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The women in the Bible have always been portrayed as the downfall of their male counterparts. Eve makes Adam eat the apple, Delilah cuts Samson's hair... but what does the text really say about these women? This film investigates the historical, geographical, cultural and theological context of their stories. In a patriarchal society, they took risks and challenged the social order. They continue to inspire poets, theologians and artists today.
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Find out how you can become an engineer.
You may be aware of the most common engineering subspecialties, like civil engineering (the design of roads, bridges, buildings and the like), computer engineering (the design of computer hardware), and electrical and electronic engineering (the design of electrical and electronic systems, including computer systems and software). But did you know that there are literally hundreds of different job titles under the engineering umbrella in at least a dozen categories?
Agricultural and biological engineers: Combine their expertise in engineering technologies and biological sciences to develop, for example, agricultural machinery and structures. They also work to solve related environmental problems, such as soil erosion, and create new ways to use agricultural byproducts and natural resources.
Marine and ocean engineers: Design, build and maintain ships, aircraft carriers, submarines, tankers, tugboats and other large waterborne vehicles. A marine engineer, for example, might select and maintain the machinery on a large ship, while an ocean engineer may be involved in designing and operating an oil rig that's been built out at sea.
You can find additional information about specific engineering careers in Monster's Job Profiles, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook and Web sites for the professional associations affiliated with each engineering specialty.
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Not to be confused with Primary sector.
In the study of history as an academic discipline, a Primary Source (also called an original source or evidence) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. Similar definitions can be used in library science, and other areas of scholarship, although different fields have somewhat different definitions. In journalism, a primary source can be a person with direct knowledge of a situation, or a document written by such a person.
In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine their independence and reliability. In contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources." Sreedharan believes that primary sources have the most direct connection to the past and that they "speak for themselves" in ways that cannot be captured through the filter of secondary sources.
In scholarly writing, the objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources. Though the terms primary source and secondary source originated in historiography as a way to trace the history of historical ideas, they have been applied to many other fields. For example, these ideas may be used to trace the history of scientific theories, literary elements and other information that is passed from one author to another.
In scientific literature, a primary source is the original publication of a scientist's new data, results and theories. In political history, primary sources are documents such as official reports, speeches, pamphlets, posters, or letters by participants, official election returns and eyewitness accounts. In the history of ideas or intellectual history, the main primary sources are books, essays and letters written by intellectuals; these intellectuals may include historians, whose books and essays are therefore considered primary sources for the intellectual historian, though they are secondary sources in their own topical fields. In religious history, the primary sources are religious texts and descriptions of religious ceremonies and rituals.
A study of cultural history could include fictional sources such as novels or plays. In a broader sense primary sources also include artifacts like photographs, newsreels, coins, paintings or buildings created at the time. Historians may also take archaeological artifacts and oral reports and interviews into consideration. Written sources may be divided into three types.
Narrative sources or literary sources tell a story or message. They are not limited to fictional sources (which can be sources of information for contemporary attitudes) but include diaries, films, biographies, leading philosophical works and scientific works.
Diplomatic sources include charters and other legal documents which usually follow a set format.
Social documents are records created by organizations, such as registers of births and tax records.
In historiography, when the study of history is subject to historical scrutiny, a secondary source becomes a primary source. For a biography of a historian, that historian's publications would be primary sources. Documentary films can be considered a secondary source or primary source, depending on how much the filmmaker modifies the original sources.
"The definition of a primary source varies depending upon the academic discipline and the context in which it is used.
In the humanities, a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.
In the social sciences, the definition of a primary source would be expanded to include numerical data that has been gathered to analyze relationships between people, events, and their environment.
In the natural sciences, a primary source could be defined as a report of original findings or ideas. These sources often appear in the form of research articles with sections on methods and results."
Although many primary sources remain in private hands, others are located in archives, libraries, museums, historical societies, and special collections. These can be public or private. Some are affiliated with universities and colleges, while others are government entities. Materials relating to one area might be spread over a large number of different institutions. These can be distant from the original source of the document. For example, the Huntington Library in California houses a large number of documents from the United Kingdom.
In the US, digital copies of primary sources can be retrieved from a number of places. The Library of Congress maintains several digital collections where they can be retrieved. Some examples are American Memory and Chronicling America. The National Archives and Records Administration also has digital collections in Digital Vaults. The Digital Public Library of America searches across the digitized primary source collections of many libraries, archives, and museums. The Internet Archive also has primary source materials in many formats.
In the UK, the National Archives provides a consolidated search of its own catalogue and a wide variety of other archives listed on the Access to Archives index. Digital copies of various classes of documents at the National Archives (including wills) are available from DocumentsOnline. Most of the available documents relate to England and Wales. Some digital copies of primary sources are available from the National Archives of Scotland. Many County Record Offices collections are included in Access to Archives, while others have their own on-line catalogues. Many County Record Offices will supply digital copies of documents.
In other regions, Europeana has digitized materials from across Europe while the World Digital Library and Flickr Commons have items from all over the world. Trove has primary sources from Australia.
Most primary source materials are not digitized and may only be represented online with a record or finding aid. Both digitized and not digitized materials can be found through catalogs such as WorldCat, the Library of Congress catalog, the National Archives catalog, and so on.
History as an academic discipline is based on primary sources, as evaluated by the community of scholars, who report their findings in books, articles and papers. Arthur Marwick says "Primary sources are absolutely fundamental to history." Ideally, a historian will use all available primary sources that were created by the people involved at the time being studied. In practice some sources have been destroyed, while others are not available for research. Perhaps the only eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies, or oral interviews taken years later. Sometimes the only evidence relating to an event or person in the distant past was written or copied decades or centuries later. Manuscripts that are sources for classical texts can be copies of documents, or fragments of copies of documents. This is a common problem in classical studies, where sometimes only a summary of a book or letter has survived. Potential difficulties with primary sources have the result that history is usually taught in schools using secondary sources.
Historians studying the modern period with the intention of publishing an academic article prefer to go back to available primary sources and to seek new (in other words, forgotten or lost) ones. Primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives and special collections for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. A work on history is not likely to be taken seriously as scholarship if it only cites secondary sources, as it does not indicate that original research has been done.
However, primary sources – particularly those from before the 20th century – may have hidden challenges. "Primary sources, in fact, are usually fragmentary, ambiguous and very difficult to analyse and interpret." Obsolete meanings of familiar words and social context are among the traps that await the newcomer to historical studies. For this reason, the interpretation of primary texts is typically taught as part of an advanced college or postgraduate history course, although advanced self-study or informal training is also possible.
What is the purpose of the publication?
What are the bases of the author's conclusions?
Does the author agree or disagree with other authors of the subject?
Does the content agree with what you know or have learned about the issue?
In many fields and contexts, such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources." In addition, primary sources avoid the problem inherent in secondary sources in which each new author may distort and put a new spin on the findings of prior cited authors.
"A history, whose author draws conclusions from other than primary sources or secondary sources actually based on primary sources, is by definition fiction and not history at all."
However, a primary source is not necessarily more of an authority or better than a secondary source. There can be bias and tacit unconscious views which twist historical information.
"Original material may be... prejudiced, or at least not exactly what it claims to be."
The errors may be corrected in secondary sources, which are often subjected to peer review, can be well documented, and are often written by historians working in institutions where methodological accuracy is important to the future of the author's career and reputation. Historians consider the accuracy and objectiveness of the primary sources that they are using and historians subject both primary and secondary sources to a high level of scrutiny. A primary source such as a journal entry (or the online version, a blog), at best, may only reflect one individual's opinion on events, which may or may not be truthful, accurate, or complete.
Participants and eyewitnesses may misunderstand events or distort their reports, deliberately or not, to enhance their own image or importance. Such effects can increase over time, as people create a narrative that may not be accurate. For any source, primary or secondary, it is important for the researcher to evaluate the amount and direction of bias. As an example, a government report may be an accurate and unbiased description of events, but it may be censored or altered for propaganda or cover-up purposes. The facts can be distorted to present the opposing sides in a negative light. Barristers are taught that evidence in a court case may be truthful but may still be distorted to support or oppose the position of one of the parties.
Many sources can be considered either primary or secondary, depending on the context in which they are examined. Moreover, the distinction between primary and secondary sources is subjective and contextual, so that precise definitions are difficult to make. A book review, when it contains the opinion of the reviewer about the book rather than a summary of the book, becomes a primary source.
If a historical text discusses old documents to derive a new historical conclusion, it is considered to be a primary source for the new conclusion. Examples in which a source can be both primary and secondary include an obituary or a survey of several volumes of a journal counting the frequency of articles on a certain topic.
Whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change, depending upon the present state of knowledge within the field. For example, if a document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", since it is the closest known thing to an original source; but if the letter is later found, it may then be considered "secondary"
In some instances, the reason for identifying a text as the "primary source" may devolve from the fact that no copy of the original source material exists, or that it is the oldest extant source for the information cited.
Historians must occasionally contend with forged documents that purport to be primary sources. These forgeries have usually been constructed with a fraudulent purpose, such as promulgating legal rights, supporting false pedigrees, or promoting particular interpretations of historic events. The investigation of documents to determine their authenticity is called diplomatics.
↑ "Journalism: Primary Sources". Pepperdine University. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
↑ "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources". University Libraries, University of Maryland.
↑ "Primary and secondary sources". Ithaca College Library.
1 2 3 4 Kragh, Helge (1989). An Introduction to the Historiography of Science. Cambridge University Press. p. 121. ISBN 0-521-38921-6. [T]he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for.
1 2 Cipolla, Carlo M. (1992). Between Two Cultures:An Introduction to Economic History. W. W. Norton & Co. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-393-30816-7.
↑ Sreedharan, E. (2004). A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000. Orient Longman. p. 302. ISBN 81-250-2657-6. [I]t is through the primary sources that the past indisputably imposes its reality on the historian. That this imposition is basic in any understanding of the past is clear from the rules that documents should not be altered, or that any material damaging to a historian's argument or purpose should not be left out or suppressed. These rules mean that the sources or the texts of the past have an integrity and that they do indeed 'speak for themselves', and that they are necessary constraints through which past reality imposes itself on the historian.
↑ "Primary Sources - Religion". Research Guides at Tufts University. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
↑ Howell, Martha C.; Prevenier, Walter. (2001). From reliable sources : an introduction to historical method. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. pp. 20–22. ISBN 0-8014-8560-6.
↑ Cripps, Thomas (1995). "Historical Truth: An Interview with Ken Burns". American Historical Review. The American Historical Review, Vol. 100, No. 3. 100 (3): 741–764. doi:10.2307/2168603. JSTOR 2168603.
↑ "Primary Sources: what are they?" Archived 8 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine.. Lafayette College Library.
↑ Ross, Jeffrey Ian (2004). "Taking Stock of Research Methods and Analysis on Oppositional Political Terrorism". The American Sociologist. 35 (2): 26–37. doi:10.1007/BF02692395. The analysis of secondary source information is problematic. The further an investigator is from the primary source, the more distorted the information may be. Again, each new person may put his or her spin on the findings.
↑ Iredale, David (1973). Enjoying archives: what they are, where to find them, how to use them. Newton Abbot, David and Charles,. ISBN 0-7153-5669-0.
↑ Dalton, Margaret Stieg; Charnigo, Laurie (September 2004). "Historians and Their Information Sources". College & Research Libraries. 65 (5): 419. doi:10.5860/crl.65.5.400. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
↑ Delgadillo, Roberto; Lynch, Beverly (May 1999). "Future Historians: Their Quest for Information". College & Research Libraries. 60 (3): 245–259, at 253. [T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing.
↑ Princeton (2011). "Book reviews". Scholarly definition document. Princeton. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
↑ Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2011). "Book reviews". Scholarly definition document. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
1 2 Duffin, Jacalyn (1999). History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction. University of Toronto Press. p. 366. ISBN 0-8020-7912-1.
↑ Henige 1986, p. 292.
↑ "Introduction to record class R4". The National Archives. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
↑ Leppard, David (4 May 2008). "Forgeries revealed in the National Archives – Times Online". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
Benjamin, Jules R (2004). A Student's Guide to History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-40356-9.
Craver, Kathleen W (1999). Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in History. Westwood, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30749-0.
Wood Gray (1991) . Historian's Handbook: A Key to the Study and Writing of History. 2nd ed. Waveland Press; 1991. ISBN 978-0-88133-626-9.
Marius, Richard; Page, Melvin Eugene (2005). A short guide to writing about history. New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-0-321-22716-4.
Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen (2005). Til kilderne!: introduktion til historisk kildekritik (in Danish). [To the sources: Introduction to historical source criticism]. København: Gads Forlag. ISBN 978-87-12-03778-1.
Primary Sources from World War One and Two: War-letters.com Database of mailed letters to and from soldiers during major world conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to World War Two.
A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources from the University of Idaho.
Thehistorysite.org Links to many online history archival sources.
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Text: Hiromi Nomoto. A glass of beer is only twenty yuan. Music lovers can go there and hang out without worrying about dressing up formally.
The Shelter is often introduced in foreign language guidebooks. “If you do not know where to go to listen to good music, the Shelter is the place to go.” Even if you do not know the DJ who’ll be spinning music, the Shelter will guarantee the best music experience. Gary Wang, a producer from the Shelter who has managed other clubs, The Lab and Zongci KIN, will bring the amazing music. Many people will visit the club wanting the music. Then, the Shelter will fill up with an awesome energy.
Among the DJ’s who have performed at the Shelter are the DJ group, Kireek, who have won first place in the group division at the DMC (Disco Mixing Club) competition in which both professional and amateur DJ’s compete for the world championship; DJ Kentaro, the first Asian to have won the world championship; DJ CO MA, who has won the championship in the battle division. A leading figure in the scratch world, DJ Shortkut, a member of Invisibl Skratch Piklz who also influenced DJ Kentaro, has also performed there. No matter how famous they might be, all of these DJ’s have been carefully selected.
Because of the influence of Expo 2010 Shanghai China, the number of clubs has grown by three to four times more than before, and now their number is over-saturated. While most of these clubs are focused on profit, the Shelter does not limit what they do on the basis of money and connections. This is why the Shelter is the most important club in Shanghai.
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0.999902 |
There was a time when CERN was the Mecca of deep inelastic lepton-hadron scattering (DIS). Roughly 30-40 years ago, various muon and neutrino scattering experiments were pursued to develop the Quark-Parton Model of hadronic matter establishing Quantum Chromodynamics as the appropriate gauge field theory of strong interactions. At that time, CERN also hosted the proton-antiproton collider using the SPS for the discovery of the weak bosons W and Z. Not long ago, in 2012, the Conceptual Design Report of the Large Hadron Electron Collider (LHeC) was published , an approximately circular energy recovery linac (see Figure 1), with which electron-proton scattering would be able to complement searches, Higgs, QCD and heavy ion physics with the LHC, in its later phase of operation. Recently, the FCC study was launched at CERN and again the idea of synchronous hadron-hadron and hadron-lepton operation and physics analysis is under study, with perhaps an initial e+e- phase.
Why has DIS been such an interesting process that it is continuously developed? Much of this fascination had come with HERA at DESY, the first ever built ep collider. Without HERA we would know very little about the partonic structure of the proton and thus hardly be able to come to a quantitative understanding of the LHC physics. An example is the Higgs production cross section, which is proportional to the gluon momentum distribution squared, for which HERA delivered the only reliable information at the Bjorken x values of ~0.01 relevant to Higgs production at the LHC. DIS experiments resolve proton structure at dimensions 1/√Q2, where Q2 is the variable 4-momentum transfer squared. The LHeC [1,2] and its possible successor, the FCC-he collider , are designed to have a luminosity about 100-1000 times higher than HERA and will extend its Q2 range by a factor of more than 10 and 100, respectively. They can thus be expected to lead to a new understanding of quark-gluon dynamics, to possibly a discovery of deeper substructure or the spectroscopy of lepton-parton bound states as well as to new insight into the unification of forces. This may be crucial for the interpretation of new physics at the LHC in its high luminosity phase of operation, and later the FCC-hh, when the discovery ranges approach the large mass region, corresponding to Bjorken x values, for which the parton distributions in the proton are poorly known. With energy frontier electron-hadron colliders one will develop QCD much deeper and may possibly see it break.
Figure 1: Default configuration of the energy recovery linac, with which an electron beam of Ee=60 GeV energy can be generated and ep luminosities close to 1034cm-2 s-1 may be achieved in ep collisions, designed to proceed synchronous to pp operation. For the FCC there are two options under consideration, a combination of the LHeC ERL with the 50 TeV proton beam, which would be limited to the ERL energy and to smaller positron intensities, and the combination of the electron and proton FCC rings to achieve even higher energies, with Ee up to 175 GeV, and high luminosity for both electrons and positrons. The development of superconducting RF and the design of an ERL test facility at CERN has begun in international collaborations. It promises exciting technology developments of principal importance since the ERL technique is a unique way of economising the power consumption which possibly is the biggest common challenge of the next generation of energy frontier accelerators. An ep detector for the LHeC is under design, and its extension to the FCC-he is being considered. Clearly, these developments are open for participation - in physics, the accelerator and detector areas.
The discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN has opened a new era of particle physics. It is exciting to realise that with a cross section of 200 fb at the LHeC, and even 1-2 pb at the FCC-he, genuine Higgs factories can be built with the ep colliders under design at moderate cost. In charged and neutral current DIS, see Figure 2, rare and complicated decay channels, such as H into charm or bottom quark pairs and the Higgs self-coupling (at FCC-he) will become accessible, and H decay distributions can be measured accurately. At very low parton momentum fractions, x down to 10-7, the famous but linear DGLAP evolution equations are expected to break, QCD may relate to SUSY, and data will become accessible, which are of crucial relevance for the 100 TeV pp collider as well as for ultra-high energy neutrino scattering. With the extension of the kinematic range by 4-5 orders of magnitude, deep inelastic lepton-ion (eA) scattering at CERN has the potential to revolutionise the physics of neutron, deuteron and nuclear substructure and of the Quark-Gluon Plasma, a vital complement to AA and pA physics.
Figure 2: Leading order diagram for the production and decays of the Higgs boson in charged and neutral current deep inelastic electron-proton scattering. The cross section at the LHeC is about 200 fb and at the FCC-he it reaches 1-2 pb giving access to the Higgs self-coupling. The unique CC or NC final state, which is free of pile-up, allows precision H measurements to be made, complementing the LHC, which are being studied further [2,3], following . With its unprecedented precision in the determination of PDFs and the strong coupling, the LHeC may assist in transforming the LHC into a precision Higgs factory. Since the Higgs in pp collisions at the FCC-hh is produced at even lower x than at the LHC (x ~MH/√s), it will be crucial to measure PDFs down to very small x (10-6) in ep, and to establish the likely new, non-linear laws of their Q2 evolution. All this challenges the theoretical development of QCD considerably.
The envisaged operation of ep and eA colliders would lead to a renaissance of deep inelastic scattering and complement the pp and ee exploration of new energy frontier phenomena which are still hidden by nature. Direction for this development is provided by a dedicated International Advisory Committee, chaired by emeritus DG of CERN, Herwig Schopper, which together with a new ep coordination group was recently established by CERN for a period of four years, the envisaged duration of the FCC study. With the CERN hadron beams, the future of energy frontier DIS is open for jointly shaping it.
The LHeC Study Group, “A Large Hadron Electron Collider at CERN”, JPhysG:39(2012)075001, arXiv:1206.2913.
Max Klein, “Deep Inelastic Scattering at High Energy”, Summary Talk on FCC-he at the FCC kickoff meeting, Geneva, 15.2.2014, see .
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A newly published article written by a former WHO vaccine committee member has revealed that estimates for pertussis vaccine efficacy have been greatly inflated because of inaccurate case definitions adopted by the WHO in 1991 which required laboratory confirmation and 21 days or more of paroxysmal cough, excluding and therefore concealing a veritable submerged iceberg of vaccine-resistant cases of pertussis infection.
I was a member of the WHO committee and disagreed with the primary case definition because it was clear at that time that this definition would eliminate a substantial number of cases and therefore inflate reported efficacy values.4–11 Nevertheless, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the Food and Drug Administration accepted this definition, and package inserts of the US-licensed DTaP vaccines reflect this.
The article, written by James D. Cherry, and published in the July. 2012 edition of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pointed out that following the 2010 pertussis epidemic in California, "there was considerable concern in the press and in public health communications about the possible contribution of vaccine failures to the problem." At that time, the media and government health officials focused on the lack of sufficient vaccine coverage and subsequent waning herd immunity, without questioning whether pertussis vaccination actually results in effective immunization, which clearly it was not.
Perhaps already a tacit acknowledgement that the vaccines are much less effective than the manufacturers state is the fact that the CDC recommends infants and children get the DTaP vaccine no less than 5 times by age 6 (2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and 15 months through 18 months of age, with a booster at 4 through 6 years of age).
This is all the more suspect considering that crowded conditions, poor nutrition, lack of hygiene and sanitation, and other environmental factors which affect immune function (immune state determines susceptibility to infection) are not even part of the discussion. Furthermore, a great number of serious, if not also sometimes fatal adverse effects have been identified to be unintended, adverse effects of pertussis and DPaT vaccination. How can we continue to justify, therefore, the use of a vaccine that lacks effectiveness which may also cause severe harm to children who are in their pre-vaccinated state already healthy?
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The Others, also known as white walkers, cold gods, and white shadows, are a species of humanoid beings that exist in the north beyond the Wall. As they have not been seen for eight thousand years, they are considered to be extinct.
The Others are tall and gaunt, with flesh pale as milk. They have cold blue eyes that have been described as burning like ice, or being as bright as blue stars. Others have pale blue blood and shiny bones like milkglass.
According to George R. R. Martin, the Others "are strange, beautiful… think, oh… the Sidhe made of ice, something like that… a different sort of life… inhuman, elegant, dangerous." Further, although Old Nan describes the Others as "dead things", Martin has stated that the Others are not dead. However, the Night's King's queen, presumably an Other due to her blue eyes and pale skin, is described as a "corpse queen" on account of her white, cold skin.
The Others wear delicate, reflective, camouflaging armor that shifts in color with every step. According to comic book artist Tommy Patterson, Martin told him that "the reflective, camouflaging armor" is able to pick up "the images of the things around it like a clear, still pond."
The Others appear to be superior swordsmen, wielding thin crystal swords. The pale swords are extremely sharp, capable of moving through ringmail as if it is silk. The swords are alive with moonlight and have a faint blue glow to them. When the sword touches a steel blade, only a high, thin sound, similar to an animal screaming in pain, can be heard instead of the sound of metal on metal. When the blades brush the flames of a torch, a screech as sharp as a needle can be heard. When asked what substance the swords of the Others are made from, Martin answered "Ice. But not like regular old ice. The Others can do things with ice that we can't imagine and make substances of it." The blades the Others use seem to be rather cold; They are able to cover a metal blade in frost, and shatter a steel blade.
The Others are capable of resurrecting dead men or creatures as wights. Only burning the bodies of the deceased can prevent the Others from resurrecting them. Martin has refused to answer whether or not the Others control these resurrected people and animals in the same way a warg or skinchanger can control an animal. There are tales of Others riding the corpses of dead animals such as bears, direwolves, mammoths, and horses. Some tales also speak of Others riding "giant ice spiders".
The Others go lightly on the snow and leave no prints to mark their passage. Their movements can be lightning quick and graceful. Extreme cold accompanies them, but it is unknown whether the Others only come when it is so cold, or whether they bring the cold with them. White mist also rises when they are near. They might appear during snowstorms or mist, and melt away when the skies clear. They hide from the light of the sun and emerge at night; although once again some stories claim that their coming brings the night. They are said also hate iron and fire. The language the Others speak is unknown, but has been described as sounding like "the cracking of ice on a winter lake", and their laughter as being as sharp as icicles.
According to Old Nan, the Others hate "every creature with hot blood in its veins". Stannis Baratheon calls them "demons made of ice and snow and cold". Melisandre, a priestess of R'hllor, believes that the Others are the "cold children" of the Great Other, allegedly an evil god of darkness, cold, and death who wages eternal war against R'hllor. According to Tommy Patterson, "[Martin] spoke a lot about what [the Others] were not, but what they were was harder to put into words." The wildlings believe the Others and their wights can smell life, or rather its warmth. According to the stories of Old Nan, the wildlings give the women they steal from the Seven Kingdoms to the Others, and used to lay with the Others during the Long Night to birth half-human children. According to his wives, the wildling Craster leaves his sons for the Others, who he calls "the gods", come the "white cold", and, when he does not have any sons to give, gives them sheep. Craster's wives believe that Craster's sons become Others as well. Craster calls himself a godly man, and as such believes he does not have to fear any attacks from the Others or their wights.
The Others have a few known weaknesses that are recorded in ancient texts. One is obsidian, otherwise called dragonglass or "frozen fire". Ancient texts also record a weakness to "dragonsteel", which some think may be Valyrian steel. When asked about the ability of Valyrian steel to kill an Other, Martin simply replied that "the Night's Watch would like to know as well". Fire is known to dismay the Others. Mance Rayder and his wife Dalla believe that the Wall prevents the Others from crossing into the Seven Kingdoms.
According to legend, the Others came from the Lands of Always Winter six or eight thousand years ago, and brought with them cold and darkness that lasted a generation: the Long Night. They resurrected dead men and animals to serve them. In the Battle for the Dawn, they were finally defeated, by the first men of the Night's Watch and the children of the forest, an alliance made possible by the last hero. When asked whether there was a closer relationship between the Others and the children of the forest than there thus far has seemed to be, Martin replied that it was possible, and that the topic would be explored later on in the story.
The Night's King, the thirteenth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, is said to have married a woman with pale skin and blue eyes, matching the description of the Others. Reportedly, she was a sorceress. He brought her to the Nightfort, where he proclaimed himself king and her his queen, and bound his Sworn Brothers in the Night's Watch to his will. After a thirteen-year reign, he was defeated by Brandon the Breaker, King of Winter, and Joramun, King-Beyond-the-Wall, after which it was discovered that he had been sacrificing to the Others.
In his Lies of the Ancients Archmaester Fomas speculates that the Others were a tribe of the First Men who had been living in the far north. Fomas suggests that the Long Night pressured these men, the ancestors of the current wildlings, to migrate south. Over the years, they became more and more monstrous in the telling of the tales about them, because the Night's Watch and the Starks wanted to seem heroic. However, Lies of the Ancients is little regarded nowadays, as it contains erroneous claims about Valyria, the Reach, and the westerlands.
The Wall was built to protect the people of the realms in Westeros from the threats of the north, specifically the Others. However, the Others have not been seen since the Long Night ended, and are now regarded as nothing more than fairy tales to frighten the little children. Some people believe they never existed at all. They are often mentioned in curses, such as "The Others take his eyes."
During a ranging beyond the Wall, Ser Waymar Royce is confronted by a group of at least five Others who speak an icy language. Waymar duels one of the Others, but the ranger is blinded when his sword shatters. The laughing group butchers Waymar, who then rises as a wight to slay Will.
Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, in conversation with Tyrion Lannister at Castle Black, refers to white walkers being glimpsed by fisherfolk on the shore near Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Tyrion discounts them, however, by mentioning mythical merlings.
Old Nan tells Bran Stark about the Long Night, when white walkers moved through woods.
Traveling in the wolfswood, Bran encounters six wildlings and deserters from the Night's Watch, who discuss whether to take the boy hostage and return north to sell him to Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall. Out of fear for encountering the white walkers, one of the men decides not to do so.
At Craster's Keep, Gilly tells Jon Snow that Craster gives up his infant sons to the cold gods; Jon determines she is speaking of the Others.
Encamped at the Fist of the First Men, the Night's Watch hear three horn blasts signifying Others. The brothers are then attacked by wights in the fight at the Fist.
While the survivors retreat through the haunted forest back to Craster's Keep, an Other knocks away Grenn's torch and kills Small Paul. Samwell Tarly stabs it in the throat with a dragonglass dagger, however, and Sam hears a sound similar to the cracking of ice beneath one's foot. The Other's armor, flesh, and bones melt away as a result, dissolving away until nothing remains. Sam is dubbed Sam the Slayer, which he finds mocking.
During the mutiny at Craster's Keep, one of Craster's wives warns Sam that Craster's sons will soon arrive for Gilly's newborn boy.
At the parley during the battle beneath the Wall, Mance Rayder reveals to Jon that he is trying to lead the free folk south of the Wall to protect them from the Others and their wights.
Sam finds limited information about the Others while researching in the library of Castle Black.
Jon Snow, now the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and Tormund discuss their common foe, the Others, when Tormund's four thousand wildlings cross the Wall. Jon asks if the Others troubled the wildlings on their march to the Wall, and Tormund informs him that the Others had been with them all the way, though they never attacked the free folk in force.
There are notable differences between the Others in the novels and HBO's television adaptation, Game of Thrones. In the television adaptation, the Others are known only as White Walkers. In the audio commentary for "Winter Is Coming", producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss explained that the change was made to avoid confusion that may arise between references to the race known as the Others and "others" meaning other groups or people within the show. Additionally, George R. R. Martin has stated that the change was decided upon early in the development process to avoid confusion with the Others from ABC's show Lost, the mysterious inhabitants of the island on which that show mostly takes place.
Unlike the strange beauty Martin describes them as having in the book series, the White Walkers of Game of Thrones are depicted with frightening, emaciated appearances. In Valar Morghulis, the tenth and final episode of the second season, Others appear looking like undead men without skin, their bones and muscles white from ice and snow. Their eyes are bright blue. They wear little armor and no camouflage. In "Oathkeeper", several White Walkers appear dressed all in black.
The language spoken by the Others, unnamed in the book series, is called Skroth in the TV series. Although it was created for the first episode of Season 1 by David J. Peterson, it was eventually not used. The language has been described to sound "ice-cracking" and "pretty scratchy".
The leader of the White Walkers is known as the Night King in Game of Thrones. He is first seen in "Oathkeeper", transforming Craster's last son, and next in the Season 5 episode "Hardhome". He differs in appearance by having a ring of small icy horns atop his skull that form a natural crown. The synopsis for "Oathkeeper" on the HBO Viewer's Guide originally listed this specific character as the Night's King, a legendary figure that has been mentioned a few times in the novels, though this was later removed. It is unknown whether this was due to an error in identification or the fact that this would be a major spoiler.
While in the novels, the backstory of the Others has barely been revealed, the Season 6 episode "The Door" has Bran Stark seeing a vision of the children of the forest creating an Other from a captured First Man, in an attempt to create a defense against the invasion of the First Men.
