the word affect or effect) and not about the means. If it’s solely about the means, it becomes an arbitrary mandate. For example, “The desired effect is that our IT operational costs go down by 10%. We’re going to do that by consolidating redundant systems for X, Y, and Z.” rather than simply saying, “Everyone’s going to have to use system X from now on.” By not disclosing the desired effect, people will resist the change. By leading with the desired effect, you can also create an opportunity for people to come forward with alternatives. Where the effect is hidden, decisions become arbitrary or personality-driven, rather than outcome driven (see this post).
In a nutshell, set the desired outcome, establish a direction to achieve it, make course corrections as needed with an imperceptible gentle nudge so that it won’t be perceived as a mandate. That’s an example of influence, and that’s an example of leadership.
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Tag Archives: mentalhealth
Exercise is only one part of “Total Fitness”
Woman Running
Regular readers of my blog will know that I have written before about Alzheimer’s and mental conditions, as this is a very personal issue for me (see Dementia: I lost my father, don’t lose yours, Mental health and exercise and Let’s talk about depression).
So as a fitness professional and a Pilates and functional training presenter, I am very interested by studies that link exercise with mental health and brain function, and I am convinced that this link exists and should influence us as trainers and the public in general.
All Pilates teachers will be very familiar with the mind and body link, but in my opinion every trainer should also consider this. I am happy to report to you about a recent study in the US that suggests that aerobic exercise in your 20s may protect the brain in middle age. Activities that maintain cardio fitness such as running, swimming and cycling, led to better thinking skills and memory 20 years on.
Scientists say the research adds to evidence the brain benefits from good heart health. As fitness professionals will know, cardio fitness is a measure of how well the body absorbs oxygen during exercise and transports it to the muscles. Researchers at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, tested almost 3,000 healthy people with an average age of 25. They underwent treadmill tests of cardiovascular fitness during the first year of the study and again 20 years later. They were asked to run for as long as possible before they became exhausted or short of breath.
Cognitive tests taken 25 years after the start of the study measured memory and thinking skills. People who ran for longer on the treadmill performed better at tests of memory and thinking skills 25 years on, even after adjusting for factors such as smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol. People who had smaller time differences in their treadmill test 20 years later were more likely to perform better on the executive function test than those who had bigger differences.
“Many studies show the benefits to the brain of good heart health,” said study author Dr David Jacobs. “This is one more important study that should remind young adults of the brain health benefits of cardio fitness activities such as running, swimming, biking or cardio fitness classes.” Dr Jacobs said a concept was emerging of total fitness, incorporating social, physical and mental aspects of health. “It’s really a total package of how your body is and the linkage of that entire package of performance – that’s related to cognitive function many years later and in mid-life,”
Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “A growing body of evidence suggests exercise may reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, and much research has shown a link between healthy habits in mid-life and better health in old age. Investment in research is vital to better understand how we can protect our brains as we age.”
So this information, taken in conjunction with previous studies detailed in my previous blogs, continues to add weight to the body of evidence that suggests our physical and our mental state are inextricably linked. The concept of “total fitness”, meaning that all trainers should be thinking about advising their clients of the social and mental aspects of their health as well as the physical aspects, is something that I incorporated into my Pilates EVO© and my bodyFUNC© systems several years ago.
If we want to get the best results for our clients, and give the best possible service, it is not enough to simply give them a training problem for their gym sessions. Our advice must go much further and much deeper. |
What is tapeworm?
Tapeworms are parasitic worms that live in the intestinal tracts of some animals. Certain species of these tapeworms can infect humans. People of all ages are susceptible to tapeworm infections. However, the infection is not often seen in Ireland, except in people who have been infected abroad.
How is tapeworm contracted?
The easiest way of contracting tapeworm is by eating raw or undercooked meat or fish that contains the tapeworm.
Tapeworm is most commonly found in developing countries where there are poor sanitary conditions, therefore if you are travelling to a developing country, you need to take extra precautions when it comes to food. Never eat raw or undercooked meat and fish.
The two most common species to infect people are the beef tapeworm and the pork tapeworm, so be extra careful when eating these particular meats. In developing countries, livestock such as beef and pigs may be become infected by grazing in contaminated pastures.
It is also possible to be indirectly infected by the ingestion of tapeworm eggs, which have been shed by an adult worm. This can lead to a condition known as cysticercosis.
Cysticercosis is a disease caused by the presence of certain tapeworm larvae in any of the body tissues. Their presence in the muscles can lead to pain and weakness. In the brain, the symptoms are more serious, for example mental deterioration, paralysis and convulsions.
What are the symptoms of tapeworm?
Many cases of tapeworm infection are asymptomatic (they show no symptoms). In such cases, the person may not know they are infected until they notice pieces of tapeworm in their faeces. Where symptoms do occur, they may include nausea, mild or abdominal pain or diarrhoea.
If a person is infected with the fish tapeworm, symptoms may include diarrhoea, weakness or fatigue.
How can I prevent tapeworm?
The easiest way of avoiding tapeworm infection is by ensuring meat and fish are from a reliable source. While this is easy in Ireland, extra precautions must be taken when travelling abroad, especially to developing countries.
Never eat raw or undercooked meat or fish when abroad. Ensure they are well cooked. If you are doing the cooking, there are precautions you can take, such as freezing meat and fish before cooking. Freezing fresh fish for 24 hours will kill the larval form of tapeworm.
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Hiccup is usually a minor nuisance but prolonged hiccups can be a major problem.
Hiccup is a sudden, involuntary contraction of the diaphragm - the main breathing muscle under the lungs. This sucks air rapidly into the lungs, snapping shut a valve (the glottis) above the voice box (larynx). This snapping makes the characteristic sound of a hiccup.
Hiccups start suddenly, usually happen from 4 to 60 times a minute, and usually last for only a few minutes.
Hiccup may occur after stretching of the stomach following rapid eating, drinking, or swallowing air. Other common causes are: sudden excitement, a rapid change of temperature or drinking very hot or cold drinks.
There are rare causes which are serious:
* Irritation of the diaphragm due to infection, or cancer spread from elsewhere
* Irritation of the phrenic nerve (which controls the diaphragm) by cancer or chest surgery
* Brain infection or tumour
* Severe kidney failure
* Severe general infections
Treatment is needed only for persistent hiccups. Anti-spasmodic and anti-epileptic drugs may help the hiccups, but the underlying cause itself must be treated.
If hiccups are persistent, eating and drinking can be difficult, with risk of inhalation of food or drink. Hiccups can be very tiring to someone who is ill with one of the rare serious causes. |
Report Animal Cruelty
What is the legal definition of animal cruelty in Georgia?
a. Cruelty to Animals (misdemeanor charge): A person commits the offense of cruelty to animals when he/she causes death or unjustifiable physical pain or suffering to any animal by an act, an omission, or willful neglect. O.C.G.A. §16-12-4
§Willful neglect means the intentional withholding of food and water required by an animal to prevent starvation or dehydration. O.C.G.A. §16-12-4
§Adequate food and water means food and water that is sufficient in an amount and appropriate for the particular type of animal to prevent starvation, dehydration, or a significant risk to the animal's health from a lack of food or water. O.C.G.A. §§4-11-2, 4-13-2
§Humane care of animals means, but is not limited to, the provision of adequate heat, ventilation, sanitary shelter, and wholesome and adequate food and water, consistent with the normal requirements and feeding habits of the animal's size, species, and breed. O.C.G.A. §§4-11-2, 4-13-2
b. Aggravated Cruelty to Animals (felony charge): A person commits the offense of aggravated cruelty to animals when he or she knowingly and maliciously causes death or physical harm to an animal by rendering a part of such animal's body useless or by seriously disfiguring such animal… [paraphrased] except for conduct otherwise permitted under state or federal law. O.C.G.A. §16-12-4
Local law enforcement (municipal or county police department or county sheriff's department) enforces the criminal provisions of Cruelty to Animals, O.C.G.A. §16-12-4. An animal control officer is an individual authorized by local law or by the governing authority of a county or municipality to carry out the duties imposed by local ordinance and certain articles contained within the Georgia Animal Protection Act, O.C.G.A. §4-11-2
How do I report Animal Cruelty?
If an animal is being beaten, kicked, strangled or worse, call 911 immediately, do not wait. Officers need every second available to respond to cruelty so that vital evidence and case information can be collected. For your own safety and the safety of others, do not intervene in the behavior or interfere with the investigation. However, if you are able to photograph or video the behavior from a safe distance without directing aggression toward yourself, this is evidence that can be used in the prosecution of a crime. Some citizens reporting animal cruelty wish to remain anonymous. Please know that in most instances, without a witness there is no court case.
How do I report Animal Neglect?
Unfortunately, neglected animals are a problem in our community. Cats left to fend for themselves may experience poor nutrition, disease and unwanted litters. Dogs left chained with little socialization, no access to water and no shelter can suffer from health issues or become aggressive. While these cases need to be addressed quickly, they do not require the response time of a cruelty report. Some exceptions would be an animal that cannot stand, is having trouble breathing, appears to be starving or suffering directly from heat or cold due to lack of proper shelter. To report neglect, please contact Lowndes County Animal Welfare during normal business hours at 229-671-2760. As with cruelty cases, without a witness there is no case. While officers can often serve as the witness in neglect cases since they are able to speak to the conditions they witness, outside witnesses are still needed for some cases. Photographic and/or video evidence is also helpful in prosecuting neglect cases.
Animal cruelty is against the law. Be a voice for those that cannot speak for themselves. |
Chapter 9 Support vector machines
While the origins of support vector machines (SVMs) are old (and go back to Vapnik and Lerner (1963)), their modern treatment was initiated in Boser, Guyon, and Vapnik (1992) and Cortes and Vapnik (1995) (binary classification) and Drucker et al. (1997) (regression). We refer to for an exhaustive bibliography on their theoretical and empirical properties. SVMs have been very popular since their creation among the machine learning community. Nonetheless, other tools (neural networks especially) have gained popularity and progressively replaced SVMs in many applications like computer vision notably.
9.1 SVM for classification
As is often the case in machine learning, it is easier to explain a complex tool through an illustration with binary classification. In fact, sometimes, it is originally how the tool was designed (e.g., for the perceptron). Let us consider a simple example in the plane, that is, with two features. In Figure 9.1, the goal is to find a model that correctly classifies points: filled circles versus empty squares.
Diagram of binary classification with support vectors.
FIGURE 9.1: Diagram of binary classification with support vectors.
A model consists of two weights \(\textbf{w}=(w_1,w_2)\) that load on the variables and create a natural linear separation in the plane. In the example above, we show three separations. The red one is not a good classifier because there are circles and squares above and beneath it. The blue line is a good classifier: all circles are to its left and all squares to its right. Likewise, the green line achieves a perfect classification score. Yet, there is a notable difference between the two.
The grey star at the top of the graph is a mystery point and given its location, if the data pattern holds, it should be a circle. The blue model fails to recognize it as such while the green one succeeds. The interesting features of the scheme are those that we have not mentioned yet, that is, the grey dotted lines. These lines represent the no-man’s land in which no observation falls when the green model is enforced. In this area, each strip above and below the green line can be viewed as a margin of error for the model. Typically, the grey star is located inside this margin.
The two margins are computed as the parallel lines that maximize the distance between the model and the closest points that are correctly classified (on both sides). These points are called support vectors, which justifies the name of the technique. Obviously, the green model has a greater margin than the blue one. The core idea of SVMs is to maximize the margin, under the constraint that the classifier does not make any mistake. Said differently, SVMs try to pick the most robust model among all those that yield a correct classification.
More formally, if we numerically define circles as +1 and squares as -1, any ‘good’ linear model is expected to satisfy: \[\begin{equation} \tag{9.1} \left\{\begin{array}{lll} \sum_{k=1}^Kw_kx_{i,k}+b \ge +1 & \text{ when } y_i=+1 \\ \sum_{k=1}^Kw_kx_{i,k}+b \le -1 & \text{ when } y_i=-1, \end{array}\right. \end{equation}\]
which can be summarized in compact form \(y_i \times \left(\sum_{k=1}^K w_kx_{i,k}+b \right)\ge 1\). Now, the margin between the green model and a support vector on the dashed grey line is equal to \(||\textbf{w}||^{-1}=\left(\sum_{k=1}^Kw_k^2\right)^{-1/2}\). This value comes from the fact that the distance between a point \((x_0,y_0)\) and a line parametrized by \(ax+by+c=0\) is equal to \(d=\frac{|ax_0+by_0+c|}{\sqrt{a^2+b^2}}\). In the case of the model defined above (9.1), the numerator is equal to 1 and the norm is that of \(\textbf{w}\). Thus, the final problem is the following:
\[\begin{equation} \tag{9.2} \underset{\textbf{w}, b}{\text{argmin}} \ \frac{1}{2} ||\textbf{w}||^2 \ \text{ s.t. } y_i\left(\sum_{k=1}^Kw_kx_{i,k}+b \right)\ge 1. \end{equation}\]
The dual form of this program (see Chapter 5 in Boyd and Vandenberghe (2004)) is
\[\begin{equation} \tag{9.3} L(\textbf{w},b,\boldsymbol{\lambda})= \frac{1}{2}||\textbf{w}||^2 + \sum_{i=1}^I\lambda_i\left(y_i\left(\sum_{k=1}^Kw_kx_{i,k}+b \right)- 1\right), \end{equation}\] where either \(\lambda_i=0\) or \(y_i\left(\sum_{k=1}^Kw_kx_{i,k}+b \right)= 1\). Thus, only some points will matter in the solution (the so-called support vectors). The first order conditions impose that the derivatives of this Lagrangian be null: \[\frac{\partial L}{\partial \textbf{w}}L(\textbf{w},b,\boldsymbol{\lambda})=\textbf{0}, \quad \frac{\partial L}{\partial b}L(\textbf{w},b,\boldsymbol{\lambda})=0,\] where the first condition leads to \[\textbf{w}^*=\sum_{i=1}^I\lambda_iu_i\textbf{x}_i.\] This solution is indeed a linear form of the features, but only some points are taken into account. They are those for which the inequalities (9.1) are equalities.
Naturally, this problem becomes infeasible whenever the condition cannot be satisfied, that is, when a simple line cannot perfectly separate the labels, no matter the choice of coefficients. This is the most common configuration and datasets are then called logically not linearly separable. This complicates the process but it is possible to resort to a trick. The idea is to introduce some flexbility in (9.1) by adding correction variables that allow the conditions to be met:
\[\begin{equation} \tag{9.4} \left\{\begin{array}{lll} \sum_{k=1}^Kw_kx_{i,k}+b \ge +1-\xi_i & \text{ when } y_i=+1 \\ \sum_{k=1}^Kw_kx_{i,k}+b \le -1+\xi_i & \text{ when } y_i=-1, \end{array}\right. \end{equation}\]
where the novelties, the \(\xi_i\) are positive so-called ‘slack’ variables that make the conditions feasible. They are illustrated in Figure 9.2. In this new configuration, there is no simple linear model that can perfectly discriminate between the two classes.
Diagram of binary classification with SVM - linearly inseparable data.
FIGURE 9.2: Diagram of binary classification with SVM - linearly inseparable data.
The optimization program then becomes \[\begin{equation} \tag{9.5} \underset{\textbf{w},b, \boldsymbol{\xi}}{\text{argmin}} \ \frac{1}{2} ||\textbf{w}||^2+C\sum_{i=1}^I\xi_i \ \text{ s.t. } \left\{ y_i\left(\sum_{k=1}^Kw_k\phi(x_{i,k})+b \right)\ge 1-\xi_i \ \text{ and } \ \xi_i\ge 0, \ \forall i \right\}, \end{equation}\] where the parameter \(C>0\) tunes the cost of mis-classification: as \(C\) increases, errors become more penalizing.
In addition, the program can be generalized to nonlinear models, via the kernel \(\phi\) which is applied to the input points \(x_{i,k}\). Nonlinear kernels can help cope with patterns that are more complex than straight lines (see Figure 9.3). Common kernels can be polynomial, radial or sigmoid. The solution is found using more or less standard techniques for constrained quadratic programs. Once the weights \(\textbf{w}\) and bias \(b\) are set via training, a prediction for a new vector \(\textbf{x}_j\) is simply made by computing \(\sum_{k=1}^Kw_k\phi(x_{j,k})+b\) and choosing the class based on the sign of the expression.
Examples of nonlinear kernels.
FIGURE 9.3: Examples of nonlinear kernels.
9.2 SVM for regression
The ideas of classification SVM can be transposed to regression exercises but the role of the margin is different. One general formulation is the following
\[\begin{align} \underset{\textbf{w},b, \boldsymbol{\xi}}{\text{argmin}} \ & \frac{1}{2} ||\textbf{w}||^2+C\sum_{i=1}^I\left(\xi_i+\xi_i^* \right)\\ \text{ s.t. }& \sum_{k=1}^Kw_k\phi(x_{i,k})+b -y_i\le \epsilon+\xi_i \\ \tag{9.6} & y_i-\sum_{k=1}^Kw_k\phi(x_{i,k})-b \le \epsilon+\xi_i^* \\ &\xi_i,\xi_i^*\ge 0, \ \forall i , \end{align}\]
and it is illustrated in Figure 9.4. The user specifies a margin \(\epsilon\) and the model will try to find the linear (up to kernel transformation) relationship between the labels \(y_i\) and the input \(\textbf{x}_i\). Just as in the classification task, if the data points are inside the strip, the slack variables \(\xi_i\) and \(\xi_i^*\) are set to zero. When the points violate the threshold, the objective function (first line of the code) is penalized. Note that setting a large \(\epsilon\) leaves room for more error. Once the model has been trained, a prediction for \(\textbf{x}_j\) is simply \(\sum_{k=1}^Kw_k\phi(x_{j,k})+b\).
Diagram of regression SVM.
FIGURE 9.4: Diagram of regression SVM.
Let us take a step back and simplify what the algorithm does, that is: minimize the sum of squared weights \(||\textbf{w}||^2\) subject to the error being small enough (modulo a slack variable). In spirit, this somewhat the opposite of the penalized linear regressions which seek to minimize the error, subject to the weights being small enough.
The models laid out in this section are a preview of the universe of SVM engines and several other formulations have been developed. One reference library that is coded in C and C++ is LIBSVM and it is widely used by many other programming languages. The interested reader can have a look at the corresponding article Chang and Lin (2011) for more details on the SVM zoo (a more recent November 2019 version is also available online).
9.3 Practice
In R the LIBSVM library is exploited in several packages. One of them, e1071, is a good choice because it also nests many other interesting functions, especially a naive Bayes classifier that we will see later on.
In the implementation of LIBSVM, the package requires to specify the label and features separately. For this reason, we recycle the variables used for the boosted trees. Moreover, the training being slow, we perform it on a subsample of these sets (first thousand instances).
## [1] 0.03839085
## [1] 0.5222197
The results are slightly better than those of the boosted trees. All parameters are completely arbitrary, especially the choice of the kernel. We finally turn to a classification example.
## [1] 0.5008973
Both the small training sample and the arbitrariness in our choice of the parameters may explain why the predictive accuracy is so poor.
9.4 Coding exercises
1. From the simple example shown above, extend SVM models to other kernels and discuss the impact on the fit.
2. Train a vanilla SVM model with labels being the 12-month forward (i.e., future) return and evaluate it on the testing sample. Do the same with a simple random forest. Compare.
Boser, Bernhard E, Isabelle M Guyon, and Vladimir N Vapnik. 1992. “A Training Algorithm for Optimal Margin Classifiers.” In Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Workshop on Computational Learning Theory, 144–52. ACM.
Boyd, Stephen, and Lieven Vandenberghe. 2004. Convex Optimization. Cambridge University Press.
Chang, Chih-Chung, and Chih-Jen Lin. 2011. “LIBSVM: A Library for Support Vector Machines.” ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (TIST) 2 (3): 27.
Cortes, Corinna, and Vladimir Vapnik. 1995. “Support-Vector Networks.” Machine Learning 20 (3): 273–97.
Drucker, Harris, Christopher JC Burges, Linda Kaufman, Alex J Smola, and Vladimir Vapnik. 1997. “Support Vector Regression Machines.” In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 155–61.
Vapnik, Vladimir, and A. Lerner. 1963. “Pattern Recognition Using Generalized Portrait Method.” Automation and Remote Control 24: 774–80. |
Friday, April 13, 2007
A Samburu Story
I recently returned from Northern Kenya where I was dispatched to cover the plight of the endangered Grevy’s zebra. Over the course of the expedition, I learned that the biggest threats facing the Grevy’s are habitat degradation, poaching, disease, and competition with livestock of indigenous tribespeople. I knew there had to be a human component to the problem. In this case, it’s the Samburu - or so I thought.
To gain access to the zebra’s story, I embedded myself in an Earthwatch Institute expedition. Part of their conservation initiative includes forays into the bush to find and interview Samburu herdsmen, asking them about their knowledge and impact on zebra.
The Samburu are one of the proud and sturdy tribes from this marginal region. Like the Turkana to the north and Maasai to the south, the Samburu have essentially resisted and rejected the modern world. They choose to lead the same pastoralist lifestyle that supported their ancestors through thousands of seasonal cycles of aridity and rains. But it quickly becomes clear to anyone who experiences this harsh landscape that the Samburu way of life, shaped by time and climate, is the only viable option.
In the middle of the expedition’s fourth night, while pouring over the interview transcripts under my mosquito net, I had an epiphany. In the focused blue light of my headlamp, the written words of Mzee Leisan, needed no scientific analysis to understand; “I see the world drying up” he said, “If we get no help, we will all die.”
I suddenly realized, that the forces threatening the zebra are greater than poachers, disease, and Samburu livestock. The forces at work here are environmental on a grander scale. And the zebra that I came here to understand are not the only endangered species. Suddenly the scope of extinction shifted from because of the Samburu, to include the Samburu…and beyond.
It then occurred to me that these interview sessions might be a rare opportunity to collect first-hand stories of global-warming's impact on tribal life. Indeed, this might be the last chance for a remote and isolated people to tell their story to the developed world. After all, who better to ask about climate change than the oldest and wisest of a culture that has lived with this land and wildlife for centuries?
So I developed a series of questions that could be incorporated into the interview sessions. The next day my interpreters and I set out in search of the old and wise.
It was more challenging than I had could have imagined.
Immediately, unforeseen obstacles began to emerge. For one thing, I was looking for men 80 years or older and there just aren’t that many left. This required we travel farther away and deeper into the bush. In addition, the Samburu are particularly suspicious of outsiders (especially white ones), and the more remote the clan, the more wary they are. They’ve also developed a profane loathing for having their pictures taken. So needless to say, white men with cameras face vigorous, often violent, opposition. I was treated to stories of bumbling tourists, stupid enough to snap before asking and subjected to the jury of a spear (if you live, you are forgiven). It took much time of simply “hanging out” with these men to gain the level of trust where my interpreters could even broach the subject. But by the end of a dusty, frustrating, exhausting week punctuated with a couple of sketchy moments, I had managed to conduct six on-camera interviews with the oldest of the old in the Samburu community.
These are men largely unaware of the current debate over global warming. But across the board, they each stated independently and emphatically, that the overall climate has changed. Gone were the days of “white” rains, plentiful pasture, and mingling with wildlife. In their language (Maa translated to English), they explained that the present climate is hotter and dryer than when they were young. They indicated how weather patterns have become extreme. Instead of the natural rainy and dry seasons, they are now experiencing severe floods and droughts, with little or no moderation as in the past.
The ill effect of flood and drought can be seen in the background of every shot. Red sandy soils called ”machanga” lay bare and baking in the hot equatorial sun. Land is washed away as mudflows in catastrophic floods and the cycle leaves no room or time for nutrients to accumulate. Vegetation can no longer replenish the landscape. Horizon after horizon, the grasslands depended on by countless generations of Samburu, fail to appear. The situation is indiscriminate and desperate for all life - zebra and human alike. Scavengers are the only beneficiaries and even their days seem numbered.
Samburu men spend every living moment outside exposed to the elements. They are intimately tuned to the patterns of nature, now etched like credentials into their deeply wrinkled and weathered faces. And since familial storytelling is an integral part of Samburu culture, the stories handed down through the generations are an extension of their ancestor’s tales. An interview with a Samburu Mzee is an indirect conversation with their heritage and a visage of an ancient collective wisdom. I felt compelled to record whatever they had to say, conveying to the world their story not for the first time, but maybe the last.
Listening to the exotic and animated syllables of these extraordinary people, I can’t help but hear an ancient way of life disintegrating. It is a cruel irony indeed that these, the voices of a people that has always lived in harmony with the environment, imprinting the lightest carbon footprint on the earth, are being unknowingly silenced by an ignorant culture of consumption half a world away.
Early coal miners used canaries to warn of deadly gas buildup. But this method relied on two tragic flaws. First, the canary had to die. Second, the miners had to see the dead or dying canary. So maybe the developed world needs to see some of the suffering already in progress. Maybe, by seeing the abject poverty of the environmentally displaced, we can begin to own our own contribution to climate change. Maybe...hopefully.
A big THANKS! to my Earthwatch teammates Bethany, Christy, and Josh for all the photos, footage, fun, and friendship.
Here is a selection of fun photos from this expedition (Quicktime Movie takes a long time to load)
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US paradoxes for immigrants
I came across two articles this weekend that I thought were particularly prescient for our upcoming discussion on immigrant incorporation and the importance of context.
The first points out that despite what we may think, the US has historically been quite good at incorporating new immigrants and it's likely to continue to be pretty good at it. The article specifically compares the US experience with those of several European countries.
Why the U.S. Is So Good at Turning Immigrants Into Americans - Jason DeParle - The Atlantic:
However, the story doesn't end there. The same popular publication (Atlantic Monthly) also reports about the glaring inequalities in the US education system. And while the article doesn't specifically say, it seems that part of the comparison is to more egalitarian European systems. While the general perception is that US students are falling behind, this article points out that when we disaggregate the data, students in many US states outperform many countries.
Why are these articles important? Because together, they point out that the positive aspects of US incorporation, but also speaks to the issue of what new immigrants and, more specifically, their children are integrating into and this context might shape their experiences (and ultimately, their outcomes). It appears that we do a great job incorporating new immigrants into a remarkably unequal society. Given how much time we spend in the education system and its the ever rising importance, such levels of inequality in this institution is incredibly important to note. |
Tobacco plant is not edible but it is cultivated on a large scale. It contains nicotine. The tobacco plant has a characteristic pyramid form, whereby the largest leaves are found at the base of the plant, their size getting continually smaller as they move higher on the stem. The color of the blossoms varies between white and pink
Tobacco seeds require warm temperatures for germination of about 75-80 degrees.
The seeds of tobacco are extremely small, not much larger than a pin prick and care should be taken when sowing seeds as to not sow to thickly. Seeds should be prepared indoor 4-6 weeks in advance from last frost date. Firstly, the tobacco seed should be sprinkled onto the surface of a sterile seed. And then start mixing them and lightly water in. Do not cover the seed with any soil as they need light for germination and covering can slow down the germination time. If covered too deeply, then the seed won’t germinate at all. Watering in lightly is all what is needed. Finally, the seed will begin to germinate in about 7-14 days depending upon tobacco varieties. The soil should be kept moist and never completely dry. Watering should be done carefully as the force of the water can uproot the tiny seedlings causing them to die. The best way to water seedlings is from the bottom (if using a pot with holes in the bottom) so that leaves won’t get wet.
For further growth, the tobacco seedlings should be transplanted into a larger container such as a pot or transplant cell tray so that they can develop a good root system. Normally, seedlings will be large enough and ready for moving into pots after 3 weeks from beginning of germination. Transplanting into containers is easily accomplished by making a small hole into the soil and inserting the roots of the tobacco seedling and backfilling the hole with a little soil mix,. Once you have them potted in, water in with a plant starter fertilizes solution such as miracle grows or seaweed/fish fertilize emulsions.
The initial fertilizing at the potting stage should be sufficient food for the plants until they reach transplanting stage, which normal takes approximately 3-4 weeks. If plants begin to yellow or look stunted, another dose of fertilizer may be needed but do so sparingly, over fertilization while in pots or trays may burn the plant's roots and may also lead to overgrown spindly plants.
Once the bare root gets planted, the plants will go through a sort of 'transplant shock' where some or most of the largest leaves may go yellow and wilt and the plant may appear as if it is going to die, but it will not, the main stem and bud of the plant will continue to strive and in a week or so and will begin to grow and flourish. By growing your seedlings in containers or celled trays there is no transplant shock and plants begin to grow immediately. If you are growing your tobacco seedlings in a greenhouse or indoors they should be "hardened off" before you transplant into your field or garden, but it is not always necessary as long as your plants are not spindly and weak and weather conditions are favorable. This period allows the plant to adjust to outdoor weather conditions. A week of hardening off should be ample time but 2 weeks is even better.
Tobacco is a heavy feeder and if grown continuously in the same spot will deplete the nutrients in the soil. So to counteract this it is wise to employ a 2 year rotation in your growing space by planting 2 years in a specific location and waiting a year or more before you plant your tobacco back into that location again. Tobacco also requires good amounts of nitrogen and potash both of which can be achieved with a good compost but we recommend a good garden fertilizer if you do not have or use compost.
Space the tobacco plants 2-3 feet apart in the row and space rows 3.5 - 4 feet apart when it is practical. Water the plants thoroughly once transplanted and if no rain or dry weather is forecast, water each evening for a few days till plants become established.
The roots of tobacco grow quickly and the root structure is quite large with thousands of small hair like feeder roots that grow close to the soil surface. Care should be taken when cultivating as not to till or hoe too deep and damage the roots. Keep the tobacco clean and free of all weeds and a few good hoeing by pulling up soil around the base of the plant will help in strengthening the plant. The structure of a tobacco plant's leaves enables the plant to make use of light rains and heavy dews by collecting and funneling the water down to the base of the plant as can be seen in by the wet soil.
After 3-4 weeks from planting, heavy deep tilling should be stopped and only light scrapings to control weeds should be done.
There are many insects and diseases that can attack tobacco. Some of the prominent insect pests are the hornworm and aphid.
Tobacco can be harvested in several ways. In old times, the entire plant used to be harvested by cutting off the stalk at the ground with a sickle. In modern times, large fields are harvested by a single piece of farm equipment, though topping the flower and in some cases the plucking of immature leaves is still done by hand.
The bundled leaves are brought into the drying sheds to dry. These are aligned in an east/ west direction so that the sun warms one end of the shed in the morning and the other in the afternoon. During the drying process which takes about 50 days, they are gradually hung higher and higher in the shed. The leaves first turn yellow and then through the oxidation process, take on their famed golden brown color.
The First Fermentation
The tobacco leaves are packed together into bundles and then moved into the fermentation house. Here they are stacked in piles, reaching over three feet high. If the temperature of the tobacco rises above 35°C, the piles are dismantled and allowed to cool until they can again be heaped up. The first fermentation lasts about 30 days, within which the leaves take on an even color, resins are reduced, and ammonia and other unwanted components are dissipated.
De-ribbing and Sorting
The tobacco leaves are moistened with water in order to avoid discoloration. Subsequently the main ribs are removed. The leaves are then sorted, depending upon intended purpose, color, size and quality. The complete de-ribbing and final sorting in up to 50 different categories takes place much later in the factory.
The second Fermentation
The leaves are again bundled together and stacked into meter-high piles. The tobacco goes through a chemical change which positively influences its taste and flavor, and allows any remaining foreign components to diminish. The second fermentation is stronger than the first and lasts up to 60 days. The wrappers undergo the shortest fermentation.
After resting for some days on ventilation racks, the tobacco is pressed into bundles called "Tercios", which are wrapped in palm bark or banana leaves. These bundles are delivered to local collection points, which are under the control of the state until they are needed by the registered factories. The taste and flavor of the tobacco continues to improve during this storage period. |
Feeling Powerless? Do I Have a Conspiracy Theory for You
Control freaks have a bad name, but they shouldn’t. When you feel you have some control over your work, you feel less stress even when the actual task is identical to when someone is standing over you ordering you to finish; when you can control, or even when you just believe (incorrectly) that you can control the duration of painful shocks, they don’t hurt as much. Even when control is out of the question, just knowing what’s in store can be beneficial: when you learn details about colonoscopy, your anxiety drops and you will likely recover more quickly, as a 1999 study in The Lancet showed.
And when you feel that things are beyond your control? Then, according to a study being published today in Science, you fall prey to what the scientists call “illusory pattern perception”: you see “a coherent and meaningful interrelationship among a set of random or unrelated stimuli.” Less politely, we might call it seeing things that aren’t there, falling victim to conspiracy theories and developing superstitions.
The reason, suggest Jennifer Whitson of the University of Texas, Austin, and Adam Galinsky of Northwestern University, is that pattern perception compensates for feeling out of control in a sea of forces you do not comprehend. It balances the sense that life is random and restores the sense that you do understand what’s going on and might even be able to affect them. It can be more comforting to believe that a vast conspiracy explains, say, the stock market crash than to acknowledge that the financial system is beyond your comprehension, let alone control: conspiracy beliefs, write the scientists, give “causes and motives to events that are more rationally seen as accidents ... [in order to] bring the disturbing vagaries of reality under ... control.”
The scientists ran six mini-experiments to assess the effect of feeling out of control. They induced a feeling of powerlessness in the participants by having them recall a situation in which they felt out of control, or having them answer questions and telling them that many of their answers were wrong—but with feedback so random, participants felt befuddled, unable to figure out which answer would be scored correct. Having made the participants feel that events were random and beyond their control, the scientists then showed them “snowy” pictures. Half were grainy patterns of dots, while the others contained images of a chair, a boat or Saturn faintly visible against the grainy background. When the images really existed, 95 percent of people identified them. When there was no image, people who had been made to feel as if they had no control over the situation saw images in 43 percent of the pictures. They saw something that wasn't there.
The participants also read scenarios that tapped into superstitious beliefs, such as a story in which someone knocked on wood before or wore lucky socks to an important meeting and then got his proposal approved. The participants were asked whether they thought the superstition had anything to do with that approval. Again, participants manipulated into feeling powerless, feeling that life is random and beyond their control, perceived a stronger connection than those who did not feel so at sea in a storm of random events. “Mere recollection of an experience involving a lack of control increases superstitious perceptions,” conclude the scientists. Similarly, when they read an account of a worker passed over for promotion, participants made to feel powerless tended to blame private conversations between the boss and the unfortunate worker’s competitors for the promotion. Conspiracies everywhere they looked.
As always, you have to be careful about extrapolating from the artificial confines of a lab to the real world, but the findings do agree with earlier work about how feeling powerless affects people. If perceiving patterns, even illusory ones, soothes the helpless feeling of not being in control of a situation, then it’s no wonder people trick themselves into seeing and believing connections that aren’t there. “The less control people have over their lives, the more likely they are to try and regain control through mental gymnastics,” said Galinsky. “Feelings of control are so important to people that a lack of control is inherently threatening.”
The human mind prefers to believe that mysterious, invisible forces are secretly at work rather than that the world is random. Whitson put it this way: “People see false patterns in all types of data, imagining trends in stock markets, seeing faces in static and detecting conspiracies between acquaintances. This suggests that lacking control leads to a visceral need for order, even imaginary order.” Feel free to apply this to current events, starting with the conspiracy that people imagine in the proposed financial bailout. |
Commercial and economic office, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Embassy of Republic of Bulgaria in Vietnam
The Economy of Singapore
Singapore has a highly developed market-based economy, based historically on extended trade. Along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, Singapore is one of the original Four Asian Tigers. The Singaporean economy is known as one of the freest, most innovative, most competitive, and most business-friendly. The 2011 Index of Economic Freedom ranks Singapore as the second freest economy in the world, behind Hong Kong. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index, Singapore is consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, along with New Zealand and the Scandinavian countries.
Singapore is the 14th largest exporter and the 15th largest importer in the world. The country has the highest trade-to-GDP ratio in the world at 407.9 percent, signifying the importance of trade to its economy. The country is currently the only Asian country to have AAA credit ratings from all three major credit rating agencies: Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch. Singapore attracts a large amount of foreign direct investment as a result of its location, corruption-free environment, skilled workforce, low tax rates and advanced infrastructure. There are more than 7,000 multinational corporations from the United States, Japan, and Europe in Singapore. There are also 1,500 companies from China and 1,500 from India. Foreign firms are found in almost all sectors of the economy. Singapore is also the second largest foreign investor in India. Roughly 44 percent of the Singaporean workforce is made up of non-Singaporeans. Over ten free trade agreements have been signed with other countries and regions.
Singapore also possesses the world's eleventh largest foreign reserves, and is rated top in terms of net international investment position per capita. The currency of Singapore is the Singapore dollar, issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It is interchangeable with the Brunei dollar.
In recent years, the country has been identified as an increasingly popular tax haven for the wealthy due to the low tax rate on personal income, a full tax exemption on income that is generated outside of Singapore and legislation that means that capital gains are also tax exempt. Singapore ranked fifth place on the Tax Justice Network's 2013 Financial Secrecy Index of the world’s top tax havens, scoring narrowly ahead of the United States.
The Singaporean economy depends heavily on exports and refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing, which constituted 27.2% of GDP in 2010 and includes significant electronics, petroleum refining, chemicals, mechanical engineering and biomedical sciences sectors. In 2006 Singapore produced about 10% of the world's foundry wafer output. Despite its small size, Singapore has a diversified economy, a strategy that the government considers vital for growth and stability.
Tourism also forms a large part of the economy, and 10.2 million tourists visited the country in 2007. To attract more tourists, in 2005 the government legalized gambling and allowed two casino resorts (called Integrated Resorts) to be developed. Singapore is promoting itself as a medical tourism hub: about 200,000 foreigners seek medical care there each year, and Singapore medical services aim to serve one million foreign patients annually by 2012 and generate USD 3 billion in revenue. Singapore is an education hub, and many foreign students study in Singapore. Singapore hosted over 80,000 international students in 2006. More than 5,000 Malaysian students cross the Johor–Singapore Causeway every morning with hopes of receiving a better education in Singapore. In 2009, 20% of all students in Singaporean universities were international students. The students were mainly from ASEAN, China and India.
Singapore is a world leader in several economic areas:
The country is the world's fourth leading financial centre, the world's second-biggest casino gambling market, one of the world's top three oil-refining centres, the world's largest oil-rig producer, and a major ship-repairer. The port is one of the five busiest ports in the world. The World Bank has named Singapore as the easiest place in the world to do business and ranks Singapore the world's top logistics hub. It is also the world's fourth largest foreign-exchange trading centre after London, New York and Tokyo.
As a result of the early 2000s recession and a slump in the technology sector, Singapore's GDP contracted by 2.2% in 2001. The Economic Review Committee was set up in December 2001 and recommended several policy changes to revitalize the economy. Singapore has since recovered, due largely to improvements in the world economy; the economy grew by 8.3% in 2004, 6.4% in 2005, and 7.9% in 2006. After a contraction of 0.8% in 2009, the economy recovered in 2010, with GDP growth of 14.5%. Most work in Singapore is in the service sector, which employed 2,151,400 people out of 3,102,500 jobs in December 2010. The percentage of unemployed economically active people above age 15 is about 2%. |
[Why the total precipitation when milk powder is washed]_Cause_Induced
[Why the total precipitation when milk powder is washed]_Cause_Induced
Newborn children’s nutritional source is mainly breast milk, but as the body continues to grow, it needs to be gradually replaced with milk powder.
When many parents give their children milk powder, fine particles will eventually appear. The most intuitive impression is that there is a problem with the quality of the milk powder. In fact, there are many reasons for this phenomenon.
So, why does milk powder always precipitate?
Let ‘s take a look at the reason.
The milk powder is washed well. The fine powder that has precipitated is generally precipitated because the milk powder is not completely dissolved, it may be related to the temperature of the water. Generally, the milk powder is prepared by water at about 40 degrees.The water temperature is normal. You can leave the milk powder for a short period of time after brewing it with water. If there is precipitation or suspended matter on the surface, it means that the milk powder itself has deteriorated.
Good-quality milk powder is not easy to agglomerate after brewing, and poor-quality milk powder is not easy to break open.
Parents are advised to master the brewing method, so that better milk powder can be brewed to reduce sedimentation.
Before brewing milk powder, adults should also have preparations, that is, wash your hands before brewing milk powder.
The second step is to cool the boiling water to about 40 ° C, then immediately pour the water into the bottle, and put in the appropriate water according to the instructions of the milk powder and the amount of milk powder the baby eats.
When brewing milk powder, you must put water first, and then milk powder, so as to ensure the appropriate concentration, so that the baby’s gastrointestinal digestion and kidney excretion function is well protected.
The third step is to use the measuring spoon that comes with the milk powder, fill it up, scrape it flat, and pour it into the bottle.
Please note that you should read the instructions on the milk powder tank before brewing. Do not add milk powder or brewing water by yourself.
In the fourth step, after the milk powder is added, shake the milk bottle left and right to dissolve the milk powder.
Then still use water around 40 ° C to make up to the standard capacity.
The scale on the bottle will help you achieve the exact standard.
Fifth, continue to shake the bottle until the milk powder is completely dissolved.
Remember not to shake the bottle too hard, and don’t shake it up or down to avoid the formation of foam and bubbles.
Sixth, we can feel the temperature of the milk powder by placing it on the wrist, and the feeling of warmth is the best.
Until now, the milk powder has been brewed.
Why does a baby drink milk powder to get constipated? It is very common for babies to get angry, which is closely related to the food they eat.
Baby constipation is caused by too hard stool, which is caused by insoluble matter in the stool. This insoluble matter is mainly caused by palmitic acid and stearic acid which are not absorbed during the interaction to form calcium salts.
Therefore, if foods for infants and young children contain a large amount of palmitoleic acid and stearic acid (both long-chain saturated fatty acids), defecation will be harder.
Therefore, parents should appropriately choose refined vegetable oil formula when choosing formula milk powder for their babies. The babies will not get angry when they drink, their stools are soft, and calcium and trace absorption are good, which will help infants develop their bones and energy.
For infant formula containing palm oil, whole milk powder or milk fat, read the instructions carefully, and properly avoid some factors that are not suitable for your baby.
In addition, food supplements can also be added appropriately. It is best to chop spinach, cabbage, greens, amaranth, etc., put them in rice porridge and cook them together, and add vegetables to the baby for eating.
A large amount of food residues such as cellulose contained in vegetables can promote bowel movements and achieve laxative purposes.
In addition, your baby may develop the habit of normal bowel movements since childhood. Generally, you should choose to let your children defecate after eating, for example, let your baby sit regularly every day. |
You probably know a thing or two about mold. Who hasn’t opened the refrigerator and discovered mold growing on an old block of cheese? Perhaps your experience was with a loaf of bread that couldn’t be eaten quickly enough. You know that mold is a nuisance in the kitchen. But did you know that mold is not partial to the kitchen? It grows in many places throughout a home if the right conditions exist. Here is a list of what everyone needs to know about mold.
1. New homes are more likely to develop a mold problem than older homes. Why? Some new and improved construction materials and techniques can make a home too airtight, creating a space where moisture cannot escape. Proper ventilation in a home reduces the amount of moisture inside. Properly ventilate your home.
2. Mold spores are virtually everywhere and cannot be eliminated from indoor environments. The thing to remember is that in order to prevent damage, you need to prevent mold spores from growing.
3. Mold needs several things to grow: oxygen, moisture, and organic material. Since it is not likely you will be able to remove organic material and oxygen from your home or business, you must control the moisture.
4. Temperature, in most cases, does not impact the growth of mold. Some molds grow better in cooler temperatures while others grow better in warm or hot air.
5. Touching or inhaling mold spores, dead or alive, can cause allergic reactions or even more severe health problems.
6. Mold is not just green and black, there are a variety of colors, even white.
7. Mold produces a strong, unpleasant odor through compounds known as microbial volatile organic compounds (mVOCs). This odor suggests that mold is growing somewhere in the building. Conversely, a lack of odor does not mean there is no mold.
8. Killing mold is not enough to rid an area of the effects. The mold must be removed in a safe manner.
9. Cleaning the area infected with mold does not guarantee the mold will not return. If the source of moisture is not removed, it is likely to return.
10. Mold, if left unchecked, can cause structural damage to a building since mold gradually destroys the things they grow on. |
rp:International Space
Privacy Illustrated – Berlin Edition
Short thesis
Oftentimes, privacy is seen as an abstract concept with little to no relevance to day-to-day life. Especially with regard to Non-European countries, it is argued that people do not care about privacy. We went to rpAccra and did a drawing session, asking: What does privacy mean to you? In Berlin, we would like to do the same, comparing the pictures and initiating a conversation around different cultural conceptions of privacy. Pop in, illustrate and share your image of what privacy means to you!
Privacy is a fundamental human right recognized in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in many other international and regional treaties. The right to privacy underpins human dignity, autonomy and is a foundation essential for many other human rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of association. However, it is often seen as an abstract concept and gains relevance only when put into context. In these contexts, informational asymmetries and the resulting power imbalances play an important role and include governments as well as private companies. This is especially true for African countries.
Building on Carnegie Mellon University’s “Privacy Illustrated” project, we went to re:publica Accra and did a drawing session there. It was our aim to better understand the contexts in which privacy matters in Ghana and the mental conceptions people entertain of this rather abstract concept. In Berlin, we would like to continue this conversation and explore the cultural differences of privacy conceptions: Based both on the images created in Accra and the pictures you will draw at re:publica Berlin. Drawing your idea of privacy will help us to create more engaging narratives and better tools to make privacy more relevant to more people. The workshop will feature short inputs from activists, development professionals and technology experts on responsible data, privacy conceptions and practical advice what you can do to increase your level of privacy and security. Because privacy is power. |
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Fun Facts
Researchers have revived a 250 million year old bacterium, Bacillus permians, that was discovered in salt crystals.
Soap and water are more effective at killing germs than antibacterial hand sanitizers.
Bacteria adapt properties allowing them to present a wide array of coloring.
You are more likely to be struck by lightning that to be eaten by a shark. You are more likely to be infected by flesh-eating bacteria than you are to be struck by lightning.
Diamonds are thought to be made from carbon and dead bacteria.
There are an estimated 75 to 100 trillion cells in the human body. It is believed by scientists that there are more bacteria in your body than the number of cells in your body.
Researchers have discovered that bacteria live and thrive in clouds.
Microbes from Mars may have traveled to Earth on Martian rocks that were strewn into space by meteor collisions.
Genetically altered bacteria could be used to create an environment on Mars that is similar to earth’s environment.
A species of bacteria, Wolbachia, has been known to change a sow bug (aka, pill bug, rolly polly) from a male to a female.
{ 2 comments… add one }
• Aman April 23, 2013, 10:26 am
Good one…..
• Ellie April 12, 2013, 8:07 pm
Everybody should go this site.
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on tuning pedals
Before anything else, let’s review the range of possible pitches on a standard set of timpani:
pasted image 0-18unnamed-17unnamed-18unnamed-19unnamed-20
(The 20″ drum is less common and may not be in every set)
Keep in mind that every drum can vary by an inch or so in either direction, which can affect its overall range. This is what I feel is the most common safe tuning range of each drum, with the note in parenthesis being sometimes just out of reach. It is also possible to detune a drum a little to achieve a lower pitch (Low C’s aren’t uncommon the lowest drum). That being said, note that the drums have the clearest pitch in their high range, so be careful writing any quasi-melodic passages on the drum’s low end.
On modern timpani, these pitches are changed by manipulating a tuning pedal, with one pedal on each drum. There are several different types of tuning pedals, which I don’t feel like writing about so here’s the wikipedia on it if you want to read up. For the purposes of this post, the type of pedal is inconsequential.
While not usually visible to the audience, tuning changes can be a virtuostic feat depending on the demands of the composer (shout out to harpists). As a general rule of thumb, the more the feet move the more difficult the music is, whether the tuning is changing or the feet are just moving from one drum to another. While writing, try to keep track of where the feet might be and make sure you aren’t writing any sort of crazy feet crossing moments.
The ability to gliss is the double edged sort of timpani playing. It is objectively cool to be able to do a large change of pitch on the drum (achieved just by a continuous pedal movement). That being said, they can sometimes be hard to avoid in an undesired moment. If a tuning change happens in an active passage without time to mute, a gliss from the previous pitch to target pitch may be audible. Consider the passage below:
pasted image 0-19
In this case, while not notated, a glissandi would likely be audible. If playing in a standard 4-drum setup, the outer drums would be stuck on their E’s, with the middle drums never holding their pitch for more than a moment. Without any time to dampen (unless the drums have been prepared), all of the tuning changes would be audible. This, along with the fact that it’s an insane amount of footwork, makes this passage an example of not good writing.
Some effort should also be made to clarify whether to not the drum is to be struck at the end of the gliss. I’m not aware of a standardized way of doing this. An obvious answer would be to put an accent on the note, however this might not be musically appropriate, meaning some additional performance notes may be necessary. |
Future in pre-commercial energy ocean device testing. A
Development Aspects
Energy is the world’s most prominent outstanding wellspring of undiscovered
renewable power source, holding noteworthy potential in decarbonizing future
power supplies. Currently, more than 10MW of ocean-going devices are introduced
inside European waters – a substantial lift from 2009’s 3.5MW of ocean energy
produced. 1
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In another recent report on Blue Growth by The
Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), ocean energy
employment in Europe alone was estimated to increase from 1,000 in 2010 to a
potential 20,000 by 2035. 1
Power Plant energy estimation in GW in Europe
In recent years, large European engineering companies and
utilities have ramped up their investments into the ocean energy sector,
triggering steady progress. Meanwhile, countries including the USA, Japan,
China and Korea have also rapidly begun increasing their investments in
pre-commercial energy ocean device testing. A 2011 report from the
International Energy Agency, ‘Ocean Energy Systems: International Vision
Report’ estimated that given the right market conditions, the
development of 748 GW’s of ocean energy by 2050, could generate
160,000 direct jobs by 2030 and save up to 5.2 billion tons of CO2
by 2050. 1
The size of the prize for commercializing
ocean energy is huge. In Europe alone, the ocean energy industry plans to
deploy 100GW of production capacity by 2050, meeting 10% of electricity demand
which is enough to meet the daily electricity needs of 76 million households. 2
Today, European organizations are the
perspicuous worldwide pioneers in ocean energy, representing 66% of tidal
energy patents and 44% of wave energy patents. Most ventures created outside
Europe, in Canada and South-East Asia, utilize European innovation. 2
This puts EU companies in prime position
to capture a global market estimated to be worth 53€bn annually in 2050. 2
Five countries making the most of their
marine power potential:
Australia has 34,218 kilometers (21,262 miles) of coastline and
is an area identified with some of the world’s best marine power potential
across its southern coastline.
total wave energy crossing the 25 meter profundity isobath between Gerald ton
and the southern tip of Tasmania may be more than 1300 TWh/year, evaluated in
over five times the total power necessities for Australia. It additionally need
a large number of rivers and creeks that can be used to harness
hydroelectricity power. 3
hydroelectricity accounts for 6.5-7% of Australian electricity generation. 3
North America
power in North America already provides nearly seven percent of the nation’s
electricity, and it holds tremendous potential for expansion. 3
report by the US Department of Energy revealed that wave and other water power
resources across the US could potentially provide 15% of the nation’s
electricity by 2030, with areas such as Hawaii being identified as having
enough energy to generate more than 80 terawatt hours of electricity a year if
developed to their maximum potential. Alaska was also identified as having a
high potential for wave energy developments, along with some areas of the East
Coast, which have strong tides that could be tapped into to produce energy. 3
One project
currently being laid out is the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project, where 30
turbines are being installed along the strait that connects the Long Island
Sound with the Atlantic Ocean in the New York Harbor. The turbines are scheduled
to be fully installed and will use the flow of the river and tides to generate
1,050 kilowatts of electricity – enough to power 9,500 New York homes. 3
Ø South
Research, which provides rigorous examinations of emerging clean-tech markets,
estimates South Korea will be one of the top countries producing tidal stream
energy in the world. 3
is likely due to its west and southern coasts being known for high tides and
strong tidal currents. 3
power has already taken off in South Korea considerably, with 40% of the
country’s energy being generated by it. Since 2001, several large hydro and
nuclear plants in South Korea have been run by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
(KHNP), which is a subsidy of the Korea Electric Power Corporation. The country
is also taking its expertise in the field abroad, with South Korean companies said
to be in the running for two major hydroelectric construction contracts in
Georgia, the Korea Herald Newspaper reported. 3
The UK – taking small
but important steps
with South Korea, the UK is being heralded as one of the leaders in wave and
tidal power technology, with some of the best and unique testing facilities in the world.
despite this there has been added pressure on the government to invest more
into the industry so it becomes a front runner and doesn’t lag behind.
Currently the UK industry is taking small but extremely significant steps
towards harnessing wave and tidal power, thanks to developments such as the
Searaser – a cost effective underwater pump which creates power from the swells
and tides of the ocean – and it currently possesses seven out of the eight
large-scale prototypes deployed anywhere in the world. 3
to the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the UK currently generates
about 1.3% of its electricity from hydro power. Most of this is generated from
large scale schemes in the Scottish Highlands. Recent studies estimate there is
a remaining viable hydro potential of 850-1,550MW in the UK. This represents
approximately 1-2 percent of current UK generating capacity.
China – the Asian giant
goes full steam ahead
one of largest populations in the world China needs a lot of energy. While most
of its energy comes from non-renewable sources, the country is aiming to have
20% of its energy come from renewable sources by 2020. 3
18,000km of coastline and 6,500 islands, China has great tidal and wave power
potential. One project it is working on is Blue Energy, a 120km tidal energy
generating bridge across the Bohai Strait which is estimated to be able to
generate more than 70,000MW of power a year. Also in the Zhejiang area, in
Taizhou City, there are an estimated thousand megawatts of energy up for grabs,
along the 630 kilometres of coastline. 3
Site Selection Criteria for OTEC Plant in Bangladesh
The most important
physical criterion for OTEC site selection is the accessibility of deep cold
seawater. For an OTEC plant to generate a significant amount of power, the
temperature difference between the surface and deep ocean water must be at
least 20°C. 4
The site of Bangladesh is naturally gifted area to
establish Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) as Bangladesh lies just
beneath the tropic of cancer and on the shore of the Bay of Bengal. Temperature
difference between the ocean surface and the water at a depth of 1000 meter
varies from less than 18 degrees Celsius to more than 24 degrees Celsius. OTEC
can be sited in principle almost anywhere in the tropical ocean-generally
between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. 5
It can be seen that for Bay of Bengal the temperature
difference between surface and sub-surface (1000m) sea water ranges from 20 degrees
Celsius to 22 degrees Celsius. So, OTEC technology is expected to be feasible
in the Bay of Bengal which helps to generate electricity. Here
we mainly focus on Cox’s Bazaar where OTEC plant can be constructed. The annual
average temperature in Cox’s Bazaar remains at about a maximum of 34.8 °C and a
minimum of 16.1 °C. The political climate supportive of large infrastructural
development in Cox’s Bazaar is suitable enough which can be considered the
major prerequisite for constructing OTEC plants. Moreover, support of foreign
investment from the standpoints of taxation, permitting, and emigration (or
working visas) for foreigners in Bangladesh is quite satisfactory and it can be
improved if proper government arrangements are made. 5
Potential for OTEC
There are 38 main lands and islands within 200 nautical miles
from coast of the Americas, 23 within Africa and 38 within the Indian/Pacific
Ocean which have OTEC potential. 4
application of DSW
Aside from supplying electricity, OTEC is also capable of
extracting very large volumes of DSW for its operation. DSW is referred to ocean
water from a depth of 200 meters or below sea level and accounts for 95% of all
seawater. It has cold temperature, is abundant in minerals and is pathogen free
and stable. Below are some applications of DSW: 4
1) Air conditioning
After the utilization of DSW in the OTEC plant, the temperature
of the water is still low and cold. Therefore, it can be used as chilling
source for air conditioning or in nearby greenhouses. Such air conditioning
system provides a better energy saver properties compared to the ordinary
electrical refrigeration methods. 4
2) Mineral Water Production
The mineral concentration in DSW is high and is known to possess
many medicinal properties. Recent research has also shown anti-obesity and
anti-diabetic effects of DSW in mice. Therefore it is possible to produce high
quality mineral water as a by-product of the OTEC plant 4.
3) Aquaculture
Due to its nutritional value, DSW can be used effectively for
aquaculture to increase the growth rate of the culture and decrease the disease
outbreak. 4
4) Lithium Extraction
One very common method of industrial lithium production is the
extraction of lithium-chloride from seawater. Since DSW is much purer and
cleaner than surface seawater, it can be economically more suitable for lithium
extraction by reducing cleaning intervals. 4
5) Food, Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals
The nutritional properties of DSW also make it a valuable source
for the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. In Japan, DSW is
used in the production of ‘Sake’, ‘Tofu’, etc. Some cosmetic products based on
DSW has also reached the Japanese market and gained tremendous public favor. 4
E. Websdale, “The Future Of Ocean Energy,” 28
October 2013. Online. Available:
“Europe Needs Ocean Energy,” Ocean Energy
Europe, Online. Available:
D. Garrun, “The race is on – five countries making
the most of their marine power potential,” Power Technology, 14 March
2012. Online. Available:
A. Hossain, A. Azhim, A. B. Jaafar, M. N. Musa, S. A.
Zaki and D. N. Fazreen, “Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: The Promise
of a Clean Future,” in IEEE Conference on Clean Energy and
Technology (CEAT), 2013.
Shifur Rahman Shakil and M. A. Hoque, “Proposal for
Introduction of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) to the Energy Sector
of Bangladesh,” in Proceedings of 2013 2nd International Conference
on Advances in Electrical Engineering (ICAEE 2013), Dhaka, Bangladesh,
December 2013. |
The American Vision: A Biblical Worldview Ministry
Presidential Candidate Says the Bible Teaches that Life Begins when a Baby takes a Breath
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The Bible, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who claims to be married to a man, justifies abortion up to the point of birth because “there’s [sic] so many parts of the Bible that associate the beginning of life with breath.”
Is this true? Does the Bible support this view? About as much as it supports one man marrying another man. Let’s look at the biblical facts.
In a previous statement, Buttigieg argued that Genesis 2:7 shows that life becomes human when we first breathe, not at conception. If God had formed all of us from “the dust from the ground,” then Buttigieg would have a point. To say the least, the creation of Adam and Eve was unique.
Following Buttigieg’s “logic,” a female baby isn’t a human being unless she is made from the rib of a man.
A baby growing in his mother’s womb is not a blob of tissue but a living human being, no different from a ten-year-old who is still growing. And while unborn babies are not receiving oxygen through their lungs, they are nevertheless receiving a steady supply through the umbilical cord. They begin to breathe – take in oxygen – at conception. This life requirement applies to unborn babies, born babies, and every human being.
If someone stops breathing after an electrical shock or a drowning, do we assume the person is dead or alive? Should we take extraordinary means to resuscitate or assume that the body is no longer a human being? Would it be OK to kill someone who is not breathing because they are no longer a human being? How about these examples:
The Bible attributes self-consciousness to unborn babies, something that modern medicine has studied and acknowledged. Jacob and Esau are said to have “struggled together within” their mother’s womb (Gen. 25:22). The New Testament offers a similar glimpse into prenatal consciousness: “And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:41). The fact that babies that are born prematurely have the same signs of life as babies that went through nine full months of development in the womb is a sure indication that self-consciousness is a medical reality.
Some pro-abortion advocates appeal to Exodus 21:22 where they claim that killing an unborn fetus is a property crime rather than murder. This is absurd. The original Hebrew reads: “And if men struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that her children [Hebrew: yeled] come out….” Notice that the text uses the word “children,” not “products of conception.” The Hebrew word for “children” in this verse is used in other contexts to designate a child already born. For example, in Exodus 2:6 we read: “When Pharaoh’s daughter opened [the basket], she saw the child [yeled], and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children [yeled].’” Notice, also, they she did not wait until the child “chose” its gender. She immediately recognized the child as a boy.
Since these are “children that come out,” in the case-law of Exodus 21:22, they are persons, not property or things to be discarded. If there is no injury to these individuals—the mother and/or her prematurely delivered child or children—then there is no penalty. If there is an injury, then the judges must decide on an appropriate penalty based on the extent of injury either to the mother and/or her children because both are persons in terms of biblical law.
For an extended discussion of the logic of Exodus 21:22, see Umberto Cassuto, Commentary on the Book of Exodus. [1]
When men strive together and they hurt unintentionally a woman with child, and her children come forth but no mischief happens—that is, the woman and the children do not die—the one who hurt her shall surely be punished by a fine. But if any mischief happened, that is, if the woman dies or the children die, then you shall give life for life.
Some translations have “so that she has a miscarriage” when the text literally reads “so that here children come out.” There are two Hebrew words that fit the circumstances of miscarriage or premature birth: “There shall be no one miscarrying [shakal] or barren in your land” (Ex. 23:26; also Hosea 9:14), and “Or like a miscarriage [nefel] which is discarded, I would not be” (Job 3:16).
Using Exodus 21:22 to establish non-personhood in an unborn baby is a weak reed indeed. The actions on the part of the woman and the two men are not premeditated. The woman had no intention of aborting her child. The two men were not in the abortion business. One could make the case that the untimely birth and subsequent “injury” or “harm” was accidental, even though the men should not have been fighting. Meredith G. Kline offers a helpful summary of the passage:
In biblical terms, unborn babies are always considered to be fully human and deserving of civil protection. On the other hand, men having sex with other men is always sinful, and that’s in the Bible.
1. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University, (1967), 275. Quoted in Francis J. Beckwith, Politically Correct Death: Answering Arguments for Abortion Rights (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1993), 144.[]
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What Makes Nocturnal Animals Only Come Out at Night?
By Amy Brantley
Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
The sleeping habits of animals can be fascinating, such as the question of why some animals are nocturnal. As with most animal behavior, it boils down to survival. Whether it's being able to find food or avoiding being another animal's next meal, nocturnal animals have plenty of good reasons to sleep during the day.
Animals such as hamsters are nocturnal because their predators are out during the day. While there are also predators at night, these small animals have a better chance of going unnoticed as they forage for food and water. During the day, they can rest safe and sound within their burrows and at night they can stealthily search for a bite to eat. If it were daytime, they would easily be spotted, especially by predators that live in trees or fly.
Some animals also come out at night because their prey comes out at night. For example, owls hunt for mice at night, who also happen to be nocturnal. Catching prey at night can be more difficult, but nocturnal predators are usually equipped with great hearing and eyesight, while some even use echolocation to hunt their prey. Bats are well-known for using echolocation to detect the hundreds of mosquitoes they eat each night.
Other animals are nocturnal because there is too much competition during the day. For example, mountain lions might hunt during the daylight, so coyotes hunt at night. This allows each species the chance to hunt for food without constantly fighting each other.
Some animals, such as some breeds of reptiles, need to sleep during the day to avoid the hot afternoon temperatures. For example, desert iguanas spend much of the daytime sleeping under trees and rocks, then they forage for plants and small insects at night. Another example is the chinchilla, which sleeps in the crevices of rocks during the day and comes out at night when the temperatures are cooler.
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Singing in Ukulele Groups
Singing with a group is different from singing on your own. You must try to harmonise with the other voices, as not everyone can easily sing in the particular key of a song. It helps if you have had some singing lessons. Before taking up the Ukulele I learnt to sing a cappella, that is, unaccompanied by an instrument, in a small group class. We learnt how to find our vocal range and to sing different parts in three or four-part harmonies. It was great experience for singing in a Ukulele group, but anyone can learn to sing in harmony.
It takes practice to hold your part with other singers, but it helps if you sit or stand next to someone with the same vocal range. Over time and by listening to the other members of the group, you should be able to do this with ease and without damaging your voice by singing out of your range. It is well worth the effort to persevere with harmony singing and it will give your ukulele group a more integrated sound.
A good way to develop the harmonies for a song is to sing them unaccompanied before bringing in the ukuleles. You can then tell if they are working and that everyone is in sync before adding the instruments. This makes for tighter vocals and allows everyone to learn their parts.
I have also noticed that in some larger ukulele groups not everyone plays their instrument when they are singing. This tones down the volume of multiple ukuleles and makes it easier for the singers to hear their harmonies. When you are doing tight harmony singing it takes a lot of concentration and it is probably better if you do not have to think about what you are playing at the same time. Also soloist singers in a group often do not play their ukuleles because they are putting all their effort into the vocals.
A good example of the above technique can be seen in the performances of the Langley Ukulele Ensemble from British Columbia. They perform beautiful vocal harmonies and vary the numbers of those playing their ukuleles. Below is a video of a performance that they did this year in Hawaii.
So don’t worry if you find it difficult to play the ukulele and sing harmonies simultaneously. If there are enough ukulele players in the group, it is not detrimental that you do not play your instrument while you are singing and this can improve the overall sound. |
Posts Tagged ‘Historical Archaeology’
Archaeology Confronts Neoliberalism
March 5, 2017
I got the latest catalogue of books on archaeology and history from Oxbow Books, an Oxford based bookseller and publisher, which specialises in them, a few days ago. Among the books listed was one critical of neoliberalism, and which explored the possibilities of challenging it from within the profession. The book’s entitled Archaeology and Neoliberalism. It’s edited by Pablo Aparicio Resco, and will be published by JAS Arquelogia. The blurb for it in the catalogue states
The effects of neoliberalism as ideology can be seen in every corner of the planet, worsening inequalities and empowering markets over people. How is this affecting archaeology? Can archaeology transcend it? This volume delves into the context of archaeological practice within the neoliberal world and the opportunities and challenges of activism from the profession.
This isn’t an issue I really know anything about. However, I’m not surprised that many archaeologists are concerned about the damage neoliberalism is doing to archaeology. 15 years ago, when I was doing my Masters at UWE, one of the essay questions set was ‘Why do some Historians see heritage as a dirty word?’ Part of the answer to that question was that some historians strongly criticised the heritage industry for its commodification of the past into something to be bought, sold and consumed. They placed the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of Maggie Thatcher and her Tory government. Rather than being an object of value or investigation for its own sake, Thatcherite free market ideology saw it very much in terms of its monetary value. They contrasted this with the old Conservative ethos, which saw culture as something that was above its simple cash value.