The Others are as dead as the children of the forest, gone eight thousand years. Maester Luwin will tell you they never lived at all. No living man has ever seen one.
If the Others ever come for us, I pray they have archers, because you lot are fit for nothing more than arrow fodder.
The Others are only a story, a tale to make children shiver. If they ever lived at all, they are gone eight thousand years.
The cold gods. The ones in the night. The white shadows.
A godly man got no cause to fear such. I said as much to that Mance Rayder once, when he come sniffing round. He never listened, no more'n you crows with your swords and your bloody fires. That won't help you none when the white cold comes. Only the gods will help you then. You best get right with the gods.
Melisandre: Necromancy animates these wights, yet they are still only dead flesh. Steel and fire will serve for them. The ones you call the Others are something more.
Stannis: Demons made of snow and ice and cold. The ancient enemy. The only enemy that matters.
They're never far, you know. They won't come out by day, not when that old sun's shining, but don't think that means they went away. Shadows never go away. Might be you don't see them, but they're always clinging to your heels.
↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Stormlands: The Coming of the First Men.
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 23, Jon III.
↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 A Game of Thrones, Prologue.
↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 18, Samwell I.
↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 24, Bran IV.
↑ 7.0 7.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 56, Bran IV.
↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 The World of Ice & Fire, The Wall and Beyond: The Night's Watch.
↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 5, Samwell I.
↑ 11.0 11.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 52, Jon VII.
↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 33, Samwell II.
↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 58, Jon XII.
↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 78, Samwell V.
↑ 20.0 20.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 1, Bran I.
↑ 23.0 23.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 73, Jon X.
↑ 24.0 24.1 The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: The Long Night.
↑ Game of Thrones, Season 2, "Valar Morghulis".
↑ 34.0 34.1 Game of Thrones, Season 4, "Oathkeeper".
↑ Game of Thrones, Season 5, "Hardhome".
↑ Game of Thrones, Season 6, "The Door".
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0.958294 |
There are two good reasons to make a healthy recipe smoothie: 1) They taste great; and 2) They are filled with lots of fruit that have health benefits for your body. Here’s a sample of popular smoothie recipes that can be a positive addition to your daily diet.
Orange Julius Smoothie – This is a delicious drink made with orange juice, milk, and vanilla extract. The Orange Julius franchise is responsible for creating this popular smoothie, and if you can find an Orange Julius location in your town, you’ll be in for a real treat.
Strawberry Orange Smoothie – Made with fresh or frozen strawberries, orange juice and honey. A wonderful sunkissed drink to help you wake up in the mornings.
Chocolate Banana Smoothie – Made with a ripe banana, chocolate syrup and milk. A healthier way to get your chocolate fix!
Classic Blueberry Smoothie – Made with fresh or frozen blueberries, frozen juice and yogurt. Blueberries have lots of antioxidants, so you can enjoy this knowing you’re helping your body stay strong and healthy.
Tropical Five Fruit Smoothie – Made with banana, kiwi, mango, papaya and orange juice. Escape to the tropics with this exotic blend of flavors. Mangoes are packed with vitamins. A great energy recipe smoothie.
Creamsicle Smoothie – Made with fresh cantaloupe melon, orange juice, vanilla extract and honey. This yummy drink will remind you of the ice cream version you enjoyed on lazy summer days as a child.
Berry Brainstorm Smoothie – Made with frozen strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, juice and yogurt. The official drink of superheroes and people who need extra brain power to accomplish amazing tasks. A great frozen fruit smoothie recipe.
Pina Colada Smoothie – Made with pineapple, banana, coconut and milk. A tasty slimmed-down version of the popular alcoholic drink. The real pina colada has 644 calories, ouch!
Cherry Vanilla Smoothie – Made with frozen cherries, raspberries, vanilla yogurt and milk. If you love cherries drenched in creamy vanilla, this is your smoothie.
Creamy Coffee Smoothie – Made with instant coffee, sugar and heavy cream. Okay, maybe it’s a little heavy on the calorie side, but this is a great way to add variety to your daily java routine.
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0.999986 |
Cloud analytics is a set of services involving data analytics and business intelligence enabled by cloud computing. In theory, it entails similar features and capabilities used by conventional data analytics or business intelligence teams but integrates the cloud in some (or all) portions of the process. These may include data storage, data processing, or usage of apps hosted on the cloud.
In order to adopt cloud analytics, companies typically collaborate with a technology provider specializing in cloud services. These providers commonly offer cloud analytics as a “SaaS” (software as a service) solution, but some businesses may require a specific implementation, depending on their needs. An example of a custom cloud implementation is a hybrid cloud, which is a computing environment that allows data and applications to move fluidly across the public cloud (a hosted environment shared with other businesses) and private cloud (private IT infrastructure managed within a company and protected by a firewall).
Why might a company need a hybrid cloud? Companies that rely on high computing power or demand large processing capacity may find that day-to-day business operations vary—some months or seasons may be busierthan others—and they want the flexibility of expanding their storage solution or data processing systems, on demand. A typical scenario could involve basic tasks powered through the cloud and hosted in a third-party data center, while confidential information or sensitive applications may be retained on-premise or within the confines of a company’s private data warehouse.
Given the abundance of data produced by computers and other digital devices, there is a need to expand storage and processing capacities, in order to accommodate increased analytical reporting needs. Cloud analytics provides a solution. Analytics powered by the cloud provides companies with the necessary infrastructure to store data, and the required agility to recover it as needed. It gives companies the best of both worlds: the reliability of a solid foundation and the flexibility of a nimble environment to expand or scale down.
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0.938845 |
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com -- IN 1996, California's voters passed Proposition 209, which outlawed racial quotas for college admission. That didn't mean the end of the quest for racial quotas and the euphemisms for it: affirmative action, diversity and multiculturalism. The diversity lobby has rigged up a new and devious way around the law and court decisions in order to have race-based college admission. They've come up with a policy called "comprehensive review" that could well become college-admissions currency across the land.
Last year, Dr. Richard Atkinson, president of the University of California system, called for the elimination of the widely used SAT as an admissions requirement for the system's 10 universities. He argued that the SAT is biased against minorities.
The SAT is not biased -- it accurately predicts a student's class standing at the end of his freshman year. In fact, the SAT over-predicts black freshmen standing, a standing higher than that actually achieved.
Atkinson and the diversity gang never point out specific exam questions that are racist or culturally biased. A typical arithmetic exam question is: "There are 20 packages of bagels on a shelf in a store, and each package contains the same number of bagels. If three of these packages contain a total of 18 bagels, how many bagels are there in seven of these packages? (A) 21, (B) 36, (C) 40, (D) 42 and (E) 49."
You might ask what's racist or culturally biased about that question? I don't know, but Atkinson and the diversity gang might argue that it's culturally biased, since bagels aren't a staple among blacks and Hispanics.
JWR's John Leo did a bit of research on the University of California's comprehensive review admissions policy. University admissions offices will give extra points and consideration to students who have coped with "personal struggle" and "difficult personal and family situations or circumstances." A student's chances for admission will increase if he's overcome a physical handicap, was fired or downsized from a job, was born illegitimately or comes from a family where neither parent went to high school.
Leo says that "unusual family disruption" is also a plus, and so are any "unusual medical/emotional problems" on the part of the applicant. That means if your father beats your mother up or abandons her, or you've made a few suicide attempts, you're moved up a notch or two over the more academically qualified students who are short on familial pathology.
Comprehensive review is simply an underhanded diversity tactic to evade laws and court rulings against racial quotas. To make use of race-based admissions plausibly deniable, the University of California's comprehensive review plan contains a pious statement that it must not be used to promote racial preferences.
This tactic is both disgusting and racially condescending. More blacks and Hispanics will be admitted to the University of California by associating them not with academic excellence, but with social and psychological pathology and dysfunction. It teaches black youngsters that victimhood is the ticket to college and academic preparation is a side issue. It's a concession that blacks cannot academically compete and to expect them to do so is racism.
I doubt that the architects of "comprehensive review" are racists -- they're probably well-meaning leftists. But for 50 years, the well-meaning leftist agenda has been able to do to blacks what Jim Crow and harsh discrimination could never have done: family breakdown, illegitimacy and low academic achievement. The University of California's diversity agenda is more of the same. What's worse is that too many black people either go along with it or sit in silence, conceding that black youngsters cannot compete academically.
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0.999174 |
What’s so great about being typical?
For most people, it’s impossible to appreciate the world of today until today has become tomorrow.
Do you want to be like most people, or do you want to lead?
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0.991479 |
Work productivity is one of the many factors that determine a company’s success in its business venture. As it is, this aspect is determined by several factors, such as hiring a quality set of workers who are capable of performing the necessary duties and responsibilities assigned to them and maintaining high levels of satisfaction among the employees. To put it simply, the efficiency that dictates the chances of having increased productivity largely relies on workers being contented with their jobs and showing excellence in their work performance.
While there are other factors aside from the aforementioned such as great top-to-bottom management, transparency, and rightful business practices, none of these is more interesting than office design. In other words, workplace aesthetics can also have a direct effect towards workforce’s satisfaction with their respective jobs and, on a grand scale, overall productivity.
How good office design boosts a company’s productivity?
Numerous studies have been conducted to show the direct correlation between workplace aesthetics and company productivity. Indeed, the physical working environment—the proverbial four corners of the office—is the most essential factor in determining a worker’s ability to focus with his or her tasks. On the macro scale, it is an all-important factor in defining a workforce’s capability to perform harmoniously in the workplace.
A good office layout boosts productivity by having it integrated with the business objectives and the vision-mission statements of the company. Likewise, it is important to take into account comfort, privacy, flexibility, and access in devising an office layout, as these are crucial in helping workers becoming more productive. Unfortunately, not all company executives are aware of the fact that office design promotes productivity at work. Even though they knew of the fact, some of them would not consider it as something that is worth investing.
Whether bridging software companies are starting their business operations from scratch or are redecorating their current office spaces, it is important that they establish a physical workplace that would project not just their image or brand towards their customers or clients, but also increase productivity among employees. Many established companies invest on ergonomically designed office furniture and custom made items.
Cleanliness of every workstation. Workers are encouraged to personalize their own workspace in the office, but it is also equally important that they prioritize cleaning and organizing their office stuff before starting their workday. This includes organizing all equipment, supplies, furniture, and other office items. That way, workers are able to focus with their work and avoid distractions that could ruin their workflow.
This is an important aspect of good office design that cannot be also ignored, because denying workers the comfort to perform their jobs would facilitate a drastic decrease in productivity. Indeed, having a table and chair at work must put into account posture when sitting and the position of the arms and eyes towards the monitor and the keyboard.
Noise reduction. Any work environment has its own noise level, which is dependent on how many people are in the workplace and the design of the office. However, it still pays to have noise reduced as low as possible, knowing that most, if not all, employees tolerate such when they do work. Generally, noise distracts workers and increases their stress levels, which could jeopardize their productivity.
Truly, office design can pay great dividends for bridging software companies who are trying to become successful with their ventures. Taking into consideration lighting, ergonomics, noise reduction, cleanliness, and other factors not mentioned above would definitely help employees satisfied with their work and employers ensure continuity as an organization.
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0.971583 |
The Greater Korean Empire (Korean: 대한제국, hanja: 大韓帝國) was an empire of Korea that succeeded the Joseon Dynasty.
In October 1897, Emperor Gojong proclaimed the new entity at Gyeongungung Palace and oversaw the partially successful modernization of the military, economy, land system, education system, and various industries. However, it was not a radical reform, and Korea steadily become subordinated to the larger powers of Japan and Russia. On August 22, 1910, Korea was annexed by Imperial Japan, which defeated the Russian power in 1905.
The Sino-Japanese War marked the rapid decline of any power the Joseon Dynasty of Korea had managed to hold against foreign interference, as the battles of the conflict itself had been fought on Korean soil and the surrounding seas. With its newfound preeminence over the waning and weak Qing Dynasty, Japan had delegates negotiate the Treaty of Shimonoseki with the Qing emissaries, through which Japan wrested control over the Liaodong Peninsula from the Qing (a move designed to prevent the southern expansion of Japan's new rival, Russia), and, more importantly to Korea. However, Russia recognized this agreement as an act against its interests in northeastern China and eventually brought France and Germany to its side in saying that the Liaodong Peninsula should be repatriated to the Qing China.
At the time, Japan was powerless to resist such foreign pressure, especially by nations that it considered far more advanced and which it sought to emulate, and as such relinquished its claim to the Liaodong Peninsula. With the success of the three-country intervention, Russia emerged as another major power in East Asia, replacing the Qing Dynasty as the entity that the Joseon court's many government officials advocated close ties with to prevent more Japanese meddling in Korean politics. Queen Min (later became Empress Myeongseong), the consort of King Gojong, also recognized this change and formally established closer diplomatic relations with Russia to counter Japanese influence.
Queen Min began to emerge as a key figure in higher-level Korean counteraction against Japanese influence. Japan, seeing its designs endangered by the queen, quickly replaced its ambassador to Korea, Inoue Kaoru, with Miura Goro, a diplomat with a background in the Japanese military. It is widely known that he orchestrated the assassination of Queen Min on October 8, 1895, at her residence at the Geoncheong Palace, the official sleeping quarters of the king within Gyeongbok Palace.
With the assassination of his wife Empress Myeongseong, King Gojong and Crown Prince (later became Emperor Sunjong) fled to the Russian legation in 1896. During the time from Queen Min's death to the king's return from Russian protection, Korea underwent another major upheaval both at home and abroad. By 1894, new laws passed by pro-Japanese progressives in the royal cabinet forced through long-desired reforms aimed at revamping Korea's antiquated society. These laws were called the Gabo Reforms referring to the year (1894) in which they began.
Meanwhile, the new reforms aimed at modernizing Korean society soon attracted controversy from within. Anti-Japanese sentiment, which had already become entrenched in the minds of commoners and aristocrats alike during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), became pervasive in the royal court and upper echelons of society following the Ganghwa Treaty of 1876 and soon extended explosively to most Koreans following perceived Japanese meddling in court politics and the assassination of Empress Myeongseong. However, the new and modern reforms pushed forward by the pro-Japanese progressives, the most controversial of which was the mandatory cutting of male hair buns (it was a tradition in Korea), ignited further resentment and discontent. This led to the uprising of the Eulmi temporary armies aimed at avenging the assassination of Empress Myeongseong.
In 1896, Seo Jae-pil, a naturalized citizen of the United States and the man behind the Tongnip Sinmun (독립 신문), or the "Independent Newspaper", formed the so-called Independence Club (독립 협회) in cooperation with progressives who desired autonomy from external influences, mainly of that of Japan. The Independence Association, once limited as an organized movement that was led by and included only government officials, soon expanded to include civilians from all classes. The Independence Association stressed the need for a reform-oriented government policy that would eventually lead to full independence. The association also regularly held conferences to strengthen national morale. It collected money to continue the issuance of regular editions of the Independent Newspaper and to demolish the Yeongeunmun Gate and construct the Independence Gate at that very site.
In 1897, King Gojong, yielding to rising pressure from both overseas and the demands of the Independence Association-led public opinion, returned to Gyeongungung (modern-day Deoksugung). There, he proclaimed the founding of the Empire of Korea, officially redesignated the national title as such, and declared the new era name Gwangmu (Hangul: 광무, Hanja: 光武) (meaning warrior of light), effectively severing Korea's superficial historic ties as a tributary of Qing Dynasty, which Korea had adhered to since the prior Manchurian invasion in 1636. King Gojong became the Gwangmu Emperor, the first imperial head of state and hereditary sovereign of the Empire of Korea. This marked the complete end of the old world order and traditional amicable dependency system in the Far East. Korea's new status as an empire meant "Completely independence from Qing's sphere of influence" which means Korea was not influenced from Qing externally according to the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895 and also implemented (at least nominally) the "full and complete" independence according to the treaty.
The name, meaning "Great Han Empire," was chosen to indicate the revival of the Samhan confederacies of the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea, in the tradition of naming new states after historic states (Gubon Sincham, 舊本新參, 구본신참).
A group of Korean officials and intellectuals felt great necessity of the comprehensive reform of the country, after the observation tour of other modernized countries. More and more intellectuals were informed of the Western civilization and became conscious of the modernized powerful nations of Europe and Western Asia. Later, the progressives within the group initiated The Gabo Reform in 1894 and the moderate reformists carried out the Gwangmu Reform during the Great Korean Empire.
Yi Yong-ik, Chief of the Bureau of Currency during the Korean Empire.
The office building of the Seoul Electric Company.
During Gwangmu period, Western-style official uniforms were introduced in Korea. At the start, the Korean Emperor had begun to wear Prussian-style royal attire along with Korean diplomats, who wore Western suits. In 1900, Western attire became the official uniform for the Korean civil officials. Several years later, all Korean soldiers and policemen were assigned to wear Western uniform.
In the military sphere, the Korean army as it existed in the early 1890s consisted of about 5,000 soldiers, but was, according to one contemporary British assessment, "badly armed, drilled, clothed, and fed" and thus "practically useless". Yet training by Russian officers beginning in 1896 led to the organization of a 1,000-strong royal bodyguard armed with Berdan rifles that served as the core of an improved army. From this core unit, soldiers were sometimes transferred to other units, which included five regiments of about 900 men each.
In 1897, the cadastral survey project was launched by the Gwangmu government, aiming at modernizing the landownership system. In order to apply Western surveying methods, American surveyors were hired. After the survey, a property title “Jigye”, showing the exact dimension of the land, were supposed to be issued by the authorities concerned. That reform was closely involved to the reform of land tax system, which was conducted under the leadership of Yi Yong-ik, who also carried out the monetary reforms in Korea. The project was interrupted owing to the Russo-Japanese war in 1904–1905, after having finished about two-thirds of the whole land.
In that time, modern urban infrastructures were built by the Gwangmu government. In 1898, Gwangmu Emperor authorized the creation of a joint venture with American businessmen. In consequence, Hanseong Electric Company, operating a public electrical lightning network and an electric streetcar system was founded. And Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company had an American connection as well. In 1902, six years after the first introduction of telephone in Korea, the first long-distance public phone was installed.
During the Gwangmu period, the industrial promotion policy was also conducted by the Korean government. It gave support to found technical and industrial schools. In that time, along with modernized weaving factories which were established to meet demand for textiles on domestic market, technological innovations in the field of weaving industry were occurred in Korea. For instance, spinning and weaving machines were made for producing silk, so as to be substituted for high-cost machines from abroad.
However, Gwangmu Reform was not a radical because of foreign liabilities, suppression of democracy, and slow pace of that. As a result, Korea was sandwiched between struggle of Japan and Russia.
On August 22, 1904, the first treaty between Japan and Korea, known as First Japan-Korea Convention, was signed. The Taft-Katsura Agreement (also known as the Taft-Katsura Memorandum) was issued on July 17, 1905, and was not actually a secret pact or agreement between the US and Japan, but rather a set of notes regarding discussions on US-Japanese relations between members of the governments of the United States and Japan. The Japanese Prime Minister Katsura Taro used the opportunity presented by Secretary of War William Howard Taft's stopover in Tokyo to extract a statement from (representative of the Roosevelt Administration) Taft's feeling toward the Korea question. Taft expressed in the Memorandum how a suzerain relationship with Japan guiding Korea would "contribute to permanent peace in the Far East".
In September 1905, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Portsmouth ending the Russo-Japanese War and firmly establishing Japan's consolidation of influence on Korea. Secret diplomatic contacts were sent by the Gwangmu Emperor in the fall of 1905 to entities outside of Korea presenting Korea's desperate case to preserve their sovereignty because normal diplomatic channels were no longer an option due to the constant surveillance by the Japanese.
On November 17, 1905 the Eulsa Treaty (known also as "1905 Agreement", "The Five Article Treaty" or "Second Japan-Korean Convention") was signed in Korea even before Dr. Homer Hulbert's mission entered Washington. Reportedly, the seal of the Korean Foreign Ministry was snatched and pressed on the document which had been prepared by the Japanese. One week after the forced "treaty" the State Department withdrew its US legation from Korea even before Korea notified the US of their new "protectorate" status.
Gwangmu Emperor sent three secret emissaries, Yi Jun, Yi Sang-Seol and Yi Wi-Jong to the Hague, Netherlands in 1907.
The empire began with the law and perception of the international system at the time stacked against what was a slowly modernizing country. In the end, a weak and unmodernized military, the lack of a clear concept of sovereignty, and the remaining legacy of Korea's suzerain relationship with Qing held Korea back from fending off foreign encroachment. Eventually the Gwangmu Emperor was forced to abdicate in 1907 in favor of his son, Emperor Sunjong, who became the second and last emperor of the Empire of Korea, due to his attempt to send delegates to the Hague Peace Conference (Hague Convention of 1907) in violation of the arbitrarily implemented Eulsa Treaty. The delegation at The Hague was led by Yi Sang-seol and his deputy Yi Jun, Yi Wi-jong presented a diplomatic attempt to reclaim the Empire's sovereignty. Although Korea pleaded its case to the powerful members of colonial elite nations at The Hague, the view of protectorate status of Japan from the growing Japanese influences over Korea seemed natural and beneficial at the height of colonialism in the first decade of the twentieth century to the Westerners.
On August 22, 1910, the Korean Empire was annexed by Japan with the forced Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, beginning a 35-year period of Japanese colonial rule which stripped Korea's sovereignty.
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0.958213 |
How do I measure for a bridesmaid's dress?
Can I wear black to my daugthers wedding?
My first response is ... how does the bride feel about you wearing black? It used to be that, wearing black was a form of protest. but today's times, it is a very common color in weddings. So I suggest, If the bride is ok with it, go for it, but give it some thought. There are a lot of other colors out there, that are bright and cheery for the cheerfull event, that would go with their color scheme. I really don't think you should wear black if it is a very formal wedding.
For women, semi-formal attire is somewhat flexible. Women can wear a dress, pant suit or dress suit. Preferred fabrics for semi-formal attire for women include silk, velvet, rayon, cashmere, high quality polyester brocades, or velour. Usually, anything silky goes. Except for cashmere, a wool business suit is not considered semi-formal attire since it is not dressy enough.
Hem lengths in semi-formal attire dresses vary. Dresses can be cocktail dresses, no more than an inch above the knee, or they can extend to the ankle. Dress suits, for example, a silk suit, usually has a hem length slightly above, at or below the knee. Pants suits, again in silk, polyester, or cashmere, tend to be worn at the ankle. One can also wear dressy tops and tuxedo pants made out of appropriate fabrics and still fit into the semi-formal attire group.
Generally semi-formal attire also means dress heels for women, usually in colors coordinating with one’s outfit. However, a dressy flat or strappy sandal with the appropriate outfit is also considered semi-formal attire. Low, comfy flipflops are not dressy enough to be called semi-formal attire.
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0.995673 |
A computer algorithm detects the presence of active pulmonary tuberculosis on chest radiograph with better diagnostic accuracy than a panel of thoracic radiologists. The authors trained a deep-learning-based algorithm to detect active pulmonary tuberculosis on chest x-rays using a set of 54,000 films from people without active TB disease and 6,800 films with active TB, a portion of the latter of which had been labeled and annotated by a panel of radiologists. If I understand the methods section correctly, the final diagnostic algorithm is actually three independent diagnostic “entities,” each of which submits predictions that are then averaged, and what it churns out is a “probability heat map” overlaying the plain film with per-pixel probabilities that each segment of the chest x-ray represents a TB lesion. To validate the algorithm, the authors had it interpret films from six external, multicenter and multinational data sets. The diagnostic performance of the algorithm was compared to that of 5-person groups of non-radiologist physicians, board-certified radiologists, and thoracic radiologists. Finally, the authors assessed the performance of the physicians when using the algorithm as a diagnostic aid.
The algorithm was highly accurate in identifying TB lesions across all six validation datasets. The authors set two probability thresholds to have the algorithm classify a lesion as positive, based on the results of their internal validation with the training data set – one threshold intended to achieve 98% sensitivity, and another intended to achieve 98% specificity. Using the high-sensitivity cutoff, the algorithm’s demonstrated sensitivity in the external validation data sets ranged from 94-100%, while specificity ranged from 91-100%. Using the high specificity cutoff, the sensitivities ranged from 84-99% and specificities ranged from 99-100%. For comparison, the sensitivities and specificities of the physicians’ reads were 72% and 67% (non-radiologists), 90% and 95% (radiologists), and 95% and 93% (thoracic radiologists).
Rapid direct antimicrobial susceptibility testing performed on urine is highly accurate and reduces turnaround time to eight hours. Traditionally, urine culture starts with identification of the organism(s) in a urine sample, followed by subculture to media with antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Why not go straight to the antimicrobial susceptibility testing? This approach, termed direct susceptibility testing, has previously been shown to have >95% agreements with standard methods when the bacteriuria is monomicrobial and high-grade (references: 21696255 7494020 and 26899829). What this paper brings to the table is a direct susceptibility testing method with a drastically reduced turnaround time, achieved by incubating organisms on Rapid Mueller-Hinton media and using an automated plate-reading system.
The authors included urine samples submitted for culture at a single Parisian hospital over a one-year period that demonstrated both pyuria and monomicrobial bacteriuria by microscopy (n=321, mostly E.coli and K.pneumoniae). They performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing by both the rapid direct susceptibility testing (DST) and traditional methods. When the methods gave different results, the DST method was assumed to be in error; errors were classified as “very major” (DST reported an antibiotic as sensitive, traditional method reported as resistant), “major” (DST reported an antibiotic as resistant, traditional method reported as sensitive), or “minor” (one method reported an antibiotic as intermediate and the other as sensitive or resistant).
Of the 321 urine samples tested, 245 (76%) were included in the analysis; the remainder were excluded due to culture results that did not match microscopy (n=32), proved to be polymicrobial (n=28), or were unreadable after 8h incubation due to insufficient growth (n=16). A total 5285 bug-drug combinations were tested, and of these, 98% of results were concordant between the rapid direct and traditional susceptibility testing methods. Of the discrepancies, the majority were minor errors, with <0.5% each of major and very major errors. Nine out the 14 very major errors involved cephalexin, and eight of the 17 major errors involved amoxicillin-clavulanate; the minor errors mostly involved fluoroquinolones, trimethoprim-sulfa, and piperacillin-tazobactam. The authors estimate the additional cost of performing this rapid testing to be $6 per 16-antibiotic panel.
Blood cultures obtained while or immediately after a patient has shaking chills are more likely to be positive. This was a prospective study of patients admitted to the inpatient infectious diseases service at a single hospital in Okinawa over a 2-year period. The authors examined the results of initial blood cultures in those patients who were admitted with shaking chills and were later suspected or found to have an infection with a readily culturable bacteria (total n=214). They compared the outcome of the blood cultures among patients cultured within 2 hours of their first episode of shaking chills versus those cultured later, and found that cultures obtained within 2 hours were more likely to be positive (54% vs 38%; p=0.019). In a multivariate analysis accounting for age, site of infection, vitals, and recent antibiotic exposure, early culture was associated with a nearly doubled odds of culture positivity (aOR 1.88; p=0.046); the only more strongly predictive factor was having had multiple episodes of rigors (aOR 3.39; p=0.012).
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0.967465 |
How to design a traditional home.
Design inspiration on the shores of Lake Como, Italy.
I feel a little guilty writing about lake Como as an inspirational destination. Not because it's not inspirational, it really is, but because trying to replicate the architecture of Lake Como's villas in your own homes is likely to be fraught with difficulty.
Let me explain, normally one looks at a feature on a house and thinks that would look great, I think I'll try that. The trouble here is that there are many features that work really well because of the setting.
It's easy to get away with any flight of fancy when you are perched on the shores of a glacial lake in Northern Italy. All ornament and gilding is subdued by the magnificence of the mountains that surround you. What’s more you are nestled in an area that was once a holiday resort for people who wore togas and said things like 'Et tu, Brute?' (In case your Shakespeare is a little rusty that's the Romans.) Everything therefore is nicely mellowed and tempered by age.
So with the health warning out of the way lets talk about the reasons it's inspirational, that’s actually a whole lot simpler. Precisely because it has been a holiday resort to the wealthy, since the Romans, Lake Como's shores are adorned with towns that are a classical fantasy land of stucco and stone.
When my wife and I visited the lake we stayed in the old town of Bellagio. The great thing about Bellagio is that as it's difficult to reach by car most people don't seem to bother and, as such, life in the town still revolves around the docks, much as I imagine it has always done. The town itself is set on a hillside. Cobbled streets climb from the waters edge to small town squares above and although the main business here is tourism it retains an comfortable sense of its own distinctly Italian identity.
The main reason people visit the lake are the multitude of Villas that surround it. Each built by some wealthy and often powerful patron with very little thought ever given to trivialities such as a budget. Some of these are now hotels, in Bellagio itself Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni is a former Villa, but for me the most evocative of the villas are those that are now open to the public in a semblance of how they would once have been.
My favourite of these was Villa Balbianello. A Franciscan monastery on the very edge of a peninsula jutting out into the lake. It was turned into a private home in the late 18th century and was last lived in by a millionaire explorer who filled it with the finest antiques that his considerable wealth could buy.
The beauty of this Villa for me is in the taste of the last owner, a gentleman by the name of Guido Monzino. Monzino treated this villa as his home and as so while the furnishings are of museum quality the Villa has a relatable liveability about it. The highlight for me being the galleried, panelled library where its easy to imagine oneself ensconced for an afternoon trying to get some work done while being continually distracted by the view outside.
A former grand lakeside residence that retains its period interior.
A more affordable option perched on a hill overlooking the lake.
Another former grand villa. Swimming pool 'floating' in the lake. Close to Villa Carlotta with its amazing gardens.
The Classical Orders. Explaining the building blocks of classical design.
The Classically Correct Cornice. How to design a cornice.
Skirting Board (Baseboard if you're American.) How to design it.
How to design a cornice.
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0.966739 |
Money is funny. Yes, it's very funny. You keep it in your locker for ten years and it will remain the same. I mean, if you put Rs. 100 in a locker, after ten years it will still be Rs. 100. But would its value be the same as it was ten years ago? Certainly not. The buying ability of Rs. 100 would reduce considerably in 10 years. But if you had bought 10 shares of some company at Rs. 10 apiece, and the same stock would have grown ten times in ten years, your Rs. 100 would have become Rs. 1000 in ten years. Now, it's that funny?
This is a simple example of what money management and well-informed investment can do to your money. It not only keeps the value of your money at par with the inflation rate but sometimes goes a step or two ahead too. Whether you are a salaried person or a business person you should always have a robust investment plan. Money management is a key tool for wealth creation.