Social critics were also concerned about the way Thatcherism was destroying Britain’s real industries, and replacing them with theme parks, in which they were recreated, in a sanitised version that was calculated not to present too many difficult questions and represented the Tory view of history. One example of this was a theme park representing a mining village. It was on the site of a real mining village, whose mine had been closed down. However, other pieces of mining equipment and related buildings and structures, which were never in that particularly village, were put there from other mining towns and villages elsewhere. It thus showed what an imaginary mining village was like, rather than the real mining community that had actually existed. It was also a dead heritage attraction, a museum, instead of a living community based around a still thriving industry.
There were also concerns about the way heritage was being repackaged to present a right-wing, nationalistic view of history. For example, the Colonial Williamsburg museum in America was originally set up to present a view of America as a land of technological progress, as the simple tools and implements used by the early pioneers had been succeeded by ever more elaborate and efficient machines. They also pointed to the way extreme right-wing pressure groups and organisations, like the Heritage Foundation, had also been strongly involved in shaping the official, Reaganite version of American ‘heritage’. And similar movements had occurred elsewhere in the world, including France, Spain and the Caribbean. In Spain the concern to preserve and celebrate the country’s many different autonomous regions, from Catalonia, the Basque country, Castille, Aragon and Granada, meant that the view of the country’s history taught in schools differed greatly according to where you were.
Archaeology’s a different subject than history, and it’s methodology and philosophy is slightly different. History is based on written texts, while archaeology is based on material remains, although it also uses written evidence to some extent. History tends to be about individuals, while archaeology is more about societies. Nevertheless, as they are both about the investigation of the human past, they also overlap in many areas and I would imagine that some of the above issues are still highly relevant in the archaeological context.
There’s also an additional problem in that over the past few decades, the Thatcherite decision to make universities more business orientated has resulted in the formation of several different private archaeological companies, which all compete against each other. I’ve heard from older archaeologists that as a result, the archaeological work being done today is less thorough and of poorer quality than when digs were conducted by local authorities.
I haven’t read the book, but I’m sure that the editor and contributors to this book are right about neoliberalism damaging archaeology and the necessity of archaeologists campaigning against it and its effects on their subject. By its very nature, the past needs to be investigated on its own terms, and there can be multiple viewpoints all legitimately drawn from the same piece of evidence. And especially in the case of historical archaeology, which in the American context means the investigation of the impact of European colonisation from the 15th century onwards, there are strongly emotive and controversial issues of invasion, capitalism, imperialism, the enslavement of Black Africans and the genocide of the indigenous peoples. For historians and archaeologists of slavery, for example, there’s a strong debate about the role this played in the formation of European capitalism and the industrial revolution. Such issues cannot and should not be censored or ignored in order to produce a nice, conservative interpretation of the past that won’t offend the Conservative or Republican parties and their paymasters in multinational industry, or challenge their cosy conception that the free market is always right, even when it falsifies the misery and injustice of the past and creates real poverty today.
Gove on Blackadder and the First World War: Part Two – The British Went to War against German Social Darwinism
January 7, 2014
I’ve already posted a piece supplementing Mike’s excellent pieces over on Vox Political about Michael Gove’s comments in the Daily Mail attacking Blackadder, Oh, What A Lovely War, and ‘Left-wing academics’ for undermining the patriotism, honour and courage of the troops, who served in that conflict. In that piece I pointed out that the bitterness and rejection of patriotism for which Gove reproaches Blackadder was itself a product of the First World War, and that rather than a creation of ‘left-wing academics’, it was based very firmly in the experiences and testimony of the men who fought instead.
There is, however, something far more pernicious Gove’s comments about the First World War than simply the knee-jerk resort to patriotism of a True-Blue Thatcherite Tory. This is Gove’s statement that Britain went to war with Germany because of their ‘Social Darwinism’. This simply is not true. Social Darwinist theories were held by people right across the West from the late 19th century onwards, and certainly not just in Germany. There have been a numbers of studies, which have shown that the belief in the ‘economic survival of the fittest’ underpinned much Liberal economic and social theorising, and was used by wealthy magnates, like the Carnegies in America, to justify their opposition to state intervention, welfare, and health and safety legislation. The chattering classes all across Europe and the West also discussed legislation to limit and sterilise the indigent poor and congenitally disabled, in order to prevent them overrunning society and outbreeding their physical, mental and social superiors. These ideas formed the core of Nazi ideology, but they actually predate them. Modern eugenics, by which the unfit were to be bred out through carefully controlled selective breeding, was founded by Francis Galton in England, Darwin’s cousin. In the 1920s 45 American states passed legislation providing for the sterilisation of the congenitally disabled and particularly the mentally retarded. There was a scandal nearly two and a half decades ago at the precise week of Lady Diana’s death, when it was revealed that Sweden had still continued its campaign of sterilisation right in the 1970s. This legislation also predated the Nazis. The Swedish programme’s definition of who was congenitally unfit included sexually promiscuous girls, and members of the Tartare, Travellers rather like the Gypsies. Unlike the Gypsies, they were not considered to constitute a separate ethnic group, who were exempt from the eugenics legislation, and so they, like non-Traveller Swedes, were taken and sterilised. It was only very recently that the Tartare won recognition as an ethnic group in their own right, and so qualified for compensation for their members’ forcible sterilisation.
The same eugenicist and Social Darwinist attitudes pervaded British society. Ernest Beveridge, before he accepted the recommendations of the Fabians Sidney and Beatrice Webb and Socialist Medical Society on which the Beveridge Report was based, also shared these views. He believed that unemployment and disability benefits should only be given to men, on the condition that they were sterilised as ‘dysgenic’ due to their inability to support themselves. It was also espoused by sections of the British military. H.W. Koch, in his paper ‘Social Darwinism as a Factor in Imperialism’ in the book The Origins of the First World, edited by Koch himself and published by MacMillan in 1972, demonstrated, with numerous quotations, how Social Darwinism formed part of the expansionist ideology of the British military in the First World War. Leading British generals and admirals advocated war with Germany as it was believed that it was through violent conflict that the unfit were weeded out and organisms and nations evolved further. Gove’s comment that Britain went to war with Germany not only ignores this, but actually falsifies the true situation in that Social Darwinism was found on the British as well as the German side.
German historians believe that the First World War was not the fault of their country, but was due to a general move to war across Europe as a whole. This view is generally rejected by historians outside Germany, who believe that the War was caused by Germany’s desire to punish the Slavs for the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand the Second by Gavrilo Princip in Serbia. Nevertheless, the web of alliances that the various powers had constructed across Europe in order to prevent war acted to pull all the various nations, their colonial possessions, and extra-European allies into the conflict. Britain had become increasingly alarmed by growing German economic and military power from the late 19th century onwards. There were a series of early science fiction stories and novels, such as the Battle of Dorking, which foresaw a future German invasion of and conquest of Britain. As a result, Britain engaged in an arms race with Germany to the extent that there were already arms limitation treaties signed in 1905 between the two nations.
There were also a number of other factors involved, and I urge those interested to read ‘Sean’s’ comments to Mike’s first article on Gove and his comments about Blackadder. He knows rather more about the war and its causes than I do. He points out that the Italian Prime Minister had a few years before the War prevented it from breaking out, from example. The point here is that Britain certainly did not go to war with Wilhelmine Germany to combat the latter’s Social Darwinism, as it was shared by this country’s own chattering and military classes, but was instead due solely to geo-political questions relating to the balance of power in Europe and freedom and autonomy of Serbia and the other Slavonic nations. To state that it was is to misrepresent the origins of the War, and produce a false, pernicious picture that ignores and covers up the prevalence of Social Darwinist views in Britain and the rest of the world. It presents a nasty, black-and-white image of righteous, enlightened Allies versus proto-Nazi Germans, quite at variance with the reality.
Beyond Gove’s ignorance of the causes and spiritual, social and cultural effects of the First World War, there is the wider issue of his attitude to education and particularly the teaching of history. Gove has specifically targeted ‘left-wing academics’ for being, as he appears to see it, unpatriotic. This has been a common complaint of the Tories ever since the days of Thatcher and before, when the Express and Mail regularly carried stories of the ‘loony left’ indoctrinating vulnerable minds with subversive subjects like Peace Studies, and attacking British identity in the guise of anti-racism. I can remember Maggie sneering at one Tory conference about ‘Fabians’ and ‘anti-racist mathematics’. Now there may have been a minority of leftist radicals like that, but most weren’t, and in any case, most teachers are teachers because they want to stand in front of a chalkboard and teach, not indoctrinate their pupils one way or the other. One of the most precious, fundamental qualities in British academia is the freedom to think, debate and argue without having to bow to the dictates of the state. By attacking teachers and the academics, who hold views on the First World War and its origins at variance to his own, Gove has attacked this principle.
And this is very serious indeed. Academic freedom is under assault across the world. In Russia last year, Putin passed a law partially rehabilitating Stalin. This piece of legislation makes it illegal to denigrate Stalin as the saviour of Russia during the Great Patriotic War, the old Soviet name for World War Two. Now Stalin did indeed save the Soviet Union, but only after he signed a non-aggression pact with Ribbentrop and was totally unprepared for the Nazi invasion to the point where in the first days of the German assault Russian troops were forbidden to fire back. Far worse than that, the old brute was responsible for the deaths of 30 million Soviet citizens during the Purge. This may be an underestimate, as the true figure is unknown. It could be as high as for 45 million or more. A few years ago the BBC screened a programme on modern Russia, in which the presenter travelled to one of Stalin’s gulags. The place was dilapidated and decaying, but there were still the remains of the barracks, guardhouses and other buildings. Most chillingly, however, there were lying scattered on the ground the bare bones of the inmates, who had been starved, tortured and finally worked to death in that terrible place.
Historians and archaeologists are extremely wary about allowing nationalist bias into their work. Every nation has, of course, its own view of history, including its own. The ideal, however, is to produce an objective account free of nationalist bias. It was one of the first things I can remember being taught in history as an undergraduate. And one of the most compelling reasons for avoiding it was the way history was used and distorted by the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, like Stalin’s Russia, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, to justify their brutal, murderous tyrannies. It has also been used to justify the invasion, colonisation and expropriation of the subject nations of the European empires around the world and the racist policies that legitimised the rule of their White masters. Hence the emergence of Historical Archaeology. The name is somewhat misleading, as it does not deal with the archaeology of the broader period for which historical records survive, such as from the ancient world onwards, but rather more narrowly of the period c.1500 to the present day. It’s called Historical Archaeology as it was founded by American researchers, for whom the written history of their country really only dates from the fifteenth century. As a discipline, Historical Archaeology tries to recover the voices and experiences of the subordinate social groups oppressed and subjected by the forces of colonialism and capitalism, who are rarely heard in the written historical accounts – the indigenous peoples, slaves, immigrants and other ethnic minorities, the working class masses and women. It’s an attempt to challenge the official histories produced by the colonial elites, which largely ignored and excluded these groups.
Gove wishes to ignore all this, to turn the clock back to what the historian Butterfield called ‘the Whig interpretation of history’, in which British history is one long process of gradual improvement, culminating in democracy and the British Empire. Gove is probably keen on the latter, but I’ve seen absolutely no evidence that the current administration pays anything but lip service to the notion of democracy. History is richer, and far more complicated than this, with frequent shameful episodes and periods when genuine oppression and brutality were all too common, and where it was never clear that the forces of humanity and justice would win. You can look, for example, at the period of vicious political repression that occurred in Britain after the Napoleonic Wars, when the government tried to crack down on anything resembling subversion against aristocratic rule. It was a period characterised by the notorious Peterloo Massacre, when the British army and a squadron of Hussars charged a peaceful demonstration gathered to hear the radical politician, ‘Orator’ Hunt. Or the slave trade and the long campaign against it, which succeeded in outlawing it in the British Empire only in 1840. Real history gives the lie to the Whig Interpretation, and casts very grave doubts over the supposed justice of British imperialism. Gove, however, would prefer that the last fifty years and more of historical scholarship, in which the Victorian view of the correctness and justice of Britain, her society, and her imperial rule, was swept away, to be replaced with a cosily reassuring Conservative version justifying the traditional British class structure, capitalism and its militaristic expansion and invasion of the wider world. He wants to return to a history guided by the old adage, ‘My country, right or wrong’.
The best comment I’ve heard on that old saying was by the fictional space detective Nathan Spring in an episode of the BBC SF series, Star Cops, back in the 1980s. In a conversation with the very shifty, patriotic commander of an American space station, the conversation moves on to patriotism and conservatism.
‘My country, right or wrong, eh?’ remarks Spring.
‘There are worse philosophies’, replies the commander.
‘Yes,’ retorts Spring. ‘Most of them begin with that one.’
Gove’s attack on teachers and ‘left-wing academics’ is also part of a general, anti-intellectual trend in Conservative politics that’s been around since Reagan and Thatcher. Back in the 1980s, the great American comedian, Bill Hicks in one of his routines used to remark, ‘Do I detect a little anti-intellectualism here. Must date from the time Reagan was elected.’ This attempts to appeal to populist sentiment by presenting a left-wing view of history as a distortion forced upon vulnerable young minds in schools, colleges and universities by subversive left-wing teachers and college and university lecturers. It attempts to present the existing order as so obviously correct, that only out-of-touch, elite liberals, who themselves sneer and patronise the working class, wish to question and challenge.
Now, you can certainly find ‘loony-left’ teachers and lecturers of whom this is true. Most teachers and lecturers, in my experience, actually don’t want to indoctrinate young minds with dangerous and subversive doctrines so much as stand in front of a class and teach. Yes, they have their biases, but the goal is to teach an objective history as supported by the facts, although how history is interpreted naturally depends very much on the individual historian and how they see the past. Gove wishes to jettison all this, and replace academic freedom, in which the accepted view of events can be freely examined and questioned, with a Conservative, patriotic view dictated by the state. It’s an attack on the very core of academic freedom. Its the mark of an insecure political elite, who fear any questioning of their authority and their view of history. And if left unchallenged, will end with Britain becoming like Russia and so many other nations around the world, where children are taught only the official history, and the nation’s shameful actions and periods are ignored. In many of these nations, those that challenge the official view of history can be subject to intimidation and imprisonment. The Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, for example, has been imprisoned for insulting Turkish nationhood, because he said the country ought to admit to its culpability for the Armenian massacres. Gove’s view of history and his attack on academic freedom threaten to bring Britain close to that state.
Unfortunately, the Tories do have form for trying to use the law to purge the educational system of those, whose political views they do not share. A friend of mine, who was very much involved with his student union at Uni, informed me that in the 1980s Margaret Thatcher passed legislation intended to bar Marxists from holding posts at university. In the end, the law proved an unworkable dead letter, at the Marxists at whom it was aimed simply declared themselves to be ‘Marxian’, instead. They weren’t Marxists, but had a culture based on Marx. Hence they were exempt from such legislation. It was a very fine legal point, and some would say that it was a difference without distinction. Nevertheless, it did what it was intended to do and they kept their jobs.
Now I am aware of the reasons why Thatcher attempted to stop Marxists teaching at university, and the arguments that have been used to support it. Communist regimes around the world, from the Soviet bloc to China, have murdered millions. The argument therefore runs that if the extreme, racist right cannot be tolerated in academia because of their guilt for the murder of millions, and the murderously illiberal and intolerant nature of their doctrines, then neither should the extreme Left, who are equally guilty of such crimes. Nevertheless, there is a danger that when states start introducing legislation to regulate, who teaches in their schools and universities, based on their personal religious or political beliefs, then a step is taken towards further state control of what their citizens are allowed to think and believe, and freedom suffers. There is, rightly, legislation in place to prevent teachers and university lecturers indoctrinating their students with their personal religious or personal beliefs. Nevertheless, schools and universities are also places where students are encouraged to think for themselves, to explore different views and perspectives on particular issues, and make their own decisions. And given the immense contribution certain elements of Marxism have made to various academic disciplines, regardless of the merits or otherwise of Marxism itself as a political creed, it is only right and natural that Marxists should be allowed to teach and publish at universities, provided they too abide by the rules of open debate.
Baroness Thatcher attempted to use the law to close this down.
And Gove with this rant about Blackadder and ‘left-wing academics’ has attempted to go some way towards following her. If you value academic freedom, and right of everyone in academia to be able to teach and research, regardless of their political views, so long as they can support their views with fact and logical argument, then Gove’s latest rant, and his desire to indoctrinate young minds with his narrow view of history, must be resisted to the utmost.
Ruth Hubbard and Elijah Wald, Exploding the Gene Myth: How Genetic Information is Produced and Manipulated by Scientists, Physicians, Employers, Insurance Companies, Educators and Law Enforcers (Boston: Beacon Press 1997)
Philip Rahtz, Invitation to Archaeology: 2nd Edition (Oxford: Blackwell 1991)
July 10, 2013
Only if they are either:
1) ignorant (which is curable);
2) stupid (which is not curable);
3) intellectually dishonest.
Slavery Not Recognised in English Law by 17th century
Slavery and Indentured Emigration to British Colonies in America and Caribbean
Locke’s Hierarchical, Feudalistic View of Society
17th Century Slaves Treated More Equally than Later On
Locke Still Founder of British Constitutional Liberty
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Key features of formal language in academic writing
Social language is the language of the playground. Why did this happen. Look for educational resources that accompany your school's technology tools and programs. They also need to understand nonverbal language and the use of personal space. Accommodation For Students With Disabilities Techniques and materials that allow individuals with LD to complete school or work tasks with greater ease and effectiveness.
Preparing America's students for success.
Authentic Assessment Authentic assessment uses multiple forms of evaluation that reflect student learning, achievement, motivation, and attitudes on classroom activities.
Are students exited into all-English programs too quickly. Multisensory Structured Language Education An educational approach that uses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile cues simultaneously to enhance memory and learning.
More important, though, is the issue of fossilization--when "learner interlanguage competence diverges in more or less permanent ways from the target language grammar" Odlin,p.
Similarly, composing, especially in the revision stage, challenges L2 writers. There may be several topic points in a paragraph and each one will be supported by specific details. M Mainstream "Mainstream" is a term that refers to the ordinary classroom that almost all children attend.
Students can be encouraged to begin with a working central idea in order to develop a preliminary draft. In addition, the culture-specific nature of schemata--abstract mental structures representing our knowledge of things, events, and situations--can lead to difficulties when students write texts in L2.
Other symptoms that may be present in expressive aphasia include problems with fluency, articulation, word-finding, word repetitionand producing and comprehending complex grammatical sentences, both orally and in writing.
I recently helped a math teacher create a Sheltered Lesson, and I was surprised to find that there were some vocabulary words that I didn't understand. Implications for teachers of writing in multicultural classrooms.
He has characterized it as inattentive to "learners' understanding of links between form and communicative conventions that will allow them to construct meanings in ways that are appropriate within the immediate academic context as well as the larger societal context" p.
Students would use the red cubes as "hot" or positive numbers and the blue cubes as "cold" or negative numbers. Informal conversations like these are critical for Isobel because they will help her establish values and discuss ideas that she is not ready to learn in English.
Chapter How Students Acquire Social and Academic Language
Bilingualism Bilingualism is the ability to use two languages. English language learners should be able to ask for help with their schoolwork or understand a teacher's instructions for a game. It emphasizes the predictable relationship between phonemes the sounds in spoken language and graphemes the letters that represent those sounds in written language and shows how this information can be used to read or decode words.
On teaching to"Smarter" readers and writers. Criterion-referenced Test Criterion-referenced tests are designed to determine whether students have mastered specific content, and allow comparisons with other students taking the same assessment. Modern Language Journal, 80, Poor spacing makes the page look jumbled and seem incoherent, even if the writing is not.
Only when something genuinely cannot be made to fit into the main flow of the text, yet is somehow still so important that it must be mentioned, does it go into a footnote. Language Proficiency To be proficient in a second language means to effectively communicate or understand thoughts or ideas through the language's grammatical system and its vocabulary, using its sounds or written symbols.
For this group, Thomas and Collier found these results: Those who see language as being mostly innate, for example psychologist Steven Pinkerhold the precedents to be animal cognition[10] whereas those who see language as a socially learned tool of communication, such as psychologist Michael Tomasellosee it as having developed from animal communication in primates: An onset is the initial consonant sound of a syllable the onset of bag is b-; of swim is sw.
All of them are threatened when trees are cut down in large numbers. English language learners may need to be specifically taught interpersonal skills such as how to greet people, give and receive compliments, apologize, and make polite requests.
If the sequence of letter-sounds is not prescribed and sequenced, but is determined by whatever words are encountered in text, then the program is not systematic or explicit.
These interactions occur in meaningful social settings and most likely they are not cognitively demanding. Not only does it include teaching math-specific terms such as "percent" or "decimal," but it also includes understanding the difference between the mathematical definition of a word and other definitions of that word.
All students were at or above grade level in native language literacy. Many ESL educators believe that English language learners who receive a specific ESL service acquire English faster than students in other types of programs.
In the next example, we look at Carmen and Diego and their social language skills. Academic writing: key features The story so far. The four introductory sentences from academic articles used less than words between them but by looking at them in detail we’ve been able to identify a number of key features about academic writing.
Let’s try and sum them up. i. Academic writing has a serious tone. Academic Style: 20 key features to writing This lesson brainstorms academic style / formality in writing.
Teacher feedbacks using the visual highlighting and explaining the concepts and then there are 10x practice exercises from informal to formal.
Turnitin provides instructors with the tools to prevent plagiarism, engage students in the writing process, and provide personalized feedback. The education field is so full of acronyms and specialized words that it can seem like a confusing alphabet soup!
Find out what AYP, IEP,and many other abbreviations and words mean in this glossary of frequently used terms. Academic Writing 1.
Common Core and ELLs: Key Shifts in Language Arts and Literacy (Part II)
Spoken and written language: some important differences • how informal or formal our language is: e.g. compare Are you to dispel this confusion by explaining the features of academic English.
It will focus on aspects of language which are significant for writing at. Get the Inside Track to Successful Academic Writing! Become a better academic writer and communicate your research & ideas fluently and successfully whatever .
Key features of formal language in academic writing
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19 TAC Chapter , Subchapter C |
Secrets of Butterfly Gardening in Central Florida Part one, the butterfly
Wildflower Gardens in a Bag
Wildflower Gardens in a Bag
August 7, 2019
How to Create a Butterfly Garden
August 26, 2019
Part one, the butterfly
Butterfly gardening is a fascinating addition to landscaping gardening.
There are butterflies in almost every part of our world. And, there are few other insects with as much variation in colors and combinations of colors and with the perfect symmetry that makes up a butterfly’s wings. Each wing is a perfect copy of the other. Butterflies are much like small children dressed in bright-colored clothing, flitting from flower to flower with grace and enthusiasm. These beautiful insects live only a short while, from a few hours to possibly a few months so all their living must be done quickly. Butterflies need plants to lay their eggs on and to flowers to drink the nectar. As more and more natural, unspoiled areas are being taken up for human developments; it becomes almost essential that people who enjoy gardening and nature provide butterfly habitats as part of their landscaping plans. Not only will the butterflies benefit but those who provide a habitat for the butterflies will be rewarded by watching these lovely creatures as they emerge from the chrysalis and begin their journey, however long or short. As they are often territorial and particular about what they drink and what their developing larvae eat, it is necessary to understand their life cycle to understand the importance of closely following the steps to creating a successful butterfly garden
The butterfly’s life cycle begins with mating, after which the female will soon look for just the right plant on which to deposit her eggs. Not just any plant will do. The female butterfly must be sure that the yet unborn caterpillar larvae will want to eat the leaves or grass on which they hatch. As butterflies taste with their feet, the female proceeds to make sure the plant to receive her eggs tastes right. On the ends of her hind legs are located a butterfly’s taste organs called “tarsi.”Scratching the plant surface by the female butterfly will release a chemical which will allow the tarsi to “taste test” to make sure her caterpillars will eat the host plant.
Several days after laying her eggs, usually on the underside of a leaf or blade of grass for protection, the head of the caterpillar is visible. The young caterpillar chews a hole in the eggshell and climbs out where it proceeds to eat the eggshell which is full of essential nutrients. Continuing to eat and eat the tiny caterpillar grows and grows, sometimes changing color as well as size, shedding its skin (molting) several times before making the final silken cover for the chrysalis. Spinnerets on the caterpillar’s lower lip will release a liquid which will become the silken wrapping for the chrysalis stage, the final stage where the mature butterfly will be formed.
The adult butterfly, or imago, emerges, usually in the morning when the sun is bright. A beautiful description of the emerging butterfly is given on page 25 of Matthew Tekulsky’s book The Butterfly Garden, The Harvard Common Press, l985. “Immediately after hatching, a butterfly’s body is immense and swollen, and its wings appear crumpled and deformed. A few minutes later, pumped up and flattened out by bodily fluids, the butterfly’s wings assume their full size, and its body shrinks to its proper proportions. A newly hatched butterfly holds its wings slightly apart for an hour or more, allowing them to dry before it makes its first flight into the world.” Almost immediately, the adult butterfly will begin to look for nectar from special plants which attract butterflies by the shape of the petal, size, fragrance, associability, and color. Not all butterflies are attracted by flowers; some prefer getting their liquid from other sources such as overripe or rotting fruit, mud, dung, or tree sap.
So, the butterfly is born and on its way to living out what time it has. Here is where it is important for the Gardner, desiring to develop a butterfly habitat, to follow the steps to success. In Part Two, the “how-to” of butterfly gardening will be discussed.
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The Great White Clouds Today, and Cauliflowers.
It’s awfully bright today. The sun is too bright to look at, and when it falls on your eyes it hurts, but in an amazing happy way. The sunlight is glistening off bright white cumulus clouds, sparkling pure diamond white wherever it falls. You look up, there’s cumulus clouds everywhere like this great migrating herd through the clear cobalt sky, far, far till the horizon, and it seems like we are in this awesome photoshopped True HD movie.
Our maid observed from the balcony, looking at the clouds, that they look like cauliflower. Which is quite true of those billowy cumulus clouds.
But this similarity deserves more than a passing remark. It has got a story. Some of you know this, and I think the others will like to hear it.
Cloud surfaces are fractal shapes. A short way of explaining that is to say that as you zoom in closer to the surface of a cloud, you will see that there are curves and bulges and irregularities at smaller and smaller levels, all the way down, emerging only as you go closer in, and always looking roughly similar to the large scale curves and billows that you can see from far. So you cannot really tell how much you are zoomed in at any point. So this general irregular, non-smooth, fractured nature, together with being similar at all zoom levels, is what qualifies a shape to be a fractal.
You guessed it, cauliflower are also fractals. So is broccoli, or a bunch of other natural produce.
To try and have a grasp on the degree of irregularity or fractured-ness of a fractal, there’s this number called the fractal dimension or the Hausdorff dimension that you can calculate easily for a fractal shape. That’s not a completely accurate definition I gave, but if you’re interested, look it up. Anyway, although you cannot tell exactly what a fractal shape looks like from this number, it is still a useful way to categorize them into sufficiently narrow classes. So you can expect fractal structures with close fractal dimensions to also be visually similar.
Clouds have a fractal dimension of around 2.35. Cauliflower, around 2.28. Very close. The first fact, that their shapes have this fractal nature, is why they look similar at all. The second fact, that their fractal dimensions are close, is why they are even more similar.
This is not an isolated factoid. There’s boundless more of these if you start looking. The world is like this. As Feynman said, “Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.” These amazing little wonders are all around us. They surround us and enclose us. This is a magical world. Ask, read, know, and feel awesome.
That’s today’s sky I photographed. It was much more awesome in real life.
7 thoughts on “The Great White Clouds Today, and Cauliflowers.
1. Shonkho, you. are. awesome!
And yes, that’s a great shot, but the actual day was wonderfuller. By far. I was making banana and dark chocolate mousse and chocolate biscuits when the sun so dramatically blazed through the duller morning clouds.
2. “…it seems like we are in this awesome photoshopped True HD movie.”
Nicely. Done. Reality mediated through (enhanced, changed, idealised, etc etc ad infinitum) representations of reality, indeed.
• Yeah, I was thinking of adding a remark about that comparison, but deemed it to be too much of a digression.
On an aside, it sure feels flattering to have you two drop by 🙂
• “kabhi sadi gali bhul ke bhi/aaya karo ji” bolchhish? but of *course* — tum bada hi delightful ho 🙂
(moral of story: there is *always* space for a cheesy, bad bolly song reference :D)
3. Pingback: The Fractal Life « Priyanka Nandy
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Wednesday, June 01, 2005
On Language
Language has never been my strong suit. I didn't speak full sentences until I was five. I had a 220 point spread between my verbal and math SAT scores. I fumbled through three years of high school French (which required some summer school). This knowledge of French was only useful a couple of times. Wandering the streets of Paris, a women asked me Quelle heure est-il? and I knew enough to show her my watch but enough to actually tell her the time. Also I saw Secrets & Lies in France and sometimes the French subtitles made more sense than the heavily accented English.
During my undergraduate years at Cornell I struggled and gave up on Spanish. Luckily a linguistics professor had a theory that people who had trouble learning English early (like me) would have too much difficulty in picking up a new language, so I could take an intro linguistics course to cover my language requirement. Pretty cool as we covered context-free languages simultaneously in linguistics and in my introduction to theoretical computer science class.
In graduate school my three years of high school French got me out of the Ph.D. language requirement. If English was not the lingua franca of our field, I would be in serious trouble. I've always been impressed how many non-native speakers of English have succeeded in computer science.
I spent an entire year on sabbatical in Amsterdam but only learned enough Dutch to navigate the supermarkets and order in restaurants. Most Dutch speak English (and 3-4 other languages) and my attempts to say most Dutch words usually got responses in English. Still I definitely missed something as when I left a conversation the language shifted to Dutch and I couldn't get back in.
Suppose I could retroactively master a single foreign language, what language should it be? At times I would have liked to know Dutch, German, Hebrew, Japanese and the occasional French, Spanish, Danish, Italian and Portuguese. In the future I suspect I would visit countries speaking Hungarian, Russian, Chinese, Swedish and many others. I've gotten very good at navigating in countries where I don't know the language. In most European countries I can pass as a local as long as I keep my mouth shut.
The University of Chicago has a rather strict TOEFL requirement that would likely have caused a problem for me had I grown up in say Germany. Our department also has a small foreign language requirement for the Ph.D. Foreign language requirements made sense in a different era when papers were written in many languages. I remember a scene in graduate school where my advisor Mike Sipser and some Russian speaking students poured over the latest paper by Razborov translating from the Russian and hoping to understand Razborov's next great result. But now with nearly all papers written in English the requirement seems like a relic from a bygone time. Perhaps we should require every student to take the test in French, for France still has a few researchers stubborn enough to keep writing in their native tongue.
1 comment:
1. I'll bet in Europe these language requirements were never so bad. Being so close to another country makes learning the language that much easier. Being in the middle of America makes it much harder to just pick something up. (If you're in southern California or Texas, however, it's not as hard to pick up some Spanish.)
Whatever the case, I sure hope English is a requirement at every other program. |
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Lessons from Behavioral Economics
David Zilberman, professor, agriculture and resource economics | March 26, 2019
I returned from Morocco, where I was asked at a conference, “Does behavioral economics make optimization models obsolete?” The message of some publications may be that behavioral economics is a substitute for ‘traditional’ economics and that it more accurately resembles humans rather than ‘econs’ that are the subject of traditional theory. Some may infer that behavioral economics suggests minimal reliance on optimal decision rules and all we need to do is to identify and classify behavioral rules. Indeed, if you look at the literature, many interesting patterns have already been discovered. On the surface, one implication of this suggestion is true. Traditional economic models, with firms maximizing profits, consumers maximizing enjoyment from goods they buy in the market, and all participants knowing exactly what they are doing (i.e. having full information), are out of fashion. In fact, their relevance has been in decline for years.
I thought about this question during the few days I spent at an exquisite hotel in Morocco for a workshop, visiting a bazaar and trying to charm a snake. My thoughts are presented in this blog, where I would like to argue that traditional models are evolving and that behavioral economics is another important effort to make micro-economic analysis more realistic and relevant. We will see several areas where economic research has been advanced and enriched. So behavioral economics is one of the main forms of modification of the economic canon. Behavioral economics augments, rather than replaces, traditional economics. Furthermore, like other economists, I really believe that the broader paradigm, where people, organisms, and organizations optimize subject to constraints, remains as valid as ever.
The challenge to economics and other sciences is to better identify the objectives (what do people and organizations pursue?) and constraints. Traditional economics started from a perspective where consumers maximize utility subject to a budget constraint and producers maximize profit. This simple model results in some important hypotheses, but it was obvious that it is far from perfect – and traditional economists have slowly augmented this model to make it both richer and more realistic. Behavioral economics is another step in this ongoing improvement.
Figuring out the actual objectives and constraints individuals face is a tall order. It requires a comprehensive multidisciplinary effort and will take many years. Economists need other social and natural disciplines to collaborate in this effort and, as technology improves, we will do a better job. It is a long-term quest, but as long as the world doesn’t come to an end anytime soon, we don’t have a deadline. Open-ended, perpetual search is a driving force for science.
While finding the optimal framework that can explain human behavior is a major long-term challenge, economists need to develop solutions to immediate problems. As the poet says, “forget your perfect offering.” Economists have long been approximating given their own (limited) cognitive skills and the technology of the day. Thus each era’s models were appropriate for their time, whether Adam Smith’s or Milton Friedman’s. Much of the economic research in the 21stcentury aims to expand our understanding of consumers’ and firms’ objectives and the constraints that they face. Lancaster and Becker recognize that consumers don’t get enjoyment directly from the goods they buy in the market, but from the attributes that they provide (for example nutrients, flavors, aesthetic values, etc). These attributes are generated combining market goods and labor within household production processes. For example, a nutritious meal is produced combining purchased vegetables and meats with the effort of cooking. Many Nobel Laureates including Arrow,Sliglitz, and Akerlof developed a better understanding of consumers’ and firms’ choices under risk and uncertainty recognizing that imperfect information and lack of knowledge may affect many consumer choices and business practices.
The pioneer of behavioral economists was Herbert Simon, who developed the notion of bounded rationality, namely that an individual is rational, but that their ability to compute, assess, and decide are limited especially given constraints on time to make a decision. Therefore, people develop ad hoc decision rules that oftentimes perform quite well. Another pioneer of behavioral economics was Richard Day, who showed that many of the key variables in economics, like supply and demand, can follow from ad hoc behavioral decision rules.
Modern behavioral economics was inspired by Kahneman and Tversky, who documented that individual choices are impaired by cognitive limitations. Individuals may have imperfect perceptions of reality and precise calculation is tiresome and time consuming, so people develop heuristic decision rules. Thaler consolidated behavioral economics and identified many heuristic rules followed by people. The quest to understand the factors that affect behaviors took many paths, and economists have continued to update its frameworks and concepts over time. Schultz introduced the notion of human capital, recognizing that individuals’ decision-making are changing over time and may improve with education and experience. Recent studies introduce the notion of self-efficacy where individuals’ beliefs in their own capacity affects their choices. Moreover, individuals are diverse, and sources of heterogeneity must be considered in assessing and predicting behavior.
Traditional economic frameworks are limited not only in explaining individual behavior, but also in explaining the behavior of institutions. In traditional economics, markets are king and prices and quantities of resources are determined by markets. But again, economic research has recognized limitations in these frameworks. Nobel Laureates Coase and Williamson showed that profitability and the costs of transaction will affect when firms will rely on markets to allocate resources and when they allocate them internally. Scholars including Mirrlees,Vickery, and Tirole have studied modern economies with the challenges of coordination, heterogeneity, and asymmetric information, and have developed a better understanding of the role of contracts and auctions as mechanisms for resource allocation.
While behavioral economics introduced insights from psychology to economics, economics research was also enriched by insights from political science leading to the field of political economy. Its basic premise is that economic decisions are affected and affecting the political reality. Political economic research identified voting and other political processes as major mechanisms affecting the roles and performance of markets and resource allocations. Political economic research analyzes politicians as agents who pursue self-interest subject to their own constraints, and it analyzes how the economic and political systems co-evolve.
Another direction of the evolution of economic analysis is the growing emphasis on dynamic processes and systems. While initially traditional economic models were mostly static, economists are paying growing attention to dynamic processes and the evolution of technology, industries, and even natural resources. It has been realized that innovations are outcomes of economic activities and affected by incentives and policies. There is growing analysis of the “educational-industrial complex” and how ideas that originated with researchers have transformed to become commercial technologies. This type of analysis doesn’t assume perfect profit-maximization and recognizes cognitive limitations that may result in political economy choices that affect the direction of change. Furthermore, there is a growing emphasis on the evolution of entrepreneurial behavior and the resulting supply chains. Entrepreneurs pursue self-interest subject to government policies and other constraints. They design supply chains to implement innovations that may introduce new products and markets, contributing to processes of “creative destruction” where the new replaces the old. Research on these dynamic processes also recognizes some of the risks and other challenges associated with these evolutionary processes and the need for an effective regulatory system that will allow progress while preventing undesirable consequences.
As we can see, economic understanding of individual and group choices is a work in progress, and economic frameworks dealing with practical situations at a given moment are shaped by the best knowledge at the time, recognizing that it is imperfect and will improve in the future. The discoveries of behavioral economics are important steps forward in our evolving discipline, contributing to better understanding of choices, objectives and constraints facing decision-makers, the resulting outcomes, as well as to provide avenues for improved policy-making. For example, behavioral economists introduced nudging as a new policy mechanism. While more basic economic research emphasizes the long game, applied economists have to focus on more immediate challengeshow to control climate change in a conflicted world, how to deal with polarization among nations and between the have and the have-nots within nations, how to address issues of food security and health, and how to manage the evolution of technology to benefit humans and not to harm them. In the face of all these challenges, the basic tenets of economic theory still provide a solid foundation. It is up to each of us to adapt our thinking and tools to effectively engage an ever-changing reality.
Behavioral economics doesn’t present a new alternative, but rather is a state in the evolution of economic thinking. I find it significant because it allows injecting knowledge from cognitive psychology into economics. And it’s a contributor to the emergence of an integrated social science to understand human decision-making. The beauty of economics is that it is always changing and I find the introduction of behavioral sciences into economics as an opportunity, rather than a threat.
Comments to “Lessons from Behavioral Economics
1. Many thanks David. Excellent primer on behavioral economics and well grounded in the real world. Well worth sharing. By the way, did you charm that Moroccan snake?
2. Thanks for this thoughtful blog. Great that you included contributions of Richard Day in your list. I wonder however whether two related aspects should be added. The first would be a reference to the work of Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter (with whom Day founded JEBO) on the evolution of routines. The second would be a reference to particular challenges on how economic actors and institutions can cope with emergent phenomena on the macro level such as chaotic dynamics (Day was already fighting with chaotic behavior in his path-breaking PhD thesis), segregation (Thomas Schelling), path dependence and positive feedback (Brian Arthur). Economic actors as well as institutions may try to respond to such phenomena in ways which fit to some of the existing economic or behavioral concepts. But eventually we also need to address with our economic toolboxes emergent behavioral responses such as moralities which rather evolve on the macro level. Such issues require tools which go fundamentally beyond concepts of the political economy.
3. Very nice post, David!
I have recently been doing some research with Katya Sherstyuk that uses experimental economics, which has us reviewing a lot of the classic literature in the field from the 80s and 90s. While this litereature is replete with documentation of behavioral anomalies, it is also replete with evidence that shows how markets will quickly converege to neoclassical equilibria. We observe this in many of our own experiments, which are a bit more complex that some of existing literature.
Taken as a whole, i think this literature is very clear: people are not perfectly rational, but economic equilibria derived from assuming optimizing behavior are highly predictive in a very wide variety of circumstances. Anyone who thinks we should drop optimization our toolkit really ought to take a closer look at this literature.
Comments are closed. |
Homo Sapiens and the Emergence of Technology
Kevin Kelly just knocks it out of the park with this brilliant essay on early man and “the world without technology.” Part of his forthcoming book on the origin and future of technology, he charts the beginning of tool-making and links the rise of language to the spread of humans around the world.
To really appreciate the effects of technology – both its virtues and costs — we need to examine the world of humans before technology. What were our lives like without inventions? For that we need to peek back into the Paleolithic era when technology was scarce and humans lived primarily surrounded by things they did not make.
Few writers in anthropology or sociology understand technology like Kevin, and few technology writers attempt his scope. The Technium is going to a pleasure to read. |
How to Answer "Gotcha" Questions in a Legal Job Interview
November 7, 2017
"Why should we hire you?" "How are you doing academically?" "What are your greatest weaknesses?" These gotcha-type questions are famous for stopping some job interviewees dead in their tracks, their mouths agape and minds furiously brainstorming a good answer. Provide a good answer, and your chances of landing the job increase. Give a poor answer…well, it’s back to the job search. The key to acing gotcha questions is preparation. You should think about the types of gotcha questions that you’ll be asked and carefully prepare a response that you can give in an unscripted manner to the hiring manager. Here are a few challenging interview questions and strategies on how to answer them without breaking a sweat:
Question: Why should we hire you?
Answer Strategy: This is the number-one gotcha question of the job interview. View this question as an opportunity to sell yourself to the hiring manager. Review your résumé and find three to four selling points that you can reference during the interview. Look for summer job experience, skills, fellowships, internships, courses, or association experience on your résumé that are a good match for the job in question. Try to develop at least two success stories in which you cast yourself in a positive light and link this success to the job duties of the new position. Be sure to give concrete examples. For example, if you are touting your writing skills, be sure to reference the college award you won for best legal brief or a letter of reference from your summer internship coordinator lauding your writing abilities. One other thing to remember: It’s fine to note what you’ll gain by being hired, but the hiring manager really doesn’t care about that. He or she needs to know that they are hiring someone who will bring value to the firm and improve its bottom line—and you need to stress this in your response.
Question: How are you doing academically?
Answer Strategy: If you’re not at the top of your class, don’t despair. Many law students have rough patches in their studies, and the key is to answer this question directly. Provide a thoughtful, but not lengthy, explanation of why your grades are lower than the ideal (challenging professor, heavy course load, a personal challenge such as an extended illness, etc.), and then move on to spotlight a class or two that you excelled in—ideally ones that relate to the firm’s practice area. And when you get back to school, work even harder to improve your grades so you won’t be asked this question again.
Question: What are your greatest weaknesses?
Answer Strategy: Many interviewees try to avoid answering this question, but that’s the wrong approach. Before the interview, prepare a list of two or three weaknesses and short stories of how you turned them into assets. So when an interviewer asks the dreaded question, be honest, detail the weaknesses (organization and time management, for example), and describe what steps you have taken to become more organized and a better time manager. Try to provide concrete examples of how you have improved these skills, using examples from law school or your work experience. It’s even better if you can provide a letter of reference or a LinkedIn tout from a former employer or internship coordinator that compliments you on these skills.
Question: Why did you become a lawyer?
Answer Strategy: Saying that you became a lawyer because a family member is one or because you like debating won’t cut it as a response. You need to show the interviewer that you’re self motivated and that you understand that there’s much more to being an attorney than just arguing. You should prepare a story of what inspired you to become a lawyer—whether it was your concern for civil rights issues, your fascination with the innerworkings of the U.S. tax code, your interest in protecting the environment, or some other event that inspired you to pursue a legal career.
Question: Why weren’t you on your school’s law review?
Answer Strategy: Experience working on a law review can be a big advantage in finding a job. Many judges and employers believe that working on a law review provides valuable legal writing and research skills. Students are selected based on their grades and/or by participating in writing competitions. If you weren’t on your school’s law review, you need to turn this potential negative into a positive by 1) detailing how you’ve developed your writing skills in other ways (such as writing for specialty journals that are published by your school, legal Web sites or blogs, or other law-related publications, or by winning best memo and best brief awards in first-year legal writing classes), and 2) explaining why you didn’t work on the law review. Good reasons could include a combination of the following: working full time to pay for law school, being very involved in student legal groups, working on a research project with a professor, participating in legal clinics, taking extra clinical classes, or working in industry to gain experience in your planned practice area. If you participated in moot court competitions, be sure to mention this, too. Moot court is a type of mock trial competition in which students practice their skills at performing oral arguments and writing appellate briefs. Law students who win moot court competitions are highly desirable to law firms.
This post has been adapted from the Vault Career Guide to Law, Second Edition.
by Vault Law Editors
© 2017 Inc
Chicago skyline from the beach
• Gary was a pleasure to work with. He presented the right opportunity at the right time-- and made sure I was prepared to be the right candidate. His interview prep was exceptionally helpful and focused. I'm extremely grateful for his assistance, guidance, and support.
Leah M. Farmer, Labor & Employment Associate
Franczek Radelet P.C. |
Change the chapter
The time delay between transmission and the arrival of the reflected wave of a signal using ultrasound traveling through a piece of fat tissue was 0.13 ms. At what depth did this reflection occur?
Question by OpenStax is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Final Answer
$9.4 \textrm{ cm}$
Note: In the video, the speed of ultrasound in fat is mistakenly given as 1540 m/s, whereas it should be 1450 m/s. The final answer of 10 cm is incorrect. The correct final answer is 9.4 cm. This video has been queue for a re-take, and also the closed captions need redoing. The calculator screenshot has been corrected.
Solution Video
OpenStax College Physics Solution, Chapter 17, Problem 75 (Problems & Exercises) (1:10)
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Calculator Screenshots
OpenStax College Physics, Chapter 17, Problem 75 (PE) calculator screenshot 1
Video Transcript
This is College Physics Answers with Shaun Dychko. An ultrasound wave is going to reflect off of some other type of tissue here that's probably an interface between two different media here. And so, it's causing a reflection. And then the reflection is detected here. And so, this sound has to travel through the tissue twice. And so, it covers the tissue thickness twice. So this total distance that it covers is two times <i>D</i>, and it does so on a certain time. And this total distance over time is the speed of the ultrasound. Now, we're given what the speed of the sound is, and we know the time as well, and so we'll solve this for <i>D</i>. We'll multiply both sides by <i>T</i> over two, and we end up with this line here. Switching the sides around as well, so we have <i>D</i> over <i>V</i> <i>T</i> over two. So, the speed of sound in tissue is 1540 meters per second multiplied by 0.13 times ten to the minus three seconds, that's 0.13 milliseconds, written in seconds, and divided by two. And this is 0.1 meters, which is 10 centimeters. So, the tissue is 10 centimeters thick.
Submitted by Oli on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 06:58
I think fat is 1450, not 1540...
Submitted by ghanastudy on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 08:57
Yes, fast is 1450
Submitted by ShaunDychko on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 10:47
Hello Oli and ghanastudy,
Thank you both for noticing this! I have made a note below the final answer, and updated it to 9.4 cm, and updated the calculator screenshot. I've flagged the video for a re-take and I notice also that the closed captions need redoing.
Thanks again, and best wishes with your studies, |
Alcoholism In Your Family History and its Traumatic Effects on You!
Written by: Matthew Sabatine
Are you living with an alcoholic parent? Are you still battling against memories of your childhood with an alcoholic parent? Maybe you are/were the alcoholic parent and now you live with crippling regret as you watch your grown child have many consecutive failed relationships because of alcoholism. Whether they are the abused or the abuser in an alcohol-influenced relationship, you may gaze upon them with sadness as you blame yourself.
You are not alone. Millions have their stories to tell. Healing is not beyond your reach.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an esteemed provider of fresh information and statistics, reported that 19.7 million Americans, from age 12 and up, fought against substance abuse in 2017. That same year, 74% of the adults fought against alcohol abuse, 38% against drug abuse, 1/8 fought against drugs and alcohol abuse simultaneously, 8.5 million suffered with a mental health disorder and substance abuse disorder together, and other co-morbidities. When combining all expenses spent on crime-related activity, workplace concerns, and healthcare linked to substance abuse and addiction, the total was $740 billion. [1] The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) calculated it at $600 billion. [3]
966,000 of those aged 12 and up were cocaine users in 2017. 637,000 of them accepted therapy to thrash and crush that demon. But whether they relapsed or remained abstinent hasn’t been found. [1]
Cocaine users are 15 times more likely to also be addicted to heroin. Heroin seduces about 652,000 people and 25% will become ensnared in the addiction. Its accursed, fiendish presence has been on the rise for the past 2 decades. Alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs are said to fan the flames for heroin use and addiction. Many might find it unexpected that non-Hispanic white males between the ages of 18 and 25 are at highest risk. [1]
When compared to the total American population, 14.5 million of us (5.3%), aged 12 and up, is a number that seems to be scanty or negligible. According to, only 10% of American children have an alcoholic parent. [1] calculated that 28 million American children have alcoholic parents, 11 million of which are under age 18. [2] However, every year 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes. If you ask me, that is a lot of people and a lot of needless fatalities if alcohol is in third place for the top causes for avertable death in America. What I find to be the subtle and sly tormentor, here, is that over half of all adult Americans have a family history with alcoholism. You may not realize it. You may turn a blind eye. But such a thing wreaks havoc on the psyche. [1]
The answers may be elusive as to how we arrived at this point in our history. What causes a lot of us to do this thing that is so obviously dangerous? The paths leading to this hellish existence may be many and hard to identify, but this fictional story might be able to illustrate:
Pretend that you work a backbreaking job. It could be any arduous job that comes to mind. Consider the life of an auto mechanic who must often work in awkward positions on a hard ground that indurates his skin as he works with sharp objects that pierce his skin too. Consider the life of a Certified Nurses Aide (CNA) who must lift elderly, ill, and obese people into and out of bed every day. Imagine injuring your back due to lifting someone by yourself or lifting wrongly. Consider the life of delivery drivers who always must move fast and carry heavy, unwieldy packages. What are the odds of your getting a substantial injury, even if you are so cautious with every step you take?
Let’s say that one day the injury happens. You would like to undergo therapy, but your insurance can’t cover it. What now? You can’t bear the pain. It’s too distracting. Your boss wants you to work like the efficient, irreproachable, unbreakable beast you were before. How can that be possible when the stabbing, shooting pain all througout your body is slowing you down?
Your family is depending on you, though. You have a mortgage to fulfill, and you are months behind on payments. The gas company and electric company are threatening to shut down your utilities because you are too far behind on your payments to them. Your car needs some very imperative repairs. Maybe the thermostat is not working properly and causing the car to overheat. Maybe one of your head gaskets is needing replaced. That is a lot of money, and you need to work overtime to cover it all. But how can you work longer hours with your acutely wounded self?
Your children and spouse are already really riled up about the overtime hours you have done, because you hardly have been able to spend time with them. On top of the physical pain, you are daily discountenanced by the stress of pleasing everyone.
Have I painted a picture that is saddening enough, yet?
One day, you think you are going to have just one drink. But that turns into two. Then three. Time flies by and you are many drinks into the most uncouth stupor, imaginable. You feel like a prattling idiot every time you try to talk, but at least your physical pain is numbed enough that it can’t distract you from finishing your work.
You know this is bad, but the emotional pain caused by your nagging spouse and obstreperous, rebellious children coupled with the belittling words of your boss, and your aching, throbbing pains are all worse than looking like a fool. Nothing is worse than that, except suicide. So, you must numb yourself. You feel seamless, fluid, and normal when you drink, but you know you have to hide your alcohol consumption at work, obviously. You reason that if they want you to function well, this is what needs to happen.
The stress often makes you feel like alcohol is the only way to keep you from becoming the Hulk!!!
There have been days and nights when your children watched you stagger through the doorway after being out, getting wasted. There have been days and nights when your inebriation began inside the house. This lifestyle has made you behave like Jekyll and Hide. Your inebriated self is cruel, rotten, lewd, and highly irascible. You feel angered by anything that can be remotely associated with how your friends and spouse have criticized you about your drinking. You can’t stand the sound of people attacking and undermining the only thing you have left to keep you sane. You are tired of defending yourself. Your logic is incontrovertible, but no one else wants to see that. So, the only way to get through to them is to yell, belch, and thrash about. The children don’t recognize you when you are drinking. The slurring, corrosive words that spew forth from your lips and your pummeling fists make the kids cower and hide underneath their blankets.
Every alcoholic scenario is different. Maybe this is a hyperbolic, grandiloquent version of what happens. Maybe this level of depravity is not as common for the alcoholic as I think, but I have heard similar horror stories. The point of this is to draw attention to how a child might be affected by such abnormality when he/she is in the budding, introductory stages of learning what is a healthy, normal life.
Maybe Elysz, a Recovery Support Specialist at The Granite House for Women, would agree with me that such grody goings-on are typical in the lives of alcoholics. I reference her GRC blog story down below in my source section. [6]
Her mother was a teacher and her father was a mechanic who were skilled at appearing normal to outsiders. Her mother could not stop her alcohol consumption after coming home. A bit unlike the fictional story I told above, Elysz was conditioned to think that it was normal for her mother to frequently drink and always have adult friends over. [6]
Child protection services eventually investigated the family, after which the father ceased drinking, but the mother couldn’t. As Elyz puts it, her mother could cease for a week or more, but would start up again and be worse than before. The father would ignore the problem, but I imagine the problem had to be difficult to ignore when the mother would become violent and call the police on him, so she could play the victim. [6]
Elysz did not have her epiphany about alcoholism until after her father was hospitalized because of a tragic motorcycle accident. Their electricity was shut off, and their car was repossessed. Elysz’ world collapsed.
Her mother hid alcohol in various spots throughout the house. Her mother took alcohol with her wherever she was teaching. Elysz was informed by friends about this, but she felt compelled to deny it. How then could she explain to herself the fact that her mother was being repeatedly fired from schools? [6]
Though Elysz was desperate to escape from the peacelessness in her home, she left home and still found herself in peril elsewhere. She dated a nice man who had a healthy family that “sat down for dinner every night and talked about their day.” But she couldn’t escape the feeling that she didn’t deserve this, and so their relationship crumbled as a result. She states that she had to spend time with people whose lives were inferior like hers. So, she dated a heroin addict. [6]
After being arrested for getting caught with her boyfriend’s marijuana in her car, she had to stay with her parents, a time during which they had a fight and the mother attacked the wheelchair-bound father suffering with muscular sclerosis. A divorce ensued. The stress and dysfunction of her parents’ marriage was placed on her. Elysz and her sister tried to help their mother get into a detox program. Though she completed the program, she would later fail a breathalyzer test at a homeless shelter, from which she would be discharged and start living under a bridge. To Elsyz’s knowledge, her mother is alive but they are not in contact. [6]
Can you imagine the guilt, shame, embarrassment, and regret that Elysz must feel, connecting every stage of her mother’s self-destructiveness to a single cause: alcoholism? Elysz’ story continues on with her undergoing recovery programs. She isn’t recovering from her own addiction, though. It’s her mother’s addiction. And she has needed to confront the fact that she is powerless over her mother’s addiction and that she is not responsible for being her mother’s savior.
Does a child deserve to be encumbered with such self-blame for his/her parents’ addiction? “If only I can be better and smarter, mommy or daddy won’t feel so stressed out nor be weird and scary.” A child can’t realize that this guilt-ridden assumption is false. Since the parent is the superhero and is always right, the child will always think he/she is wrong. [4]
The child can be impaled with fear. “Will mommy or daddy get drunk today and scream at me? I don’t want either of them to call me nasty names like they had yesterday. What if they throw things around the house and break the nice things we have? What if they hurt me so badly that I must go to the hospital? I don’t want them to spit at me, curse at me, or hit me.” [4]
Mood swings that may involve being affectionate, kind, and loving one minute, but aggressive and blaring the next, is not uncommon from parents with alcohol use disorder and it can terribly confuse the child. Erratic and unpredictable schedules for the child in the household are not uncommon in this context, which is very unhealthy, as all children need consistency. “Am I going to get 3 meals today or just 1? When will mommy or daddy put me to bed? Are they going to make me stay awake until 12 a.m. tonight like they did last night, because neither of them came into my room to tuck me in?” These are questions no child should ever be forced to ask. [4]
Mood swings!
Does a child deserve to be expected to maintain secrets? Don’t they deserve to talk about their home life or have friends visit them in the home? This loss of normalcy can be expected with alcoholic parents. A parent’s alcoholism can be so severe that the child must think of clever ways to explain away the parent’s behavior when intoxicated in public, whether in front of strangers or people the child knows. Should a child witness such indecency so prematurely in life? [4]
A child’s anger caused by a parent’s alcoholism can interfere with the child’s school performance, peer interaction, and desire for success. The aftereffects of a parent’s repeated broken promises and untrustworthy decisions extend into the child’s adulthood, where the past impinges upon the child’s worldview and causes him/her to expect others to act similarly. [4]
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reported in 1997 that prestigious clinicians, as far back as the 1980s, have observed environments of children of alcoholics (COAs). They labeled these environments as rowdy, undisciplined, and deviant, wherein the child’s normal psychological development and interpersonal functioning are spoiled on extreme levels. Although, the NIAAA concedes that most of these COA descriptions have been anecdotal from people seeking help for various psychological and behavioral problems. [5]
Professional writers, including those from the NIAAA, apparently still endorse the premise that COAs are at greater risk than non-COAs of becoming alcoholics themselves later in life, through both genetic and environmental impacts.
Since the beginning of the 20th Century, there has been empirical interest in the damages to posterity caused by alcohol, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that it really picked up. El-Guebaly and Offord (1977) documented a plethora of defects caused by alcoholism, including fetal alcohol syndrome. First, we can observe this in the infancy stage. We see it in childhood when emotional difficulties and hyperactivity manifest. Behavioral and emotional troubles occur in adolescence. Then, the development of alcoholism is the final step in adulthood for the child. [5]
Research in this field has needed decades to improve. Alcoholics are a heterogeneous group, and therefore, it is not easy to make valid generalizations about COAs. It is really hard to understand alcoholism’s symptoms and effects apart from the other co-morbid disorders. COAs are often parented by depressed people, agoraphobics, and antisocial personality disorder sufferers. Whatever psychopathology the COAs have can’t always be imputed to the parent’s alcoholism, because the parent’s other disorders could be causal. For the parent, what came first or caused the other? Did the alcoholism cause the other mental health issues, or did they cause the alcoholism? Important controversies persist on the subject. [5]
It is true that high levels of depression and anxiety reportedly plague COAs, but that doesn’t prove the parent’s alcoholism to be the cause. [5]
The lives of alcoholically victimized children are said to be patterned with “rule breaking, defiance, aggression, inattention, and impulsivity—and corresponds to what is termed ‘attention deficit and disruptive behavior disorders’ (i.e., attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], oppositional defiant disorder [ODD], and conduct disorder [CD]) in the DSM–IV.” [5] Alcoholically influenced children, as a group, express many traits associated with this extensive category of disorders based on reports going back to the 90s. [5]
Early literature on alcoholism in family histories and their behavior disorders were imprecise compared to the literature of today and were written before the most up-to-date diagnostic criteria could be canonized. [5]
But the NIAAA seemed to be confident about some things such as the following:
“Despite provocative findings concerning the link between parental alcoholism and childhood behavior problems, the existing database is limited. Relatively few studies have included careful diagnoses of large samples of parents and children, and these samples rarely are followed over time. However, this situation is changing rapidly. Within the next few years, researchers should be able to make more specific and definitive conclusions.” [5]
Whatever controversies abound, scientists and other professionals apparently have reached the consensus that COAs are 2 to 10 times more likely than non-COAs to become alcoholics, later. [5]
Studies done in many countries have discovered associations between dangerous alcohol intake and child abuse, whether it be by physical or emotional affliction, fondling of the genitals or penetration, neglect, or commercial exploitation with the consequence of actual or potential damage to the child’s health, survival, psychological development, self-respect or poise in the context of the adult having responsibility, trust or power over the child. 35% of transgressors surveyed in the United States admitted to drug or alcohol use at the time of the child maltreatment event. 32% of transgressors of fatal child abuse in Germany (1985-1990) were intoxicated at the time of the event, and 37% of them were recurring alcohol-abusers. 1.7 per 1,000 live births in the Northern Territory of Australia were reportedly affected by fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effects. Canada reported alcoholic influence as a parental characteristic in 34% of child welfare investigated cases. In London, England 52% of families were affected by substance use in general, with alcohol as the one chiefly abused. [7]
These numbers have been reported by the World Health Organization, despite these studies being scarce and having been solely executed in high-income countries. Juxtaposition between countries has been complicated by methodological differences in each place and the under-reporting of child abuse to health and judicial organizations. [7]
In some of my final words for this article, I am delighted to read about the World Health Organization’s proposed solution, though many may scowl at it and feel skeptical. An agenda for lessening alcohol availability will mitigate violence toward children. For the United States, it has been calculated that one less alcohol purveyor per 1,000 people will decrease the probability of deadly violence towards children by 4%. [7]
A 10% tax hike on alcohol can shrink bloodshed and cruelty toward children by 2.3% and overall violence by 1.2%. [7]
Screening and brief interventions in general can decrease violence toward children. Screening and brief interventions focused on alcohol mismanagement during pregnancy can decrease the perils of fetal-alcohol syndrome, as well. [7]
That should be stated even if many could argue it will be ineffective.
About the author: Matthew is interested in discussing social psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, sociology, human biology and anatomy, mental health disorders, philosophy, the psychology of religion, and the history of religion. Matthew loves his friends, his family, and his dog named Sampson. You can contact Matthew at
Disclosure statement: I am not a licensed therapist nor doctor. My intention is to not pretend to be either. The information contained in this article is not meant to be accepted instead of a doctor or licensed therapist’s advice. All information contained herein is based on my interpretation of the books and articles I read. My hope and desire is that any troubled person reading this would feel encouraged to get help from a licensed practitioner.
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Agent Orange Victims Sue Monsanto
Tran Anh Kiet's feet, hands and limbs are twisted and deformed. He is 21 years old, but trapped inside a body that appears to belong to a 15 year old with a mental age of around six. He has to be spoon-fed and writhes often in evident frustration. All his attempts at speech are confined to plaintive and pitiful grunts.
In Kiet's small community in Cu Chi district, about 45 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh city, south Vietnam, his story is all too common - indeed the villagers have a name for young people like him: Agent Orange babies.
Some 79 million liters of Agent Orange herbicides were dropped on the jungles of Vietnam from 1961-1971 in an attempt to defoliate the rainforest and deny any cover for the VietCong guerilla forces resisting the United States occupation of Vietnam.
Today in Vietnam there are 150,000 other children like Kiet, whose parents allege their birth defects are the result of exposure to Agent Orange during the war, or the consumption of dioxin-contaminated food and water since 1975.
The Vietnamese government estimates that three million Vietnamese were exposed to these chemicals during the war, and that at least 800,000 suffer serious health problems today as a result.
In February 2004, the newly -formed Vietnamese Association of Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA) filed a class action law suit in a New York court, against Monsanto and 36 other manufacturers of the poisonous chemical.
The plaintiffs and their lawyers deliberately chose the very same court that had previously presided over the only previous lawsuit brought against Agent Orange manufacturers, by US war veterans. Indeed, the same judge - Jack Weinstein - is currently hearing pre-trail arguments in the case.
The original lawsuit was settled in 1984, when seven American chemical companies paid out $180 million to 291,000 people over a period of 12 years. The settlement was reached after Weinstein persuaded the companies to buy themselves out of protracted litigation. But the chemical companies refused to accept liability, as part of the settlement, claiming the science still does not prove that Agent Orange was responsible for any of the medical horrors its name has long brought to mind.
Babies with two heads
The first generation of victims were the war veterans and farmers, who lived off land exposed to the chemical clouds during the war. The second generation of victims were their sons and daughters, and today their children, the third generation, are also suffering similar health problems as their parents and grandparents.
Inside the Tu Du hospital in Saigon, grotesque birth defects - babies born with two heads, other with short stumps in place of arms or legs - are a routine sight. Dr Nguyen Thi Phuong Tan, the specialist in coping with the new-born victims also keeps a padlocked room of well-preserved horrors - jars of deformed fetuses that never made it as evidence.
"You can't imagine the state of these children in Can Gie district, they can't speak, they are paralyzed, they have only the life of a vegetable," says Nguyen Phuoc Hoang, a researcher who used to work for the Environment Committee of Ho Chi Minh city.
The third generation of casualties includes those who live in the vicinity of former US military bases such as Bien Hoa. Agent Orange was stored in large quantities on these military bases.
Dr Arnold Schecter, a leading expert in dioxin contamination in the US, sampled the soil there in 2003,and found it to contained dioxin levels that were 180 million times above the safe level set by the US environmental protection agency. It is known as one of some 30 hotspots an environmental disaster area in urgent need of decontamination. Yet almost 30 years after the war nothing has been done about it.
More compelling scientific evidence was unearthed by a five year study conducted in the late-1990s by a Canadian environmental firm, Hatfield Consultants, working in collaboration with Vietnamese scientists that focused international attention on the extent of the contamination.
Hatfield took extensive samples from soil, water, animals, and people, and tested for minute concentrations of the active poisons in Agent Orange near the Ho Chi Minh Trail just south of Quang Tri province, in the A Luoi valley.In 2002 the results were made public. The researchers found "a consistent pattern of food-chain contamination by Agent Orange the air base area, which included soils, fishpond sediment, cultured fish, ducks, and humans."
Adding Insult to Injury
Monsanto representatives responded with demands and threats urging the authorities to take action against by the state-run Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper (The New Worker) in Saigon, which printed a story about the farmers complaints, based on research done by social scientist Bui Dac Hai.
Agent Orange activists were outraged that Monsanto had returned to haunt Vietnam. Former wartime ambassador Madame Nguyen Ngoc Dung, told CorpWatch: "We have strongly criticized officials responsible for granting a license" (to Monsanto).
The activists say that Monsanto has been assiduously cultivating technocrats inside the ministries of trade, investment and planning, who prefer to put the war totally behind them and believe that any campaign over Agent Orange undermines good trading relations with the US, and is therefore bad for business.
Another faction of government officials, which includes including prime minister Pham Van Khai, backed by the war veterans argue that economic concerns must be tempered with humanitarian respect for the victims and that Monsanto should be held accountable for their suffering.
The success of the Agent Orange victims campaign has caused major differences between the two factions. One communist party intellectual says he believes that "the humanitarian faction in the party is gaining momentum and the chances of driving Monsanto out of Ho Chi Minh city are improving."
A Monsanto spokesperson told CorpWatch that the company has been selling four varieties of hybrid corn seed since 1995 in addition to herbicides including Roundup and Lasso brands but that "Monsanto has no biotechnology crops on the market there."
Campaign picks up steam
The Agent Orange cause has been picking up steam in the last few years. Vietnam Red Cross had launched a humanitarian appeal in 1998 for special support for its Agent Orange Fund. In January 2004 a activist campaign was launched in Hanoi with the setting up of Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange.
Another recently-formed non-profit, the Peace and Development Foundation, headed by former foreign minister of South Vietnam, Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, is part of a highly successful campaign to mobilize people at home and abroad in support of Vietnamese lawsuit and the victims demand for justice and compensation.
Vietnam Television has just broadcast a new documentary on the subject. The government has set aside August 10th as an official commemoration 'Agent Orange Day' in support of the victims. (August 10th 1961 was the date that the very first cargo of Agent Orange defoliant was dropped on the forest around Kontum in the Central highlands). On September 10th 2004, Thanh Nien newspaper reported the foreign ministry had expressed support for the Agent Orange plaintiffs.
No such gesture has been made on the other side of the Pacific, despite pleas for support. When President Bill Clinton visited Hanoi four years ago, Vietnamese president Tran Duc Long made an appeal to the US 'to acknowledge its responsibility to de-mine, de-toxify former military bases and provide assistance to Agent Orange victims." Almost 30 years after the war no such acknowledgement has been made - all Washington has offered is funding for scientific conferences and further research.
Former director of Vietnam Red Cross,Dr Nguyen Trong Nhan a tireless campaigner and vice-president of the the Agent Orange Victims Association) is sadly disappointed by the US response to the humanitarian crisis that Vietnam is facing. "Vietnam can't solve the problem on its own. Hanoi helped the US military to track down remains of MIAs (Missing in Action),and we asked them to reciprocate with humanitarian aid for victims of Agent Orange," he says.
Companies respond
Jill Montgomery, a spokesperson for Monsanto, responded to a request for comment from CorpWatch by email: "There were seven manufacturers who were required to make Agent Orange at the specific request of the US government for military use. Production ended more than 30 years ago. The government of Vietnam resolved its claims as part of the treaties that ended the war and normalized relations with the United States."
Co-defendant Dow Chemical has also issued a statement that reads: "We believe that it is the role of the US government and the government of Vietnam to resolve any issues related to wartime activities."
But Tran Anh Loi ,the father of Agent Orange victim Tran Anh Kiet, says: "Monsanto must pay compensation for their crimes. They have caused this tragedy. I think the government should raise their voice and make the payment a condition before Monsanto can do business in Vietnam.¨
"American victims of the Agent Orange will get up to $1500 a month. However most war veterans and Vietnamese families have only received around 85,000 Dong a month (just over $5) in government support for each disabled child. However in response to the public campaign, Hanoi has increased compensation benefits in July to 300,000 Dong a month (nearly $20 a month)."
AMP Section Name:War & Disaster Profiteers Campaign
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Fall Container Vegetable Gardening
fall container vegetable gardening
Fall container gardening is possible if you are prepared for it. Choose blue and white plastic containers and plant vegetables that grow tall. None of the plants, here, seems to want support. But there may be some that will grow wide instead of tall and might need support. In this photo all plants are tall, lush and flourishing. |
Tag Archives: wolves
2018 research round up
As 2018 draws to a close, I want to dedicate a post to five of the most interesting and important publications about our favorite family of birds that came out this year. For the sake of a brevity, the reported studies are largely condensed with some tests/results omitted and little attention to normally key experimental elements like controls, statistical analyses, etc. Please click on the study title to be directed to the full publication.
1. Townsed AK, Frett B, McGarvey A, and Taff CC. (2018). Where do winter crows go? Characterizing partial migration of American Crows with satellite telemetry, stable isotopes, and molecular markers. The Auk 135: 964-974
Background: Depending on where you live, the answer to, “Do crows migrate?,” can be quite different. For example, most Seattle residents would probably say no, since large numbers of crows can be seen here year round, while someone in say, a southern Canadian province, may notice a sharp decline in the number of crows during the winter. That’s because crows are what’s know as “partial migrant species” meaning that within a population, some individuals may be migratory and others resident with more migratory strategies biasing in areas with harsh winters. Despite the role of partial migration in how scientists currently explain the evolution of complete migration, little is known about the phenomenon. Even elemental questions such as: is this behavior fixed or flexible within individuals, is it environmentally influenced, and how might species use it to adapt to changing conditions remain under-explored.
Methods: The study looked at two populations of overwintering crows: one in Ithaca, New York and a second in Davis, California. They used a combination of intrinsic (meaning originating in the body) and extrinsic (meaning originating outside the body) markers to track the movement and origin of their 18 tagged subjects over 2-4 years. The intrinsic makers included molecular and stable isotope data, and the extrinsic marker was a satellite tracking device that was attached to the bird via a light backpack. I won’t go into the details of the molecular and stable isotope data, but suffice it to say that stable isotopes were used to identify the place of origin via the unique properties of the local food and water that embed into an individual’s tissue and the molecular data was used to sex individuals and establish relatedness.
Key findings: Of the 18 tagged crows across both east and west coast populations, they found that almost 78% were migratory. This was a shock to me, TBH. I had no idea just how many crow were making these annual trips. The distance these birds traveled varied widely, with some going as “little” as 280 km (173 miles) and others as much as 1095 km (680 miles). Among resident birds, they found that individuals never ventured further than 25 km (15.5 miles) from the center of their breeding site. For both resident and migratory individuals they found that birds were very loyal to their breeding sites; returning to the same territory year after year. Given this finding, it should not be surprising to learn that individuals did not vary from year to year in whether they were migratory or not. Together these results offer clues to how crows may respond to climate and urbanization induced changes in temperature to their local environments.
2. von Bayern AMP, Danel S, Auersperg AMI, Mioduszewska B, and Kacelnik A. (2018). Compound tool construction by New Caledonian crows. Nature Scientific Reports 8
Background: For decades people considered the use of tools to be a uniquely human feature. Now we know that all sorts of animals, ranging from fish to monkeys, use tools and a handful of animals even create tools. Among the small number of animals that create tools, we have only seen wild individuals modifying a single object. For example, stripping a twig of small leaves or branches in order to probe small holes for insects. Whether any wild animal is capable of making compound tools, those made by combining seperate non-functional parts, is unknown. Even in captivity, this behavior only has limited observation in the great apes. Understanding what animals are capable of this complex task and how they achieve it, might give us insight into the evolution of our own exective functions.
Methods: This study used eight wild caught captive New Caledonian crows. Like many experiments involving novel objects, this one occurred over multiple different phases. In phase I the birds were provided a long stick and a baited test box where food was within reach when using the stick, but not without it. In phase II the birds were presented with the same baited test box, except that instead of a single long stick, they were given a hollow cylinder and a second, thinner cylinder that needed to be combined in order to generate a tool long enough to reach the food. In phase III, the birds were given the same problem, only now with novel combinable items. In phase IV, the researchers tested whether the birds were combining elements because they understood that they needed to, or if because they derived some other benefit from the process. To do this, they presented birds with a bait box that had two tracks: one where the food was within reach of a single element and one where it required a compound element. In the final phase, birds were presented a bait box that required the combination of more than two elements.
New cali
Image from von Bayern et al. 2018
Key findings: All birds passed the initial tool use phase handily. Given that New Caledonian crows frequently use single element tools in the wild, this was not at all surprising. In the second phase, half of the subjects (four) were able to combine the two elements after no more than two failed attempts. These subjects were then able to transfer this knowledge when presented novel combinable objects. When given a bait box with food presented on the close and far tracks, birds most often only made compound tools when it was necessary, suggesting that they don’t do it just for fun. In the final phase, only one bird succeeded in making a tool that required more than two elements. These findings demonstrate that New Caledonian crows are not only on par with what’s know about compound tool use in the great apes, but actually exceed them.
Unfortunately what this study does not explicitly answer is whether the birds were able to create the needed tools as a result of mental mapping (i.e imagining the correct tool and how it might be assembled) or by happy accident. Without this knowledge, what their ability to make compound tools suggests about the evolution of things like insight remains mysterious. Given all the other remarkable ways New Caledonian crows show innovation when it comes to tool use, however, both myself and the authors of this study are hedging that it’s indeed cognition behind these behaviors rather than more simple mechanisms.
3. Boeckle M, Szipl G, and Bugnyar T. (2018). Raven food calls indicate sender’s age and sex. Frontiers in Zoology 15
Background: One of the most frequent inquiries that come my way are requests to decipher various crow calls. Given all we know about crows, this doesn’t seem like such an impossible request, but the reality is that crow communications remains one of the most impenetrable black boxes of crow behavior. I’ll save more on this for a future post dedicated to an upcoming publication by my colleague Loma Pendergraft, who spent his MS learning this fact the hard way. But suffice it to say that any progress on this front in the various Corvus species is groundbreaking news. We do, however, know more about raven calls. For example long “haa” calls are thought to recruit other individuals to sources of food. What was unknown at the start of this study was whether these calls encoded any class-specific information about the caller, such as their age or sex. Calls that impart class-level information about the caller have been previously demonstrated in some marmots and monkeys.
Methods: The researchers recorded hundreds of “haa” calls from wild ravens which had previously been color banded and whose age and sex were known. Using acoustic software they analyzed the vocalizations for patterns in call elements like frequency and inflection rate.
Key findings: As the study’s title suggests, ravens appear to encode information about their age and sex in “haa” food calls. For animals like ravens that live in “fission-fussion” social systems, meaning flexible social groups where individuals regularly reencounter familiar individuals, but also encounter unfamiliar ones, class-level information helps individuals quickly assess important aspects of a caller’s identity. Such information may be key to helping individuals decide if they want to join a feeding event or not. This decision is particularly important because aggression at feeding events can cause mortal injury, so grouping with a bad crowd can come at a high price.
4. Kroner A, and Ha R. (2018). An update of the breeding population status of the critically endangered Mariana Crow (Corvus kubaryi) on Rota, Northern Mariana Islands 2013–2014. Bird Conservation International 28: 416-422
Background: The Mariana crow or Aga is a native species to the islands of Guam and Rota. After the introduction of the brown tree snake to Guam in the 1940’s, Guam’s entire population of Aga were wiped out leaving only those found on Rota to continue the species. In 1982, the population hovered around 1,300 individuals but things were clearly in decline. In 1984 the Aga was officially listed as endangered and today is considered critically endangered by the IUCN. Unlike on Guam, there is no clear reason why the Aga continues to decline on Rota, though habitat loss, persecution by humans, natural disasters and introduced predators like cats likely all work together.
Methods: During 2013-2014 researchers counted breeding pairs by surveying all known island territories. During these counts (which took 845 hours of labor and traversed 1,485 hectares!) the researchers also documented any unpaired or subadult birds. Since the entire island could not be surveyed, to ultimately estimate the population size the researchers used models that accounted for missed detections.
Key findings: Spoiler alert: They are A BUMMER. In all that searching only 46 breeding pairs were detected. Accounting for unpaired birds and detection failures, the researchers estimate that the current population of Aga hovers around 178 individuals. Obviously that number alone is a gut punch but it’s especially true when you consider that that’s a 10-23% decline since 2007 and a 46-53% decline since 1998. Researchers estimate that at least 75 pairs are needed to maintain a viable population of Aga. Without intensive predator management and community level advocacy for these birds, their future is sadly looking grimmer and grimmer.
5. Walker LE, Marzluff JM, Metz MC, Wirsing AJ, Moskal ML, Stahler DR, and Smith DW. (2018). Population responses of common ravens to reintroduced wolves. Ecology and Evolution 8: 11158-11168
Background: One of the most persistent myths about common ravens is that they have a symbiotic relationship with grey wolves; intentionally showing them carcasses they find and then sharing in the bounty together. But while the case is actually that ravens are unwelcome dinner guests at the wolves’ table, there’s no question that the two species have profound effects on one another. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone in 1995 therefore offers a valuable way to study how the presence of wolves affects the spatial distribution and feeding behaviors of park ravens.
Methods: This study was a collaborative effort between avian and spatial ecologists at the University of Washington and Yellowstone wolf biologists. Using data from 2009-2017 on wolf abundance and prey kills, and raven surveys taken both within the interior of the park and at anthropogenic food sources in surrounding areas (ex: the Gardner town dump), the researchers were able to model raven abundance during both the study period and before the reintroduction of wolves. I won’t go into the details of how these models are created, but suffice it to say that their purpose is to take the data you give them and find what predictors best explain your observed outcomes. For example if, say, you have a bunch of data about where ravens were located at different times, and have data on different possible predictors, say, wolf abundance, weather, carcass abundance, carcass biomass, and distance to anthropogenic food, etc., the right model could help you identify that carcass biomass is the best predictor of raven abundance.
Key findings: Previous studies have demonstrated that wolves make more kills during severe winters with higher snowpack, because prey have a more difficult time evading them. As a result, the researchers hypothesized that ravens would depend more heavily on wolf kills during severe winters, but this is not what they found. Instead, Yellowstone ravens seem to lean more on consistent, anthropogenic food sources during tough winters, but lean more on wolf provided carrion during more mild winters. Still, the presence of wolves has increased and stabilized the number of ravens in the park, because they provide a second year-round source of food, in contrast to human hunter provided kills which are seasonally limited. These findings are yet another demonstration of the value of top carnivores in stabilizing food webs and providing food for a cascade of creatures.
6. And as a bonus let’s not forget the most important 2018 study of them all, “Occurrence and variability of tactile interactions between wild American crows and dead conspecifics,” which you can read all about here. 😉
Filed under Conservation, Crow behavior, crow intelligence, New Research, Raven behavior, Ravens, Science
Denali Diaries Part II: The Wildlife
While Denali is worth visiting on the basis of its scenery alone, it’s the wildlife that will truly shape your experience. In the summer, Denali is host to some eight species of medium to large sized mammals, including foxes, lynx, wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, caribou, Dall sheep and moose. Among those, the moose, grizzly bear, caribou, wolf, and Dall sheep make up what’s known as the “Denali Big 5.”
Seeing wildlife in Denali is mostly about luck and timing, but the longer you’re in the park the more chances you have to view wildlife. As I described in my earlier post, I scheduled and bus hopped my trips in such a way that I stayed in the park most of the day. This is particularly important for moose, which are generally crepuscular, meaning they are more active in the morning and evening . Everything else is really just a gamble. Sometimes the odds are in your favor and sometimes they’re not. For what it’s worth, though, out of my four all-day trips into the park I got The Big 5 twice, both during the times I stayed primarily on the bus.
While I always left the park having experienced something new, there were definitely trips that were more memorable than others, and the range of experiences really made me appreciate the luxury of being able to go multiple times. Whatever wildlife you do have the privilege of encountering is sure to fan the flames of your love affair with this park, but I imagine for many people that affair starts first and foremost with the most visible and charismatic of Denali’s wildlife: The grizzly bears.
I took this photo in late August, just as the colors started to change.
By late July, bears across Alaska are gearing up for hibernation by entering a phase called hyperphagia, where they basically eat constantly and gain somewhere on the order of 400 pounds. In the park, their diet consists mostly of blueberries, soapberries, and roots, but they will gladly eat whatever mammals they can catch, including small rodents, caribou, moose and even other bears.
A big highlight when bear watching is seeing sows out with spring cubs. Unlike mom, the young are generally a lot darker in color, prompting people to sometimes mistake them as black bears. Observing cubs playing, foraging, and trying to keep up with mom is definitely the kind of experience that will make you wonder if you were somehow transported, Truman style, to some kind of nature documentary, but in the best kind of way.
While I won’t pretend for a second that seeing bears ever gets old, they honestly weren’t the animal that I was most looking forward to encountering when I arrived in Denali. Maybe it’s because I’d never seen one before, or because of some deep affection instilled by decades of Christmas marketing, but something about caribou utterly charms me.
Unlike many of Alaska’s other herds, the Denali caribou do not undertake an immense seasonal migration, opting instead to remain almost exclusively within the bounds of the park year round. Unless you can travel into the interior of the park, however, you’ll have little luck seeing them in the winter.
Denali used to play host to a herd that ranged in the tens of thousands, but after decades of over hunting followed by a mysterious period of low calf survival and harsh winters, Denali’s herd has dwindled to around 2,000 individuals. Fortunately, things seem to have stabilized for the time being. I wish I had seen more before the end of the season, but I’ll never forget what it was like watching this small herd move through this painted hillside.
The ungulates that seemed to most delight my fellow visitors, however, were the moose. For all of Denali’s hooved animals fall is the rut, which means males have grown out their antlers or horns and are putting them to use in sparring (practice) matches, as they ready themselves for the violent matches to come. I only saw such behavior between moose once. They locked antlers for a few seconds and went back to grazing shortly thereafter. Unfortunately it was too far away to bother with any photos. I’ll admit, seeing a bull moose, particularly on foot, is a gripping experience. However big you imagine them to be, they’re bigger in person. The rack alone can be 40lbs.
In Denali, the stakes of these fights are high, as the moose here operate in a polygynous system, where the victor will mate with and defend an entire heard of females. In other places, moose form monogamous pairs for the breeding season.
It was early morning still when we watched this cow move her two calves across the valley. They seemed pretty wary of our bus, though her biggest real threat is the park’s main carnivorous predator: The gray wolf.
Even in Yellowstone I don’t get my hopes up about seeing wolves despite there being far more individuals there. Across the Denali’s 6 million acres, there are only 30 known packs comprising about 75 adults. You can imagine my delight then, when, as we were making our way out of the park at dusk on our first trip, we rounded a corner to see this rump trotting up ahead of us. As it happens, I had been walking the road on foot only minutes before. I probably wouldn’t have caught up with it had I not gotten on the bus, but it’s still pretty incredible to imagine that I more or less went hiking with a wolf. We must have followed this adult for about a mile. It stopped a few times, evening giving it’s signature mournful howl a before it disappeared off the side of the road. Honestly, that would have been enough for me, but our second to last trip had something really special in store.
I had heard whispering about wolf pups back at our housing campus but I never thought much of it. I figured that was deep interior kind of stuff, the kind of trek our field schedule just wouldn’t permit. So while I figured it was something exciting when we arrived at a jam packed road, I just wasn’t picturing this…
Cue total F-ing meltdown on my part.
This pup was born sometime mid-may to the single male and female that comprise the Riley Creek West pack. By around four months the pups start venturing away from their den site. Lucky for us, for a few day stretch the area they were exploring was right near the road by Toklat. After a few days, they moved away from the road, which was no doubt for the best.
The last animal I have the great pleasure to highlight is the most iconic of Denali’s wildlife. In fact, it was this animal for whom the park was dedicated. The endemic Dall sheep.
In 1906, hunter and conservationist Charles Sheldon noticed a worrying decline in the Dall sheep favored by hunters. He feared that without protection, they would be hunted to extinction. Now this is an all too familiar concept, but coming off the heels of the “era of abundance” this was actually a revolutionary way of thinking in western culture. Until 1900, colonists/settlers in the United Stated hunted without regulation and, seemingly, without much thought or worry as to the integrity of ecosystems. As a frame of reference, the field of wildlife management wouldn’t come onto the scene for another two decades.
Sheldon, however, had the foresight to recognize that something must be done and set out to establish Denali as a national park. It took 11 years, but in 1917 Woodrow Wilson signed the bill into law. Since that time Dall sheep populations rebounded and are currently considered healthy.
Despite their robust numbers, however, most of my experiences of seeing Dall sheep in the park were “technical”. As in, “technically those white specks on the mountain side are Dall sheep”. So on our last day as we traveled out of the park, I couldn’t believe my eyes when a ewe and her lamb were jogging down a hillside close enough that you could judge their forms as Dall sheep even with your naked eye. For the minute or so that we were able to watch them, I felt myself overcome with equal parts joy and despair. I was profoundly grateful for the gift of such beauty and yet so sad that once again its integrity is under such threat.
Driving home one night, my fellow passengers and I shared our backgrounds and motivations for visiting the park. Some came to experience mammals the size of which dwarfs anything in their native country, some were fulfilling missions to visit all the National Parks, while others had arrived with a spirit of adventure and little else. Together, we marveled at the unforgettable things we had seen and shared our anxieties that future generations may not be so lucky. We discussed our anger and disappointment (or among some of the foreign tourists utter bafflement) at the US government’s unwillingness to act more effectively on climate change.
One hundred years ago someone looked at this land, recognized that change must be implemented, and fought for over a decade to convince congress that in fact wild spaces and wildlife mattered enough to act. As a result, my fellow passengers and I got to see and experience things that will bring us joy the rest of our lives. The question now is whether we will wage our own fight for the future, or if we will watch from the sidelines as it turns to ash in our warming world.
For information about climate change in the arctic please visit the following resources
NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment
The National Snow and Ice Data Center
Chasing Ice
And remember…
Filed under Climate change, Conservation, Denali Diaries, Ecosystem, Photography, Wildlife
Yellowstone field experience
Last week I had the great pleasure of spending a week in Yellowstone National Park with both corvid expert, John Marzluff and predator-prey dynamic expert, Aaron Wirsing. In addition to spending an entire week with these two, I also had meetings and saw presentations from folks like the golden eagle team of Al Harmata and Marco Restani, the head researcher of the wolf project, Doug Smith, Bison expert Rick Wallen, and wolf and cougar kill expert Dan Stahler. It was an amazing week of breath taking wildlife and in depth expertise on what’s going on in the park. This week, I thought it would fun to take a little break from corvids and just share some of the photos I took along with the stories and biological details that go with them.
To kick the trip off we headed outside of Bozeman, Montana to meet up with eagle researchers Dr. Al Harmata and Dr. Marco Restani. They’ve been doing research on eagles for more than 30 years and know more about these birds than maybe anybody. Right now, they’re conducting an ongoing study to look at the effects of lead poisoning on eagles. Although lead shots have been banned in waterfowl hunting and in some states like California, in most other places lead bullets are still used for other kinds of game. The lead fragments end up in the gut piles hunters leave behind, or in the prairie dogs or other carnivores that their shooters had no intention of taking home. Eagles scavenge these remains and can wind up with deadly levels of lead in their bloodstreams. Elimination of lead from bullets will likely be a necessary step to protect eagles, though I expect a robust fight from the NRA and some hunting communities.
For corvids, spring time means nesting time and the magpies were busy at work. Unlike crows and ravens which build more traditional looking nests, magpies make nests with roofs, further protecting them from predators. If that’s not cool enough, magpies are known to build several of these dome nests and have been observed moving both eggs and chicks between them.
The magpie's nest is the big clump in the middle of the tree
The magpie’s nest is the big clump in the middle of the tree
A bill-load of mud to finish off lining the nest
A bill-load of mud to finish off lining the nest
Seeing peregrine falcons perched along the 520 bridge on my way to school is always a treat, but there’s something about seeing them in this setting that’s all the more spectacular.
At lunch time we were greeted by John’s special raven friend, Big Guy, which has been visiting him in the park for the last 15 years. He and his mate were also busy nest building though we were unable to locate it.
Mountain bluebirds were such a spectacular addition of color to the park, and I was super lucky to be in the right place at the right time to snap this photo.
When we first arrived to the park, we were surprised to be greeted by pronghorn. John has been leading classes to Yellowstone for 15 years and had never seen them as far into the park as we did. Pronghorn aren’t adapted to run very well in deep snow, so they generally avoid the higher elevations in the park until later in the year. The snow melt came incredibly early this year, however, allowing them to penetrate further into the interior of the park than usual. While the level of early snow melt we experienced isn’t unheard of, it was unusual and fit the models that predict increased drought in this area as a result of climate change.
Bighorn sheep were prolific across the park. In the winter and spring, male bighorns form large groups while the ewes and lambs heard up to do their own thing. I never got tired of seeing those big curls!
Bison are truly the iconic ungulate in the park. Theirs is a story of an amazing comeback, and one that’s really not so different from wolves. As of 1902 there remained only 23 bison left in the park, and but thanks to ranchers and the US Army administrators of YNP, new animals were brought in and over the next 50 years that small population grew to over a 1000 animals. Now, the park supports about 4000 animals, and is considered the only place in the country that has both maintained bison since prehistoric times, and supports non-cattle hybridized bison.
Right now, bison regulation within the park is subject to much debate due to the presence of brucellosis. Brucellosis is a bacterial infection that was brought when settlers first introduced cattle to the west. It results in the abortion of calves in animals like bison, elk and livestock. It’s transmitted by contact with an infected mucous membrane, which generally happens when curious animals touch and smell the aborted calves. Although it’s not fatal to the mothers, the aborting of calves represents a potential economic threat to ranchers. Although elk are also important vectors of this disease, a rancher we spoke with echoed the opinion of the ranching community at large in saying that bison are the main problems and their departure from the park needs to be controlled. As of 2002, the Sate and Federal government developed an inter-agency management plan to control bison and the spread of the disease, which basically means that many (think in the thousands) of animals are killed once they cross the boarder. Lead park bison biologist Rick Wallen described to us the controversial nature of this tactic which results in, one the one hand, folks from the ranching community saying there isn’t enough being done, while on the other, members of the public decrying the park for killing such an iconic species. Despite these culls, however, the park maintains a stable population of bison, which other than run-ins with lakes and geothermal features, are basically free from predation apart from one particular wolf pack which occasionally manages to take one down.
One of my colleagues illustrating the difference between cow (left) and bull (right) bison horns. She also sports a radio transmitter used to track an individual bison across the park.
A couple of bison playfully testing each other
A couple of bison playfully testing each other
One of the most interesting insights from Rick was the observation that bison both engage in what looks like altruistic behavior, like the time he witnessed a heard protect an injured female from wolves, to completely brutal behavior like the scene my classmates and I had the serendipitous opportunity to witness.
We happened upon this scene when checking the area for signs of a bear we had heard was scavenging some bison carcasses. Although we didn’t see the bear, we quickly noticed that there was a bison calf trapped in the water, and not too far from drowning by the sounds of its breathing. The banks of these lakes are incredibly slick, and it can be impossible for an animal to get out. We watched with bated breath, conflicted between rooting for the bison to make its escape and for it to drown, as that would mean an almost guaranteed bear and wolf sightings the following days. Finally after about 10 minutes the calf managed to pull itself from the water. While all this was going on, its heard had been nearby and quickly after the calf escaped began to approach it. We were all expecting a Disney style reunion but to our shock the entire heard proceeded to haze the calf! They pushed it about 100 m down the valley before finally relaxing their assault and letting the calf rest and start to graze. Since we didn’t see bears the next day, our best guess is the calf managed to regain its strength and make it through the night.
A tree shows some ears after being used as a scratching post for a bison.
A tree shows some wear after being used as a scratching post for a bison.
Although much of our time in the park was dedicated to simply looking for, and observing wildlife, we also collected a couple of different kinds of data while we were there. For the last 7 years this class has been conducting “elk follows” which means that we select an individual elk in the different parts of the park and record its activities for 15 min. Later, we will use this data and match it up with data from the Wolf Project to ask questions about elk behavior, condition, and spatial use in light of the presence of wolves. This big bull was taking a little rest and is a great illustration of the hardship of winter. You can clearly see the low fat reserves on its rump, as evidenced by the outline of its spine and pelvic bones.
This bull is a good example of one that’s already lost its antlers, and it’s probably feeling a little lighter than its 5-point companion, since elk antlers can weigh up to 40lbs! Antlers are the fastest growing tissue and in the height of spring and early summer they can grow up to an inch a day. One of our faculty members, Aaron Wiring, told us an incredible story of seeing a big 6 point bull being chased by wolves in an earlier trip, only to loose one antler during the chase. A little lopsided, the bull managed to fend them off until it was finally cornered against a tree when, you guessed it, the second antler fell off. It was all over soon after that. Talk about bad timing!
A coyote makes off with the leftovers of a bison carcass. Coyotes are often killed by wolves, and they need to be extra mindful when in open spaces near kills sites like this. Why wolves are so predatory towards coyotes and not foxes is something of a mystery.
One of my favorite experiences while in the park was seeing the wolves. There’s just something about seeing such an iconic animal that lifts your spirit. The reintroduction of wolves was, and still is, incredibly controversial. There’s no doubt that their presence on the landscape is a threat to ranchers and pet owners alike, but I was inspired by our talk with Hannibal, a rancher who lives adjacent to the park boundary. Despite loosing three dogs and many sheep and calves to wolves, he maintains his position that they are a necessary part of the Western landscape and deserve a place along side he and his family. After his daughter, Hilary Zaranek, started range riding (rounding up and sleeping with the heard at night) predation by wolves dropped to nearly zero and their three current dogs seemed very happy to me. By shifting the ranching paradigm to one where multiple ranchers join herds and share space, range riders become a sustainable and economical option for ranchers. Hannibal and Hilary are the forefront of this shift and their dedication to the presence of wolves was awe inspiring.
While we were in the park we were privy to some pretty special changes going on within the packs. Inside the park, wolves are killed almost exclusively by other wolves. Recently, the alpha male of the Lamar Valley pack was killed by members of the competing Prospect pack after he confronted them. His death put the alpha female in an incredibly precarious position since she will be unable to hunt after she gives birth to her dead mate’s pups and in a few weeks. Although her 6 current pups are nearly a year old they are still too young to provide for her during this time. As a result, she is attempting to court 4 of the male members of the Prospect pack in an effort to gain a new alpha male that will help raise her pups. Unlike lions which will kill the cubs of a competing male, wolves will help raise the former dad’s pups after they take over. Some readers may even be familiar with the famous story of 8, the hero ‘little wolf” who did just this. While we were in the park the female appeared to be courting a spectacular grey male, but shorty before we left we learned that he fell out of contention. Who the next alpha male is is up to the alpha female, and only time will tell who she chooses.
The effects of wolves in the park have been profound and their necessity to maintain a balanced and healthy ecosystem is unquestionable. For more information on the wolves’ effects on the Yellowstone ecosystem check out this Ted talk.
One of the most interesting things we did was meet up with wolf expert Dr. Dan Stahler. He and fellow carcass expert, Kai, lead us to a recent cougar kill and described how to identify kills as either wolf or cougar and showed us the kinds of data they collect off such kills. Key signs off cougar kills are puncture marks around the throat, neat, cleanly picked bones, and characteristic caching (or covering and hiding) of the carcass. Wolf kills, on the other hand, are not hidden, show signs of hemorrhaging around the animal’s back legs, and the carcasses are found dismembered. This particular cow elk was killed and partially eaten by a cougar before being discovered by wolves and other scavengers.
A badger skull found while hiking the bighorn lambing grounds on the edge of the park boundary.
On our last day I spotted a couple of yellow-bellied marmots, marking the fist time John has seen them inside the park during this trip. I’ve never gotten such a good look at these little animals and I must say they’re very pretty!
Antler drops are an important source of calcium for many animals in the park, and this particular one shows its age with a beautiful patina of lichen.
A bison carcass lays peacefully in its resting place of Lamar Valley.
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Filed under Being a scientist, Birding, Field work |
In graduate school I was not taught a lot about how to supervise and lead staff. That left it initially to on the job training and help from a few mentors to help me find my way as a court administrator. Then, I attended a NACM conference and saw a presentation on Situational Leadership[1] that became a big influence on me and my work. Before this session I had pretty much subscribed to the point of view in many books that there was “one true way” to lead, and if I just could do this, I would be great. I was basically a “fad surfer!”
What made Situational Leadership so profound to me was the premise that when supervising staff, one size does not fit all – that the leader/supervisor should adapt to the needs and style of the follower, not the other way around. When one thinks about it, this makes a lot of sense, since people are individuals, all with varying degrees of knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform their work. A supervisor who doesn’t recognize and adapt to this ends up treating everyone the same, with widely varying success.
The basic principles of Situational Leadership are (the graphic at the bottom of this post does a good job of summarizing):
1. Staff members have four levels of maturity, or readiness, to do the job (tasks):
2. Unable and insecure (new staff member)
3. Unable but confident (novice with enthusiasm)
4. Capable but insecure about taking on responsibility (fully trained)
5. Very capable and confident; self-directed (role model for others)
6. Leaders have four levels of styles in response:
1. Directing (one way, top-down; guiding)
2. Coaching (two way but still directive; persuading and explaining)
3. Supporting (two way, shared; encouraging and problem solving)
4. Delegating (monitoring and observing)
No one leadership style is effective all the time; one needs to be flexible to fit the style to the situation – including being task-relevant. The right style will depend on the person or group being led. The goal is to work with staff to enable them to develop their skills and confidence so that they are self-motivated and not dependent on others (including the leader/supervisor) for direction and guidance. In essence, the leader diagnoses, adapts, communicates, and advances in tandem with staff members. Isn’t that what we all want, skilled and confident staff that need very little oversight?
As with any model, in reality things are much more fluid and one must apply these principles with care. One thing I have learned is that just because a staff member may have developed to the high level of being very self-directed, circumstances may change and their “readiness” may drop, necessitating the supervisor’s change of style in response. For example, a new computer program or system is installed, fundamentally revising the work processes – now the skill level of the staff member is much lower in that area. Or, what if there is a reorganization and the staff member is moved to a different group of employees (and even supervisor)? There will be an adjustment period for everyone, again necessitating an adjustment of communication, etc.
Over the course of my career I tried to implement the Situational Leadership model, and I think it made me a much better court administrator. If you haven’t been exposed to this model, I encourage you to take a closer look.
In the next Vantage Point post I will write about performance appraisals, which directly ties in to the practice of treating every staff member as an individual.
Situational Leadership Model
[1] Situational Leadership was developed by Hersey and Blanchard (along with Performance Readiness), and is trademarked by Leadership Studies, Inc.
One thought on “One leadership style does NOT fit all!
1. R2 is trickiest. In the military, we distinguished 4 similar types: 1 Competent & ambitious were best slotted for staff positions, 2. Competent & Lazy for command (no complicated plans), 3. Incompetent & lazy who needed direction and supervision. The worst is incompetent and ambitious because they can screw many things up enthusiastically.
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First, it is important to explain that you must do your homework if you will attempt to discuss issues concerning science and the Bible. This is essential lest you speak about issues incorrectly or you misrepresent Scripture. To better prepare yourself for these questions I would suggest reading books such as: The Genesis Record by Henry Morris, Science and the Bible by Henry Morris, Evolution the Fossils say No by Dwayne Gish. These resources will give you a good overview of the subject and plenty of facts and Scripture that you can use.
Paul warned Timothy, "Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge" (1 Tim. 6:20). There are several fields of knowledge today that profess to have science behind their findings and knowledge on a subject. The falsity of these claims is evident simply because they contradict the teachings of Scripture. Yet, we must admit that there are many great and wondrous discoveries that modern science has given us, however, when science tries to explain the origin of man apart from the God who created all things, many foolish explanations arise.
I believe it is important to remind people that in times past science has proclaimed things as fact which later were revealed to be false. Theories such as the sun rotating around the earth or that the world was flat or that if ships would venture too far out to sea they would fall off the edge of the world. Compare these scientific beliefs with the fact that the Bible has clearly described our globe as early as 700 years before Christ as "the circle of the earth" (Is. 40:22). Jesus also spoke of a day when He would return and one person would be in bed asleep and another would be at work in the field. This statement clearly revealed that Jesus understood the fact that the earth was round which would explain why one part of the earth would be in darkness (people asleep in bed) the other would have day (people working in the field) (Luke 17:34-36).
Therefore, remind people that science has been wrong in the past. Encourage people to study all the evidence and then make a decision. Remind them that if Jesus knew that the earth was round in 32 AD, shouldn't they listen to His insight and knowledge concerning man’s spiritual need? He spoke of the reality of heaven and hell, of the forgiveness He wanted to give, and the way of salvation. Encourage people to seriously consider His wisdom. Their eternal destiny will depend on it.
The Fallacies of Evolution
Knowing the truth about evolution is essential to responding intelligently when this subject is brought up in your classroom. Therefore, you must know the facts concerning evolution and ways to bring these facts out in the classroom through the use of questions. Remember, a question is much easier for your teacher to deal with than directly challenging his or her intelligence in front of the class. Concentrate on the facts. Be sure your attitude is not prideful or aggressive. Scripture declares that the "Servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth" (2 Tim. 2:24-25).
Fact 1
Evolution is not a scientifically testable theory because it cannot be tested by the scientific method. The scientific method requires that a scientist (1) Observe a problem or a question to be studied (2) Make a hypothesis (a possible explanation) (3) Design repeatable experiments to test the hypothesis (4) Make observations from the experiments (5) Collect data (6) Form conclusions to support or reject the hypothesis (7) Continue testing new hypothesis if conclusions reject original hypothesis.
Neither creation nor evolution has been observed by anyone, and therefore, cannot be repeated in an experiment. Therefore, there are insufficient facts to form a truly scientific hypothesis as to the origin of the different species of animals or of man himself.
Question for the classroom: If the scientific method requires observable and repeatable evidence that can be testable, how can evolution be considered a scientific fact? Isn't evolution simply men guessing at how we got here?
Fact 2
Common sense and scientific logic demands that a person must reject the concept that a "big bang" created all living things and the resulting order and complexity of our universe. No one has ever observed, through an experiment, an explosion that has created life or resulted in creating order. Common sense reveals that a stick of dynamite in a lumber yard would never result in a complex or beautiful building. Looking at the results of the explosion at Mt. St. Helen’s and the resulting destruction that it seems illogical to believe in the big bang theory.
Question for the classroom: Can you give me other examples of experiments where life has been created by an explosion? Can you give me other examples of experiments where order has been created by an explosion? How can the "big bang" be considered a scientific theory when this explosion was not observed nor can it be repeated?
Fact 3
Science today wants you to believe that life was created from dead matter. This is a theory called "Spontaneous Generation" and it was rejected in the 1600s because of the experiments of Italian scientist Francesco Redi. People of that day believed that maggots were created from decaying meat. Redi disproved spontaneous generation by doing experiments where he repeatedly covered one portion of meat and left other portions open to the air. He observed that the maggots only resulted on the meat left in the open air where flies had deposited their eggs. The belief in spontaneous generation still continued until French chemist Louis Pasteur finally settled the issue in the mid-1800s. He discovered that even the smallest amounts of bacteria do not arise spontaneously but always grow from other bacteria, proving that living organisms always come from other living organisms. To believe that life spontaneously resulted from dead matter because of an electrical charge from some unknown source is to return to this false concept of spontaneous generation.
Question for the classroom: How can science teach that life began from dead matter? Isn't this a return to the disproved theory of spontaneous generation? Isn't it scientifically provable that living organisms only come from other living organisms?
Fact 4
Evolution contradicts the scientifically proven fact of the Law of Entropy (The Second Law of Thermodynamics). The Law of Entropy states that all matter tends to lose available energy as it is converted from one form to another, and as this energy is converted it moves toward decay, disorder, and disorganization. (Example: The energy produced by burning wood converts the wood to ashes). As any work is performed there is a loss of energy (increasing the entropy within a system) until the system can no longer perform that work (you can’t burn the ashes again). Henry Morris calls entropy "the universal law of decreasing complexity." Evolution is teaching the opposite, an increasing complexity of matter. When matter is performing work (evolving), this matter is moving toward greater order, complexity, and organization. Both concepts cannot be true.
Dr. Duane Gish states, "The fact that the universe, in its present state is deteriorating, has been fully verified by modern science. Everywhere we look, from the scale of the galaxies down to the scale of the atom, we find a universal, natural tendency of all systems to go from order to disorder; from complexity to simplicity. Thus, clusters of galaxies are dispersing as the galaxies move away from one another.
The rotation of the earth is slowing; the magnetic field of the earth is decaying. Erosion constantly wears down the features of the earth. Our bodies wear out; we die and decay to a pile of dust. Our houses, our machines wear out and are finally abandoned and replaced. Many atoms decay to simpler products, and it is even being postulated that sub-atomic particles, such as the proton, decay, though ever so slowly, into energy.
Each star, including our own sun, is constantly burning up billions of tons of fuel every second. Eventually, every star in the universe, unless God intervenes (which we are certain He will), will exhaust its fuel and become dark and cold. The universe would then be cold and dead, and, of course, all life would have ceased long before the last death throes of the universe. Even now, every so often a nova or supernova occurs, and a star very rapidly becomes less orderly, in a gigantic explosion.
This natural tendency towards disorder is so all-pervasive and unfailing that it has been formalized as a natural law - the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Isaac Asimov has stated it this way (Smithsonian Institute Journal, June 1970, p.6): "Another way of stating the second law then is: `The universe is constantly getting more disorderly!' Viewed that way, we can see the Second Law all about us. We have to work hard to straighten a room, but left to itself, it becomes a mess again very quickly and very easily. Even if we never enter it, it becomes dusty and musty. How difficult to maintain houses, and machinery, and our own bodies in perfect working order; how easy to let them deteriorate. In fact, all we have to do is nothing, and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out - all by itself - and that is what the Second Law is all about.
There is certainly no doubt, then, that modern scientific research has verified the truths expressed in Psalm 102:26. Many years of careful measurements by scientists, repeated many thousands of times, established beyond doubt the scientific truths expressed in that verse of Scripture."
Question for the classroom: Doesn't evolution contradict the Law of Entropy? How can an established law of science be contradicted by the weak hypothesis of evolution?
Fact 5
One glaring problem with the hypothesis of evolution is the fact that there are no examples of transitional forms in the fossil record as proof that evolution has occurred. A transitional form means that you should see the conversion of a (fish into an amphibian or an ape into a man) in the fossil record. You should see one species transitioning into a new species. This of course would be powerful and essential evidence to prove evolution. Even Charles Darwin wrote in his Origin of the Species (see chapter 6 "Difficulties with the Theory") that these transitional forms had to be found to prove his ideas. The fact is that there have been no transitional forms found to date from the literally billions and billions of fossils already unearthed. However, the fossils do reveal that all highly complex forms of life abruptly show up in the fossil record without evolutionary ancestors (transitional forms). Therefore, evolutionists have come up with a cleaver solution to this problem. To get around the problem of the lack of transitional forms in the fossil record, modern anthropologists have come up with a new hypothesis called Graduated Equilibrium. This supposed explanation teaches that the species didn't gradually evolve, but evolved from one species to another in giant steps so there would be no transitional forms in the fossil record. There is no evidence to support this idea either.
Note the actual evidence that anthropologists base their beliefs upon: Pictures cover the walls of every science classroom in America depicting the transition of apes to men. Here is the actual evidence. You decide if this is science or wishful thinking that leads people to draw these pictures?
1. Ramapithecus: Thought by many evolutionists to be the first hominid. Based on a handful of teeth and jaw fragments.
2. Australopithecus: Several of these creatures have been found in various parts of the world. Partial skulls with pelvis, a limb, and foot fragments. These creatures are thought to be similar to gorillas with a cranial capacity averaging 500c.c. or less (1/3 the size of man), with ape-like jaws and teeth.
3. Pithecanthropus erectus (Java Man): A scull-cap and two molar teeth were found with a human femur bone.
4. Sinathropus pekinensis (Peking Man): Fragments of about 30 sculls, 11 lower jaws, 147 teeth, and a few highly fragmentary remains of several limb bones. All of this material was lost during the Second World War.
5. Neanderthal Man: Today thought by most anthropologists to be fully human.
Question for the classroom: Why are there no transitional forms found in the fossil record? Doesn't this disprove the hypothesis of evolution? What evidence is there for graduated equilibrium? Why should we believe these teachings when there is no evidence for them, this seems very unscientific? If a hypothesis can’t be tested then it isn't science. How can these pictures on the wall be an honest depiction of what these creatures looked like when there is such little evidence?
This study was written by Pastor Steve Carr. If we can be of any further assistance please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
I know that if we have a cypher which makes only linear transformations (let's say a bunch of $XOR$'s), we break it simply writing a system of equations with $\oplus$ operation starting from the cypher's scheme.
At the end we'll have a system of $n$ equation involving the $n$ ptx bits, the $n$ ctx bits and the the $n$ key bits holding with probability: $Pr(1)$ and we can solve for the $n$ key bits.
Why with the presence of sboxes this is not possible in the same way?
Thinking about $DES$, couldn't we just reverse the s-boxes (which at the end are only look up tables) to write the same system of equations? In that case the relations won't be again deterministic? (holding with $Pr(1)$)
Wath is the precise meaning of non-deterministic transformation and how it is applied here?
Could you please make me a counterexample of what I'm saying, just to see why this approach couldn't be used, as it is, with presence of s-boxes?
It is of course possible to write DES or any block cipher as a system of non-linear equations involving the plaintext bits, the ciphertext bits, and the key bits, which hold with probability 1. In principle, cracking the cipher would then merely involve collecting enough linearly independent equations (e.g. from a couple different known plaintexts) and then solving the system.
However, for any typical block cipher the equations are going to be extremely high degree, involving preposterous numbers of terms. Solving very high degree systems of equations with large numbers of terms is actually a very hard problem. Which is to say, while systems of linear equations can be solved in polynomial time (e.g. with Gauss-Jordan elimination), solving systems of non-linear equations is NP-Complete and can take longer than the expected life of the universe to solve.
It is possible to reduce the degree of the system by clever use of intermediate or temporary variables (which also increases the number of equations). In fact, you can make the system as low degree as quadratic. But as it turns out, that doesn't help much - solving multivariate quadratic systems is still NP-Complete (this is called the "MQ" problem).
There have been a few papers in recent decades concerning "algebraic cryptanalysis" which purport to solve the specific systems of equations involved in certain ciphers in polynomial time. The idea with these papers is that while MQ in general is very hard, the specific systems of equations associated with some block ciphers might be sufficiently structured and sparse as to be efficiently solvable by some clever technique or another. However, none of the techniques thus far been convincing to the cryptographic community.
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$\begingroup$ "solving multivariate quadratic systems is still NP-Complete" -- Is this a conjecture or proven? $\endgroup$ – yyyy0000 Dec 4 '17 at 11:04
The S-Boxes are lossy. They map 6-bit inputs to 4-bit outputs, so for a given 4-bit output there are several possible inputs. Considering that there are 8 S-boxes, that's 16 bits of information lost per round, or 256 bits for all 16 rounds. It's much easier to exhaustively search the 56-bit keyspace than try to work backwards against that kind of information loss.
(There are optimizations to the naive working-backwards method, but hopefully you get the idea.)
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Smudge Sticks & Native American Lore
Smudge Sticks are nothing more then a bundle of dried plant material, but in something so simple, there exists an inherent presence of old lore, tales, and history. The popular belief is that by burning specific fragrant herbs, they may be able to ward off spirits, or purify their surroundings. Quite often this tradition is pushed as being a Native American invention, but we know from history books that people have been burning a wide variety of plants for millennia. The exact origin of using smudge sticks is not quite clear at this point in time.
“Where ever you go in North America, one of those sacred plants (Sage, Sweetgrass, Tobacco or Cedar) will be growing.” – Elder Buck, Opaskwayak Cree Nation
Native Americans made smudge sticks out of many different plants including white sage (Salvia apiana), sierra cedar, high desert pinoin, desert sage, dakota sage (Artemisia ludoviciana), black sage (Salvia mellifera), blue sage (Artemisia tridentata), yerba santa, and lavender. However, specific herbs used by one tribe may have been completely taboo to another tribe, or used for a completely different purpose. Culinary Sage (Salvia officinalis) on the other hand, is not native to North America, and was not traditionally made into smudges. Interestingly, the latin root of salvia is salvare, which means to heal.
Traditional Native American Usagesmudge pot
The practice of harvesting smudging plants has a long history dating back thousands of years. The tradition of using these plants is still quite adherent in Native American culture today among tribes such as the Cree, Ojibwe, and Cherokee. Justin Neely, director of Citizen Potawatomi Nation says: “…people will often smudge off their pipes and eagle feathers before using them.” These herbs were commonly burned in small smudging pots or abalone shells during cleansing and purification rituals.
“Smudging is smoke that rises up that we run our spiritual items through before using them and something we do to people before entering a ceremony. We also bless certain areas such as the dance arena and even the room we do general council at before we start the meeting.” – Justin Neely, Potawatomi Nation
traditional native american dance
Smudging Practices
Traditionally, extreme care was taken while harvesting these ceremonial plants.
Harvesting times were strict, and the specific day, month, year, dawn, evening, or even the lunar cycle played a role in such decisions. Gertrude Allen, a Lumbee Tribe member, has mentioned that her father, a Native American healer, stated that sage varies in potency at different times of the year.
It was a common theme among Native American rituals to symbolize and balance the four elements. The shell, or clay bowl was thought to represent water. Herbs and plant resins were central to the earth element. The feather is circular to the air element, and the flame of course represents fire. Occasionally a single herb was used, but a blend was more common. The Cree people call their blends a kinnikinnick, and such blends can contain up to 30 plants, each chosen for a specific spiritual reason, or to treat a specific illness. While burning, it was also quite common to vocally say a prayer, or sometimes even chant.
native american feather
A Native American Smudging Prayer
Creator, Great Mystery
Source of all knowing and comfort,
Cleanse this space of all negativity.
Open our pathways to peace and understanding.
Love and light fills each of us and our sacred space.
Our work here shall be beautiful and meaningful.
Banish all energies that would mean us harm.Our eternal gratitude.
– The Medicine Wheel Garden, E. Barrie Kavasch
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The name says it all. Shapes, states of matter, solutions, and physical and chemical changes are just a few of scientific principles examined in this highly entertaining lab.
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Disinfecting the Home for Dog Viruses
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The canine influenza virus is a respiratory infection. Since canine influenza is relatively new -- in began affecting dogs in 2004 -- dogs have no natural immunity to the virus. No antibiotics have been developed to kill the virus, so the best thing you can do is prevent your dog from getting canine influenza in the first place. Disinfecting your home is part of that task.
Canine Influenza Virus
Dogs can get canine influenza when they come into contact with an infected surface or animal. This means they can get it from a shared drinking bowl or a toy that another infected dog used. The virus is also airborne, which means it can travel in the air. Dogs with the virus can spread it to other dogs and are most infectious before they actual exhibit any symptoms. Once symptoms show, infected dogs can continue to spread the virus for 10 days.
Disinfecting the Environment
The canine influenza virus can survive up to 48 hours on hard surfaces and for up to 12 on clothing. For this reason, it is important for anyone interacting with multiple dogs to wash their hands frequently and to make sure all surfaces are properly disinfected. Use hot water and dish-washing liquid to regularly clean out your dog's food and water dishes. Disinfect all surfaces they may come into contact with, including the floors, walls, pantries and so on.
Proper Disinfectants
Use disinfectants in the right concentrations and give them the proper contact time recommended on the label. Wipe down surfaces before disinfecting them to make sure they're free of dirt or other particles. Don't mix different disinfectants, as they may cancel each other out. Every so often, though, switch up the disinfectant you use. This is important, because no disinfectant will destroy all pathogens. Cycling different ones will give you the most well-rounded cleaning.
Purifying the Air
Since many viruses are airborne, the most effective way to prevent viral infections is by purifying the air. Consider getting an air-purifying unit designed to kill harmful microbes in the air. Air-purifying units that utilize ultraviolet germicidal irradiation light are especially effective in fighting pet pathogens. These units have served for years in many government buildings, laboratories and hospitals, and are now available for homes.
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The Peril of UV: SUNBURN, a guide by Dr. David Jack
Sunburn is essentially a radiation burn to the skin from UV rays from the sun. The depth of the burn depends on the time and exposure to the sun - mostly it would be a superficial depth burn (in America this would be described as first or second degree), which causes erythema (redness due to increased blood flow and inflammation on the skin) and sometimes blistering.
How can you best treat sunburn?
This depends on the depth of the burn but generally, it will be by cooling and soothing the skin with a vitamin E based cream or with aloe vera. Depending on how extensive the burn is, particularly if a large area is burnt then you should be careful to drink plenty of water, as higher surface area burns can cause the blood pressure to drop (and even hypovolemic shock in cases where burns are over 18% of the body surface area). Any burns where the skin is blistered or broken should be treated with an antiseptic ointment such as savlon.
Maintaining a good fluid intake is important in the recovery period following any burn and sunburn is no exception. You should aim to drink around 3L water per day, and ideally added electrolytes to cover any losses. My Skinfusion micronutrient drink is ideal for this as it contains a bespoke blend of vitamins and micronutrients which help the skin recover.
What ingredients are ideal for restoring the skin barrier?
sun protection
The key to quick recovery from sunburn is that infection is prevented in any area that the skin is broken, as the skin will restore its own barrier. Antiseptic is important for this but it is also important that nothing irritating or exfoliating is used on the skin whenever a burn is fresh and healing, so things like vitamin C, retinol and AHAs should all be avoided, in favour of vitamin E and other calming ingredients. Likewise, maintaining a good internal environment to promote healing with plenty of antioxidants and protein, such as those found in SkinShake.
What is the best way to avoid sunburn?
It sounds obvious but the easiest way to avoid sunburn is by avoiding excessive exposure to the sun! Covering up with light materials that block UV is important and using a high grade SPF such as All Day Long in exposed areas is essential. Areas such as the hands, neck, ears and feet are often forgotten, so make sure you remember to apply to these areas!
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General Health
Many adolescents have trouble talking to doctors about sensitive issues associated with their health such as alcohol and other drugs, sexual health and mental health. It’s really important to remember that doctors are bound by confidentiality laws, so whatever you share during your appointment is strictly between the two of you. Doctors are trained professionals and will always want to help you in whatever way they can. So if you have any concerns about your health or just want to talk to someone who will listen, your local GP is a great place to start. Below are some links we think might be helpful for you:
A Youth Friendly Doctor
A Youth Friendly Doctor (YFD) is a doctor who is specially trained in dealing with issues that affect young people. The AMA (WA) provides an updated listing of qualified doctors who are ready to talk about these issues.
A website with info about laws and legal rights for people under 18 years in Australia, such as moving out of home, buying a car, renting a house, having sex, and using alcohol and other drugs.
Medicare Australia is an Australian Government agency, delivering a range of payments and services to the Australian community.
Medicare Card Application
Click on this link to order your own Medicare card. |
10 scientific puzzles that we still can not solve
From the very beginning of the interested consciousness, man began to explore the world around him, constantly expanding the horizons. But it turns out that as far as these horizons do not expand, they reveal even more distant horizons, which have to be dragged along for a long time. So what? We get a real pleasure learning something new. We are ready to gnaw granite to get to the bottom of things. But we can not solve some of the riddles of science. Perhaps you will help?
The universe began with the Big Bang?
The theory of the Big Bang has for many years been considered the most reliable, explaining the beginning of the universe. But is she really one hundred percent sure and the only answer?
“The Big Bang” theory was named one of the most cruel of its opponents, Fred Hoyle. He thought that the universe was static and eternal – but his hypothesis quickly died. In 1929, Edwin Hubble proved that the universe is expanding. Then came new evidence in favor of the theory of the Big Bang: in 1965 it became the existence of microwave background radiation, the afterglow of the Big Bang.
But there is one but. The Hubble measurements, made in 1929, were refuted in 1990. In fact, the universe expanded more slowly than the theory of the Big Bang predicted. In response, Alan Guth introduced some corrections to the theory of the Big Bang. He stated that the universe first expanded rapidly, and then slowly.
But as critics of the Big Bang say, it is impossible to prove this. Maybe we need a new way to determine the beginning of the universe?
How to predict an earthquake?
Our understanding of the movements of the Earth began to form relatively recently. Only in 1912 Alfred Wegener came to the conclusion that the continents are in constant motion. In the 1960s, the US Navy observed that the seabed was not smooth, as it was supposed before – it consisted of mountain ranges.
Scientists came to the conclusion that the seabed was also exposed to volcanoes and earthquakes. This discovery led to the theory of plate tectonics, which explains the large-scale movements of the Earth’s lithosphere. Now we know that earthquakes are born when two plates creep on each other.
We were able to locate places more prone to tectonic activity. But we still do not know when the earthquake will happen. For example, scientists can predict that an earthquake will soon occur in Los Angeles. It can mean any moment from tomorrow to the next 30 years.
What causes glacial periods?
We still do not know what causes glacial periods. Milutin Milankovich proposed a decision in 1920. He said that the Earth receives different amounts of solar energy at different times because of how our planet moves. This leads to the appearance of glacial periods with constant intervals. Initially, the idea of Milankovitch seemed correct, because the ice ages really came every 100,000 years.
But Milankovich’s theory can not explain some serious violations in this scheme – for example, a period of 200 million years without a single glacial period. The new theories focused on the greenhouse effect, but it generates more questions than answers. What led to fluctuations in carbon dioxide when no people were yet? Scientists are racking their brains, but nobody knows the truth yet.
Is there a missing link?
The missing link is a hypothetical evolutionary link between primates and humans. In 1912, Charles Dawson found a skull with a vault of man and a monkey’s jaw at Piltdown Common near Lewis in England. For 41 years, the scientific community believed that we had found the missing link.
However, this unusual find was a fake, created by the zoologist of the British Museum named Hinton. What for? Such was his revenge.
Hinton started working at the museum as a volunteer. When he asked about the salary, the guardian of paleontology Arthur Smith Woodward refused him. Therefore, Hinton forged the skull to undermine Woodward’s authority as a scientist. However, the plan did not work.
In 1956, William Strauss suggested that the Neanderthal man was our immediate ancestor. However, new methods of dating fossils have shown that people and Neanderthals lived simultaneously and maintained contacts. The vacancy is still open.
Why did the abstract communication system appear so late?
The earliest examples of art date back as being created 35,000 years ago. However, written language developed only 7,000 years ago, and mathematics took another 2000 years.
Why was there such a big gap between the first abstract drawings and the first communication system? Most likely, our brain must be the first to change. But how? The brain is such a complex structure that it may take several centuries before we understand the principles of its work.
What are black holes?
The concept of black holes was first met with disbelief. When physicist Sir Arthur Eddington first heard about them, he exclaimed: “I think there must be a law of nature that does not allow a star to behave in such a strange way!”
The first to welcome the black holes Oppenheimer in 1938. But Sir Arthur Eddington can be understood, because the behavior of black holes contradicts intuition. Nobody knows what is happening inside the black hole. In the 1990s, scientists discovered the existence of supermassive black holes the size of a billion suns. They are, as a rule, located in the center of elliptical galaxies. Did they participate in the creation of these galaxies? We do not know, really. And the black holes themselves are a real mystery to us, because neither we can see nor touch them, nor can we visit them.
How old is the universe?
No one knows for sure. The answers vary from 8 to 20 billion years, but this is a rather large spread. The strangest thing about this problem is that the universe can be younger than its oldest stars. Studies conducted in 1994 showed that the universe is 8 billion years old, which means that the oldest star in the Milky Way is older than the universe itself. Fortunately, the measurements carried out in 1999 disproved previous studies.
But their triumph was short-lived. Another study, conducted with the help of modern technologies, showed that the universe was 15% smaller, and therefore 15% younger. According to this study, there are stars older than the Universe itself. What are we doing wrong? Perhaps we do not understand the fundamental laws of physics?
Are there multiple universes?
The first concept of multiple universes was proposed by science fiction writer Jack Williamson in 1952. What inspired the physics of Hugh Everett. In 1957, he wrote a doctorate on the topic of multiple universes. According to his model, each event creates a series of universes in which every possible outcome of this event takes place.
John Wheeler, the head of Everett, proposed a different version. In his view, the universe periodically expanded and then shrunk to the size of an atom. But some scientists noted that the universe, apparently, does not have enough substance to collapse.
Stephen Hawking developed a theory that states that there are an infinite number of universes with every possible future.
The only problem is that we can not test these theories in practice.
What will be the end of the universe?
Some theories suggest that the universe will begin to contract at a certain point, until it reaches the size of the atom. Then there will be another big explosion, and the universe will reborn.
But there is another possibility. The universe can expand infinitely, pushing the galaxies farther and farther apart. In the end, the stars will burn out all their fuel, and there will be nothing left. |
Anatomy and Physiology of Animals/Muscles
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After completing this section, you should know:
• The structure of smooth, cardiac and skeletal muscle and where they are found.
• What the insertion and origin of a muscle is.
• What flexion and extension of a muscle means.
• That muscles usually operate as antagonistic pairs.
• What tendons attach muscles to bones.
Muscles make up the bulk of an animal’s body and account for about half its weight. The meat on the chop or roast is muscle and is composed mainly of protein. The cells that make up muscle tissue are elongated and able to contract to a half or even a third of their length when at rest. There are three different kinds of muscle based on appearance and function: smooth, cardiac and skeletal muscle.
Types of Muscle[edit]
• Smooth muscle
Smooth or Involuntary muscle carries out the unconscious routine tasks of the body such as moving food down the digestive system, keeping the eyes in focus and adjusting the diameter of blood vessels. The individual cells are spindle-shaped, being fatter in the middle and tapering off towards the ends with a nucleus in the centre of the cell. They are usually found in sheets and are stimulated by the non-conscious or autonomic nervous system as well as by hormones (see Chapter 3).
• Cardiac muscle
Cardiac muscle is only found in the wall of the heart. It is composed of branching fibres that form a three-dimensional network. When examined under the microscope, a central nucleus and faint stripes or striations can be seen in the cells. Cardiac muscle cells contract spontaneously and rhythmically without outside stimulation, but the sinoatrial node (natural pacemaker) coordinates the heart beat. Nerves and hormones modify this rhythm (see Chapter 3).
• Skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscle is the muscle that is attached to and moves the skeleton, and is under voluntary control. It is composed of elongated cells or fibres lying parallel to each other. Each cell is unusual in that it has several nuclei and when examined under the microscope appears striped or striated. This appearance gives the muscle its names of striped or striated muscle. Each cell of striated muscle contains hundreds, or even thousands, of microscopic fibres each one with its own striped appearance. The stripes are formed by two different sorts of protein that slide over each other making the cell contract (see diagram 7.1).
Anatomy and physiology of animals Striped muscle cell.jpg
Diagram 7.1 - A striped muscle cell
Muscle contraction[edit]
Muscle contraction requires energy and muscle cells have numerous mitochondria. However, only about 15% of the energy released by the mitochondria is used to fuel muscle contraction. The rest is released as heat. This is why exercise increases body temperature and makes animals sweat or pant to rid themselves of this heat.
What we refer to as a muscle is made up of groups of muscle fibers surrounded by connective tissue. The connective tissue sheaths join together at the ends of the muscle to form tough white bands of fiber called tendons. These attach the muscles to the bones. Tendons are similar in structure to the ligaments that attach bones together across a joint (see diagrams 7.2a and b).
Anatomy and physiology of animals Structure of a muscle.jpg
Diagram 7.2 a and b - The structure of a muscle
Tendons Tie muscles to bones
Ligaments Link bones at joints
Structure of a muscle[edit]
A single muscle is fat in the middle and tapers towards the ends. The middle part, which gets fatter when the muscle contracts, is called the belly of the muscle. If you contract your biceps muscle in your upper arm you may feel it getting fatter in the middle. You may also notice that the biceps is attached at its top end to bones in your shoulder while at the bottom it is attached to bones in your lower arm. Notice that the bones at only one end move when you contract the biceps. This end of the muscle is called the insertion. The other end of the muscle, the origin, is attached to the bone that moves the least (see diagram 7.3).
Anatomy and physiology of animals Antagonistic muscles, flexion&tension.jpg
Diagram 7.3 - Antagonistic muscles, flexion and extension
Antagonistic muscles[edit]
Skeletal muscles usually work in pairs. When one contracts the other relaxes and vice versa. Pairs of muscles that work like this are called antagonistic muscles. For example the muscles in the upper forearm are the biceps and triceps (see diagram 7.3). Together they bend the elbow. When the biceps contracts (and the triceps relaxes) the lower forearm is raised and the angle of the joint is reduced. This kind of movement is called flexion. When the triceps is contracted (and the biceps relaxes), the angle of the elbow increases. The term for this movement is extension.
When you or animals contract skeletal muscle it is a voluntary action. For example, you make a conscious decision to walk across the room, raise the spoon to your mouth, or smile. There is however, another way in which contraction of muscles attached to the skeleton happens that is not under voluntary control. This is during a reflex action, such as jerking your hand away from the hot stove you have touched by accident. This is called a reflex arc and will be described in detail in chapter 14-15.
• There are three different kinds of muscle tissue: smooth muscle in the walls of the gut and blood
vessels; cardiac muscle in the heart and skeletal muscle attached to the skeleton.
• Tendons attach skeletal muscles to the skeleton.
• Ligaments link bones together at a joint.
• Skeletal muscles work in pairs known as antagonistic pairs. As one contracts the other in the
pair relaxes.
• Flexion is the movement that reduces the angle of a joint. Extension increases the angle
of a joint.
Test Yourself[edit]
1. What kind of muscle tissue:
a) moves bones
b) makes the heart pump blood:
c) pushes food along the intestine:
d) makes your mouth form a smile:
e) makes the hair stand up when cold:
f) makes the diaphragm contract for breathing in:
2. What structure connects a muscle to a bone?
3. What is the insertion of a muscle?
4. Which muscle is antagonistic to the biceps?
5. Name 3 other antagonistic pairs and tell what they do.
6. When you bend your knee what movement are you making?
7. When you straighten your ankle joint what movement happens?
8. What organelles provide the energy that muscles need?
9. State the difference between a tendon and a ligament.
10.In the section "Skeletal Muscle" there are 2 proteins mentioned. Name these proteins, state their size difference, and tell what they actually do to help produce movement.
Description of the three types of muscles and how skeletal muscles work. |
Klaipeda Seaport
Klaipėda Seaport
a major warm-water Soviet port on the Baltic Sea and Kuršių Gulf.
Klaipėda seaport is the base port of Lithuanian sea shipping. It has the production and other facilities necessary to serve Soviet and foreign vessels. The port supplies ships with fuel and fresh water, as well as other material and technical assistance. Repairs can be carried out at Klaipeda. The port is also the base of a fishing fleet. Coal, petroleum, metals, cotton, and other exports pass through Klaipeda; the port receives imported goods for the national economy of the USSR.