Money management is the process where budgeting, spending, investing, saving are monitored with certain financial objectives.
Though the term - money management - suggests that an investment professional making investment decisions on your behalf by allocating your funds to investment instruments. That is true, there are professional money managers and financial planners, but it can also be perceived as a theory which anyone can inculcate in his day-to-day life.
In general terms, it simply means that you can account for every penny that you have earned. From paying the utility bills to making provisions for retirement and saving for holidays everything comes under money management. The conscious efforts to spend money wisely and invest intelligently is called money management.
People often complain that money just comes in and goes out, and all their plans stay firmly at the bay. People from all the pay grade face the same issue. The root cause is - lack of money management. Money management tightens the screws of your budget and prevents unnecessary spending. It also helps you to allocate funds to right investment instruments and reduce liabilities sooner than later.
Setting Your Financial Goals - One of the key features of money management is that it provides absolute clarity about your financial goals. Right from setting up short-term goals like buying a car, family vacation to long-term goals like kid's education and retirement planning all your financial goals can get adequate funds and time via money management.
Reducing Liabilities - Your total assets - total liabilities = your net worth. If your total assets are barely more than liabilities, it means you are just managing to keep your head above the water. Liabilities is the biggest roadblock on the road to wealth creation. With the aid of money management, you can chalk out a payment plan to speedily reduce your debts.
One of the critical facets of money management is the investment. A certain portion of your income has to be invested in growth-oriented investment instruments. There are various investment mediums available i.e. mutual funds, public provident funds, equity, etc.
Mutual Funds - Is one of the smartest investment tools and it should figure in your investment plan. A mutual fund can be a potent tool to meet your short-term as well as long-term goals. At moderate risk, investors get decent returns and also get to experience the power of compounding.
Public Provident Fund (PPF) - Is the most reliable and trustworthy investment scheme as it is operated by the government. PPF investment comes with certain stern conditions like 7 years lock in period plus certain limitations on the quantum of investment. But due to tax benefits and compound interest, it has become very popular amongst investors.
Equity investment - Many people try to avoid direct exposure to stock investment due to fear and ignorance. But there are means like stock advisory firms to help you reduce risk in stock investment. Over the years, stock investment has given uncapped growth to the investors. Every smart investor should have a stake in equity. As we discussed above, equity not only keeps the value of your money on the equal footing with inflation but a step or two ahead.
Source : Niveza India Pvt Ltd.
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0.99345 |
Given a graph with a numeric attribute on its edges, return a graph which only contains edges where the specified numeric attribute is above (or less-than-or-equal-to) some value. Nodes will not be removed, but may become isolates (not connected to any other node).
Extract from this number - For the selected edge attribute, alledge which have a value greater than (NOT equal to) this value will be kept. The others will not be included in the graph. If "invert" is selected. All edges with an attribute less-than or equal to the value will be included.
invert? - If invert is selected, edges whose attribute is less-than or equal to the 'Extract from this number' value will be kept instead.
Numeric Attribute - Determines which numeric edge attribute is examined when determining whether an edge is above the 'Extract from this number' value. If no numeric attributes are present on the graph's edges, the algorithm cannot be run.
Can be used for a variety of purposes, whenever one has a large graph, and wants to get rid of certain edges whose value is outside the range we are interested in. A common use might be to remove all edges whose weight is below a certain threshold, removing weak connections between nodes.
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0.997988 |
How to practice balancing on wheels everyday?
The best fun way to exercise in the morning is to use Tobar Pedal Racer. This is one of the best, and most enjoyable balancing rider I have ever seen. There was a time when people used to tie a thick string at a certain height, with the help of two poles fixed into the ground, and then they would slowly walk on that thick rounded rope (with a stick in hand) for balancing, and showing their stunts at the same time, to earn some money from the surrounding viewers. Nobody thought of such an unusual balancing toy, like Tobar Pedal Racer, at that time, but now it has become reality and kids are enjoying it like never before. This toy looks simple enough with four wheels and two pedals, but its really hard to balance on it when you want to ride on it, and move forward with it, while pedaling the pedals with your two feet.
The two pedals in this rider toy are never on same level. If one foot is put on any one pedal, than that pedal will be pushed downward, causing the other pedal to move upward. The actual game is to keep your balance, while pushing the alternate pedals up and down, as this rider toy moves forward only after pedaling the wheels. By lot of practice, balancing, while moving forward, can be mastered but the real challenge is to keep the balance and not to fall while pedaling in the backward direction. The children love such challenges, and this could be the best rider game to be used for competitions in schools, and even in colleges for elder students. Just watch this nice youtube video to see this rider toy in action with someone who is trying to balance on it.
Tobar is actually a UK based supplier of toys in their own brands. This pedal racer is being sold by them on Amazon. However they doesn't seem to be the original manufacturer of this product, as its no where written on their official website that they manufacture this product. It seems like they are importing this product from China, and than branding it in their own brand, and selling it. I am saying this because I have seen this particular pedal racer toy being sold on alibaba.com, which is basically a site, where only Chinese manufacturers and traders are selling their products. It seems cheaper on alibaba.com, but than if you import only 1 item from China, shipping cost will be very high, and so it will cost even more than the price it is getting sold on Amazon.
If you need more bigger challenge than you must buy another pedal racer toy called Fun Wheels which is being sold by firetoys.co.uk. This is even more challenging, as it has only two wheels, instead of four. Its difficult to balance on two wheels than four wheels. Also the wheels in this product have more height than the one mentioned earlier. Better to buy both, for all the great fun and excitement in a broader way, or even to gift someone.
A kids ride-on toy that moves without pedaling and battery. It has 5 wheels.
These LED light hand gloves help to give turning signals on road.
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0.999484 |
Continuous improvement, or "Kaizen", is a method for identifying opportunities for streamlining work and reducing waste. The practice was formalized by the popularity of Lean / Agile / Kaizen in manufacturing and business, and it is now being used by thousands of companies all over the world to identify savings opportunities. Many of these ideologies can be combined for excellent results.
1. Standardize: Come up with a process for a specific activity that's repeatable and organized.
2. Measure: Examine whether the process is efficient using quantifiable data, like time to complete, hours spent, etc.
3. Compare: Compare your measurements against your requirements. Does this process save time? Does it take too much time? Does it accomplish the desired result?
4. Innovate: Search for new, better ways to do the same work or achieve the same result. Look for smarter, more efficient routes to the same end-goal that boost productivity.
5. Standardize: Create repeatable, defined processes for those new, more efficient activities.
6. Repeat: Go back to step one and start again.
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0.998882 |
Can I make a copy of a television program and make it available to students online?
This also includes copying movies broadcast on television and the students would be viewing the program or movie via Blackboard.
As long as the program intended to be viewed online ('communicated', under the Copyright Act 1968) is a copy of a program made under Section 113P of the Copyright Act 1968, commonly known as "the New Statutory License".
Further detailed information on this can be found on the Teaching staff: Using radio and television broadcasts (Copyright and legal re-use) webpage (please see the link below).
The New Statutory License allows for the reproduction (copying) and communication for educational purposes of broadcasts from Australian television and radio channels. As long as the copy that is communicated online was made under the license (i.e.: recorded from television), and the communication is taking place only for educational purposes, then this action is permissible.
Made for the University of Notre Dame Australia's educational purposes under Section 113P, Copyright Act 1968.
This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of The University of Notre Dame Australia in accordance with section 113P of the Copyright Act 1968 (Act).
For more information and further assistance please view the links below.
You may also like to consider using Kanopy or EduTV to stream media for your students. Information on these services can be obtained by viewing the "Finding sound recordings and film/video clips" link below.
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0.96353 |
Named for: William Parish Chilton, Sr.
Chilton County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,643. The county seat is Clanton. Its name is in honor of William Parish Chilton, Sr. (1810–1871), a lawyer who became Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and later represented Montgomery County in the Congress of the Confederate States of America.
Chilton County is included in the Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In 2010, the center of population of Alabama was located in Chilton County, near the city of Jemison, an area known as Jemison Division.
The county is known for its peaches and its unique landscape. It is home to swamps, prairies and mountains due to the foothills of the Appalachians which end in the county, the Coosa River basin, and its proximity to the Black Belt Prairie that was long a center of cotton production.
Baker County was established on December 30, 1868, named for Alfred Baker, with its county seat at Grantville. Residents of the county petitioned the Alabama legislature for the renaming of their county; it was not something forced upon them. On December 17, 1874, the petitioners accepted the suggestion of Chilton County, even though the Chief Justice had not lived within its boundaries. In 1870 the county seat was moved after the court house burned to what is now Clanton.
In 1942, the U.S. Navy commissioned a new vessel, the USS Chilton, in honor of Chilton County.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 701 square miles (1,820 km2), of which 693 square miles (1,790 km2) is land and 7.9 square miles (20 km2) (1.1%) is water.
Chilton County is the 23rd-richest county per capita income in Alabama.
At the 2000 census, there were 39,593 people, 15,287 households and 11,342 families residing in the county. The population density was 57 per square mile (22/km2). There were 17,651 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile (10/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 86.71% White, 10.61% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.51% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Nearly 2.91% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 15,287 households of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% were married couples living together, 10.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.80% were non-families. Nearly 22.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57, and the average family size was 3.00.
25.70% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 23.40% from 45 to 64, and 12.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.90 males.
The median household income was $32,588 and the median family income was $39,505. Males had a median income of $31,006 versus $21,275 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,303. About 12.60% of families and 15.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.40% of those under age 18 and 18.20% of those age 65 or over.
Chilton County, Alabama Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
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0.999985 |
How does vacation home fractional co-ownership differ from time shares?
Although the ownership structures and arrangements, known generally as "time shares", vary from place to place and among different developments, these arrangements always involve a large group of owner/users, an organizer who put the deal together, and an outside management company that will operate the property. Frequently, participants in a time share do not actually own any real tangible asset.
Typically, in a time share arrangement, the user has no control over the actual management of the property, they pay high management fees and rarely see the value of their investment tied to the actual value of the underlying property.
Exclusive access to a beachfront estate for 5 weeks out of the year.
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0.984118 |
summary : The return of Adrian Peterson from injured reserve could be exactly what the Minnesota Vikings need in order to gain an advantage over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The running back was recently cleared to practice with the team earlier this week.
summary : As the NFL enters the final stretch of the regular season, it's starting to become clear as to who will take the North and South crowns of the AFC division. Based on how these teams have been performing this year, it seems these titles will go to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts are expected to face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thanksgiving Day without their starting quarterback Andrew Luck. And, both teams prepare for the upcoming game, Luck's opponent Ben Roethlisberger gave him valuable advice regarding his current condition.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts will be facing off against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Week 12 for Thanksgiving Day. However, since Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was recently placed on concussion protocol, that means his backup Scott Tolzien will be leading the team on Thursday.
summary : The official start of the 2016-2017 NFL season is still a couple of months away but there are already predictions as to who will bag this year's Comeback Player of the Year Award. Some of the top candidates for this title include Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys' Tony Romo and Dez Bryant.
summary : The Peyton Manning retirement news broke the hearts of NFL fans across the globe. With the Denver Broncos winning the Super Bowl 50 over the highly anticipated champs, the Carolina Panthers, a number of supporters of the Hall of Fame quarterback thought he would at least have one more season with the football team. After all, even his famous rival Tom Brady of the New England Patriots was shocked over Manning's move to exit the gridiron. It appears, however, that the NFL has not seen the last of the Denver Broncos quarterback.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts have always been a fan favorite in the football community. Earlier known as one of the most challenging competitors of Tom Brady's New England Patriots especially following the Deflategate scandal, the Frank Gore team fell short last NFL season. Falling victim to the same issues suffered by the Dallas Cowboys with Tony Romo, the Indianapolis Colts were also stuck with the injuries plaguing Andrew Luck. While the Dez Bryant squad had been sympathetic of their fallen quarterback, reports reveal that the TY Hilton team blames Luck for negligence in taking care of his physical wellbeing.
summary : After signing coach Chuck Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson to contract extensions, it appears that Colts owner Jim Irsay wants to keep the band together as he recently expressed his intention to lock up Andrew Luck as well. The quarterback is headed into the fifth and final year of his contract and Irsay said that his goal is to get an extension done prior to the start of next season.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts started the NFL regular season raring to avenge themselves from the criticisms following their final match against the New England Patriots. However, the Andrew Luck squad saw the season slip away from their grasp as they fail to make the playoffs. To add insult to injury, the Tom Brady team is currently one of the contenders to once again bring home the Super Bowl trophy. With a record of 8-8, the Indianapolis Colts find themselves out of the field and in the spectators' post for the rest of the football season.
summary : The Miami Dolphins can make a huge upset against Indianapolis Colts on Sunday's game. If The Dolphins emerged as victors in the game, they would eliminate Indianapolis from the playoffs. Miami is already eliminated and are playing for nothing but pride.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts has posted their most recent injury report for the week prior to Sunday’s match versus the Miami Dolphins. Veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is listed as “probable” for the upcoming game, along with wide receiver Donte Moncrief and safety Colt Anderson.
summary : Fans and followers of the Indianapolis Colts got their hearts broken when Andrew Luck was declared out earlier this NFL season. In what could be described as a half-hearted attempt to salvage the football squad, the team went for backup quarterback Matt Hasselback. Prior to the sub taking on the field, supporters of the Indianapolis Colts expressed their frustration over a 40-year-old NFL star leading the squad.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts have been disappointing fans left and right since the NFL regular season started. With the recent loss of the Andrew Luck squad against the New Orleans Saints, which resulted in a final score of 27-21, the Indianapolis Colts' roster, staff and the rest of the NFL team are contemplating on implementing an overhaul in the manner by which they handle their football games - a move undoubtedly appreciated by fans and followers of the team.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts suffered a devastating loss in the hands of the undefeated New England Patriots in Week 6 of the regular NFL season. The same football game saw the return of the Indianapolis Colts' star quarterback Andrew Luck try once again his hand at serving New England Patriots' Tom Brady a taste of defeat. Unfortunately for the recently recovered quarterback, such was not the case as the Super Bowl champs trampled the Indy football squad and handed them a final score of 34 - 27.
summary : The widely anticipated match of the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6 of the regular NFL season will finally happen on Sunday (October 18). Scheduled at 8:30 pm ET, the Indianapolis Colts will play host to the undefeated New England Patriots as Tom Brady and his crew come face to face with the NFL team that initiated the entire "Deflategate" debacle. The crowd at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will stand to bear witness what could only be described as a replay of the 2014 AFC Championship match, which bore witness to the beginning of a series of investigations that had Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the receiving end of cheating accusations.
summary : The Week 6 game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts will be a monumental event for both NFL teams as this will mark the first time the two football squads come face to face ever since the "Deflategate" scandal came to mar the reputation of Tom Brady. As the Indianapolis Colts play host to the New England Patriots on October 18 (Sunday), Andrew Luck and his football squad will attempt to serve the first loss for the reigning Super Bowl champs this NFL regular season. Scheduled at 8:30 pm ET, the Indianapolis Colts will enter the field at 3 - 2 this NFL season while the New England Patriots have a record of 4 - 0.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts are coming over to the home turf of the Houston Texans on Thursday (October 8) for Week 5 of the regular NFL season. Playing against the JJ Watt squad, the Indianapolis Colts are expected to try to go home victorious in the football match to be held at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas at 8:25 pm ET. If the predictions of the sports analysts in the league are to be believed, then the trip home of the Indianapolis Colts will not be a pleasant journey as the Houston Texans are pegged as the more probably victors in the upcoming NFL match. However, the potential return of Indianapolis Colts star Andrew Luck this Thursday might turn things around for the NFL team.
summary : The Indianapolis Colts entered the NFL regular season with a bit of an underwhelming performance. However, the 35 - 33 win of the Indianapolis Colts over the Tennessee Titans during the Week 3 of the NFL regular season appears to have rekindled the faith and hope of the fans and followers of the Andrew Luck squad. As the Indianapolis Colts enter the fourth week of the NFL regular season, it remains to be seen if the aggressiveness and skill displayed by the team in Week 3 will be sustained. In what could be assumed as a move to guarantee that the winning streak be maintained, the Indianapolis Colts signed Shaun Prater in to the team.
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0.947298 |
Burzum is the musical project by Varg Vikernes (under the pseudonym "Count Grishnackh"). It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene. During 1992 and 1993, Burzum recorded four albums; however, in 1993 Vikernes was convicted and imprisoned for the murder of guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth and the arson of several churches. While imprisoned, Vikernes recorded two albums in the dark ambient style.
From 1989, Vikernes had been playing in the short lived band Old Funeral which also consisted of members who would later form the band Immortal. He played guitar in the band until 1991 when he left to form his one man band, Burzum. Soon after recording two demo tapes, he became very involved with the Norwegian black metal scene, being both interested in its music and the ideology. With his demo tapes, he had attracted attention from Øystein Aarseth of Mayhem, who had just recently formed Deathlike Silence Productions. Aarseth then signed Burzum to the label, and shortly after, Burzum began to record for his self-titled debut album. According to Vikernes' autobiography on his website, he had intended to record the album in the worst recording quality possible (due to this being a typical trademark of the early Norwegian black metal scene), though still make it sound acceptable. Burzum's eponymous debut album was released in 1992, being the second album released on Deathlike Silence Productions. The song "War" from this album had a guest appearance from Euronymous of Mayhem, playing a guitar solo "just for fun", according to Vikernes.
Vikernes has stated that he had never played any live shows with Burzum, though at one point was interested in it so Samoth of Emperor joined the band as their bassist though only appeared on the Aske EP. Additionally, Erik Lancelot was hired to be the band's drummer, though did not record on any Burzum material, and along with Samoth did not play a live show. Vikernes had by then lost his interest in playing live concerts, and stated that he "didn't even need session musicians anymore". Therefore, Samoth and Lancelot had parted ways with Burzum. Burzum stayed as a solo project until 1993, when Vikernes was arrested for the murder of Euronymous and the burnings of several churches in Norway. Det som engang var was released as Burzum's second album in 1993, recorded in 1992, and was the first of the remaining albums to be released during his incarceration.
Vikernes was in prison for the murder of Euronymous, former guitarist of Mayhem, as well as the arson of several churches in Norway. During his time in prison, Vikernes has recorded two albums in a dark ambient style. They were released as Dauði baldrs (1997) and Hliðskjálf (1999).
Vikernes has already written eleven new tracks, nine metal tracks and an ambient intro and outro for an upcoming Burzum album, which he hopes to release around March or April 2010. Vikernes mentions that several record companies are interested in releasing his first album in eleven years. He has stated about the new album, "I want to take my time, and make it the way I want it. It will be metal, and the fans can expect genuine Burzum." The album was going to be originally titled "Den hvite guden" (The White God), but he later decided to change it to "Belus", which will be released by "Byelobog productions".
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Risks from geological storage of CO2 primarily result from the consequences of unintended leakage from the storage formation that might can range between short-term potentially large leakages and long-term, more diffuse leakages, onshore and offshore storage settings. Risk assessment for CO2 storage is the process that examines and evaluates the potential for adverse health, safety and environmental effects on human health, the environment, and potentially other receptors resulting from CO2 exposure and leakage of injected or displaced fluids via wells, faults, fractures, and seismic events. The identification of potential leakage pathways is integrated with a MMV (Measurement, Monitoring and Verification) plan. Risk assessment is used to ensure the safety and acceptability of geological storage. It involves determining both the consequences and likelihood of an event. Risk mitigation is the planning for and implementation of contingency plans, should the need arise, to remediate adverse impacts. A good monitoring and mitigation plan will decrease the risk and uncertainty associated with many potential consequences.
RiskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event is defined as a function of the probability of an event that causes harm and its consequence, i.e., "riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event = probability × impact or consequences". In general, overall riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event can be considered as the sum of the products of individual riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event impacts and probabilities, although it is necessary to express the various risks in the same unit (e.g. financial) while risks can be various in nature (human life, leakage(in CO2 storage) The escape of injected fluid from the storage formation to the atmosphere or water column rate, financial loss, etc). In addition, considering overall riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event might not be relevant and considering a series of riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event levels might be more appropriate.For CO2Carbon dioxide geological storage(CO2Carbon dioxide) A process for retaining captured CO2Carbon dioxide, so that it does not reach the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%), the main issue is adverse impacts that might result from a potential loss ofstorage(CO2Carbon dioxide) A process for retaining captured CO2Carbon dioxide, so that it does not reach the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%) integrity leading to unplanned CO2Carbon dioxide migrationThe movement of fluids in reservoir rocks out of the confining zone. Other types of riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event must also be considered such as geomechanical effects, water flow changes, etc. potential consequences are related to public safety and health, environmental (ecosystem) safety, greenhouse gasGas in the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%) that absorbs and emits infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%), and clouds; thus, trapping heat within the surface-troposphere system. e.g. water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2Carbon dioxide), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), ozone (O3), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) emissions to the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%), interference with other uses of the subsoil (e.g. water and hydrocarbons), ecEuropean Commissiononomic viability of the project (e.g. financial loss for investors or insurers) and public acceptance. Fig. 6-1 (EPA, 20082008 - USEPAVulnerability Evaluation Framework for Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxidesee more) shows a conceptual framework of vulnerability evaluation for geological storage(CO2Carbon dioxide) A process for retaining captured CO2Carbon dioxide, so that it does not reach the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%) of carbon dioxide.
Operators and regulators have to determine an acceptable level of riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event for CCSCarbon dioxide CaptureThe separation of carbon dioxide from other gases before it is emitted to the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%) and Storage. To establish a reference baseline for acceptable levels of riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event, it may be useful to apply metrics which allow ranking the different risks, and compare for instance the health, safety and environmental (HSEHealth, safety and environment) potential risks related to the CCSCarbon dioxide CaptureThe separation of carbon dioxide from other gases before it is emitted to the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%) and Storage projects with potential risks arising from other large-scale public/private infrastructure developments (dams, railways, airports, etc.) or analogue activities (oil and gas exploration, natural gasGas stored underground; It consists largely of methane, but can also contain other hydrocarbons, water, hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide, these other substances are separated before the methane is put into a pipeline or tanker storage(CO2Carbon dioxide) A process for retaining captured CO2Carbon dioxide, so that it does not reach the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%), acid gasAny gas mixture that turns to an acid when dissolved in water (normally refers to H2S + CO2 from sour gas) disposal, etc.). Of course, all these processes act on different time scales that have also to be accounted for. In particular, CO2Carbon dioxide escape from the storage(CO2Carbon dioxide) A process for retaining captured CO2Carbon dioxide, so that it does not reach the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%) reservoirA subsurface body of rock with sufficient porosityMeasure for the amount of pore spaceSpace between rock or sediment grains that can contain fluids in a rock and permeabilityAbility to flow or transmit fluids through a porous solid such as rock to store and transmit fluids might be assumed to occur over an extended time scale (centuries to millennia) that has to be considered in each riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event scenarioA plausible description of the future based on an internally consistent set of assumptions about key relationships and driving forces; note that scenarios are neither predictions nor forecasts (DNV, 20102010 - DNVCO2QUALSTORE - Guideline for selection and qualification of sites and projects for geological storage of CO2see more). A first common riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event criterion is that risks associated with an activity should not be disproportionate to the benefits. Although risks associated with properly managed CCSCarbon dioxide Capture and Storage projects are expected to be very low, the riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event perceived by the public may be higher and benefits regarding climate change impacts and energy security may be difficult for the public to relate to. A second basic principle for setting riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event criteria is that an activity should not impose Risks that can "reasonably" be avoided. In general, the riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event can always be reduced further by implementation of additional safeguards, but at the price of a higher cost. Defining an acceptable level of riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event is, therefore, closely related to the viability of the project, the cost of implementation of preventive safeguards and the cost of possible corrective measures (DNV, 20102010 - DNVCO2QUALSTORE - Guideline for selection and qualification of sites and projects for geological storage of CO2see more).
Fig. 6-1: Vulnerability Evaluation Framework (VEF) for geological storage(CO2Carbon dioxide) A process for retaining captured CO2Carbon dioxide, so that it does not reach the atmosphereThe layer of gases surrounding the earth; the gases are mainly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (around 21%) of carbon dioxide (EPA, 20082008 - USEPAVulnerability Evaluation Framework for Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxidesee more).
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Leiden University (abbreviated as LEI; Dutch: Universiteit Leiden), founded in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The Dutch Royal Family and Leiden University have a close association: Queen Juliana, Queen Beatrix and King Willem-Alexander are former students. The university came into particular prominence during the Dutch Golden Age, when scholars from around Europe were attracted to the Dutch Republic due to its climate of intellectual tolerance and Leiden's international reputation. During this time Leiden was home to such figures as René Descartes, Rembrandt, Christiaan Huygens, Hugo Grotius, Baruch Spinoza and Baron d'Holbach.
The University is associated with ten leaders and Prime Ministers of the Netherlands including the current Prime Minister Mark Rutte, nine foreign leaders, among them the 6th President of the United States John Quincy Adams, a Secretary General of NATO, a President of the International Court of Justice, a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and sixteen recipients of the Nobel Prize (including renowned physicists Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi).
In 1575, the emerging Dutch Republic did not have any universities in its northern heartland. The only other university in the Habsburg Netherlands was the University of Leuven in southern Leuven, firmly under Spanish control. The scientific renaissance had begun to highlight the importance of academic study, so Prince William founded the first Dutch university in Leiden, to give the Northern Netherlands an institution that could educate its citizens for religious purposes, but also to give the country and its government educated men in other fields. It is said the choice fell on Leiden as a reward for the heroic defence of Leiden against Spanish attacks in the previous year. Ironically, the name of Philip II of Spain, William's adversary, appears on the official foundation certificate, as he was still the de jure count of Holland. Philip II replied by forbidding any subject to study in Leiden. Originally located in the convent of St Barbara, the university moved to the Faliede Bagijn Church in 1577 (now the location of the University museum) and in 1581 to the convent of the White Nuns, a site which it still occupies, though the original building was destroyed by fire in 1616.
The presence within half a century of the date of its foundation of such scholars as Justus Lipsius, Joseph Scaliger, Franciscus Gomarus, Hugo Grotius, Jacobus Arminius, Daniel Heinsius and Gerhard Johann Vossius, rapidly made Leiden university into a highly regarded institution that attracted students from across Europe in the 17th century. Renowned philosopher Baruch Spinoza was based close to Leiden during this period and interacted with numerous scholars at the university. The learning and reputation of Jacobus Gronovius, Herman Boerhaave, Tiberius Hemsterhuis and David Ruhnken, among others, enabled Leiden to maintain its reputation for excellence down to the end of the 18th century.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Leiden University again became one of Europe's leading universities. At the world’s first university low-temperature laboratory, professor Heike Kamerlingh Onnes achieved temperatures of only one degree above absolute zero of −273 degrees Celsius. In 1908 he was also the first to succeed in liquifying helium and can be credited with the discovery of the superconductivity in metals.
In 2005 the manuscript of Einstein on the quantum theory of the monatomic ideal gas (the Einstein-Bose condensation) was discovered in one of Leiden's libraries.
The portraits of many famous professors since the earliest days hang in the university aula, one of the most memorable places, as Niebuhr called it, in the history of science.
The university has no central campus; its buildings are spread over the city. Some buildings, like the Gravensteen, are very old, while buildings like Lipsius and Gorlaeus are much more modern.
Of the eighty-nine Spinozapremie (the highest scientific award of The Netherlands), twenty-two were granted to professors of the Universiteit Leiden. Literary historian Frits van Oostrom was the first professor of Leiden to be granted the Spinoza award for his work on developing the NLCM centre (Dutch literature and culture in the Middle Ages) into a top research centre. Other Spinozapremie winners are linguists Frederik Kortlandt and Pieter Muysken, mathematician Hendrik Lenstra, physicists Carlo Beenakker, Jan Zaanen, Dirk Bouwmeester and Michel Orrit, astronomers Ewine van Dishoeck, Marijn Franx and Alexander Tielens, transplantation biologist Els Goulmy, clinical epidemiologist Frits Rosendaal, pedagogue Marinus van IJzendoorn, archeologists Wil Roebroeks and Corinne Hofman, neurologist Michel Ferrari, classicist Ineke Sluiter, social psychologist Naomi Ellemers, statistician Aad van der Vaart, cognitive psychologist Eveline Crone, Rector of The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education Carolus Johannes Reinecke, organisation psychologist Carsten de Dreu. Among other leading professors are Wim Blockmans, professor of Medieval History, and Willem Adelaar, professor of Amerindian Languages.
Also, Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Tobias Asser, Albert Szent-Györgyi, Igor Tamm, Jan Tinbergen, Nikolaas Tinbergen, Tjalling Koopmans, Nicolaas Bloembergen and Niels Jerne.
^ "De Tachtigjarige Oorlog en het ontstaan van universiteiten in de Noordelijke Nederlanden". Historiek (in Dutch). 16 May 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "The University at a glance". Leiden University. Archived from the original on 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
^ a b c "The University in figures". Leiden University. Archived from the original on 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
^ "Universiteit Leiden basiselementen: kleur". Leiden University. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
^ Technically the University of Leuven, currently in Belgium but in the year of its foundation (1425) located in the Netherlands, is the oldest university ever founded in the Netherlands, but Leuven is no longer part of the Netherlands.
^ Albert Einstein was known as a professor at Leiden University. Einstein regularly taught Leiden students for a few weeks per year. His first lecture at Leiden was about "Ether and Relativity Theory".
^ University, Leiden. "Einstein in Leiden". Leiden University. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
^ a b Otterspeer, Willem (2000). Groepsportret met Dame: de Leidse universiteit, 1575-1672. ISBN 978-90-351-2240-6.
^ Schnappen, H. (1960). Niederländische Universitäten und deutsches Geistesleben von der Gründung der Universität Leiden bis ins späte 18. Jahrhundert. Neue Münstersche Beiträge zur Geschichtsforschung. 6. Münster. OCLC 3783378.
^ BBC NEWS | Europe | Student unearths Einstein paper.
^ "Institute of Environmental Sciences". Cml.leiden.edu. 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
^ "Crisis and Security Management". En.mastersinleiden.nl. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
^ "International Tax Centre". Itc-leiden.nl. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
^ "Leiden Academy on Vitality and Ageing". Leydenacademy.nl. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
^ "LIACS (Advanced Computer Science)". Liacs.nl. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
^ "Brain & Cognition". Libc-leiden.nl. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
^ "World University Rankings 2019 - Leiden University". Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved 2018-09-28.
^ "Spinoza Prize". Leiden University. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
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Not to be confused with Paul Tibbitt.
Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets Jr.
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the pilot who flew the Enola Gay (named after his mother) when it dropped Little Boy, the first of two atomic bombs used in warfare, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Tibbets enlisted in the United States Army in 1937 and qualified as a pilot in 1938. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he flew anti-submarine patrols over the Atlantic. In February 1942, he became the commanding officer of the 340th Bombardment Squadron of the 97th Bombardment Group, which was equipped with the Boeing B-17. In July 1942 the 97th became the first heavy bombardment group to be deployed as part of the Eighth Air Force, and Tibbets became deputy group commander. He flew the lead plane in the first American daylight heavy bomber mission against Occupied Europe on 17 August 1942, and the first American raid of more than 100 bombers in Europe on 9 October 1942. Tibbets was chosen to fly Major General Mark W. Clark and Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gibraltar. After flying 43 combat missions, he became the assistant for bomber operations on the staff of the Twelfth Air Force.
Tibbets returned to the United States in February 1943 to help with the development of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. In September 1944, he was appointed the commander of the 509th Composite Group, which would conduct the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, he participated in the Operation Crossroads nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946, and was involved in the development of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet in the early 1950s. He commanded the 308th Bombardment Wing and 6th Air Division in the late 1950s, and was military attaché in India from 1964 to 1966. After leaving the Air Force in 1966, he worked for Executive Jet Aviation, serving as its president from 1976 until his retirement in 1987.
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. was born in Quincy, Illinois, on 23 February 1915, the son of Paul Warfield Tibbets Sr. and his wife, Enola Gay Tibbets. When he was five years old the family moved to Davenport, Iowa, and then to Iowa's capital, Des Moines, where he was raised, and where his father became a confections wholesaler. When he was eight, his family moved to Miami, Florida, to escape from harsh midwestern winters. As a boy he was very interested in flying. One day his mother agreed to pay one dollar to get him into an airplane at the local carnival. In 1927, when he was 12 years old, he flew in a plane piloted by barnstormer Doug Davis, dropping candy bars with tiny parachutes to the crowd of people attending the races at the Hialeah Park Race Track.
In the late 1920s, business issues forced Tibbets's family to return to Alton, Illinois, where he graduated from Western Military Academy in 1933. He then attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, and became an initiated member of the Epsilon Zeta Chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity in 1934. During that time, Tibbets took private flying lessons at Miami's Opa-locka Airport with Rusty Heard, who later became a captain at Eastern Airlines. After his undergraduate work, Tibbets had planned on becoming an abdominal surgeon. He transferred to the University of Cincinnati after his second year to complete his pre-med studies there, because the University of Florida had no medical school at the time. However, he only attended for a year and a half as he changed his mind about wanting to become a doctor. Instead, he decided to enlist in the United States Army and become a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps.
Because he went to a military school, attended some college, and had some flight experience, Tibbets qualified for the Aviation Cadet Training Program. On 25 February 1937, he enlisted in the army at Fort Thomas, Kentucky, and was sent to Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas, for primary and basic flight instruction. During his training, he showed himself to be an above-average pilot. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and received his pilot rating in 1938 at Kelly Field, Texas.
After graduation, Tibbets was assigned to the 16th Observation Squadron, which was based at Lawson Field, Georgia, with a flight supporting the Infantry School at nearby Fort Benning. It was here that he met Lucy Wingate, a clerk at a department store in Columbus, Georgia. The two quietly married in a Catholic seminary in Holy Trinity, Alabama, on 19 June 1938. Tibbets did not inform his family or his commanding officer, and the couple arranged for the notice to be kept out of the local paper. They had two sons, Paul III and Gene. While stationed at Fort Benning, Tibbets was promoted to first lieutenant, and served as a personal pilot for Brigadier General George S. Patton Jr. in 1940 and 1941.
In June 1941, Tibbets transferred to the 9th Bombardment Squadron of the 3d Bombardment Group at Hunter Field, Savannah, Georgia, as the engineering officer, and flew the A-20 Havoc. While there he was promoted to captain. In December 1941, he received orders to join the 29th Bombardment Group at MacDill Field, Florida, for training on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. On 7 December 1941, Tibbets heard about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor while listening to the radio during a routine flight. Due to fears that German U-Boats might enter Tampa Bay and bombard MacDill Field, the 29th Bombardment Group moved to Savannah. Tibbets remained on temporary duty with the 3d Bombardment Group, forming an anti-submarine patrol at Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina, with 21 B-18 Bolo medium bombers. The B-18s were used as an intermediate trainer, which pilots flew after basic flight training in a Cessna UC-78 and before qualifying in the B-17.
In February 1942, Tibbets reported for duty with the 29th Bombardment Group as its engineering officer. Three weeks later he was named the commanding officer of the 340th Bombardment Squadron of the 97th Bombardment Group, equipped with the B-17D. It was initially based at MacDill, and then Sarasota Army Airfield, Florida, before moving to Godfrey Army Airfield in Bangor, Maine.
In July 1942 the 97th became the first heavy bombardment group of the Eighth Air Force to be deployed to England, where it was based at RAF Polebrook. It had been hastily assembled to meet demands for an early deployment, and arrived without any training in the basics of high altitude daylight bombing. In the first weeks of August 1942, under the tutelage of Royal Air Force veterans, the group received intensive training for its first mission. The group commander, Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius W. Cousland, was replaced by Colonel Frank A. Armstrong Jr., who appointed Tibbets as his deputy.
Tibbets flew the lead bomber Butcher Shop for the first American daylight heavy bomber mission on 17 August 1942, a shallow penetration raid against a marshalling yard in Rouen in Occupied France, with Armstrong as his co-pilot. This was not Tibbets's regular aircraft, Red Gremlin, nor his regular crew, which included bombardier Thomas Ferebee and navigator Theodore Van Kirk, who later flew with him in Enola Gay. On October 9, Tibbets led the first American raid of more than 100 bombers in Europe, attacking industrial targets in the French city of Lille. Poor bombing accuracy resulted in numerous civilian casualties and less damage to the rail installations than hoped, but the mission was hailed an overall success because it reached its target against heavy and constant fighter attack. Of the 108 aircraft in the raid, 33 were shot down or had to turn back due to mechanical problems.
In the leadup to Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, the commander of the Eighth Air Force, Major General Carl Spaatz was ordered to provide his best two pilots for a secret mission. He chose Tibbets and Major Wayne Connors. Tibbets flew Major General Mark W. Clark from Polebook to Gibraltar while Connors flew Clark's chief of staff, Brigadier General Lyman Lemnitzer. A few weeks later Tibbets flew the Supreme Allied Commander, Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, there. "By reputation", historian Stephen Ambrose wrote, Tibbets was "the best flier in the Army Air Force [sic]."
After Tibbets had flown 25 combat missions against targets in France, the 97th Bomb Group was transferred to North Africa as part of Major General Jimmy Doolittle's Twelfth Air Force. For Tibbets, the war in North Africa introduced him to the realities of aerial warfare. He claimed that he saw the real effects of bombing civilians and the trauma of losing his brothers in arms. In January 1943, Tibbets, who had now flown 43 combat missions, was assigned as the assistant for bomber operations to Colonel Lauris Norstad, Assistant Chief of Staff of Operations (A-3) of the Twelfth Air Force. Tibbets had recently been given a battlefield promotion to colonel, but did not receive it, as such promotions had to be confirmed by a panel of officers. He was told that Norstad had vetoed the promotion, saying "there's only going to be one colonel in operations."
Tibbets did not get along well with Norstad, or with Doolittle's chief of staff, Brigadier General Hoyt Vandenberg. In one planning meeting, Norstad wanted an all-out raid on Bizerte to be flown at 6,000 feet (1,800 m). Tibbets protested that flak would be most effective at that altitude. When challenged by Norstad, Tibbets said he would lead the mission himself at 6,000 feet if Norstad would fly as his co-pilot. Norstad backed down, and the mission was successfully flown at 20,000 feet (6,100 m).
Tibbets waves from Enola Gay before the Hiroshima bombing mission.
When General Henry H. Arnold, the Chief of United States Army Air Forces, requested an experienced bombardment pilot to help with the development of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, Doolittle recommended Tibbets. Tibbets returned to the United States in February 1943. At the time, the B-29 program was beset by a host of technical problems, and the chief test pilot, Edmund T. Allen, had been killed in a crash of the prototype aircraft.
Working with the Boeing plant in Wichita, Kansas, Tibbets test flew the B-29, and soon accumulated more flight time in it than any other pilot. He found that without defensive armament and armor plating, the aircraft was 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg) lighter, and its performance was much improved. In simulated combat engagements against a P-47 fighter at the B-29's cruising altitude of 30,000 feet (9,100 m), he discovered that the B-29 had a smaller turning radius than the P-47, and could avoid it by turning away.
After a year of developmental testing of the B-29, Tibbets was assigned in March 1944 as director of operations of the 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing (Very Heavy), a B-29 training unit based at Grand Island Army Air Field, Nebraska, and commanded by Armstrong. Its role was to transition pilots to the B-29. Tibbets taught two Women Airforce Service Pilots, Dora Dougherty and Dorothea (Didi) Moorman, to fly the B-29 as demonstration pilots.
On 1 September 1944, Tibbets reported to Colorado Springs Army Airfield, the headquarters of the Second Air Force, where he met with its commander, Major General Uzal Ent, and three representatives of the Manhattan Project, Lieutenant Colonel John Lansdale Jr., Captain William S. Parsons, and Norman F. Ramsey Jr., who briefed him on the project. Tibbets was told that he would be in charge of the 509th Composite Group, a fully self-contained organization of about 1,800 men, which would have 15 B-29s and a high priority for all kinds of military stores. Ent gave Tibbets a choice of three possible bases: Great Bend Army Airfield, Kansas; Mountain Home Army Airfield, Idaho; or Wendover Army Air Field, Utah. Tibbets selected Wendover for its remoteness.
When the operation was still in the development stage the leading candidates to command the group designated to drop the atomic bomb had been Armstrong and Colonel Roscoe C. Wilson, the Army Air Force project officer providing liaison support to the Manhattan Project. Although an experienced combat veteran against German targets, Armstrong was in his forties and had been severely injured in a fire in the summer of 1943, while Wilson had no combat experience and was qualified primarily by his engineering background and association with the project. Tibbets was considerably younger than both and had experience in both staff and command duties in heavy bomber combat operations, and was already an experienced B-29 pilot, thus making him an ideal candidate.
Tibbets, who received promotion to colonel in January 1945, brought his wife and family along with him to Wendover. He felt that allowing married men in the group to bring their families would improve morale, although it put a strain on his own marriage. To explain all the civilian engineers on base who were working on the Manhattan Project, he had to lie to his wife, telling her that the engineers were "sanitary workers." At one point Tibbets found that Lucy had co-opted a scientist to unplug a drain.
On 6 March 1945, concurrent with the activation of Project Alberta, the 1st Ordnance Squadron, Special (Aviation) was activated at Wendover, again using Army Air Forces personnel on hand or already at Los Alamos. Its purpose was to provide "skilled machinists, welders and munitions workers" and special equipment to the group to enable it to assemble atomic weapons at its operating base, thereby allowing the weapons to be transported more safely in their component parts. A rigorous candidate selection process was used to recruit personnel, reportedly with an 80% rejection rate. The 509th Composite Group reached full strength in May 1945.
With the addition of the 1st Ordnance Squadron to its roster in March 1945, the 509th Composite Group had an authorized strength of 225 officers and 1,542 enlisted men, almost all of whom deployed to Tinian, an island in the northern Marianas within striking distance of Japan, in May and June 1945. The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron kept its base of operations at Wendover. In addition to its authorized strength, the 509th had attached to it on Tinian all 51 civilian and military personnel of Project Alberta. Furthermore, two representatives from Washington, D.C. were present on the island: the deputy director of the Manhattan Project, Brigadier General Thomas Farrell, and Rear Admiral William R. Purnell of the Military Policy Committee.
The ground support echelon of the 509th Composite Group received movement orders and moved by rail on 26 April 1945, to its port of embarkation at Seattle, Washington. On May 6 the support elements sailed on the SS Cape Victory for the Marianas, while the group's materiel was shipped on the SS Emile Berliner. An advance party of the air echelon flew by C-54 to North Field, Tinian, between May 15 and 22, where it was joined by the ground echelon on 29 May 1945. Project Alberta's "Destination Team" also sent most of its members to Tinian to supervise the assembly, loading, and dropping of the bombs under the administrative title of 1st Technical Services Detachment, Miscellaneous War Department Group.
On 5 August 1945, Tibbets formally named his B-29 Enola Gay after his mother. Enola Gay had been personally selected by him while it was still on the assembly line at the Glenn L. Martin Company plant in Bellevue, Nebraska. The regularly assigned aircraft commander, Robert A. Lewis, was unhappy to be displaced by Tibbets for this important mission, and became furious when he arrived at the aircraft on the morning of August 6 to see the aircraft he considered his painted with the now-famous nose art. Lewis would fly the mission as Tibbets's co-pilot.
At 02:45 the next day—in accordance with the terms of Operations Order No. 35—the Enola Gay departed North Field for Hiroshima, Japan, with Tibbets at the controls. Tinian was approximately 2,000 miles (3,200 km) away from Japan, so it took six hours to reach Hiroshima. The atomic bomb, code-named "Little Boy", was dropped over Hiroshima at 08:15 local time. Tibbets recalled that the city was covered with a tall mushroom cloud after the bomb was dropped.
Tibbets was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Spaatz immediately after landing on Tinian. He became a celebrity, with pictures and interviews of his wife and children in the major American newspapers. He was seen as a national hero who had ended the war with Japan. Tibbets later received an invitation from President Harry S. Truman to visit the White House. The 509th Composite Group was awarded an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1999.
Tibbets was interviewed extensively by Mike Harden of the Columbus Dispatch, and profiles appeared in the newspaper on anniversaries of the first dropping of an atomic bomb. In a 1975 interview he said: "I'm proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did ... I sleep clearly every night." "I knew when I got the assignment," he told a reporter in 2005, "it was going to be an emotional thing. We had feelings, but we had to put them in the background. We knew it was going to kill people right and left. But my one driving interest was to do the best job I could so that we could end the killing as quickly as possible."
The 509th Composite Group returned to the United States on 6 November 1945, and was stationed at Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico. Colonel William H. Blanchard replaced Tibbets as group commander on 22 January 1946, and also became the first commander of the 509th Bombardment Wing, the successor to the 509th Composite Group. Tibbets was a technical advisor to the 1946 Operation Crossroads nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, but he and his Enola Gay crew were not chosen to drop another atomic bomb.
Tibbets then attended the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. On graduating in 1947 he was posted to the Directorate of Requirements at Air Force Headquarters at the Pentagon. When the head of the directorate, Brigadier General Thomas S. Power, was posted to London as air attaché, he was replaced by Brigadier General Carl Brandt. Brandt appointed Tibbets as director of Directorate of Requirements's Strategic Air Division, which was responsible for drawing up requirements for future bombers. Tibbets was convinced that the bombers of the future would be jet aircraft and thus became involved in the Boeing B-47 Stratojet program. He subsequently served as B-47 project officer at Boeing in Wichita from July 1950 until February 1952. He then became commander of the Proof Test Division at Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida, where flight testing of the B-47 was conducted.
Tibbets returned to Maxwell Air Force Base, where he attended the Air War College. After he graduated in June 1955, he became Director of War Plans at the Allied Air Forces in Central Europe Headquarters at Fontainebleau, France. He left Lucy and his sons behind in Alabama, and he and Lucy divorced that year. During his posting to France, he met a French divorcee named Andrea Quattrehomme, who became his second wife. He returned to the United States in February 1956 to command the 308th Bombardment Wing at Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, and married her in the base chapel on 4 May 1956. They had a son, James Tibbets.
In January 1958, Tibbets became commander of the 6th Air Division at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. and was promoted to brigadier general in 1959. This was followed by another tour of duty at the Pentagon as director of Management Analysis. In July 1962, he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff as deputy director for operations, and then, in June 1963, as deputy director for the National Military Command System. In 1964, Tibbets was named military attaché in India. He spent 22 months there on this posting, which ended in June 1966. He retired from the United States Air Force (USAF) on 31 August 1966.
After his retirement from the Air Force, Tibbets worked for Executive Jet Aviation (EJA), an air taxi company based in Columbus, Ohio, and now called NetJets. He attempted to extend the company's operations to Europe, but was unsuccessful. He retired from the company in 1968, and returned to Miami, Florida, where he had spent part of his childhood. The banks foreclosed on EJA in 1970, and Bruce Sundlun became president. Sundlun lured Tibbets back to EJA that year. Tibbets succeeded Sundlun as president on 21 April 1976, and remained in the role until 1986. He served for a year as a consultant before his second and final retirement from EJA in 1987.
Barry Nelson played Tibbets in the film The Beginning or the End (1947). Above and Beyond (1952) depicted the World War II events involving Tibbets, with Robert Taylor starring as Tibbets and Eleanor Parker as his first wife Lucy. Tibbets was also the model for screenwriter Sy Bartlett's fictional character "Major Joe Cobb" in the film Twelve O'Clock High, and for a brief period in February 1949 was slated to be the film's technical advisor until his replacement at the last minute by Colonel John H. deRussy. Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb, a 1980 made-for-television movie, somewhat fictionalized, told the story of Tibbets crew. Patrick Duffy played Tibbets and Kim Darby played Lucy.
In other fictional portrayals, Nicholas Kilbertus was Tibbets in the film Day One, David Gow played him in the 1995 TV movie Hiroshima, and Ian Shaw played the part in the BBC's 2005 TV docudrama Hiroshima, for which Tibbets was also interviewed on camera. An interview with Tibbets also appeared in the 1982 movie Atomic Cafe, as well as was in the 1970s British documentary series The World at War, and the "Men Who Brought the Dawn" episode of the Smithsonian Networks' War Stories (1995). Tibbets figured largely in the 2000 book Duty: A Father, His Son and the Man Who Won the War by Bob Greene of the Chicago Tribune.
The United States government apologized to Japan in 1976 after Tibbets re-enacted the bombing in a restored B-29 at an air show in Texas, complete with a mushroom cloud. He said that he had not meant for the re-enactment to have been an insult to the Japanese. In 1995, he denounced the 50th anniversary exhibition of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian Institution, which attempted to present the bombing in context with the destruction it caused, as a "damn big insult", due to its focus on the Japanese casualties rather than the brutality of the Japanese government. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1996.
Tibbets's grandson Paul W. Tibbets IV graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1989, and in April 2006 became commander of the 393d Bomb Squadron, flying the B-2 Spirit at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. The squadron was one of the two operational squadrons that had formed part of the 509th Composite Group when Tibbets commanded it. Paul Tibbets IV was promoted to brigadier general in 2014, and became Deputy Director for Nuclear Operations at the Global Operations Directorate of the United States Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. As such, he was responsible for America's strategic nuclear forces. On 5 June 2015, he assumed command of the 509th Bomb Wing.
Tibbets died in his Columbus, Ohio, home on 1 November 2007, at the age of 92. He had suffered small strokes and heart failure during his final years and had been in hospice care. He was survived by his French-born wife, Andrea, and two sons from his first marriage, Paul III and Gene as well as his son, James, from his second marriage. Tibbets had asked for no funeral nor headstone as he feared opponents of the bombing might use it as a place of protest. In accordance with his wishes, his body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered over the English Channel, which he had flown over many times during the war.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kingseed 2006, pp. 153–155.
1 2 Tibbets 1998, p. 33.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 52–53.
1 2 3 4 "Paul Tibbets Jr., who flew plane that dropped first atomic bomb, dies at 92". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
1 2 Tibbets 1998, p. 65.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 62–63.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 66–67.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets Jr.". United States Air Force. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 70–73.
↑ Goldberg 1948, pp. 639–645.
↑ Goldberg 1948, pp. 656–657.
↑ "VIII Bomber Command 1 - 17 August 1942". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 81–82.
↑ Kingseed 2006, pp. 155–156.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 96–99.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 102–105.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 107–109.
↑ Kingseed 2006, pp. 157–158.
↑ Tibbets 1998, p. 129.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 129–132.
↑ Kingseed 2006, pp. 158–159.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 149–150.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 152–155.
↑ Rhodes 1986, pp. 583–584.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 157–163.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 167–168.
↑ 509th Composite Group 1945, pp. 12–13.
↑ 509th Composite Group 1945, pp. 15–18.
↑ 509th Composite Group 1945, pp. 19–22.
↑ "509th Timeline: Inception to Hiroshima". Children of the Manhattan Proj ect. Archived from the original on 17 June 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2006.
↑ 509th Composite Group 1945, p. 25.
1 2 Thomas & Morgan-Witts 1977, pp. 382–383.
↑ Campbell 2005, pp. 191–192.
↑ Rhodes 1986, pp. 702–704.
↑ Rhodes 1986, pp. 705–711.
1 2 3 4 5 "Hiroshima bomb pilot dies aged 92". BBC News Online. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
1 2 "Miamian who bombed Hiroshima in 1945 dies". Miami Herald. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
↑ Harden, Mike (6 August 2005). "Still No regrets for Frail Enola Gay Pilot". Columbus Dispatch.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 260–261.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 266–267.
↑ Goldstein, Richard (1 November 2007). "Paul W. Tibbets Jr., Pilot of Enola Gay, Dies at 92". New York Times. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
↑ Tibbets 1998, pp. 283–285.
↑ Bernstein, Adam (2 November 2007). "Paul Tibbets Jr., 92; piloted Enola Gay over Hiroshima". Boston Globe.
1 2 Tibbets 1998, pp. 288–291.
1 2 "Paul Tibbets Jr.". National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
↑ "Paul Tibbets: A Rendezvous with History by Di Freeze". Airport Journals. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
↑ "The Beginning or the End (1947)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
↑ Duffin & Mathies 2005, p. 61.
↑ "Colonel Paul Tibbetts (Character)". IMDb.
1 2 "Paul W. Tibbets". Miami Herald. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
↑ Bocchino, Stefan. "Face of Defense: Grandson Carries on Grandfather's Service". Department of Defense. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
↑ Sudekum, Maria (5 June 2015). "Grandson of Enola Gay Pilot Takes Command of B-2 Bomb Wing". ABC News. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
↑ Goldstein, Richard (1 November 2007). "Paul W. Tibbets Jr., Pilot of Enola Gay, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
1 2 3 "Man Who Dropped Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima Dies at 92". Fox News Channel. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
↑ Holyoke, Cody. "American War Hero Remembered". WSFA.com. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
↑ Thompson, Steve (13 November 2007). "Tibbets did his duty, and this country should be thankful". Daily Herald. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
↑ "Paul W. Tibbets Jr.". Ohio History Central. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
Ambrose, Stephen (1998). The Victors: Eisenhower and his Boys – The Men of World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-85628-X.
Campbell, Richard H. (2005). The Silverplate Bombers: A History and Registry of the Enola Gay and Other B-29s Configured to Carry Atomic Bombs. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-2139-8.
Duffin, Allan T.; Mathies, Paul (2005). The 12 O'Clock High Logbook: The Unofficial History of the Motion Picture, Novel, and TV Series. Boalsburg, Pennsylvania: BearManor Media. ISBN 1-59393-033-X.
Goldberg, Alfred (1948). "Establishment of the Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom". In Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea. Volume One – Plans and Early Operations: January 1939 – August 1942 (PDF). The Army Air Forces In World War II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 612–654. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
Kingseed, Cole C. (2006). Old Glory Stories: American Combat Leadership in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-440-3.
Marx, Joseph L. (1967). Seven Hours to Zero. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. OCLC 4050364.
Stelpflug, Peggy A. (2007). Home of the Infantry: The History of Fort Benning. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-88146-087-2.
Thomas, Gordon; Morgan-Witts, Max (1977). Ruin from the Air: The Enola Gay's Atomic Mission to Hiroshima. London: Hamilton. OCLC 491239101.
Tibbets, Paul W. (1998). Return Of The Enola Gay. New Hope, Pennsylvania: Enola Gay Remembered. ISBN 0-9703666-0-4.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Tibbets.
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Here are the top three tips for making your bones stronger without indulging in any form of strong medicines.
Yes, it is true that your bones are made of calcium mineral, but that does not in any case imply that you can become stronger just by downing those expensive calcium pills and supplements every day. According to an expert health report, one of the most significant and fundamental causes of age concerned bone loss and weakening of bones is the hormone imbalance in the body which can further incorporate due to a variety of different lifestyle and other reasons. It has been generally found that natural hormones such as the testosterone and estrogen are the key fundamentals of bone damage and health. In other words, maintaining an appropriate balance between these hormones inside the human body is the first step towards achieving the long term bone health. A recently published health paper terms bone utilizing to be hormonal.
One of the greatest ways for boosting your testosterone levels and for balancing the amount of natural hormones in your body is to stay away from all kinds of estrogenic foods such as the soya. Such form of foods tends to disrupt as well as restrict overall hormone balance inside the body. In addition to this, you must also make efforts to ensure that you are supplementing your body with the synergetic as well as essential nutrients such as the trace mineral complexes, zinc, iodine and magnesium. According to a recently revealed medical search report, the people living in America are more prone to the gross iodine deficiency than others. This can be accredited to the fact that modern American diet and food desperately lacks the iodine element. If your body is not containing the sufficient or necessary amount of iodine, then this lack of iodine can further target your thyroid glands which are further responsible for the regulation of calcium balance, production and maintenance of thyroid hormones. Therefore, failure in the working of thyroid glands leads to the failing of all these systems and balances inside the human body.
Most of people are also deficient in the amounts of zinc and magnesium which is both essential nutrients as far as the appropriate production as well as balance of nutrients is concerned. Magnesium is absolutely essential for human body for boosting metabolic rate of the body and for the generation of usable energy. It also helps in the prevention of hip replacement surgery. Magnesium also facilitates the complete development as well as digestion of the bone tissue. Similarly, the zinc is needed in the body for the proper functioning of the body endocrine system along with the sustained and balanced production of necessary growth hormones.
Bone weakness as well as bone loss can be blamed to physical inactivity to a great extent. In order to push your body towards making and generating more body bone tissue, you are actually needed to use your body. Therefore, keeping this in view you must try to indulge in any form of weight bearing exercises or physical activities on a regular basis so that it not only generates pressure on your bones for exercising but also helps in the stretching and relaxation of your body muscles. When there is pressure put on your bones, this in turn trains your complete body for the natural fortification of bone mass. The entire process becomes more fast and effective if you combine these exercising routines with appropriate dietary changes. Even usual physical activities such as cycling, swimming, walking, pushing, lunges, pull-ups and others have been proved to be equally effective in preventing hip replacement surgery.
Laura Helen is a medical researcher. Her major area of interest revolves around different benefits of the hip replacement surgery.
Filed Under: News and Information Tagged With: Hip Replacement Surgery.
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What is wisdom? Science says it is: Cognition, reflection, and compassion.
As the river becomes clearer the pebbles become apparent.
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How to generate a Google sitemap for wordpress site?
I would recommend Google XML sitemap to create wp sitemap. It helps to create dynamic sitemap which is compatible to all main search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. After generating sitemaps , submit it on Google webmasters tool. When you publish a new post, your sitemap will be automatically updated.
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At one time, Tasmanian devils were in danger of extinction due to persecution by settlers and destruction of forest habitat, but populations have since stabilized due to protective laws.
Tasmanian devils love water and are very good swimmers and will wade, splash about, sit, and lie down in water to stay cool.
Both males and female Tasmanian devils den in hollow logs, caves, or burrows, and make nests of bark, grass, and leaves, which they inhabit throughout the day.
Tasmanian devils have massive heads with well-developed jaw muscles and heavy molar teeth adapted for crushing bones and tearing through thick muscle and skin.
Although Tasmanian devils are not territorial, they stay within relatively small home ranges and can travel up to 16km a night in search of food.
Tasmanian devils typically acquire the Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) during the bite-filled breeding season as this transferrable cancer is passed through contact.
Tasmanian devils most often live to five-years-old in the wild, but they can live up to seven or eight years.
As in many dasyurids, Tasmanian devils store their fat in their tails.
Tasmanian devils are considered nuisance animals and have been considered livestock predators, although these scavengers take most of their large prey in the form of carrion.
Tasmanian devils have a stocky, thick-set, squat build with a brownish, black pelage and white markings on the rump and chest.
Male Tasmanian devils compete for access to breeding females and temporarily subdue females while mating.
Tasmanian devils produce a strong odor when under stress, but when calm and relaxed they are not smelly.
The greatest recent threat to Tasmanian devils is Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) as populations have declined up to 80% due to the contagious cancer.
Unlike many other dasyurids, the Tasmanian devil's marsupial pouch is completely closed when breeding.
Adult Tasmanian devils have few natural predators such as eagles, owls, and spotted-tailed quolls, although Thylacines (Thylacinus cynocephalus) may have preyed on them historically.
The body size of the Tasmanian devil varies considerably with diet, habitat, and age, and females tend to be slightly smaller than males.
The Tasmanian devil is an "Endangered" species due to food availability, competition with other devils and quolls, loss of habitat, persecution, vehicle strike, and Devil Facial Tumor Disease.
Tasmanian devils are usually solitary and not territorial, but may interact aggressively over food and follow a hierarchy in captivity.
Tasmanian devils are plagued by Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), and are one of only seven species in the world that can contract a contagious cancer.
Tasmanian devils usually amble slowly with a characteristic gait but can gallop quickly with both hind feet together.
Although a Tasmanian devil can give birth to up to 40 young, only 4 can survive, with an average of 2-3, because of the limited number of mammae in her pouch.
Tasmanian devils are most numerous in coastal heath and rangeland areas where agricultural practices maintain a constant supply of carrion and also occur in open, dry schlerophyll forest and mixed schlerophyll-rainforest.
The Tasmanian devil makes a variety of fierce noises, from harsh coughs and snarls to high pitched screeches, especially when fighting.
Tasmanian devils are generally nocturnal, but they may be seen sunbathing during the day in quiet areas.
Almost all Tasmanian devils are devastated by a lethal, transferrable, cancer-like disease called Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) that grows tumors on the face until the creature starves to death.
The Tasmanian devil got its name after early European settlers heard mysterious, unearthly screams in the wild and referred to it as "The Devil."
Tasmanian devils have keen senses of smell, sight, touch, and taste and communicate with a variety of vocalizations and physical cues.