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Bring out the role of Bassanio and a character sketch.
QuestionsBring out the role of Bassanio and a character sketch.
Rohan asked 3 years ago
Discuss the importance and role of Bassanio’s character in Shakespeare’s play Merchant of Venice. Also give a character sketch of Bassanio.
2 Answers
Jayanta Kumar Maity Staff answered 3 years ago
The character of Bassanio in William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice is an important one. In fact, he is the instigator of the two main story-linesthe casket story and the bond story. Bassanio somehow hears about the heiress Portia and her wealth and decides to try his luck in winning Portia’s hand. That is why he needed the money to go to Belmont. But he had already spend up all his finances and went to his merchant friend Antonio who helped him borrow the money from Shylock. Antonio was unable to pay back Shylock in time, as he lost his ships and his wealth in the sea. That is how the trial scene originates.
So, without Bassanio going to Belmont to choose a casket, the casket story and the presentation of characters like Prince of Morocco and Prince of Arragon would have been irrelevant. Again, the Bond story between Shylock and Antonio could not exist at all if Bassanio did not need the money. Or even if it happened so by Antonio himself needing the money, the theme of friendship that Shakespeare presents would have been missed altogether. This only makes Bassanio an essential figure in the play. This is again justifiable by the fact that he is considered as the typical hero of the play while Portia is the heroine and the play ends with their marriage.
Now, to concentrate on the character sketch of Bassanio, he is presented as an enthusiastic young man with some good qualities and a crucial flaw of character. This man had already wasted all his wealth before the play opens and now wants to win Portia’s hand as a gamble to get all the wealth fair Portia has inherited from her late father. He is clearly seen as an extravagant man with a lack of material wisdom. He lives in a dream-like idealistic world far from reality. That is why he did not bother to take a loan with his friend Antonio as a guarantor and pretend to be a wealthy man to impress Portia. He seemed carefree of the potential danger of such loan where Antonio himself was in a tight spot with his finances. It was reckless from him.
But the good side of Bassanio’s character is depicted in his loyalty to his friendship and love. He wanted to offer his own life while Antonio was in trouble in the trial scene. Again, when Portia, in disguise as Balthazar, wanted his ring as a fee to test his devotion towards her, he qualified that test as well. Though finally he parted with that ring, it was due to his sense of gratitude towards the lawyer who helped his friend Antonio save his life. And Bassanio’s wisdom is proved in the fact that he was successful in choosing the right casket to win his love.
While his fault has been his extravagance and frivolity, many readers and critics overlook it as natural trait of youth. Then his good qualities stand out and make the man lovable.
30 Votes ⇧ Upvote
sanjana sridhar answered 1 year ago
Bassanio, the romantic hero of the play, is someone who cannot handle his finances. Bassanio is a very lavish and extravagant character in the play who doesn’t think about the future and only thinks about the present. He enjoys life to the fullest and doesn’t hesitate in spending money. His character is not justifiable according to today’s means but it’s justifiable according to the Elizabethan era.
The Elizabethan era is the golden era which was very prosperous to all, hence Bassanio was not the only Venetian spending big ducats and not understanding the value of money. There was a time when Bassanio was left with no money for him to even go and meet Portia and be one of the people to hold rival positions to win her. Bassanio immediately turned towards Antonio’s help. This shows the reason for Bassanio’s carefree spending; he was confident enough that his wealthy friend would be there to help him.
Although Bassanio went to Antonio for money, in troubles he never thought of Antonio as the friend he uses and throws and this can be seen when Bassanio warns Antonio not to accept the bond of shylock and it can also be seen when he goes to free Antonio from the bond to the court. His loyalty and love towards Antonio are so much that he parts with his ring which he swore to never part with since Portia gave it. Bassanio gives away the ring without hesitation to the lawyer who saved Antonio’s life when Antonio says to do so.
Although his love and loyalty towards Antonio is much more than that towards Portia, Bassanio is actually someone who deserves her. Bassanio’s love for the rich heiress Portia, though appears to be mercenary at the beginning, develops into true love later in the play. His nobility and character is evident in the correct choice of casket. Bassanio choosing the lead casket proves us he does not like Portia for her looks or for her money and riches he likes her for herself.
Without Bassanio, Morocco and Arragon would not be significant; they indicate the two types of people who come to win a hand of a fair lady — one who does for her looks and the other who does for her money.
Bassanio’s happy-go-lucky nature is a sharp contrast to that of Antonio’s melancholic one. At the beginning of the play, Bassanio seems to be a spendthrift adventurer, a fortune hunter and a frivolous youth, but later on he proves to be a profound lover and a loyal friend.
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Do Western Balkans states engage in digital diplomacy?
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Social media is fundamentally changing the way people communicate with each other, but also the way governments engage with citizens. It has changed the way that public diplomacies around the world communicate and inform citizens about their activities. Bearing in mind all benefits from usage of internet and social media, governments have a new possibility to achieve their foreign policy goals by promoting and branding their country. Even smaller states can use the advantage of social media to improve their visibility and presence in the world.
The use of the Internet and new information communication technologies to help achieve diplomatic goals is called digital diplomacy or “eDiplomacy” or even “Twiplomacy”. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office defines digital diplomacy as “solving foreign policy problem using the Internet”. It is an extension to traditional diplomacy, not a substitute for traditional channels of communication between governments. Diplomacy is no longer reserved only for State – State relations, but also for State – civil society relations. It offers an opportunity for ordinary people to exchange opinion or demand something directly from the Ministries, Embassies and diplomats. On the other hand, foreign missions have benefited from digital diplomacy by enabling open-source intelligence. Nowadays governments have access to all digitally present citizens who share their opinion, photos and videos on events and issues in real time.
Twitter is seen as the most common digital diplomacy tool, as there are over 260 accounts of heads of state and government in 125 countries worldwide, but only 30 leaders tweet personally, says the study on Twiplomacy. The first foreign ministry to establish digital diplomacy unit was the US State Department. Diplomat’s Twitter profile is usually run by a public affairs officer instead by the diplomat her/himself. As a consequence of the spread of Twitter, the ways in which governments/officials and people communicate with each other have changed. All of that has forced diplomats to redesign diplomacy. They are trying to explore new innovative ways to achieve their goals in the international sphere. But it also allows citizens direct access to their leaders.
If we take a look to Western Balkan countries we will see that social media usage is also increasingly present, but states are still struggling with openness and transparency. On the one hand, social media strengthens values of openness between citizens and governments. On the other hand, those states are trying to stay reserved. Looking at Digital Diplomacy review for 2016 that ranks 210 Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Serbia takes 94th place on the list. Some other Western Balkans countries are ranked better (Albania 43rd place, Kosovo 71st place), while some others are ranked worse, such as Macedonia (118), Bosnia and Herzegovina (141) and Montenegro (144).
If we take a closer look to Serbia it can be noticed there is not something we could call digital diplomacy strategy. Serbia has not established digital diplomacy system, even though there are many Twitter users in Serbia. It is interesting that Serbia does not have its official account of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while many embassies have their Twitter accounts in Serbia. Furthermore, foreign Ambassadors have their own accounts and use them to promote countries they come from.
There is a similar situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Unlike them, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania have official accounts of their Ministries of Foreign Affairs. Moreover, Ministers of these three countries use Twitter as a tool to communicate their daily activities.
It is important for governments to train new generations of diplomats and officials to use social media to extend their actions. We live in an era in which it is more possible than ever before to bridge the gap between diplomacy and citizens. Twitter might be a great way to do so.
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In this area, there are 17 hot water springs in which the temperature ranges from 35 °C (95 °F) to 100 °C (212 °F).[citation needed] The water that emerges from the spring is transported 320 metres (1,050 ft)[citation needed] to the head of the travertine terraces and deposits calcium carbonate on a section 60 to 70 metres (200 to 230 ft) long covering an expanse of 24 metres (79 ft) to 30 metres (98 ft). When the water, supersaturated with calcium carbonate, reaches the surface, carbon dioxide de-gasses from it, and calcium carbonate is deposited. The depositing continues until the carbon dioxide in the water balances the carbon dioxide in the air. Calcium carbonate is deposited by the water as a soft jelly,[citation needed] but this eventually hardens into travertine.
This reaction is affected by the weather conditions, ambient temperature, and the flow duration. Precipitation continues until the carbon dioxide in the thermal water reaches equilibrium with the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Measurements made at the source of the springs find atmospheric levels of 725 mg/l carbon dioxide, by the time this water flows across the travertines, this figure falls to 145 mg/l. Likewise calcium carbonate falls from 1200 mg/l to 400 mg/l and calcium 576.8 mg/l to 376.6 mg/l. From these results it is calculated that 499.9 mg of CaCO3 is deposited on the travertine for every liter of water. This means that for a flow rate of 1 l/s of water 43,191 grams (1,523.5 oz) are deposited daily. The average density of a travertine is 1.48 g/cm3 implying a deposit of 29.2 dm3. Given that the average flow of the water is 465.2 l/s this implies that it can whiten 13,584 square metres (146,220 sq ft) a day, but in practice this area coverage is difficult to attain. These theoretical calculations indicate that up to 4.9 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi) it can be covered with a white deposit of 1 millimetre (0.039 in) thickness.
In this museum, alongside historical artifacts from Hierapolis, there are also artifacts from Laodiceia, Colossae, Tripolis, Attuda and other towns of the Lycos (Çürüksu) valley. In addition to these, the museum has a large section devoted to artifacts found at Beycesultan Hüyük that includes some of the most beautiful examples of Bronze Age craft.
Artifacts from the Caria, Pisidia and Lydia regions are also on display in this museum. The museum’s exhibition space consists of three closed areas of the Hierapolis Bath and the open areas in the eastern side which are known to have been used as the library and gymnasium. The artifacts in open exhibition space are mostly marble and stone. Hierapolis is broken down into ruins.
Pamukkale is a tourist attraction. It is recognized as a World Heritage Site together with Hierapolis. Hierapolis-Pamukkale was made a World Heritage Site in 1988.
The underground volcanic activity which causes the hot springs also forced carbon dioxide into a cave, which was called the Plutonium, which here means “place of the god Pluto”. This cave was used for religious purposes by priests of Cybele, who found ways to appear immune to the suffocating gas.
Tadpoles can be found in the pools.
The hotels built in the 1960s were demolished as they were draining the thermal waters into their swimming pools and caused damage to the terraces. Nowadays, water supply to the hotels are limited and they need to deposit the water used to the supply to generate.
Access to the terraces is not allowed and visitors are asked to follow the pathway. Due to the new regulations, visitors are only allowed to use small pools.
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Tips for Parents of Children with ADHD
Managing ADHD in children requires compassion and control from parents
/ Author: / Reviewed by: Robert Carlson, M.D
Millions of American children are affected by attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Kids with ADHD face a number of learning and behavioral issues, including difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. These issues can lead to poor performance at school, low self-esteem and troubled relationships.
Many children with ADHD are prescribed medications to help control symptoms. However, medications are just one part of treatment. Children with ADHD must also learn to control their problematic behaviors, and the home may be one of the best places for these children to learn.
In the home, parents can create clearly defined boundaries and homework routines using methods, such as Compassionate Parental Control, to help their child stay on top of schoolwork and control behavioral issues.
If you are a parent of a child with ADHD, you play a crucial role in your child's treatment and learning process. This article offers information to parents about how to manage their children's ADHD at home.
Routine is extremely important for a child with ADHD - a point pressed home by Robert M. Pressman, PhD, ABPP, Director of Research at New England Center for Pediatric Psychology (NECPP) and a dailyRx Contributing Expert.
According to the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality (NICHQ), parents should set up a clear and consistent routine so that their child "can predict the order of events." In order to clearly define such a routine, parents may choose to put a schedule in writing or in pictures for their child.
"There are five critical routines in every family," says Dr. Pressman, "each providing solid opportunities for parents to reduce ADHD symptoms of their child. The first routine is getting up in the morning and the last is going to bed at night. In between are homework, dinnertime, and chores."
The middle part of the routine typically includes time for homework, playtime and mealtime. Children with ADHD should know exactly when and how long they are supposed to do homework and when they get to play. And after all that work and play, they should have scheduled rest time.
Dr. Pressman especially stresses the importance of bedtime and nighttime routine. In fact, he says it is the most important aspect of routine. "Nighttime routine is especially critical," he says. "It must include the child sleeping independently in his or her own bed all night. Without an incredibly consistent nighttime routine, there are nothing but problems."
Boundaries and Support
In addition to a consistent routine, children with ADHD need a clear set of ground rules. In other words, they need to know exactly what sort of behavior is allowed or encouraged and what sort of behavior is not tolerated. Parents must set these rules and stick to them. It is also crucial that parents make sure their child understands the rules so he or she does not feel uninformed.
With clearly defined rules, a parent does not have to argue with a child who, for example, refuses to do homework at the designated time. Instead, the parent can simply point to the rule. If the child does not respond, parents can use timeouts or the loss of privileges - such as video games or computers - to discipline their child. However, it's more important to punish behavior rather than punishing the child. If a child misbehaves, a parent may want to let natural consequences occur, to step away from the conflict or to give the child a choice.
When it comes to enforcing boundaries, parents must balance between compassion and control. Helping a child with ADHD to succeed requires much more than punishing bad behavior. It also requires support, affection and rewarding good behavior. In fact, Urgent Survey™, a collaborative study by the National Center for Children's Medicine and Brown Medical School will provide parents and educators with valuable information. Specifically being studied is Compassionate Parental Control (CPC) - a system that combines kindness with unbending rules. The results and methodology will be outlined in a homework book published by Penguin in 2014.
Children with ADHD must be shown that they are valued and loved. Words of affection, smiles, hugs or simple pats on the shoulder are all ways a parent can express love to their children. Parents should also enjoy time with their children to accept and appreciate the parts of their children's personalities that are not so difficult.
It is also important that parents boost their child's self-esteem and confidence. Parents should highlight and encourage the things their children are good at doing. If a child with ADHD is good at art, for example, parents should make sure that child has time to spend on art.
One of the biggest concerns among parents of children with ADHD is homework. That is, how can parents help their children successfully understand and complete their school assignments?
While parents should not be doing their children's assignments, there are some things parents can do. Both routine and clear boundaries play a role in this endeavor.
Parents should set a routine and schedule for homework. In other words, children with ADHD need a specific time and place for homework.
A child with ADHD may try to find reasons why he or she cannot or does not need to do homework. According to Dr. Pressman, parents often hear their children say things like, "I can't find my homework" or "I don't have any homework." But that shouldn't keep parents from making their children stick to their routine.
"Parents should create a homework time whether or not they have homework," says Dr. Pressman. "The schedule is very important with an ADHD child."
If a child actually does not have homework, then the scheduled homework time should still be dedicated to reading or another academic activity.
Parents should not allow their child to wait to do homework until late in the evening. In addition, parents should find a place in the home where their child can do homework, not in total isolation but without distractions like cell phones, TV and social media.
When a child puts forth good effort and completes homework assignments, parents should praise and compliment that child. If a child needs help with homework, it's okay for parents to point out errors and do some minor corrections. But they should also remember to be supportive and noncritical.
Parents may find it helpful to offer their children incentives to finish homework. Here, the schedule can help. Dr. Pressman says that parents can schedule time for video games, for example, after homework time. A child may say, "I'm done with homework. Can I play video games now?" The parent can then respond, "What's the rule?" With a clear schedule, the child will know he or she has to wait until homework time is over to play video games.
Discipline and Responsibility
Through creating a solid schedule and setting clear boundaries, parents of children with ADHD can teach discipline and responsibility. A child who dedicates a portion of the day to chores and homework can gain a sense of responsibility and get a boost of self-esteem.
At first, a child with ADHD may object to rigid schedules and boundaries. However, according to Dr. Pressman, "After a few days, a child starts to fall into the schedule and takes responsibility."
If your child has ADHD, you may find the advice above to be helpful at home. But it's important that you work with a doctor or therapist to figure out the best way to manage your child's ADHD.
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Review Date:
February 12, 2013 |
Archive for February, 2017
Recently I listened to a podcast by Joe Rogan and Dr. Rhonda Patrick.
He beautifully expressed many of my feelings regarding exercise and it made me want to share it with you (warning: swearing):
or you can read my summary below
I hope it motivates you!
Some people don’t want to exercise; they’d rather go to a doctor and get a pill. There’s a fear of discomfort, they don’t want to sweat and strain. It’s an extreme feeling in the mind.
What it really is however is the discomfort of the beginnings of getting in shape. Because once you’re fit, exercise is something you look forward to. It alleviates stress and makes you feel good: relaxed, carefree, more appreciative of things and less reactive.
Neuro-imaging studies show that exercise improves executive function and calms the amygdala – the brains emotional centre. Exercise helps you think logically and be less reactive from the gut. Meditation has similar effect.
So how to get started? Create momentum. Resist the resistance. Realize that discomfort is your friend. The choice to resist creates momentum, just as the choice to avoid creates momentum. The more you resist the more you can resist. The more you avoid, the more you continue to avoid. When we consistently resist the avoidance it creates a force that propels us forward.
Often when we are not happy and content with life it’s because we have given into the avoidance. We have stayed in our comfort zone. The need to act is so strong yet we avoid it. We feel that resistance all the time and we have to fight it in order to get past it so we can progress and succeed.
When we choose to avoid working out, it’s not only bad for us physically but also mentally. When we decide to stay on the couch we tell ourselves that it’s an option, that avoiding is an option that is at our disposal and that creates momentum to continue avoiding. Our choices create neuro-pathways in the brain: to avoid or to resist. Once the neuro-pathway is created we tend to stay on that path. If we choose to avoid, we may then find ourselves avoiding other things in life too: conflict, uncomfortable decisions and making changes.
When we get off the couch and go workout we feel successful and a sense of accomplishment. A year from now you could have a completely different body working out just 2 -3 times a week. It’s not a huge commitment and the outcome is incredible. You could add ten years to your life! It’s not about vanity; it’s about the quality of your life, not only as you age but also right now, how it affects you today. And it not only affects you but everyone that comes into contact with you.
When we live a sedentary lifestyle and eat badly we accelerate aging; we become broken and start to fall apart. We can delay the aging process and improve the quality of our life simply by being active and eating well. What could me more important?!
If you could take a pill to prevent your body and mind from a decaying from old age would you take it? Everyone would say yes, but there is no such pill. The pill is exercise and healthy eating. Actual pills don’t always work and they have side effects. And a pill is not going to make you feel better in a true sense. A pill is not going to clear your mind, change the shape of your body and give you confidence and ease. Yes pills are sometimes necessary for a medical condition but often the medical condition is caused by unhealthy habits to begin with.
Our consciousness is in charge of making the choice. What will you choose?
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Did Jesus Claim to be God?
HomeChristianity and the BibleDid Jesus Claim to be God?
Many skeptics of Christianity believe that Jesus never claimed to be God. Some claim that nobody believed He was God until long, long after His death. Others argue that Jesus’ own words show that He believed Himself to be simply a man, or only the Son of God and not God Himself. Still others claim that Jesus’ divinity was created by the apostle Paul, and that his teaching and Jesus’ teaching are in conflict. From Jehovah’s Witnesses to Muslims to atheists, a whole bunch of people deny that Jesus is God.
Their confusion is understandable. It’s not a common situation…you know, God becoming human. When we look at Scripture, it’s undeniable that Jesus Himself, and His disciples, and the Jews around Him, understood that He was claiming to be God.
Jesus claimed to be God
Jesus repeatedly called Himself the Son of Man. This refers to a prophecy in Daniel 7, which Jesus quotes directly. The Son of Man is the one whom all will worship, whose reign will last forever, and so on. Remember: religious Jews are fiercely monotheistic…they would never worship anyone who is not God, yet they accept that the Son of Man should be worshipped.
In Revelation 1:17, John records Jesus saying, I am the first and the last. This is a direct quote from Isaiah 44:6, where God says I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
When Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, He wasn’t claiming that He was a created being, or that He was less…He was claiming to be EQUAL with God. The Jewish leaders understood this very well, as we see in John 5:18For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
John 2:19, Jesus claimed to be able to raise Himself from the dead: Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.
In Luke 6:5, Jesus claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. Of course, God Himself created the Sabbath.
In John 8:58, Jesus claimed to exist before Abraham, who died 1600 years before He was born: Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am! (see the next part for more on this)
The Jews believed Jesus claimed to be God
In that same passage, some Jews asked Jesus, “Who do you think you are?” Jesus used the phrase “I am.” He used this phrase to describe Himself numerous times. This is the same phrase God used to describe Himself in Exodus 13:14 when Moses was going to confront Pharaoh: I am. How did the Jews respond? They picked up stones to kill Him for saying it because they understood that Jesus was calling Himself God.
At Jesus’ trial, the Jewish leaders insisted, We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.
In John 10:30, Jesus was talking about God the Father, and then said, I and the Father are one. Sounds maybe like Jesus was saying they were like-minded, or on the same team or something. That’s not how the Jews heard it, of course…they knew exactly what Jesus meant: Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
The High Priest believed Jesus claimed to be God
In Matthew 26:63, Caiaphas said to Jesus, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered. Remember that the Jews believed the Son of Man was divine.
Jesus’ disciples believed Jesus is God
John 1:1 says that Jesus was God.
In John 20:28, Thomas called Jesus God.
In Hebrews 1:8 we read that God called the Son God.
In Acts 20:28, Luke records Paul’s words that God bought the church with His own blood…clearly meaning Jesus.
In 2 Peter 1:1, Peter called Jesus our God and Savior.
In Titus 2:13, Paul calls Jesus our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Do we believe Paul, or Jesus?
This is a seemingly valid question, but one that betrays ignorance of the events outlined in the Bible. After fourteen years of ministry, Paul went to Jerusalem to meet privately with Peter, James, and the other Christian leaders there. He presented to them the gospel that he preached to the Gentiles…to make sure he was on track. They added nothing to his message. Why would the disciples accept what Paul taught as true if he falsely claimed that Jesus is God? No…Paul agreed with Jesus and His disciples, which is why there was never any conflict over him saying that Jesus is God.
I could go on, of course. Without question, Jesus claimed to be God. Without question, those around Him understood exactly what He meant…some followed Him because they believed Him, and others wanted to kill Him – and ultimately succeeded – because they didn’t believe Him.
The most important question at the moment is whether YOU believe Him. Having the facts is important, but not enough by itself…to have peace with God, we must trust Him enough to submit to Him as well.
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2 responses to “Did Jesus Claim to be God?”
1. William L. says:
The first problem I see in this post is the misunderstanding of the word translated “worship” in the Hebrew bible. It is factually incorrect to say “religious Jews are fiercely monotheistic…they would never worship anyone who is not God”. The root of the word translated “worship” in English translations is Shakhah (שָׁחָה) which simply means to bow down or prostrate oneself. On the other hand, if you look up the definition of the modern English word “worship”, you find it means “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.” (Oxford Dictionary).
These two definitions are wholly incompatible, meaning the word “worship” in English translations (even when translated such by Jews!) conveys the wrong meaning. It’s a mistranslation. And, to make matters worse, the same word is used for bowing to men throughout the Hebrew bible, but English translators translate it properly as “bow down” when used with other humans.
So basically you have the exact same action, translated “worship” when the action is done before YHWH, and translated “bow down” when the action is done before men. You simply cannot get the correct meaning of the Hebrew through purposefully mistranslated English.
Here are some examples of the same word translated “worship” when done before YHWH, translated properly when done in front of anyone else:
[Gen 18:2 NET] Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. (These were messenger of YHWH)
[Gen 23:12 NET] Abraham bowed before the local people (These were simply the local humans)
[1Ch 29:20 NET] David told the entire assembly: “Praise YHWH your God!” So the entire assembly praised YHWH God of their ancestors; they bowed down and stretched out flat on the ground before YHWH and the king. (And here you literally have the same action, same word, used of both YHWH and David at the same time!)
The only injunction against bowing to anything in the Hebrew bible is in reference to false gods:
[Exo 20:4-5 NET] You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, YHWH, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me
So yes, very liberally scattered throughout the Hebrew bible you have men “worshipping” other men. Not in the English sense, but the proper Hebrew sense of bowing down. Go to your favorite online bible with a concordance, search for the word worship, get the underlying Hebrew root from the concordance and look at everywhere it appears and you’ll clearly see this is the case.
• Tony says:
While you’re being technically correct about the etymology of the word, you seem to be applying it blindly. Yes, ancient Hebrews would ‘worship’ lots of people, including their peers. No, that doesn’t make them polytheistic. Yes, there are difficulties to be found in translating a simpler language like ancient Hebrew into English. No, that doesn’t make them polytheistic. I wrote that they were monotheistic, and you ignored the context to make your point. If your point is that Judaism is polytheistic, you’re wrong. If your point is that many ancient Hebrews syncretized Judaism with other religions, you’re right. I appreciate that you’re trying to make a point about the text…but how wise is it to teach people to study the Bible well by ignoring the context of what I wrote?
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Making iterative consensus optimal
The iterative consensus non-optimal as it will return terms that is covered by prime implicants. An example of this is xp \lor x'q = xp \lor x'q \lor pq that cannot be absorbed. Here is a modified algorithm that adds polynomial complexity:
\blacksquare ~ \textnormal{\textbf{Algorithm} \emph{Optimal iterative consensus}}
1. Let \mathcal{L}_A and \mathcal{L}_B be two disjoint list. The induction assumption is that \mathcal{L}_A contain only essential terms.
2. For all pairs (x,y) \in \mathcal{L}_A \cup \mathcal{L}_B, calculate z = cons(x,y). Place the resulting term z in:
1. \mathcal{L}_A \iff x \in \mathcal{L}_A \land deg(z) < deg(x) \lor y \in \mathcal{L}_A \land deg(z) < deg(y). Then perform absorption on z, x, y.
2. \mathcal{L}_B otherwise.
3. For all pairs (x,y) \in \mathcal{L}_A \cup \mathcal{L}_B, perform absorption. If any absorbent is in \mathcal{L}_A, then the result is in \mathcal{L}_A.
4. If \mathcal{L}_A \cap \mathcal{L}_B \neq \emptyset \implies \mathcal{L}_B = \mathcal{L}_A \backslash (\mathcal{L}_A \cap \mathcal{L}_B).
5. If no new terms appear in step 2 or 3, stop and output \mathcal{L}_A. Otherwise go to 2.
The proof of this being correct goes as follows:
\blacksquare ~ \textnormal{\textbf{Proposition}} If all terms in iteration i are essential, then all terms in iteration i+1 are essential.
Proof. Consider the following steps:
1. We first show that no non-essential terms can be in in \mathcal{L}_A after the ith iteration. Assume that we add a term z' that is non-essential to \mathcal{L}_A. By 2.a, at least one of the consensus terms, let this be x (wlog), yielding z′ must be essential. If deg(z') < deg(x), then z' must cover x. Now, x is absorbed into z'. z' is non-essential by assumption, but it is the only one covering the value that made x essential. Contradiction.
2. We now show that no essential terms are in \mathcal{L}_B. We proceed in the same manner by assuming that z' is essential. Since z' \in \mathcal{L}_B, two cases appear: (a) it is a consensus of two non-essential terms, which clearly not is essential or (b) one term is essential x and one term is not y. If deg(z') \geq deg(x), z' can only cover a subset of x and cannot be essential.
\blacksquare ~ \textnormal{\textbf{Lemma}} The algorithm presented above returns an optimal expression of any essential terms.
Proof. By the Induction axiom in conjunction with the assumption that all initial terms were essential and Proposition 1, we see that \mathcal{L}_A contains all essential terms at all iterations. Thus, it will contain all essential term at the end of the execution algorithm.
If you find a counterexample or an error in the steps of the proof, please report it!
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Alkaline Diet Can Reduce Gum Disease Symptoms
Whole FoodsPH levels in the body are connected to overall health. When there is too much acid in your system, inflammation occurs, and can cause a host of health issues, including problems like gingivitis (early gum disease) periodontitis (advanced gum disease) and tooth decay. Many people find that achieving an acidic-alkaline balance (balanced PH level) through diet can reduce, and even erase, the symptoms of medical conditions. While diet changes should be discussed with your general physician, here are some tips for nutrition changes which might decrease inflammation in your mouth as well as your body.
Stick to the Perimeters of the Store for Tooth-Friendly Options
Whole foods in their natural state are healthy for our bodies. Fun packages with easy-to-prepare foods are tempting, to even the most strong-willed. Since most whole foods can be found on the outer aisles of your grocery store, you can avoid temptation by only pushing your cart around the perimeters. Especially focus on the produce section, and shop organic when you can. The inner aisles shelve the most processed foods which are likely to make you feel unhealthy and guilty.
Green Smoothies for Gum Disease
Now that you have filled your refrigerator with fresh fruits and vegetables, start your day with a green smoothie. Spinach, kale, zucchini, and cucumbers are just a few nutritious vegetables which can be blended with fruit for a low-calorie drink full of nutrients to keep gums, teeth, and bones strong and healthy. Ignore the green color, and you’ll be surprised by how sweet and refreshing a green smoothie tastes.
Eliminate the Acid
Avoiding highly acidic foods like artificial sweeteners, sugar, and alcohol is a good way to attain healthy pH balance. As a happy side effect, you’ll also be saving your teeth from substances which lead to decay. Sugar is the favorite food of Streptococcus mutans, the bacteria that lead to cavities. Acid erosion weakens tooth enamel, so that our teeth are more vulnerable decay. A more neutral menu is ideal for your body and your teeth.
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What Makes a Haunted Room Exciting? The Love of Fear Explained
Why Do We Love The Haunted Room Experience?
If you are a devout fan of the horror movie genre or making the most of Halloween, then you’re probably quite comfortable with enjoying scares and scary things in general.
With terms such as “massacre” bandied about so frequently, the newly published Survey of American Fears in Chapman University reveals how our main fears are essentially a checklist included of daily headlines: topping this list of greatest fears are tainted government officials, losing our health and environmental contamination (states are now ripe for much more of a test).
Yet that isn’t enough of a scare for people who still feel forced to find frightening adventures – some find it cathartic even.
As counterintuitive as it seems, anxiety can feel great to a number of people. Really, research that research how anxiety and dopamine are intermingled exist in prosperity. The ability to mix this in a controlled environment, for example at the cinema or in a haunted room game, makes it a healthy and safe way to experience it.
How our brain see's fear in a haunted room
Stress responses create endorphins, which is a kind of natural high.
Scientists have examined anxiety from a physiological standpoint. According to some 2007 research, each brain experiences anxiety and anxiety (since the overruling emotion in stress is anxiety ) otherwise — and you also might be more vulnerable to it based on how your mind is shaped. Your amygdala, the part of your mind connected to and only supporting the prefrontal cortex, is in control of everything makes you fearful and how you decide to communicate it.
Individuals who suffer from stress already have prefrontal cortexes that seem somewhat different than other people. What is more, the analysis demonstrated that individuals suffer from two different kinds of anxiety disorders and the mind functions differently from each: individuals afflicted by fight-or-flight anxiety disorders and PTSD had an underactive adrenal gland, while individuals with worry-based stress, such as OCD and generalized anxiety disorder, appeared to possess an overactive adrenal gland.
Brain chemicals released when in a haunted room
Other “feel good” substances may come into play with anxiety, namely dopamine, endorphins, serotonin and oxytocin. The hormones and hormones which are published are helping people prepare to fight or flee, in precisely the exact same time our focus is shifting away from abstract ideas and focusing on problems of survival.
This change in thinking may set the stage to get a sense of escapism. Our ideas can only have a rest, and we could appreciate being complete in our bodies, feeling primal and creature. When we realise we’re not actually going to expire we could appreciate the stimulation response — that is when fear could be entertaining. You are in the moment, and afterwards, you feel as you overcame a struggle, so you are feeling confident about the actual, not ‘frightening fun’ dangers that await you in the future. It seems just like a feeling of achievements, such as running a marathon or even rock climbing
There is a caveat — which you’ve got some feeling of control and therefore are secure, like when you are in a haunted room, and you also know that you will get out eventually. People do not generally like dread when they do not have some type of control of this circumstance. By way of instance, visiting a haunted house at Halloween is enjoyable as it’s going to be frightening, but you might also leave whenever you desire. Individuals also differ in how much control they will need to feel to relish a scenario that will affect the degree to which they could appreciate a ‘frightening’ situation.
Another element that determines just how much we may embrace fear is if the frightening situation we are coping with plays into some present phobias we’ve got. A number of people are simply terrified of snakes that is idiosyncratic and hard to forecast. Being locked in a haunted room as an escape game could blend several of an individuals fears together, giving them a rush that they wouldn’t otherwise experience.
Most of Us See Fear Differently
In the same way that the relationships we create according to our experiences with anxiety have to do with what we find interesting. There are people who’ve had a lousy experience with haunted rooms or horror movies and connect things in the ‘enjoyable’ frightening class with feeling awful. Or, they were not subjected to ‘enjoyable’ frightening and so don’t have any frame of reference for how or why something frightening could be entertaining.
The fear of a haunted room
People who are open to frightening experiences often enjoy them more than individuals who have less demand for influence, or who don’t like any extreme feelings. Seeing as most of us see dread otherwise, how can this affect how we view each other? Our fears of crime have a tendency to foster the concept that strangers are usually dangerous. Our anxieties (of even quite rare offences) are making us less inclined to assist or take assistance from others.
To get the most out of your love of fear, book a session in our terrifying haunted room today.
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Posts tagged ‘Dormancy’
New paper: The sunglasses effect – egg shell pigmentation modulates hatching in zooplankton
In freshwater zooplankton, that survive unfavorable periods of winter cold or drought as dormant eggs in the sediment, light is an important cue that may activate the embryo to hatch. If no light is detectable then the egg is probably buried and it would be a bad idea to hatch. We investigated the light-activation process of zooplankton resting eggs using a rock-pool fairy shrimp as a model. We showed that light activation entails a relatively simple mechanism involving a light-energy threshold. These results illustrate the potential adaptive value of light activation but also highlighted the possible role of variation in eggshell pigmentation as a risk-spreading strategy. How does this work?
Much like a pair of sunglasses, the egg shell modulates how much light is absorbed. Consequently embryos in eggs with a darker egg shell should be less responsive to light. This is exactly what we found. In darker eggs, the embryo responds later, presumably because the light energy threshold is reached later. Given that there is often strong variation in the color of eggs in populations and in clutches of eggs, this simple ‘sunglasses effect’ can ensure that not all eggs will hatch at the same time. As a result the emerging larvae that use different food sources when they get older are less likely to compete with one another. As such, it could represent a simple, yet potentially effective risk spreading strategy.
While the effectiveness of this strategy within inundations was demonstrated, its potential role in spreading hatching over different inundations remains unknown. Tests are needed to assess whether degradation of pigments over time may be an adaptive mechanism that prevents resting eggs from becoming locked in diapause. Additionally, given the similarities in observed responses to light activation in both crustacean resting eggs and plant seeds, parallel patterns in these taxonomically distant groups might possibly reflect an old evolutionary mechanism tapping the same biochemical pathways, but this hypothesis also remains to be confirmed.
The paper is accessible via this link:
Pinceel et al 2013_light induced dormancy termination |
Surgical Treatments for Infertility
Exploring Surgical Treatments for Infertility
Dr. Douglas is dedicated to diagnosing and treating patients suffering from various causes of infertility so that they can achieve their dreams of becoming parents. In addition to the state-of-the-art infertility testing services and treatments, Dr. Douglas has extensive training in minimally invasive surgery such as laparoscopy and hysteroscopy. He has performed thousands of reproductive surgical procedures, so patients can count on receiving the best care possible and excellent results.
Laparoscopic Surgery
Reproductive laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure in which Dr. Douglas uses a laparoscope, a narrow instrument with a video camera, to evaluate and treat abnormalities of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries in the abdominal cavity. The laparoscope, which the doctor inserts through an incision in the belly button, can allow for identification of endometriosis, adhesions, and other disorders that affect female fertility. Because of its extremely small size, the laparoscope eliminates the need for large incisions, making it safer, less painful and has a much shorter recovery time. The procedure usually takes less than one hour, and patients are released from the hospital approximately three hours after surgery. Laparoscopic surgery can improve a woman’s fertility, or it may be needed in preparation for further infertility treatments. Dr. Douglas uses laparoscopy to treat endometriosis and repair or remove abnormal fallopian tubes. This type of surgery can also be utilized in removing ectopic pregnancies, ovarian cysts, fibroids, scar tissue, and pelvic adhesions, as well as to determine tubal patency.
Hysteroscopic Surgery
In addition to laparoscopic treatment, Dr. Douglas also provides hysteroscopic surgery. Hysteroscopy, a minimally-invasive, outpatient procedure, lets Dr. Douglas inspect and operate in the uterine cavity using a fiber optic scope inserted through the cervix. This procedure allows Dr. Douglas to diagnose and treat abnormalities in the uterus that may cause miscarriages or infertility. Hysteroscopic surgery usually takes less than 30 minutes, and patients recover in two to three days. Because access occurs through the cervix, no incisions are made, making hysteroscopy a safe procedure with little discomfort. Hysteroscopic surgery is used to diagnose and treat uterine abnormalities such as uterine adhesions, scar tissue, tubal blockages, septums, endometrial polyps, and fibroids. This surgery can also help detect and treat abnormalities that may cause repeated miscarriages. Dr. Douglas will determine which type of hysteroscopy surgery (diagnostic versus operative) is best for your case.
Read more about Minimally Invasive Surgery
Treatment for Ovarian Cysts
Ovarian cysts are quite common. The great majority, if left alone and observed over a period of four to eight weeks, will resolve without treatment. The only ones that cause concern are the ones that do not go away by themselves. The more common cysts that we see that can impact infertility would be cysts of endometriosis, known as endometriomas. We also see dermoid cysts, which are not necessarily associated with infertility, but are a common finding in a younger-age class. Dr. Douglas may remove large cysts by laparoscopy if they interfere with fertility.
Treatment for Ectopic Pregnancies
Ectopic pregnancies are fairly common in an infertility practice because damaged fallopian tubes decrease the chances of getting pregnant. Occasionally, a pregnancy occurs, but the damaged fallopian tube does not function properly. In this case, the embryo doesn’t move into the uterus, and the baby implants in the fallopian tube. Because the fallopian tube does not stretch like the uterus does, this can create a perilous situation. At approximately 7 to 10 weeks, the fallopian tube becomes so swollen that it ruptures.
When the fallopian tube ruptures, it causes internal bleeding, and can cause life-threatening hemorrhage. In an infertility practice, we usually know exactly when a patient conceived, so we can detect most ectopic pregnancies before they become this dangerous.
The most common treatment is methotrexate, a non-surgical medication given, usually as a one-time injection; methotrexate kills rapidly-dividing cells such as a placenta. Over a period of three to four weeks, the patient’s pregnancy levels are monitored and should continue to drop after the injection. This process works approximately 85 percent of the time. In the other 15 percent of cases, the ectopic continues to grow and requires surgery.
For unruptured ectopic pregnancies, surgical treatment is minimally invasive and performed by laparoscopy. If the ectopic is already ruptured and the patient’s vital signs suggest the need for rapid intervention to stop internal bleeding, Dr. Douglas may perform a laparotomy instead. In our practice, we monitor the progression of early pregnancy in all patients and start early intervention when an ectopic is discovered; the need for surgery rarely arises.
Read more about Ectopic Pregnancy- an ASRM Guide
Fibroids and Polyps
Common occurrences, fibroids are growths in the wall of the uterus that do not usually need treatment. Occasionally, fibroids develop in the wrong location, or grow too large and interfere with normal implantation of the embryo. Large fibroids that occupy space inside the endometrial cavity (submucosal fibroids) will divert blood flow away from the endometrial lining and cause areas where the embryo cannot implant and grow. These fibroids cause decreased fertility and increased miscarriage rates. To treat fibroids, Dr. Douglas will perform surgery, usually a laparotomy, to remove the tissue, if the great majority of the fibroid is present only within the endometrial cavity, then Dr. Douglas can remove the growth with hysteroscopy.
Uterine polyps are another common problem that we see within the uterus. These benign growths usually appear inside the uterus or the endometrial cavity. When a polyp becomes large enough, it can decrease the chance of implantation and may also increase the miscarriage rate. The size and the location of the polyp(s) will determine whether or not treatment is needed. If you have a large polyp, Dr. Douglas usually suggests hysteroscopy to remove it. If the polyp is small and low in the uterus, we may just follow the growths with sonograms.
Treatment for Tubal Blockage
Another common female fertility factor is tubal blockage. We can make this diagnosis with an HSG x-ray. During the HSG x-ray, dye is inserted into the uterine cavity; it flows through the uterine cavity and out the fallopian tube. The dye should spill into the abdomen; no spill indicates that the fallopian tubes are blocked. The fallopian tubes are usually blocked either at the beginning of the fallopian tube as it leaves the uterus, called the proximal fallopian tube, or at the end of the fallopian tube called the distal fallopian tube. The treatment for the two blockages is completely different.
Dr. Douglas treats distal tubal blockage with laparoscopy. With the laparoscope, we can evaluate the fallopian tube and try to make an incision in the end of the fallopian tube to open it. Occasionally, the fallopian tube has sustained so much damage that surgically opening the fallopian tube does not keep the tube open and it scars shut within one to two weeks. In this case, Dr. Douglas may recommend removing the fallopian tube instead of trying to correct it.
A fallopian tube blocked at the end often becomes very dilated and filled with fluid, referred to as hydrosalpinx. Research has shown that the fluid in the hydrosalpinx leaks back into the uterus and can decrease the chances of implantation. If a patient has a hydrosalpinx and does in-vitro fertilization, the pregnancy rates will decrease by one-third to one-half compared to other women her age without a hydrosalpinx. For this reason, the hydrosalpinx either has to be opened or removed, which is usually accomplished during laparoscopy, once this procedure is done the success rate of IVF returns to normal.
Two treatments are available for a patient with a proximal blockage, which occurs as the fallopian tube leaves the uterine cavity. Using the hysteroscopy, Dr. Douglas can thread a catheter into the beginning of the fallopian tube in an attempt to open the fallopian tube. The other option is to try and open the tube during a hysterosalpingogram, the radiologist can selectively catheterize the fallopian tube and try to open the proximal portion, but the procedure is only successful in some cases. If we cannot repair the tube IVF will be needed.
Read more about Conceiving after Tubal Surgery – an ASRM Guide
Pelvic Adhesions
Often, we find couples that cannot conceive because of pelvic adhesions. Dr. Douglas makes the diagnosis during laparoscopy when he finds that the pelvic organs are stuck together, or adhered, hence the name pelvic adhesions. If the fallopian tubes are stuck to another structure in the pelvis, they cannot pick up the egg as it is released from the ovary. If the ovaries are stuck to the wall of the abdomen, again, egg pickup or ovulation is impaired. Using lasers, scissors, and other instruments during laparoscopy, Dr. Douglas can reduce or remove the pelvic adhesions, freeing the ovary and fallopian tubes to return to their normal position and increasing the chances of normal conception. Pelvic adhesions can occur because of endometriosis, previous pelvic infection, and previous surgeries in the pelvic area.
Asherman’s Syndrome
With Asherman’s syndrome, the patient has adhesions inside the uterine cavity. The most common reason for Asherman’s is previous surgery within the uterine cavity, such as a D & C. To treat Asherman’s, Dr. Douglas inserts a hysteroscope into the cervix and utilizes scissors, lasers, or a cautery to cut the adhesions. Often, to prevent the adhesions from recurring, Dr. Douglas leaves an IUD or Foley catheter in the uterus following the surgery for a specific period of time, usually five to seven days. Many times, patients receive high doses of estrogen postoperatively to help the lining of the uterus, or the endometrium, grow over the area where the scar tissue has been cut away, which helps to prevent further adhesions after the hysteroscopic surgery.
Uterine Septum
A uterine septum is a band of tissue in the very top portion of the uterus that has minimal or no blood supply. Because of this, any pregnancy that implants on this area will likely miscarry. Septums come in all sizes, from very small to filling the entire uterus. Dr. Douglas will treat the uterine septums by using hysteroscopy and removing the septum. Septums are usually diagnosed either with a hysterosalpingogram or by a saline sonogram. |
The Art of Busking and Why People Do It: Hongdae, Seoul edition
Did you know that one of the biggest award-winning artists of today, the Ed Sheeran, started off busking?! Yes. Before the glamour and the famous friends, the Brit Award winner slept rough on the London Underground, with his guitar and some equipment, crashing his mates’ sofas. “I’d sleep on the circle line and gig in the evenings,” he said. Who would’ve known that the songs that never go unheard in weddings used to only be heard in the evenings in the Tube in London?
In the world of performance, the streets are the great equalizer. There’s no subjective audition process, no application filtering, no prejudice, for a spot on the stage – but there’s also no guarantee of a steady paycheck. Still, ask a young street performer – also called a ‘busker’ – why they do it, and the answer will likely be simple and the same: “It makes me happy.”
“[Busking] is a way for people to interact with each other only using sounds and gestures, and without any prejudice.” Oh Gwang-seon, regular busker
We found ourselves in the city of Seoul, and due to popular demand, we paid a visit to the youthful and vibrant streets of Hongdae. Famous for its youthful ambience, unique cafes, dance clubs, fashion outlets, and busking, it’s so alive with culture and love for music. It sure left an impression with us, and we soon understood why these streets were the talk of the town.
Busking an opportunity for musicians, artists, and music lovers to do what they love, sharpen their skills, and prepare for a chance at a big break. Very few people can make enough money of live off busking alone – if they make money at all – but it has led to some big things for some young musicians. Among many, Rod Stewart, Robin Williams, Jewel, and many more.
But more importantly, busking brings an intimate connection between the performer and the audience. It’s more than just a platform for artists to showcase their talents, it was a place for them to hone their passion for music, and really reach out to the people who enjoy it merely for their own genuine enjoyment too.
Hongdae is frequented by Korean youths, and it’s probably also because, unlike in many other cities, Korea doesn’t regulate busking culture. It’s an important channel through which future professional artists directly interact with potential fans. Even tourists from all over the world are compelled to stop, watch, and listen, because it is undeniably hard to resist – catchy music, happy performers, and engaging crowds. It’s really unlike anything you’d see anywhere else!
Although some may see street performers as nuisances disturbing their peaceful mid-day walks, for others it’s a treat that they may not otherwise get. Busking brings free Live music to everyone no matter who they are or how much money they have, though donations keep these talented musicians coming back. It’s the most honest way to get good feedback on sound, as opposed to a concert where everybody who’s there for the most part already paid to watch, already fans, and already invested before the band plays a note. On the streets, you get to really see the raw reactions of the audience, and they owe the band nothing, and it’s a genuine representation of what the band is doing musically. It’s the freedom of choice that makes all the difference, and most musicians find that more rewarding. Some artists and musicians have even insisted that playing on the street has gotten them more opportunities than playing in clubs has.
For some musicians, busking is more than just a passing phase, it’s something they love doing. And to a music lover and an avid entertainment geek, busking is a tremendously overlooked art form. Imagine what street performers can gain: exposure, a surprisingly diverse fan base, other paid performance opportunities, paid practice time in front of a live audience, and more. The things that can be earned from underrated things such as street performing, if a musician really works at it.
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The observer and the observed
Large Quotation Marks
When you say, ‘I must be free from all conditioning, I must experience,’ there is still the ‘I’ that is the centre from which you are observing. Therefore there is no way out because there is always the centre, the conclusion, the memory, a thing that is watching and saying, ‘I must’ or ‘I must not.’
Is there a state of the non-observer, a state in which there is no centre from which you look? At the moment of actual pain, there is no ‘I’. At the moment of tremendous joy, there is no observer—the heavens are filled, you are part of it, there is bliss. This state takes place when the mind sees the falseness of attempts to become, to achieve. There is a state of timelessness only when there is no observer.
Krishnamurti in Bombay 1961, Talk 8
The observer is the cause of division
Question: When the observed becomes the observer, how do you remove the contradiction and conflict?
Krishnamurti: We did not say the observer becomes the observed. The observer observing the tree does not become the tree—God forbid! But when the observer understands the structure and nature of itself, there is observation without division and the observer.
The moment I try to identify with something there is division—otherwise, I wouldn’t identify myself with something. There is division, contradiction, quarrels and hatred, so I try to overcome that by identifying. Which means I have already admitted division and try to overcome that division through identification. But we are saying the observer is the cause of division. The observer is the division. There is violence right through the world, and as a human being one is violent. Realising that, one has cultivated an ideal called non-violence. So there is the fact, the ‘what is’, which is violence, the actual violence of life, and there is the idea of non-violence—‘what is’ and ‘what should be’. So there is a contradiction. One who is violent has the ideal of non-violence and so is pretending to be non-violent, which is hypocritical. But the fact is one is violent, and we hope through the ideal to remove violence. This is space and time between ‘what is’ and ‘what should be’. See the absurdity of it. In trying to become non-violent, something we are not, we are spending energy and vitality.
Can you observe without the observer?
K: Can you observe a flower, a bird, the water, the beauty of the land, your wife or husband, without the observer? This means without the image you have. Do it, and you will find how extraordinarily attentive you have to be, not only now but when the image is being built, so that your mind is free to look. Have you ever looked at anybody whom you like or love? You have looked at the person through the image you have about them, and so the relationship is between these two images. That is why there is so much antagonism and why there is no relationship at all.
So relationship becomes extraordinarily important to understand because all life is relationship, living is relationship. But we have made this relationship such a horror. That horror we call love, because in it there is occasional tenderness, perhaps when you are sexual or when you see something pitiful. So one has to find out what relationship is, not from a dictionary, professor, analyst or religious organisation, but find out for yourself in yourself. Then you will see in yourself is the whole world. You don’t have to read a thing, because you are the whole of humanity. Until one understands that deeply, love does not exist, only pleasure.
Q: How does one go about freeing oneself from accumulated knowledge so that one can observe?
K: If you had no accumulated knowledge, you would not be able to get home or recognise anyone. You need to have accumulated knowledge to function in your job or speak a language. But see how knowledge destroys relationship—knowledge being the image you have built about the other through years or a day. That image is preventing right relationship. So you need knowledge to function, but be aware of the danger of knowledge accumulating and building an image in relationship. To be aware of this, where knowledge is essential and its danger, is to have a very good, intelligent mind. One has to be extraordinarily alert.
Krishnamurti in San Diego 1970, Talk 1
AUDIO: To live a life that is whole
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Question: I would like to understand the significance of a space in which the observer and the observed are not.
Krishnamurti: We only know the space as the observer and the observed. I look at this microphone as an observer, and there is the object which is the microphone. There is a space between the observer and the observed. This space is distance, distance being time. There is the observer and the distance between him and a star or mountain. You are asking what the other space is, which is not this. I cannot tell you; I can only tell you that as long as this space as the observer and the observed exists, the other is not. There is a way of freeing the observer who creates the space as the observer and the observed.
However much you may extend that space, it will always exist. There is an aeroplane overhead. You, as an observer, as a listener, listen to that sound. You are the listener, and the sound is there—there is a gap. The gap is a time interval. There is the observer and there is the observed: you and your wife or husband; you and your house; you and the river; you and your country; you and the government; you and your religion. As long as this space exists, as long as there is contradiction, there must be conflict.
To free the mind of the observer, no escape is possible. Don’t escape, don’t seek. Face the fact of what you are; don’t translate in terms of what you think you are, of what you ‘should be’. When you face the fact of what you actually are, without escaping, without naming it, without the word, then the fact becomes totally different. When you do that with every reaction, with every movement of thought, there is a freedom from the observer. Then there is a totally different dimension of space.
Q: How can one experience this different dimension of space?
K: You are sitting there, I am sitting here—that’s all. All you know is the space between you, there, and me, or between you and the mountain, you and a tree, you and another. When you know that space, you know you are not in contact with anything. You are in isolation.
Krishnamurti in Saanen 1966, Talk 10
AUDIO: To look without a concept is to be aware of the observer and the thing observed
Division between the observer and the observed
Time by the watch we know is a fact. We also know time as will, which is also a fact. We also know the gradual process when thought says, ‘Do it tomorrow, that’s good enough’—which again is time. Now, what is time beyond this? Is there such thing as time? To find out, not merely theoretically or intellectually or emotionally but actually to feel your way into it, one has to go into the question of the observer and the observed.
As long as there is the observer and the observed there is time.
When you look at a sunset, there is the observer and the fact, the observed. There is a division between the observer and the observed. That division is time. The observer is not a permanent entity. Let me caution you here. Don’t say that the observer existed first—look at it as though you have not read a single sacred book. (Sacred books are not important anyhow.) Look at it as though you are looking for the first time, do not translate what somebody else said, that there is the original observer, the original entity, the silent watcher. You can spin a lot of words and theories, but you are missing the whole point.
As you watch anything, there is the observer, the censor, the thinker, the experiencer, the seeker, and the thing observed: the observer and the observed, the thinker and the thought. So there is always a division, and this division is time. This division is the very essence of conflict and contradiction. There is the observer and the observed, which in itself is a contradiction and separation. When there is conflict, there is the urgency to get beyond it, conquer it, overcome it, escape from it, or do something about it—and all this activity involves time.
So, as long as there is the observer and the observed as two separate entities, there is time. If the observer identifies himself with the observed, in that process time is involved too. If you say you believe in God, you try to identify yourself with that, which involves time because you have to make an effort, struggle, give up this, do that, etc. Or you blindly identify yourself and end up in an asylum.
The observer is watching, judging, censoring, accepting, rejecting.
So, one sees division within oneself. And one sees that as long as this division exists, time will inevitably continue, cannot come to an end. And is it possible for division to cease to exist? Which is, the observer is the observed; the seeker is the sought. Don’t translate it into your own terminology, that the seeker is God, a spiritual entity or whatever it is; thought saying, ‘I am the Atman,’ or some other entity. If you say this, you are deceiving yourself; you are not feeling your way into discovery, you are merely stating or asserting something which has no validity at all.
So, is it possible for this division between the observer and the observed to come to an end? As long as there is this division, time will go on, and time is sorrow. One who will understand the end of sorrow must understand this, must go beyond the duality between the thinker and the thought, the experiencer and the experienced. So what is one to do? I see within myself the observer is watching, judging, censoring, accepting, rejecting, disciplining, controlling, shaping. That observer, that thinker, is the result of thought. Thought is first; not the observer, not the thinker. If there were no thinking there would be no observer, no thinker; there would only be complete, total attention.
So, is it possible for the division between the thinker and the thought, the observer and the observed, to come to an end? No time must be involved. If I do certain practices in order to break down this division, time is involved and therefore I perpetuate the division as the thinker and the thought. So, what is one to do? Put that question, not verbally but with astonishing urgency. You are urgent only when you feel something very strongly; when you have physical pain, you act, there is an intensity. Man has lived for so many millennia, suffering, tortured, never finding a way out. To find a way out is an immensely urgent question. So one must understand this question very deeply, which is to listen to it, listen to what is being said.
See that the division between the observer and the observed is non-existent.
Do you know what it is to listen, to listen to that breeze among the leaves without resistance, interpretation or distraction? There is no such thing as distraction when you are listening. When you listen to that breeze among the leaves, you listen with complete attention, and therefore there is no time involved at all. You are listening, not translating, not interpreting, not agreeing or disagreeing, not saying, ‘I’ll think about it tomorrow—you are in a state of actual listening, which means you are so concerned, if I may use that word, because you are in sorrow. So you give your whole mind, your whole body, your whole nerves, everything you have, to listen.
If you have listened that way, we can go to another problem which will help the understanding and end of the division between the observer and the observed. There must be order, not only social order but order in the room, order in the street. Without order, you cannot function. Order is virtue, order is righteousness, and without order you cannot function efficiently. So order inwardly and outwardly is essential. Society and the human being are not two different entities; when there is order in the human being, there will be order externally. Because there is disorder in all of us, there is disorder outwardly. The mere patching up of order outside—and there must be social order—will not solve this inward disorder.
So, order is virtue, and virtue cannot be cultivated any more than you can cultivate humility. If you cultivate humility, you are covering up your vanity. Humility is something that must blossom naturally. Without humility, there is no learning. When you cultivate virtue, it is no longer virtue. You cannot cultivate love, can you? You can cultivate hate, greed, envy; you can be more polite, more gentle, more kind, more generous, but that is not love. Love is something which is not of time or memory. That quality of love is compassion, in which is included tenderness, kindness, generosity, and so on. But generosity and kindliness are not love. As you cannot cultivate love or humility, so you cannot possibly cultivate virtue. And yet our habit and tradition are to cultivate virtue—which is merely resisting the fact. The fact is, in spite of what you have said for centuries, you are violent. You may not hit another, but you are violent because you are ambitious, greedy, envious, and when your country is attacked, you sit up and take notice. Now, to bring order in violence is to end violence, and the ending of violence must be immediate, not tomorrow. The ending of violence, which is order, does not involve time. If time is involved, which is will, postponement, gradualness—gradually, through ideas and conformity, I will get rid of violence—you are not really free of violence. To be free of violence is now, not tomorrow.
Time ceases when there is space without the centre, without the observer.
So, there must be a feeling of righteousness, which comes into being without motive when you understand the nature of time. When you are good because you are going to be punished or rewarded, there is a motive. Therefore it is not goodness; it is fear. Righteousness is always without motive, and in that field of human relationship, of righteousness, time does not exist. When you love somebody, what does it mean? To love somebody, an animal, a tree or the sky—what does it mean? It means not intellection, not the reaction of memory, but an intensity between two individuals or between two objects, intensity at the same level and at the same time. Then there is a communication, non-verbal, non-intellectual, non-sentimental. Love is not sentiment, love is not emotion, love is not devotion.
So when one understands the nature of time, what is involved in it, there is order and virtue, which is immediate. When you understand this virtue, which is order, which is immediate, then you see that the division between the observer and the observed is non-existent. Therefore time has come to a stop. It is only such a mind that can know what is new.
We know space only because there is the object which creates space around it. There is this microphone, and because of that, there is space around it. There is space inside the house because of the four walls, and there is space outside the house, which the house as an object creates. When there is space which an object has created, there is time. Is there space without the object? You have to discover this; this is a challenge. You have to find out because one’s mind is petty and small, always functioning within the limits of its self-centred activities. All the activities are within that centre and around that centre, in the space which the centre creates within itself and round itself. Therefore when there is space which an object, thought or image has created, that space can never give freedom because in that space there is always time.
Time ceases when there is space without the centre, without the observer and therefore without the object. It is only such a mind that can know what beauty is. Beauty is not a stimulant; it is not brought about or put together by architecture, paintings, by looking at the sunset or by seeing a beautiful face. Beauty is something entirely different; it can be understood only when the experiencer is no longer there, and therefore experience ceases to exist. It is like love—the moment you say that you love, you cease to love because love then is merely mentation, a feeling, an emotion, in which there is jealousy, hate, envy, greed.
Krishnamurti in Madras 1966, Talk 4
VIDEO: The division between the observer and the observed is illusory
The observer is the observed
The observer is both the past and the present.
But the observer is aware of more than one image; he creates thousands of images. But is the observer different from these images? Isn’t he just another image? He is always adding to and subtracting from what he is; he is a living thing weighing, comparing, judging, modifying and changing as a result of pressures from outside and within—living in the field of consciousness which is his own knowledge, influence and innumerable calculations. At the same time when you look at the observer, who is yourself, you see that he is made up of memories, experiences, accidents, influences, traditions and infinite varieties of suffering, all of which are the past. So the observer is both the past and the present, and tomorrow is waiting and that is also a part of him. He is half alive and half dead, and with this death and life he is looking. In that state of mind which is within the field of time, you (the observer) look at fear, at jealousy, at war, at the family, and try to solve the problem of the thing observed which is the challenge, the new. You translate the new in terms of the old, and therefore you are everlastingly in conflict.
One image, as the observer, observes dozens of other images around himself and inside himself, and he says, ‘I like this image, I’m going to keep it,’ or ‘I don’t like that image, so I’ll get rid of it.’ But the observer himself has been put together by the various images which have come into being through reaction to various other images. So we come to a point where we see the observer is also the image, only he has separated himself and observes. This observer has come into being through various other images and thinks himself permanent. Between himself and the images he has created, there is a division, a time interval. This creates conflict between himself and the images he believes to be the cause of his troubles. So then he says, ‘I must get rid of this conflict,’ but the very desire to get rid of the conflict creates another image.
What takes place when the observer is aware that the observer is the observed?
So awareness has revealed the different states of one’s mind, has revealed the various images and contradiction between the images, has revealed the resulting conflict and the despair at not being able to do anything about it and the various attempts to escape from it. All this has been revealed through cautious hesitant awareness, and then comes the awareness that the observer is the observed. It is not a superior entity that becomes aware of this; it is not a higher self. The superior entity, the higher self, are mere inventions, further images; it is the awareness itself which had revealed that the observer is the observed.
If you ask yourself a question, who is the entity who is going to receive the answer? And who is the entity who is going to inquire? If the entity is part of consciousness, part of thought, then it is incapable of finding out. What it can find out is only a state of awareness. But if in that state of awareness there is still an entity who says, ‘I must be aware, I must practise awareness,’ that again is another image.
This awareness that the observer is the observed is not a process of identification with the observed. To identify ourselves with something is fairly easy. Most of us identify ourselves with something—with our family, our husband or wife, our nation—and that leads to great misery and great wars. We are considering something entirely different, and we must understand it not verbally but in our core, right at the root of our being. In ancient China before an artist began to paint anything—a tree, for instance—he would sit down in front of it for days, months, years, it didn’t matter how long, until he was the tree. He did not identify himself with the tree, but he was the tree. This means that there was no space between him and the tree, no space between the observer and the observed, no experiencer experiencing the beauty, the movement, the shadow, the depth of a leaf, the quality of colour. He was totally the tree, and in that state only could he paint.
If something is you, what can you do?
Any movement on the part of the observer, if he has not realised that the observer is the observed, creates only another series of images, and again he is caught in them. But what takes place when the observer is aware that the observer is the observed? Go slowly, go very slowly, because it is a very complex thing we are going into now. What takes place? The observer does not act at all. The observer has always said he must do something about these images, suppress them or give them a different shape; he is always active in regard to the observed, acting and reacting passionately or casually. This action of like and dislike on the part of the observer is called positive action: I like, therefore I must hold; I dislike therefore I must get rid of. But when the observer realises the thing about which he is acting is himself, there is no conflict between himself and the image. He is that. He is not separate from that. When he was separate, he did or tried to do something about it, but when the observer realises that he is that, there is no like or dislike, and conflict ceases. For what is he to do? If something is you, what can you do? You cannot rebel against it or run away from it or even accept it. It is there. So all action that is the outcome of reaction to like and dislike has come to an end.
Then you will find there is an awareness that has become tremendously alive. It is not bound to any central issue or any image—and from that intensity of awareness there is a different quality of attention, and therefore the mind, because the mind is this awareness, has become extraordinarily sensitive and highly intelligent.
From the book Freedom from the Known by J. Krishnamurti — Purchase here
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Can You Get More Than 11 Right on This Physics Quiz?
By: Ryan Choate
7 Min Quiz
Image: Martin Steinthaler/Moment/gettyimages
About This Quiz
Physics is the study of matter and energy and explains the natural phenomena of the universe. The study of physics began with the ancient Greeks, who wanted to understand the world around them. The field continued to evolve when, centuries later, Copernicus, Galileo and Newton added to our working knowledge of the universe. Copernicus brought us the heliocentric system. Galileo brought us the concept of inertia. And Newton provided us with three fundamental laws of motion.
However, physics extends beyond just classical mechanics. It also covers thermodynamics, electromagnetism, relativity and quantum mechanics. Some of the most modern discoveries have also been the field's most exciting. In 1998, scientists realized that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace. A strange “dark energy” is driving this expansion. It's a theory right out of science fiction!
Then, even more recently, a group of scientists were able to detect gravitational waves. This is especially cool because Albert Einstein predicted the existence of these wrinkles in spacetime over a century ago. Einstein wasn't totally convinced that he was right, but now we have the equipment to detect these waves and prove that he was correct all along. Detection of these waves can allow us to “see” into the past and explain more of how we came into being. Pretty cool stuff!
Because physics is such a dynamic and fascinating field, it pays to know the basics. Can you answer at least 11 questions correctly?
In the absence of air resistance, which object would fall to the ground the fastest?
If it weren't for air resistance, all objects would fall to earth at the same exact rate. The force of gravity acting on an object increases with that object's mass. That ensures that all objects maintain an acceleration of 9.81 m/s/s. Astronaut David Scott conducted an experiment on the moon, where he dropped a hammer and a feather. Both landed at the exact same time.
Momentum is mass in motion. Which of the following objects does NOT have momentum?
Momentum can be thought of as mass in motion. Therefore, if an object doesn't have both mass and velocity, then it does not have momentum. Since a broken-down car has a velocity of zero, it also has a momentum of zero.
What will an object that is more dense than water do when placed in a container of water?
The object (or fluid) with the greatest density will always sink to the bottom. This is why your salad dressing always separates. Oil is less dense than vinegar and sinks to the bottom of the container.
A ball is dropped from rest from the top of a building. Assume negligible air resistance. Which force is acting on the object?
In the absence of air resistance, the only force acting upon the ball is gravity. Of course, if you do this on the moon, there will be less gravitational energy!
What is the lowest theoretical temperature possible?
At the theoretical temperature of absolute zero, atoms would stop moving. At this point, there is no kinetic energy, which is what creates heat in a substance. If there is nothing moving, then there is no heat. Absolute zero is equivalent to minus 273.15 degrees on the Celsius scale, minus 459.67 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale, and 0 degrees on the Kelvin scale.
What happens when you cut a bar magnet (with North and South ends) in half?
If you break a bar magnet in half, you'll get two smaller bar magnets. The North and South ends will arrange themselves in the following way: %0DBefore: N======S %0DAfter: N===S N===S
What is the main factor that affects the speed of a sound wave?
The speed of a wave is most dependent upon the properties of the medium a sound is traveling through, not the properties of the wave itself. Sound travels much faster through water than it does through air.