Tasmanian devils are monestrous, mating February-May and giving birth most often in April after a gestation period of 21 days.
Currently, Tasmanian devils are found only in Tasmania, although fossil evidence suggests that they once occupied much of the Australian mainland.
The Tasmanian devil is the largest, native, mammalian predator on Tasmania and the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, and is an important apex predator in Tasmanian ecosystems.
Tasmanian devils are carnivorous scavengers with powerful jaws and teeth that allow them to eat the bones and fur of carrion.
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Common pitfalls and advice on how to avoid them!
One element tuple -- having trouble making a tuple with only one element?
Copying lists and dictionaries -- regular assignment won't work!
There is no such thing in Python as a one-element tuple!?!?
Looks like you're trying to make a one-element list and a one-element tuple right? No complaints from Python...yet.
It turns out that in Python, a one-element tuple is defined to be the element itself, that is, oneEltTuple is not a tuple, it is an integer, 42! The error message is referring to the fact that the for-loop is expecting a collection of values that it can iterate over, but it got a single integer instead.
Use a list instead of a tuple.
print aList1 # Why did aList1 change?!?!?!
The reason is that aList1 and aList2 aren't really the lists themselves. They are simply references to the lists, kind of like name tags. In the above code snippet, there is only one actual list to which, initially, the name "aList1" referred. The assignment, "aList2 = aList1" simply copied the reference to the list from one name tag to another--in the end, both aList1 and aList2 refer to the same list object. Thus if you mutate (change) the list object via one reference, the other reference will see those changes.
The same problem arises for dictionaries and any other compound object made of smaller entities.
aList2 = list(aList) # use a "copy constructor"
aList2 = 'z' # test it!
print aList1 # aList1 is unchanged!
Important Note: ints, floats, booleans and chars are different!
It should be noted that integers, floats, booleans and characters behave differently than the above discussed behavior of lists and dictionaries.
Integers, floats, booleans and characters are not compound objects, they are "primitive" values. A variable of a primitive type is not a reference to an object, but rather the actual primitive entity. Assignment actually does the same thing for both primitive and compound entities: it copies the value of the variable itself, which for compound objects is the reference to the object while for primitives, it is the actual value of the entity.
[1, 2] - [3, 4] # Error! Subtraction not defined.
- [3, 4] # Error! Subtraction not defined.
np.array([1, 2]) + np.array([3, 4, 5]) # Error! Addition not defined for unequal lists.
[1, 2] - [3, 4] # Error! Subtraction not defined as usual.
np.array([1, 2]) - np.array([3, 4]) # array([-2, -2]) # Error! Addition not defined for unequal lists.
Multiplication and division aren't defined for regular lists. For numpy arrays, multiplication and division work similarly to plus and minus as shown above.
Regular lists: The only defined arithmetic operation is "+", which always means list concatenation. This is because a regular list could be of any type or even mixed types.
numpy arrays: Arithmetic operations on these lists and matrices behave as they would on numerical vectors in linear algebra. This is because numerical, vector processing is the focus of the numpy library.
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For the Austrian violinist, see Joseph Böhm.
Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Baronet RA (Vienna, 6 July 1834 – 12 December 1890 London, England) was a medallist and sculptor, best known for the Jubilee head of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner. His oeuvre is substantial and he exhibited 123 works at the Royal Academy, from 1862 to his death in 1890.
He married Louisa Frances Boteler. His daughter, Florence Louise Boehm, married Lt.-Col. Randolph Albert Fitzhardinge Kingscote (6 February 1867 – 8 December 1940) on 16 July 1890.
Boehm's carte de visite, circa 1860s.
Boehm (originally "Böhm") was born in Vienna of Hungarian parentage. His father, Joseph Daniel Böhm, was director of the imperial mint in Vienna. After studying the plastic art in Italy and at Paris, he worked for a few years as a medallist in Vienna. In 1856, he was presented with the Austrian Imperial Prize for Sculpture, the start of his distinguished career.
After a further period of study in England, he was so successful as an exhibitor at the 1862 International Exhibition that he decided to devote more time to portrait busts and statuettes, chiefly equestrian. He moved to England in 1862, and became a British subject three years later. A colossal statue of Queen Victoria, executed in marble (1869) for Windsor Castle, and the monument of the Duke of Kent in St George's chapel, were his earliest great works, and so entirely to the taste of his royal patrons that he rose rapidly in favour with the court. In 1874 he completed a substantial statue of John Bunyan (1628–1688) which was unveiled on 10 June at St Peter's Green, Bedford, by Lady Augusta Stanley, before a crowd of 10,000. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1878, was appointed sculptor in ordinary in 1881 and was elected to the Royal Academy in 1882. In 1889 he was created a baronet, of Wetherby Gardens in the Parish of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, in the County of London.
Victoria, entrance to Hyde Park, Sydney (c1900) and still in situ.
In 1887, he designed and executed the model for the dies for a series of coins, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the queen's reign. The coins are signed J.E.B. below the shoulder. This design was severely criticised by his peers as well as the public. It was replaced in 1893. The coins depicted the royal arms in the order of the garter on the reverse. As a result, the sixpences were frequently gilded and passed off as gold half sovereigns. Therefore, the sixpence reverted to its standard design.
Boehm is responsible for a large free-standing statue of Queen Victoria in Queen's Square, Sydney.
A speciality of Boehm's was the portrait bust; there are many examples of these in the National Portrait Gallery. He was often commissioned by the Royal Family and members of the aristocracy to make sculptures for their parks and gardens. His most important works include St George and the Dragon, which can be found outside the State Library of Victoria, and Francis Drake. His large sculpture of the stallion King Tom (1874) was commissioned by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild for his new mansion, Mentmore Towers, and moved to Dalmeny House in 1982.
There are many statues by Boehm in London. For the memorial to General Charles George Gordon in St Paul's Cathedral, he carved an effigy of Gordon recumbent on a sarcophagus. His equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner, unveiled in 1888 was commissioned to compensate for the removal of the colossal sculpture of the Duke by Matthew Cotes Wyatt from the nearby Wellington Arch to Aldershot. On the death of Dean Stanley, Boehm was commissioned to execute his sarcophagus in Westminster Abbey. Among his ideal subjects, the "Herdsman and Bull" is notable.
Boehm's most famous pupil was the Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria. She was at his house, at 76 Fulham Road in London, when Boehm died suddenly on 12 December 1890, provoking unsubstantiated press speculation about a sexual relationship between the two.
A lost or destroyed bust of William Fane De Salis by Boehm. This was exhibited at the Royal Academy 1867, no. 1056.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joseph Boehm.
^ a b c d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Boehm, Sir Joseph Edgar" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
^ "No. 25953". The London Gazette. 12 July 1889. p. 3779.
^ Biographical dictionary of medallists: coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, &c., ancient and modern, with references to their works B. C. 500-A. D. 1900; compiled by Leonard Forrer, London: Spink & son ltd., 1904.
^ "An Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
^ "Recording Field Visit". RCAHMS. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
^ Dimock, Arthur (1900). The Cathedral Church of St. Paul An Account of the Old and New Buildings with a Short Historical Sketch. Bell's Cathedrals. London: George Bell and Sons.
^ Historic England. "Details from image database (406668)". Images of England. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
^ Stocker 2004, (Joseph) Edgar Boehm.
Armstrong, Walter (1901). "Boehm, Joseph Edgar" . Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Stocker, Mark (September 2004). "(Joseph) Edgar Boehm". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online, January 2008 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2762. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
Sir John Robert Steell was a Scottish sculptor. He is best known for a number of sculptures displayed in Edinburgh, including the statue of Sir Walter Scott at the base of the Scott Monument.
Sir Richard Westmacott was a British sculptor.
Matthew Noble was a leading British portrait sculptor. Carver of numerous monumental figures and busts including work memorializing Victorian era royalty and statesmen displayed in locations such as Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral and in Parliament Square, London.
Édouard Lantéri was a French-born British sculptor and medallist whose romantic French style of sculpting was seen as influential among exponents of New Sculpture. His name is also frequently spelled without accents as Edouard Lanteri and his first name sometimes given in its English form as Edward.
Matthew Cotes Wyatt was a painter and sculptor and a member of the Wyatt family, who were well known in the Victorian era as architects and sculptors.
George Anderson Lawson was a British Victorian era sculptor who was associated with the New Sculpture movement.
Joseph Durham was an English sculptor.
A bronze statue of John Bunyan stands on St Peter's Green, Bedford, England. The statue was sculpted by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, it was erected in 1874, and unveiled on 10 June of that year. The statue was commissioned by the Ninth Duke of Bedford and presented by him to Bedford town.
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What is a PAN Card!
Perpetual Account Number(PAN) is a ten-digit alphanumeric number, issued as an overlaid card, by the Income Tax Department, to any "person" who applies for it or to whom the division allots the number without an application.Income Tax Panseva card is issued under Section 139A of the Income Tax Act. The PAN structure is according to the accompanying: AAAPL1234C: The five (5) first characters are letters, trailed by four (4) numerals, and the last (tenth) character is a letter.
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What jobs are available with a degree in human resources?
Obtaining a degree in Human Resources can take you far across almost an industry! Every type of organization that employees people, needs human resources professionals to deal with employee matters. You can either be a Generalist and deal with many different facets of HR or you can specialize in Payroll, Benefits, Recruiting, Labor Relations and many other areas. Good luck!
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What kind of shift report was that?
This is why I love ER nursing. Report consists of something along these lines: "Okay in room 1 you have a 65y/o male no cardiac history, chest pain for 3 days. Line, labs, EKG done, doc hasn't seen him yet. Room 2 is a 48y/o female abdominal pain, vomiting for 3 hours. Line, labs done, meds given. Waiting for CT and still need urine. In room 3 you have a 2 y/o with a fever and cough. Tylenol given, and the temp is down, he's up for re-eval. Room 4 is empty. Any questions? No, okay. Have a good day." This is a perfectly acceptable ER report. You're used to knowing nothing about patients when they roll in the door, and having to do some digging, and they turn over so quickly, you really don't need to know much more than what's been done, and what's pending. I went back to work the floor briefly after having worked in the ER for two years, and remember being one of the quickest report takers, because I would rather just look things like labs and new orders up for myself.
What is so difficult about this question?
I don't know. If it were me, I'd want the healthcare provider taking care of me to know all about my medical history. For example, I've had pneumonia 3 or 4 times in my life. I've had at least three concussions. None in the last 15 years, but still pretty important, I think. These are all things that I don't take medicine for every day, but they are something a provider would probably want to know if, for instance they were ruling out pneumonia, or a head injury.
As an ED nurse who works triage a lot, I find it incredibly frustrating that when I ask most patients if they have had any medical problems in the past they give me a blank stare, and sometimes ask "What do you mean?" Most then proceed to give me their surgical history. Sometimes after I get the blank stare, and then the surgical history I ask if they have any problems that they take medication for every day, but that doesn't cover everything, like they could have had an MI in the past, but not necessarily be on any meds related to it. Is there some other way to ask people that would make it more clear what I'm looking for? I work in a busy ED, and see probably 50 patients a day come through triage, so I guess that's why it's bothering me so much lately.
Poll: Do you wear your wedding band to work...?
I wear mine, but it's just a plain silver band, no crevices or anything to get stuff caught in. And when I wash/sanitize, I routinely push the soap/sanitizer onto/around/under it. Most of my married co-workers wear their big diamond solitaires to work, though.
Is there a line floating?
I've worked in float pool, and was expected to float anywhere except ICU, ED, and OB. That said, since I had PALS, I suspect I could have been asked to float to OB if it had been necessary. And I did regularly float to ICU, and took "step-down" paints, even though I knew they weren't really... Not that safe, but I never complained.
Three months was the norm in the hospitality industry, where I worked before healthcare. Not ideal, but if you need coverage, you can always choose to pay COBRA rates for the interim period. I usually just wing it, but I don't really have any chronic health issues.
New grad at a non-skilled nursing facility?
Wow! 35% on nights??? That would be amazing! I hear Orlando pay is a little higher than the rest of the state, though... I have a couple of friends who have transplanted there in the last few years. But my husband is intent on living hear the ocean... so any thoughts on the Gulf coast anyone??
I love this topic!!! I just had to meet with not one, but two managers of a unit I floated to after working a 12 hour shift, to answer about a patient complaint regarding my nursing the night before!! The patient, who waved me away when I attempted an assessment, said that I failed to assess her and her roommate. Said roommate, whom I got no report on, was very unstable, and I actually spent the entire night following up on her lab values, vitals, blood sugars, etc. The other patient (ie: the complainer) was the most stable of my 7-patient assignment, so excuse me if I didn't get in to assess her until 2145. So, unfortunately, the patient I "wowed" that night was unable to speak for herself, so instead I had to answer to the management regarding the alert, oriented and independent complainer.
My husband and I (both RN's) are planning a move to Florida, specifically the Sarasota area in the next 6 months or so. I hear all the time about how FL nurses don't make that much money, but according to their online job postings, Sarasota Memorial Hospital's pay rates are very similar to what we are getting paid here in upstate NY. Considering the slightly lower cost of living, and no state taxes, we may actually come out ahead. Unless the shift differentials less? Is that what everyone is complaining about? Here we get about 10% on eves, 15% on nights, and an additional 10% for weekends, it varies only slightly by facility. We both plan on working nights. I've done a couple of web searches, and haven't really found any definitive information on shift differentials in Florida. So I would like to hear from people who are actually working there, not necessarily in Sarasota, but a general idea would be nice. Thanks ahead of time for your help!
Like some of you above, I am naturally "programmed" for nights as well. Prior to starting nights, I was never a "good sleeper" I would take hours to fall asleep at night, and then never feel rested when my alarm went off. Now I've worked night shift for almost 5 years and have the opposite problem from most. I feel like a zombie when I have to be up in the daytime for something. But my husband is a natural morning person who works nights, and here are some things that have helped him out: -We keep the bedroom cool, about 65 degrees -We have curtains on all the windows (it used to be blackout ones, but now that he's more acclimated to nights, it's just regular curtains.) -There is always a fan on in our room, even in the winter. -A sound machine, or some other kind of white noise is essential As far as supplements/medications for sleep go, I've never tried anything prescription, but have used the following (usually when I need to go to sleep at a "normal" time for a class or something in the AM) -Benadryl made me more zombie-like than if I hadn't taken anything at all. I took it when I had to be at an ACLS class all day, and had to go take a nap in my car at lunchtime just to get through the day. -Melatonin I've found to be very beneficial in helping me fall asleep, which is sometimes an issue for me. But I still sometimes wake up after a couple of hours -Valerian root, on the other hand doesn't help with the falling asleep, but is fantastic for the staying asleep aspect. Gives me weird dreams though, so I only use it once in awhile.
How do you reward yourself after a tough shift?
Would phlebotomy skill be helpful to get a job as an RN?
Yes. Go for it. Even if some hospitals don't have RN's drawing labs, some do, and all that I know of consider IV starts a nursing responsibility. If you are competent at drawing blood, starting an IV will be that much easier for you, and that could make you more employable, especially into a position where you do that more, ie: ER, pre-op, urgent care, etc.
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0.98568 |
Add input tools and select input tools. Google input tools Tamil is a tool that will help you easily type in Tamil. You know that every single country and every state has its own mother language, which you use in your day to day life. Follow the instruction to use it and add it on chrome to use its all features. If you click on keyboard icon a keyboard will come up on your screen. Google Input Tools is an extension for the Chrome browser that lets you type in a selected language, with special characters and all, without having to add it to the Windows operating system.
The first one, allows you to type in text using your keyboard. But when you get somebody from facebook twitter etc. One-line summary: 10 characters minimum Count: 0 of 55 characters 3. Google Input Tools chrome extension lets you translate any language in to your native language. Depending on how far along you are when typing, the suggestions vary in number and you might end up with a fairly large list to choose from.
Note that Google Input Tools does not include any entries in the menu by default, so you have to navigate to the Options panel and make the necessary configurations right away. It is a small tool and does not need too much space than the rest of the products listed on Chrome Extensions. You will find this input tools in both online and offline. What is Google input tools: Google Input Tools is a tool that lets you type in any language without knowledge of other language. But when you get somebody from facebook twitter etc. You know that every single country and every state has its own mother language, which you use in your day to day life.
Once installation setup completes, an icon will appear in browser. Google input tools Punjabi is a tool that will help you easily type in Punjabi. You know that every single country and every state has its own mother language, which you use in your day to day life. Google Input tools is an amazing Chrome extension that let you type in any language as you need. Now when you head to the google search bar choose one language which you want and then write any word it will show you suggestion. The icon opens up a drop-down menu that gives access to the app features and allows the user to switch between different languages.
Google input tools Gujarati Google input tools Gujarati is a tool that will help you easily type in Gujarati. It allows you to switch to typing in a different language with the click of the mouse, and switch back just as easily. Enjoy type in any language from more than forty languages online. Google Input Tools runs on the following operating systems: Windows. It does not currently assist with input inside of Flash applications. You can always return to this options page to add, remove, or modify the order of your input tools. The Google Input Tools for extension is a Google project that aims to deliver multiple language support when typing within the web browser.
Switch between virtual keyboards and start typing in a language of your choice To activate a certain keyboard, just make the appropriate selection from the Google Input Tools menu. You know that every single country and every state has its own mother language, which you use in your day to day life. This application is essential for anyone who wants a quick way to type in another language. It also does not currently support input inside of Flash applications. That time during typing you can convert it in multiple languages it depends on you what language you choose. You will get a list of Hindi words sound like namaste.
You know that every single country and every state has its own mother language, which you use in your day to day life. You have to talk about that language in which you do not have a little bit of knowledge, That time it will help you to type in that language. You know that every single country and every state has its own mother language, which you use in your day to day life. With this method you draw the letter you want to insert into the text field or write the entire word. It has achieved over 131,879 installations all time and 4,099 last week. After completing the installation, an icon for the app is placed in the browser.
Features Of Google Input Tools This tool has keyboard and font of many languages. The list of languages that you type with these google input tools are endless. It is a small tool and does not need too much space than the rest of the products listed on Chrome Extensions. Google Input Tools lets you type in your language using the input tools familiar to you. Google Input Tools chrome extension lets you translate any language in to your native language. Those days are long gone when you have to learn multiple languages to communicate with foreigners. But when you get somebody from facebook twitter etc.
When you have to write online and offline in Hindi, you will be able to type in Hindi with this Input tools. Adding or removing languages is done from the options section and is something you can do in one or two clicks. Type Any Language on Google Chrome with Input Tools Hope you remember the extension that was added earlier. You know that every single country and every state has its own mother language, which you use in your day to day life. Features include automatic diacritics, spell correction, and prefix completion. You can extension with couple of clicks via chrome web store.
Once it is downloaded, an extension icon will be automatically added in the Google chrome web bar. But when you get somebody from facebook twitter etc. You have to talk about that language in which you do not have a little bit of knowledge, That time it will help you to type in that language. What is Google input tools: Google Input Tools is a tool that lets you type in any language without knowledge of other language. The language will be changed and you can type in the language that you chose. You can always return to this options page to add, remove, or change the order of your input tools.
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0.997558 |
Concord, a small country town about 15 miles northwest of Boston, was where the colonial American militia stockpiled their guns and ammunition in the months preceding the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. The British attempted a surprise attack on the weapon stores in Concord on the night of April 18, 1775.
The colonials had already anticipated this, and on the first sign of British movement Paul Revere, Samuel Prescott and William Dawes rode ahead of the British armies to spread the word. American defenders gathered in Concord and Lexington, and the result was a rout of the British forces and a major victory for the cause of American independence.
Two generations later, a literary and philosophical revolution began in the same town. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott and other progressive thinkers began holding meetings to discuss anti-slavery activism, spirituality, education and the idea of a uniquely American sense of art. They founded a literary journal called "The Dial" to help spread the word, and New England Transcendentalism was born.
Later additions to Concord's Transcendental crowd included Emerson's eccentric younger friend Henry David Thoreau and Bronson Alcott's talented daughter Louisa May Alcott, whose novel "Little Women" describes life in a 19th century suburb of Boston.
Concord's reputation as a crucible of unexpected innovations was further extended in 1849 when horticulturist (and friend of the Transcendentalists) Ephraim Bull discovered an ideally robust and delicious new grape, which became world renowned as the Concord grape. This was the first grape to be successfully bottled and mass produced as grape juice by the Welch family of New Jersey, twenty years later.
Most of Concord's historical sites are well-preserved, though they have taken on the dull sheen of school trip fodder. The North Bridge battle site, the Old Manse where the Emerson family lived and the Orchard House where the Alcott children were raised are all within walking distance from the center of town.
Before I first visited Concord, I was warned by several people that a visit to the birthplace of the greatest book to emerge from Concord would be a disappointing sight. I had to drive around a bit before I located Walden Pond, and once there I found a quiet sandy beach on a wooded lake, and a few Hispanic-looking families (I guess the white bathers go to Cape Cod) hanging around in bathing suits. There was a replica of Thoreau's cabin near the roadside parking lot, and a marker at the spot where his actual cabin stood, deeper into the woods.
I wonder why so many people find the pilgrimage to Walden Pond disappointing? Perhaps they expect some kind of grand epiphany, like doves floating overhead reciting the works of Shakespeare. Walden Pond today is exactly what it should be -- a humble place waiting for somebody to come along and love it.
If you are on a literary pilgrimage to Concord, you may also want to visit Jack Kerouac's Lowell, a few miles to the north.
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0.999933 |
If you are looking to get into endurance running and want to get faster then there are a few things you can do. Firstly, run. You need to make sure that if your goal is to run then you are running. However, you also will want to add in some plyometrics, squats, lunges, single leg squats and exercises for the core. Make sure you follow a gradual plan to avoid injury from over training or increasing milage too quickly.
Caffeine - This keeps you alert and improves your focus. It also helps to delay fatigue making those longer sessions more manageable.
Beta-alanine - This supplement has been found to help to reduce fatigue during HIIT and improve performance.
BCAAs - These have been found to decrease the production of lactate, helping you to increase your endurance in your exercise.
Endurance training such as cycling, running, rowing or even taking part in a cross fit competition is going to require you to have some energy to keep you going. Many athletes decide to take caffeine, whether that is in the form of a pre workout or just a decent black coffee. The benefit of pre workout for endurance training is that it reduces your perception of fatigue which can help you go on for longer. This will help make those long rides, runs or rows that little bit easier.
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0.999879 |
How do I hire a Director, Learning & Development? FOX is seeking a Director of Learning and Development with the qualifications, experience and skills required to optimize the effectiveness of our learning & development function. This individual will be a dynamic, hands-on training expert capable of providing strategic and tactical support for needle-moving learning initiatives across our company.
• Design, create and adjust training content, online learning modules, guides, and course materials.
• Contribute to OD and Training initiatives by developing work plans, communicating progress, soliciting and incorporating feedback, and ensuring alignment for successful delivery.
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0.999999 |
What is the New Zealand Dollar?
The New Zealand Dollar is the legal currency of New Zealand. It is commonly referred to as the ‘Kiwi’. The currency is used in the Realm of New Zealand (including New Zealand proper and the territories of the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, and Tokelau). It is also legal tender in the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents and its futures contract symbol is 6N.
Used to buy goods and or services in New Zealand and other territories where it is legal tender.
The New Zealand Dollar is one of the top 10 traded currencies throughout the world and makes up around 1.6% of daily global turnover.
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0.999773 |
My daughter has always had issues with her behavior. We are really working on getting her situated and helped before the new school year, but my husband and I really want to address every possible issue before going the medicine route and this book was just the perfect book for me to pick up. Each chapter addresses common causes (or at least common exasperations of) ADHD. It also gives you exactly what to do if your kid (or even you as an adult with ADHD) happen to have these symptoms as well. This book isn't anti-medicine, it is integrative and I always appreciate an integrative approach over going completely to the medicinal end or completely to the natural end regarding the health of my family in any capacity. I have marked several pages to discuss with my children's pediatrician who, as you might have guessed, is an integrative practice as well. The chapters in this book are well organized and divided by symptoms, making it easier to use as a reference for your child's unique situation. I would recommend this book not only to parents of children with ADHD, but to anyone who works with children at all, specifically teachers and pediatric doctors.
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0.999339 |
You just finished your book and you need to write a blurb for your back cover and your product page. How, you ask yourself nervously, do I summarize the plot of my 300-page baby?
To write a good cover blurb, you need to understand what it is and what it is not.
The back-cover blurb is a short description of the story line, characters, and suspense element. It is meant to give the readers a taste of what's inside the book and entice them into buying it. The blurb doesn't tell the book's story, it sells the book the way a commercial sells a TV show or movie to viewers.
What the blurb is not is a synopsis of the book. By definition, a synopsis is a highly condensed version of a book, detailing the plot's beginning, middle, and end. Unfortunately, I have read cover blurbs that read like Cliff Notes. Why should I buy your book if you have just told me everything that's in it?
While longer than the logline, the blurb must still be short and tightly written. A cover blurb should be no more than 250 words. There are three reasons for this. If you write more words than that, you may be tempted to give away too much of the plot. You also don't want to take up all the space on your back cover. Finally, your cover blurb will also serve as your blurb on your book's product page, and the Internet abhors long blocks of copy.
Here is the blurb for my first novel, The Killing Depths.
"A killer lurks beneath the waves of the western Pacific Ocean. The USS Encinitas, the first attack submarine crewed by both men and women, stalks the Crescent Moon, a renegade Iranian sub armed with nuclear-tipped missiles. But another predator hides aboard the American sub, a murderer who has already left a trail of dead women behind on shore. While the crew of the Encinitas plays a deadly game of hide-and-seek with the Crescent Moon, NCIS investigator Linus Schag must discover the killer’s identity before his – or her – blood lust leads to the submarine’s total destruction."
In only 95 words, this blurb introduces the mystery (a serial killer), the conflict/suspense (the submarine battle), the main character (Linus Schag), and his mission (discover the killer before whomever it is destroys the USS Encinitas).
For Eden: A Sci-Fi Novella, I summed up the basic plot of the book in 103 words.
"A sandstorm uncovers a long-buried secret in the Iraqi desert, an ancient Sumerian temple dating back at least 6,000 years to the beginning of civilization. An American army patrol sent to investigate the ruins is trapped inside the temple's eroded walls, first by an insurgent ambush then by another, even more powerful sandstorm. When an enemy mortar shell blasts an opening into a hidden burial chamber, Captain Adam Cadman and his soldiers take refuge deep in the ruins. What they find hidden inside threatens to destroy every belief about the beginnings of mankind—as well as modern society as we know it."
Again, the blurb establishes the place (Iraq during the U.S. war there), the main character (Captain Cadman), the action (ambushed soldiers), and the main suspense element (the ancient threat they find buried in the ruins).
"Reacher takes a stroll through a small Wisconsin town and sees a class ring in a pawn shop window: West Point 2005. A tough year to graduate: Iraq, then Afghanistan. The ring is tiny, for a woman, and it has her initials engraved on the inside. Reacher wonders what unlucky circumstance made her give up something she earned over four hard years. He decides to find out. And find the woman. And return her ring. Why not?
So, begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of a small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness.
The deeper Reacher digs, and the more he learns, the more dangerous the terrain becomes. Turns out the ring was just a small link in a far darker chain. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Some lines should never be crossed. But then, neither should Reacher."
Make your book more attractive to readers by adding a short excerpt from a favorable review at the end of your blurb or, if your book wins an award, placing a one-sentence announcement of the award at the beginning of the blurb (i.e., "Named Best Romance Novel of the Year by...").
Most writers think their writing is over when they type The End on the last page of their manuscript. In reality, the writing challenge has only begun.
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0.9854 |
On 8 May 2018, the Government delivered the 2018-19 Federal Budget, and it would be reasonable to say that this Budget starts to lay a foundation for the next Federal election.
The focus of the budget was building a stronger economy by creating jobs and guaranteeing essential services. As most households have had to tighten their budgets over the past few years, the Treasurer has announced that the Government must also live within its means. He said the Government has made real progress in getting the budget back on track and that it has stayed on track for a surplus for six successive budget updates.
From a pure financial planning and wealth perspective, the positive news from this year's Budget is that the changes are minimal in number compared to prior years, and largely positive in nature. With changes to personal taxation thresholds and tax offsets from 1 July 2018 over a seven year period, measures to reduce possible erosion of super balances, particularly for low balance accounts, and allowing Age Pensioners to earn more before their pension is reduced, there is something for nearly everyone in this Budget.
As is always the case, these measures will need to pass through the legislative process before they become law, and may change during that process.
Following is a summary of some of the major proposals and how they may affect you.
The major plank of taxation reform centres on the Government's proposed "Personal Income Tax Plan". Under this proposal, income tax relief will progressively be provided over a seven year period commencing 1 July 2018.
The main focus for the first four years from 1 July 2018 is the introduction of a new "Low and Middle Income Tax Offset", the will provide a tax offset valued at up to $530. The maximum benefit will flow to those with taxable income ranging from $48,000 to $90,000, but there is some possible benefit if your taxable income is below $48,000 and also if it is up to $125,333.
The Government has also announced it will not proceed with its measure announced in the 2017 Budget which would have seen the Medicare levy increase to 2.5% from 1 July 2019. Instead, it will remain at the existing rate of 2.0% of taxable income.
Small business owners will also gain the benefit of a further 12 month extension until 30 June 2019 of the ability to claim an instant asset write off for eligible assets purchased that are worth up to $20,000.
Thankfully, superannuation remained largely untouched. There was re-confirmation of a pre-Budget announcement that from 1 July 2019, the maximum number of members permitted to be in a self managed super fund will increase from four to six.
Some relief was provided to those aged 65-74 who have stopped working, allowing them a one-off opportunity to make a contribution to super from 1 July 2019 without meeting the work test, but only where they have less than $300,000 in super.
Other measures were announced that also take effect from 1 July 2019, which will help protect, and perhaps preserve, balances in super accounts that have fallen to below $6,000. This includes a capping on certain fees that can be applied, as well as the removal of default insurance arrangements. In addition, super funds will not be able to impose exit fees if you choose to roll your super from one fund to another.
Again from 1 July 2019, changes will be made to certain entitlements under the Age Pension regime, which will allow certain Age Pensioners to earn additional income from employment activities (including self employment) before their pension may be reduced. Additionally, more pensioners will be eligible to access some of the equity in their own home under the Pension Loan Scheme.
The Government has also proposed a number of changes to the aged care system, with a goal of providing more choices to people as to how they wish to live later in life.
Overall, the number of changes announced in this year's Federal Budget are small compared to prior years. Whilst this is a positive, and many will look to benefit from income tax changes, any possible benefit gained is only half the story. The real question is what you do with those savings.
The most important consideration you might have right now is to ensure that you don't over- react to measures as they are still only proposals. The best thing you can do is seek advice that is personal to your own circumstances. The first step to take is talk with a financial adviser.
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Did private equity "bleed out" creditors?
I don’t like dividend recapitalizations. No, that’s too mild. I despise them.
From my (apparently) naïve perspective, private equity firms should buy a company, help grow it and then sell it. Returns should come from the difference between purchase price and sale price, not by adding even more debt onto a company for the primary purpose of enriching shareholders. It’s greed masquerading as risk management, and undercuts valid PE industry arguments about building company value.
So yesterday I read through a lawsuit brought against Apax Partners and TPG Capital, related to a 2006 dividend recap of former portfolio company TIM Hellas. Namely, the plaintiff (a Hellas creditor) accuses the PE firms of a “bleed-out” that ultimately forced the company to become insolvent. Could this finally be a case in which dividend recaps cross the line from improper to illegal?
Here’s the short answer: Unlikely.
It is certainly true that Apax and TPG put a ridiculous among of debt on TIM Hellas, which was virtually debt-free when they acquired it, and pulled more money out of the company than it had generated in revenue the prior year. And it is true that, several years later, Hellas would begin defaulting on that debt.
But the reality here is that Hellas remained solvent after the dividend recap. Not just because some auditing firm said it would, but because it actually did remain solvent. In fact, the firms would later sell TIM Hellas to another PE firm at a higher enterprise value than what they had originally paid (even though most of the increased was on the liability side of the ledger). Moreover, the new buyer opted not to refinance the debt.
The plaintiff’s attorney is arguing that Apax and TPG caused the company’s eventual downfall, because they pocketed more than €900 million via the dividend – cash that later could have possibly helped Hellas avoid insolvency. Moreover, they assert that the only profits from which to dividend came from the debt issuance (which is mostly, but not completely true).
But the original bondholders knew the company’s financial situation, and that the use of proceeds included repayment of “shareholder loans” (a term that one would hope sophisticated investors would investigate before purchasing millions of newly-issued bonds). And, again, it completely ignores the possibility of later mismanagement by the new owner or macro-economic forces that helped convert the debt from manageable to suffocating.
Again, dividend recaps are prone to creating destructive fires. And it seems impossible to say that Apax and TPG did right by Hellas. But this particular lawsuit seems to be mostly smoke.
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0.994667 |
Who said that art and design are separate entities? Namuzaj is a startup founded by Nour Arabi, an interior architect and furniture designer. Namuzaj dances between the art and design disciplines and experiments with doodles, turning them into functional products. Namuzaj has no boundaries, dealing with paintings, furniture, interior etc. with all creative outcomes being considered as 'Namazej' or prototypes.
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0.998918 |
I used to have a solid picture in my head of how I would end up as an adult. This image keeps resurfacing, because currently I feel like I'm floundering. I'm not sure if the unsteadiness is a result of being a stranger in a new city, or if I'm just having one of those notorious quarter-life-crises. The constructed vision of my future-self first came to me when I was in middle school. It wasn't just a "this is what I want to be when I grow up" kind of thing, but an actual image of my twenty-something-year old self. I saw myself sitting on the top of my car (don't have one of those), wearing an orange dress (I'm not sure I even own a dress anymore), listening to a musical number (meh), with bright blue hair.
Yeah. None of that is happening up in here.
I also had this secondary image of myself living in New York City with my cat, working as a novelist. I'm not entirely sure where these images came from. I think as a pre-teen I just pictured the coolest person I could, & aimed for that.
While my hair is naturally boring-brown & I'm not living in New York, I am trying to strive for those plans I made long ago. Not visually as much, but more so I'm striving for the intent behind those visual conclusions. I saw having a car as an accomplishment, something very "adult." I like to think that I've got a little bit of that "adultiness" going on in my life right now, what with moving to pursue a career, being in a long-term relationship, & having complete independence. I wanted to be a writer/novelist. While I don't write in my career, I am working in a field (video editing) that pertains to not only my college degree, but also my interests. Between work & blogging, I'm doing what I enjoy. Dying your hair blue means you don't care about what others think of you. This one I struggle with, but the older I get the easier it is to be true to myself & to stand up for myself. The orange dress throws me for a loop. Any insight on that one is appreciated.
TL;DR - I'm panicking about getting older, but it's okay. It's okay because I've got a plan, albeit a rough one. And it's okay because while I'm panicking, I'm not scared. There are so many good things in my life right now. Being an adult is weird/difficult/stressful, but I'm totally going to nail it.
Anyway, happy weekend! Yay Friday, right?
P.S. Stay warm all winter with a knitted ombre scarf.
Blue and orange are complementary colors, so I think you were just hoping to find someone who complements you! The quarter life crisis is real, but you'll make it through. I'm in my early thirties and still don't have things figured out, but realized everything is a journey.
I like your theory about the complimenting factors in life! You're totally right - it's (one hell of) a journey, crises & all. It's nice to hear that I'm not alone in not having it figured out yet!
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0.998861 |
Why does my cat scratch my furniture & how can i prevent it?
They like to stretch their muscles limbs & tendons from time to time, just as we might.
Scratching helps to blunten claws & remove old husks which have shed naturally, something like clipping fingernails.
Cats have scent glands in their paws that leave messages, scratching posts can act as feline notice boards. Other cats may come along & add their own scent signature by scratching on the same spot.
Scenting & scent marking also reassures & instills a sense of security, cats are social animals & may wish to contribute their scent to the social environment, to feel a part of it. They will choose somewhere highly visible.
Being told off for what they see as positive behaviour will be very confusing.
Some cats prefer to scratch horizontally along a doormat rather than vertically. Locating a natural doormat such as sisal nearby often does the trick for these cats.
Does your cat scratch a piece of furniture right in front of you?
They are probably adding their scent to the social group, flexing their muscles & showing off to you & any to other personality in the vicinity. They like to demonstrate that they are fine examples of felines & reassure themselves & you that "I'm an important & useful member of the group!"
They may scratch things just for curiosity or play, experiencing the varying sensations coming from digging claws into different textured materials & objects.
Provide an immediately alternative option - strategic location of a scratching post may just solve the problem entirely.
Once they have left a scent, they will want to sink their claws into that same place again. Putting a scratch post in front of that place, or hanging a flat scratching board over the area will encourage them to use that instead. Once they have scented the more appropriate surface, it can be gradually moved away. However it is best to keep it close as possible, they have chosen that spot themselves, to scratch & show off & they may desire to return to it regardless of any scents elsewhere.
Ignore them for incorrect behaviour, they are probably doing it for the attention, positive or otherwise. If they are bored & it gets you up from your seat, they may see it as a game. They will not understand that it irritates you, they may just see it as fun.
You can gently (temporarily) put a flat board or something similar to block their access to the furniture if they continue, providing they have an alternative scratch post immediately to hand.
Warmly praise & reward correct actions, encourage them positively.
Never scold them, they won't understand.
You can wash the previously scented area with a mild cleaning product, this may help but the cats memory will remain, providing an alternative post is best. Be aware that introducing completely new scents could encourage more serious scent marking, dependent on the character in question.
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Aniston has played the female protagonist in a number of comedies and romantic comedy films. Her box office hits include Bruce Almighty (2003), The Break-Up (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Just Go with It (2011), Horrible Bosses (2011) and We're the Millers (2013), each of which have grossed over US$200 million in worldwide receipts. Her most critically acclaimed roles were in The Good Girl (2002), for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, and the drama Cake (2014), for which she received nominations for the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. Her other films include Along Came Polly (2004) and He's Just Not That Into You (2009). She is the co-founder, in 2008, of the production company Echo Films.
In 2012, Aniston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood and as of 2014, her net worth is estimated to be US$150 million. She has also been included in magazines' lists of the world's most beautiful women. In 2004, Aniston was named "The Most Beautiful Woman" by People magazine, and Men's Health magazine voted her the "Sexiest Woman of All Time" in 2011. Her personal life is also the subject of wide publicity. Divorced from actor Brad Pitt, to whom she was married for five years, she is now married to actor Justin Theroux.
Aniston's high-profile relationship with actor Brad Pitt was frequently publicized in the press. She married Pitt, after two years of dating, on July 29, 2000 in a lavish Malibu wedding. For a few years, their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success, but on January 7, 2005 they announced their separation and finalized their divorce on October 2, 2005. During their divorce proceedings there was intense speculation in the media that Pitt had been unfaithful to Aniston with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie, whom he started dating soon after the split. In the following months, the public's reaction toward the divorce was reported in the press, and "Team Aniston" and "Team Jolie" T-shirts appeared throughout the country.
The story became the headline news of media shows such as ET and Access Hollywood. The divorce made the front-pages of tabloid magazines for years, and it still continues to be discussed in the media. Aniston commented on the divorce in a January 2015 interview with The Hollywood Reporter , stating that "Nobody did anything wrong.... It was just like, sometimes things [happen]."
In 2005, media reports speculated that the split was due to Aniston's refusal to have children with Pitt. Aniston denied that this was the cause of their split in an August 2005 Vanity Fair magazine interview, stating, "I've never in my life said I didn't want to have children. I did and I do and I will... I would never give up that experience for a career." Aniston also revealed that her divorce prompted her to reach out to her mother, Nancy, from whom she was estranged for nearly a decade. They initially became estranged when Nancy talked about her daughter on a television show and later wrote a book entitled, From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir (1999). Aniston has also stated she was devastated by the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped make her separation from Pitt easier. Aniston said her relationship with Pitt, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship".
Aniston started a relationship with actor, director and screenwriter Justin Theroux in May 2011. In January 2012, Aniston and Theroux purchased a home in Los Angeles's Bel-Air neighborhood for roughly US$22 million. They became engaged on August 10, 2012 and married on August 5, 2015 at their Bel Air estate.
She previously dated actors Vince Vaughn and Tate Donovan.
She also dated musicians Adam Duritz and John Mayer.
Aniston practices yoga. In 2014, Aniston spoke of her Transcendental Meditation practice. When asked what the number one thing which has kept her looking so amazing is, she replied, "I'd say a little over a year ago I started doing TM and that's really changed everything. Starting your day off with that and ending with that is pretty powerful."
In January 2015, Aniston revealed that she was diagnosed with dyslexia in her 20s which affected her education and self-esteem. As a result, she does not read a lot. However, being diagnosed with the disorder changed her life. She stated, "I thought I wasn't smart. I just couldn't retain anything. Now I had this great discovery. I felt like all of my childhood trauma-dies, tragedies, dramas were explained.
Roles Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S.
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Tired of doing the same thing for your anniversary? It is right around the corner and you haven't got the first idea of what you and your spouse want to do. Is the other problem that your spouse is good at leaving all of the plans up to you. This is a very special time for the two of you to relax, spend quality time together and snuggle up. So scoping out different areas is a must before you just go and pick some random spot that may turn out to be a horrible and boring idea. I am going to give you a list the perfect anniversary vacation ideas that are sure to make it a trip you'll never forget.
Hawaii. Hawaii has the most beautiful beaches, crystal clear water and friendliest environment around. Not to mention the food is astonishing. There are live hula dancers and guys that have batons that are lit on fire. If you are in to surfing the water has the best waves around. What more could you ask for?
California. Ready to just kick back and relax on the beaches and catch some sun. Mybe enjoy a glass of wine with your loved one waiting for the sun to set. You can do all of that on the beautiful beaches of California. Maybe you want to go to a museum, art gallery or a game of golf, well they have all of that and a ton more.
Florida. Maybe you'd like to feel like a kid again. You can come and visit Disney world or go to a nice romantic dinner. Florida has so many great restaurants to choose from. You can even go to Lake Eola Park for a picnic and feed the swans . Now for those of you that want to be up and moving you can go dancing check out the Latin Quarter in Universals City walk.
Arizona. There is the most amazing views of the mountains here.If you want to see the best sunset you have ever seen in your life then you may want to come and see Sedona. Now if you would like to go back in time and see some southeastern areas such as Bisbee this has old time narrow lanes, Victorian style galleries and lets not forget about their Brewery Gulch saloon. You can even take a tour to the Grand Canyon.
Ireland. The Emerald Island is a must see if you choose to go to Ireland. Dublin is another place to come to, with its pubs, great restaurants with amazing food. If you are going to visit Dingle Peninsula be ready for all of the history that lays right here. Along with the pretty lands and lets not forget the ocean scenery as well. If you are up for learning some new Irish jigs then you will want to come check out some of the pubs as well.
Canadian Rockies. Ready to meet the wilderness? Then right here is where you want to be. The waterfalls are absolutely memorizing and oh yeah let us not forget the grizzly bears. Yes you saw right bears, but as long as you are not bothering them they will not feast on you. You can also see beautiful snow capped mountains, glaciers and ice fields. If you want you can go for a stroll through the deep and full forests as well as valleys.
Quebec City. They have cobble stone streets in areas such as Strasbourg or even Lyon. You can go and have a nice picnic at Battlefield park that have the planes of Abraham along with sites from the 1759 battle of french and English. You can relax with your sweetheart on a nice horse drawn carriage ride in Old Town squares.
These are just a small portion of the many different places that you can choose from to go on your anniversary vacation. You deserve to have the best and romantic time of your life. Anniversaries only come once a year so do not let this one pass you by while you sit and loaf around the house. Get out and go enjoy your special day.
A Romantic Florida Vacation! Best Destinations & Resort Hotels for Couples.
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Genetically Modified (GM) foods are the result of gene technology collaborating with modern agriculture to produce what is perceived as hardier plants. These plants typically have altered DNA that is combined with DNA from viruses, bacteria and other organisms in order to make the plant more disease, drought, and pest resistant. Many producers will argue that gene modification improves food crops. However, several animal studies have linked GM foods to disruption in the immune system, increase in allergies, damage to internal organs, changes in metabolism, and increase in oxidative stress. This type of damage is especially dangerous because it affects so many systems in the body.
Long-term studies on the safety of human consumption of GM foods have not been conducted. We have been eating GM foods for only about 20 years, and it has only been in the last 10 years that the rate of consumption has increased due to advances in gene technology. There is no way to determine the long-term effect of eating these kinds of foods until it is studied in more depth.
I personally choose to avoid these foods as my gut feeling is nothing good can come of messing with mother nature in this way and I don’t believe our bodies are equipped to process these altered organisms. I’ve come up with these tips to help you if you feel the same way.
1. Buy Organic. Any food labels that say organic on them cannot by virtue of being organic contain any GM foods. This is will be true for produce, as well as meats and dairy. Considering that soy is often a GM food crop, make sure to buy organic for tofu, non-dairy alternatives, and other soy-based products.
2. Look for GMO-Free Labels. Look on the food label to see if it says whether its GMO free or not. One organization helping with food labeling is the Non GMO Project (http://nongmoproject.org). They verify individual products from food to health and beauty so that you know it is GMO free. Look for their label.
3. Avoid Common GM Foods. Some common GM food crops are corn, soybean, canola, cottonseed, sugar beets, papaya, zucchini, and yellow squash. These foods need to be purchased organically. One problem, is that many of these are used as ingredients in other foods, such as the oil used in a bag of pita chips, or the sugar to flavor a chocolate bar. It’s important to read labels and look for both organic and GMO-free labeling.
4. Use a Shoppers Guide. One great shopping guide is the Non GMO Shopping Guide (http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/Non-GMO-Shopping-Guide.pdf). This will give you a list of verified products from condiments and other food items to health, beauty, and hygiene products.
Genetically Modified Foods. n.d. American Academy of Environmental Medicine.
The key to improving your body’s immune function is to nourish your lymphatic system.
Sometimes referred to as the body’s secondary circulatory system, the lymphatic system carries away toxins and metabolic waste from the body’s tissues. The lymphatic system is made up of lymph vessels, lymph nodes, tonsils, spleen, and the thymus gland, and it helps regulate tissue pressure, immune functions and fat absorption in the intestine. If your lymphatic system is not healthy, toxins can build up and result in lower immune function.
It’s important to understand that the lymphatic system is not like the heart muscle where it pumps automatically. We have to move, breath and use massage to help improve our lymphatic drainage.
When doing a Candida Cleanse it can be overwhelming for the body to excrete all of the toxins that are stirred up and can cause a Herx reaction where you feel nausea, fatigued, have headaches and experience rashes. Incorporating these 5 tips into your program along with supporting your liver and kidneys can make a world of difference in how you feel and the speed of recovery.
Here are 5 tips to help you care for your lymphatic system.
1. Eat potassium-rich foods. Your lymphatic system thrives on potassium-rich foods. Dark leafy greens, broccoli, yams and sweet potatoes (phase 3) and seafood, like wild salmon, are some excellent choices to consider.
2. Reduce toxins. Additives and preservatives cause swelling and fluid retention. One such additive, monosodium glutamate, better known as MSG, is often disguised among other ingredients and can have degenerative and deadly effects on the brain and nervous system. Watch out for hydrolyzed anything, autolyzed anything, natural flavor, seasonings and spices, commercial soup or sauce bases, bouillon, broth and stock, gelatin and even aluminum cookware. All these can introduce toxins to your body that cause your lymphatic system to work overtime. The best way to avoid these is to simply get back to the basics and use all natural, unprocessed ingredients in your cooking.
3. Exercise…breathe. It is no secret that exercise is good for you, but did you know that even light exercise can benefit the circulation of both your blood and lymph? Your lymphatic system relies on muscle movements to keep lymph moving through its vessels. Even light exercise such as standing calf raises or a walk around the neighborhood will stretch and contract your muscles, triggering the circulatory function within your lymphatic system. Exercising on a rebounder or mini trampoline for 3-6 minutes with only your heels moving is also a good choice for getting the lymph moving. Moreover, deep breathing, which is often recommended as a technique for stress relief and boosting blood circulation, will also help release toxins and increase lymphatic circulation.
4. Skin brushing. Dry skin brushing increases blood and lymph circulation and boosts organ function by stimulating sweat glands and opening pores. It also softens skin and improves the complexion. On dry skin, before bathing, brush with a natural bristle brush like this one gently over the skin. Start with your extremities and work your way to the center of your body, avoiding your face, always moving in the direction of the heart. Wikihow has detailed instructions on how to dry skin brush.
5. Lymphatic massage. This therapeutic massage technique, also known as lymphatic drainage, uses gentle kneading motions to stimulate muscles and in effect, lymphatic vessels and flow. Just as with skin brushing, the motion should always be towards the heart (lymph openings). You can do this yourself or find a massage therapist skilled in this type of therapy.
Reader Feedback: Were you aware of how important your lymphatic system was to the health of your body? The ability to help you move through a candida cleanse? What is your favorite tip that you’re willing to incorporate ASAP?
Support the Lymphatic System – Your Secondary Circulatory System, Gloria Gilbère, N.D.,D.A.Hom., Ph.D. American Holistic Health Association.
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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. You've heard of CBT, but what does it involve?
"People are not disturbed by events, but by the view they hold about them"
If you're suffering from one of the common mental health problems such as depression, or one of the anxiety disorders, your GP may very well suggest you could benefit from a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
CBT is a short-term psychological therapy that usually involves seeing a therapist once a week for between six and twenty sessions, and where the patient is set a number of 'homework' assignments to do between sessions.
The treatment is called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy because it focuses on the patient's thinking patterns, or cognitions, and also on the patient's behaviour. Scientific research has shown that CBT is effective for a wide range of mental health problems and disorders, from depression, to anxiety disorders, to panic, to PTSD.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy starts off by breaking down such problems into smaller components, often trying to identify particular problematic thoughts and behaviours; and, once broken down in this way, CBT often suggests a fairly straightforward way in which the patient and therapist, together can intervene to promote recovery, as well as to learn new techniques which will reduce the likelihood of the patient experiencing that problem again in the future.
There are two main techniques that are used in CBT. The first is a series of discussions between Therapist and Patient around evidence for and against negative beliefs. The second is what are called Behavioural Experiments, which are ways in which the patient tests out his/her beliefs by changing behaviour and seeing what happens.
CBT has a lot of characteristics in common with a host of similar 'talking therapies', but it is considered to be more highly structured than most and tends to focus more on the 'here and now'; finding practical ways of solving problems, rather than spending much time delving into the past — though, at times, some of that can be helpful.
CBT isn't a panacea. And neither is it the case that it works for absolutely everyone. And in those for whom it is helpful, there is a range of responses you can get: there is a significant group of people who have a complete recovery, where the problem they came into therapy to 'fix' has completely gone away. There are other people who achieve worthwhile benefits — it allows them to get back to work and to do many of the things that the condition was preventing them from doing, but for whom some residual problems remain.
What we know from the research is that CBT tends to reduce the risk of further problems if things go wrong in one's life. So, for example, depression is usually a recurring problem, and people who have one episode have quite an increased chance of having future episodes later in their life. But CBT seems to reduce the chance of that happening, without completely abolishing it.
What is the 'ABC' model?
What is the ABC Model in CBT?
What makes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy so popular? And why now?
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The Indonesian archipelago has a rich history of taking outside influences (especially religious ones) and adapting them to complement existing social structures, traditions, and belief systems. The first major encounters with Islam date from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when the religion arrived peacefully via trading merchants from Persia and India. Spreading gradually to Sumatra, Java, and beyond over the centuries, Islamic practice including Sufi traditions amalgamated with indigenous custom and became part and parcel of many of the archipelago's different cultural identities.
The largely secular-nationalist minded President Sukarno succeeded in marginalizing political Islam. His successor, Suharto (in fatigues), led an anticommunist purge, which had the unin-tended consequence of prompting the vast majority of Indonesians to identify as Muslims to escape the communist dragnet.
This gradual syncretic adoption is reflected in predominantly tolerant and diverse forms of religious expression across Indonesia. For instance, on Java there is a distinct difference, in terms of religiosity, between two major Islamic strands: Many nominal Javanese Muslims (abangan) identify with an indigenized syncretic form of practice, Agami Jawi, while other Javanese identify as Santri, practicing a stricter but still moderate form of Islam. Outside Java, believers in places like Aceh in northern Sumatra, parts of the Moluccas, and in central Sulawesi (formerly known as Celebes) observe a stricter practice while, on the other hand, some Sasak on the island of Lombok still adhere to an Islamic animist-ancestral amalgam known as Islam Wetu Telu. In fact, one could say that in the majority of cases, a dynamic and tolerant equilibrium exists between the archipelago's overlapping strands of national, religious, and cultural identification. Indonesians share a strong sense of national, political identity forged from a common history of anticolonial struggles, shared national language (bahasa Indonesia), and state-sponsored education. The size of Indonesia's two major socio-religious organizations also gives one an appreciation of the influence of Islam in daily life. Both organizations boast many devout followers. The traditionalist Sunni Nahdlatul Ulama (NU, Awakening of Ulama) has about 30-35 million members and formed in 1926 in reaction to the reformist Muhammadiyah (Followers of Muhammad). Its raison d'être is to spread and retain conservative Islamic teachings and practices through a large network of religious boarding schools. The reformist Muhammadiyah numbers approximately 29 million. Established in 1912, it focuses on social and educational activities through a promotion of ijtihad (individual interpretation of the Qur'an and sunna) rather than the uncritical acceptance (taqlid) of orthodox interpretations of tradition by ulama.
At the same time, the modern Indonesian state has not always had an easy relationship with the polity's cultural-religious identification. Indonesia declared its independence from the Netherlands in August 1945, but in the months leading up to it, a lively constitutional debate took place centering in part on the emerging pancasila (five principles) ideology of Sukarno, Indonesia's first president. Enshrined in article 29, section 1 of the 1945 constitution, the five principles are belief in one God, national unity, humanitarianism, consensus democracy, and social justice. Originally, the first principle also contained the words "with an obligation for Muslims to implement Islamic law," but this was soon dropped by the largely secular-nationalist minded Sukarno. This left many stricter Muslims, particularly from outside Java, with the sense that the finalized constitution marginalized Islam.
Sukarno and his nationalist allies soon successfully weakened and splintered the Islamic political party, Masjumi (an acronym for the Council of Indonesian Muslim Associations) in an attempt to reduce its political appeal. By 1958, opposition to Sukarno's increasingly authoritarian "guided democracy" led to open rebellion under the aegis of the short-lived Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia. After the military crushed the rebellion, Sukarno jailed many of Masjumi's leaders for their involvement and eventually outlawed the party. Erstwhile Islamic militias such as Darul Islam and Tentara Islam Indonesia, which had participated in the war of independence against the Dutch, met with similar fates. Sensing the threat they posed to his nationalist project, Sukarno banned both, and by the 1960s, they had fallen into disarray after suffering sustained attack from the Indonesian armed forces.
In 1965, a failed coup ignited a bloody power struggle in which the army purged the country of President Sukarno's communist allies and installed Gen. Suharto as head of state. With the rise of Suharto, failure to profess a recognized religion meant potential persecution as a communist, a fate the majority of Indonesians were eager to avoid as it is estimated that between 500,000-1,000,000 alleged communist sympathizers died in a brutal slaughter between 1965 and 1966. It thus comes as little surprise that between 85 to 90 percent of the Indonesian population carry identification cards identifying themselves as Muslim. Keen to stymie any challenges to his authority, Suharto also refused Masjumi a return to politics, and with his 1971 overhaul of the electoral system, he effectively de-Islamized Indonesia's state-level political structure. The major Islamic organizations were forced to align themselves under the banner of a regime co-opted political party, the United Development Party (Partai Persatuan Pembangunan).
Nevertheless, Suharto was only partially successful in subsuming society's Islamic identification to the diktats of his "New Order" ideology. In effect, his marginalization of political Islam merely precipitated a greater role on its part in fostering civil society activity. Rather than directly challenge the authorities for political power, moderate reformists such as Dawan Rahardjo, Djohan Effendi, and Nurcholish Madjid focused on building a strong and dynamic Islamic community based on education and social welfare. Their ideas on Islamic social and educational renewal emerged in close association with the Islamic Students Association (Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam), which appealed to a younger generation of well-educated, urban, middle-class Indonesians who were enjoying some of the benefits of New Order economic development.
By the 1990s, Suharto himself began to encourage the restoration of Islamic issues onto the political agenda. Eager to court Islamic support as a counter to growing pro-democracy sentiment and rumbling military dissent, it became politically advantageous for Suharto to tolerate Islamic political activism. He promoted pro-Islamic officers in the army and supported the Association of Muslim Intellectuals (Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim Indonesia) made up largely of professionals, scientists, economists, educators, scholars, and regime supporters.
The strategy eventually backfired in the wake of the devastating Asian financial crisis of 1997. The Indonesian rupiah went into free fall against world currencies, and the banking sector collapsed under a mountain of bad loans. The prices of oil, gas, and other commodity exports plummeted as per capita gross domestic product fell by 13 percent. The crisis was exacerbated by Indonesia's worst drought in fifty years. As inflation soared, food prices rose, and ensuing shortages led to widespread rioting. By the following year, Suharto's grip on power had loosened in the face of the economic meltdown and pressure from the reformasi movement, the broad movement to bring down Suharto's New Order.
Prominent Islamic leaders such as Abdurrahman Wahid, president in 1999-2001, Amien Rais, leader of Muhammadiyah, and Nurcholish Madjid along with their associated organizations played major populist roles in Suharto's eventual downfall and its aftermath by helping to disseminate democratic values throughout society via voter education and election monitoring. Their links to Muslim activists on the frontlines of student protests and rallies against the president exemplified the compatibility of Islam with democracy, political rights, and justice. Underscoring moderation and support for Sukarno's five principles was crucially important during the turmoil and prevented calls for the creation of an Islamic state from gaining any traction. Appeals to Indonesians' sense of tolerance and national pride took precedence.
Suharto tried to deflect public anger by blaming Sino-Indonesians and global financial institutions for the crisis, but tensions within the military weakened his hold on power. Factional splits that had developed in the 1980s between "red and white" (secular nationalist) and "green" (Islamic) groups increased, and some began questioning Suharto's authority. In this turbulent economic and political climate, factions within the green military began shifting their support to the Indonesian Council for Islamic Da'wa (Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia) and the Indonesian Committee for Solidarity of the Islamic World (Komite Indonesia Untuk Solidaritas dengan Dunia Islam), both of which received substantial funding and donations from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Eventually, key factions of the military simply abandoned the president. He had become too much of a liability.
Upon Suharto's departure, pressure mounted on Abdurrahman Wahid, leader of the NU, to run for office. Wahid was wary of NU's return to politics as potentially damaging to its social mission but was eventually persuaded to head the newly-formed National Awakening Party (Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa), which combined Islam with the nationalist pancasila ideology. Notwithstanding NU's long-time championship of an Islamic-oriented Indonesia and Wahid's personal stature, neither it nor any of the welter of Islamic parties and groups that sprang up in the post-Suharto environment could achieve a parliamentary majority. By late 1998, the prospect of a single Islamic political voice emerging looked highly unlikely. Although forty out of eighty political parties were, to varying degrees, Islamic-oriented, this number decreased by election time in 1999 to twenty eligible groups.
The outcome of this proliferation of parties was ultimately unsatisfying for all contenders. Megawati Sukarnoputri (Sukarno's daughter) led the secular-nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia-Perjuangan) to 37.4 percent of the vote (153 seats in parliament) while Wahid's National Awakening Party only garnered 12.6 percent of the vote for 51 seats. Despite this, behind-the-scenes jockeying for power and horse-trading maneuvers by Islamic groups produced a coalition that backed Wahid for the presidency.
Wahid, however, was simply unable to hold together a broad coalition of competing interests. Notwithstanding the increased Islamic influence that led to his elevation, the confusion that reigned during Wahid's presidency (and his eventual impeachment in mid-2001) indicated a process still very much in transition. But rather than impeachment signaling a return to authoritarian ways, it became the first big test of Indonesia's new democratic credentials. Parliament followed constitutional protocol by replacing Wahid with then-vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri, who went on to complete the remainder of Wahid's five-year presidential term. Ironically, the Islamic groups who had pushed so hard for Wahid to serve were now left with the unpalatable option of the secularist Megawati as the next constitutionally mandated president. They duly accepted the appointment, nonetheless.
Political machinations aside, developments in the post-Suharto party system introduced political players with stricter forms of Muslim identity politics capable of appealing to major Muslim constituencies. Islamic-oriented political parties appeal to sections of more conservative-minded, urban middle classes with an interest in promoting social decency, political moderation, and piety based on Islam as an ethical reference. The moral concerns of these constituencies combined with feelings of uncertainty toward social change in the face of rapid development have no doubt helped bolster the appeal.