The atom is made up of particles with positive, negative or neutral charges. Which of the following has a positive charge?
Protons are positively charged particles, located in the neutron of an atom. The number of protons in the nucleus determines the type of element an atom is, regardless of how many neutrons or electrons there are.
What term describes the number of times a wave is generated per second?
The number of waves produced each second is the frequency of the wave, measured in hertz. The frequency of a sound wave affects the pitch of the sound: the higher the frequency, the higher the pitch.
The following are all units of measure. Which unit is used to measure electric resistance?
Some materials allow current to flow through better than others. A material's tendency to resist the flow of charge is called its resistance, and it's measured in ohms. 1 Ohm is the resistance between two points in a conductor where the application of 1 volt will push 1 ampere, or 6.241×1018 electrons.
How many protons does a hydrogen atom have?
A neutral hydrogen atom contains exactly one proton and one electron. It is the simplest element in the universe and makes up about 75% of the baryonic mass of the universe.
What ratio does density measure?
Density is a measure of how tightly packed matter is. Density can be found by finding the mass of an object and dividing that by its volume.
Can you decide what requires more work: lifting a 20 kg crate a vertical distance of 3 meters or lifting a 30 kg crate a vertical distance of 2 meters?
The force of gravity acting on the 20 kg crate is about 200 N. The force of gravity acting on the 30 kg crate is about 300 N. %0DW = F x d%0DWork done on 20 kg crate = 200 x 3, which is about 600 Joules of work.%0DWork done on 30 kg crate = 300 x 2, which is also about 600 Joules of work.
What is the standard unit of measure for pressure?
Pressure is defined as the amount of force exerted over a given area. You can create a lot of pressure by exerting a lot of force, or exerting a smaller force over a small area. This idea is why a magician can lie on a bed of nails: he total surface area of all the nail tips together is large enough.
What is the acceleration of a car that maintains a velocity of 60 mph for 10 seconds?
An acceleration is a change in velocity. If the velocity doesn't change, then there is no acceleration. Because of this, the acceleration of the car going 60 mph has an acceleration of zero.
A baseball is dropped from a 5-story window. Its gravitational potential energy before it is dropped is about 22 Joules. What is its kinetic energy when it hits the ground?
The total energy must remain the same. Since the ball begins with a potential energy of 22 Joules and a kinetic energy of 0 Joules (if there is no movement, then there is no kinetic energy), the total energy of the baseball is 22 Joules. As the ball falls, some of its potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. When it finally reaches the ground, all of its potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, making its kinetic energy 22 Joules.
All the following objects possess gravitational potential energy. Which has the most?
Gravitational potential energy is a product of mass, gravity, and height above the earth. Gravitational PE for a 10 kg object at a height of 20 meters is 2,000 Joules.
A skydiver has reached terminal velocity after jumping out of the plane. Which force is greatest?
Terminal velocity is reached when the force of air resistance reaches the same magnitude as the force of gravity. Once these forces are balanced, the skydiver no longer accelerates and will continue to fall at constant velocity.
How many electrons does a positive ion have?
Because electrons are negatively charged, if an atom loses one (or more), it will become positively charged. On the flip side, if an atom gains electrons, it will become more negative.
All but one of the following can be found in the nucleus of an atom. Which one doesn't belong?
The nucleus of an atom is made of protons and neutrons. Protons and neutrons are made up of quarks. Electrons orbit the outer edge of an atom and are not found in the nucleus.
Can you pick the term used to describe the difference in charge between two points?
Voltage is the difference in potential energy between two points in a circuit. This difference in energy creates pressure that forces charged electrons to flow in an electrical circuit.
A truck traveling down the highway at 30 mph has a lot of momentum. What happens to its momentum if the truck doubles its speed to 60 mph?
Momentum is directly related to the velocity of an object. So for the same mass, a doubling of the velocity will lead to doubling the momentum.
Your have a mass of 80 kg on the Earth. What is your mass on the moon?
Mass represents the amount of matter in an object. The amount of matter, and therefore the mass, does not change as it moves from location to another. So if you have a mass of 80 kg on Earth, you'll also have a mass of 80 kg on the moon.
Can you pick the example which does not demonstrate an acceleration?
Velocity is a vector quantity. This means that the direction is just as important as the magnitude when describing velocity. Therefore, any change in speed or direction is a change in velocity (and an acceleration). Since the hockey puck is maintaining constant speed and constant direction, it is NOT accelerating.
When a rock is dropped, it will accelerate downward at a rate of 9.8 m/s/s. If the same rock is thrown downward, what will its acceleration be? (Ignore air resistance.)
The acceleration will still be 9.8 m/s/s. After the rock is thrown, the only force acting on it is gravitational force. This force creates an acceleration of 9.8 m/s/s.
Two football players collide head-on. One football player has a mass of 60 kg. The other has a mass of 100 kg. Which player experiences a greater change in momentum?
Each player experiences the same force, thanks to Newton's 3rd law of motion. They also experience this force for the same amount of time. This means that they experience the same impulse and the same change in momentum.
Sunsets have a reddish-orange color associated with them. Which phenomenon causes this?
When a beam of light strikes molecules in the atmosphere, it bounces off in different directions. This happens millions of times before the beam gets to your eyeballs. At sunset, the light takes a much longer path through the atmosphere to your eye than it does at noon. This creates that reddish-orange hue that we all see.
What are the three primary colors of light?
The primary colors of light are red, green and blue. When red and blue light are combined, you will see magenta. When green and blue light are combined, you will see cyan. Red and green light combine to make yellow. And when all three primary colors of light are combined, you will see white light.
Of the following, which is the most radioactive element?
Radioactivity is a measure of how unstable an atom's nucleus is. An unstable nucleus sheds energy so that it can shift to a more stable configuration. Every element from 84 and up is radioactive, with no stable isotope. Polonium is so radioactive that it glows blue.
A book resting on a table experiences a gravitational force pulling downward. What upward force is also exerted on the book?
The normal force will be as large as necessary to prevent the book from penetrating the table. Normal force gets its name because it refers to a perpendicular arrangement.
Energy comes in the form of kinetic energy and potential energy. Which object has the most kinetic energy?
The formula for kinetic energy is 1/2 times mass time velocity squared. Performing the calculations gives a kinetic energy of 500 joules for the 10 kg object moving at velocity of 10 m/s.
Can you pick the Newton law that explains why airplanes accelerate forward when the propeller blows air backward?
Newton's 3rd law (For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction) explains why a rearward force also results in a forward-facing force. The propeller pushes on the air, but the air pushes back on the plane, moving it forward.
Physics quantities are either scalars or vectors. Which of the following quantities is a scalar?
Vectors require both magnitude and direction. Displacement, velocity and acceleration all express both magnitude (meters, m/s, and m/s/s) and direction, sometimes represented using negative or positive symbols. Speed describes a magnitude (m/s), but does not indicate a direction.
What is the groundspeed of an airplane that flies at an airspeed of 400 km/h in a 300 km/h hurricane crosswind?
When an airplane moves within a medium which is moving relative to the ground, the speed of the airplane(as measured by its speedometer) will not be the same as the speed as measured by a person on the ground (groundspeed). The groundspeed can be determined by adding the airplane's speed and wind speed as vectors.
What is the name of the hydrogen isotope that contains 2 neutrons?
The nucleus of every hydrogen atom contains exactly one proton. However, the nucleus can also contain a varying number of neutrons. Protium is a hydrogen atom without any neutrons. Deuterium contains one neutron, and tritium contains two neutrons. Tritium is the most rare of the three isotopes, and also radioactive.
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Transdisciplinary facilitation exists in the space between traditional specialisms and disciplines. It involves assisting people to not only bring their expertise and experience to the table, but simultaneously transcend this to engage in new, ungenreable activities and actions in collaboration with others.
Transdisciplinary versus interdisciplinary?
Here is a quote that helps to define the difference between these two this case in the context of research:
“We define interdisciplinary studies as projects that involve several unrelated academic disciplines in a way that forces them to cross subject boundaries to create new knowledge and theory and solve a common research goal. By unrelated, we mean that they have contrasting research paradigms. We might consider the differences between qualitative and quantitative approaches or between analytical and interpretative approaches that bring together disciplines from the humanities and the natural sciences.
We define transdisciplinary studies as projects that both integrate academic researchers from different unrelated disciplines and non-academic participants, such as land managers and the public, to research a common goal and create new knowledge and theory. Transdisciplinarity combines interdisciplinarity with a participatory approach.” Tress, Tress and Fry
Why transdisciplinary and why now?
Healthy, collaborative relationships have always been a major key to success in any enterprise, and are the bedrock to society. But why is transdisciplinary collaboration particularly important right now?
Parallel to the development of global telecommunication networks and media, there has been a strong global trend evident to network, and collaborate, across traditional boundaries of sector, geography, discipline, and religion.
The degree of percieved complexity, in our lives has increased to the point where finite understandings or boundaries are almost obsolete, except for very few manufacturing and administrative tasks and processes.
The 'known' world has become increasingly 'unknowable'.
The growth of sophisticated online social networking and media tools (eg. Ning, Linked inFacebook, Youtube, flickr) has allowed us to build maps to navigate complex global relationships, and to bridge geographic distance. Also to work in ways that were never though possible previously. They have also meant that traditional notions of what of 'truth are no longer valid, or at least very unstable. (Especially when faced with constructivist tools such as 'wikipedia' where knowledge is collaboratively generated rather than disseminated by 'experts').
Social media has allowed other people's stories to be heard and shared in our own living room, making it very difficult to live in a world where environmental, social, economic and cultural crisises are 'other people's problems' and 'out of site and out of mind'.
Also a number of interventions and solutions are needed to engage with the incredibly complex nature of the crises facing us. Climate change, poverty and conflict are interwoven, and caused by thousands of different actions at one level…and on another spawned from a way of thinking that has dominated our plant since the enlightenment, and is based on concrete a concrete seperatist reality and fixed, objective truth. To deal with issues such as climate change, interventions need to join and transcend current disciplines rather than be formed within each of them seperately.
What helps?
There are a number of factors that support trandisciplinary collaboration these include:
• some shared passion or interest e.g. climate change
• organisational committment and support for the individuals participating
• adequate resources, including time
• a reasonably high degree of communication skills, or committment to develop this area
• a commitment to participation and equity, coupled with an understanding of power and rank differentials
• a committment to understanding and learning from interpersonal process as the content or project focus
• some degree of meta-reflective capacity and self awareness - i.e. the ability to look at ones actions and assumptions from a distance
• the presence of intermediaries that support interaction and process not just manage content eg. facilitators and brokers like Foam, Brussels
It is the intermediaries, the transdisciplinary facilitators that provide support for all of the other aspects through both role-modelling, and also classic facilitation skills such as paying attention to process as well as content.
Transdisciplinary facilitation can involve one-off workshop situations, or macro level facilitation on larger projects. Facilitation can occur in multiple rhealms including physical and digital realities. When using mechanisms such as ARGs it can involve facilitating different perceptions with reality itself.
• transdisciplinary_facilitation.txt
• Last modified: 2009-02-05 02:34
• by maggiebuxton |
Science Proves that Raw Diet Beats Kibble
Thanks to our good friend Dr. Karen Becker over at for this excellent article!
Story at-a-glance
• Big Pet Food wants you to believe your dog is no longer a carnivore and can “thrive” on a diet high in starch
• A 2013 study is often used by processed pet food advocates as “proof” dogs are no longer meat-eaters. All the study actually proves is that a dog’s body has some capacity to adapt to the food it eats
• Just because a minority of dogs do fine on starch-rich diets doesn’t mean all dogs have the same capacity; the majority of dogs will suffer health consequences if fed a biologically inappropriate diet
• Dogs’ taxonomic classification is Canis lupus, in the Order Carnivora. They have the teeth, jaws and digestion of carnivores
• A dog’s ability to stay alive on plant-based foods doesn’t make him an omnivore
By Dr. Karen Shaw Becker
Not long ago I ran across a pet food industry journal article with the headline, “Your dog is not a wolf! (Pet food companies, take note).”1 The author of the article chides pet food producers who “… place a picture of a wolf on the front panel of the bag and talk about the importance of ancestral diets, biologically appropriate diets, meat-rich diets, high protein/low carbohydrate, bringing out the wild side of your animal, etc.”
His objection seems to be that along with all the crazies on the Internet, the pet food industry is now also promoting the ridiculous notion that dogs aren’t all that different from wolves, and should be fed like them.
Interestingly, he’s really only objecting to Big Pet Food marketing campaigns, because in reality, these companies are simply using marketing hype to convince consumers to buy products that are about as far removed from the canine ancestral diet as it gets. They aren’t actually producing biologically appropriate, meat-rich, high-protein and low-carb diets — they’re just using packaging and marketing that gives the impression that’s what they’re selling.
The author also states, “… it is likely that the majority of pet parents have never questioned if there is any peer-reviewed science (or any science at all) that supports this belief.”
The tiresome “there’s no science” excuse is always used by the pet food industry and other processed pet food advocates to argue against species-appropriate fresh food diets for dogs and cats. They know full well there’s no science because such studies cost big money, and Big Pet Food has no interest in funding research that might (and in my opinion, would definitely) prove there’s a better way to feed pets than out of a bag or a can.
Flawed Study Says Dogs Are No Longer Carnivores
Getting back to the author’s main point, which is that dogs are not wolves and shouldn’t be fed like carnivores, he states:
“Although dogs are descendants of wolves, their domestication by humans led them to evolve from a mainly carnivorous diet to foods rich in starch. In 2013, Axelsson et al. conducted whole genome sequencing of both dogs and wolves to identify genetic variants occurring through the domestication of dogs.
Of the variants identified in the study, the researchers found differences in genes tied to brain function (domestication for certain roles/functions) and starch digestion (increased ability to digest starch [versus] a wolf).”
The 2013 study he’s referring to, which is titled “The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet”2 is wildly popular with the processed pet food and “dogs are omnivores, not carnivores” crowds. It has become their bible, providing “proof” that dogs should be eating starchy, carb-heavy diets instead of protein-rich animal meat-based diets.
The author’s point is valid: dogs are not wolves. However, the fact remains that dogs are a subspecies of wolves: Canis lupis familiaris — the familiar (i.e. domesticated) wolf.
Dogs Can Adapt to Biologically Inappropriate Diets. Does That Mean We Should Force Them To?
A friend of mine, holistic veterinarian and author Dr. Doug Knueven, did a careful analysis of the study when it was published back in 2013 and debunked the results. [Little Big Cat also debunked it, right here.] The study authors — a group of geneticists in Sweden — approached their research with a commonly held bias that “dog food is good for pets.” As Dr. Doug points out, when you start a study with a bias, it tends to skew your results.
All the study validates is that a dog’s body has some capacity to adapt to the food it eats. It certainly doesn’t prove that it’s good for dogs to have more starch in their diet. And I certainly don’t want to encourage people to feed biologically inappropriate diets because their pet’s body will adapt. I want people to feed their pets what nature designed them to eat. Then their bodies don’t have to work to adapt to their diet.
The study does show there are genetic differences between dogs and wolves, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Dr. Doug points out that dogs are undergoing an evolutionary process, but what some people might not understand is that no individual dog evolves. Feeding dogs a starch-rich diet won’t cause them to evolve to change their genetic code to be able to handle it better.
The way evolution works is, there are certain “mutant” individuals — let’s say a group of dogs that have a mutation that allows them to digest starch better than most dogs. Those individuals will adapt to better process a high-starch diet. They will reproduce, which means the mutated gene they carry will become more common in the future; their offspring may also process starch more efficiently. But all the rest of the dogs will continue to not do well on a high-starch diet.
The dogs with the mutated gene can survive on it, but the “non-mutants” don’t do well, and that can lead to problems, including the biological consequences of feeding an inappropriate, high-starch diet to a carnivore. The study authors didn’t address what happens after the glucose in high-starch diets hits the dogs’ systems, triggering a cascade of inflammatory processes.
I don’t think the epidemic of inflammatory diseases plaguing pets today can be discussed without accepting the fact that the food most people feed on a daily basis is a significant contributing factor to the diseases their pets are diagnosed with. It’s clear the highly processed “food” the vast majority of people serve their pets is negatively impacting health.
Do We Want Our Dogs to Thrive, or Merely Survive?
Cats are obligate carnivores and dogs are scavenging carnivores. Dogs can certainly tolerate a higher amount of dietary starch than cats, but it’s still a metabolic stressor for them, including hormonal fluctuations. And sadly, the pet food industry appears to also be testing the waters as to how much starch cats can tolerate, which is the exact opposite approach the industry should be taking if they want to use food as medicine.
Clearly, at this point, “pet food” is strictly a money-making business for the majority of big pet food companies controlling the game. The last sentence of the study abstract states:
The idea that dogs can “thrive” on a starchy diet is ludicrous. They may be able to survive, but carnivores will never thrive eating biologically inappropriate food. There’s a big difference between surviving and thriving. As Dr. Doug states in his blog post on this subject, “I can digest ethanol and sucrose but that does not mean I am likely to be healthy consuming a diet high in Twinkies and tequila.”4
Unfortunately, many people assume that since dogs aren’t strict carnivores like cats are, they can easily transition to a vegetarian or even a vegan diet. In fact, I often hear dogs referred to as omnivores, which simply isn’t correct. Dogs’ taxonomic classification is Canis lupus, in the order Carnivora. They are in the same family as their cousins, gray wolves. Just because a dog manages to stay alive on plant-based foods doesn’t make him an omnivore.
What research does show is that if dogs are fed a grain-based diet for decades, over time they develop the ability to process some starch. This is called an evolutionary adaptation. It’s a good thing these adaptations occur, because if animals didn’t adjust to some degree to changing environments and the species-inappropriate diets they’re fed, they would die off in large numbers and ultimately become extinct.
The good news is dogs can upregulate their amylase production, which is the digestive enzyme necessary to process starch. If you feed dogs a starch-based diet for several generations they will adapt to produce more amylase, but that doesn’t mean the diet is a biologically appropriate source of nourishment.
Dogs Have the Teeth, Jaws and Digestion of a Carnivore
Animals’ teeth are specifically created for the food they are born to eat. Your dog’s teeth are designed to rip, shred and shear flesh off bone. Dog molars are pointed, not flat. Humans, who are omnivores, have molars that are large and flat because they’re designed to grind up plant matter. If you look at the teeth of other omnivores and herbivores, you’ll see big, wide and flat molars designed to chew plant matter.
Your dog has no flat molars because nature didn’t intend for him to eat much in the way of plant matter. He also has powerful jaw and neck muscles that aid in pulling down and consuming prey. The jaws open very wide to accommodate whole chunks of meat and bone, and move only up and down (not side to side), because they are designed for crushing.
In contrast, omnivores and herbivores have jaws that permit the lateral (side-to-side) motion necessary for grinding plant material. The carnivore’s stomach is short and simple in design, and also very acidic. It’s meant to move food quickly through, and to deal with the pathogens found in fresh whole prey, which is not clean meat.
Plant matter and vegetables need more time to break down in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which requires a different, more complex digestive design than your dog’s body possesses. This is also why vegetarian animals tend to masticate or chew their food over and over and over.
The term “wolf it down” refers to the tendency of wolves and other canines to tear chunks of meat off prey and get them into their bellies as quickly as possible. Carnivores don’t engage in much chewing at all. That’s why whole veggies, grains and seeds tend to come out in your dog’s poop looking just like they did when he ate them.
His stomach isn’t equipped to break them down, so they simply travel through the GI tract intact and pass out the other end as undigested waste. Dogs also don’t make the necessary enzymes to break down carbs and starches in the diet. Omnivores and herbivores make those enzymes in abundance, but carnivores do not.
Bottom line: While there are some genetic differences that have evolved between wolves and domestic dogs, it’s not an argument for feeding grain-based diets to carnivores.
What Happens When We Feed Carnivores as Omnivores or Vegetarians?
First, the carbohydrates that are a central feature of plant-based diets, including grains, potatoes and legumes, displace the quality animal protein necessary for a dog’s (or cat’s) healthy muscle tone and organ function.
Second, all of those unnecessary carbohydrates break down into starch, then sugar (glucose), which requires the pancreas to release massive amounts of insulin on a daily basis. What science has made very clear in the past decade is the role of insulin as a contributing factor to many of the chronic diseases plaguing pets today.
One of the most important things we can do to increase longevity and decrease disease potential in pets (including the risk of diabetes, obesity and cancer) is keep their insulin levels low. It’s impossible to keep insulin levels low when feeding a high starch diet.
Feeding your dog as an omnivore or vegetarian means he’ll inevitably have more inflammation and insulin release than dogs fed a biologically appropriate (low-carb) diet. Exactly how these health stressors impact your dog’s body depends on how resilient he is (factoring in variables such as genetic predisposition, stress level, exercise and environmental chemical load). But here’s where common sense reigns: you can’t feed inappropriate foods and expect an appropriate health outcome.
Dr. Anna and her team at DogRisk recently completed research looking at what happens to the levels of homocysteine (a blood marker correlated to chronic disease and inflammation) when kibble-fed dogs were weaned onto raw food for three months. There was an 81 percent decrease in disease blood markers. Likewise, when raw fed dogs were put on dry food for three months, there was a 353 percent increase in disease markers.
As more and more of these types of independent studies are released, we can look forward to more pet parents waking up to the deceptive marketing practices the pet food industry has relied on over the past several decades, and making more species-appropriate food choices to help intentionally create health in their pets.
Do you really know what's in your cat's food?
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40 Things You Can Do with Vaseline-SliderPhoto
40 Things You Can Do with Vaseline-MainPhoto
In 1859, petroleum had just been discovered in Pennsylvania, and a young chemist named Robert Chesebrough traveled there to make his fortune. Chesebrough noticed that workers used “rod wax,” a byproduct of the drilling process, to soften hands and heal cuts. After years of experimentation, Chesebrough perfected a product he called “wonder jelly.” He rode town to town demonstrating the product, often burning his skin on a candle flame to demonstrate the healing power of his product. Later Chesebrough patented the name “Vaseline Jelly” and began production on the product we know today.
Read Related: Drugstore Health & Beauty Finds from Robyn Moreno
Over the years, Vaseline has relieved a lot of dry skin. But if you’re only using it to keep your skin soft, you’re missing a multitude of uses for this household staple.
1. Put it on your eyelashes at night to make lashes grow longer and thicker.
A thin layer on your lashes will keep them soft and replenish moisture lost to mascara. Within weeks, lashes will be fuller and longer.
2. Soothe chapped lips.
You can purchase Vaseline in a small tube with a roller tip, perfect for application twice a day.
3. Rub it into your cuticles several times a day to keep them soft.
Your manicurist will thank you for this one, and no more torn cuticles.
4. Make your perfume last longer by rubbing it onto perfume points before spritzing.
A trick so easy, wish we’d have thought of it years ago.
5. Put it on your feet and cover with a pair of socks at night to stay sandal-ready.
Smooth rough heels and calluses with this easy bedtime trick. Sandal ready feet in just a week, guaranteed.
6. Apply it to your teeth to keep lipstick from sticking for photo ops.
Ask any Miss America contestant and they’ll tell you this is a beauty queen trick from way back. Smile after smile without a single mishap.
7. It makes a great makeup remover.
Spread a thin layer on your face and use cotton balls or a soft cloth to remove the day’s makeup. Any remaining Vaseline will soften your skin.
8. All-over moisturizer.
It’s inexpensive, it’s fragrance free and it works for every part of your body.
9. Tame unruly eyebrows.
Use a cotton swab to apply a small amount of vaseline and smooth down those brows between waxing. |
Three Longs & Three Shorts
The Coronavirus Is No 1918 Pandemic
As the number of countries reporting incidences of patients with Coronavirus symptoms rises, fear and panic has gripped the world even harder, with suggestions that it could be the worst pandemic the world has seen. So, what has the been the worst the world has seen historically and how does it compare to what we know about the Coronavirus thus far? This piece in The Atlantic, attempts just that. Dr Jeremy Brown, the author of the article is an emergency physician and the author of Influenza: The 100-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History, a book about the Great Flu that killed millions in 1918 and whether the world is prepared for the next epidemic. Whilst Dr Brown allows for the possibility for the unknown unknown about Coronavirus, he reassuringly writes about the vast advances in medical science which should prevent this from coming any closer to the Great Flu. For example, back then it took almost 15yrs to simply trace the root cause of the flu to the influenza virus. “The contrast with the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, could not be greater. From the very start of the outbreak, scientists suspected a virus. Within two weeks, they had identified it as a coronavirus, sequenced its genome, and discovered that the most likely animal hosts were bats. This information, which was published by a Chinese team, was instantly shared across the scientific community, allowing research labs around the world to begin the long and complicated process of understanding the virus, and finding a vaccine and a cure. We may not have beaten the enemy yet, but we certainly know a great deal about him.
The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 occurred in the pre-antibiotic era. Although antibiotics do not treat viruses, they do treat the secondary bacterial infections that sometimes follow. These secondary infections cause severe pneumonia, and were likely responsible for most of the deaths in 1918. Back then, there was little to offer. Physicians recommended quinine (not helpful), dry champagne (ditto, though more fun), and phenolphthalein (a cancer-causing laxative). During an earlier outbreak of influenza, in 1916, British military physicians had even tried bloodletting as they treated dying soldiers. When it failed, they suggested it had simply not been tried soon enough in the course of the disease. Patients survived in spite of their doctors.
Today we live in a world that is flooded with antibiotics. And although there is concern that bacteria are becoming ever more resistant to them, antibiotics remain an overwhelmingly powerful tool to treat secondary bacterial pneumonia. Early case reports describe these infections in COVID-19 patients, and we have every reason to believe that for many, though sadly not all, antibiotics will provide a cure.
We also have another class of drugs available today: antivirals, which directly target the virus responsible for a disease. There are at least four approved antiviral medications, some given orally and others intravenously. They are not as effective as we would like, but they have been given to a number of very sick COVID-19 patients. Whether those antiviral medications or the antibiotics that are often given in tandem are responsible for successful outcomes is hard to determine. But we have options that were simply undreamed of a century ago.” |
Breakthrough: The Secret to Making Processors 1,000 Times Faster [VIDEO]
If you want to make processors 1,000 times faster, you're going to need some serious technology, right? That would be the conventional wisdom. But 3M and IBM have unlocked a secret low-tech shortcut.
The companies found a much simpler way to hit that elusive goal — not by creating some spectacular new circuitry or using exotic quantum mechanics, but with the invention of a new variety of a mundane substance: glue.
This is not just any glue. It's an adhesive that dissipates heat so efficiently that layer upon layer of chips can be stacked on top of each other into silicon "towers" up to 100 layers high, glued together with this special adhesive that keeps things cool. The result? Faster chips for computers, laptops, smartphones and anything else that uses microprocessors.
With IBM supplying its microprocessor and silicon expertise and 3M contributing its super-cool adhesive, the two companies aim to stack together processors, memory chips and networks into monster "skyscrapers" of silicon they say will be 1,000 times faster than today's fastest processor.
When can we get our hands on this breakthrough tech? IBM's media relations representative Michael Corrado tells us, "By the end of 2013 it should go into production. It'll show up on servers first, and then a year after that consumers might see it."
And to think, we were impressed with a promise of processors that will be 20 times faster.
Here's a video illustrating this exciting new breakthrough (no sound):
[via IBM and DVICE] |
To Mask or Not to Mask?
Dr. Warren Wong Founder, MemoriesConnect
Dr. Warren Wong, Founder, MemoriesConnect
Should you wear a facemask?
The more you hear and read about masks, the more confusing it sounds. It has been confusing for a while. The most well-known doctor in the United States, Anthony Fauci, does not wear a mask when he stands next to the President. Meanwhile, on TV we see people in China all wearing masks.
I’ve spent a number of hours reading and thinking about COVID-19, the shortage of masks and scientific controversies about masks. We might be getting a directive about the use of mask soon. Until then, the following is a why, who, what, where and when of wearing a mask.
One purpose of a facemask is to help protect you from getting COVID-19 from someone else. The other is to keep you from giving COVID-19 to someone else. This is especially important because you can spread the disease when you don’t know you have it.
If you feel sick with a “cold” or “flu”, call the doctor or a COVID-19 Hotline right away. Simply wearing a mask when you feel sick is not enough to keep you from making someone else sick.
WHO should wear a mask?
It is very important for some people to wear a mask and not as important for other people. This is a point scale that I came up with.
1) On a 0-2 point scale, is Covid-19 a major problem in your community?
0=In remote parts of the country where there are few reported Covid-19 cases
1=A place like Honolulu which has a dense population and an increasing number of cases
2=Cities such as New York City with a large number of cases
2) On a 0-2 point scale, how much contact do you have with people?
0=You and the people at your home rarely have close contact with anyone else
1=You have occasional contacts with people during the week during visits, outings and errands
2=You have frequent contact with other people because you have a role such as a grocery clerk
3) On a 0-2 point scale, how often are you around people who are frail, elderly or ill?
1=Occasionally, maybe once a week
2=Frequently, more than once a week
4) Are you frail, elderly or chronically ill?
0=No 2=Yes
Add up the points. If you have 3 or more points, seriously consider using a mask. This is not a perfect scale. It does not answer every question and there is no clear consensus. With this scoring system, my wife does not need a mask but I do because I am around patients frequently.
It is frequently difficult and not always necessary to keep a mask on people who are frail, confused or chronically ill. Even in hospital settings patients seldom wear masks. Instead, staff and caregivers wear masks.
WHAT kind of mask should you use?
Masks vary in the amount of protection provided. Most experts agree that any mask is better than no mask. Because there is a shortage of masks, use the mask that is appropriate for you:
1. A fabric mask: Use this if you are in the general public for activities such as going to the store or for short interactions with other people.
2. A medical/surgical/ “doctors” mask: Use this if you are seeing people throughout the day or if you are providing hands-on caregiving.
3. A “N95” mask: Use this if you are in contact with a person who may have Covid-19 or other contagious flu-like disease. These masks are currently in short supply and should only be used when needed.
4. Face Shields are not meant for use outside healthcare settings and are only required under special circumstances.
WHERE should you use a mask?
Generally, you do not need to use a mask at home unless you are providing hands-on care to another person or you are having visitors. Outside the house, use the mask whenever people are close by.
WHEN should you use a mask?
Wear your mask when you are around people you don’t live with. Also wear a mask when you are providing hands-on care to another person.
Most people do not need to wear a mask all day long. You cannot wear a mask and eat. Take it off when you are not around other people. However, it is important to avoid touching the mask or taking it on/off frequently.
Remember that wearing a mask does not provide total protection: Practicing social distancing and frequent handwashing are essential.
Cleaning your mask
A cloth mask should be washed daily with soap and water if used.
Surgical/medical masks are not meant to be washed or reused. Washing can degrade them. Surgical/medical masks should not be used for more than a day at most.
Making fabric masks
This website is recommended for instructions on how to make a mask.
There is a shortage of elastic and this site shows how to make masks without using elastic.
There is a great need for masks. In the weeks ahead, serious shortages can occur not only in hospitals and clinics but also in nursing homes and senior living communities. Consider contributing there. In addition, share masks with people who need them.
I’ll continue to send out messages. Please feel free to email me with general questions. I’m here to support you. My next message will be:
“Don’t touch that!!”
Warmest Aloha,
Dr. Warren
[email protected]
The Washington Post reports:
White House to urge Americans to wear face coverings in public to slow spread of coronavirus
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Black mold is a dangerous fungus that can harmful to both your home and your health. Because it is often hard to determine the specific genus of mold, it is best to treat all contaminated areas carefully and safely. Here is some of the most important information to arm yourself with, when it comes to mold removal and your health. Black mold is a type of the stachybotris mold and is also known as stachybotris atra. It is characterized by greenish black or yellow stains, and grows in dark and humid places. It is a dangerous type of mold, which can have many negative health effects.
It is important to detect and remove this type of mold as soon as possible, because it can greatly affect the health of the residents who are living in an infected home. People, who come in contact with this mold, can have many side effects such as infections, allergies, and even organ failure in severe cases.
Before you attempt to remove black mold, you have to detect all the areas where it has spread. The difficult part is that mold always grows in dark, damp places, which can be quite hard to reach. Therefore, you have to keep an eye out for any signs that indicate mold growth. Mold has a musty odor, which can be detected, so do not ignore any such odors in the house. Also, areas with mold growth often have greenish yellow stains, so do not ignore such discolorations around the house. Remember that mold grows is humid and dark places, so some of the common areas of growth are bathrooms, basements and air conditioning vents.
Once you have detected where the mold is growing, you can attempt to remove it. There are many mold removal products, which are easily available in the market such as bleaches and acids, and these are very effective for this purpose. If you are attempting this yourself, then remember that black mold is very dangerous, so always wear protective gloves and face masks. Such small preventive steps can help in creating healthier environment.
There are often certain problems which cause mold to grow in the house such as leaks, flooding or inadequate air flow. If these problems go unnoticed for long, they can cause mold to grow. Also, if you do not fix the core issue, there are chances that mold will grow again, even if you remove it at once. Therefore, make sure to eliminate any such issues, which may be the cause of mold growth in your home.
Once you have detected and removed all traces of black mold, use mold resistant pastes and paints on the infected areas. This will make sure there are no future growths, and your home is safe and protected from this nuisance. |
Talk about a weird coincidence. A friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook a couple of days ago of two quarters she had received as change from a business. What made that interesting is that there are bats on the backside of the quarters. Weird, right? The same year the world gets turned upside down from a virus that supposedly came from a bat, the US Mint released new quarters that feature... bats.
Credit: Bree Milam, used with permission
I'm sure the conspiracy theorists will latch on to this as a sign the government is in on the whole thing, but it really is just a bad timing coincidence. The quarters are part of the Mints "2020 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program", featuring different quarters for our National Parks. The coins with the bats are featured on the National Park of American Samoa coins. American Samoa is a remote island about 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii. The bats are Samoan fruit bats. The US Mint says,
The reverse (tails) design depicts a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. The image evokes the remarkable care and energy this species puts into its offspring. The design is intended to promote awareness of the species’ threatened status because of habitat loss and commercial hunting. The National Park of American Samoa is the only national park the Samoan fruit bat calls home. Inscriptions are “NATIONAL PARK,” “AMERICAN SAMOA,” “2020,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”
There ya go. No conspiracy, just awkward timing on the coin release. |
Singular city
On a recent visit to the nearby city of Heidelberg a friend’s wife who had just visited a few European cities asked me, “It all looks the same – what is special about Heidelberg?”
For a few moments I was at a loss for words. I loved this charming city and visited it often, but articulating precise reasons why it should appeal to anyone was something I had never attempted. I ended up mumbling something about the river, the castle and the university crowd. She didn’t appear too satisfied.
It is a sentiment many travellers in Western Europe experience; after a while, “the cities all look the same”. And it reminds me of a remark an acquaintance made after listening to a few of my western-classical records: “They all sound the same – why do you listen to them?”
The essence of a city depends on how one chooses to absorb it, but even for the most casual observer Paris is a city that is difficult to mix up with others.
When I first visited Paris four years ago what struck me was the percentage of blacks in the city. In Germany, where I had spent a couple of weeks until then, I had seen few dark-skinned people and had naively assumed that to be a characteristic common to Western Europe. In Paris I learnt I could blend easily with the people around, and I instantly felt comfortable.
Paris metropolitan trains brought back memories of Bombay. Hopping from one train to another, walking along long tunnels to switch between lines, getting swept by the energy of the Parisians, watching them lost in their world, some tired, some bored, some curious but most silent, gazing at the graffiti on the walls juxtaposed with artefacts from a museum – all formed a part of an unforgettable experience.
This time, coming to Paris after visiting Amsterdam, I found a marked difference in elegance. If Amsterdam was kinky, Paris was dignified; Parisians, even in summer clothes, appeared elegant. One could pick up a lesson or two from the way they dressed and carried themselves.
Then there was the space around La Defense. Those modern buildings and artefacts of modern-art spread around the grand arch are so different from the rest of Paris that they never fail to impress. The city, while preserving the old, renews itself with the nouveau.
The list can go on. It strikes me that some of these aspects can be used to describe other cities in relation to Paris. People in Heidelberg, I could tell my friend’s wife, are predominantly German; the city has no metro and its charm lies mainly in the older sections.
3 thoughts on “Singular city
1. Thank you for Paris. And thank you for the Bombay comparison. Means when I get there finally, I’ll feel at home. Love cities with trains. Love trains.
2. Fab post Parmanu. Never went to La Defense coz lacked time but I loved the trains esp the few older ones where you have to turn the handle and open the door. People were jumping off even before it stopped. So unlike firangland and so much like bombay! And well there are people I know who say Goa dekh liya…ab kerala dekh kar kya karenge…beach hi to hai!
3. Cities always seem different for the one who stops and observes the different characteristics. You can easily classify the city into academic, governmental, commerical, party fun, coastal, lazy…each with a different charm.
Paris sounds really fun and now you have rekindled my desire to visit Europe.
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Cat Senses: An Exploration
Knowing how our animals experience the world around them is important in being the best pet parents we can be. It gives us a better understanding of their needs and allows us to tailor their environment in a way that enables them to thrive. Cats have a unique way of experiencing the world around them, including how they see, smell, hear, touch, and taste. All of these senses have evolved to make them skilled hunters that can be active in low light. These senses also allow them to avoid predators, have great agility when moving around, and communicate with other members of their species and with us (Stella & Buffington, 2013). Keep reading to learn more about how your cat experiences the world, and how their senses make them the fascinating creatures we love so much.
Cat Sight
As predators, a cat’s vision is important to them. It allows them to take information from their environment and respond to it appropriately to survive. This includes finding and catching prey and moving around their environment skillfully, even at great heights. Cats have a 200-degree field of view, with their peripheral vision being 30 degrees wide.
Cats have poor binocular vision. They also have dichromatic vision, meaning they do not see colors similarly to humans (CFHC, 2014). All mammalian eyes have photoreceptors called cones and rods. Cones assist with color vision while rods assist with seeing in low levels of light (Gelatt; Jacobs, 2009). Cats have fewer cones in their eyes compared to humans, which is why they see colors differently than us and are classified as having dichromatic vision. Cats can see hues of blue, yellow, and grey, but other colors are hard for them to see (Clark & Clark 2016).
Some studies have suggested that cats can see ultraviolet light (Douglas & Jeffery, 2014). Cats are excellent at seeing in low lights, meaning that compared to humans, they do indeed have more rods than us. It is a misconception that cats can see in complete darkness. While their eyes allow them to see in very low light, they still need some level of light in order to see (Brown & Bradshaw, 2013).
The structure known as the tapetum lucidum is a membrane in the back of the cat’s eye that helps reflect light back through the rods, helping perfect their vision in low lights. This also gives cats the glowing, shimmery eyes you see in pictures or when you shine a flashlight towards them (Commings, 2006). The structure of a cat’s eye is specially designed for them to hunt small, fast-moving prey in a variety of contexts. Their vertical pupils can constrict and contract based on the level of light that is available in the environment, allowing them the ability to adapt diurnal, nocturnal, or crepuscular behavioral patterns based on their environment and prey or based on their owner’s schedule (Brown & Bradshaw, 2013; Banks et al., 2015).
Cat Smell
While a cat’s sight is important to their ability to navigate their environment, their sense of smell is actually the most important sense they have. With 200 million odor-detecting cells, most people would be surprised to learn that cats actually have a better sense of smell than dogs. Cats primarily use their sense of smell to communicate with other cats and to find and catch prey. Cats use their sense of smell when investigating and defending their territory.
Cats use urine and feces to mark their territory (Bradshaw et al., 2015). Moreover, cats will roam around and scent mark to warn other cats to stay out of their space. While walking their territory, cats will use their nose to identify if any strange cats have come across their space. Cats also communicate with one another using pheromones and scent glands in different locations of their body. They use these scent glands to communicate with us by rubbing them on us in order to mark us with their scent (Vitale Shreve & Udell, 2017).
Cats have an organ called the vomeronasal organ that is common in many mammal species and some reptile species. This organ is on the roof of the mouth and contains sensory neurons, which help detect information from the environment and send it to the brain (Vitale Shreve & Udell, 2017). If you've ever seen a cat curl its lips up by its gums when it smells a particularly good scent, this is known as the flehmen response. The flehmen response draws scents, particularly pheromones, through the vomeronasal organ helping to deepen the scent and provide the animal more cues about the environment. We know that scent and taste are closely linked senses. When using the flehmen response, cats typically are closing off their nasal passages and drawing scents through their mouth and through the vomeronasal organ to better detect the chemical composition of the scent, essentially tasting the smell. This behavior is particularly important in feline mating behavior (Hart & Leedy 1987; Bradshaw et al., 2015).
Because a cat’s sense of smell is so strong, cat owners should be mindful of things in the environment that might be overstimulating to their cat’s sense of smell. One important item to be mindful of is your cat’s litter. When given a choice, cats show a preference for unscented litter, and some cats will avoid using litter boxes with scented litter. Cats are also particularly sensitive to dirty litter boxes. Imagine if your sense of smell were about 14 times stronger than it is now and you went into a dirty bathroom. That would not be enjoyable for you, would it? It is important to keep this in mind and to make an effort to keep your cat’s litter box fresh and clean. It will also be beneficial to your cat to limit the use of products with strong scents if your cat will have regular access to it (Villeneuve-Beugnet & Beugnet, 2018).
However, because your cat’s sense of smell is so strong, you can use this to provide environmental enrichment. We all know that cats tend to go crazy for catnip, but try giving your cat other fun items to sniff. You can sprinkle different spices around the house to encourage your cat to use their nose. You can also spray different colognes, perfumes, or other items in different areas of the house to encourage sniffing. Another way you can use your cat’s sense of smell is by using calming pheromones to improve their welfare. Synthetically made pheromones are available at most pet stores. This type of product has a calming effect on cats and can help reduce anxiety-related behaviors and inter-cat aggression. Sharing of personal scents can also be used to help reduce inter-cat aggression. Some behaviorists suggest that you can use a shared brush or towel to rub on cats in the same household to create a community scent. This helps facilitate positive social interactions (Vitale Shreve & Udell, 2017).
Cat Hearing
Cats also have dogs beat with their sense of hearing. Because cats are strongly conditioned to hunt small, fast animals such as rats or rabbits, their sense of hearing has evolved to be well honed to hear higher pitched sounds compared to humans and dogs (think mouse squeaks!). They can hear up to 64 kHz (Fay & Popper, 1994). Cat ears can also move independently of one another, allowing them to pinpoint sounds with great accuracy.
One way in which you can enrich your cat’s environment through their sense of hearing is by providing cat-specific music to listen to. A study showed that while cats show no response to human music, they do respond to music made at frequencies that cats can hear (Snowdon et al., 2015). You can find cat-specific music for your feline friend on all the major music apps. To provide your cat auditory enrichment, you could turn on cat-specific music when you leave for work during the day. If you have a cat that is fearful of loud noises, such as fireworks, you could also turn music on when you know there will be fireworks. This could help drown out the loud noises and provide a calming stimulus.
Cat Touch
Cats have whiskers, also known as vibrissae, and this is one of their primary modes of touch. Whiskers contain nerve endings that send information from the environment to the brain and help create a map of the environment (Grunbaum, 2013). Whiskers are very sensitive and some cats may show whisker sensitivity, which makes them hesitant to eat or drink out of deep bowls. If you suspect your cat has whisker sensitivity, providing shallow bowls will help them eat and drink comfortably (Stella & Buffington, 2013).
Another way cats touch the world around them is with their paws. Cats have sensitive pads on the bottom of their feet and claws that help them get signals from the environment. Cats will use their paws to scratch surfaces as a way to mark their territory and also use them for defense and hunting (Lansberg, 1991; Homberger et al., 2009). This behavior provides tactile stimulation to them. To encourage mental and physical stimulation in your cat, provide toys, scratchers, beds, and cat trees in multiple textures. This will help stimulate their sense of touch.
Of course, cats also experience touch through interactions with us! Many cats love to be pet. Some may be finicky and only like to be pet in certain areas of the body or in a certain way, but there are still ways you can provide tactile enrichment for them. If your cat enjoys being pet, you can change the way you pet them by providing them a deep muscle massage, scratching them lightly with your nails, using a brush glove, or a variety of other ways.
You can also provide tactile stimulation through brushing. Many different types of brushes are available at pet stores, so find a couple varieties your cat enjoys and switch between them. If your cat does not love being petted or brushed, you can still provide tactile enrichment by finding mounted brushes. These can hang in doorways or in other places in the house and allow cats to brush themselves how they like. There are also other types of cat trees or tunnels that provide brushes or other forms of tactile stimulation.
Cat Taste
Cats may have us beat with their sense of smell, but when it comes to their sense of taste, cats are pretty lacking in this area. They have very few taste buds compared to dogs and humans. As obligate carnivores (which mean cats only eat animal protein), they have not evolved a refined palate of taste. Cats show a strong preference for foods high in protein, fat, and low in sugar and salt. Cats actually lack a taste receptor for sweet items, which is common in other carnivorous species as well (Lei et al., 2015).
While cats do not have an extensive sense of taste, you can still enrich their taste buds by providing food in a variety of flavors and textures. Most pet food brands offer foods in a variety of options. If you feed your cat wet food, you could try feeding pâtés or foods that are shredded in gravy. You can also let your cat try different protein options and switch between chicken, duck, turkey, or fish-based foods. In the summer, you could provide your cat frozen treats made from wet food or different cat-friendly broths or gravies. You can freeze these items in ice cube trays and give them a nice cool snack when it is hot out. In the winter, you can add warm water or microwave your cat’s food to heat it. Heating the food also helps improve the smell, providing enrichment for both their sense of taste and their sense of smell.
Now that you know a little more about how your cat experience the world, try to come up with some ideas for how you can use this information to enrich your cat’s life. While many cats are content to stay curled up in our laps all day, they still need mental and physical stimulation. Understanding how your cat sees, smells, hears, touches, and tastes the environment around them helps you build an environment with variety and complexity. You can encourage them to use their bodies and their brains in new and exciting ways. Try to find one activity from each sense category that you can do with your cat to encourage them to use their senses. Also use this information to make your household as cat-friendly as possible by being cognizant of sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and touches that might be overstimulating or frightening to your cat. Build an environment that allows them to avoid items that may make them uncomfortable or use positive training methods to help them overcome their sensitivities.
Leave a comment below to tell us which one of your cat’s senses you engaged and how.
Petozy is a brand dedicated to pet and pet owner happiness. Search our articles to see if we can help you with your cat related questions. Or sign-up for our newsletter if you want to get updates when new articles or products are released.
Works Cited
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Stella, J.L., and C.A.T. Buffington. 2013. Individual and environmental effects on health and welfare. In D. Turner and P. Bateson (Eds), The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour (p. 201-212). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Villeneuve-Beugnet, V, and F. Beugnet. 2018. Field assessment of cats’ litter box substrate preferences. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 25:65-70.
Vitale Shreve, K.R., and M.A.R. Udell. 2017. Stress, security, and scent: The influence of chemical signals on the social lives of domestic cats and implications for applied settings. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 187:69-76. |
Phil for Humanity Phil for Humanity
Everyone is Racist
At a very young age, everyone is taught that their nation is better than their neighbors. Their religion is better than other religions. Their local sports team is better than any other team. And then we wonder why children are racist too.
In fact, everyone is a bigot whether it is against race, sports, religion, politics, education, social class, or the million or so other ways people differentiate between themselves. Furthermore, the level of bigotry varies greatly for each and every person for each differentiation. However, not everyone is willing to admit it.
The truth is that everyone is a bigot. Everyone is racist.
Aligning with a group, whatever that group may be, is a natural tendency for everyone. At a very early age, children naturally try to "fit in" into preferred groups. People naturally relate to other people who are similar and do not relate to people who are dissimilar. This comparison is the driving force for all bigotry, since most people intuitively believe that their group is better. Unfortunately, intuition is often wrong.
This is important to understand, because understanding this natural propensity of grouping ourselves is the first step in accepting others being different. And only though accepting differences can bigotry and racism end.
by Phil for Humanity
on 01/15/2008
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The Western Gaze: On Photojournalism and Challenging Harmful Representations
Tara Pixley, photojournalist and award winning writer shares her perspectives on the photography industry. The need for diversification and how she and other fantastic organisations are working to ensure that marginalised communities are representing themselves.
Documentary photography’s history is deeply imbricated with the history of colonialism and the dehumanizing processes that set the stage for chattel slavery and various world genocides. Images intended to categorize and catalogue the faces and bodies of brown and black people from India to the indigenous population of the Americas were used to underscore Othering narratives. These images then became the standard through which Europeans who couldn’t travel to such far-flung places understood people of the world. Photographs that cast indigenous folks, Asians and Africans as unintelligent savages, staring uncomprehendingly into cameras and having their physiologies highlighted like animals were pervasive and necessary for the work of convincing Western nations that such people could be enslaved, murdered and have their cultures devalued and dismissed. Today, documentary images and, by extension, photojournalism as a practice, are still imbued with the residue of these racist, imperial tactics. There are two consistent problems that maintain the imbalance of power in documentary photography between the photographer, subject and image audience.
American tourist photographing the Moroccan landscape. June 2017
© Tara Pixley, American tourist photographing the Moroccan landscape. June 2017
1: Those who have the financial capability and privileged access to become documentary photographers and to travel internationally for that work are most often white, Western men. They are typically not working class or people from other underprivileged communities, because such individuals don’t have the means to purchase cameras and other expensive equipment, to pay for portfolios and trips to show work to editors in New York City. The circumstances surrounding access to and professionalization within photojournalism are not geared toward the poor or the non-white, non-Western person.
2: However, as closed as the profession itself often is to underprivileged and minoritized populations, documentary images most frequently depict people from such communities and circumstances. The globe-trotting documentary photographer rarely mirrors the faces of those they photograph. As such, the experiences and lives of the world’s most historically misrepresented and under-resourced people and places are documented by photographers who come from the same imperialist and colonial nations that are mostly responsible for the plights of the photographed subjects. Further, even as these photographers strive to bring awareness and knowledge to the privileged nations and populations of the world via their images, they often unknowingly reproduce in those photos the same implicit biases that first pictorially rendered minorities as less-than-human.
As a photojournalist that is female, black, first generation American and queer, I occupy a variety of spaces, come from communities and express perspectives that are rarely found in my photojournalism colleagues. Aside from being professionally disheartening, it’s a bit terrifying that the people producing the most widely-circulated narratives about my communities have no real understanding of the people they photograph. It was this realization that led me to enter a doctoral program where I could research the industry I’ve loved and worked in since age 15. And it was that research which led me to the excellent organizations of The Everyday Projects, Native, Majority World and Women Photograph.
American tourist walking through Moroccan desert village Aït Benhaddou. June 2017
Tara Pixley, American tourist walking through Moroccan desert village Aït Benhaddou. June 2017
Together, we have created a coalition of like-minded visual journalists, photo editors, curators and researchers invested in addressing these issues within our industry. That organization is Reclaim Photo and our first order of business has been gathering information on the experiences of visual journalists the world over, via a survey you can take here. Individually, each of these organizations is addressing an aspect of the power imbalance in documentary photography. Collectively, we hope to shift the conversation toward an intersectional analysis of those power dynamics, altering the prevailing narratives about women, racial minorities, indigenous populations and the various global communities who have not owned the means of their representation for too long.
Addressing these problems of representation and exclusivity in visual journalism requires more than merely increasing diversity behind the camera or limiting the flow of white Western photographers to capture non-Western nations and peoples (though both of these actions are key to changing the status quo). Rather, we must actively acknowledge our complicity in that tainted history of visually representing certain people and places as one-dimensional beings always mired in chaos and defined by catastrophe.
Photography can be used for social change and to motivate action, but it can also be used to reiterate monolithic understandings of whole communities and countries. That social change has to first begin from within, where we analyze our own inculcation in the oppressive systems whose fallacious logics are deeply ingrained in our psyches. We must strive to open access to the photojournalism profession so that new perspectives can emerge and flourish. We must refine and re-frame the narratives we depict, recognizing and refuting that colonial history as we seek to be better photographers, better journalists, better people.
Featured image: © Tara Pixley, Tourist favorite Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco is also a local swimming spot. May 2017
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October 27, 2016
How my own car shows IoT is fulfilling its promise
I made the switch to driving an electric car in January 2015. With its built-in sensors and its own web and app connection, it’s also always connected. With my first car I had to go to the garage for a minor service every 10,000 miles, with a major service due every 20,000. Was it necessary? Who knows, but that’s what it stipulated in the owner’s handbook. But now with its reported 2,000 sensors, my current car measures so much data that it indicates itself when it needs a service. So the fixed service interval has gone, which I think is a perfect example of the Internet of Things (IoT) in practice.
No more unnecessary services
I see a parallel with facility management in this; here, too, IoT is enormously promising. Sensors in buildings measure the building’s performance and detect small faults earlier than we can. This technology promises fantastic savings in maintenance, while performance is measured better than ever and the user can continue without interruption. What is partly still in the future for immovable property, is already reality today for movable items: no more fixed service intervals.
Deploying IoT using sensors ensures that the building is always in good condition. With fixed service intervals you are often far removed from the optimum. Scheduled maintenance can lead to components being replaced too early, or even unnecessarily. My car’s scheduled 10,000 mile threshold was often reached within just three months in those days and maintenance checks felt unnecessary. Reactive maintenance is also not a good idea. If the car’s oil-light comes on, the journey is far less relaxed. The same concept applies to maintaining a building. The human eye is not as precise at determining the ideal maintenance point when compared to sensors. In combination with an intelligent software system, sensors can establish that moment accurately. If service occurs at times when it’s really needed, you can be certain that the building is always in order.
Everyone benefits
That’s not only good for the building’s manager, but also for its users and the environment. Put simply, less maintenance means lower costs, fewer journeys by technicians, and also fewer interruptions in the workplace. Consider for example meeting rooms which are unavailable, ladders obstructing the corridors or noise disturbance in the workplace. The less often this occurs, the nicer it is for the building’s users, and satisfied employees are good for an organization’s productivity. For facility managers and service providers this is another opportunity to free-up budget innovatively for other expenditure, such as improving hospitality.
After a year and a half and almost 50,000 miles, I’ve still not been back to my car dealer. Just to be sure - I’ve called the garage, but the car still appears to be in excellent condition. My car will tell me itself when it’s time for a service again. After this experience, absolutely no-one needs to convince me further of the benefits of IoT.
David Stillebroer
Director Product Management |
The Young and the Futureless?
World War I was a rough time for Britain, and one for which it was totally unprepared. The Germans were inching closer to Britain country by country, causing the British people to get awfully nervous about their homeland being invaded. The British military had to meet the Germans on the front line with drastically inferior weapons and numbers. Men who were enlisted in the army were getting slaughtered, and as they dropped like flies, people were needed to fill their space! Propaganda was circulated encouraging young British men to serve and protect their country. Here is a BBC article on the underage Brits joining the fight. This was a tragic era for men and women alike. In class we read a sampling of poets who were moved by their country’s condition. Wilfred Owen, May Weddrerburn Cannan, and Rupert Brooke were just a few of the people choosing to write about this tumultuous time. Although Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke both fought in the war, Owen’s poem Anthem for the Doomed Youth takes on a less positive tone toward war than Brooke’s The Soldier, which was widely distributed to encourage men to join up.
The title alone, Anthem for Doomed Youth, gives us some forewarning of what the poem is going to be addressing. An anthem is defined by Merriam Webster as a “song or hymn of praise or gladness,” and the first example listed is a “patriotic anthem” which is about pride for one’s country. Obviously in 1917 when this poem was written, Britain needed some praise, some gladness, and some pride from its people. However, this anthem is not for the country. It is for “doomed youth,” also known as those young men brutally sacrificing their lives for their country. Doomed leads me to believe that the subject to the doom (the youth) do not have very happy futures ahead of them. One’s youth seems so early to already be doomed, but that is the kind of struggle people were having in Britain (and probably world-wide). I assume that they were doomed because they are going on to fight in the war.
Owen is asking in this poem what kind of honor and ceremony can be given to these poor young men dying on the frontline “as cattle,” (2034). Cattle are killed masses at a time, which means that there is some carelessness present. There are no “passing-bells” as they die, but only the sound of gun fire. They do not even get prayers (“hasty orisons”) and the only “voice of mourning” are the “demented choirs of wailing shells,” (2034). The deaths are unceremonious and go largely unnoticed among all the deadly distractions. Without prayers, do they still have God in that moment? I would not think so, although I am not religious. The words “demented” and “wailing” both contrast harshly with the image of the choir. A choir is a group that sings all together at church proceedings. Without prayers, passing-bells, or choir songs, there is nothing to mark the inconsequential deaths of British soldiers.
There are also no candles being held “to speed them all,” (2035). Speed them to where? Heaven maybe? And if they are not being sped there, then where are they going? Hell? And why is speeding necessary? If the journey between death and heaven is a grueling one, then how fair is it that these boys, fighting for the good of their country, are the ones struggling through their afterlife? The falling soldiers’ goodbyes are “Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes,” (2035). Their hands give them control, and are what they have been using all along to enact their orders sent to them from above. Their eyes however are a window to their souls and their subconscious, of which they are not in control. Their opportunity for goodbyes and closure has been ripped from their very hands. Owen’s use of the word “boys” also seems deliberate, as opposed to using “men” or another term. Boys are part of the “youth” that is “doomed” because of the war.
There is a line about how “the pallor of the girls’ brows shall be their pall,” (2035) and I did not quite know what to make of it. Pallor is a pale, unwell appearance, and a pall is the fabric draped over one’s coffin. What I eventually took this to mean though was that the boys went to war, at least in part to prevent the girls from being sickly. It was this hope of prevention that lead them to rush into a fatal situation, thus causing there to be a need for a pall. It also could just mean that the girls back home are sad and unwell alongside the coffins of the dead soldiers.
Words like “tenderness” and “patient” contrast with the rest of the poem. The soldiers who have died receive flowers, and they stand in for “the tenderness of patient minds,” (2035). Tenderness is a very caring and comforting word. I usually think of a mother’s tenderness, which has sympathy and love at the roots. All that these boys get of that tenderness at this point though are some flowers that they probably do not even know are there. The last line: “And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds,” (2035) contains what I found to be two euphemisms for death. The “slow dusk” is the end of the day, and the “drawing-down of blinds” means that one is no longer looking out on the world around them.
Overall this poem’s tone was not a positive one. Words like “monstrous”, “anger”, “demented”, and “mourning” give readers an idea of the emotions and adjectives that go along with something as dreadful as war. There are all of these people dying, and they are not getting the respect they deserve.
Owen, Wilfred. “Anthem for Doomed Youth.” The Norton Anthology English Literature. Vol. F. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 2034-035. Print. |
Active Lifestyles and LASIK
LASIK vision correction, considered the most popular cosmetic surgery in the U.S., has helped more than 20 million Americans see clearly since it was first performed in the U.S. over two decades ago. The procedure has been especially popular with those who enjoy an active lifestyle as it reduces or eliminates the need for glasses and contact lenses. But is it right for you?
To begin, it is important to understand how LASIK works. A refractive error is an error in the focusing of light by the eye and commonly causes a blurred or distorted image. During the LASIK procedure a laser is used to gently reshape the cornea so light entering the eye properly lands on the retina, resulting in a clear image. LASIK can correct most people with myopia (nearsighted), hyperopia (farsighted) and astigmatism. While the majority of people with refractive errors are candidates for LASIK, approximately 20% are not.
LASIK is an attractive option for those who live an active life such as athletes, pilots and servicemen and women. Certain individuals such as pilots and those in the military were previously unable to have LASIK due to the potential risk of a post-operative complication. The advancements in technology used today have greatly reduced the risks associated with the procedure and have lain to rest previous concerns.
There are, however some post-operative guidelines that must be followed to ensure a good outcome. The first and most important is to rest following the procedure. Rest allows the eyes to heal more quickly and minimizes the discomfort initially felt following the procedure. Certain activities such as exercise, using hot tubs and swimming must be avoided for one week following LASIK. Contact sports must also be avoided, although for two weeks following the procedure. In addition, pilots are required to discontinue flying until the vision has stabilized and confirmation of FAA visual requirements has been met.
LASIK vision correction has improved the quality of life of millions of people who enjoy an active lifestyle. As with any medical procedure, there are risks so it is important to choose an experienced LASIK surgeon who has your best interests in mind.
If you are interested in learning more about LASIK or would like to schedule a consultation, contact Raleigh Eye Center today. |
Conference – 1998 Microeconomics of the Australian Labour Market John Freebairn[*]
1. Introduction
The Australian labour market is in a constant state of adjustment to external and internal shocks. Changes in aggregate demand, tastes and preferences, technology, institutions and government policies, and world trade conditions are examples of secular, cyclical and random forces for change. They induce changes in decisions of households to offer labour and acquire skills, and in decisions of firms to hire labour. Price, quantity and quality signalling mechanisms are involved in directing and co-ordinating labour market responses to the shocks. This paper reviews the literature on the underlying demand and supply functions, and the adjustment mechanisms for the Australian labour market in aggregate, and for components such as occupations, industries, skill levels, gender, age, regions and hours of work. In particular, it focuses on insights provided about unemployment and its composition.
Labour markets the world over, not just Australia, are more a fix-price or customer market than a flex-price or auction market. Sticky average wages and sticky relative wages across occupations, age etc. reflect tradition and history, long-term investment and repeat-contract relationships, endogeneity of effort, and the complex and often implicit nature of employer-employee agreements. Changes in unemployment take a part of the adjustment response to external and internal shocks to the labour market. Over the past thirty years, aggregate unemployment has varied from less than 2 per cent to over 11 per cent, and would be higher if underemployment and disguised unemployment were included. The composition of unemployment is much higher among the unskilled and new workforce entrants, and it varies across occupations, industries, regions and so forth. Understanding the underlying microeconomic causes of unemployment provides an important information resource for contemplating and assessing policy options to reduce unemployment.
Section 2 provides an overview of a sticky-wage model for components of the labour market and for the economy. Microeconomic foundations of the wage-setting, labour demand and labour supply functions are described in Sections 3, 4 and 5 respectively, along with a collation of, and assessment of, available estimates for Australia of key elasticities and shift parameters. Section 6 discusses intra-labour market reallocation mechanisms in response to shocks to the labour market. A final section draws out some implications of the paper for the aggregate level of unemployment and its composition.
2. Overview
Figure 1 provides a general framework for modelling the determination of quantity and price outcomes in the Australian labour market. It can be considered for the market as an aggregate, as in Stacey and Downes (1995), or for particular components in terms of an industry, occupation, region, skill level, age, gender, part-time or full-time, and so forth. Quantity outcomes include employment, unemployment and vacancies in terms of numbers of people and hours, and price outcomes include employer labour costs, employee disposable returns and wages. The figure enables organisation of arguments and of estimates in terms of the market-clearing mechanisms, and in terms of elasticities and variables shifting the labour demand, labour supply and wage offer curves.
Figure 1: The Labour Market
Conventional labour supply and demand curves for a particular industry, gender, skill group etc. provide basic building blocks of a microeconomic model of the labour market. S is labour supply reflecting workforce participation and hours decisions, and the choice of a particular industry, occupation etc. Labour demand is given by D reflecting employers' willingness-to-hire decisions. Since not all jobs are filled immediately because of frictional and structural adjustments, there is a certain level of vacancies V, and measured employment is recorded with reference to the D–V curve.
The wage offer curve W captures the sticky-price characteristic of labour markets. For an aggregate labour market it might be based on a Phillips curve, a bargaining model, or an efficiency wage model for example, and typically it would rise with tighter labour market outcomes. For a particular segment of the labour market, the wage offer curve for an industry, occupation, gender etc. also reflects notions of comparative wages and fairness. Institutional, political and social factors may be major explanatory forces. A key issue to be explored at the disaggregated labour market level is the elasticity of the wage offer curve with respect to the balance of labour supply and demand for particular occupations, ages etc.
Labour markets, like other markets, ultimately have to adjust to shifts in the supply and demand curves via a combination of price flexibility, quantity adjustments in terms of changes in unemployment or vacancies, or by quality changes. To illustrate, in Figure 1, for a given D and S, a high sticky wage generates a wage outcome at Wage, employment at N1, vacancies of N1N2 and unemployment of N1N3. A very much lower wage curve would have vacancies and frictional unemployment only. Given the heterogeneity of labour in terms of formal skills, experience, age, and so forth, labour markets may also adjust by raising standards or the quality of employees when unemployment is large, and reducing them when vacancies are large relative to unemployment.
The sticky-wage model illustrated in Figure 1 cautions the interpretation of recorded employment and wages for the identification of the labour demand and supply curves. Where there is substantial involuntary unemployment, as has been the case in aggregate, and for most disaggregated components of the Australian labour market since the mid 1970s, only the demand curve is identified, and strictly only the D–V curve. If the wage offer curve is below the supply and demand intersection point, as might have been the case in the 1950s and 1960s, the supply curve is identified but not the demand curve. These observations are important to the interpretation of reported econometric estimates of labour supply and demand functions.
While the partial equilibrium model of Figure 1 for a particular component of the labour market provides a useful framework for considering policy options, it is necessary to be careful with the choice of ceteris paribus assumptions. This is especially true with respect to the wage offer curve. In most, but not all, cases, shifts in the wage offer curve for a particular industry, occupation, skill group, and so forth through comparative wage mechanisms, also will affect the curve for another industry etc. Again, lower labour costs, production costs and then prices for one industry are likely to also mean lower labour costs and prices for other industries. Here, changes in comparative cost and price effects, rather than first-round absolute effects, become the point of analysis. Similarly, changes in the level and composition of aggregate demand, technology, tastes and other exogenous shocks will affect all segments of the labour market. That is, analyses of policy options towards the labour market ultimately have to consider the aggregate or macroeconomic labour market.