Yet, while the number of Islamic parties is more prevalent than at any time in Indonesia's past, most of their involvement is of a moderate kind and very far from being associated with the institution of an Islamist theocracy. Moreover, the results of the 1999 election indicated clearly that Indonesians en masse favored a democratic polity over an Islamic state, giving the secularist-nationalist parties of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle and the Golkar party 58.3 percent of the vote while the various Islamic parties amassed less than 42 percent. True, the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera or PKS), whose leaders claim it does not seek to impose Shari'a (despite links to the Muslim Brotherhood), increased its vote from 1.5 percent in 1999 to 7.45 percent in 2004. But this success was largely a result of its image as a relatively new and untainted party, as well as the stagnation and subsequent unraveling of Megawati's tenure. The PKS leadership skillfully exploited the situation to cast itself as a "clean" Islamic party committed to an anti-corruption platform, rather than to the imposition of Shari'a rule. Although the public's perception of it has tarnished somewhat over the years, especially recently, it marginally increased its share in the People's Representative Council (the Indonesian version of the House of Representatives) in the 2009 elections to almost 8 percent but made less significant inroads in many of the regions.
Most significantly, the PKS and other Islamic-oriented groups represent only 169 out of 560 seats in parliament—a mere 30 percent. The stunning electoral triumph of the secular-nationalist Democratic Party (Partai Demokrat) in 2009 with 148 seats alongside the more established Golkar and Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle groups (106 and 94 seats respectively) indicates that Islam does not necessarily trump other interests or issues in Indonesia. Still, there is a growing concern that not enough is being done to combat radicalism, intolerance, and increasing intimidation of local religious minorities by hard-line Islamist vigilantes such as Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Front).
The Indonesian experience shows that countries do not emerge in a straightforward transition from authoritarian rule to multiparty democracy overnight: The challenges of transition are multiple. Success depends on translating momentum for change into meaningful reform and improvements over a sustained period of time. This involves redressing past injustices, economic stabilization, popular legitimization, judicial reform, diffusion of democratic values, marginalization of anti-system actors, ensuring greater civilian rule over the military, party system development, and the routinization of politics. What also needs to be recognized is that democratization is not the same as democracy; one is a process, the other a political system. Democracy can become the "only game in town" if and when change occurs incrementally on the behavioral, attitudinal, and constitutional levels.
Indonesia's transformation, in common with other democratizations, has been anything but easy. There continue to be corruption issues, ongoing policy ineffectiveness, judicial problems, institutional frictions, and personality politics but what is clear is that there has been substantive reform. The political system is now a functioning democracy with all its benefits and shortcomings. Reviewing the steps taken to get there may help in producing applicable measures for steering the turbulent Middle Eastern societies toward a more democratic future.
To begin with, there is the need to organize free and fair elections though elections in themselves can hardly be expected to channel contests peacefully among political rivals or accord public legitimacy. There also has to be corresponding reform of state institutions, policymaking procedures, and an attendant recovery of civil liberties. Inclusive suffrage, the right to run for office, enhanced freedom of expression, and access to alternative information are some of the necessary building blocks. Indonesia's first two elections in 1999 and 2004 were the freest in more than forty years with huge amounts of political activity and media coverage. The lifting of press restrictions, the release of political prisoners, and the formation of new political parties all bore witness to its climate of reform.
Dismantling the most repressive structures of an authoritarian regime and removing the military gradually from politics are also major tasks of reform. In Indonesia, political leaders moved quickly to separate the police from the military. Turning the military into an asset rather than a threat to the process is a challenge but not insurmountable. Persuading the generals to "return to the barracks" involves investment in their professionalism, an appeal to their sense of honor, and realistically, an appeal to their wallets.
To prevent a reactionary backlash, allowing the military to retain substantial economic interests may be a prudent move if a difficult pill to swallow in the short term. However, one must be exceptionally wary of grand bargains being struck, whereby political hegemony is transferred on the assurance that the military unconditionally retains its reserved economic domains and privileged status. Rather, the aim must be to create enough time and space to institute some step-by-step reforms and gradually phase out military embeddedness in the body politic, something that the recent Middle Eastern revolutions have thus far failed to do.
Indonesia managed to reduce the sociopolitical role of its armed forces by allowing it to retain its substantial economic interests in the short term, and there have even been attempts to phase this out completely although very incrementally. This paved the way for constitutional reform of the army's dual role in politics and the economy in 2002 and the formal removal of its allocated seats in parliament in 2004. All of this brought improved civilian rule of the military over time.
This, in turn, can help in the provision of transitional justice. A society often needs to allow some of its open wounds to heal so that it can move on. It is an incredibly fraught and thorny process, but one way to do this is to give them a good "airing." This may involve the establishment of some form of truth and reconciliation commission as in South Africa or East Timor, depending on circumstance. South Africa provides a better template for reconciliatory justice than the attempts in East Timor. The 2002 Ad-Hoc Court for Human Rights Violations in East Timor convicted only a small number of lower-ranking military officers. Indonesia's military (especially its top commanders at the time) have largely avoided recriminations. Syria represents a perfect example of where such an undertaking will be critical, but this process may also be applied in such countries as Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia where long-standing authoritarian regimes were swept from power. The scale of the Assad regime's violence and the country's crosscutting sectarian rivalries make the potential for wide-scale retribution and bloodletting a very real prospect. Future prosecutions at the International Criminal Court or a similar tribunal for the worst offenders of the Syrian regime should be contemplated. Such steps are important in post-conflict situations as they provide mortar to rebuild respect for state institutions and the rule of law. Restoring pride and trust in institutions such as the judiciary, law enforcement, and security services is a massive task of reform that will take time and substantial effort.
A third critical factor, major constitutional and decentralization reform, brought improved representation and accountability to Indonesia, albeit by degrees. Although far from perfect, the restructured People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat) now consists entirely of popularly elected members sitting in the People's Representative Council and a new Regional Representatives Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah). In fact, Indonesia's 2004 elections bore witness to a meaningful and extensive number of permitted political parties, stabilized election rules, amendments to decentralization legislation, and constitutional limitations on the power of the executive. The president is elected directly and can only serve one renewable five-year term. Parliament has also gained more power in the legislative process, which encourages the president to maintain broad support in the legislature.
The success of Indonesia's 2009 elections further attests to real stabilization and routinization. A diverse media remains open and vigorous, and civil society activity continues to flourish with an array of nongovernmental organizations and pressure groups. This is not to say things are all smooth sailing, but most important is the fact that the new democratic framework is accepted. Current president Yudhoyono may be ex-military, but he is unconditionally committed to, and readily submits his interests to, the new rules of the game—something that new Middle Eastern leaders have yet to learn.
The recent Islamist electoral successes in Tunisia and Egypt suggest a different political dynamic than Indonesia. Yet the tenor of the uprisings, at least in their initial phases, as well as subsequent reactions to authoritarian behavior by elected Islamist officials, indicate that a substantial number of people in these countries, as in Indonesia, will expect parties to respect the rule of law and address their countries' economic and corruption problems. As evidenced by the public backlash to Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi's recent power grab and the assassination of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaïd, attempts at a coercive institutionalization of Islamist theocracy may well be met with continued protests and uprisings.
The real issue for the Middle East is not whether it will be secular or Islamic. In many ways, this is a false dichotomy and a distraction from much greater concerns. What one is witnessing in the region is a simultaneous convergence of multiple social, economic, and political vectors bringing things into sharp relief. Looking at the conditions in these countries, there were clear indications that storms were brewing. Despite the substantial wealth that narrow self-serving elites enjoyed (some of which trickled down to the middle classes), economic stagnation was rife; combined with rising prices for basic foodstuffs and high unemployment among educated, tech-savvy but disenfranchised youth this created an extremely volatile mix. What the people of the region now have to do is find ways to strike a different social contract by translating the popular momentum for greater political freedoms, effective rule of law, and better living conditions that brought down their autocrats into representative capacity. And if the Indonesian example teaches anything, it is that moderate Islam and democratic development are not incompatible bedfellows.
Paul J. Carnegie is senior lecturer in political economy at the Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He is the author of The Road from Authoritarianism to Democratization in Indonesia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) and taught previously in both Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
See, for example, Thomas Carothers, "Egypt and Indonesia," The New Republic, Feb. 2, 2011; Jay Solomon, "In Indonesia, a model for Egypt's transition," The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 12, 2011.
Clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1960), pp. 121-31.
Fauzan Saleh, Modern Trends in Islamic Theological Discourse in 20th Century Indonesia: A Critical Survey (Leiden: Brill 2001), pp. 17-29.
Robert Cribb, ed., The Indonesian Killings of 1965–1966: Studies from Java and Bali (Clayton: Monash University Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, 1990), p. 12; idem, "Genocide in Indonesia, 1965-1966," Journal of Genocide Research, June 3, 2001, pp. 219-39.
Suzaina Kadir, "The Islamic factor in Indonesia's political transition," Asian Journal of Political Science, 2 (1999), pp. 21-44.
Mohammad Fajrul Falaakh, "Islam and the Current Transition to Democracy in Indonesia," in Arief Budiman, Barbara Hatley, and Damien Kingsbury, eds., Reformasi: Crisis and Change in Indonesia (Clayton: Monash Asia Institute 1999), pp. 201-12; Robert Hefner, Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), pp. 189-200.
Ken Young, "The national picture: A victory for reform?" in Susan Blackburn, ed. Pemilu: The 1999 Indonesian Election (Melbourne: Monash Asia Institute, 1999), pp. 3-11.
Komisi Pemilihan Umum, "Indonesian elections with figures and facts 1955-1999," General Elections Commission, Jakarta, 2000.
Sadanand Dhume, "Indonesian Democracy's Enemy Within," Yale Global, Dec. 1, 2005.
See, for example, "Indonesia: 'Christianization' and Intolerance," Asia Briefing, no. 114, International Crisis Group, Jakarta/Brussels, Nov. 24, 2010, p. 17; "Religion's Name: Abuses against Religious Minorities in Indonesia," Human Rights Watch, New York, 2013, pp. 60-6, 71-86.
Andreas Schedler, "What Is Democratic Consolidation?" Journal of Democracy, Apr. 1998, pp. 91-107.
Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America and Post-communist Europe (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), pp. 5-14.
Paige Johnson Tan, "Indonesia Seven Years after Soeharto: Party System Institutionalization in a New Democracy," Contemporary Southeast Asia, 1 (2006), pp. 88-114; Douglas Webber, "A Consolidated Patrimonial Democracy? Democratization in Post-Suharto Indonesia," Democratization, 3 (2006), pp. 396-420; Marcus Mietzner and Edward Aspinall, "Problems of Democratisation in Indonesia: An Overview," in Edward Aspinall and Marcus Mietzner, eds., Problems of Democratisation in Indonesia: Elections, Institutions and Society (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2010), pp. 1-20.
Adam Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 26.
Related Topics: Middle East politics, Southeast Asia | Summer 2013 MEQ receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free mef mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.
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What are the lasting ways in which business school changes you, beyond the knowledge that you glean? For me, business school made me far more aware of time than I had been previously in my life.
At business school, there were always far many more activities than was time to do them. Having to pick and choose, and seeing the outcomes from these choices, really made me conscious of the value of time and how the investment of time we make shifts the directions of our lives.
In my particular case, I choose to spend time on starting a company while I was at school, rather than recruiting for a job. Both are significant undertakings. Just starting a company is itself hard to do. It is even harder to do while recruiting.
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0.980683 |
While he was as innovative as Jimmy Page, as tasteful as Eric Clapton , and nearly as visionary as Jimi Hendrix , Jeff Beck never achieved the same commercial success as any of his contemporaries, primarily because of the haphazard way he approached his career. After Rod Stewart left the Jeff Beck Group in 1971, Beck never worked with a charismatic lead singer who could have helped sell his music to a wide audience. Furthermore, he was simply too idiosyncratic, moving from heavy metal to jazz fusion within a blink of an eye. As his career progressed, he became more fascinated by automobiles than guitars (see his rig), releasing only one album during the course of the '90s. All the while, Beck retained the respect of fellow guitarists, who found his reclusiveness all the more alluring.
Jeff Beck began his musical career following a short stint at London's Wimbledon Art College. He earned a reputation by supporting Lord Sutch , which helped him land the job as the Yardbirds ' lead guitarist following the departure of Eric Clapton. Beck stayed with the Yardbirds for nearly two years, leaving in late in 1966 with the pretense that he was retiring from music. He returned several months later with "Love Is Blue," a single he played poorly because he detested the song. Later in 1967, he formed the Jeff Beck Group with vocalist Rod Stewart , bassist Ron Wood and drummer Aynsley Dunbar , who was quickly replaced by Mickey Waller ; keyboardist Nicky Hopkins joined in early 1968. With their crushingly loud reworkings of blues songs and vocal and guitar interplay, the Jeff Beck Group established the template for heavy metal. Neither of the band's records, Truth (1968) or Beck-Ola (a 1969 album which was recorded with new drummer Tony Newman), were particularly successful, and the band tended to fight regularly, especially on their frequent tours of the U.S.. In 1970, Stewart and Wood left to join the Faces , and Beck broke up the group.
Beck had intended to form a power trio with Vanilla Fudge members Carmine Appice (drums) and Tim Bogert (bass), but those plans were derailed when he suffered a serious car crash in 1970. By the time he recuperated in 1971, Bogart and Appice were playing in Cactus , so the guitarist formed a new version of the Jeff Beck Group . Featuring keyboardist Max Middleton , drummer Cozy Powell , bassist Clive Chaman , and vocalist Bobby Tench , the new band recorded Rough and Ready (1971) and Jeff Beck Group (1972). Neither album attracted much attention. Cactus dissolved in late 1972, and Beck , Bogert and Appice formed a power trio the following year. The group's lone studio album - a live record was released in Japan but never in the U.K. or U.S. - was widely panned due to its plodding arrangements and weak vocals, and the group disbanded the following year.
For about 18 months, Beck remained quiet, re-emerging in 1975 with Blow by Blow. Produced by George Martin , Blow by Blow was an all-instrumental jazz fusion album that received strong reviews. Beck collaborated with Jan Hammer , a former keyboardist for Mahavishnu Orchestra , for 1976's Wired, and supported the album with a co-headlining tour with Hammer 's band. The tour was documented on the 1977 album, Jeff Beck With the Jan Hammer Group - Live.
After the Hammer tour, Beck retired to his estate outside of London and remained quiet for three years. He returned in 1980 with There and Back, which featured contributions from Hammer . Following the tour for There and Back, Beck retired again, returning five years later with the slick, Nile Rodgers -produced Flash. A pop/rock album recorded with a variety of vocalists, Flash featured Beck 's only hit single, the Stewart -sung "People Get Ready," and also boasted "Escape," which won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. During 1987, he played lead guitar on Mick Jagger 's second solo album, Primitive Cool. There was another long wait between Flash and 1989's Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop With Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas. Though the album sold only moderately well, Guitar Shop received uniformly strong reviews and won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. Beck supported the album with a tour, this time co-headlining with guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Again, Beck entered semi-retirement upon the completion of the tour.
In 1992, Beck played lead guitar on Roger Waters' comeback album, Amused to Death. A year later, he released Crazy Legs, a tribute to Gene Vincent and his lead guitarist Cliff Gallup, which was recorded with Big Town Playboys. Beck remained quiet after the album's release prior to resurfacing in 1999 with Who Else!. You Had It Coming followed two years later.
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The implementation of traditional statistical analysis software requires many "expert opinions" and "human intervention", which has made it more difficult for non-statisticians to use the analysis software and also makes analysis automation unreachable. Our lab aims to develop a set of "smart statistical analysis software". This software first asks the user to describe the problem in a few paragraphs. The software then uses natural language processing techniques to automatically identify the problem and performs the best statistical analysis based on the information provided. The answer statement is automatically generated according to the question.
In this talk, I will first share our thoughts on developing the smart statistical analysis software and then introduce our results in "Domain-specific word embeddings" and "Hyper-parameter selection via machine learning classification".
Dr. Guan-Hua Huang joined the faculty of the National Chiao Tung University in 2003. He received his Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Dr. Huang is a Professor in the Institute of Statistics and an Adjunct Professor in the Institute of Data Science and Engineering. Between 2000-2003, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and also held a joint appointment with the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Huang's research is informed by the fact that in many medical studies, the definitive outcome is inaccessible, and a valid surrogate endpoint is then measured in place of the clinically most meaningful endpoint. Therefore, his primary research interest is in developing latent variable/class models for analyzing this kind of data structure.
Dr. Huang is also interested in statistical problems in genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics. He is particularly interested in statistical validation of endophenotypes, high-throughput genomic data analysis, gene-gene interaction detection, next-generation sequencing data analysis, and copy number variation identification.
Dr. Huang is deeply invested in many scientific areas, including aging, nursing, schizophrenia, diabetes, sensory impairments (hearing, vision, olfaction), and data science.
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We discuss how the cosmological constant that is used in Einstein's model has an equivalent in the Big Bang model. That model requires a critical density of matter that leads to the problem of dark matter. We show that data on new cosmological structure and on a non-Doppler redshift mechanism lead to an unlimited and ageless universe. We also explain why quasars appear to be unusual objects and have a large redshift while being physically much closer to us than usually claimed. One can see that their luminosity is about the same as standard galaxies and not as millions of galaxies as believed previously. One can also explain why the luminosity distance relationship observed in galaxies is not observed in quasars.
There is a serious controversy about the Big Bang model because it shows an increasing number of deficiencies. This is illustrated by Flam, who states "As doubts built about the once-favored model explaining how structures are formed in the Universe, new theories are jockeying in a cosmological free-for-all".
Let us compare some models. The steady-state model uses "the perfect cosmological principle," in which the universe presents the same large-scale view to all fundamental observers at all times. We will also consider Einstein's model, which adds a cosmological constant L to balance the attraction of matter. An important point, common to those models, is of course the universal law of gravitation. All matter is attracted with a force proportional to the Cavendish constant GC, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance. It did not seem possible in the past to observe gravitational forces at very large cosmological distances. Therefore, gravitational forces were not tested at cosmological distances. Recent observations of gravitational interaction at cosmological distances now suggest a solution based on these new observations.
The use of the universal law of gravitation in the Big Bang model leads to a prediction of the critical density r, of the universe that differs from observations by about two orders of magnitude. This difference is interpreted to be caused by some "missing mass".
We will see that the problem of critical density of matter in the universe (and missing mass) is related to a common problem for which all popular models (the Big Bang, Einstein's and steady state model) require an equivalent correction (the cosmological constant L) related to a common phenomenon: The range of gravitational forces.
II. Reason that Led to the Big Bang Model.
An important reason that led astrophysicists to prefer the Big Bang model (of Friedmann cosmology of a close universe) is because the first Einstein model (the geometrodynamical model) is clearly unstable without the cosmological constant. This instability is a consequence of the use of the standard universal law of gravitation. Two suggestions have been given in order to try to solve this problem. Einstein suggested adding a cosmological constant L to his field equations. That constant adds a repulsive force at large distances . This second Einstein model with L¹0 has another problem of stability. It is stable only for a critical value of LC. For any increase in size, the universe expands forever. For any decrease, it will recontract forever. This Einstein universe has therefore another kind of instability.
An equivalent of Einstein's cosmological constant has been presented in various forms by different authors, but most cosmologists have rejected it. George Gamow and many astronomers refer to the cosmological term as the biggest blunder of Einstein's life. Even very recently, Hawking states that the addition of a cosmological constant L is: ". . . the biggest mistake of his (Einstein's) life." In 1917, de Sitter suggested another model that includes a cosmological repulsion term of the Einstein type to balance the attraction of gravity at large distances. Another hypothesis considers that L=0. This is the Big Bang model, a model that is unstable in time, since it starts with a Big Bang and ends with the Big Crunch.
Following those considerations, many astrophysicists have preferred the Big Bang model because it was hoped that this alternative would lead to predictions compatible with the universal law of gravitation without being obliged to add any gravitational repulsive constant as was suggested by Einstein.
After more than 60 years of development of this theory and decades of observation, it is calculated that an equivalent of the cosmological constant is still necessary. There is no way to avoid it.
We have seen that an arbitrary constant L is required in Einstein's static universe. However, it is not always realized that an equivalent cosmological constant is now necessary in the Big Bang model.
Hawking recently stated : "In order to find a model of the universe in which many different initial configurations could have evolved to something like the present universe, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alan Guth, suggested that the early universe might have gone through a period of vey rapid expansion. This expansion is said to be inflationary."
"This special extra energy can be shown to have an antigravitational effect: it would have acted just like the cosmological constant that Einstein introduced into general gravity when he was trying to construct a static model of the universe".
Hawking then discusses that force, and writes: ". . . the repulsion of (matter due to) the effective cosmological constant". This clearly shows that a repulsive force, acting just like the cosmological constant L, is absolutely necessary in the Big Bang model.
The Big Bang model also leads to a critical density of matter r, in the universe. Since that density is not observed, one has assumed that there is some unobserved dark matter. Some dark matter may also be necessary to explain the recently discovered huge structure called "The Great Attractor". Lindley concludes: ". . . that the Cold Dark Matter can be saved at least in modified form, if a non-zero cosmological constant is resurrected."
How can so many astrophysics reject Einstein's model so easily because of the cosmological constant, and then later use an equivalent constant of repulsion "just like the Einstein's cosmological constant" to try to save the Big Bang model? How can cosmologists repeat that a cosmological constant was "the biggest mistake of his (Einstein's) life" when the equivalent of such a constant is now copied by the new cosmologists?
IV. Main Unsolvable Difficulties of the Big Bang Model.
Apart from the fact that the Big Bang model does not solve the problem of the cosmological constant, many more proofs exist showing that the Big Bang model in unacceptable. Only a few examples are recalled here.
B. Critical Value of G.
From the Big Bang model, the first natural length of the universe is the Planck length. Then the typical radius of the universe was about 10-33 cm. However, we observe today that the universe has a radius of 1028 cm. This is a decrease of 1061 times in curvature. It corresponds to an extreme flatness of Euclidean geometry .
The fundamental mechanism of the Big Bang is that it started by a fast expansion that was slowed down by the forces of gravity. Cosmologists find interesting the question whether the forces of gravity are weak enough so that the universe will end in a dispersion of matter into an infinite space or if the forces of gravity are strong enough so that the universe will collapse rapidly into a Crunch.
Consequently, in the Big Bang model, it is assumed that two completely independent mechanisms balance forces of expansion and retention of matter acting in opposite directions. From the Big Bang hypothesis , one must conclude that the universal gravitation constant G, is such that it happens (by chance) that all 61 digits of the parameter used to calculate the gravity necessary to stop the expansion of the universe is exactly the same as the first 61 digits of the parameter required in the calculation of the energy of expansion that appeared at the instant of the Big Bang. The probability of having two, so nearly identical physical constants in nature, resulting from two completely unrelated hypotheses is extremely suspicious. This difficulty is mentioned by Linde . The problem of the critical value of G does not exist in the model presented here.
In fact, this highly critical constant cannot exist with an accuracy of 61 digits because the Cavendish constant GC, is not considered to be a constant and varies by many more orders of magnitude, as will be seen in subsection V-A.
C. Age and Isotope Problems.
There are hundred of papers and books with examples showing that the Big Bang model is not compatible with observations. Recent data show striking incompatibility. For example, certain galaxies appearing completely mature were observed by Simon Lilly in 1988 at the enormous redshift of 3.395. This puts these galaxies so far back in time that the Big Bang scheme does not allow sufficient time for their formation. The report mentions: ''the appearance of a mature galaxy so soon after the Big Bang poses a serious threat."
The discovery in 1989 of the Great Wall, 700 million light years across, is also incompatible with the Big Bang model. Margaret Geller of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics comments on her discovery: "No known force could produce a structure this big since the universe was formed." Very recently, Paul Steinhardt states the equivalent: "There wasn't enough time in the history of the universe for gravity to pull together these structures." There is a general consensus on this point.
Finally, the distribution of isotopes in the universe, claimed to be a consequence of the Big Bang, also does not agree with many observations. The most recent disagreement is the case of the Sun, where a reliable measurement can be made. Only 1% of the predicted amount of lithium is observed in the Sun . Discussions related to the above problems have been published , .
Considering that the gravitational constant is so critical (up to the 61st digit), one cannot conceive that it is (relativity) greatly varying as a function of time or space. This variation leads to new difficulties.
It is claimed that just at the moment of the Big Bang, all forces (weak, strong, electromagnetic, and gravity) were unified. This is the basic argument to establish the Grand Unified Theory (GUT). All the individual fundamental forces of nature appeared later. Therefore, at the time of the Big Bang, gravity did not exist as it does now.
Where Ho is the Hubble parameter and GC the Cavendish gravitational constant .
Many other models with changing G have been suggested. For example, the Dicke-Brans-Jordan theory assumes that the gravitational constant depends on where and when the experiment is performed (as well as on mass and the radius of the gravitational source). Other models (of a change of the Cavendish constant) were studied . Ni's theory of gravity and other two-tensor or vector-tensor theories have preferred a "universal rest frame" and give a velocity dependence on the gravitational constant.
Even very recently , the variation of G has been used in cosmology and particle physics to relate constants with space-time of ten dimensions. Wang uses the equation (dG/G)@-10-11 per year. The reader should realize how big this variation of 10-11 per year is in comparison with the required criticality of 10-61 seen in subsection IV-B.
It might not be possible to follow the logic that inspired Dirac about the near mathematical coincidence related to the variation of G, but this hypothesis, used for five decades, illustrates another serious difficulty. When G is changing, the energy of the system is changing. Consequently, the change of the Cavendish constant G contradicts the most fundamental law of physics: "The Principle of Mass-Energy Conservation". Hawking states: "The total energy of the universe is zero." It cannot stay zero if G is changing with time.
The change of the Cavendish constant G (assumed here) has nothing to do with the change of gravitational force when radiation is generated (and a corresponding amount of mass disappears). Of course, radiation pressure prevents the collapse of parts of the universe and contributes to the decrease of the gravitational pull.
Let us recall that the transformation of mass into radiation does not change the total energy of the system when everything is taken into account, and when one considers that there is energy conservation in any close system.
C. A Second Big Bang?
Following the problems raised by the Big Bang hypothesis, Hawking uses the equivalent of a second Big Bang in an attempt to explain the inflationary universe. He explains that the total mass-energy of the universe in the first Big Bang is zero. Then he writes: "Twice zero is also zero." Then he states "Thus the universe can double the amount of positive matter energy and also the negative gravitational energy . . .". This is equivalent of a second Big Bang. It is this way that the inflationary expansion of the universe is explained .
What is the probability of a second Big Bang at the same place over such a short time interval (a small fraction of a second)? How many Big Bangs should we expect?
We have seen in section IV that the equivalent of a cosmological constant is just as necessary in the case of the Big Bang model as in the case of Einstein's static universe. This means that all models require, at large distances, that the strength of the gravitational field go down more rapidly than the 1/r2 function predicted by Newton's law. In other words, a gravitational field with an infinite with an infinite range is not acceptable?
In principle, it is not necessary to use a cosmological constant that neutralizes the gravitational forces at large distances. One shows that strong and weak nuclear forces have a finite range. We do not say that there is another force at large distance that neutralizes nuclear forces. We might use the same terminology but, of course, an appropriate description must be given to the field.
The importance of a finite range of gravitational interaction is that it does not lead to an infinite potential in an infinite universe. Before describing a test to determine the range of interaction of gravitational forces, we need to explain the exact meaning of the phenomenon we are looking for.
VII. Evaluation of the "Range of Gravitational Forces"
Since we mentioned that the gravitational force has an effective limited range of interaction, let us evaluate that range. It is generally agreed that this range is enormously longer that the finite range of weak and strong nuclear forces. Since all planets in the solar system follow (almost perfectly) the inverse quadratic law of gravitation, the 1/r2 law is substantiated in the solar system.
The next range to consider is that of galaxies. At distances up to about 50 000 light years, galactic rotation appears around a center. It is well known that galactic rotation does not follow Kepler laws. Hypotheses have been presented to explain the motion of stars around the nucleus of galaxies. For example, some suggest the dark matter hypothesis while others use a change in the gravitational force (Milgrom -).
One can conclude that for a range of the order of the radius of galaxies (about 50 000 light-years) at least some gravitational interaction certainly exist but some might argue that gravity may not behave strictly as Newton's law.
The largest observed structures in the universe, showing central gravitational interaction, are clusters of galaxies. One can estimate that the approximate practical maximum range of gravitational interaction is about 10 to 20 million light years . This range seems large, but it is about (1/1000) of the size of the universe (as calculated assuming the Big Bang model).
Beyond this limit is the Great Wall, discovered by M. J. Geller and J. P. Huchra in 1988. Its name suggests that it may not have a spherical geometry; its pattern stretches over 700 million light years. It does not appear to be associated with a central gravitational force.
On an even larger scale, P. J. E. Pebbles plotted the locations of nearly one million galaxies. The plot shows lines or threads of clusters of galaxies forming superclusters. Charles Bennett produced a similar plot of a million galaxies "Splashed across a section of the cosmos." Those threads of galaxies are interwoven in a complicated way to form a pattern that astrophysicists have dubbed the cosmic tapestry. It is clear that this tapestry does not reveal the existence of a central gravitational attraction. The distribution of galaxies looks in fact, like what one expects for the distribution of atoms that form complex molecules. The lines of galaxies are similar to chains of atoms in certain molecules. In these plots, one can almost see rings (of superclusters) as in molecule benzene.
One must conclude that astrophysical data cease to show the effect of gravitational attraction for distances larger than about 10 or 20 million light-years.
It can also be seen that the universe is much older that predicted by the Big Bang theory. Here are a few examples. In the case of certain superclusters, Tully and Fisher state . "They were just too big to have formed in the twenty billion years since the Big Bang". Paul Steinhardt, a cosmologist at the university of Pennsylvania explains: "There wasn't enough time in the history of the universe for gravity to pull together these structures". In the case of the Great Wall, it is estimated to have taken about 150 billion years to form . These observations support the notion that the universe is much older than 15 billion years. Powell concludes recently: "Globular clusters such as M13 appear to be older than the latest estimate of the age of the universe". John Gribbin , studying the spectrum of quasars entitled his paper: "Astronomers Double the Age of the Universe".