There are several important different price terms on the vertical axis of Figure 1. Employee labour supply responds to real returns or effective purchasing capacity, while employer demand responds to real labour costs, neither of which equals wages. Labour costs include superannuation, workers compensation, payroll tax, fringe benefits and leave allowances, and arguably complementary labour hiring, training and firing costs. The labour on-costs of superannuation, payroll tax and workers compensation, on average represent more than 12 per cent of wages, they have become more important over time, and their relative importance varies by industry, and by firm size (ABS cat. no. 6348.0). Employees are concerned about effective personal real disposable income. This includes not only wages, but also as argued by Covick (1996) a component of superannuation which is a form of deferred pay, workers compensation as a form of insurance – but for many less than a dollar, per dollar of employer on-costs – and leave allowances which provide worker utility. Income taxes and the withdrawal of means-tested social security benefits reduce disposable income, and indirect taxes reduce effective purchasing power. These tax wedges between wages paid by employees and private purchasing power gained by employees are large and highly variable according to income level, gender and family circumstances, and they have varied over time. It might be argued that general taxation revenue, income taxes, expenditure taxes and payroll taxes, fund government goods and services of value to employees. However, individual employees presumably place well below a dollar valuation on them for each labour-cost dollar siphoned off their wages as taxation. Then, wages are likely to be a poor proxy for employer costs and for employee returns due to variations over time and across individuals.
By contrast to the real labour costs of interest to employers and measures of the real effective purchasing power of interest to employees, the wage offer curves generally are set in nominal terms. However, almost always, expected inflation is an important explanatory variable, and in many aggregate labour market studies the expected price variable has a coefficient close to or equal to unity, in which case expressing the wage offer curve in terms of real wages becomes a close approximation.
3. Wage Offer Curve
The wage offer curve of Figure 1 captures the key sticky-price property of labour markets, both the inflexibility of average wages and the inflexibility of relative wages for different occupations, industries, regions, skill levels, gender, ages, hours of work, and so forth. This section explores the determinants of average wage rates and of the structure of relative wage rates in Australia. Particular attention is given to the influence of an excess or shortage of labour demand and labour supply on the average level and structure of wages.
Clearly the flex-price textbook model in which wages automatically and quickly adjust to equate labour demand and supply in each and every component of the labour market is not a useful description of the Australian labour market. Persistent unemployment for many years, differences in unemployment and vacancy rates according to age, skill level, occupation etc., and cyclical variations in the aggregate level and composition of unemployment are inconsistent with a flex-price model. On the other hand, there is some variation of relative wages, but wage flexibility is small when compared with quantity changes in the composition of the workforce and employment.
Institutional arrangements, including Australia's third-party system of arbitration tribunals, have an important bearing on wage outcomes. With a few notable exceptions, such as the wage freeze of 1982–83 and the early phases of the Accord, the tribunals set minimum wages only. While as many as 30 per cent of the workforce may be paid minimum awards, over-award payments are important components of many wage agreements. Tribunal decisions are driven by factors other than, or in addition to, labour supply and demand imbalances. For example, the 1907 Harvester case and recent Living Wage cases illustrate the key role of perceptions of a fair wage on equity criteria applied to minimum-wage setting. Settling industrial disputes is another criterion specified in the various government Acts and Regulations. But also, the tribunals are provided with considerable information on the state of the economy and labour market conditions in the submissions by advocates for employers and employees and by governments. Tribunal decisions often contain extensive reference to assessed current and anticipated labour market circumstances. That is, arbitration tribunal wage decisions are influenced by labour market conditions and also by other criteria.
Different models explaining average wages are explored in more detail in other papers, however a brief summary provides key insights useful for better understanding wage offer curves for different categories of labour. At least three model types, and associated econometric studies, to explain aggregate wage outcomes in Australia have been reported: a disequilibrium market model, Phillips curve models, and bargaining models. The underlying causal mechanisms and list of explanatory variables in the wage offer function vary with each model. However, each has a common property that some measure of labour demand and supply imbalance pushes the wage offer in the direction of labour market balance, but with the adjustment being slow and partial. That is, the wage offer curve for the aggregate labour market version of Figure 1 is upward-sloping.
A disequilibrium labour market model, for example Lewis and Kirby (1988), has an equilibrium wage determined by the intersection of labour demand and supply (with these functions driven by variables described in Sections 4 and 5), and implicitly with some allowance for frictional and structural employment. Each period, the wage adjusts only partially to the discrepancy between the previous period's wage and the equilibrium wage. Partial adjustment reflects a combination of inertia and negotiation costs, continuing contracts, and the implicit contract model carrying a preference for wage stability. Institutional changes are allowed to influence the adjustment rate, and Lewis and Kirby find the 1975–81 indexation period significantly speeded up the adjustment rate. The estimated model has satisfactory economic and statistical properties. It implies that wages slowly adjust to net changes in the excess demand (or supply) of labour.
The most popular model to explain Australian aggregate wages has been some version of the augmented price expectations Phillips curve model. Recent examples are Murphy (1992) and Stacey and Downes (1995). Increases in nominal wages are expressed as a function of expected consumer prices – often with a pre-specified coefficient of unity – labour productivity growth, and a measure of labour market slack. In early models the inverse of the unemployment rate was used, giving a wage offer curve as in Figure 1 which initially is relatively flat and then increases in slope becoming asymptotic to the labour supply curve. Since the 1970s, the unemployment measure often has been purged of the long-term unemployed, or replaced by overtime hours, so as to better reflect labour demand and supply imbalances by ‘insiders’ as opposed to ‘outsiders’. To capture hysteresis effects, a variable for the change in the unemployment rate is included. Inclusion of these modifications for the measures of labour demand and supply imbalances have been necessary to enable the Phillips curve models to have explanatory success for the 1980s and 1990s data. The addition of variables for institutional changes, including greater centralisation of the industrial relation system, particularly the Accord period of the mid 1980s and less often the indexation period of the second part of the 1970s, is found to reduce wage increases, but not always by a statistically significant amount.[1]
A third group of potential models behind the wage offer curve is a bargaining model between employers, employees, and possibly also industrial tribunals and governments. The underlying model and list of explanatory variables is somewhat ad hoc, and statistical assessment of fit is given much weight. Pissarides (1991) provides a good example. Invariably some measure of labour market pressure based on the unemployment level has a negative effect on bargained wages. Other explanatory variables include expected prices, consumer prices for employees and producer prices for employers. Relative to the Phillips curve model, the bargaining model includes variables for the opportunity return if not employed, and in particular, the level and availability of unemployment benefits and other social security support, and government taxes and charges which impose a wedge between employer labour costs and employee take-home pay. These policy variables, along with changes in the industrial relations system, are found to significantly shift the wage offer curve.
Shifting from the aggregate or average wage to individual wages, personal wages vary widely in Australia, as they do in other countries, and with similar patterns and for similar reasons. Hourly wages of those in the top decile are about three times of those in the bottom decile, and the wage distribution is approximately log normal (Norris 1986). Using ABS Income and Housing Survey data for individuals, about a half of the variation of individual wage rates can be explained by differences in formal education, age as a proxy for experience and on-the-job acquired skills, occupation, industry, region, country of origin, gender, marital status, part-time or full-time, and size of firm. Recent studies include Preston (1997) and Suruga (1998). The latter finds similar results for Australia and other countries. Differences in human capital, both in the form of formal qualifications and on-the-job training, are a major determinant of wage rates. However, in the case of formal education, there is some debate on the relative importance of enhanced productivity versus screening as the underlying causal force. The importance of industry, region and firm-size variables gives some support for the efficiency wage, compensating differentials, and exploitable monopolistic explanations of wage differences. Significant gender and country-of-birth effects on personal wages are consistent with labour market discrimination. When a firm-size variable is included among the list of explanatory variables, union membership is not a significant variable, probably because award agreements apply to non-members as well as union members and because firm size and union membership are correlated (Miller and Mulvey 1996). Impressive and comprehensive as these cross-section model estimates of the reasons for differences in wages are, about a half of the differences are unexplained, and apparently similar employees undertaking apparently similar tasks in different firms earn wage rates varying by tens of percentage points.
Time-series data on relative wage rates by industries, occupations, regions, ages and skill levels provide another perspective. Data for Australia shows considerable stability over time, but with some variation (Brown et al. 1980; Norris 1986; Withers, Pitman and Whittingham 1986; Coelli, Fahrer and Lindsay 1994; Preston 1997). Further, Australian rankings are similar to those of other countries, although the Australian wage structure is more compressed, particularly at the bottom end, relative to that of the UK and US (Norris 1986). Spearman rank correlation coefficients of wage rates by industry or by occupation for different points in time fall in the 0.7 to 0.9 interval, well above zero but less than unity. With some exceptions noted below, relative wage patterns over time in Australia, as in other countries, are stable in the sense that most changes over a year or over a decade fall within a narrow band of less than 5 per cent.
However, there are some instances of large changes in wage relativities. The premium for formal education fell by over 10 per cent during the 1970s, but since then has stabilised (Borland 1996). And relative starting salaries for graduates of different disciplines vary from year to year (Graduate Careers Council of Australia, Graduate Starting Salaries newsletter). Equal pay decisions between 1969–74 led to a 20 per cent increase in the relative pay of females to males. Earnings of juniors relative to adults rose in the early 1970s, and then declined to previous ratios. In recent years executive salaries, and those of famous athletes and artists, have grown much faster than average earnings. Sticky relative wages with a few outlying mavericks of flexibility seems a more appropriate description of relative wages in Australia, rather than a rigid relative wage structure.
The effect of arbitration tribunal decisions, including award wages, on the distribution of wages in Australia raises interesting questions. At times it is clear that the tribunals have raised lower wage rates above what they otherwise would have been. For example, the Living Wage decisions of 1997 and 1998 clearly raised minimum wages much more than wages higher in the distribution. However, these increases might reflect the restoration of long-established social norms of relative wages, or alternatively they might provide incentives to flow-on wage increases at higher levels. The stability of patterns of relative wages over time, and in comparison with other countries, suggests both the catch-up and flow-on effects operate.
There are numerous forces for stability of relative wages over time. Social and political notions of equity and fairness are strong in all countries and come under the term of comparative wage justice in Australia and pattern bargaining in other countries. Implicit contracts and internal labour markets imply relative wage stability with well respected and understood career ladders. Centralised wage-setting industrial relations systems, unions, and especially large craft and/or industry unions, and Australia's system of industrial tribunals are often thought to contribute to stability of relative wages. Yet, the same patterns of relative wages are found in countries with diverse industrial relations systems, and the system in Australia has varied over time.
Of course, a flexible wage system can generate relative wage stability under special circumstances. It is the shifts of both the demand for and supply of labour for particular industries, occupations, skills etc. which are important. For example, the very large outward shifts of the female labour supply curve (largely due to preference changes) have been matched by a very large shift in the demand for females (including that due to industry composition changes). Similarly, both the demand for and supply of skilled workers have shifted outwards in recent decades, and there have been inward shifts of the demand for and supply of traditional blue collar tradesmen. However, the probability that shifts of supply and demand curves would balance to achieve relative wage stability at high levels of disaggregation and for such a long time, must be remote. Another explanation is that one or both of the demand and supply curves for labour by industry, occupation, region, skill, time of day etc. is highly elastic. As argued in Section 4 this seems not to be the case for demand, but there may be some support for highly elastic supply curves, at least over the longer term.
To the extent that there are changes in the pattern of relative wages over time, there is mixed evidence, although growing supporting evidence, that the direction of change is consistent with demand and supply imbalances by occupation, industry, region, skill level and age. Keating (1983) employs a structural model of labour demand and supply by industry and finds statistically weak support for the hypothesis that relative wages respond positively to shifts of demand relative to supply. Applying causality tests, Withers, Pitman and Whittingham (1986) find independence between relative wage changes and relative changes in unemployment and vacancies by industries and occupations, not only for Australia but also for Britain, Sweden and the US. Yet, other studies for the US using different methodologies, report strong support for the hypothesis that relative wages respond to changes in excess demand (for example Topel (1993) for the general case, and Katz and Murphy (1992) for the case of skilled and unskilled workers). The wage curves estimated for Australia by Blanchflower and Oswald (1994), and by Kennedy and Borland (1997) show a significant negative effect of regional unemployment on individual wages after correcting for human capital, industry, gender etc. effects, and in the case of Kennedy and Borland also for local land prices. Based on seven detailed case studies of particular occupations, Blandy and Richardson (1982) conclude that wage rates adjust in a supply- and demand-equilibrating direction, but with lags and in small quantities.
Overall, notions of fairness and equity between people at any time and across time for an individual result in sticky relative wage patterns across occupations, industries, regions, ages, gender, skill level, and time of work. However, shifts in supply and demand for particular categories of labour influence relative wages in the direction of market clearance, but the relative wage response is slow and in most cases small. Institutional and policy changes have on occasions influenced relative wages. Thus, the wage curve in Figure 1 for a particular category of labour is largely positioned by the economy wage average, it has some positive elasticity, and it can lie above or below the wage that clears demand and supply.
4. Labour Demand
This section focuses on the elasticity of demand for labour and shifts of the demand curve due to changes in output, other input costs and technology for particular categories of labour classified by occupation, industry, region, gender, age, skill level, and so forth, and also for aggregate labour. Hamermesh (1993) provides an extensive review, with an emphasis on US studies, while Lewis and Seltzer (1996) provide a more specific and recent review of Australian contributions.
Labour demand typically is modelled as a firm decision, and usually from a neoclassical perspective. Under a right to manage rule,[2] firms take wages and other input costs as given, and with knowledge of their product demand (represented by the price for perfect competition and the demand curve where there is market power), firms choose employment to maximise returns, or at least to minimise production costs for a given output. Extrapolating the firm model to an industry level, and especially to an aggregate economy level, requires careful consideration of realistic price and general equilibrium constraints. In particular, as observed in the previous section, wage changes for one part of the labour market in most cases are matched to a large extent by changes in wages for all other types of labour.
Lower labour costs – not just wages but also on-costs of superannuation, workers compensation and payroll tax, and hiring, monitoring and firing costs – are expected to increase employment through at least three mechanisms: factor-mix substitution per unit of production to reduce costs; product-mix substitution to reflect changes in comparative advantage; and lower production costs through to lower prices and sales increases.
In the short run, the firm labour demand curve is given by its marginal revenue product curve, and in the long run, there are greater opportunities to substitute labour for capital, energy and material inputs. The elasticity of factor substitution is the key production function or technology factor determining the elasticity of labour demand. Most econometric estimates of production, cost and profit functions find evidence of significant elasticities of substitution between labour and capital, with many being close to unity. Where time lags are allowed in the specification – and this is not often the case with production and cost functions – significant adjustment lags exceeding two years are found. In practice there are price-change recognition lags, then lags to make and implement decisions to change production methods, and there are adjustment costs, and much capital, in particular, has a productive life of several years. Then, cost minimisation by firms, industries and the economy leads to substitution of labour for capital if labour costs fall, but this response takes some time. Factor substitutability varies with firms, industries and different types of labour implying different labour demand elasticities for different industries and categories of labour.
In most textbook models of labour demand, at least by firm and by industry, lower wages have an output-expanding effect. That is, lower wages reduce production costs, and the more so, the more important are labour costs in total costs. Competition leads to these cost reductions reducing product prices and at the lower price more output is sold, and hence more employment is required. This effect is larger the more elastic is product demand. If wages fall only for a particular industry, and remain constant for others, the wage-driven output effect on employment may be important. However, the reality of the Australian labour market, as in other countries, is that wage changes, up or down, generally flow across the economy to all industries.
Consider then the extreme, but still close to reality, case where wages move proportionately across the economy. Here, the product-substitution effect comes into play.[3] Lower wages will reduce costs, and in turn prices, more for labour-intensive goods and services than for labour-extensive products. In turn, the mix of products produced and consumed will shift in favour of labour-intensive goods and services, and the more so, the more elastic the substitutability of final demand. These substitutions will increase aggregate employment and change its composition. Output and employment in capital-intensive industries, and aggregate employment in occupations and skills used relatively intensively in these industries facing a comparative disadvantage may actually fall. Conversely, lower labour costs lead to expansion of output and employment in labour-intensive industries. Clearly, the product-mix substitution responses will involve time and adjustment lags leading to a more elastic labour demand response over the longer term than the short term.
The indirect effects of labour costs on aggregate economic activity and then on aggregate labour demand are unclear. From a supply-side perspective, with floating exchange rates, it is likely that lower labour costs across the economy, per se, will not alter the absolute competitiveness of the economy since any initial gains will be eroded by a currency appreciation. From a demand-side perspective, wage changes can redistribute income. Most estimates of the aggregate labour demand elasticity are less than unity (Table 1 and Hamermesh 1993) meaning that lower wages also reduce aggregate wage income. But, at the same time, capital income rises, and some of this will be spent. But some may be saved. Higher domestic savings, via the balance of payments equation, means a lower draw on foreign capital inflow and an inducement for the currency to depreciate to expand net exports to restore an equilibrium. Then, given the reality of very sticky relative wage patterns, wage reductions are unlikely themselves to have much effect on the level of aggregate economic activity. That is, the main driving forces behind employment responses to wage changes are factor-substitution effects and product-mix substitution effects, and both will involve lagged responses.
Table 1: Estimates of Aggregate Labour Demand Function, Australia
Authors Type of model Data and estimator Explanatory variables
Labour cost elasticities Other variables
Lewis and Kirby (1988) Disequilibrium demand, supply and partial adjustment 1967(3)–1987(1) FIML SR = −0.07 LR = −0.78 Real GDP, trend (productivity), industrial relations
Russell and Tease (1991) Single equation, partial adjustment 1969(3)–1987(4) OLS SR = −0.11 LR = −0.61 Real GDP, trend (technological change)
Pissarides (1991) Labour demand, supply and wages 1966(3)–1986(2) IV SR = −0.23 LR = −0.79 Cyclical effects (competitiveness, fiscal stance, monetary stance), capital stock, real interest rate
Stacey and Downes (1995) Neoclassical firm investment, employment and pricing 1971(1)–1995(1) ECM SR = −0.11 LR = −0.84 Real output, labour productivity
Note: SR denotes short run, LR denotes long run.
A potentially interesting issue is whether structural changes since about 1980 in the Australian economy have altered the elasticity of demand for labour. Under the Australian Settlement, until about 1980, product markets were heavily insulated from competition by tariffs, quotas and other government industry policies, and extensive government ownership and operation of business enterprises. Pressure for employers to respond to higher labour costs by economising on labour were dulled. Cost-padding by monopolistic industries was widespread, and offsetting government assistance was often sought and received. Changes in the 1980s and 1990s have brought more competitive product markets, and arguably also a more competitive labour market. The economy is closer to the competitive model on which the foregoing labour demand analysis is based. It therefore seems reasonable to hypothesise that labour demand elasticities have increased in later years and that the lags have shortened as part of the response to a tougher and more vigorous competitive economy.
Output changes have significant and large effects on employment of different categories of labour and of all labour. Long-run elasticities at the firm, industry, economy, occupation, skill level, gender etc. depend on economies of scale. With most industries exhibiting linear technology, a unitary elasticity of employment with respect to output follows; and for increasing (decreasing) returns, the elasticity would be less (greater) than unity.
The short-run response of employment to outcome changes is muted when compared with the long run. For all types of labour, there are adjustment lags associated with recognition of output changes and the time required to implement employment changes. These lags explain why employment shows up as a lagging indicator. Second, because of the importance of fixed costs associated with the hiring, training and firing of labour, employers smooth out cyclical fluctuations of employment relative to output and sales cycles. This smoothing effect is more important for more highly skilled and specialised labour than for lower skilled labour because fixed costs are relatively more important for the former. For similar reasons, overtime hours, casual employment, and the use of contract labour is pro-cyclical. Then, the link between output and employment involves lagged responses and it varies across different types of labour.
The effects of technological change, and of productivity growth generally, on the composition of employment demand are many and require consideration of second-round effects in a general equilibrium context. Over recent decades, technological change has had a labour-saving bias (see for example Bureau of Industry Economics (1986) for manufacturing), and it has tended to favour the use of skilled relative to unskilled labour (Aungles et al. 1993). To the extent that the bias of technological change is an endogenous response to the relative importance of different cost components (Dixon and McCombie 1991), it is reasonable to expect past patterns to continue into the future. For a given level of firm, industry and employment output, technological changes of the type experienced tautologically mean lower aggregate employment and a change in the employment composition away from unskilled towards more skilled employees. However, this first-round or impact effect of technological change on employment is only the first of a longer sequence of effects.
Productivity growth has important second-round effects on prices, incomes and in turn on the level of employment and its composition. Most industry-level productivity growth is passed on as lower prices (Lowe 1995). The lower prices lead to expanded sales for the industry and for other closely related industries providing inputs and further processing outputs. In due course, employment in these industries increases. For given nominal incomes, lower prices following productivity change mean higher real incomes. Expenditure of the higher income increases demand and output, with products with higher income elasticities gaining more, and again employment rises to provide the extra production. Alternatively, that portion of productivity benefits passed on as higher wages or as higher returns to capital, against fixed output prices, directly expands real income and in turn further employment increases. The second-round flow-on effects of productivity growth generate additional employment overall via increases in aggregate real income and expenditure, and also they have employment-composition effects. The products with high income elasticities are favoured, as are the types of labour used intensively by the industries experiencing the productivity improvements.
Institutional changes in the industrial relations system seem unlikely to independently affect labour demand over and above indirect effects on labour costs and on productivity. Regulatory changes affecting the conditions of hiring, worker conditions and firing directly change labour costs for different types of employees – for example, full-time versus part-time. The type of industrial relations system is often argued to have an influence on relationships between employers and employees as it affects the adoption of new technology, work practices and management practices that drive the pace of productivity growth.
Econometric estimates casting light on labour demand functions can take different forms. They include estimates of production, cost and profit functions from which demand parameters can be derived, and direct estimates of labour demand functions. For Australia there are a number of production function studies which provide estimates of the key elasticities of factor substitution. Most of the direct labour demand functions reported for particular industries and for the economy are of the form:
Equation 1
where D is employment, variously measured as persons or hours worked, W is a measure of real labour costs, variously measured as weekly earnings and unit labour costs, R is a measure of alternative real input costs, Q is a measure of output – usually industry or economy GDP as relevant – T is a time trend to measure technology, and A(L), B(L) and C(L) are lag functions. In practice most studies have imposed a more restricted Koyck lagged adjustment process rather than the flexible forms suggested in Equation (1).
Several studies have used a model of the form in Equation (1) to estimate demand for labour by industry using data for the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Symons (1985) estimates the manufacturing elasticity of labour demand at −0.21 in the short run (quarter) and −0.91 for the long run, and also finds complementarity of labour with materials. A number of studies of labour demand in the agricultural sector are collated in Evans and Lewis (1986), with a new study by Lewis (1987), with estimates of the demand elasticity between −0.2 and −0.5 in the short run, and −0.5 and −1.3 in the long run. Phipps (1983) estimates demand equations for eight broad industry groups using annual data. Not all industry demand elasticities are estimated to be significantly different from zero, the largest significant estimates are around −0.5, and Phipps emphasises that elasticities vary according to industry. Given that output is included as an explanatory variable, and a predetermined one at that, the elasticity response captured by these industry studies reflects factor-substitution effects.
In the industry labour-demand studies, output and technology variables are found to be important. In most cases, a long-run output elasticity of unity cannot be rejected. A significant negative coefficient on time is consistent with labour-saving technology, and the estimated coefficient varies across industries.
Estimates of an aggregate or economy demand for labour function of the type in Equation (1) make useful comparisons with the foregoing industry-demand studies, and in particular they provide some evidence of changes in labour costs inducing changes in the mix of goods and services with different labour intensities being produced. Table 1 summarises some details and results of studies by Lewis and Kirby (1988), Russell and Tease (1991), Pissarides (1991) and Stacey and Downes (1995). They differ in terms of the underlying analytical model, the sample period, and the estimation technique, yet they reach similar findings about the main determinants of aggregate labour demand and about elasticities.
In terms of the underlying model of aggregate labour demand, Russell and Tease use a single equation, Lewis and Kirby have a disequilibrium model of labour demand and supply with partial adjustment of both wages and employment to equilibrium levels, Pissarides has a three equation model to explain labour demand, labour supply and wages, while Stacey and Downes use a representative-firm neoclassical model to explain investment, employment and prices. The estimable labour demand equation is some specific form of Equation (1), with Pissarides using a number of macroeconomic policy settings rather than GDP. Lewis and Kirby, and Stacey and Downes allow for endogeneity of wages in their estimation, while the others treat wages as a predetermined variable. Stacey and Downes use an error-correction model to avoid possible problems of spurious regression.[4] All studies use quarterly data, but with different sample periods.
Labour costs are estimated to have a significant negative effect on aggregate labour demand. There are lags of two years or more for the full response. Estimates of the long-run elasticity of demand, which is a constant-output demand elasticity because real GDP, or the macroeconomic determinants of real GDP, appear as predetermined variables in the estimated demand equations, vary from −0.6 to −0.8.[5] The aggregate labour demand elasticity estimates of Table 1 appear high when considered in comparison with most of the constant-industry-output demand elasticities discussed above and against the labour for capital substitution elasticity of unity or less found in most production function studies. One way of reconciling these differences is that the aggregate demand elasticity estimate includes product-mix substitution effects as well as factor-mix substitution effects. Then, across the economy, labour cost increases, as generally occurs (Section 3), not only induce substitution of capital for labour in producing any particular good or service, but also induce substitution of capital and other factor-intensive goods and services for labour-intensive products.
The four studies in Table 1 estimate that output has both trend and cyclical effects on aggregate labour demand. While the long-run point estimates of the output elasticity are less than unity, in most cases they are not significantly less than unity. For all the studies, output changes have a lagged effect on aggregate employment, consistent with fixed costs and with adjustment lags.
Technological change, in all cases represented by a simple time trend, has a negative effect on employment of around 1 per cent per year. Since output is a predetermined variable in the estimated labour demand functions reported in Table 1, they do not directly allow for the second-round effects of productivity growth to higher incomes and more employment.
Consider next the demand for different categories of labour, for example by gender, skill level, age or hours. Changes in relative labour costs, again not just wages but also on-costs, for one type of labour relative to others, in theory, have substitution and scale effects. A rise in the relative price of labour type i, say females, relative to labour type j, males, would lead to substitution of males for females to minimise costs. This substitution effect would be larger, the larger the elasticity of substitution of labour types i and j. There also would be a scale effect associated with an overall increase in labour costs leading to some substitution of capital for labour. The substitution and scale effects reinforce each other for the particular type of labour for which relative labour costs rise (or fall), and they work in opposite directions for other labour types. For those other labour types the net employment effect is ambiguous. There may be additional scale effects associated with changes in relative costs of particular categories of labour altering the mix of industry output. A rise in relative labour costs of labour type i will erode the comparative advantage of industries which use labour type i relatively intensively, in comparison with other industries which use relatively little of labour type i.
Unfortunately not a lot is known about the magnitude of elasticities of substitution between labour categorised by gender, age and skill level. Hamermesh (1993) finds some important areas of consensus, but many mixed results on magnitudes. Intra-labour, or labour type i for labour type j, substitutability should be considered as part of a production or cost function system with capital, and not as a system separable from capital. For skilled labour, substitutability with capital is low and in some cases complementarity is estimated, whereas high levels of substitutability between capital and low-skilled labour are estimated. Similarly, substitutability of capital is greater for production workers when compared with professionals and managers. A range of estimates, often with large standard errors, have been reported for the elasticity of substitution between high-skilled and low-skilled labour. Overall, Hamermesh concludes that the own-wage elasticity for low-skilled workers is greater than the elasticity for high-skilled workers as a consequence of the different substitution elasticities. It is likely that the Hamermesh assessment, which is based mostly on US studies, would apply to Australia, but that type of analysis has yet to be undertaken.
Estimates of elasticities of substitution for different categories of labour in Australia are few. Gregory and Duncan (1981) find a low value of 0.3 between males and females, with much of the response due to industry-composition changes rather than because of male for female substitution in providing a particular product. Lewis (1985) estimates high elasticities of substitution (up to 4) between youth and adult workers, but also notes the data were not entirely satisfactory and the estimates had large standard errors.
A related area of recent research on the demand for particular types of labour has been the study of the effects of higher minimum wages on employment of the low skilled in particular, and of other employment. Card and Krueger (1995) analysed a number of natural experiments in which increases in US minimum wages were implemented with different timings in different states of the US. Using a difference in differences approach to attempt to remove the effects of other demand forces, they find the minimum wages increases had a negligible adverse effect, and in some cases a positive effect, on employment of the low skilled. This negligible own-wage elasticity effect contradicted conventional expectations and elasticity estimates obtained from time-series studies.
Not surprisingly, the Card and Krueger studies, and related assessments for the UK generated controversy. Symposia in the Industrial and Labor Relations Review (July 1995), Economic Journal (May 1996) and the Australian Economic Review (June 1997) give some flavour of the debate. Several areas of criticism have been levelled against the negligible to positive employment response of employment to higher minimum wages. Welch (1995) is critical of the Card and Krueger data in terms of the use of telephone interviews, broad questions, and some properties of the data. Hamermesh (1995) doubts the natural experiment, arguing that since the move to higher wages was promulgated some years before, a part of the adjustment already was implemented. The before and after wage change interval of seven months suggests only short-term responses, not long-term responses, involving capital for labour substitution are captured. Also, industry-mix effects are not captured. Finally, the absence of a convincing theoretical rationale for a positive demand elasticity is a concern; a monopsony model based on informational imperfections and a model with a shock increase to efficiency have been advanced but not well supported.
For Australia there have been two sets of natural experiments which also suggest a low elasticity of demand for particular types of labour. The 20 per cent increase in relative wages for females in the early 1970s had no discernible effect on the gender composition of employment and unemployment (Gregory and Duncan 1981). Even though structural shifts in labour supply and demand by gender also were at play, these trend effects were also in play in the 1960s before, and in the late 1970s after, the policy-induced push for wage equality across the sexes. A second set of experiments concerns the large wage subsidies (up to 60 per cent of wages) for the long-term unemployed as part of the 1994 Working Nation policies. Certainly many long-term unemployed did enter these programs, consistent with a downward-sloping demand curve, and there was some reduction in employment of others (Chapman 1997). The temporary nature of the subsidies and their targeting to the more disadvantaged employees, real or perceived, as well as usual concerns about ceteris paribus, makes it difficult to draw implications about the magnitude of elasticities.
Overall, there is a dearth of convincing and robust estimates of the own- and cross-prices elasticities of demand for Australian labour disaggregated by gender, age, skill level and occupation.
5. Labour Supply
This section considers the elasticity of supply and key shift variables of the labour supply function S in Figure 1 for different ages, gender, skill levels, occupation, industries, and types of work. The review articles by Kenyon and Wooden (1996), and Borland (1997) cover the issues and Australian empirical studies in detail. Labour supply represents the outcome of decisions affecting participation in the workforce, hours of work, investment in human capital and effort level.
The individual and family work versus leisure choice model provides the underlying model of participation and hours of work decisions as a function of returns, income and demographic variables. Simpler static models focus on a single period, and others take a life-cycle perspective. Killingsworth (1983) and Woodland (1984) provide reviews. Labour returns, which involve not just market wages but also losses due to taxation and means-tested social security benefits which vary widely in their effects across people and also have varied over time, have an ambiguous net effect on labour supply because of income and substitution effects pushing in opposite directions. Alternative sources of income, including household wealth, spouse income, access to social security benefits and superannuation, and the costs of looking after children, have a negative effect on labour supply.
Almost as an empirical observation (see more below), the encouraged/discouraged worker effect has been found to be a major determinant of labour supply, at least over the economic cycle and particularly of the decisions to participate or not by married women, youth and older workers. Lower unemployment, or increases in the employment to population ratio, are associated with higher participation rates, ceteris paribus. In a sense they imply a higher probability of actually obtaining a job. In principle, this effect could be embraced in the work versus leisure model by using expected wages on entry, that is, the market wage times the probability of gaining a job, but the empirical task in measuring the probability is a formidable one.
Tastes, attitudes and social preferences clearly have had very large trend effects on labour supply decisions in Australia. These effects have been especially important for the rising participation rate of married females in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Changes in preferences, in part, lie behind the shifts in the supply of labour by both sexes and by younger and older ages for part-time work and work outside the nine to five, Monday to Friday time interval.
A number of econometric studies using cross-section and time-series data support the descriptive and explanatory usefulness of the work versus leisure choice model of workforce participation and hours of work decisions, and they provide insights on the labour supply elasticity for different demographic groups. However, considerable caution is required in interpreting the results of published studies using cross-section data, including those of Apps, Killingsworth and Rees (1996), Lambert (1991), Miller and Volker (1983), Ross (1986), Ross and Saunders (1993) and Woodland (1987). In the Australian context, post 1970, involuntary unemployment has been extensive for most disaggregated categories of labour, as well as for the aggregate, so that measured employment used in cross-section studies lies inside the labour supply curve (A in Figure 1). Time-series studies using the workforce (employment plus unemployment) are less affected by the identification problem. Data limitations mean that most cross-section studies have not included variables for discouraged worker effects, or they have included a crude proxy for aggregate unemployment which is the same for individuals and families in different circumstances. To the extent that the omitted discouraged worker effect variable and the included wage variable are positively correlated,[6] reported cross-section study estimates of the labour supply elasticities are biased upwards. None of the reported cross-section or time-series studies fully allows for both taxation and means-tested social security benefits in measuring the net returns from work. For those using the market wage as a proxy variable for incentives to work, it is a poor proxy because tax and social security differ widely over time and across different individual and family circumstances.
Even granted the foregoing concerns with reported econometric studies of Australian labour supply, some results seem fairly robust and consistent with studies of other countries. The elasticity of labour supply is relatively low, and in many cases not significantly different from zero, for males and for women with full-time, high-paying jobs (Apps, Killingsworth and Rees 1996; Borland 1995). For older males, low education levels (which proxies for low wage and job opportunities, and maybe also tastes) and the availability of alternative income, whether it be private income, including superannuation, or access to social security benefits, both contribute to lower participation (Woodland 1987). For married women, the elasticity of labour supply, representing both participation and hours of work decisions, is significantly positive, but with a wide range of estimates driven by different models, data and estimation procedures and in some studies with values exceeding unity (Apps, Killingsworth and Rees 1996; Lambert 1991; Miller and Volker 1983; Ross 1986). However, because of specification problems noted above, these estimates are likely to be biased. Female participation in these studies is found also to vary with other family income, with education, with the number of young children, and with region and country of birth.
In a number of time-series studies (Borland 1995; Dixon 1996; Dowrick 1988; Stricker and Sheehan 1981) significant discouraged worker effects are found for both sexes and all age groups whereby changes in the unemployment rate, or of the unemployment to population ratio, shift the labour supply curve. Most studies assume symmetry of response with estimates that an increase in employment of one job induces about 0.4 people into the workforce. Dixon finds evidence of an asymmetric response of about 0.75 for increases in jobs and 0.3 for decreases in jobs. Borland finds that most flows out of the workforce come from unemployment rather than employment. Gregory (1991) asserts that much of the increase in female employment, and to a lesser extent male employment, comes from new entrants rather than from unemployed persons. In terms of overall explanatory power, the encouraged worker effect, or shifts in the labour supply curve, are found to be more important than the wage effects, or movements along the curve, in explaining variations of labour supplied.
Changes in labour quality stem from formal education, mostly for job entrants, and on-the-job training of employees. The human capital model captures the investment processes involved. The model predicts that education and training, and hence a more skilled workforce, increase with the premium of wages for skilled people relative to those unskilled, lower opportunity costs of foregone work and lower tuition fees. Numerous Australian studies have estimated real rates of return of around 10 per cent for secondary and tertiary education (Blandy and Goldsworthy 1975; Chapman 1977; McNabb and Richardson 1989; Miller 1982). Further, the inverse relationship between years of education and unemployment, perhaps more accentuated in the 1980s and 1990s, both increases the gross return from education and reduces the opportunity cost of study. Because of supply constraints on government-provided tertiary education, the supply curve of educated labour is not identified, and this factor lies behind the disappointing econometric results found by McCormack (1992).
No studies have been found on labour supply by occupation, industry and region, and this is not surprising because of data limitations. For occupations and industries, unemployment data refers only to those who last had a job in a particular industry or occupation, but not for those who want to enter or want to change, and thus the workforce by industry or occupation is measured poorly. The stickiness of relative wage patterns described in the previous section provides little information with which to estimate labour supply to industry i (or occupations or regions) as a function of returns in i and other industries (or occupation or region). The prevalence of changes in recruitment and promotion standards further complicates the estimation of labour supply by industry, occupation and region. It would be surprising if the elasticities of labour supply by industries and occupations were not high.
Considerable circumstantial and anecdotal evidence indicates that labour supply by occupation, industry and region shifts with employment prospects. The dominance of the encouraged/discouraged worker effect noted above for workforce participation and hours decisions would seem even easier to follow when choosing between industries, occupations and firms. Students in choosing areas of study regularly ask ‘what type of job can I expect?’ and they are avid consumers of data on unemployment rates and job advertisements by discipline area in making their choice of area of study.
6. Intra-labour Market Reallocation
In any year and over time there are large reallocations of labour between industries, occupations, regions, gender, age and skills, part-time and full-time, and by hours of work (see ABS data and for a summary, EPAC (1996)). There have been large secular changes, there are cyclical changes, and in some cases seasonal changes in the composition of employment. The changes across industries etc. are lubricated by even larger gross flows between different labour states. In any month, gross flows between employment, unemployment and not in the labour force are between 100,000 persons and 150,000 in each direction (ABS cat. no. 6203.0). For those with a job, in any one year between 20 per cent and 25 per cent changes their job, and for those who change, 40 per cent move to another industry, 30 per cent to another occupation, and 15 per cent move interstate or overseas (ABS cat. no. 6209.0). This section evaluates the co-ordinating mechanisms used in the Australian labour market to allocate and reallocate workers to different jobs in response to changes in aggregate income, buyer preferences, technology, trade, worker preferences and other shocks.
Three mechanisms, or a combination, may be used to co-ordinate the allocation of jobs to industries, occupations, regions, gender, age, skill level, time of day, part-time and full-time. These are price, quantity and quality adjustments. Necessarily, supply and demand imbalances have to be accommodated in some way. All three seem to play a role in altering the composition of Australian employment and in co-ordinating reallocations driven by external shocks.
In flexible-price markets, price changes are the co-ordinating mechanism to drive reallocations in response to changes in demand and supply. For different categories of labour, whether they be by occupation, age, gender, location, part-time versus full-time etc., relative wages would rise for those categories where demand expands relative to supply or where vacancies as a measure of excess demand rises, and relative wages would fall for these categories where supply expands relative to demand or where unemployment as a measure of excess supply rises. The required relative wage change will be greater the more inelastic the demand and supply curves for each category of labour. The evidence canvassed in Section 3 is that relative wages are sticky in Australia, as in other countries, and most, but not all, evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that relative wages move slightly and slowly in the directions suggested by changes in excess demand. That is, changes in relative wages contribute to the intra-labour market co-ordination task.
However, unemployment, and quite wide variations in unemployment by category of labour, means relative wage changes are less than those of a flexible-price market. ABS data indicates differences in unemployment rates by age and skill level, by occupation and industry, by region and by gender. These differences in many cases are long-term phenomena, for example higher unemployment among youth and the low skilled. There are some cyclical patterns, for example, more volatility for the young and for particular occupations. On other comparisons, there are swaps over time, for example, lower unemployment rates for males as compared with females were reversed in the 1980s.
Quantitative signals usually play a key allocative role in fix-price markets, and this seems to be the case for the composition of employment and the workforce, especially on the supply side. Industries, occupations, skill levels, hours of work categories etc. with high and rising employment and/or with high vacancies and low unemployment draw potential employees towards them and away from labour categories with low and declining employment and/or with low vacancies and high unemployment. In formal model terms, the labour supply curve for different components of the labour market shifts with measures of employment growth and the length of vacancy and unemployment queues.
Labour force participation rates for youth, married women, and older (aged 55 and over) workers are especially sensitive to quantitative signals (Borland 1995; Dixon 1994; Dowrick 1988; Woodland 1987, for example). The case studies in Blandy and Richardson (1982) provide evidence for particular occupations. There is much anecdotal evidence that decisions of children and their families on secondary and tertiary education, including about the period of study and area of study, are influenced as much by perceived relative chances of gaining a job as by the relative wages for jobs gained. Given the compelling evidence of the significant and large influence of quantitative signals to workforce participation decisions, and the anecdotal evidence for education and occupation choice decisions, it seems very likely that quantitative signals are important in co-ordinating labour market reallocations by occupation, industry, region, skill level and hours of work.
Changes in labour-quality decisions to induce reallocations of the workforce can operate along several dimensions. These include variations in the required skills, background and experience of staff to be recruited, loosening or tightening the criteria and their application for promotion, and changes in other work conditions. With internal labour markets, the principal response of employers to expanding (falling) labour demand is not to increase (reduce) wages but to increase (reduce) recruitments and accelerate (delay) some promotions. Access to ‘good’ jobs with career ladders, opportunities for on-the-job training and some security of tenure, and for jobs generally have to be rationed in some way, and the rationing task rises with the overall pool of unemployed. With wages held nearly fixed, other rationing criteria have to be used. One option is to ration by skill level as judged by formal education and work experience. In these circumstances, credential creep is one symptom of the use of qualitative job rationing. These circumstances also provide opportunities for employers to discriminate at little cost by, say, gender, socioeconomic status or race.
There is both hard and anecdotal evidence of the use of quality adjustments affecting employment and unemployment levels in Australia. Clearly the skill composition of the employed workforce has increased, and those with low skills are disproportionately represented among the unemployed. Aungles et al. (1993) attribute part of the increase in skills of those employed to changes in industry composition, part to changes in the occupational mix in each industry, and part to higher skills within each occupation. The industry mix and occupational mix effects probably can be explained largely by product-demand changes and by technology. While some of the higher skill mix within occupations may be attributed to technological change, much of it might be attributed to credential creep.
Disproportionately high unemployment rates among those with less formal education, and for migrants from a non-English speaking background, and the lower employment probabilities for the long-term unemployed, have at least two potential explanations. One is the screening idea and the use of qualitative allocation methods described above. The second possible explanation is the low marginal productivity of these potential employees, absolutely and relative to others, against Australia's relatively high minimum wages. While I am unaware of attempts to evaluate the relative importance of the two options, and in fact, it is unclear how such an assessment could be conducted, it would be a surprise if there was not some role for each explanation.
Whether the high levels of unemployment among those with low skills, real or perceived, are due primarily to low productivity relative to labour costs, or to credential creep or discrimination, has important policy implications. If the latter explanations are dominant, faster economic growth will be effective in soaking up the unemployed as artificially inflated credential standards are lowered. By contrast, if low productivity relative to labour costs is the principal causal force, policy options will have to consider a combination of lowering labour costs and increasing the productivity of the unemployed as well as raising aggregate real output.
7. Conclusion
Conventional microeconomic foundations of household decisions on labour supply and of firm decisions on labour demand are useful in analysing the composition of employment and unemployment by industry, occupation, region, gender, age, skill level, hours of work and so forth. Sticky but not rigid relative wages mean that quantity adjustments, mostly unemployment but sometimes vacancies, and quality adjustments in skill and experience levels used in hiring and promotion are important labour market responses to changes in demand and supply. Price, quantity and quality changes are involved in co-ordinating labour market adjustments to changing circumstances.
The limited number of econometric estimates of direct and cross-price elasticities of demand and supply for different categories of labour generally confirm the directions of effects predicted by microeconomic theories. However, different studies report a wide range of elasticity magnitudes and often with large standard errors. Measures of output and technological change have significant effects on demand. Output and factor price changes influence demand with lags necessary to effect changes in factor input mixes and changes in product mixes. The extent of credential creep and discrimination in rationing jobs in the face of unemployment queues and sticky wages is an area ripe for further study. The chances of finding a job as signalled by unemployment and vacancy rates, and probably also by required skills, influence workforce participation decisions, and these quantity and quality signals affect the choice of occupation, industry, education, time of work. The magnitudes of effects of quantity and quality signals on labour supply responses by labour market segment require more work.
Unemployment by industry, occupation, region, gender, skill, age and so forth reflects slow demand growth relative to supply growth and labour costs held above the equilibrating level. In addition, new entrants to the workforce, including youth and migrants, take much of the brunt of trend and cyclical changes in demand and supply. Also, credential creep in the face of overall unemployment helps concentrate unemployment among those with low skills, including the young, migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds, older retrenched people with limited formal education, and the longer-term unemployed.
I am grateful for the comments of Guy Debelle, Robert Dixon and Chris Worswick, but absolve them of any errors and misinterpretations. [*]
An interesting question arises for the near future as the Australian industrial relations system moves more toward enterprise bargaining and to individual contracts. Calmfors and Driffill (1988) suggest superior wage-inflation outcomes for either extreme of a highly centralised or highly decentralised industrial relations system when compared with a mixed system. [1]
There are some labour models in which wages and employment are jointly determined by firms, including the monopsony model and some union-bargaining models. However the practical relevance of these model situations to Australia seems limited. [2]
These effects seem not to be considered in the extensive survey by Hamermesh (1993). [3]
There is some uncertainty about the time-series properties of the variable entering a time-series demand equation of the form of (1). Different sample periods and tests give mixed results as to whether some or all of the variables are I(0) or I(1), and in the latter case whether the variables are cointegrated. See, for example, Lewis and MacDonald (1993). [4]
Interestingly, the lower demand estimate of Russell and Tease takes a higher value of −1.04 when their equation is re-estimated with data to 1997:Q4. [5]
ABS data on wage rates and unemployment for occupations and level of formal education imply a strong inverse relationship between the wage rate and the unemployment rate. Topel (1993) reports a strong inverse relationship for the US. [6]
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The Four Pillars Of Fiction: Part 2: The Art Of Dissimulation
In Part One of this essay, we discussed the ancient legal custom of the keeping of and recording of time. We know that time is money and money is time. We know that without time limits, bills and speeding tickets would never be paid. And we can now understand that, while the poor and middle-class commoner pays for his crimes with time, the wealthy elite pay for their organized crimes in money, which fictionally represents time. Our entire labor pool, in fact, works on the same valuation structure, where the poor are paid in money in exchange for their time and labor, which then allows them to purchase essential foodstuffs and supplies to survive and suffer further use as employees (subjects). The disparagement between what labor can accomplish and what is paid for it in money, of course, is ridiculously disproportional. For without the labor of the poor, the wealthy simply could not exist. Most importantly though, we can now comprehend a dualistic calendric time system constructed to separate the wheat and the chaff, the common majority from the elitist minority.
Before reading Part Two, it is recommended though not absolutely necessary to start from the beginning, here:
Though one of the pillars of fiction certainly rests upon money (a simulation of the artificial/man-made valuation of time), we will save this topic of money, or more specifically that of “mammon” for Part Three of this series. For to speak of the simulation of money as the valuation of all things Real into a nihilistically circular pattern of nothingness, we must first understand the nature of just what dissimulation accomplishes in society so that such a system is accepted as a false and seemingly indispensable paradigm. We must discuss how it destroys ethics, morals, and values by separating (dis-associating) man from Nature and Its Law(s), and why this quality of attaining through education, entertainment, false valuation, and other simulations of Reality a state of dissimulation in the public mind is an essential pillar to uphold the entirety of the fictional, legally represented model of simulation.
What is fiction can never be said to be Reality accept in appearance only — as some artful form without substance behind it. Legal fiction is, therefore, always but a simulation of Reality, which causes in men a dissimulation from what is Real (of Nature).
What’s the difference between simulation and dissimulation?
Ah… the answer to this question ultimately reveals the source of all of our problems.
Firstly, we must distinguish that the word simulation is a noun, as the name of something artificial, including lies. Dissimulation is an adjective, describing the results any simulation has upon the mind and actions of men. Dissimulation is caused and based upon some simulated version of Reality. Without simulation there is no dissimulation, just as without darkness there is no light, ect.
In Dante’s Inferno, one of the names prescribed to the devil was simply the prefix of “DIS.” The use of this word-forming agent stands always as an upsetting, unsettling alteration of its root, one that is generally adversarial or damaging to that which it is attached. Dis-ease, dis-satisfaction, dis-appear, dis-respect, dis-appoint, dis-regard, dis-turb, and dis-associate are examples of this factor.
Before we may understand what dis-simulation is, we must first examine the nature of what its root word symbolizes. So just what is a simulation in the legal fiction?
SIMULATETo assume the mere appearance of, without the reality; to assume the signs or indications of, falsely; to counterfeit; feign; imitate; pretend. To engage, usually with the co-operation or connivance of another person, in an act or series of acts, which are apparently transacted in good faith, and intended to be followed by their ordinary legal consequences, but which in reality conceal a fraudulent purpose of the party to gain thereby some advantage to which he is not entitled, or to injure, delay, or defraud others.(Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition)
SIMULATIONAssumption of appearance which was feigned, false, deceptive, or counterfeit. In the civil law. Misrepresentation or concealment of the truth; as where parties pretend to perform a transaction different from that in which they really are engaged. A feigned, pretended act, one which assumes the appearance without the reality and, being entirely without effect, it is held not to have existed, and, for that reason, it may be disregarded or attacked collaterally by any interested person. In French law. Collusion; a fraudulent arrangement between two or more persons to give a false or deceptive appearance to a transaction in which they engage. (Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition)
SIMULATED FACT – In the law of evidence. A fabricated fact; an APPEARANCE given to things BY HUMAN DEVICE, with a view TO DECEIVE AND MISLEAD. (Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition)
ILLUSIONnoun – s as z. [Latin illusio, from illudo, to illude.] Deceptive appearance; false show, by which a person is or may be deceived, or his expectations disappointed; mockery. Ye soft illusions, dear deceits, arise! (Webster’s Dictionary of the American Language, 1828)
In other words, a simulation is a purposefully deceitful lie that is made to appear similar to what it represents. For our purposes, simulation is never a good thing. This is to say that to openly lie, to live in and by lies, is certainly and self-evidently a bad thing. For when one lies for a living, one begins to disassociate oneself from Reality, Its Nature (Source), and Its Law(s). This mental falling away is known as dissimulation.
—A Latin maxim of law: Talis non est eadem; nam nullum simile est idem. 4 Coke, 18. (Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition)
In law, simulation is never sameness. It is always false and thus always untrue compared to its origin, its model. There is no exception to this rule, just as nothing of the cartoon realm may be manifested in Reality, in the Realm of Nature. Art should never be confused to be the Real thing. This should be a self-evident Truth to the reader. But Truth is very often hidden behind that which is simulated as if it were Truth (e.g. the entirety of legal law). And so we may continue with the understanding that though a simulation is never True, a simulation can cause one to dissimulate from the Truth that is simulated in its place. What is made to appear to be the same, in other words, is most often a purposeful deceit. Simulation is always a lie, despite the matter the reason behind it.
A simulation is generally created as a purposeful venture — an intentional false-hood. The dissimulation it causes, however, is often quite mysterious, as the victim of simulation often doesn’t realize his or her state of dissimulation. This notion is quite apparent in just the fact that most people have no idea that their persona (legal status) as a completely fictional, commercial vessel in society and law (jurisdiction) is completely separate from their actual (True) Self. In other words, it is when the agent (employee) begins to believe that he or she is in every way the very flattering title ascribed by some authority figure (principal/employer) that dissimulation has grabbed hold of the mind.
If I simulate a police officer, and I therefore blur the lines between the job and the lifestyle and benefits it portends, I may be inclined to abuse said authority. If I believe I am that fictional character in agency under the authority and licensure of some higher principal (authority), and that title allows me certain pretended and violent powers over others, then I will begin to develop and use those powers as if they are Real. I will begin to treat others in the common arena (without a badge or license) that I perceive to have less authority as myself without regard to any moral law. I will do this because I believe that my actions are not my own, but that of a fictional character assigned to me, so that my actions are the actions of my employer, not myself. I take no self-responsibility for my actions, as my employer/principal has granted me its supposedly higher authority to act in its name and under its insurances (liability). I no longer feel liable for my actions. At this point, I am now fully dissimulated into the fiction, believing that the simulation of this fictional character assigned to me from some higher authority is actually Reality, which through that agency relationship causes me to express the personality and artificial essence of that simulated character instead of self-governing myself under the Law of Nature.
When the artificial (legal) hood becomes indistinguishable from the Reality that there is no actual hood, the belief in that false-hood (simulation) as Truth causes dissimulation.
FALSEHOOD – A statement or assertion known to be untrue, and intended to deceive. A WILLFUL act or declaration contrary to the truth. The term is perhaps generally used in the second sense here given. It is committed either by the WILLFUL act of the party, OR BY DISSIMULATION, or by words. Crabbe thus distinguishes between falsehood and untruth: “The latter (untruth) is an untrue saying, and may be unintentional, in which case it reflects no disgrace on the agent. A falsehood and a lie are intentional false sayings, differing only in degree of the guilt of the offender; falsehood being not always for the express purpose of deceiving, but a lie always for the worst of purposes. Deceit; Fraud; Misrepresentation. A fabrication. Scotch Law. A fraudulent imitation or suppression of truth, to the prejudice of another. “Something used and published falsely.” An old Scottish nomen juris. “Falsehood is undoubtedly a nominate crime, so much so that Sir George Mackenzie and our older lawyers used no other term for the falsification of writs, and the name ‘forgery‘ has been of modern introduction.” “If there is any distinction to be made between ‘forgery’ and ‘falsehood,’ I would consider the latter (falsehood) to be more comprehensive than the former.” (Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition)
So what then is dis-simulation?
What happens when the simulation, the false-hood, the deceitful appearance as false show takes over the rationality of the host? What happens when we begin to identify personally (in a person-hood) with such a false appearance with fictionally prescribed authority?
We enter into The (legal) Matrix.
Generally speaking, we become either the victim or the perpetrator of every crime against Nature (God) and each other imaginable. We become the adversary (DIS) of ourselves. For both the victim and the villain suffer from dissimulation, simply because the delusion of power in the agent can only exist as a direct reflection of the illusion of authority by some third party. Respect of the illusion of power by the victim of it feeds the delusion of power carried by the victims antagonist. In either disposition, we have plugged into the delusional, legal fiction of flattering titles. We become the agents of our own enslavement.
From my legally anonymous work (book):
But how can one best define what “agency” is when most of us have no inkling we are even a participant in this agentic relationship with the United States or other district, never being fully informed that we stand as publicly registered agents for service of process for the person (status) in the citizen-ship we are assigned at the nativity event of our fictional delivery and birth as a legal entity?
In the 1960s, Dr. Stanley Milgram conducted experiments where he controversially uncovered this “agentic” personality and how most people are susceptible to it. His experiment posed one stranger as the dominant “teacher” against another stranger given the title of a subordinate “learner,” whereas the learner would be shocked with increasingly more painful shocks through switches controlled by the teacher delivered with each wrong answer. The experiment was designed to show how far the random cross-section of common people would induce electric shocks upon a strapped in subject when they suspected the non-consent, injury, or even death of the flatteringly titled “learner” in the next room. A majority of the “teachers” would indeed knowingly deliver these shocks when told to do so by a “doctor” in a lab coat uniform, signifying a false but persuasive symbolical figure of authority. Some would only continue if the doctor took full responsibility for damage or death to the person called the “learner.” This was historically the most ambitious and frightening scientific test on personhood and agency, as to the uncovering of what men will do when given flattering titles of authority even as simple as “teacher,” and are then mentally made subjects of yet another seemingly higher authority. But the actions of these test subjects in a middle state of authoritative power through agency were completely voluntary, being fully informed and able to voluntarily quit the experiment whenever they felt the need or moral compunction, and they were even paid before the test began with this foreknowledge of the ability to quit and keep that pre-paid payment.
In the end, it was only ever the “teacher” that was the subject of the experiment, and the results were shocking to the science community. Milgram summarized his experiments within a 1974 article in Harper’s Magazine entitled “The Perils of Obedience,” where he stated:
—Stanley Milgram (1974), from: ‘The Perils of Obedience’ in Harper’s Magazine. Abridged and adapted from Milgram’s ‘Obedience to Authority.’
(Now you can understand why anyone in The Matrix was a potential agent.)
In other words, common people lack self-governance under a voluntary, unenforceable, moral Law. Most men acting in the agency of another, as a legal person in flattering title, has no True Religion, for a person (puppet) is not a Living man and has no spirit or control of its own. The puppet controls the man standing in surety to the puppet. The man follows the law of persons, under the law of agency. And whole militaries (of otherwise innocent men) can be made to murder each other under this incredible phenomenon of agency.
Milgram elaborated two theories that were summarized in the publication American Psychologist:
“The first is the theory of conformism, based on Solomon Asch conformity experiments, describing the fundamental relationship between the group of reference and the individual person. A subject who has neither ability nor expertise to make decisions, especially in a crisis, will leave decision making to the group and its hierarchy. The group is the person’s behavioral model.”
“The second is the agentic state theory, wherein, per Milgram, ‘the essence of obedience consists in the fact that a person comes to view themselves as the instrument for carrying out another person’s wishes, and they therefore no longer see themselves as responsible for their actions. Once this critical shift of viewpoint has occurred in the person, all of the essential features of obedience follow.’”
“A cognitive reinterpretation of Stanley Milgram’s observations on obedience to authority,” American Psychologist 45: 1384–1385. 1990.
Once this “agentic” personality is established (i.e. dissimulation), it is obviously very hard to break the ingrained pattern of personality and practice it creates. Thus the branding of citizenship and public-minded-ness upon all children in each nation is part of the economy and society, from the school system to enter-tain-ment. We literally grow up believing we are the fictional persona assigned to us at birth; the name, the number, and the titles (or lack thereof). But in Reality, we are (acting as) commercial agents for a principal “dummy” corporation, our residential address actually a place of domestic (family) business. Responsibility is replaced by insurance. Moral virtue is replaced by strict law. And Reality is hidden behind several forms of artificial matrixes and systems designed to create a sense of false security. The strawman as a dis-ease is the avatar, the projected self image we play as actors in the fictional persona of that legal matrix, a silent weapon for a quiet war over our minds.
If in your mind it is difficult to comprehend this separate, fictional persona (legal mask) and the fact that you are acting in agency within it, just think of it this way… if you can believe in the foolish personification of God by the church into a personage and likeness of man, why can’t you imagine the same personification of man into a fictional character or citizen-ship of the state? If you are emotionally effected by watching cartoon characters on the magic screen, then what makes you think you are not equally effected by the psychological imaginations and devices of the fictional legal personas of other men and by your own actions in that false persona and agentic title?
“I feel I owe you an apology. We have a rule: we never free a mind once it’s reached a certain age. It’s dangerous; the mind has trouble letting go As long as The Matrix exists, the human race will never be free.”
—Line as read by Morpheus (the god of sleep), from the movie: ‘The Matrix’
The creators of this legal fiction matrix code control our lives via (our) suretyship to its registered property. We are made to believe the character in persona we play is Real, just as the reflection in the mirror may fool our sense of True Being; True Life. Through this property (personhood) we are caused to be plugged in to its legal, commercial framework, that matrix of word-magic and illusion, and so as if the chains were actually Real, we believe ourselves to be bound by the laws of another’s property (fiction). We cannot seem to escape our own delusion.
The dangerous pride of this glad acceptance of such artificial titles, personality, property, and character is of course spoken of in the Bible, where it admonishes the proudness of men in their receivership of false and unnatural things and pretended authorities over other men through such artificial means, which in Reality amounts merely to an abandonment of the only True Equity and duty under the Law of God’s Creation (Nature). We abandon our True Selves and pretend with false pride to be what we are not, what does not actually Exist (in Nature)…
–End Excerpt, from STRAWMAN: The Real Story Of Your Artificial Person
Download it free, here:
To show the extreme parallel put forward as a purposeful metaphor of The Matrix story to the legal system and code, we only need replace the science fiction element with legal fiction and its imaginary, proprietary language. For the legal matrix code as well makes all common men equal, while the machine-like elites control us through the artificial wombs they invent and provide under legal contract.
You see, the birth certificate is your very own artificial womb. It represents the simulated birth of a legal entity, designed to cause you to dissimulate from Reality, from Nature and Its Law.
Eventually, the reader will understand that the movie is not fiction at all, but a metaphoric story of the legally controlled masses of public citizen-ships (commercial vessels in persona) of all the soon-to-be-united-as-one nations.
MATRIXnoun – [Latin matrix from mater, mother.] 1. The womb; the cavity in which the fetus of an animal is formed and nourished till its birth. 2. A mold; the cavity in which any thing is formed, and which gives it shape; as the matrix of a type. 3. The place where any thing is formed or produced; as the matrix of metals; gang. 4. In dyeing, the five simple colors, black, white, blue, red and yellow, of which all the rest are composed. (Webster’s Dictionary of the American Language, 1828)
MATRIX Womb. A place where anything is generated or formed. (Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, 1755)
MATRIXIn civil law, the protocol or first draft of a legal instrument, from which all copies must be taken. (Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition)
ARTIFICERnoun – [Latin artifex, from ars, and facio.] 1. An artist; a mechanic or manufacturer; one whose occupation requires skill or knowledge of a particular kind; as a silversmith, or sadler. 2. One who makes or contrives; an inventor; as an artificer of fraud or lies. 3. A cunning, or artful fellow. [not used.] (Webster’s Dictionary of the American Language, 1828)
The birth certificate is a matrix in the legal sense of the word, which is the protocol or first draft of a legal instrument, from which all copies must be taken. Now you know why you need it to obtain a driver’s license and other legal documents, as proof of birth (existence) of the legal entity (strawman) you are claiming to be an agent for. Whatever you do in civil (legal/fictional/commercial) life will be, of course, obtained through that matrix. This legal simulation of your vital statistics at birth is what becomes your agentic, artificial identity. And what’s planned for the future of the A.I. is much, much worse…
“Genecoin: DNA for the Blockchain… So, why would anyone want to encode their DNA on the Blockchain? Like much in the crypto space, some projects are a solution in search of a problem. However, one easy reason to use the blockchain to store DNA would be as a replacement for a traditional ‘Birth Certificate.’ Notarization has long been a function provided by the Bitcoin Blockchain, so to ‘notarize’ the existence of a person’s DNA could attest to the existence of an identity, and its age. This attestation would thereafter function in much the same way as does our current oracle-based (hospital-centric) system. Additionally, for those thinking of the far off future, another fanciful notion might be to encode one’s DNA for the purposes of cloning by a future generation
—Bitcoin Magazine Online, from an article entitled, “Genecoin: DNA for the Blockchain”
Whereas today we may discard by discharge this legal identity, in the future it will be part of your genetic make-up. In other words, the dissimulation of legal identity will be a permanent part of your body, an unremovable, non-payable contractual performance debt that is property of government — the ultimate mark.
We are all programmed from childhood to dissimulate ourselves into this false, legal identity, as if we are taking responsibility for a cartoon version of us, while pretending that damage done in the cartoon world (legal fiction/commerce) is the same thing as damage done to what is Real (of Nature). Sticks and stones may certainly break your bones, but legal words are now capable of damages far beyond the temporary pain and bruising of those Real things.
This brainwashing and redirection from our Natural course is expounded upon perfectly here by Alexis de Tocqueville:
“But one also finds in the human heart A DEPRAVED TASTE FOR EQUALITY, which impels the weak to want to bring the strong down to their level, and which REDUCES MEN TO PREFERRING EQUALITY IN SERVITUDE TO INEQUALITY IN FREEDOM.
The majority’s moral power makes individuals internally ashamed to contradict it, which in effect silences them, and this silencing culminates in a cessation of thinking.
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859), separate quotes
Not ironically, trying to tell people they are trapped inside a legal matrix code is not at all different than trying to tell people they are trapped inside an artificial womb and connected to a computerized simulation of Reality. Both suffer equally from dissimulation. For dissimulation is of course the purpose of creating such matrixes.
Again, I can only compare the process of attempting to wake other men up from their legalistically caused dissimulation to that epic fight scene in the epic movie (documentary?) They Live. Just put on the damn sunglasses man!
In the end, after so much cognitive dissonance, after a lifetime of existing
falsely in the simulation, he finally sees them for what they are…
This is inception. This is the moment we (painfully)
ourselves from dissimulative reasoning.
Perhaps then we may stop fighting each other
and destroy the source of the simulation?
Equality is not promoted in the Bible, in the Law of Nature. There is no such thing. Equality can only be achieved through legal, artificial means. Equality is purely a fictional construct of man, fruit from that tree of knowledge. Equality is not designed to free men but to enslave them. Only slaves and subjects are equal. And yet the king (sovereign) has no equal.
In short, tyranny requires equality. For simulated (legal) equality creates dissimulation.
See my previous essay on this subject here:
And for the history of how the notion of equity has been confused and interposed with modern political equality, I recommend this lecture:
“The language of equality is dead (spiritual death = civil life)…”
“The language of (personal) equity is alive (spiritual life)…”
“The first equality is equity.”
Equality without consideration of equity is but a dissimulation away from the foundations and intent of any moral law.
Maxim of Law: “He who seeks equity must do equity.
What is True equity in law?
EQUITABLE – That which is in conformity to the natural law.” (–Bouvier’s Dictionary of Law, 1856)
One should never confuse or intermix the notion of the Law of Nature and legal law, which are always opposed to each other. Therefore, as stated in this lecture, the idea of legal equity is merely the empty form of Natural equitableness. That is to say that a court of equity can only consider legal things within legal places and legal status (persona), not Reality, for the law of man (form) has no connection to anything in Nature (substance), only the concept of a property (descriptive words) thereof. A man must act equitably towards all others regardless of status or lack thereof in substance (in Nature) if he expects the law to enforce equitable behavior from others. Political equality defeats every man that acts without equitableness — without (outside of) the Highest Law of God (Nature).
Equality is but a legal concept, represented in law as a legal simulation, which in and of itself is merely a fictional rationalization (of man’s law) that can only be described as a dissimulation from Nature and Its Law(s). And as Alexis de Tocqueville declared above, the nature of this legal (fictional) state reduces men to preferring equality in servitude to inequality in freedom. Only the self-governing man observing at all times substantial equitableness to all of man and Nature can be free of these destructive simulations of man’s law. For to be conditioned through the eyes of legalistic (political) equality causes men necessarily to act without consideration of equitableness, for “a government can only enforce strict laws.” This is to say that while the law of equality is a creation and therefore a property of man, equity stems from the unwritten (inherent) Law of Nature, and therefore is inherent only in men regenerate of mind and thus liberated from man’s law. Equitableness, in other words, can only be expressed despite strict (legal) law.
Unfortunately, the direct result of equality is the devolution into democracy. Again, in this modern system of political equality we suffer from, we can see a mass dissimulation away from each of our own individuality, from the True Self where equity resides, in order to instill the presidents of this mob rule sense of democracy.
Democracy is the road to socialism.
—Karl Marx
Democracy is indispensable to socialism.
Socialism is merely state-capitalist monopoly which is made to serve the interests of the whole people…”
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, (seperate quotes), the second excerpted from the pamphlet ‘The Impending Catastrophe and How to Combat it, September 1917’ as Lenin’s Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1977, Moscow, Volume 25, from Lenin Internet Archive.
—John Adams
—Noah Webster
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
—Winston Churchill
The President will lead in the treasonYour militia will leave you and fight against you… When evil men take office the whole gang will be in collusion. They will keep the people in utter ignorance and steal their liberty by ambuscade (by surprise, by lying in wait). When Government removes your armaments, you will have no power, but government will have all power.”
—Patrick Henry (emphasis added)
—John F. Kennedy
From the Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, under Strong’s Concordance #H571, we may understand that the only Truth, the only Reality is Nature Itself. Nature needs no simulation or false appearance to Exist. It needs no words, no names, no titles, and certainly no approval by men. It neutrally defends Itself without somehow anthropomorphically believing It has some pretended set of positive law “rights” to do so. But so that we may know the more accurate definition of “just what is Truth” from the Bible, we must attempt to define it according to its authors Original (Natural) intent while also showing its adversarial, false appearance. Herein a deeper understanding of dissimulation becomes apparent.
The lexicon for Strong’s H571 (truth) states in part:
Sincerity, opposed to dissimulation. Truth, opposed to falsehood
Here we find the key to understanding the difference between simulation and dissimulation, for we may only Truly know anything by comparing its opposite:
Truth is opposed to simulation (falsehood), though it resembles (appears as) Truth. Therefore everything that is legally (artificially) considered is by the Law of Nature a falsehood.
Sincerity is opposed to dissimulation, which dissembles (changes or lacks the appearance of) anything from Its Truth.
A simulation is a game, while dissimulation is a lifestyle.
A simulation is an outright lie, while dissimulation is a mental delusion.
A dissimulation is an adversarial simulation. While simulation in and of itself is a lie, as a purposeful departure from even the appearance and false show of what is Truth, dissimulation is the simulation of a complete lie. When simulation is based on what is already a lie, then what results is a simulacra, a copy without an original (a simulation of a simulation/lie, as a copy of a copy). Thus the lie becomes the only truth imaginable to the dissimulated man, for the lie appears to be the Truth of what is being simulated.
Simulation is indeed a deception, but dissimulation is much worse. For dissimulation is a self-deception.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (separate quotes)
A simulation is a false appearance, but to dissimulate from oneself is to hide ones Real Self behind that false show (simulation) — a lie within a lie. The difference is a staggeringly important one. It enters into the realm of the simulacrum.
The Stanford University Press explains in part this term simulacrum:
Phantom Communities reconsiders the status of the simulacrumsometimes defined as a copy of a copy, but more rigorously defined as a copy that subverts the legitimacy and authority of its model—in light of recent debates in literature, art, philosophy, and cultural studies.”
—A critique for ‘Phantom Communities: The Simulacrum and the Limits of Postmodernism’ by Prof. Scott Durham
The Matrix simulation in that movie was the 6th version of a computer-generated version of a society long dead. It was a copy of a copy, also said to be a copy without an original. The model was one of control, not conformity to Reality. Likewise, the legal matrix code is designed in exactly the same way, as a device to remove one from any semblance of the Reality and Law(s) of Nature and to keep one trapped inside the copy, viewing the Real world through the dissimulation of an artificial womb built merely of symbols and signs, and based on induced, delusional belief in the veracity of the illusionary un-Real, simulated as if it were the only Reality.
Are we being sincere in our citizen-ship, in legal person-hood? Or are we acting as patient victims under that civil dis-course without responsibility to ourselves and to Nature?
Our problem is not simulation itself, but the fact that we represent a simulated version of ourselves. Representation as a concept relays the idea that the sign, symbol, or token (personification) and the Real thing are essentially equivalent (i.e. sameness) — that the form represented is for all intents and purposes equal to the actual substance of the Real. Thus the concept of “representing myself” is a redundant action at best, and downright stupid at worst. What is Truth, what is of Reality needs no re-presentation, for what is Truth needs no sign or token to be understood, for it cannot by its very Nature be misunderstood. Only its name (simulation) may be dissimulated as property (form), not the Real (self-evident) thing in and of itself (substance).
But what happens when instead we choose to re-present something that is by its nature already a simulation (a lie)? If the root of the idea of representation is that the token, symbol, name, or sign (form) and the Real substance are equivalent, then the only thing we can represent in the legal realm is that which is a lie. Man cannot stand legally without some fictional representation of his True Nature and Self any more than he can enter into the cartoon realm to commune and interact with the cartoons therein. For a simulation is always a lie, no matter how closely the form of that simulation resembles its substantive model in the Real.
In other words, when we go into court representing a legal entity, we are appearing as a lie (simulated fact). We are representing that we accept as legitimate the lie (sin) and that we are responsible and in surety for its legal actions. We are representing (personifying) a simulation (a lie). We are therefore presenting ourselves as if we actually are a creature of the simulacrum, a copy without an original. We have thus entered into the darkness of fiction as a dissimulation of ourselves. We have just plugged into the legal version of The Matrix.
It is interesting to note that the term “dissimulation” seems to apply in a dramatic way to our default status of public personhood within these nations of goyim, remembering that DIS is attributed to be one of the many names of satan (that which is adversarial to Nature/Reality).
DISSIMULATIONnoun – [Latin, to make like; like.] The act of dissembling; a hiding under a false appearance; a feigning; false pretension; hypocrisy. Dissimulation may be simply concealment of the opinions, sentiments or purpose; but it includes also the assuming of a false or counterfeit appearance which conceals the real opinions or purpose. Dissimulation among statesmen is sometimes regarded as a necessary vice, or as no vice at all. Let love be without dissimulation. Romans 12:9. (Webster’s Dictionary of the American Language, 1828)
Inverse to dissimulation, we find probity:
PROBITYnoun – [Latin probitas, from probo, to prove.] Primarily, tried virtue or integrity, or approved actions; but in general, strict honesty; sincerity; veracity; integrity in principle, or strict conformity of actions to the laws of justice. Probity of mind or principle is best evinced by probity of conduct in social dealings, particularly in adhering to strict integrity in the observance and performance of rights called imperfect, which public laws do not reach and cannot enforce. (Webster’s Dictionary of the American Language, 1828)
If it is not now plainly obvious, these two terms and their dueling meanings describe polar opposites.
Dissimulation defines a citizen-ship in persona (mask) governed by the state (legal law).
Probity defines a self-governing man under God’s Law, the Law of Nature.
Personhood is bound by strict law of men, having only a legal capacity to act in commerce and society as property of the state, while self-governing men must observe and perform the Highest Law at all times, lest they fall back into that legal matrix.
Of course, dissimulation (person-hood) is absolutely integral pillar for this fictional realm of legalism to exist in its own little world. Just as a cartoon character is a simulation disassociated from the Real World, so too must men be made to disassociate even themselves from what is Real (Truth) so as to be trapped within this legal construct. The law of legal fiction applies only to fictional persons (legally pretended characters), places (jurisdictions), and things (property). None of these are Real…
Dissimulation can also be called as agency.
The major difference between an attorney (assigned agent) and a public citzien-ship (acting agent) is dissimulation. While the attorney is consensually hired in agency, as a temporary agent employed to fulfill and perform certain legal duties in a limited legal contract, the public citizen-ship lives his whole civil life in an agency relationship. The citizen-ship never ceases to be an agent. In his mind he becomes the citizen, unable to distinguish between himself and the fictional character (person-hood) he plays in the legal, commercial realm. Nature and fiction are blurred and thus intermixed in all his dealings. The simulation and the Real are thus indistinguishable. The Truth is blended with the lie, causing the phenomenon of dissimulation. We believe we are legal persons.
We believe we are the mask (persona) instead of the man behind it.
The problem is that the mask (persona) is property (a legal status) of its creator. The mask belongs to government. Government is the lawmaker (god) over its own property. And while no government law (legal fiction) effects any man, its legal law does apply to its property — the legal person-hood (legal mask) worn/carried by the man. Like a puppet, the man is unconsciously drawn around by legal strings he cannot see and thus by laws he needs not morally agree with. For without this fictional connection to the Real man through a simulated character in the legal matrix, without a persona, the man would by necessity either need to be self-governing or be militarily enslaved. Thus, this legal matrix of nations is a sort of middle ground between the two, allowing individual men to choose the method of their enfranchisement in a severely limited way, causally choosing their own use in agency, just like in that computer simulation from The Matrix movies. But then, in that simulation of The Matrix, we find an almost 100% saturation rate of dissimulation — of people believing they are Free in Nature under God while in Reality stuck in an artificial womb they can never break free from.
Silent weapons For Quiet Wars are described in the introduction as “social engineering or the automation of society, i.e. the engineering of a social automation system (silent weapons) on a national or worldwide scale without implying extensive objectives of social control and destruction of human life, i.e. slavery and genocide.” It also introduces the modern state of a somewhat permanent continuation of World War III as the “Quiet War,” and that it is currently and indefinitely “being conducted using subjective biological warfare, fought with silent weapons.” This document, dated from 1979, reads:
The Artificial Womb:
From the time a person leaves its mother’s womb, its every effort is directed towards building, maintaining, and withdrawing into artificial wombs, various sorts of substitute protective devices or shells. The objective of these artificial wombs is to provide a stable environment for both stable and unstable activity: to provide shelter for the evolutionary processes of growth, and maturity — i.e. survival; to provide security for freedom and to provide defensive protection for offensive activity. This is equally true of both the general public and the elite. However, there is a definite difference in the way each of these classes go about the solution of problems.
The Political Structure Of A Nation – Dependency:
Simulations (politicians) leading the dissimulated (citizenships)…
Welfare as a strategic weapon…
This lies in stark contrast to the Law of Nature, as the Law (Word) of God:
“…that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine (Law), Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith (Truth): so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith (Truth) unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
—1 Timothy 1: 3-7, KJB
It is through dissimulation, through the agentic relationship of person-hood, that we have been turned away from our Natural course.
To be clear, let us explore what it is to lie in agency, especially under the tyranny of kings, popes, and the democracies (illiterate mob rule). Remember, while a person (status in society) is a legalistic simulation, believing in the false truth of the simulation and thus becoming one with it is dissimulation.
DUMMYnoun – One who holds legal title for another; a straw man. (Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition)
STRAWMAN – 1. A weak or imaginary opposition set up only to be easily confuted. 2. A person set up to serve as a cover for a usually questionable transaction. (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary)
STRAMINEUS HOMO: “Latin. A man of straw, one of NO SUBSTANCE,
put forward as
BAIL OR SURETY.” (Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition)
The agency relationship of public US citizenships is simple: The principal (government) creates and employs a citizen-ship status (fictional persona) within its own created jurisdiction (fictional place), by which men (acting agents) use this commercial vessel (property) to conduct business and commerce. Essentially, a citizen is an employee of its employer (principal), and does all actions through that principal and its protections. This is why insurance is mandatory for citizenships (commercial vessels) of the United States, just as auto-insurance is mandatory to rent a car (commercial vehicle). If the agent crashes the car, the principal is responsible for the actions of its agents. Insurance alleviates that commercial burden, and is thus a legal requirement to dis-associate the liability of the principal from its agent, the employer from its employee, the user from its program (see the movie Tron).
To end this particular discourse on the 2nd pillar of fiction, we must address how God (Jehovah) Itself has been driven from our consciousness. It is foolish to argue over the Existence of God (Jehovah), when the very intent and definition of this VERB “Jehovah” is as the Universe, as all of Existence Itself in its infinite entirety. This state of Life in Nature then is the eternity of Being, again used as a verb to mean all of Existence as it stands at this and every moment. God (jehovah), in other words, is all that is Real, all that is not man-made. This is to say that Jehovah (God) is the Source of everything Real that can be simulated and dissimulated from. Jehovah (God) is Truth, thus all lies are dependent upon Reality, without which there would be no Reality (Truth) to lie about, and therefore no reason or source for such simulations. Without Truth there simply is no lie. Without Jehovah there simply is no satan (adversary). Again, this line of reasoning is self-evident.
If simulation is the opposite of Truth, and Jehovah (God) is defined as that which is the very Nature and Source of Truth, then we must recognize that each of us are a part of Jehovah. Without this understanding of the meaning of this word, as the substance of the very Source of Life Itself, and that by our very own Existence we are therefore each an intricate part of that whole of the concept of what is Jehovah (all of Being), we may never overcome that which dissimulates us from our very own Nature and place within It. Without faith (belief) in Jehovah as the only Reality of Truth and Life, we will forever be stuck in a man-made simulation of that which Is Jehovah.
But don’t believe me. Believe the Law as written in the Bible:
–Acts 17:24-25, KJB
Jehovah is the air and the water and the land and the stars we so take for granted, as that which gives us life and breath and sustenance to Exist. Religions are a simulation of the Bible, a lie told to dissimulate us from our God (Reality/Nature) and Its Law, from our very Nature of Existence and place within It.
But we must be careful and weary of such a spiritual understanding, for the men that seek to be as replacement gods (magistrates) on Earth and in their own hand-built temples give only artificial, legal life (false existence) to simulated persons (legal statuses), places (legal jurisdictions), and things (legal properties), over which the only means of control is through dissimulation from the One True God (as “Jehovah”). For none of these Exists in Nature (under God), and so none can be governed by the Law of Nature.
In the end, we may understand why it is that we may only have one God, and that we must choose between the God (verb) of Nature (Jehovah) and the god (noun/title) of mammon. And so in Part Three of this essay series, we will examine how the legal fiction of nations would fall under its own weight without the dissimulation created by the god (false existence) of mammon (artificial valuation) and its engrossing, nihilistic, empty tool of money (the currency of time).
Until then, may your gradual awakening from these four pillars of fiction be sufficiently painful and gut-wrenching that your own dis-ease of dis-simulation is cured. And as the legal superstructure falls further into dis-pair and thus dis-repair, dragging along with it all those dissimulated masses of men unable to break from that virtual, simulated copy of reality, may your spiritual awakening be strong enough to match and defend against the adversarial dark awakening happening simultaneously and adversarially to your own. For the darkness of dissimulation is coming online, as artificial intelligence, as an out of control matrix of lies. It is the legal mind unburdened by any higher, moral law, set free to recreate the world as it sees fit.
May your meekness be evident and your will to preserve that which gives us Life be stronger than that dissimulated force that seeks to dispose us of It.
May we find the spiritual path together…
Clint > richard-son (
Saturday, January 27th, 2018 (AD) |
This is a reblog from SHARP SIGHT LABS. Thanks for that great article!
However, I would like to point out the importance of Leo Breimans’ seminal paper: Statistical Modeling: The Two Cultures, available here (open access), which should probably have been mentioned.
– Why machine learning will reshape software engineering
– What is the core task of machine learning
– How to get started in machine learning in R
Throughout those posts, I’ve been using the following definition of machine learning: creating computational systems that learn from data in order to make predictions and inferences.
However, machine learning isn’t the only subject in which we use data for prediction and inference. Anyone who’s taken an introductory statistics class has heard a similar definition about statisticsitself. And if you talk to someone who works in data-mining, you’ll hear the same thing: data mining is about using data to make predictions and draw conclusions from data.
This raises the question: what is the difference between machine learning, statistics, and data mining?
The long answer has a bit of nuance (which we’ll discuss soon), but the short answer answer is very simple: machine learning, statistical learning, and data mining are almost exactly the same.
An expert opinion: there is no difference
Larry Wasserman wrote a blog post about this a few years ago. If you’re not familiar with him, Wasserman is a professor in both the Department of Statistics and in the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon, one of the premier universities for stats and ML. Moreover, I’ll point out that Carnegie Mellon is one of the few universities that has a department devoted exclusively to machine learning. Given that Wasserman is officially a professor in ML and statistics at one of the best technical universities in the world, I’d say that he’s uniquely positioned to answer this question.
(As an aside: Wasserman also wrote the confidently titled book, All of Statistics. It’s not for a beginner, but for those of you with at least an intermediate background in math, All of Statistics will be excellent preparation for ML.)
According to Wasserman, what’s the difference?
“The short answer is: None. They are … concerned with the same question: how do we learn from data?”
To be clear, Wasserman was specifically addressing the difference between “machine learning” and “statistics” (he didn’t mention data mining). However, I’ll add that his answer applies equally well to “data mining”.
So to echo what Wasserman wrote, and re-state the point: machine learning, statistics, and data mining are mostly the same.
Having said that, Wasserman notes that if you look at some of the details, there is a “more nuanced” answer that reveals minor differences.
With that in mind, let’s review the major similarities as well as the differences, both to prove the point that they really are extremely similar, and also to give you the more nuanced view.
The core similarities between ML, stats, and data mining
First, let’s examine the what makes machine learning, statistics, and data mining fundamentally similar.
Nearly identical subject-matter and toolkits
The primary reason that these three subjects are effectively the same is that they cover almost exactly the same material and use almost exactly the same techniques.
Let me give you an example. If you examine the table of contents of An Introduction to Statistical Learning, you’ll find chapters on regression, classification, resampling, and non-linear methods. If you examine the contents a bit more closely, you’ll see sections concerning linear regression, logistic regression, the bias-variance tradeoff, neural networks, and support vector machines.
Now take a look a the syllabus for Andrew Ng’s machine learning course on Coursera, and you’ll see all of the topics I just listed. The material covered in Ng’s machine learning course is almost exactly the same as the material covered in ISL; said differently, the material covered by the “statistical learning” experts is the same as that covered by the “machine learning” experts. With only minor exceptions, the material is exactly the same.
If you perform the same exercise and look at the table of contents for the book Data Mining by Witten, Frank, and Hall, you’ll find almost exactly the same material. Again: regression, classification, neural networks, etc.
So to summarize, the material covered in machine learning, statistics (and statistical learning in particular), and data mining are so similar that they’re nearly identical.
The three cultures: why there are three identical subjects with different names
So what gives? They’re nearly identical! Why are there three different subjects that cover the exact same material (much to the confusion of data science newbies)?
The best answer here is that even though they use the same methods, they evolved as different cultures, so they have different histories, nomenclature, notation, and philosophical perspectives.
Let me give you an analogy: “machine learning” and “statistics” are like identical twins (triplets, if you want to include “data mining” in the analogy). They are quite nearly identical. And in fact, at a deep level, they are identical: they “share the same DNA” as it were.
However, even though identical twins are identical in some sense, they might still dress differently and hang out with different people.
To relate this to the topic of ML, statistics, and data mining, what I mean by “dressed differently” is that they use different words and terms, and have different notation. Much like human twins that have different groups of friends, people in ML, stats, and data mining also have different and separate social groups: they exist in different academic departments (in most universities), typically publish in different journals, and have different conferences and events.
The core differences between ML, stats, and data mining
Let’s examine these differences a little more closely.
They emphasize different things
Perhaps the biggest difference between these three fields is their emphasis. Although they use almost the exact same methods, they tend to emphasize different things. A different way of saying this, is that although they use almost exactly the same methods, tools, and techniques, these three fields have philosophical differences concerning how and when those methods should be applied.
In his blog post, Wasserman mentioned these different emphases, noting that “statistics emphasizes formal statistical inference (confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, optimal estimators) in low dimensional problems.” (To be clear, in this quote, Wasserman seems to be talking about statistics broadly, and not statistical learning in particular.)
Wasserman went on to note that machine learning is more focused on making accurate predictions – a sentiment echoed by Professor Andrew Gelman of Columbia University. Because of this purported emphasis on prediction above all, some people characterize ML as being less “strict” about testing assumptions; that in ML, making good predictions trumps more formal considerations like testing assumptions, etc.
Machine learning is focused on software and systems
Actually, I’ll go a step further and state that machine learning isn’t just more focused on making predictions, but is more focused on building software systems that make predictions. That is, among ML practitioners (as opposed to statisticians), there is a much stronger emphasis on software engineering. This makes sense considering the historical growth of machine learning as a sub-discipline of computer science; historically, machine learning developed because computer scientists needed a way to create computer programs that learn from data.
This greater emphasis on systems (i.e., computer programs that learn from data) leads some people to argue that ML is more of an “engineering discipline” whereas statistics is more of a “mathematical” discipline. Again though, I’ll repeat my caveat that these are very broad generalizations.
The purpose of data mining is finding patterns in databases
How about data mining?
As I already noted, the tools that data miners use are almost exactly the same as the tools used by statisticians and machine learning experts. The major difference is how and why these tools are used. So how do data miners apply these techniques, and to what end?
Here’s its quite helpful to look at the name “data mining.”
As the name implies, “data mining” is akin to mining. In a mining operation – for example a gold mining operation – large piles of dirt and material are extracted from the mine and then the miners sift through the dirt to find nuggets of gold. Here you can think of a data warehouse as the mine: it contains mostly useless data. This useless data is like the “dirt and rubble” in a mine. Then after being extracted from the database, this “useless” data needs to be “mined” for valuable insight.
Sometimes, finding these insights requires simple exploratory data analysis. Sometimes it requires more formal statistical techniques like hypothesis testing. And sometimes it requires building models – basically the same types of models used in machine learning and statistical learning.
So again, we find that the tools are almost identical, but the purpose is slightly different: finding valuable insights in large databases.
To summarize: that although ML, stats, and data mining use the same methods, they have slightly different philosophies about how, when, and why to apply those methods.
They use different words and terminology
Not only do they have slightly different emphases and purposes, they also use different terminology.
Professor Rob Tibshirani – one of the authors of the excellent book An Introduction to Statistical Learning – created a glossary comparing several major terms in machine learning vs statistics.
While a few of these comparisons are a bit tongue-in-cheek, the list is instructive. Most specifically, the chart drives home the point I’ve been making in this post: machine learning and statistics are quite nearly identical. They are so similar that they discuss almost all of the same topics, methods, and concepts, but just have different names for many of them.
Having said that, I want to add that frequently these terms are used interchangeably by people in stats and machine learning (as well as data mining).
For example, if you examine Andrew Ng’s machine learning course, you’ll find that he frequently uses the term “parameter” instead of “weight”. Although most people would consider Ng a member of the “machine learning culture”, but he readily uses the terms attributed to the “statistical learning culture.” So, it appears that even though there are slight cultural differences, even those differences are insubstantial; members of the “different cultures”, basically use terminology interchangeably.
ML, stats, and data mining tend to favor different tools
Next, let’s talk about tools. There are some very rough generalizations we can make about tool choices between statisticians, data miners, and machine learning practitioners (but as I’ve pointed out several times, these are sort of hasty generalizations).
In the machine learning camp, you’re more likely to see Python and Matlab. If you do a quick review of the major courses and texts on machine learning, many of them use one of these two languages. For example, Andrew Ng’s course teaches ML labs in Matlab, as do several other excellent books by authors such as Barber or Murphy.
Outside of academia, and particularly in San Francisco/Silicon Valley, you’ll often see Python as a primary ML tool of choice.
On the statistics side, you’re much more likely to see R. You’re very likely to see R used as the primary programming language for probability and statistics classes at colleges and universities. Also, several of the best books on probability, statistics, Bayesian statistics, and statistical learning use R for their exercises and labs.
I’ll repeat though that these are very hasty generalizations. You’ll see statisticians using Matlab, and you’ll certainly see machine learning practitioners using R. Moreover, as ML, stats, and data mining practitioners begin to cooperate and these fields begin to converge, you’re seeing people learn several tools. Many of the best people in stats and ML know python and R, as well as other tools.
And of course, the list certainly isn’t limited to Python, R, and Matlab. In both academia and industry, you’ll find statisticians, ML experts, and data miners using a broad array of other technologies like SAS, SPSS, c++, Java and others.
So while I’ll suggest that Python and Matlab are more popular among the ML crowd and that R is more popular among statisticians, again, this is really just a quick-and-dirty generalization.
ML and data mining typically work on “bigger” data than statistics
Finally, let’s talk briefly about the size and scale of the problems these different groups work on.
The general consensus among several of the prominent professors mentioned above is that machine learning tends to emphasize “larger scale” problems than statistics.
Wasserman noted in his blog post that in contrast to statistics, machine learning emphasizes “high dimension” prediction problems (which presumably means that machine learning emphasizes problems with a larger number of predictor variables).
Andrew Gelman – who is also a very well respected professor of statistics – similarly implies that statistics emphasizes smaller scale problems: “My impression is that computer scientists work on more complicated problems and bigger datasets, in general, than statisticians do.”
And finally, data mining also emphasizes large scale data. While I won’t offer any quotes here, I can say from personal experience that people who identify as “data miners” commonly work with databases that have millions, even hundreds of millions or billions of observations (although, it’s quite common to subset these large datasets down, to take samples, etc).
Again: there are far more similarities than differences
It should seem clear by now that machine learning, statistics, and data mining are all fundamentally similar. And to the extent that they have differences, those differences are – in the words of Revolution Analytics’ David Smith – more superficial than substantive.
Moreover, even though there are differences – particularly philosophical differences – you need to realize that these fields are beginning to converge. As Wasserman noted in his blog article, it’s clear that members of these communities are beginning to communicate with one another, and the lines between these fields are becoming increasingly blurred. So even if we can identify some differences, those differences may become much less pronounced over time.
What this means for you, if you’re getting started with data science, is that you can safely treat machine learning, statistics, and data mining as “the same.” Learn the “surface level” differences so you can communicate with people from the “different cultures,” but ultimately, treat machine learning, statistics, and data mining each as subjects that you can learn from as you work to master data science.
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20 Repeated Canadian Military Questions and Answers
20 Repeated Canadian Military Questions and Answers.
Canadian Military Questions… A military or armed force is a professional organization authorized by a sovereign state use to lethal of deadly force and weapons to support the interest of the state. It consists of the Army, Navy, and Air-force.
20 Repeated Canadian Military Questions
The duty of the military is to defend the state and its citizens. The military also have additional sanctioned and non-sanctioned functions in the society which includes the promotion of a political agenda, protecting corporate economic interest, emergency services, and social ceremonies and guarding important ceremonies.
In broad usage, the two terms armed forces and military are often treated synonymous, a distinction is sometimes made in which countries armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. Armed force can be seen as the use of armed forces to achieve political objectives.
They are lots of forms of irregular military forces, which do not belong to a recognized state, though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are often called the military. I will like to give you a brief history of the Canadian military.
History of the Canadian Military
The history of the Canadian military began when the British troop still occupied much of Canada, and everyone thought they always would. This ended in the year 1871, when the British and the United States signed the Treaty of Washington as part of an effort to secure the lasting peace and trust between the two former rivals. As part of their deal, the UK, agreed to withdraw all the imperial troops from North America.
All of a sudden, Canada was forced to carry the burden of its own self-defense. IN 1883, the first Canadian militia, known as the Royal Canadian Regiment, was established. With the mandate to protect both the homeland and defend British interest abroad, which it did in the South African war [1899-1902], Canada’s first overseas conflict?.
When the British demanded the colonial support for its war against the second world war.[1914-1918]. Many Canadian militias were cobbled together quickly in response, and a total of more than 425, 00 Canadian soldiers were sent to Europe, in what was called the Canadian expeditionary force. After the force, Canadian secured what was called foreign policy independence from Britain, but the militias were quickly sent back to Europe once Canada decided to back the British side in world war two.[1939-1945].
It was during the world war that Canada’s armed forces finally became more organized like a traditional military, and in 1942 the Canadian army was founded officially. The army wet through more restructuring in the 1950s and 1960s, eventually culminating in the creation of a single unified Canadian military known as the Canadian armed forces in the year 1968.
Structure of the Canadian Military
The Canadian armed forced are divided into three branches:
1. The Canadian army,
2. The royal navy,
3. The royal Canadian air force. These branches are however unified all under a single leadership structure which is headed by a single commander known as the chief of defense staff, currently general J.H. Vance, who reports directly to the prime minister of Canada. Known as unification, the idea of combining all branches of the military under a single hierarch was also part of a controversial plan to help stream line the countries small military in the most efficient and cost effective way. Today it has resulted in phenomena such as joint training for new recruits, and commanding officers who are being promoted from one branch to another.
Branches of the Canadian Military
• The Canadian army
• The royal navy
• The royal air force.
The Canadian army is the command which is respond for all operational readiness of the conventional ground forces. The Canadian army came into official use beginning only in the 1940; from before confederation until the Second World War the designation was the Canadian militia.
On the 1st April 1966, as a precursor to the unification of Canada’s armed services, all the land forces were placed under a new entity called the mobile command. In 1968, the Canadian army ceased to exist as a legal entity as the royal Canadian navy, the Canadian army, and the royal Canadian air force were merged to form a single service which is called the Canadian armed forces.
This is the naval force of Canada. The naval service of Canada was founded in the 1910, and given sanction on 29th august 1911, the royal navy was amalgamated with the royal Canadian air force and the Canadian army to form the unified Canadian armed forces in the year 1968, after which it was known as maritime command until 2011.
In 2011, the historical title of Royal Canadian navy, was restored. The Canadian navy has served in the first and Second World War, the Persian Gulf War and numerous United Nations operations.
The role of this force is to provide the Canadian forces with relevant, responsive is responsible for all the aircraft operations of the Canadian forces, they enforce the security of Canada’s air space and provides aircraft to support the missions of the royal Canadian navy and army. The Canadian air force was formed in 1920.they were granted royal sanction in 1924 by King George V to form the royal Canadian air.
In this article I will like to talk on the top Canadian military questions with their answers, especially the ones asked in interviews.
1. What qualifications must I meet in order to join the military?
• The service requires a high school diploma.
• Officers have a four year college degree or greater. Those enlisted on the recruitment list must achieve a minimum score of the armed services vocational aptitude battery
• You must at least be 18 to join
2. I’m not sure which service I’d like best how do I decide?
Before choosing, it is advisable to talk to people who have had firsthand exposure to the military. Find friends or relatives who have been in the military and ask them about their service values, opportunities and missions you don’t know anyone who has recently served, you may want to look up at each branch online. Visit recruiters who can help match your interest to current active duty openings in their service
3. How do I go about joining the military:
After you have done the necessary research, it is then time to talk to a recruiter. They are there to answer your questions. They will be positive and so honest, so you don’t have to be afraid to ask anything. You can also bring a friend or guardian alongside with you, if that is what makes you very comfortable. Make sure you have all the information necessary to make an informed decision.
4. How do I find a recruiter?
The best way to find a recruiter near to you is through individual services that might interest you. Recruiters from various branches may share the same location, so you have to be bold to speak to more than one of them to compare opportunities.
5. How long do I have to serve if I join?
Some first term enlistments are four years of active duty, followed by another four years in the individual research.
6. What is the post -9/11 GI bill worth?
This is the most compressive education benefits package since the original GI Bill was signed into back in 1944. The bill gives guard and reserves members who have been activated for more than 90 days since 9/11 the same benefits. Different factors play into how much each member receives from the post-9/11 bill. The factors include:
• College tuition fee
• Allowance for books and supplies
• Housing allowance.
The actual benefit amount varies based on a member’s total service of length.
7. What other higher education support programs are there in the military.
Military education programs include service member’s opportunity colleges, tuition assistance, military school programs and military school credits.
8. What kind of job training can you get in the military?
The enlisted service members in their fields during programs called A schools or advanced individual training. The skills training schools prepare service members for the many positions the service needs to fill.
9. Can I choose my job after basic training?
Job assignments are made based on service needs, as well as individual test scores. The military will match your efforts.
10. How much do you make in the military:
Military compensation is combined with base pay and special; to which everything else is added. Total financial package includes the value of housing assistance and meal cost.
11. What travel opportunities are in the military:
Your first basic step after the training will most likely be your job training school, followed by your travel to your first duty assignment. If you want, you can volunteer for overseas duty. The military has bases in Germany, Hawaii, Spain Italy and lots more
12. Where can I find out more about each service branch?
The following links will answer your questions.
– The Army
• Army FAQs
• Army Reserve Overview
• Army National Guard FAQs
– Marine Corps
• Marine Corps FAQs
• Marine Corps Reserve
– Navy
• Navy FAQs
• Navy Reserve Overview
– Air Force
• Air Force FAQs
• Air Force Reserve FAQs
• Air National Guard FAQs
– Coast Guard
• Coast Guard FAQs
• Coast Guard Reserve FAQs
13. If candidate is married or has children, van him or her enlist?
The military does not accept applicants with more than two dependents which are under the age of 18
14. What are the age requirements for joining the military?
The minimum entrance age requirement Is 17 years, that is with parental consent, and 18 years without parental consent.
15. Can certain health problem prevent a candidate from serving?
During recruitment, physical exams will be done. During the exams, you will be asked about your health. The result of the exams will determine his or her ability to meet the health and physical fitness standards for military service.
16. Does having a crime record dis qualify a potential recruit from military service?
Each service does take different approaches to evaluate the severity and number of offense on a candidate’s record. The result may or may not disqualify the candidate.
17. Are the special considerations for women enlisting in the military?
All jobs are open to women. The percentage of women serving on active duty in the military has more than doubled since 1978.
18. Can foreign born Canada’s citizens join the military?
Yes, canada citizens or permanent resident alkenes may join the Canadian military.
19. Can people who are not citizens join the military?
Properly documented non-citizens may also enlist. Opportunities may be limited. For more advice on this question, contact a recruiter.
20. Is it possible to switch job once in the military?
Yes. Military job comes with time commitment, so as a member, you might be obligated to remain specific career for the length of his or her contract.
So far I have been able to give you the necessary Canadian military questions and answers.
NG Team.
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Girl lying in bed with covers over her head looking at a tablet.
How Parental Control Apps Can Help Kids Sleep Well
by Screen Time Team on 24/06/2020
Getting kids into healthy sleep patterns can be a challenge, and evidence increasingly points to screens making it a tougher job for parents. Here’s what you need to know about kids, screen time, and sleep.
Screens Keep You Up
There are two schools of thought that overlap on screens keeping you, and your kids, awake: The physical and the psychological
The physical argues that screens tend to emit light in the bluer spectrum, which will cue your brain to think that it’s still daylight when it’s not, disrupting sleep patterns. While research is still ongoing into whether this truly matters and how much, phone manufacturers are erring on the side of caution and giving customers the option to shift their screen’s color palette to a more orange tone after a certain time of night. This might be worth considering as a general rule, as it may help maintain sleep during long trips.
The psychological, however, is much simpler and more compelling. Social media apps like Instagram and Twitter are built to keep you scrolling and scrolling, video games naturally lean into a reward structure that makes you want to play. And we’ve all felt the tug of reading just one more chapter or watching that next episode. Screen time is easier than ever to indulge in. Which is where family rules and parental control apps enter the narrative.
Child lying in bed with covers over their head looking at a phone.
Managing Screens At Bedtime
Set family rules about taking screens to bed, what can be done with screens at bedtime, and when. Reading, for example, might be good for bedtime, but watching a TV show or playing a game may be too much.
With general screen time rules, set standards such as only so many episodes of a TV show per day, so much time played on games, and so on.
Be sure, when writing these rules, to discuss the rationale behind them, not just impose them unilaterally. When there’s a clear reason for the rules, they’re more likely to be followed, and understanding the spirit of a rule is important as kids get older and make their own decisions about screens.
Additionally, you can:
• Create a schedule for bedtime that you can do every day to cue the body to sleep, and leave screens out of it. It’s been shown that this will help sleep cycles, and will establish better long-term habits. Look for relaxing activities like reading, listening to calm music or podcasts, or taking a bath.
• Build a “charging nook” for all your devices where they have to stay overnight. In fact, leaving screens out of rooms, in general, is a good policy. This ensures that adults and children alike don’t spend all night staring at their phones.
• Use parental control apps to enforce bedtime schedules. Blocking certain apps, or locking phones and tablets outright after a certain time, will ensure that the rules stay in place.
Remember that you might need to relax the rules depending on certain situations. No parent is perfect, and sometimes there are disruptions.
Parental control apps can help set the rules, keep sleep patterns healthy, and limit tears and arguments at bedtime. To learn more, try it for free!
How Parental Control Apps Can Help Kids Sleep Well
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How Parental Control Apps Can Help Kids Sleep Well
Screen time doesn't help with bedtime. Here's how to give kids healthy sleep even if they are on screens during the day.
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Build a Better Diet
Biker with fist raised in the air
1. Ride stronger with meals from the Mediterranean
In the region where olives flourish, people flourish, too. Heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even Alzheimer's are far less common in Mediterranean countries, such as Greece, Italy, France and Spain. Perhaps this explains why many of the world's best bike racers, including Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, have a nutritional leg up. Eating well is easy for them because "Mediterranean eaters place an emphasis on fresh, quality ingredients". says Cynthia Sass, R.D., C.S.S.D., author of Flat Belly Diet ($16; rodale.com), These dishes often build on a few flavor-packed ingredients, such as tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinegar. Follow Sass's advice to import the best of the Mediterranean into your kitchen.
2. Make Veggies the Centerpiece
Mediterranean meals typically consist of about 75 percent plant matter, from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. "Meat is considered a condiment and is eaten infrequently," says Sass. Greeks, for example, eat little red meat but consume an average of nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables. These proportions offer a broad spectrum of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which stave off disease and fuel athletic performance.
• Try it Pick a vegetable or fruit and design the meal around it. Pair great berries with oatmeal; mix broccoli into a pasta sauce. Fresh, in-season fruits and veggies deliver the highest nutrient content, and you can save them for other times of the year as well. "Freezing tends to lock in nutrients and preserve them, so many frozen foods are just as nutritious as when they are fresh," says Sass.
3. Choose Plant-Based Fats
Foods popular in the Mediterranean,like nuts and olive oil,aren't low in fat. But it's monounsaturated fat, the good kind that lowers total cholesterol levels. Plus, several studies have found that the diet fosters weight loss. One 2008 paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that those who switched to a Mediterranean diet lost an average of 9.7 pounds, compared with 6.4 pounds for those who followed a low-fat plan.
• Try it Use olive oil in place of butter or mayo and snack on nuts instead of cheese. Slice an avocado into your salad or sandwich.
4. Season Food Liberally
"Cyclists need more antioxidants in their diets to repair the wear and tear from long rides," says Sass. Mediterranean food is amply seasoned with herbs and spices so packed with antioxidants that even small doses deliver powerful benefits. One teaspoon of cinnamon delivers as many antioxidants as a cup of pomegranate juice.
• Try it Add antioxidant-rich herbs and spices such as oregano, cinnamon or dill to entrees. Place lemon slices over fish and beans to make a zingy dish. Grow a windowsill herb garden for a supply of flavor-packed seasonings.
5. Swap Your Protein
Fish, rather than beef, is the go-to protein, so Mediterranean eaters are consuming more healthy fatty acids than artery-clogging saturated fats.
• Try it Sass recommends two or three seafood-based meals per week. Start with the recipe below, which has typical Mediterranean vegetables and fruits (fennel and olives), olive oil and seasonings (lemon and thyme). To make a full meal, Sass says, Mediterraneans would round it out with even more vegetables, such as a salad of beans or greens.
Hydrating for Cycling
Fueling your muscles for cycling
Bike MS participants jumping into a pool
Exercising muscles need fluid and energy to perform at their best. With every pedal stroke you complete, a small amount of body fluid is lost through sweating and a little bit of energy fuel is burned inside your muscle cells. The more fluid you lose and the more energy your muscles burn, the more tired you become. So it is important that you consume fluid and energy during all of your rides. By consuming these vital nutrients for muscle performance during all of your training rides and during Bike MS itself you will feel better and ride better than you would otherwise. The two main causes of fatigue are dehydration and depletion of energy stores in the muscles. Sweat is the body’s coolant. During an intense workout, the muscles generate heat, which is carried by the blood through capillaries near the surface of the skin. Sweat glands release sweat (made up of water and electrolyte minerals) that evaporates, cooling the skin and the blood just underneath. Cooled blood thenflows back to cool the body’s core.
The Importance of Hydration
Sweating is therefore an essential mechanism for regulating body temperature. However, the loss of water that comes with perspiration limits the capacity of the blood to carry vital nutrients, such as glucose, fatty acids, and oxygen, to working muscles. The capacity of the blood to remove the byproducts of metabolism, including carbon dioxide and lactic acid, is compromised as well. The result is an increased demand on the circulatory system, which is approximately 70 percent water. As little as a 2% loss in body fluids will negatively impact cardiovascular performance. In addition to water, sweat contains minerals called electrolytes that serve important functions in the body. For example, sodium helps regulate fluid balance and potassium assists muscle contractions. Excessive loss of electrolytes through sweating can cause problems such as dizziness and muscle cramping. The problem becomes even more complicated because athletes can’t depend on their normal thirst mechanism to replace the fluid they lose during exercise. We call this phenomenon involuntary dehydration. That’s one reason why sports drinks that contain electrolytes are beneficial. Not only do they restore electrolytes lost in sweat, but salt also stimulates thirst, resulting in continual consumption of fluids. It’s best, however, to drink on a schedule. Specifically, you should drink 4 to 6 ounces of water or a sports drink every 12 to 15 minutes during workouts. The heavier you are, the higher the air temperature, and the faster you ride, the more fluid intake you need. Carry at least one full fluid bottle in a frame-mounted cage on all of your rides and refill it as necessary. Another option is to wear a fluid bladder backpack, which holds a large volume of fluid and allows you to drink hands-free through a hose.
The second component of exercise nutrition is carbohydrate. Carbohydrate is the primary fuel that powers the muscles during exercise. But carbohydrate is available in only a limited supply in the body—enough to fuel a couple of hours of moderate-intensity activity in the average rider. When carbohydrate fuel runs low, fatigue sets in. However, by consuming carbohydrate in a quickly and easily absorbed form during exercise, cyclists can delay fatigue much longer.
Water is Not Enough
Drinking water during workouts is much better than drinking nothing. But sports drinks are preferable. A quality sports drink can supply the fluid, electrolytes, and carbohydrate riders need to maximize their endurance. Drinking water alone will not do the job, because it does not replace the electrolytes lost in sweat or the carbohydrates burned for energy. Studies have repeatedly shown that exercisers who use a sports drink during workouts are able to go faster and longer than those who drink plain water.
Most sports drinks are very similar. The ideal carbohydrate level for a sports drink is 6 to 8%, and most sports drinks are formulated accordingly. Also, a majority of sports drinks contain electrolytes in amounts adequate to replace what is lost through sweating. During your longest rides you will probably get hungry. The best solid foods to carry with you and eat during long rides are energy bars. Choose a bar that has approximately the same 4 to 1 ratio of carbs and protein that you should also look for in a sports drink, and avoid bars that have more than a very small amount of fat.
QUICK TIP — Be sure to drink 12-18 oz of water per hour of exercise. Sports drinks are more effective than water since they replenish energy.
Post Ride Nutrition
3 women eating lunch
The Importance of Timing
Timing is essential with regard to post-exercise nutrition because your body is primed to sponge up needed nutrients at this time. For example, synthesis of muscle glycogen — a form of stored carbohydrate that serves as the body’s primary energy source during endurance exercise — proceeds two to three times faster in the two hours immediately following exercise than it does at any other time.
There are three main components of post-exercise muscle recovery. First, it is necessary to restore fluids lost during exercise. When a cyclist sweats heavily, he or she loses a lot of water and electrolytes. Drinking a sports drink during rides can slow the rate of fluid loss, but can’t stop it completely. So it’s important to make up the deficit by continuing to use a sports drink with electrolytes after exercise. If you do not rehydrate properly before the next workout, you could experience overheating, muscle cramps, and other problems.
The second component of muscle recovery is putting carbohydrate fuel back in the muscles. Again, carbohydrate is the muscles’ main fuel source during moderate intensity exercise. The longer a workout lasts, the lower your muscle fuel supplies become. By using a sports drink containing carbohydrates during rides, you can slow down this process. But it’s impossible to take in carbohydrate during intense exercise as fast as it’s burned. So you need to continue taking in carbohydrate after exercise, as well. If you don’t get your muscle fuel levels back to normal in time for the next ride, you’ll be sluggish and sloppy.
QUICK TIP — Consuming carbohydrate and protein within 45 minutes after your exercise will help you recover faster.
Finally, the third component of muscle recovery is fixing the damage done to muscle tissue during exercise. High-intensity physical activity can cause small tears in muscle tissues. In addition, some muscle proteins are broken down for energy during hard exercise. Also, hard exercise produces damaged molecules known as free radicals, which attack muscle cells. In order to undo all this damage, you need to consume protein after each ride. You should also get antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, which help protect the muscles tissues against damage from free radicals. If you are hungry after your rides, eating is fine. Just make sure you get all the same nutrients you would get in a quality sports recovery drink without a lot of extra stuff (fat, excess protein) that might slow down the delivery of nutrients to your muscles. Some energy bars are good recovery foods. In any case, you will need to drink some form of fluid to meet your body’s hydration needs after workouts.
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More About Words: Why Can’t I Say “Jackass”?
The flip side of toxifying perfectly useful words through willful, imbecilic misinterpretation (about which I wrote last time) is surrendering words to the trash bin because they have acquired “naughty” meanings. The former happens when certain groups desperately trying to keep all their wounds and sore festering for political advantage seize upon anything that has even the echo of a possible slur. The latter happens when people priding themselves upon their home-cooked, family-values decency rush to blackball (excuse me… how about “banball”?) anything with a faintly scurrilous echo in order to advertise their devotion to the true faith.
“Ass” can no longer be used among them, for instance. In the Christmas carol, “The Little Drummer Boy”, the line, “The ox and ass kept time,” had to be rewritten, “The ox and lamb kept time.” How inane! The Latin word asellus refers to an equid similar to a donkey. The Old English word “arse”, which appears in Ancient Greek as ouros (e.g., the star Arcturus or arktou ouros, “the Bear’s tail”), has no Latin cognate that I know of. An ass is an ass–you know, a jackass. Now, if you choose to associate the word in you dirty-clean little mind of would-be Puritan censorship, you can certainly strike it from your lexicon in a show of superior virtue… but where does your show end? Any Middle School teacher knows that we would soon be reduced to speechlessness if we nobly abstained from every syllable that has a whiff of scatology or lewdness. Girls named “Regina” must change their names. Football players may no longer be said to “punt” the ball. A threaded nail may no longer be called a screw–and, for that matter, I believe the word “nail” used to have a sordid underbelly in certain company.
Lately the word “pussy” is showing up on the virtue-radar as a seek-and-destroy target. So the old James Bond movie Octopussy must be re-christened Octokitty; and, as a Bond-aficionado friend of mine points out, Pussy Galore of Goldfinger must also have a name change–not to mention the possibly tawdry suggestion in the use of “finger”. Better ban that one categorically, just to be safe. In our revised world, then, the lovely Honor Duskyperson will star as Meow-meow Galore in Golddigit.. but, no, Meow-meow sounds like Mau Mau, and we might be heading into racist territory.
What do such people imagine themselves to be safeguarding? To me, they’re revealing that they know a lot more smut-talk than any legitimate saint should ever have heard. Of course, the real point is that being aware of nasty double-entendres has nothing whatever to do with virtue. It’s not the use of any certain word that defiles you: it’s the thoughts with which you accompany that word. The same applies for “good” words associated perversely with base thoughts. Some of my generation have employed (and continue to employ) the word “love” in such dubious circumstances that I now try to save it for very special occasions, just to avoid all possible misunderstanding. This doesn’t amount to giving up on “love”. It’s just recognizing that a variety of other options like “concupiscence” also occupy the dictionary.
On the other hand, letting someone deprive you of a perfectly functional word because that person has decided to confer a squalid sense upon it is essentially surrendering the mastery of your thoughts to parties who do very little thinking. It’s servile, and it disgusts me. What kind of virtue-lite exhibitionist engages in such jack**s antics?
Author: nilnoviblog
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Tag Archives: anxiety
Learned Optimism
It is amazing to me how we often define words like “optimism”. To the optimist, the word means that you believe the best. To the realist, the optimist is still in touch with reality; but, just barely. To the pessimist, the optimist has totally broken with things as they are and is slipping into delusional thinking. Seeing the glass half-empty or half-full is a more considerate way of explaining the difference.
Martin Seligman has spent a lifetime studying the contrast between optimism and pessimism. You may remember his early studies on “Learned Helplessness“. He contends that optimism is a learned behavior that can help people overcome depression, anxiety and a host of other disorders. In the second edition of his book Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (Seligman, 2006), Seligman takes on the ‘self esteem’ movement in our culture and its shortcomings. Just a quick read of the preface to this edition is both insightful and convincing.
Optimism is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: “an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome.”
I believe that God is an optimist. A primary example is His relationship to Israel.
“For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham. He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy; he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws.” (Psalm 45:42-45)
In this psalm the author recalls the great works of God as He brought His people out from the land of Egypt, concluding with the prequel to their entrance into Canaan and the result. Canaan was a land that had been prepared for them on account of at least two things: 1) God’s promise to Abraham and 2) the wickedness of the nations that had lived there before them. Moses made it clear to them that it was not because of Israel’s righteousness or because they were better than anyone else (Deut. 9:4-6). Yet, he gave them this land to that they would “keep his precepts and observe his laws.”
Anyone who is familiar to Israel’s history knows of the difficulty they had keeping His precepts and observing His laws. How many times did God, the eternal optimist, tell Israel, in essence: ‘C’mon, trust me. You can do it. I’ll help you.’ Knowing that they would fail, that they would pursue other gods and that they would disobey Him, He still chose to believe in them.
Parents often beat themselves up because their children chose to live in ways that disrespect their upbringing. Plagued with guilt, they wonder what they did wrong, how they missed the boat and what they could have done differently.
Sure, there are things we could have done differently. Sometimes things work out beautifully, in spite of a child’s parents whose parenting skills were horrible. Sometimes ‘perfect’ parents have children that just do not seem to have any regard for their family’s beliefs, values and morals.
In the midst of that, all parents have an opportunity to make a choice: “Am I going to deal with my disappointments and hope for the best or anticipate the worst?” Without going into all of the reasons, in the end, I would recommend TrumanQuotethe course of optimism because that is the course God has chosen.
In other words, when you hope for the best, even when your kids demonstrate that they presently have no intention of moving in that direction, you are in good company with the God of high hopes and a broken heart:
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Task 1
Describe this graph:
graph ciw1hv - 2 Model IELTS Essays
The line graph shows the price of food and oil around the world over eleven years, from 2000 to 2011. There is a high degree of correlation between the price of food and the price of oil, which largely rise or fall together over the period.
In 2000, the food price index stood at about 90, steadily rising over the next seven years, except for a slight fall around 2002. Between 2007 and 2008, the price skyrocketed from about 140 to 220, before dropping sharply over the next year. Between 2009 and 2011, the price rose quickly, exceeding the previous high price and reaching almost 240.
The average oil price followed a very similar pattern, growing slowly until 2007, except for a few slips back. Around 2007 it dropped suddenly and then soared to a peak of around $130 per barrel in mid-2008. This was followed by a sharp drop to just $40 in 2009, and from then until 2011 the price rose, more than doubling to a $100.
Task 2
Some people think that sports involving violence, such as boxing and martial arts, should be banned from TV as well as from international sporting competitions.
To what extent do you agree?
For at least a few millennia, and perhaps longer, humans have enjoyed sports that could be considered violent. From the Roman gladiators to modern heavyweight boxing championships, it is evident that people like to watch men fighting one another. However, in the twenty-first century, some people believe there is no place for such barbaric activities.
The leading argument in favor of banning violent sports from TV is that it leads to the protection of children, who might otherwise see these events and attempt to copy them. Campaigners against violence on TV cite evidence that suggests children are highly impressionable, and would idolize sportsmen who use violence. This could lead to an increase in violent activity among children in the wider society, with other children getting hurt.
On the other hand, it should be noted that actual violence and so-called violent sports are quite different. In sport, there are very definite rules to be followed. If someone breaks these rules, he or she is punished by a referee. While boxing or martial arts may seem violent to an uninformed spectator, they are events featuring highly skilled athletes who have agreed to participate, and are watched by medical professionals at all time. This seems rather different to other forms of violence.
In conclusion, it is possible that banning certain sports from TV or halting their inclusion in international sporting competitions may be beneficial to society, but the argument is not wholly convincing. These sports are not violent in the traditional sense, and they probably don’t send a bad message to children. |
« PBS to Broadcast Game Accessibility Story | Main | Evaluating virtual population projections »
May 02, 2007
The disabled do not, as a matter of course, have different definitions of "fun" to everyone else.
Design a fun game. Then make it accessible. Designing for accessibility is a surefire way to make certain it appeals only to those who need the accessibility.
This is a bit of a tangent, but I was contacted after the IMGDC event by someone who wants to create virtual worlds for education and training purposes, but needs them to be accessible to people who are visually impaired. Although we've had people play textual worlds in the past who were severely visually impaired (eg. they had no eyeballs), this isn't much of an option in today's graphical worlds. Consequently, he's seeking a screen reader for virtual worlds.
I don't think there are any of these available at the moment, and in game worlds there probably won't be because of the time delay in transforming images into text or words. However, for social worlds it does seem to be a possibility, especially if the server is compliant (eg. sending a list of the names of objects on the screen instead of a list of polygons that generate the images of them).
There's probably a nice research project in there for someone, with a genuine social benefit as a result, too.
Hmm, I guess I should have read the earlier threads before posting in this one!
@Michelle: I’ve some experience of playing characters with flaws or limitations in online worlds. I find this makes them more interesting, in a story sense, to play. A world of “perfect” people is kind of boring. I’m not sure if this fits what you were getting at by “playing at” having a disability.
I have a WoW Paladin I play occasionally, who for RP reasons never runs anywhere, only walks. From his point of view, the only sensible people in the world are the NPCs, who typically walk everywhere. The PCs look like crazy people, constantly rushing about for no good reason. But from a gameplay perspective, it is a very limiting “disability”. No-one wants to group with someone they have to wait for.
Roleplay, in the sense of story based play, is pretty rare in WoW. The whole thrust of the game is maximizing the acquisition of experience and items. In a sense, a great majority of the players of WoW are “disabled”, and unable to play in an optimal fashion. They either lack the video game skills to play optimally, or lack the time.
I think online world games will be more inclusive when they place more emphasis on storytelling, and less on optimal scoring. In a story based world, a wide range of ability makes the world a more interesting place.
You can also look at how a game's design additions post-launch can significantly affect accesibility.
The Star Wars Galaxies forums saw a rather sizable number of complaints from people with disabilities when the "New Game Experience" went live. Prior to the change, the game's macroing, targeting, and even the skill-based system allowed even combat to be played more at a strategic thinker's level, less of a fast-paced button-mashing. The noncombat world of traders and entertainers were even more available to people with motor-control limitations.
There was little need to even identify your disability online beyond PvP. Every marginal factor mattered in PvP, so it was beneficial to let others know and offer some work-arounds. I served as a "guide" for one guildie- he put me on auto-follow and focused on targeting for the intense battles.
Still, when the NGE went live, I was left wondering how many of the people protesting the game's changes were actually as disabled as they said and how many were just taking advantage of a sympathetic soapbox. The effect on those that did have disabilities was very real, but the numbers that claimed to have NEEDED that old-style mechanic to play seemed suspicious for a game that size.
Did we have people playing the motor-skills role who weren't? Quite likely. Did I care? At that point, no- I figured the more visibility the people who'd just found their favorite addiction torn away from them, the better.
Also of note:
Is it viewed socially as somehow more or less acceptable than saying that you are female or male when you are not?
It's understandable that a guild's migration to voice chat would be very emotionally troubling to a deaf person. With most audio cues accompanied by a visual reference or chat log, they've got to feel like there are fewer barriers for them in this environment- they're participating at a level of interaction similar to everyone else. Voice chat yanks that away.
Of course, Voice Chat does a damn good job of taking away the doubt in that "r u a girl" question, too. Quite a few people explained their opposition to Voice Chat as being hearing-impaired.
I didn't care enough to challenge such a claim (I hate voice chat too) but it did make me wonder how many were just concealing their true gender through the statement. Either that, or there's some psychological reason why such a disproportionate number of deaf women choose to play scantily-clad twi'lek dancers.
So, yes, I'd suspect that in some cases, it was more beneficial for people to pretend to be disabled than to admit their gender.
As for roleplaying a physical disability- disibilities with visible cues are often difficult to represent in a 3D world, so I haven't tried them much- beyond the aging war veteran with a bad back, limp, missing fingers, etc. Minor visible cues that can be explained.
Psychological disabilities are more easily expressed, but they're often the ones that are often played out to mock or make fun of, so you often have to tread carefully on who/how you approach these.
Beyond the concern that someone will make fun of the disability, or use it as a punchline, I've seen very little social stigma to playing such things. It adds a sense of "achievement" to a character that is persevering in the world despite the challenges he faces.
Of course, chat is slow enough, but if another roleplayer makes you repeat everything multiple times because at his age, his hearing's not what it used to be... it can get very slow very fast. It helps that you can turn it off, say "enough's enough" and get on to the next chapter of the story. Thus, disabled characters may be seen as a quirk... a way to enrich the downtime, but not affect the action.
If someone refused to skip ahead or let the role impede in his role within the game mechanic, I'd bet he'd find himself abandoned rather quickly.
Hi Rich,
Thanks for your comments. While I largely agree with what you said, there are areas of disabled gamers, such as the blind community, who rely on audio games -- which is something that *can* be fun for all but with the amount of budgets going to graphics, audio often gets the shaft, so to speak. The trouble with "adding on" accessibility is that so many things need to happen in the design process from the very beginning or it becomes "feature creep" and is up for getting the ax. So early attention to accessibility is needed rather than adding it on at the end.
Michelle, now you made an excellent point , indeed. Personally, i believe that the already " established " MMOs wont go that path. And i'm afraid that the " newcommers " on this industry don't really stand a chance , against the monopolies /trends acting . As i'm very sure you've noticed , things are very connected at many levels , involving hardware, software, design,social, legal , moral, ethical , financial aspects. Your approach is noble and desirable , but, unfortunatelly,the entertainment became an industry , dominated by private entities , and usually they are very conservative when about real business. And the feedback from implementing such things , doesn't sound very encouraging. But i repeat : you are very right , an early attention is needed , and also is good to search for ways to even add it on at the end. It could be benefitial both to the players and to the makers.
full hersey
fool Blanchard
Amarilla -- yes, I understand what you are saying about the industry staying on the conservative side to "stay alive." Basically my group is trying to help companies add in features that already work with what they are doing. If you haven't watched the video I posted yesterday, you really should watch it. Reid Kimball does an excellent job of talking about working with the folks who created Doom3 to create a closed captioning mod.
As someone who's pretty deaf (hearing aids), I really really take great value in games that use chat over voice. I see the intrest in games integrating voice (like SL) and it just sends up huge red flags to me - it will "break" the game for use by those with hearing problems. At home I always have captions on the TV and do like games that have captions. Half-Life 2 does and it's pretty nice I must say.
Gender got mentioned in the original post so I'll toss out another comment. I think as a guy, playing a play a female character in WoW has been an interseting experience. Dealing with flirts, with guys giving me "gifts", being followed, etc. You get into this space of wondering if you ought to ignore it, take advantage of it, say "dude, i'm a guy" or what. Anyway, it's an interesting experience.
Rich Bryant says:
True I suppose, but they have potentially different levels of access to that fun whether by not having full sensory input (hearing or sight) or physical capability to act/react in a timely manner if the "fun" requires that (like "twitch" shooter type games).
Actually too, I think a lot of the experience for the physically challenged, at least, depends on the community and social values of the community they're joining. I know the Uru and There communities are very welcoming of new members, and I have been told, by physically challenged members of those communities, how enjoyable it is to be welcomed, and to have even the virtual sense of motion.
Just as games have different mechanics, and different technologies, so do different cultures have different values and different appreciations. And different opportunities. A good and caring socializer can be far more highly valued than a skillful twitch player, for example.
I'm a firm believer in the idea that the Apple doesn't fall far from the tree. In regards to Ron Meiner's comment, if you have a community of people that are accepting of those who are different or challenged in some way it's mostly likely because there is a leader who is setting and example for others to follow. I hope one day that developer decides to be a leader and make MMO's more accessible. Then the players themselves will follow this lead and be much more inclusive of disabled members in their guilds and you wouldn't need deaf people creating separate guilds because they feel threatened or disrespected by guilds with only hearing members.
To Michelle's point about planning accessibility features early, when it comes to closed captioning, you have to think of where the text will fit on the screen and within the UI elements the game uses. You don't want to add closed captioning later, or else you risk covering up important UI elements to show the captioning.
Finally, chas, you've mentioned twice now that you are skeptical whenever a large group of people claim they are disabled. Why is that? Why couldn't it just be a simple fact that a lot of people who are disabled play games? Do you really think their numbers are so small that you are right to be skeptical of anyone who claims to be a gamer and disabled? To me, that's equivalent to thinking that women don't play games, when we all know for a fact that isn't true. Perhaps that's just it, we have facts on how many women play games, but not disabled. :/
Except that we dont have facts for how many women play games.When i dont have facts i use to base my decisions on probabilities rather than on possibilities.
The trouble that is added into the equation is that how many disabled people WOULD be gamers if they COULD be -- we might find that there is a higher percentage compared to the non-disabled population because it affords opportunity for leisure, which in other areas is denied.
I actually am a girl, and I have to wonder where all this largesse is going--because it's not to me, despite all my avatars being female. Closest I've ever gotten is a guy who offered to pay me for cybersex once. I don't generally get flirted with either.
Sorry if that's beside the point, it's just something that comes to mind whenever I hear people talk about the phenomenon.
I'd like to point out, as the progeny of an Assistive Technology OT, that WoW is actually frequently played by blind players, because the soundscape is rich enough that they can navigate.
The comments to this entry are closed. |
I Am Not Proud Of What I Did
Happy Halloween!
F/ 6.3, 1/125, ISO 1600.
Peregrine Falcon
Why do ghosts like to ride in elevators?
It raises their spirits.
Beep, Beep!
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 250.
Greater Roadrunner
Why can you never trust atoms?
They make up everything!
Interesting Fact: Roadrunners have evolved a range of adaptations to deal with the extremes of desert living. Like seabirds, they secrete a solution of highly concentrated salt through a gland just in front of each eye, which uses less water than excreting it via their kidneys and urinary tract. Moisture-rich prey including mammals and reptiles supply them otherwise-scarce water in their diet. Both chicks and adults flutter the unfeathered area beneath the chin (gular fluttering) to dissipate heat. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_Roadrunner/overview
I Have A Leg Up On You
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Greater Yellowlegs
Ghosts are hard to impress.
They boo everything.
Interesting Fact: Their breeding habitat is bogs and marshes in the boreal forest region of Canada and Alaska. They nest on the ground, usually in well-hidden locations near water. The three to four eggs average 50 mm (2.0 in) in length and 33 mm (1.3 in) in breadth and weigh about 28 g (0.99 oz). The incubation period is 23 days. The young leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching and then leave the vicinity of the nest within two days.( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_yellowlegs )
You Give Me The Chills!
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 160.
Red-tailed Hawk
Two snakes are talking.
One of them turns to the other and asks, “Are we venomous?”
The other replays, “Yes,why?…”
“I just bit ma lip.”
If I’m Going To Get Wet, I May As Well Swim.
F/5.6, 1/200, ISO 500.
Horned Grebe
Why won’t they allow elephants in public swimming pools?
Because they might let down their trunks.
Interesting Fact: The Horned Grebe regularly eats some of its own feathers, enough that its stomach usually contains a matted plug of them. This plug may function as a filter or may hold fish bones in the stomach until they can be digested. The parents even feed feathers to their chicks to get the plug started early. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Horned_Grebe/lifehistory )
Chillin Like A Villain
F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 320.
Red-winged Blackbird ( Adult Female )
What does a crying ghost say?
Interesting Fact: Females build the nests by winding stringy plant material around several close, upright stems and weaving in a platform of coarse, wet vegetation. Around and over this she adds more wet leaves and decayed wood, plastering the inside with mud to make a cup. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/lifehistory )
You Can Stop Driving Me Crazy,I Can Walk From Here!
F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 200.
Snowy Egret
Interesting Fact: During the breeding season, adult Snowy Egrets develop long, wispy feathers on their backs, necks, and heads. In 1886 these plumes were valued at $32 per ounce, which was twice the price of gold at the time. Plume-hunting for the fashion industry killed many Snowy Egrets and other birds until reforms were passed in the early twentieth century. The recovery of shorebird populations through the work of concerned citizens was an early triumph and helped give birth to the conservation movement. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Egret )
Please Keep Off The Grass!
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 400.
Northern Flicker
What can you hold without ever touching it?
A conversation.
Interesting Fact: The red-shafted and yellow-shafted forms of the Northern Flicker formerly were considered different species. The two forms hybridize extensively in a wide zone from Alaska to the panhandle of Texas. A hybrid often has some traits from each of the two forms and some traits that are intermediate between them. The Red-shafted Flicker also hybridizes with the Gilded Flicker, but less frequently. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker )
What Was That?
F/13.0, 1/500, ISO 800.
Northern Cardinal ( Female )
Why couldn’t the leopard play hide and seek?
Because he was always spotted.
Sing… The World Needs More Music!
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Yellow Warbler Immature (Northern)
How do you make an egg laugh?
Tell it a yolk.
Interesting Fact: In addition to the migratory form of the Yellow Warbler that breeds in North America, several other resident forms can be found in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Males in these populations can have chestnut caps or even chestnut covering the entire head. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow_Warbler/overview ) |
The Great HPV Lie
Disturbing evidence on HPV from a country where most young women have received the vaccine. Action Alert!
A recent UK study looking at the clinical trials underlying the efficacy of the HPV vaccine found “significant uncertainties undermining claims of efficacy in [the] data.” This is the latest to come out about a vaccine that has been linked with many adverse events and negative health effects. We’ve also learned that, despite the high HPV vaccination rates in the UK, there has been a sharp rise in cervical cancer in the very age groups that first received the vaccine. These data highlight the need for state governments to halt the march towards vaccination mandates and for public health authorities to take the safety issues with this vaccine seriously.
The study authors analyzed twelve published Phase 2 and 3 efficacy trials in relation to the prevention of cervical cancer in women. They found several important problems with these trials. For one, the trial populations did not reflect the younger adolescent populations for which the vaccine is intended. The trials’ methodology also presented concerns. According to the authors, the methodologies used made it “impossible to determine effects on clinically significant outcomes. It is still uncertain whether human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination prevents cervical cancer as trials were not designed to detect this outcome.”
There’s more. Cancer Research UK has reported a striking 54% uptick in cervical cancer in 25-29 year-olds. This is the age group that would have first received the vaccine when the UK government launched its HPV vaccination program in 2008. The program was considered a success for achieving HPV vaccination rates of between 76 and 90 percent.
What explains high cervical cancer rates in a population that received the HPV vaccine? For one, we’ve seen evidence demonstrating that cancer risk increases by 44 percent with HPV vaccination if girls already have the HPV virus. An additional concern is that HPV vaccination seems to reduce HPV screening. HPV is one of the few cancers that can be prevented with regular screening. But Cancer UK notes that women seeking screening has reached a record low, which may be because those who have been vaccinated feel they are not at risk.
This should be the death knell of a vaccine that has already proven dangerous. In the past we covered a study showing that women aged 25-29 who received the HPV vaccine were less likely to get pregnant. Additionally, the US government’s vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) lists a startling 57,287 adverse events from the HPV vaccine, including 419 deaths—far more than any other vaccine. A World Health Organization study demonstrated that the vaccination has a tendency to produce clusters of serious adverse events. The American College of Pediatricians raised concerns that the vaccine could be linked to premature ovarian failure. And let’s not forget the former Merck doctor who said that Gardasil “will become the greatest medical scandal of all time,” that it “serves no other purpose than to generate profit for the manufacturer,” and, like some other vaccines, that it can cause “Guillain-Barré syndrome, paralysis of the lower limbs, vaccine-induced MS, and vaccine-induced encephalitis.”
It is beyond irresponsible for the government and health authorities to continue to push this vaccine on young girls given the data and reliable alternative methods (such as regular screenings) that prevent cervical cancer.
If you have not already done so, please watch ANH’s full-length documentary on HPV Vaccines.
State-based action alerts! Check to see if your state is below and take action to prevent HPV mandates and other bills that restrict freedom of choice. Please send your message immediately.
Arizona: HB 2050 would in effect eliminate the requirement that parents provide proof of vaccination unless there is an outbreak of a disease that a vaccine is recommended for. The bill states that “a school may not require a pupil to receive the recommended immunizations or refuse to admit or otherwise penalize a pupil because that pupil has not received the recommended immunizations.”
Colorado: SB 163 would restrict the religious and personal belief exemptions to vaccination.
Connecticut: HB 5044 would eliminate the religious belief exemption to vaccination for schools in the state.
Hawaii: HB 1182 would add a conscientious belief exemption to vaccines required for school.
Iowa: HF 206 would eliminate the religious belief exemption to vaccines required for school.
Illinois: SB 1669 and HB 4870 would mandate the HPV vaccine for some school students; SB 3668 removes the religious belief exemption, restricts the medical exemption, and allows minors to consent to vaccination.
Massachusetts: The Massachusetts legislature is considering a set of bills that would eliminate important exemptions to vaccinations (H3999/HD4284), mandate the HPV vaccine (S1264), and put the government in charge of medical exemptions (H4096/S2359).
Minnesota: The Minnesota legislature is considering a bill, SF 1520, that would eliminate the conscientious belief exemption to vaccination.
Missouri: HB 2380 would enact a conscientious belief exemption to vaccine requirements for public schools in Missouri and would remove private, parochial and parish schools from the current state laws governing vaccine requirements in Missouri.
Mississippi: HB 1060 would add a religious belief exemption to schools and daycare facilities in the state.
New Jersey: The New Jersey legislature is considering a set of bills, A1603, S903, and A969/S902 that mandate the HPV vaccine for certain school children and restrict or eliminate the religious belief exemption, respectively.
New York: The legislature is still considering additional bills that further restrict freedom of choice: S298B/A2912A (mandates HPV vaccine); A099 (allows forced vaccination under some circumstances); A2316 (mandates flu vaccine for daycare); A973 (allows HPV and Hep B vaccine without parental consent); S2276 (mandates flu vaccine for school and daycare); and A7838 (requires medical exemptions to be approved by the state health department).
The legislature is also considering S477 and A8676/S7202, which strengthen and expand the medical exemption to vaccination and add a religious belief exemption for school children, respectively.
Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania legislature is considering a set of bills (SB 626, SB 653, and HB 1771) that would restrict or eliminate the religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccination.
South Dakota: HB 1235 would eliminate all vaccine mandates for the State of South Dakota for public and non public schools, early childhood programs and post-secondary educational institutions.
Virginia: The Virginia legislature is considering a bill, HB 1090, that mandates the full ACIP recommended vaccine schedule for school in Virginia. That means the full recommended CDC schedule will be required for school children. Additionally, HB 1489 amends current state vaccine requirements to add HPV vaccines for boys.
Vermont: The legislature is considering a bill, H 238, that would eliminate the religious belief exemption to vaccination.
Washington: The Washington legislature is considering a bill, SB 5841, that would eliminate the personal belief and philosophical exemptions for all mandated vaccines.
Wisconsin: The legislature is considering a bill, A248/SB 262, that would eliminate the personal belief exemption to vaccination.
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air, noise and soil pollution
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Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere. The atmosphere is a complex dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet Earth. Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been recognized as a threat to human health as well as to the Earth's ecosystems. Indoor air pollution and urban air quality are listed as two of the world's worst pollution problems in the 2008 Blacksmith Institute World's Worst Polluted Places report.[1]Pollutants
A substance in the air that can cause harm to humans and the environment is known as an air pollutant. Pollutants can be in the form of solid particles, liquid droplets, or gases. In addition, they may be natural or man-made.[2]Pollutants can be classified as primary or secondary. Usually, primary pollutants are directly emitted from a process, such as ash from a volcanic eruption, the carbon monoxide gas from a motor vehicle exhaust or sulfur dioxide released from factories. Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly. Rather, they form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact. An important example of a secondary pollutant is ground level ozone one of the many secondary pollutants that make up photochemical smog. Some pollutants may be both primary and secondary: that is, they are both emitted directly and formed from other primary pollutants.
Major primary pollutants produced by human activity include:
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) - especially nitrogen dioxide are emitted from high temperature combustion. Can be seen as the brown haze dome above or plume downwind of cities. Nitrogen dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula NO2. It is one of the several nitrogen oxides. This reddish-brown toxic gas has a characteristic sharp, biting odor. NO2 is one of the most prominent air pollutants.
Particulate matter - Particulates, alternatively referred to as particulate matter (PM) or fine particles, are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas. In contrast, aerosol refers to particles and the gas together. Sources of particulate matter can be man made or natural. Some particulates occur naturally, originating from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants and various industrial processes also generate significant amounts of aerosols. Averaged over the globe, anthropogenic aerosolsthose made by human activitiescurrently account for about 10 percent of the total amount of aerosols in our atmosphere. Increased levels of fine particles in the air are linked to health hazards such as heart disease,[3] altered lung function and lung cancer.
Persistent free radicals connected to airborne fine particles could cause cardiopulmonary disease.[4]
HYPERLINK "" \l "cite_note-4" [5] Toxic metals, such as lead, cadmium and copper.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - harmful to the ozone layer emitted from products currently banned from use.
Odors such as from garbage, sewage, and industrial processes
Radioactive pollutants - produced by nuclear explosions, war explosives, and natural processes such as the radioactive decay of radon.
Secondary pollutants include:
Particulate matter formed from gaseous primary pollutants and compounds in photochemical smog. Smog is a kind of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Classic smog results from large amounts of coal burning in an area caused by a mixture of smoke and sulfur dioxide. Modern smog does not usually come from coal but from vehicular and industrial emissions that are acted on in the atmosphere by ultraviolet light from the sun to form secondary pollutants that also combine with the primary emissions to form photochemical smog.
Soil pollution Soil pollution usually results from different human activities, like waste dumping, use of agrochemicals, mining operations and urbanization.Waste DumpsLand gets dumping of industrial wastes, municipal wastes, medicals or hospital wastes. Industrial solid wastes and sludge are the major sources of Soil pollution by toxic organic and inorganic chemical compounds and heavy metals. The fall out from industrial emissions, for example the fly ash emitted by thermal power plants, can pollute surrounding lands. We must keep in mind that the particulates of the industrial emissions from the tall chimney always comes back to the earth surface sooner or later. Radioactive tests from nuclear testing laboratories and nuclear power plants and the radioactive fall out from the nuclear explosions also contaminate the soil. Radioactive materials thrive in the soil for long periods because they usually have a long half life. Stronium-90, for example, has a half life of 28 years, and the half life of Caesium-137 is 30 years.
Municipal Wastes: Municipal wastes mainly include domestic and kitchen wastes, market wastes, hospital wastes, livestock and poultry wastes, slaughterhouse wastes and waste metals, and glass and ceramic wastes, etc. Non-biodegradable materials like used polyethylene carry bags, waste plastic sheets, pet bottles etc. persist in soil for long periods. Hospital wastes contain organic materials, chemicals, metal needles, plastic and glass bottles, vials, etc. Dumping of domestic sewage and hospital organic wastes contaminate the environment with a variety of pathogens that can seriously affect human health. AgrochemicalsPesticides and weedicides are being increasingly applied to control pests and weeds in agricultural systems. Excess inorganic fertilizers and biocide residues are contaminating the soil as well as the surface and groundwater resources. Inorganic nutrients, like phosphate and nitrate are washed out to aquatic ecosystems and accelerate eutrophication there.Nitrate can also pollute drinking water. Inorganic fertilizers and pesticide residues change the chemical properties of soil and can adversely affect the soil organisms.
Mining operationsOpencast mining (a process where the surface of earth is dug open to bring out the underground mineral deposits) completely devastates the topsoil and contaminates the area with toxic metals and chemicals.
Control of soil pollutionControl measures for soil pollution and land degradation involve safer land use, planned urbanization, controlled developmental activities, safe disposal and managements of solid wastes from industries and human habitations. Management of solid wastes involves:
Collection and categorization of wastes. Recovery of resources like scar metals, plastics, etc. for recycling and reuse. Safe disposals with minimum environmental hazards.Sewage sludge and industrial solid wastes are used as landfills. Toxic chemicals and hazardous metal containing wastes are reused as bedding material for road construction. The fly ash bricks are also used for the similar purposes. Fly-ash bricks are also being used for building construction. Other notable methods to get rid of solid wastes are incineration (burning in presence of oxygen) and pyrolisis (combustion in the absence of oxygen). Municipal solid wastes containing biodegradable organic wastes, can be transformed to organic manure for agricultural purposes.
CausesThis type of contamination or pollution typically arises from the rupture of underground storage tanks, application of pesticides, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, oil and fuel dumping, leaching of waste |
Dr. Jennifer Vitarelli
5 Best Foods For Your Teeth – As Revealed By Dentists
When it comes to your wellbeing and overall oral health, you eat what you are. Try consuming too much candy, soda, or other sugary food and you will end up with tooth decay. There is enough research that suggests when you are on a bad diet consisting of sugar and acidic food, your oral health is the first one to deteriorate.
This is why eating healthy food is so important for your overall health. Here are five best foods for your teeth as revealed by the dentist. Use these in your diet to stay healthy and fit with pristine teeth!
• Yogurt is very rich in calcium, protein, and probiotics, making it one of the best foods to eat when you want to strengthen your bones and teeth. The probiotics – good bacteria – found in yogurt also have a very positive impact on your gums.
Bad bacteria that cause cavities and tooth decay typically depend on the acidic and sugary environment in the mouth to thrive. If you add more plain yogurt to your diet, the pH levels within the mouth are balanced and bad bacteria are forced to move out, making way for healthier gums and teeth.
• The American Dental Association recommends staying away from sweet foods but fruits are an exception. There are many fruits like apples which may be sweet but they are very high in water and fiber. Apples basically produce more saliva in your mouth which rinses away food particles in the mouth and as well the bad bacteria.
Another big benefit of eating fibrous fruit is that they can stimulate the gums. Although eating apples isn’t the same as brushing or flossing your teeth, it will still clear away most bacteria and food particles in the mouth.
• Try your best to add apples to your diet and eat them in slices during lunch to give your mouth a good scrubbing after an afternoon meal.
• Celery may not be everyone’s favorite food due to its bland taste and excess water, but just like apples, it does the same job as a toothbrush by scraping away any food particles and bacteria residing on the teeth and gums.
It also provides vitamins A and C which are two antioxidants particularly good for your gums. If the taste is what keeps you away from celery, then combine it with a dip such as cream cheese to give it good taste and eat away as much as you can!
• Cheese is loved by a lot of people, but now you have a reason to eat this tasty food. There are several studies that found eating cheese can raise the pH levels in the mouth which decreases the risk of tooth decay.
Chewing cheese is good for your oral health because your mouth has to produce a lot of salivae to break it down. Cheese also contains protein, calcium and other important nutrients that give your enamel a much-needed boost.
Leafy Greens
• Leafy green vegetables are an important part of any diet. They are full of minerals and vitamins while being extremely low in calories. Vegetables like spinach and kale promote oral health as well because they are high in calcium.
These vegetables also contain folic acid that provides several health benefits including treating gum disease. If you don’t like the taste of leafy greens, try adding a bit of spinach in your salad or throw some kale as a topping in your favorite food. Greens can also be mixed with vegetable smoothies.
Visiting a Dentist
Although these superfoods are great for your oral health, you should never ignore going to the dentist. The American Dental Association recommends visiting a dentist for routine dental exams and cleaning after every six months for optimal oral health.
You should visit your dentist as soon as you get the chance and have your oral health inspected. There are a lot of underlying issues that take time to show their symptoms but once they do, they are hard to treat. So catch mouth conditions before they get bad by visiting a dentist today.
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Yeast cells under a microscope.
A diagram of a typical yeast cell
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Typical divisions
Ascomycota (sac fungi)
Yeast are microorganisms. They are single-celled fungi. There are about 1,500 different species of yeast. Most reproduce asexually, by budding. Some use binary fission to reproduce asexually.
A particular species of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been used for a very long time. It is used for baking bread. It is also used in fermentation to make ethanol. This method makes many drinks, such as beer or wine. Ethanol is also used as fuel and to make other organic chemicals.
Yeast can be used to make electricity. Yeast is also a model organism for studying cell biology. Some yeasts can cause infections in humans (they are pathogens).
Other websites
Media related to Yeast at Wikimedia Commons |
Objections to the Minimal Facts Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The minimal facts argument for the resurrection of Jesus was discussed in the previous article for last month. These facts that serve as the foundation for this argument are accepted by the majority of New Testament scholars, both Christians and skeptics alike. That is what makes this argument tremendously powerful when discussing the resurrection of Jesus. Obviously, the resurrection of Jesus as stated in the New Testament would not be enough to convince a skeptic who does not accept the word of the Bible to be authoritative on these matters. For a skeptic, they are looking for additional evidence to validate why the Bible should be authoritative and trustworthy. That is what this argument hopes to achieve. Without achieving this goal of validating the authority of the Bible along with presenting extra-Biblical facts, the argument would not carry any weight with the skeptic. Since these details were discussed in the last article, the goal of this article is to address the objections to this argument by skeptics.
As a refresher, I will present the five basic facts that make up the minimal facts argument below:
1. Jesus died by crucifixion
2. The disciples of Jesus were sincerely convinced that he rose from the dead and appeared to them
3. Paul (aka Saul of Tarsus), who was a persecutor of the Christians, suddenly changed his beliefs towards Christianity
4. James (brother of Jesus), who was a skeptic of the Christian faith, suddenly changed his beliefs towards Christianity
5. The Tomb of Jesus was found empty three days after the crucifixion of Jesus (Habermas and Licona 2004, 48-76)
Anytime there are matters of the supernatural at hand, there will undoubtedly be objections despite how much evidence you have in favor of a supernatural cause. This argument is not an exception to that rule. Of course, skepticism is always encouraged to a large degree. Without skepticism, all of us would believe the first thing we heard without question. We implement skepticism in our daily lives without even knowing we were being skeptical. However, imagine if we were militantly skeptical about everything we heard. We would believe nothing. In this case, particularly with atheists or adamant skeptics, they have painted themselves into the corner of materialism. To this person, anything of supernatural origin cannot be accepted within their realm of acceptable causes despite how much evidence there exists in favor of the divine.
These objections that will be discussed are largely being made because the skeptics believe there is a naturalistic hypothesis that can best account for all five facts. It is always recommended that one be initially skeptical of supernatural claims but to never rule out the possibility of the supernatural prematurely. In this case of the resurrection of Jesus, if someone has viewed all of the evidence and made a conscious decision to stick with a naturalistic explanation, they have more faith than the Christians due to the lack of evidence for a naturalistic cause.
If you happen to witness this topic being discussed online or in person, you will likely hear that Jesus or elements of Jesus are nothing more than a product of legend. Sometimes you might hear that Jesus was a product of legend and never existed or sometimes people may say that the resurrection of Jesus was a legend and he did historically exist. Either way, they are attaching the legendary objection to Jesus in some way. That is why it is important to discuss the objection of “legend” so that you may be prepared to discuss this objection in a conversation.
Simply because the Gospels and the Pauline writings were not written on the day the events occurred, some skeptics claim that somehow they are false. This is patently invalid. People automatically revert to the elementary school experiment where the entire class would line up against the wall and the teacher would tell the child at the beginning of the line a phrase and each student would whisper it to the person next to them. By the time the message was received at the end of the line, it did not closely resemble the original message. Often, this example is what skeptics think of when they talk about the length of time between the actual events and the first writings that we have of the New Testament regarding the resurrection of Jesus. Many times, people easily dismiss these writings on the basis of an elementary school experiment.
According the majority of New Testament scholars who have seriously studied the New Testament, the textual purity is accepted to be highly reliable. Meaning, the New Testament as we know it today is virtually the same as it was when the originals were written (Habermas and Licona 2004, 85). However, the question regarding the possibility of legend is still to contend with. The answer to this question is that it is very unlikely that the New Testament writings are the result of legendary embellishments.
The first reason for why this objection does not stand up against scrutiny is because the writings of the New Testament can be traced back to actual experiences of the original apostles (Habermas and Licona 2004, 85). For this objection to be valid, the early manuscripts would likely not contain anything related to the resurrection of Jesus. However, the early manuscripts do contain testimony that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day.
The second reason for why this objection does not stand up against scrutiny is because Paul and James came to Christ through personal experiences they had after Jesus had risen from the dead (Habermas and Licona 2004, 86). Paul was a persecutor of the early church and even murdered Christians to prevent the expansion of Christianity while James was a skeptic of the teachings of Jesus. These accounts are dated early and give us reasons for why such a dramatic conversion could occur among individuals that have no reason to convert. This type of conversion does not align with the idea of legendary embellishment because it is dated early and it is directly attested to by these affected individuals through their written works. The idea that these skeptical individuals would convert to Christianity without reason and then somehow claim they embellished their own story to make it sound miraculous is illogical.
The last reason why this objection does not stand up against scrutiny is because there is no evidence in favor of it (Habermas and Licona 2004, 86). Clearly, there are evidences of certain ancient documents having been affected by legendary embellishments but there is nothing to suggest that the New Testament literature has fallen victim to such embellishments. These types of conclusions must be taken on an individual basis and those looking to critically evaluate the New Testament for historical reliability cannot do so with the presupposition that this writing has been contaminated with legendary embellishments. These embellishments must be objectively identified through evidence rather than presupposition.
Mythologized Jesus
This is another popular internet objection that is often used among the untutored. For those that may not know much about the subject, it may sound like a plausible explanation. In a skeptic’s mind that maintains this position, they think, “2,000 plus years have gone by and there is supposedly other types of myths that parallel the story of Jesus, it could be possible that Jesus can fall into the same category of “myth” like other types of gods”. While an entire book can be written with the premise of refuting these types of mythological objections against Jesus, it is important to briefly skim the basic type of objection regarding mythology.
The main point that should be driven home is that skeptics are claiming that the resurrection of Jesus is parallel to the other stories of dying and rising gods which disqualifies the historical validity of the resurrection of Jesus. In reality, regardless of whether or not there were stories of dying and rising gods in mythology, the evidences for the resurrection of Jesus should be treated on its own individual merits. Simply because there were stories of dying and rising gods does not prohibit the existence of a valid historical claim for Jesus’ resurrection. Hypothetically, if an individual was executed today and he miraculously resurrected, would we discard the possibility of a resurrection simply because of numerous dying and rising god stories in the past? Clearly not, but somehow many skeptics have enthusiastically accepted this line of reasoning when evaluating the merits of Jesus’ resurrection.
While this article is not dedicated to going through each mythological god and discussing why minor similarities does not influence the New Testament account of Jesus, it is more important to highlight the significant principle that needs to be taken into consideration when dealing with these types of objections. All of these fallacious claims of similarity are also filled with massive amounts of differences. To provide a couple examples, Justin Martyr who was writing in A.D. 150, wrote about the similarities some of the dying and rising gods had with the resurrection of Jesus. He discussed how Aesculapius was struck by lightning and ascended to heaven and how Hercules rose to heaven on a Pegasus. Other than their ascension into heaven, how are they similar? These types of similarities that are made with the hopes of discrediting the historical credibility of the resurrection almost appear like an act of desperation.
The Disciples Stole the Body
This objection is not so far removed from reality that is does not seem plausible like the two previously discussed. However, this objection still does not make sense of the facts upon further evaluation. This objection makes sense of only one of the five facts as stated in the minimal facts argument. This objection only accounts for the empty tomb.
If the disciples had stolen the body, they would then be expanding the ministry of Jesus in an area of the world that was ambitiously persecuting them during this time. Imagine you were one of the disciples and you knew that Jesus had not resurrected because you had a hand in the hoax, would you put yourself in a life threatening position in order to propagate your own lie? What incentive would there be to maintain the lie when you are standing face to face with a lion in the Coliseum in Rome? Naturally, liars make poor martyrs. There is no documented evidence of any disciple or apostle confessing that they had stolen the body from the tomb. Out of all the disciples, not a single one indicated that they stole the body based upon the evidence that is currently available.
Apparent Death Theory
Honestly, it is a wonder why this objection is still being considered as a naturalistic explanation. The movie, “The Passion of the Christ” by Mel Gibson accurately depicts the types of suffering Jesus endured during the crucifixion process. The claim that is being made with this objection is that Jesus survived the crucifixion process and that is how he appeared alive on the third day to his disciples. Prior to the actual crucifixion, there was a scourging process of the victim that was immensely brutal. The scourging of the victim was conducted with a short whip that had several braided leather tongs of varied lengths and had small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bone at the ends (Habermas and Licona 2004, 100). During the flogging process, the back, buttocks and legs were the areas of the body that were whipped. The purpose of the flogging was to significantly weaken the victim so that they did not put up much of a struggle throughout the remainder of the process (Habermas and Licona 2004, 100).
Throughout the rest of the crucifixion process, the wounds would cause the victim unbearable pain. Once the nails were driven into the wrists and feet of the cross, they would then fall victim to asphyxiation, which means that they would have problems breathing (Habermas and Licona 2004, 101). While on the cross, the victim attempts to take the weight off his nailed feet which places more weight on his nailed hands. By placing more weight on the nailed hands, breathing becomes more difficult. Trying to inhale and exhale was a balancing act because the victim is always shifting his weight from his nailed hands to his nailed feet. All the while, his severely wounded back is rubbing up against the wooden cross which causes increased pain (Habermas and Licona 2004, 101).
As we see in the Gospels in the New Testament, if the Romans wanted to speed the crucifixion process they would break the legs of the victim which would cause the victim to place all of the victim’s weight on his nailed hands. This significantly limits the breathing ability of the victim which will eventually cause them to suffocate. To be sentenced to death by crucifixion, there was no hope for survival. There is no recorded evidence of anyone going through the entire process of crucifixion and surviving.
The next reason why this objection fails is the rather obvious notion that if Jesus did survive, he would certainly not appear as though he divinely resurrected from the dead. He would appear as though he just barely survived a crucifixion. The first conclusion the disciples would have after seeing someone in the wrecked condition Jesus would have been in would be “this man needs medical attention immediately!” not “I cannot wait to have a resurrection body like that!”
Lastly, Paul and James are not accounted for in the apparent death theory. It does not explain how these two stark skeptics converted. Who appeared to them? What caused their conversion if Jesus barely lived through his execution? Not only is the hypothesis not physically plausible, but it fails to account for the accepted facts.
The objection of hallucinations among the disciples who Jesus appeared to along with Paul and James attempts to explain away the appearances through a form of cognitive dysfunction known as a hallucination. A hallucination is considered to be a false perception of something that is not there. For example, if I had been deprived of sleep or had suffered a traumatic event in my life, my body may respond with a hallucination.
In this case, given what we know about hallucinations, does the hallucination hypothesis explain all five facts? Hallucinations would not explain the empty tomb. Considering that the disciples, Paul, James, and groups of people had appearances of Jesus alive after his crucifixion, does the hallucination hypothesis explain these appearances best among these people?
The answer is no. To use an example, if a group of five hundred people were locked in a room and were forcibly deprived sleep, some people would inevitably hallucinate due to sleep deprivation. Imagine that fifty people of the five hundred experienced hallucinations. Would these fifty people who experienced hallucinations have identical hallucinations? The answer is no. The reason why is because hallucinations are experienced on an individual basis rather than a collective basis (Habermas and Licona 2004, 106). Simply because these individuals are within close proximity to one another does not mean that they will have the same hallucinations.
While the disciples may have been traumatized by the death of Jesus and could be potential candidates for grief hallucinations, what would explain the hallucinations of Paul and James who had no reason to be grieved? In fact, Paul would likely be happy because he was persecuting the Christians during this early time in Christianity. James was not close with Jesus and was a skeptic, which would not make him a good candidate for grief hallucinations.
Overall, hallucinations are not a plausible naturalistic explanation for the appearances to the disciples, James, Paul, and the groups of people. A hallucination is based on the experiences of an individual rather than a collective group. Particularly when viewing the appearances of Paul and James, we see that these candidates had no reason to hallucinate an appearance of Jesus when neither one of them wanted to see Christianity succeed. They were not grieving. They did not suffer an emotional loss. They had no hallucinatory symptoms based upon the evidence. This objection simply does not make sense of the evidence we currently have.
Delusional people believe something when it is known to be false. Skeptics accuse the disciples of wanting Jesus to be alive so bad that they became delusional and continued the ministry as though Jesus had resurrected. There are multiple reasons why a delusion does not account for the facts.
The strongest reason why the accusation of a delusion does not work is because Paul and James do not specifically fit the candidates for a person who would suffer from a delusion in this circumstance. Paul wanted the Christians dead. With Paul being persecutory of the Christian church, a delusion would not make sense of the facts. James was a skeptic and would certainly not live his life like Jesus had resurrected without having evidence that a resurrection had actually occurred. Both of these individuals were ultimately martyred for Jesus after having dedicated their lives to his service after seeing the appearance of Jesus alive. If the appearance of Jesus never happened, it is safe to say that they would not have changed their lifestyles. If such adamant skeptics could be drastically changed after having seen the appearance of Jesus, it would be reasonable to believe that the disciples rededicated their lives to Jesus after having seen the same appearance of Jesus.
Also, the hypothesis of the disciples, Paul, and James were delusional does not adequately explain the tomb being empty on the third day. While some may try to expand the hypothesis by saying that the disciples stole the body as a result of their delusion, the objection itself does not directly address the matter of the empty tomb so it is reasonable to conclude that the empty tomb is not a matter that is being addressed in this objection.
Biased Testimony
This is often a favored objection among the more sophisticated skeptics. These types of skeptics are placing faith in the idea that the New Testament writings were only trying to promote their own agenda and convince those to believe in their cause. Upon closer observation, this is certainly not the case. In fact, this is quite the opposite. When using this objection, there are a lot of fallacious presuppositions that are being implemented. While an entire book can be written on this topic alone, it is still important to understand the fundamentals of such an objection and where they fall short.
Given the accusation of biasness, it is first important to view the testimony of Paul and James. As stated before, they had no reason to be bias. In fact, being honest and truthful is contrary to what their original worldview was. Meaning, they did not original favor Christianity and stood in stark opposition of it before the appearances of Jesus. After the appearances, they were telling a completely different story about the reality of Christianity. This makes their testimony credible because it can be established that their position on Christianity was not highly susceptible for bias testimony.
Next, given that the New Testament documents are not being taken seriously on the basis on bias testimony, does that mean that all documents of ancient antiquity will be subject to the same type of historical evaluation? If assuming that every author is bias toward the matter he is writing about, should writings be completely discarded as having no historical truth value? For example, should Ann Frank’s diary be disregarded as having no historical value because she was writing as a Jew during WWII? This type of suggestion is completely counterintuitive when searching for the truth of the past. Ann Frank’s diary should be taken seriously because she experienced Nazi persecution personally and could explain what it was from a firsthand basis to be a Jew during this difficult time. Simply because someone is bias towards what they are writing about does not make their writing less historically valuable.
If someone is writing from a bias point of view, it does not automatically mean that their testimony will be inaccurate. For example, if I saw my closest friend commit a crime in my presence and law enforcement asked me to provide a statement of what I saw my closest friend do, I will write a very detailed description of the truth regardless of whether or not he was my friend or not. While this may not always be the case in all circumstances, the assumption that all bias writers are incapable of providing truthful claims is an unwise approach to understanding the New Testament texts.
Sometimes people try to discredit people’s belief in the resurrection of Jesus by telling the Christian that they only believe in the resurrection of Jesus because they were raised Christian. This type of fallacy is known as a genetic fallacy, which is when someone attacks your beliefs on the basis of how you came to hold them rather than the reasons for why you believe in something (Habermas and Licona 2004, 125). Along the same lines, ad hominem attacks are implemented in lieu of substantive arguments. The ad hominem fallacy is an attack against the person’s character rather than against the argument (Habermas and Licona 2004, 125). For example, an atheist might say, “Christians are ignorant for believing in the resurrection”. This type of ad hominem attack is focusing on his belief that you are uninformed for believing in the resurrection. Obviously, it has nothing to do with the argument.
After reviewing seven of the most basic and most frequent objections to the resurrection, it is still reasonable to place faith in the reality of the resurrection. The reality is that there is not a naturalistic explanation that can make sense out of all the facts better than the resurrection hypothesis. Despite of this fact, the conspiracy theories are never in short supply. For the dedicated skeptic, nothing is off limits when considering an alternative theory for the resurrection.
As stated in the introduction, this is an ideological commitment for those that disregard the facts that are acknowledged as truth by the majority of New Testament scholars. There are some people who still cannot commit to the idea that Jesus was a living person in first century Palestine. Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, there are still people who cannot concede the fact that Jesus actually lived. The point that Christians have to appreciate is that sometimes evidence is meaningless when speaking with a dedicated skeptic. Sometimes developing a relationship with a skeptical person is the best way for them to let their guard down and speak openly about these sensitive matters.
Love our skeptical friends as much as possible and be open to speak with them about these topics. It is vital that we know the facts of the resurrection intimately because it is the foundation of our faith. Along with knowing the details of the resurrection story, we must also know why people object to it and how we can best answer their objections. This is what we are called to do as Christians. Let us honor our God by being prepared to help those that have trouble letting their guard down because they are not yet confident in the resurrection story. This is a personal endeavor that requires commitment and study however it is well worth the time spent getting to know our Lord.
Habermas, Gary R, and Michael R Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004.
2 responses to “Objections to the Minimal Facts Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
• As always, you are too kind. I appreciate the complimentary comment. Also, as always, keep up your excellent work for God. God is using your mind in many amazing great ways. God bless my friend.
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Custom NSURLProtocol for iOS App Development
NSURLProtocol is a class from the Foundation framework which handles all of the requests made by your iOS app. Even if you don’t create a custom class by extending NSURLProtocol, the OS will use a default one. When making your app, if you don’t create either instances of NSURLProtocol or of your custom class that extends NSURLProtocol, the OS will do this for you. When you extend NSURLProtocol, you have to override some methods where you put your code, which we’ll outline in the article below.
Why do you want to create a class that extends NSURLProtocol?
Well, suppose you want all of your app requests to have a certain header in them, or that you want to intercept some requests before they are sent, or that you want to have a more elaborate cache system than the one that is provided to you by the frameworks within the SDK. By extending NSURLProtocol, you open up a multitude of possibilities to improve your app.
In this post, we will outline how to make our own class that extends NSURLProtocol, allowing it to intercept all requests and save the content locally to use when there is no internet connection.
When extending NSURLProtocol, you have to implement a couple of methods in order to make the new class work.
override class func canInitWithRequest(request: NSURLRequest) -> Bool
This method tells the OS that you will handle the execution of the request yourself. The reason for this is because you can have multiple protocol classes registered in your app. The OS will take all of the registered NSURLProtocol classes and call canInitWithRequest. The first request that returns with “true” will be used to make an instance of that class, and will be used for that particular request.
The next method that you want to override is:
override class func canonicalRequestForRequest(request: NSURLRequest) -> NSURLRequest
The true meaning of canonical request in relation to your protocol class is up to you to decide. For our example, I returned the request that I received as a parameter.
Next we will override:
override func startLoading()
In this method, you will add your code to handle the request. Here is where you want to set that key for the request that you handle, which can be done with:
NSURLProtocol.setProperty("true", forKey: "myCustomKey", inRequest: request)
You want to set this property because in the method callInitWithRequest, you will not always receive a “true.” If you did, you would have an infinite loop. Instead, here in startLoading, we will tell the OS that we will handle this particular request ourselves, so that it does not create another instance of NSURLProtocol for this request.
The last method you need to override is this:
override func stopLoading()
Now, let’s get to work.
Create a new single view application in Xcode: File -> New Project, then select “single view.” For this project, I used Swift. In the view controller form the main storyboard, I added a UIWebView, a UItextField, and two buttons to move backward and forward. If you don’t want to create this project step-by-step, you can download the completed version here.
In the ViewController.swift file, we set the delegate from the web view and from the text field.
func webView(webView: UIWebView, shouldStartLoadWithRequest request: NSURLRequest, navigationType: UIWebViewNavigationType) -> Bool {
return true
func webViewDidStartLoad(webView: UIWebView) {
UIApplication.sharedApplication().networkActivityIndicatorVisible = true
func webViewDidFinishLoad(webView: UIWebView) {
UIApplication.sharedApplication().networkActivityIndicatorVisible = false
func webView(webView: UIWebView, didFailLoadWithError error: NSError) {
if error.code != NSURLErrorCancelled {
UIApplication.sharedApplication().networkActivityIndicatorVisible = false
let alert = UIAlertView(title: "Error", message:
error.localizedDescription, delegate: nil, cancelButtonTitle: "OK")
In the delegate for the text field, we are trying to load the URL entered by the user.
func textFieldShouldReturn(textField: UITextField) -> Bool {
let url = NSURL(string:textField.text)
if let url = url {
let request = NSURLRequest(URL: url)
return true
The buttons in the UI each have one method for going backward and forward, if possible.
@IBAction func onBackTouchUpInside(sender: UIButton) {
if self.gWebView.canGoBack {
@IBAction func onForwardTouchUpInside(sender: UIButton) {
if self.gWebView.canGoForward {
To detect if we have an internet connection, I used AFNetworking. This is a great library for working with requests; in this post, I used only its reachability portion. We use the following code to make the text field background red to indicate when there is no internet connection.
AFNetworkReachabilityManager.sharedManager().setReachabilityStatusChangeBlock { (status:AFNetworkReachabilityStatus) -> Void in
var color:UIColor
if status == AFNetworkReachabilityStatus.ReachableViaWiFi ||
status == AFNetworkReachabilityStatus.ReachableViaWWAN {
color = UIColor.clearColor()
} else {
color = UIColor(red: 1, green: 0, blue: 0, alpha: 0.2)
self.txtAddress.backgroundColor = color
AFNetworking is written in Objective-C, with which Swift can work. To do this, drag and drop the AFNetworkReachabilityManager.h and AFNetworkReachabilityManager.m files into your project. Xcode will prompt you to make a bridging file, Bridging-Header.h which you should agree to by clicking “yes.” In this file, import any Objective-C files you want to use in Swift, such as #import "AFNetworkReachabilityManager.h". Now you can use AFNetworkReachabilityManager in Swift as well.
Next, we will make a class that extends NSURLProtocol and we will override the methods mentioned above. To do this, we want to handle the request in the startLoading method from our custom URLProtocol class. In case we have an internet connection, we ill set our key and execute the request using NSURLSession and NSURLSessionDataTask. The code will look like this:
override func startLoading() {
if AFNetworkReachabilityManager.sharedManager().reachable {
var newRequest = self.request.mutableCopy() as! NSMutableURLRequest
NSURLProtocol.setProperty("true", forKey: "myCustomKey", inRequest: newRequest)
let defaultConfigObj = NSURLSessionConfiguration.defaultSessionConfiguration()
let defaultSession = NSURLSession(configuration: defaultConfigObj, delegate: self, delegateQueue: nil)
self.dataTask = defaultSession.dataTaskWithRequest(newRequest)
If we do not have an internet connection, then we will load the response from local storage (if there is one). If no response is available, then we will create a failed response and pass it along to the client property from NSURLProtocol.
let httpVersion = "1.1"
if let localResponse = cachedResponseForCurrentRequest(), data = {
var headerFields:[NSObject : AnyObject] = [:]
headerFields["Content-Length"] = NSString(format:"%d", data.length)
if let mimeType = localResponse.mimeType {
headerFields["Content-Type"] = mimeType
headerFields["Content-Encoding"] = localResponse.encoding!
let okResponse = NSHTTPURLResponse(URL: self.request.URL!, statusCode: 200, HTTPVersion: httpVersion, headerFields: headerFields)
self.client?.URLProtocol(self, didReceiveResponse: okResponse!, cacheStoragePolicy: .NotAllowed)
self.client?.URLProtocol(self, didLoadData: data)
} else {
let failedResponse = NSHTTPURLResponse(URL: self.request.URL!, statusCode: 0, HTTPVersion: httpVersion, headerFields: nil)
self.client?.URLProtocol(self, didReceiveResponse: failedResponse!, cacheStoragePolicy: .NotAllowed)
In this, we have called our methods from the client the property of NSURLProtocol. This is very important because we want to pass the data and execution flow to the OS and to other objects, like a web view or a connection, that made the actual request.
Next, we want to implement the methods from the NSURLSessionDataDelegate and NSURLSessionTaskDelegate protocols:
func URLSession(session: NSURLSession, dataTask: NSURLSessionDataTask,
didReceiveResponse response: NSURLResponse,
completionHandler: (NSURLSessionResponseDisposition) -> Void) {
self.client?.URLProtocol(self, didReceiveResponse: response, cacheStoragePolicy: .NotAllowed)
self.urlResponse = response
self.receivedData = NSMutableData()
func URLSession(session: NSURLSession, dataTask: NSURLSessionDataTask, didReceiveData data: NSData) {
self.client?.URLProtocol(self, didLoadData: data)
// MARK: NSURLSessionTaskDelegate
if error != nil && error!.code != NSURLErrorCancelled {
self.client?.URLProtocol(self, didFailWithError: error!)
} else {
For local storage, we will use an alternative to CoreData and SQLite altogether called Realm. I chose this approach because everything in the custom URL protocol class is on a background thread. This means that the UI will not suffer from any delay in responsiveness, and therefore user experience will not suffer.
In the saveCachedResponse method, we verify if there is a local response for the current request using self.request.URL!.absoluteString!. If we find a local response for the current request URL, then we will continue updating that response. If there is no response found, then we will create a new one. This approach will optimize the records stored locally by removing redundancy.
Now that the custom URL protocol class is completed, we need to register it. We do this in the first line from the method:
by calling the registerClass method from NSURLProtocol:
Before we run the app, we need to tell the AFNetworkReachabilityManager that it should start monitoring for a network status change. I did this on the method:
func applicationDidBecomeActive(application: UIApplication)
by calling the startMonitoring method:
Now we can run the app and navigate to some pages. After doing this, we can cut off the internet connection, which should still allow us to navigate to the previous pages we visited.
This is not the only possibility in this example. We can also implement a cache for online cases by taking into account the time stamps from local response. The CachedResponse class is very simple:
import Foundation
import Realm
class CachedResponse: RLMObject {
dynamic var data:NSData?
dynamic var encoding:String?
dynamic var mimeType:NSString?
dynamic var url:String?
dynamic var timestamp:NSDate?
override init!() {
data = NSData()
encoding = "utf-8"
mimeType = ""
url = ""
timestamp = NSDate()
And there it is. You have successfully implemented a custom NSURLProtocol. The complete project can be downloaded in full here.
This project was created with Xcode 6.4 and Swift 1.2. Apple recently released the new iOS 9 and updated the development tool to Xcode 7. To complete this post with Xcode 7 and Swift 2.0, follow this link for a .zip download.
This post was originally published on the author’s personal site, which can be found here.
Horatiu Porta
Horatiu Porta
Software Engineer
Horatiu Potra has been a Software Engineer at the 3Pillar Global Timiosara location for a year. He generally works on developing and improving applications for iOS operating systems. He has extensive experience working with both Objective-C and Swift, the new programming language from Apple, and has been shifting his focus onto Swift for his future projects. He received his Master’s in Software Engineering from Universitatea de Vest din Timisoara.
3 Responses to “Custom NSURLProtocol for iOS App Development”
1. Shiva on
Thanks for sharing this article.Was searching the similar contents google for a case study.Thanks.
2. James on
Just out of curiosity, would it be possible to use NSURLProtocol to filter certain ad domains?
3. Jyoti negi on
Nice post with the complete guide
Leave a Reply |
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Orders of Existence
There are two orders in the beings of the world. We can cal! them the longitudinal order and the transversal order. The longitudinal order is the place of things in the cause and effect chain of creation. In the language of religion, Angels, The Book (of Allah), The Distributors, The Pen and so on, all show of a certain order and arrangement in existence.
This order is not formal but necessary. In this order, the flame of a matchstick cannot compete with the Sun, and the change of a possible thing into something necessary is not imaginable. A cause cannot change its place with its own effect (at the same time and place).
All the mistakes that we make that why `this' couldn't have been in the place of `that' or why an imperfect being can't change its place with a perfect being is because we have not understood the necessary and essential relations of things. We compare the existential order with conventional orders and social stratifications.
We think that when we can change a manager with his worker, or a landlord with a peasant, then why couldn't have a sheep been a human being. When the exploited workers and proletariat can overthrow and replace the rich exploiters, with belief and class struggle, why couldn't have God made a lame person a perfect athlete.
This is impossible, because the cause being the cause and the effect being the effect is not conventional or formal. If `A' is the cause of 'B' it is because there is something in the nature of `A' that has made it the cause.
Also, the specification of 'B' has made it relate to `A' and this specification is nothing but those attributes that have made 'B' exist. Once you take the specifications away from `B,' you are left with something else and not 'B.'
These specifications are real and not conventional or transferable. Take the number `5.' It comes after `4' and before `6.' You cannot put `5' anywhere else without loosing its identity. If you put it, say, before `4' it will be `3,' even if you call it `5 ' You cannot change the reality of `3,' although you change its name.1
Between all creatures of the universe exists such a deep and existential order. If you take anything out of its existential place, it will loose its substance and will not be the same thing anymore. If you give four sides to a triangle instead of three, it is not a triangle anymore; in fact it is a square. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) has a nice sentence here. He said: "God did not make apricots into apricots, but He created apricots." What it means is that there was no stage when all the fruits were equal and then God discriminated between them.
Each fruit is unique. This uniqueness, applies to different beings and personalities as well. The holy Qur'an says:
"......Our Lord is He who gave unto everything its nature, then guided it aright " (20:50).
In another place it says:
"Our word for a thing, when We intend it, is only that We say to it: . Be! and it is " (16:40).2
Now, let us go on to the transversal order:
The transversal order determines the temporal and material conditions of phenomena. And it is with this order that history takes a definite and certain form. Qur'an refers to this order of existence in this way:
" ...., and you shall not find any change in the course of Allah " (Qur'an, 33:62) .
Some of these deterministic laws are mentioned in the Qur'an, like this law:
"Allah changes not the condition of a people until they change that which is in their selves?" (13:11)
A wonderful sentence from a wonderful Book.
Now, to sum up this section:
1. The universe has orders and necessary laws, and every phenomenon is within that system. Our freedom is also in harmony with that system.
2. For the universe to have an order, there should be differences and stages in existence; and this is the cause of imperfections.
3. Differences are not created. It is a necessary attribute of creatures, and God has made no discrimination between creatures.
4. What is against justice is discrimination and not difference, and in the universe there is difference and not discrimination.
Now that we have understood this section, let us go back to the benefits of suffering for the individual.
• 1. Extracted from `Adl-i ilahi by Murtadha Mutahhari
• 2. This is not contradictory to evolutionary theories, given that they are valid, since the question still remains that why one evolved into that thing and the other into another thing. |
The new republic was now a recognized ally of the ancient monarchy, and this recognition was at once followed by sending to the states an accredited diplomatic representative. For some years Franklin and his associates had represented the United States at Paris, but France had sent to America only unofficial agents, whose duty was to spy out the land. The position of minister to this new and unimportant republic was not regarded like the great ambassadorships, to Vienna, London, and Rome, and it was rendered less attractive by the perils and discomforts of the long voyage across the water. Furthermore, life at Philadelphia among a strange people, with different manners and customs, possessed no charm for a diplomat used to the society of the large cities of Europe. Yet, with the certainty of war with England, it was important to have a representative who could judge accurately of conditions among the new allies and stimulate them to zealous action in the common cause.
The choice fell on a man who did not belong to the great nobility, to which the most important diplomatic posts were usually assigned, but who was peculiarly fitted for this position. Conrad Gerard de Rayneval had been Vergennes's first assistant, and was familiar with all the negotiations which led to the alliance with the United States. To long experience he added a qualification less common among French diplomats, a good knowledge of English. Partly for this reason the negotiations with the American colonies had been largely committed to his charge. When Franklin first arrived and Vergennes wished neither to repel the Americans nor to excite the wrath of the English ambassador by treating with them too publicly, it was easy to refer them to Gerard, who could talk their language, and was therefore a fit person to conduct the negotiations. Gerard entertained the American representatives at his house, and was the mouthpiece of the ministry, before the French government decided on open action in behalf of the colonies; when this resolution had at last been reached, Gerard was intrusted with the agreeable duty of visiting the American commissioners at Franklin's house in Passy, and informing them that Louis XVI was ready to form an alliance with the new republic. Gerard's name was signed to the treaties, and it was natural that he should be chosen as the minister from France to the Republic of the United States; there was no Frenchman more familiar with the conditions to be encountered in America or better fitted to deal with them. He was the first of a long line of distinguished representatives.
The instructions given Gerard disclosed the hopes and the fears of the French government. He was to guard against the possibility of Congress making a separate peace with Great Britain, and to assure that body in the most positive terms that Louis XVI would listen to no propositions from the enemy, and would not lay down arms until the absolute independence of the thirteen states had been recognized by England.
The relations of France with Spain now, as during all the progress of the war, were a source of embarrassment. While Spain had made no treaty with the United States, France was bound to act in their interest and to secure for them Florida and a possible share in the Newfoundland fisheries. Gerard, therefore, was to dissuade Congress from any plan that might include the acquisition of the Floridas. Nor did France desire that Canada should be added to the thirteen states, for reasons which the instructions stated with unaltruistic clearness: the retention of Canada by England would make the Americans feel their need of the friendship of France.
Gerard's skill was sufficient to secure these objects, but the final instruction which he received was beyond his power to accomplish. "It is probable," said the document, "that Congress will show a desire for subsidies from France." Such requests Gerard was to check, by explaining that the efforts which France must make in the common cause would involve great expense and render it impossible for her to furnish pecuniary aid; he must convince the Americans that the French fleet was worth more to them than French money. "His Majesty was persuaded," so the document ran, "that Congress would easily yield assent to such conclusive reasons." (Instructions to Gerard, March 29, 1778; Doniol, iii, 153)
If the King was thus persuaded, he was much mistaken. In part, perhaps, influenced by Gerard's advice, Congress displayed no covetous desire for Florida and made no vigorous effort to conquer Canada, but nothing could keep it from demanding subsidies; fortunately for the interests of the states, the French King was not persuaded by his own arguments, and gave to repeated requests repeated satisfaction.
It was thought desirable that Gerard should conceal his departure, and on April 11 he sailed from Toulon, ostensibly for Antibes; but when off Hyeres he embarked on the Languedoc, one of d'Estaing's fleet, bound for the United States. After a journey of ninety-one days he reached his destination and was landed a few miles from Philadelphia.
There was no lack of interest in the reception of the representative of our powerful ally. A delegation from Congress met him, and he drove to Philadelphia in Hancock's carriage. Soldiers were drawn up in the streets to greet his entrance, and salutes were fired. The importance of the event was not underestimated. "I had the honor of being present the last Sabbath," writes Henry Marchant, a member of Congress from Rhode Island, "at the most interesting interview that ever took place in America, or perhaps in the world, between Monsieur Gerard, the plenipotentiary of France, and the President of Congress . . . This interview was most cordial, generous, and noble." (William Read Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 191.)
No permanent residence had yet been selected, and Gerard was entertained temporarily by Benedict Arnold, who was then commander at Philadelphia. Although arrangements were not yet made for his formal reception, the house overflowed with visitors; most of the members of Congress and the principal officers of the city, "even the most phlegmatic," we are told, hastened to pay their respects. Representatives of the English King had lately visited Philadelphia in the hope of recalling the colonists to their allegiance by the offer of liberal terms. The news of the alliance with France destroyed even the remote possibility of success in such an effort. The English, it was charged, were provided not only with arguments, but with money, with which to persuade the members of the Continental Congress. None of the money seems to have been used, but presents which indicated good fellowship had been scattered about. These were now put to a use which would have been distasteful to the donors. A grand dinner was given Gerard, and he wrote home that the guests feasted on turtle and wine that had been sent members of Congress by the English commissioners (Doniol, iii, 270.)
The members of Congress were most pleased to have a representative of France accredited to them, but they were somewhat uncertain as to the proper manner of receiving him. So embarrassing was the question that a special committee was appointed, which investigated the reception of foreign representatives with great care. They found that the proper form when an ambassador arrived was to have three members "wait upon him in a coach belonging to the states" and that "the person first named of the three shall return with the ambassador and his secretary in the coach"; and on reaching the chamber of Congress he should be seated on a chair raised eighteen inches above the floor. Since Gerard was only a minister, he must be content to be waited on by two members and was not entitled to have his chair raised from the floor at all (Journals of Congress, Ford's ed., July 17,1778; Doniol, iii, 302.)
Not until August 3 did Lee and Samuel Adams, as commissioners of Congress, formally notify Gerard that on the 6th, at noon, Congress would give him audience. On the morning of that day Lee and Adams called on him, and mounted in a carriage, drawn by six horses, they proceeded to the hall of Congress.
There the minister was placed in a chair opposite the president. The thirty-two members of Congress were arranged in a half-circle around the room; we are told that the chairs of the president and the minister were large and of equal size, while those of the other members of Congress were of modest proportions. Gerard presented his letters, which were first read in French, and the thirty-two members listened attentively, though few understood them. Afterwards an English translation was read. The minister was then formally presented and delivered his address standing; the president made his reply, also standing; the minister saluted Congress and Congress saluted the minister, and the function was closed.
A doggerel verse ran: -
"From Lewis M. Gerard came
To Congress in this town, sir
They bowed to him and he to them,
And then they all sat down, air."
Rivington's Gazette, Oct. 3, 1778. - See Frank Moore, Diary of the American Revolution, 607; Journals of Congress, Ford's ed., Aug. 6, 1778; Doniol, iii, 311-318.
As we have seen, if Gerard had been an ambassador instead of minister plenipotentiary, etiquette would have required a larger delegation for his escort, and that he should have read his address sitting. "Congress has somewhat confused notions," wrote Gerard, "concerning the dignity and etiquette befitting a sovereign state, but they desire no unnecessary ostentation and pomp."
Marchant writes of the reception: "It was an important day, . . . and I hope replete with lasting advantages to the United States in general and to the State of Rhode Island in particular . . . I think the connection brought about by the hand of Heaven, and that thereupon it promises to be lasting." (Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 193.)
A great dinner at the City Tavern ended the day. Twenty-one patriotic toasts were drunk, to the booming of cannon and to the reasonable exhilaration of those who joined in all of them.
Gerard proved himself a useful representative for his government. He was judicious, discreet, and avoided any diplomatic entanglements. His reports on the country to which he was sent were not always laudatory, but they were reasonably accurate. He was in sympathy with Vergennes's resolve that no peace should be made until the independence of the United States was acknowledged, and to that end he was always loyal. When the question of the western boundaries arose later, though Gerard was guilty of no unfairness to the Americans, his sympathies were more with Spain. He wrote Vergennes, advising him to encourage Spain to get possession of whatever posts she could in the Mississippi Valley. He had told Congress that its persistence in an effort to establish its power on the Ohio, and the Illinois, and at Natchez would show an unfair spirit of conquest, that such an acquisition was absolutely foreign to the principles of the French and American alliance. He declared "that his King would not prolong the war one single day to secure to the United States the possessions which they coveted . . . Besides the extent of their territory already rendered a good administration difficult, and so enormous an increase would cause their immense empire to crumble under its own weight." (Doniol, iv, 72-75.)
Nor was his sympathy any stronger for our forefathers on the question of the fisheries. He was indeed content that the Americans should get what they could, but he did not feel that France was bound to prolong the war in order to gain for its allies advantages which were not stipulated in the original treaty. But in this there was no cause for complaint. Gerard was the representative of France and not of the United States. His career was marked by courtesy, by regard for the obligations which France had undertaken, and by a sincere desire to assist the allies of France to bring their struggle for independence to a successful termination (Doniol, iv, chap. 3.)
In September, 1779, Gerard was relieved from his position as minister to the United States, and returned to the French Department of State. He carried with him the good-will of those to whom he was accredited. Congress asked that his portrait might be placed in its halls, so that it should recall how much his constancy and zeal had contributed to the consolidation of the alliance and the prosperity of the two nations. The merchants of Philadelphia presented him an address. All joined in wishing him godspeed, and to this friendly greeting he was fairly entitled (Doniol, iv, 209,210.) He had done his work satisfactorily to his own government and with reasonable regard to the interests of the people of the United States. The most important part of the work was now accomplished. He was glad to return to his own land, while La Luzerne assumed the position of French minister at Philadelphia.
Cesar Anne de La Luzerne arrived in Philadelphia September 21, 1779, but did not have his first audience with Congress until the 17th of November. From that time until the end of the war he performed his official duties faithfully, winning the esteem of the American people by the suavity of his manners and the discretion of his conduct. He tried to carry out the spirit of the alliance on principles of equity and reciprocal interests. He remained in the United States for five years, and was succeeded by Barbe-Marbois (Wharton, i, 423.)
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Samsung Launch New Handwashing App For Galaxy Watch
Samsung have released an app designed to help make regular and thorough handwashing a habit as reported by Samsung Newsroom. It has been well-publicised during the Covid-19 pandemic that through handwashing is key to limiting infection. Samsung's new app hopes to tackle this by forming habits amongst the public.
The app is available on the Galaxy Store for Gear S3, Gear Sports, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active and Galaxy Watch Active2 users. The app offers clear guidance on how to best wash your hands as well as ways to establish this a routine. Technology is being used a number of ways to help fight the virus, including Oura Rings which may be able to predict symptoms. Google has also rolled out an exposure alert app able to help prevent the spread.
How the App Works
University College of London recommends we wash our hands 6-10 times a day. In order to help achieve this the app has an alarm function. This will remind you regularly to wash your hands and hopefully help form this habit. Users will have the option to customise how many alarms they want depending on how many times they aim to wash their hands in a day.
As has been said by many during the pandemic it takes 20 seconds to wash your hands thoroughly. The Samsung handwashing app has a countdown function which lasts 25 seconds to help with achieving this. It factors in 5 seconds for applying soap and the other 20 seconds for handwashing.
The app also has an inbuilt dashboard which tells users how many times they have washed their hands that day. It also includes stats such as time since their last handwash. One can also monitor your weekly progress with regards to handwashing. By tracking your data over time it is thought that this will be helpful in creating longer-term habits. It is hoped that these reminders and further information will help promote more healthy habits for individuals.
Six Key Steps to Handwashing
Washing our hands has never been more important for yourself but also for society. Doing so thoroughly and efficiently is very important so here are the six steps to a perfect handwash.
First, rub the palms of your hands together with soap. Second, rub each palm over the back of the other hand and in between your fingers. Then interlock your fingers and rub palm the palm. Fourth, interlock your hands and rub the backs of fingers. Next, grasp the thumb of each opposing hand and rum whilst rotating. Finally, rotationally rub each hand onto the opposing palm with closed fingers. |
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Nutrition and Feed Formulation
Expert's take
Feed is typically the main budget item on most fish farms. Therefore, to improve the overall profitability of a fish farm, it is important to choose the feed best-suited for the type of farming applied. Articles in this section will focus on the major aspects to be considered when choosing a feed that most closely meets the nutrient needs of animals at each stage of growth or production.
For any species, knowledge of its nutritional needs at every stage of its growth is essential in ensuring the profitability of a fish farm. Compilations of experimental data and private companies’ efforts have provided detailed findings on animals’ nutritional needs. These have granted us the ability to set accurate feed formulation constraints related to a wide range of species. A thorough understanding of the feeding and nutrition habits of fish is indeed essential for reducing the waste resulting from fish’s ingested feed.
Shrimp are animals whose behavior is completely distinct from that of a fish. Some of these behavioral differences have a major impact on the formulation, processing and distribution of shrimp feed. . |
20 cognitive biases that screw up your decisions
two curious ostriches
Don't let the "ostrich effect" screw up your decisions.
Mark Kolbe / Getty Images
You make thousands of decisions every day — from what to eat for breakfast to which job offer to take.
And you might think you approach all those decisions rationally.
Yet research suggests there are a huge number of cognitive stumbling blocks that can affect our behavior, preventing us from acting in our own best interests.
Here, we've rounded up some of the most commonly cited biases that screw up our decision-making.
Anchoring bias
People are overreliant on the first piece of information they hear.
Any counteroffer will naturally be anchored by that opening offer.
Availability heuristic
old man smoking
Samuel Huron on flickr
Bandwagon effect
Blind-spot bias
blind spot
Daimler AG on flickr
Failing to recognize your cognitive biases is a bias in itself.
Choice-supportive bias
dog choice
LexnGer on flickr
Clustering illusion
Confirmation bias
jan-oct 2012 temperature global figures
Conservatism bias
flat earth conservatism belief
Information bias
Ostrich effect
But there's an upside to acting like a big bird, at least for investors. When you have limited knowledge about your holdings, you're less likely to trade, which generally translates to higher returns in the long run.
Outcome bias
macau china gambling casino
olemiswebs on flickr
Judging a decision based on the outcome — rather than how exactly the decision was made in the moment. Just because you won a lot in Vegas doesn't mean gambling your money was a smart decision.
Trader Wall Street Screen Bloomberg Terminal
Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Perhaps surprisingly, experts are more prone to this bias than laypeople. An expert might make the same inaccurate prediction as someone unfamiliar with the topic — but the expert will probably be convinced that he's right.
Placebo effect
stock exchange trader
AP Images
When simply believing that something will have a certain impact on you causes it to have that effect.
This is a basic principle of stock market cycles, as well as a supporting feature of medical treatment in general. People given "fake" pills often experience the same physiological effects as people given the real thing.
Pro-innovation bias
line, wait, tired, bored, waiting, not yet, grand central apple store opening, december 9 2011, bi, dng
Daniel Goodman / Business Insider
Chart of the day shows the performances of the dow jones industrial average with annotated news headlines, march 2013.
Investech Research via The Big Picture
As financial planner Carl Richards writes in The New York Times, investors often think the market will always look the way it looks today and therefore make unwise decisions: "When the market is down, we become convinced that it will never climb out so we cash out our portfolios and stick the money in a mattress."
Times Square crowd
bikoy / flickr
When you think about dying, for example, you might worry about being mauled by a lion, even though dying in a car accident is statistically more likely, because the lion attacks you've heard about are more dramatic and stand out in your mind.
Selective perception
beautiful people, walking, sunshine, Yelp
Yelp.com via flickr
Allowing our expectations to influence how we perceive the world.
In a classic experiment on selective perception, researchers showed a video clip of a football game between Princeton and Dartmouth Universities to students from both schools. Results showed that Princeton students saw Dartmouth players commit more infractions than Dartmouth students saw. The researchers wrote: "The 'game' exists for a person and is experienced by him only in so far as certain happenings have significances in terms of his purpose."
Occupy Wall Street Mayday Protests
Yepoka Yeebo / Business Insider
There may be some value to stereotyping because it allows us to quickly identify strangers as friends or enemies. But people tend to overuse it — for example, thinking low-income individuals aren't as competent as higher-income people.
Survivorship bias
james dyson
Zero-risk bias
Sociologists have found that we love certainty — even if it's counter productive.
Thus the zero-risk bias.
"Zero-risk bias occurs because individuals worry about risk, and eliminating it entirely means that there is no chance of harm being caused," says decision science blogger Steve Spaulding. "What is economically efficient and possibly more relevant, however, is not bringing risk from 1% to 0%, but from 50% to 5%."
SEE ALSO: 17 mind-blowing psychology findings that explain the baffling choices you make every day
More: Psychology Stereotypes Brain Strategy |
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Sega Saturn
Console Information
It is believed that Sega of Japan began planning for a 32-bit console in the early 1990s with plans drawn up in 1992. The main console plan that can be directly related to the final outcome was the Sega Giga Drive. This name was given to it as a wordplay on the Sega Mega Drive, implying that this new console is more powerful.
The Giga Drive was Sega's first dedicated CD-ROM based console (not like Mega CD which was an add-on for Mega Drive). It was also their first dedicated 32-bit console (not like the 32X which was also an add-on for Mega Drive). The Giga Drive was developed by Hideki Sato and his team of engineers. It was being designed around 1992-1993 to be superior to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. It is believed that prototypes were made during 1993. Also at this time, the name was changed to Sega Saturn, named after the planet like other Sega projects (The "Planet Projects").
The Saturn that eventually made it to the market in 1995 was different to the one conceived in 1993. It was originally going to be the ultimate 2D console with 3D capabilities being a possibility. Sega's Virtua Fighter arcade game had become very popular and gamers hoped that Sega would have 3D capabilities in their new console so that Virtua Fighter could be ported for play on it. In November 1993, Sony announced their entry into the console market with the PlayStation under development. These factors, mainly the latter, are what made Sega change the specs of their system to become the more powerful console we know today.
After seeing the specs of the PlayStation, Hayao Nakayama ordered for the Saturn's specs to be fixed so it would have more processing power for 32-bit 3D games to compete with Sony\'s console (which was due for release at the same time as the Saturn - November 1994). This had to be done in under one year, but was successfully achieved. In the end, Sega had used technology from both their 2D and 3D arcade boards and dual processors. But this would be a problem for programmers. Programming for 2 processors would be difficult. Few programmers found it easy to program for the Saturn in this way and so most used C programming language, thus these games do not use the full power of the Saturn.
The Saturn was officially released in Japan on November 22nd 1994 for ¥44800 (US$490). Over 250 000 consoles were ready for sale, all of which sold in 2 days. Sony\'s PlayStation was released a week later on 2nd December but over the first six months of release, Saturn still outsold the PlayStation. Unfortunately, this would not last long. Lack of software for the Saturn due to production delays meant that the PlayStation soon took over.
The Sega Saturn's unexpected US debut was at 1995's E3 Trade Show on May 11th 1995 for US$399. The official release was planned for 2nd September but Sega wanted to release their console first to beat the PlayStation (This mistake was repeated with the Dreamcast). Also at E3, Sony announced their console which was due for release later in the year for US$299. This was bad news for Sega.
The people who bought the Saturn were only able to purchase Virtua Fighter upon release. Between 11th May and 2nd September, only one or two more games were released for the Saturn. Game developers could not finish their games in time for the early release of the Saturn. Some developers rushed out their games, which left the Saturn with a bad reputation (note how many games were re-released in the full version later down the track). The early release also meant that there was no time for proper advertising for the console. Within the first year of release, though, Nintendo, Sony and Sega each had about 33% share in the video game market. But the PlayStation soon took over after the release of Final Fantasy VII.
Many argue that the PlayStation is superior to the Saturn. While the PlayStation supported several hardware features that the Saturn didn't, the Saturn is capable of handling more polygons and has a larger texture memory. The Saturn is also the best 2D console ever released. While it is considered a 3D console, it was also made to support 2D games (like you would see on 8-bit and 16-bit consoles) and the 2D games released show Saturn\'s excellent sprite-handling abilities. This is because Sega used technology from their 2D arcade boards as well as their 3D boards.
The Saturn, like other Sega consoles, had the potential to be bigger than what it was, but due to problems with the console itself and the way it was marketed, the PlayStation soon took over as it was seen as being far superior and had a lot of third party support. Saturn was supported in the US until 1998 and in Japan until 1999.
Sega Saturn Technical Specifications
Platform: Sega Saturn.
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Subsets and Splits