Forces with a limited range of interaction are not new in physics. It is a useless argument to insist that a force has an infinite range, if that force exists until only 16 billion years (according to the Big Bang). Astrophysicists have difficulties accepting that the universe is "infinite" in size, while, at the same time, they readily accept that the range of interaction of gravitational forces in infinite. Even if cosmologists believe that the range of gravitational forces in infinite, this hypothesis is applied in a finite universe when the Big Bang model is used.
The Big Bang theory uses certain observations to justify its existence. However, an unlimited and ageless universe better explains astrophysical observations. Here the word ageless is as defined in Webster's dictionary : "Valid or existing unaltered at all times". The universe described by W. D. MacMillan is more compatible with current observations than the Big Bang model. According to MacMillan, it is not necessary that "the universe as a whole has ever been or ever will be essentially different from what it is today". MacMillan believed that radiation emitted by stars could be reconverted into matter. This excellent model also satisfies the "Perfect Cosmological Principle". This description was written well before Dirac's first statement of the theory of pair production. MacMillan's theory was rejected because of the lack of evidence then, that gamma rays could be converted into matter. However, two decades later, Bondi, Gold and Hoyle developed an almost similar model, "The Steady-State Theory" , in which matter in the universe is not formed from gamma rays, but is formed from "nothing" (of course, certainly, without physical evidence). Finally, our choice of an unlimited space is not foreign to the philosophical difficulty of conceiving an end to space. Another argument is given in subsection X, below.
a) The cosmological redshift can be logically explained by a mechanism other than the Doppler effect. There is another natural mechanism that can produce a non-Doppler Red Shift . It is based on the non-elastic collision of photons on atoms or molecules in space. This non-Doppler Redshift has been successful in explaining a Redshift on the Sun , and in many other observations -. A similar effect is expected everywhere else in the universe.
b) The origin of the 3 K radiation is more logically explained - by the Planck radiation emitted by cold matter in an unlimited universe. Since the universe (and the plasma it contains) is at 3K, therefore blackbody radiation is emitted by that matter. The problem of a lack of thickness of plasma does not exist since the universe is unlimited. This interpretation is compatible with the high homogeneity of the 3K radiation observed, with an inhomogeneity smaller than 1/25000 .
c) The problem of the critical density r, of matter in the universe has been mentioned above in discussing dark matter. Our unlimited ageless universe does not require such a critical value.
d) Olbers paradox can be explained without the Big Bang. In fact, Olbers paradox does not exist since the sky is uniformly bright when one looks at the correct wavelength (»1mm) generated by its temperature of 3K. The full amplitude of the Planck blackbody spectrum received from space is caused by the emission of radiation of the universe at 3K and proves that the universe has a depth of at least several trillion light-years.
XI. Transparent Matter in the Universe.
With the choice of the unlimited ageless universe, one has to explain the observed red shift by a mechanism other than a Doppler shift. One has seen that from the inelastic transmission of photons in space , , a red shift similar to a Doppler effect is always produced.
There have been many discussions about non-detectable gases (or dark matter) in the universe. Cold atomic hydrogen is easy to observe in the universe, because it has a transition in the radio range due to the coupling between the spin of the electron and the spin of the proton (forming atomic hydrogen). A transition between those configurations produces radiation at 21 cm, and is easily detected in the radio range. There are however, serious indirect observations (in galaxies or with the Great Attractor) that show that there is still a much larger amount of matter in the universe. That undetected matter is called Dark Matter. David Lindley defines Dark Matter in the following way; "Dark Matter is the invisible stuff that dynamical studies of galaxies and clusters of galaxies indicate must be there, but which can't be seen".
With regard to H2 and its extreme transparency, it is known that the most abundant atom in the universe is hydrogen. Atomic hydrogen is chemically active, much more than molecular hydrogen. For example, two colliding atomic hydrogen atoms (H) can combine to from molecular hydrogen (H+H®H2+hn). This mechanism of formation of H2 is highly probable during three-body collisions. However, because of the strong binding energy of the atoms in H2 and due to the low temperature of the interstellar gas (»3K), two colliding H2 particles at 3 K do not have enough energy and will not dissociate back into atomic hydrogen atoms. This illustrates how molecular hydrogen H2 is much more stable than H. Of course, when these particles (H and H2) are bombarded with photons, they might react to produce ionization, excitation and induced dissociation. Other mechanisms are also possible, especially the Compton effect as mentioned by Kierein .
Consequently, since the universe has an average temperature of 3K, for the reason given above and during the unlimited age of the universe, one expects that, at equilibrium, much hydrogen must have passed from the atomic form, into the form of molecular hydrogen H2.
Spectroscopy shows that molecular hydrogen is one of the most transparent gases in the universe. It has no dipole transition in the radio range, in the infrared, in the visible, and even in the UV, up to the far UV at 110.8 nm . Even rotation and vibration states of the ground state cannot be observed because they are all forbidden dipole transitions. The second and third UV lines of H2 are located at 109.2 and 107.7 nm. These three lines correspond to transitions B1Su-X1Su in states (0,0), (1,0) and (2,0). Thanks to the transparence of H2 one is able to view the universe at very large distances. However, H2 cannot be detected by spectroscopic means. The only observable radiation from H2 at 3K is the wide Planck spectrum at its own temperature (already observed but erroneously interpreted as a background cosmic radiation).
There are many misleading statements about the detection of hydrogen in the universe. Without making the distinction between the atoms and the molecules, it is stated that: "masses of hydrogen are easily detectible out to considerable distances in the universe". This is awful error, since the molecular form of hydrogen (H2) is possibly the most transparent gas in the universe.
Furthermore one cannot argue that H2 does not exist in space because it would be dissociated by UV radiation. If there were actually a large intensity of far-UV radiation in the universe, neutral atomic hydrogen would ionize. This is not the case, since the 21 cm radiation is well observed and therefore proves that H is not generally ionized. Consequently, in those circumstances, we expect that the far-UV radiation in space, which does not have enough intensity to ionize most of the atomic hydrogen, will also not have enough intensity to react and dissociate most of H2. It is well known that it takes more energy to ionize molecular hydrogen than atomic hydrogen.
We have seen that molecular hydrogen in space is responsible for another interaction: Collisions of photons on hydrogen are always slightly inelastic , in transmission and lead to a non-Doppler red shift. It has been measured that more than one atom/cm3 of atomic hydrogen has been measured between stars inside our galaxy. Due to the transparency of H2, there might be, on the average, the equivalent of 0.01 mol/cm3 of the much more abundent H2 in the universe, which would account for the observed cosmological red shift in the universe .
to calculate the energy loss W, during the interaction of light with particles like hydrogen. In this equation, a=Dv/Dt is the acceleration, e is the electron charge, Dv is the change of velocity due to momentum transfer, Dt is the time during which the electron is interacting (the coherence time of the interacting light), eo is the permittivity of vacuum, and c is the velocity of light in vacuum.
From this mechanism, it has been calculated that an average density of 0.01 atom/cm3 is sufficient to produce a red shift equal to the Hubble parameter. In other words, it is no longer necessary to assume an expansion of the universe, because there is enough gas in the universe to produce the same red shift. The calculations have been made using a typical effective temperature T of 50 000 K, compatible with the temperature of very bright stars in galaxies , .
The case of a light source having a much higher equivalent temperature as in quasars has not been previously considered. It is observed that quasars emit a spectrum with an extraordinary wide spectral band. The continuum of radiation extends up to the far UV and even into the soft X-ray range. It is reported ¸ that there is: "a blue bump peaks somewhere in the extreme ultra violet and probably into the soft X-ray around 40 Angstrom".
Synchrotron radiation is believed to be the source of such a spectrum. The length of coherence of the radiation is much smaller that the length of coherence of the Planck spectrum of an ordinary hot star (since the bandwidth is larger). This is easily understood considering the physical meaning of the Fourier transform. One finds that the equivalent temperature of the quasar is then a few million degrees. Let us consider an efficient temperature of about 2 million degrees for a typical quasar.
Where R is the relative energy loss of photons and the subscripts Q and S refer to a quasar and a star respectively.
c) the abnormal red shift of quasars that are physically associated with closer galaxies as reported by Arp .
A) Narlikar shows that when the red shift of galaxies is plotted against their faintness, a straight line is obtained . However, the corresponding plot for quasars plotted against their faintness produces a random scatter of points . It is surprising that quasars located at larger distances do not appear less bright, unless the redshift of quasars is not due to their great distance. The model calculated here shows that the red shifts of quasars do not primarily depend on the distance, but depend on their equivalent temperature. This explains why the red shift-distance relationship is seriously defective in quasars.
B) The belief that gamma-ray quasars can be as bright as 100 trillion suns is more than astonishing. In July 1991, the discovery in Virgo of a Quasar (3C279) emitting 10 million times more energy than the entire Milky Way was announced . More recently, HS1946+7658 in Drago was reported to emit "more energy that 1.5 quadrillion suns" . However, from the above calculations, the same quasar can be at least about 1000 times closer. Therefore its absolute brightness should be at least one million times less. This solves the problem of the unacceptable brightness of quasars and brings their absolute brightness to about the same magnitude as normal galaxies.
C) The large red shifts of quasars, interpreted as a Doppler phenomenon, are called into question when they are found to be associated with galaxies. Many years ago, Burbidge suggested non-cosmological redshifts of quasars. Many of those associations have been reported by Arp , , suggesting that quasars are much closer. One prominent example is the case of Stephan's quintet. This close association of galaxies shows that NGC 7331 and other high red shifted members are linked to the low red shifted NGC 7320. Also, in the chain of galaxies VV172, one of them has an excess redshift of 21 000 km/s. Numerous other examples have been observed .
A systematic study should be done. If the distance of quasars is corrected due to their high effective temperature, one should be able to verify that the red shift-distance relationship of quasars fits the expected linear function (as in the case of galaxies) as expected by Narlikar .
New observations are compatible with the unlimited-ageless universe model. It is unnecessary and unrealistic to invent a new principle after each new discovery. For example, in defending the Big Bang cosmology, Davis states: "In some of the newer (Big Bang) theories, we are inventing a new physical principle for every new observational fact" .
We do not agree, as stated , that: "a scientific theory is just a mathematical model we make to describe our observations: is exist only in our minds".
The author wished to thank Dr. Y. Varshni and Dr. L. Marmet for reading and commenting on this manuscript.
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D. Lindley, "Cold Dark Matter Makes an Exit" Nature, Vol. 349, p. 14. 1991.
A. Linde, "Particle Physics and Inflationary Cosmology", Phys. Today, Vol. 40, pp. 61-68, Sept. 1987.
S. L. Lilly, "Discovery of a Radio Galaxy at a Redshift of 3.395", Astrophys. J. Vol. 161, p. 333, Oct. 1988.
S. L. Lilly, "News Notes" Sky and Telescope, Vol. 76, No: 2, p. 124, Aug. 1988.
M. Geller, Boston Globe, Nov. 17, 1989.
P. Steinhardt, cited by F. Flam, "In Search of a New Cosmic Blueprint", Science, Vol. 254, pp. 110601108, 22 Nov. 1991.
"News Notes" Sky and Telescope Vol. 82, No: 6, p. 586, Dec. 1991.
H. Arp, "Quasars, Red Shifts, and Controversies" Interstellar Media, Berkeley CA,. pp. 198, 1987.
E. Lerner "The Big Bang Never Happened" New York, Random House, p. 466, 1991.
C. Brans and R. H. Dicke, "Mach's Principle and a Relativistic Theory of Gravitation" Phys. Rev. Vol. 124, pp. 925, 935. 1961.
W. T. Ni., "Theoretical Framework for testing Relativistic Gravity IV: A Compendium of Metric Theories and their post-Newtonian limits". Astrophys. J. Vol. 176, pp. 769-796, 1972.
C. M. Will, "Relativistic Gravity in the Solar System, II: Anisotropy in the Newtonian Gravitational Constant", Astrophys. J. Vol. 169, pp. 141-156, 1971; Also K. Nordvedt, Jr. and C. W. Will, "Conservation laws and Preferred Frames of Gravity", Astrophys. J. Vol. 177, pp. 775-792, 1972.
J. Wang, "Astrophysical Constraints on the Gravitational Constant" Astrophysics and Space Science, Vol. 184, pp. 31-36, 1991.
M. Milgrom, "A Modification of the Newtonian Dynamics as a Possible Alternative to the Hidden Mass Hypothesis", Astrophys. J. Vol. 270, pp. 365-370, 1983.
M. Milgrom, "A Modification of the Newtonian Dynamics: Implication for Galaxies" Astrophys. J. Vol. 270, pp. 371-383, 1983.
M. Milgrom, "A Modification of the Newtonian Dynamics: Implication for Galaxy Systems" Astrophys. J. Vol. 270, pp. 384-389, 1983.
C. W. Allen, Astrophysical Quantities, University of London: Atlone Press, pp. 310, 1973.
C. Bennett, "Mapping the Cold Glow of the Big Bang", New Scientists, Vol. 130, pp. 35-39, Aug. 10, 1991.
R. Jayawardhana, "Confirmation at Last for a Completely Smooth Universe", New Scientist, Vol. 131, No: 1788, p. 24, Sept. 28, 1991.
C. S. Powell, "Born Yesterday" Scientific American, Vol. 266, No: 5, pp. 28-30, May 1992.
J. Grabbin, "Astronomer's Double Age of the Universe" New Scientists, Vol. 133, No: 1802, Jan. 4, 1992.
"Webster Electronic Thesaurus" Merriam-Webster Inc. and Proximity Technology, 1987.
W. D. MacMillan, "Some Mathematical Aspects of Cosmology", Science, Vol. 62, pp. 63-72, 1925.
W. D. MacMillan, Astrophys. J. Vol. 48, p. 35. 1918.
R. Schlegel, Steady State in Chicago, Vol. 26, No: 9 pp. 601-604, 1958.
P. Marmet, "A New Non-Doppler Redshift", Physics Department, Université Laval, Québec, Canada, pp. 64, 1981.
P. Marmet, "Non-Doppler Redshift of some Galactic Objects", IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. Vol. 18. No: 1, pp. 56-60, 1009.
P. Marmet, "The Big Bang Cosmology Meets an Astronomical Death" 21st Century, Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No: 2, pp. 52-59, 1990.
P. Marmet, "The Deceptive Illusion of the Big Bang Cosmology", Physics in Canada, (Canadian Association of Physicists), Vol. 46, No: 5, pp. 97-101, 1991.
P. Marmet, "The 3K Microwave Background and Olbers's Paradox" Sci. Lett., Vol. 240, p. 705, May 6, 1988.
J. Kierein, "Implication of the Compton Effect Interpretation of the Red Shift", IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. Vol. 18, No: 1, pp. 61-63, 1990.
H. Arp. "Exploding the Big Bang Hypothesis", Physics Today, pp. 85-86, July 1991.
B. J. Wilkes, "The Emerging Picture of Quasars" Astronomy, Vol. 19, pp. 35-41, 1991.
J. Narlikar, "What if the Big Bang Didn't Happen? New Scientist, pp. 48-51, Mar. 2 1991.
F. Flam, "Quasars: Ablaze with Gamma Rays". Science, Vol. 256, pp. 311, 1992.
Astronomy Express, "Gamma Ray Beacon" Sky and Telescope, Vol. 82, P. 350, Oct. 1991.
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Keep in mind that federal funds aren’t given if a study has any positive conclusions about the use of Cannabis. The report claims that “marijuana worsens” depression, schizophrenia and various other ‘teen’ problems.
They quote that they are referring to ‘new’ data…(of which I have to see a copy of yet).
And that teens that smoke are ‘thinking’ 3 times more about committing suicide then others? But really.. How can they possibly get a reliable number for that?
What segment of teen population can possibly give that revealing of an answer to a survey given from a federally funded anti-drug medical group?
What about the studies on suicide increasing during recessions, wars and under non-public funding-non-progessive leadership?
The comparison will never be a Federally Funded Survey! Who even trusts the studies given by today’s White House! Even after a study is completed they censure more then they share with the public. (i.e.) The 911 Commission. The Katrina report, almost any environmental report.
How far off from the understanding of today’s people, environment and youth can the White House possibly be? They ignore that the majority of the population is against the current administrations policies, its war, its energy policy, its environmental policy and especially its drug policy. The White House has fallen short on almost every service for its citizens. To top it off dismantling The Bill of Rights and The Constitution of The United States, which is the document they all swear to uphold before taking any office.
There are endless the non-government funded studies that scientifically prove the benefits of medical marijuana The government doesn’t fund positive statements about medical marijuana. And yet many groups of Scientists and physicians have made and paid for studies proving the well known benefits.
And now really another propaganda campaign against marijuana. The reason the government uses fear against marijuana, maybe because they need a reason to reap all the benefits from laws that are out-dated, intolerant and excessive! Just Say NO to ONDCP, The Office of National Drug Control Policy. Their answer might imply that teen suicide could be cured by putting all the youth into prison as far as the current national policy is concerned.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Teenagers who use marijuana put themselves at higher risks for serious mental health problems, including worsening depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and suicide, according to a new White House report.
The report said more teens use marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined.
Although the report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy notes that use of the drug among teenagers has dropped by 25 percent in the past seven years, it emphasizes that more teens use marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined.
That use can have serious consequences, according to the report. Teenagers who smoke marijuana to self-medicate can compound their depression, the report said.
Depressed teens are more than twice as likely as others to abuse or become dependent on marijuana, it said. And teenagers who use marijuana more than at least once a month are three times more likely to have sucidal thoughts than teenagers who do not use the drug, it said.
“Marijuana is not the answer. Too many young people are making a bad situation worse by using marijuana in a misguided effort to relieve their symptoms of depression,” said John P. Walters, director of national drug control policy, in a written statement.
The report is titled “Teen Marijuana Use Worsens Depression: An Analysis of Recent Data Shows ‘Self-Medicating’ Could Actually Make Things Worse.
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 03:05 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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0.97771 |
In ancient Greece, sykophantēs meant "slanderer." It derives from two other Greek words, sykon (meaning "fig") and phainein (meaning "to show or reveal"). How did fig revealers become slanderers? One theory has to do with the taxes Greek farmers were required to pay on the figs they brought to market. Apparently, the farmers would sometimes try to avoid making the payments, but squealers—fig revealers—would fink on them, and they would be forced to pay. Another possible source is a sense of the word fig meaning "a gesture or sign of contempt" (as thrusting a thumb between two fingers). In any case, Latin retained the "slanderer" sense when it borrowed a version of sykophantēs, but by the time English speakers in the 16th century borrowed it as sycophant, the squealers had become flatterers.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sycophant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Note: The origin of Greek sȳkophántēs, applied in ancient Athens to private individuals who brought prosecutions in which they had no personal stake, was already under debate by ancient writers. The "apotropaic gesture" hypothesis given here was presented early on by Arthur Bernard Cook ("CΥΚΟΦΑΝΤΗC," The Classical Review, vol. 31 , pp. 133-36); Cook also usefully summarizes ancient speculation (as the idea that the original sȳkophántēs denounced those who illegally exported figs from Attica). The objection has been made that the basic notion "one who makes the fig gesture" does not account for the extremely negative connotations of the word ("slanderer, calumniator, etc."), but other explanations (as, for example, that a sȳkophántēs revealed figs hidden in a malefactor's clothing, or initiated a prosecution for something of as little value as a fig) seem even less likely. A more nuanced, if not entirely convincing account, based on presumed fig metaphors in Athenian culture, is in Danielle Allen, The World of Prometheus: The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens (Princeton University Press, 2000), p. 156 passim.
Trending: Ryan: Assange "a sycophant for Russia"
"He steals data and compromises national security." But what does any of this have to do with figs?
What made you want to look up sycophant? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
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Tristan da Cunha, colloquially Tristan, is both a remote group of volcanic islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying 2,816 km from the nearest land, South Africa, and 3,360 km from South America. The territory consists of the main island of Tristan da Cunha itself, which has a north-south length of 11.27 kmand has an area of 98 square km along with the smaller, uninhabited Nightingale Islands and the wildlife reserves of Inaccessible and Gough Islands.
Tristan and Gough occupy an interesting position in the South Atlantic in relation to ocean currents, being at the boundary between the Southern Ocean and the South Atlantic where waters of different characteristics meet. North of the islands, the huge anticlockwise gyre of the South Atlantic brings warm water towards the islands from the direction of Brazil and Argentina, while to the south of the archipelago, cold water of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) runs west to east right around the globe, circling the Antarctic continent. The Tristan islands are located in the meeting zone between these two major circulatory features. Strong westerly and northwesterly winds drive these currents eastwards, in the broad zone known as the West Wind Drift, which continues right across the southern Indian Ocean to Australia and New Zealand.
Tristan da Cunha is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The Subtropical Convergence, the boundary between the warm Atlantic gyre and cold water to the south, lies approximately at the Tristan top islands, with residual currents from west and northwest. Gough lies south of this boundary, so that seawater temperatures at Gough are 3-4°C lower than at the top islands, and residual currents are from the west. This results in significant differences in the marine life at Gough, which is more subantarctic in nature than at the northern islands. Gough has its own version of a 'coral reef', a complex structure in shallow water at 0-4m, made up, not of animal coral, but of hard, leafy coralline seaweed, often overgrowing the shells of large barnacles. This complex carbonate structure is a refuge for many small animals, including lobsters.
The islands are surrounded by underwater forests of the giant kelp, one of the fastest growing plants on the planet. Its fronds are known to grow up to 60cm (two feet) a day, and to over 50m (150 feet) in total length. The kelp forests are highly productive and support many other marine species. The Tristan top islands appear to be a stronghold for the rarely seen Shepherd's Beaked Whale, and also a small nursery area for Southern Right Whales, which were formerly much more numerous around Tristan but were hunted intensively. Seven endemic land birds are found on the islands, including a thrush, four 'buntings' and two flightless rails, the Inaccessible Rail being the world's smallest extant flightless bird. The buntings have undergone an adaptive radiation into small-billed and large-billed forms on the Tristan archipelago similar to Darwin's finches on the Galapagos, but the population on the main island of Tristan went extinct during the 19th century. The Gough Bunting is Critically Endangered due to predation by introduced House Mice.
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0.957116 |
What happened to Pangako Sa’Yo star Hazel Ann Mendoza?
The actress is now a full-time mom.
Hazel Ann Mendoza was an actress who starred as the sister of Yna Macaspac (Kristine Hermosa) in the original Pangako Sa’Yo series and was also part of the youth-oriented series Berks. She was also in the 2008 teleserye Eva Fonda. Since then, Hazel took a hiatus from the limelight.
According to a YouTube clip, Hazel opted the simpler life and is now a full-time mom to her two kids with husband, director Paul Basanillo.
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What does Companies ordinance say?
To set up a Hong Kong limited company, it is mandatory to have an address in Hong Kong as its registered office. As per s. 658 of the Companies Ordinance, the intended address stated in the company incorporation form shall be regarded as the address of its registered office until a notice of change is being filed to the Companies Registry. If the change is not filed to the Registrar within 15 days, every responsible person of the Hong Kong company commits an offence, and each person can be liable for a late fee of $1000 per day.
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Write a review on Weider Creatine Monohydrate!
Creatine Monohydrate is considered by tens of thousands of athletes to be the biggest advance of the decade in terms of sports nutrition. This is hardly surprising, since study after study has shown creatine's remarkable ability to enhance athletic performance. Creatine is manufactured naturally by the liver and pancreas. Once released into the bloodstream, it travels to the muscles, where it helps restore their energy reserves. It achieves this through replenishing ATP (adenosine triphosphate)-the substance utilized by all the cells of the body to create energy.
Taking creatine as a supplement makes it possible to increase the quantity of creatine within the muscles by as much as 10-40 percent. This provides the body with more fuel, allowing you to train harder and longer and to recover from workouts faster.
Literally hundreds of studies have concluded that taking creatine supplements is completely safe as well as effective. Whether you are a regular sports participant, a bodybuilder, or a weekend athlete, you'll find that Weider Creatine Monohydrate will help you squeeze that little extra from your workout, providing that extra burst of energy that gives you "the edge."
Strength but really big jump in strength!!
Value for money but according to my analysis this supplement price is equal to 2 bottles (150+150 capsules) of creatine capsules expensive than Mega Mass 4000.
Value for money Cheaper to buy than most products, you have to take the full cycle to get results.
Taste actually have the 600g non flavoured creatine.
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Keep listening to your favorite songs from movies with the best movie soundtracks of 2018. Featuring some of the top films of 2018, this list of new 2018 soundtracks includes chart-topping singles, memorable film scores, and modern covers of classic songs. Debuting at number one on the Billboard charts, the A Star Is Born soundtrack from Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga is also considered one of the best albums of 2018 with popular songs "Shallow," "Always Remember Us This Way," and "I'll Never Love Again."
Vote up the best movie soundtrack albums of 2018.
Bradley Cooper - "Too Far Gone"
Is this the best 2018 soundtrack?
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Is "Gwnân nhw ddysgu" the same as "Byddan nhw ddysgu"?
Yes, though you need it to be "Nhw'n" in the "Byddan nhw'n dysgu" construction (and also note no mutation in that construction either) because "yn" (when it is a verbal particle) is needed to connect a form of bod (in this instance "byddan") to a noun, verb-noun or adjective (in this case the verb-noun "Dysgu"). "Byddan nhw'n dysgu" is already accepted as an answer.
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Give below is a Romantic love letter titled i really like you. If you liked this letter, please rate it. You can also submit your comment about this letter.
through these years we have only been well, friends and times have been tough but, we've had our special moments together. Every time i try to talk to you my heart beats faster and everyone stares. You have talked to me which would lighten my day. Friends have become enemies and you were always there for me, always.i just wanted to tell you that i love you.
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Quincy's reply basically boils down to — if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Since Quincy is supporting his argument by the fact that the system has always worked in the past, to weaken his argument we are likely going to be looking for something that has changed in the interim. The answer choice that addresses a sufficient change in the circumstances faced by current physicians will likely be the correct answer.
Answer Choice (A): This answer choice would clearly support Quincy's argument. If this system has worked in the past and nothing has changed, it follows that the system would work now.
Answer Choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. Quincy's argument is weakened because the circumstances faced by doctors today are more difficult than they were in the past. The doctors that Quincy is referring to may have been able to handle the long hours because the illnesses they were dealing with were easy to treat. The answer choice tells us that now the illnesses are more complex and therefore the opportunity for a tired doctor to make a mistake will be greater.
Answer Choice (C): Again, this answer choice supports Quincy's argument, as you would want the same physician to be working their shift during those first 24 hours to maintain continuity. If physicians were working shorter shifts, it would be more difficult to maintain continuity.
Answer Choice (D): This answer choice has no effect on the overall argument, as we have no information as to what specialties, if any, the differing viewpoints of Pamela and Quincy are referring to.
Answer Choice (E): Again, this answer choice does nothing to address the primary question of whether or not physicians should or should not be working 36 hour shifts.
I was doing 21-45 timed and got this one wrong. Going over the answer choices again, I had to refrain from slapping myself for getting this one wrong. The question asks for the best response, and I noticed that B "because ..." Is the only one that's fit for a proper response to Quincys question. Do the test makers do this often? The answer to this type of question being the only choice that has "because..."
Hey Jack, don't slap yourself! Mistakes happen, and we can learn from them.
I would advise against getting too fixated on the language used. That word "because" could as easily have introduced a wrong answer. Answer A, for example, could have been "because the basic responsibilities haven't changed". Instead, focus on the prephrase - here, you should be looking for an answer that tells us that something has changed that makes the old way less effective that it was. Answer B does that by changing the circumstances under which these doctors are now working.
I would say this is actually a bit unusual, not common, in that the authors like to give wrong answers that use language very similar to the right answer, or even give the wrong answer attractive language and make the wrong answer kind of ugly. Here, the right answer has some very helpful language in that "because" that makes it stand out from the wrong answers. This was very friendly of the authors, in my opinion, and I would not count on their being that friendly very often.
Focus on the prephrase, and on the overall meaning of the stimulus, stem, and answer choices, and less on particular words or word combinations that may seem enticing. Those will often be used to lay traps for the unsuspecting test taker. In the words of Admiral Akbar, "It's a trap!"
Quincy said that physicians "generally" make good decisions.
"generally" - in most cases; usually.
What if the specialties that are the exceptions to the "generally made good decisions portion" make plenty of bad decisions, because their specialty is more difficult, such as surgery? I assumed when it says "physicians" it means all physicians.
I can see why B is better, but only because it addresses, "Why should what has worked in the past be changed now?"
However, I would think that the response to B by Quincy would just be, "Well, yeah. Patients are more seriously ill now than they were in the past, but they [the physicians] still generally make good decisions."
Quincy remains unconvinced. No problem, because there is no challenge.
If some specialties have things more difficult, then they could be the reason physicians only "generally" make good decisions. A few mistakes by a few people.
Maybe I am adding information?
I think there are two problems with your analysis. First, there is nothing in the stimulus that suggests that the specialty physicians who were trained working long hours are not part of the group that generally made good decisions. I think you are right that you are making an assumption there that is not warranted by the stimulus.
Secondly, answer choice D doesn't focus on the discrepancy in the question. That's why prephrasing is so handy. If you prephrased this questions, chances are your answer would focus on the question of what has changed, since the long hours seem to have not been a problem in the past. By prephrasing, you avoid getting distracted by an answer choice.
Along those lines, try not to persuade yourself that answer choice fits by thinking thoughts like, "This answer choice could work because maybe ____ or if _____." The right answer should be apparent from the information given, without your needing to supply additional assumptions.
When crossing off answers as contenders, at what point do you advise getting rid of an answer because it discusses information we don't care about? I read "medical reimbursement policies" in B and got rid of it because I didn't see a direct connection to how it the work of physicians. I ended up choosing D.
Leela wrote: When crossing off answers as contenders, at what point do you advise getting rid of an answer because it discusses information we don't care about? I read "medical reimbursement policies" in B and got rid of it because I didn't see a direct connection to how it the work of physicians. I ended up choosing D.
Good question! the answer is that ti depends on the question type. In questions like Must or Flaw, we are engaging in a strictly fact-based exercise where irrelevant items are typically distractors. But in questions such as Strengthen or Weaken (such as this one), the scope of what is relevant widens significantly. Outside information is acceptable, and you have to be very careful about eliminating answers that initially look irrelevant because they can come up with ways to add relevant information to them, or they could open up an angle you hadn't previously considered (or that hadn't been discussed).
So, in (B), while it initially seems like the info isn't relevant, note hat happens after the first few words: they raise an issue that is relevant to Quincy's argument. The first few words may be on a topic that didn't previously come up, but it is relevant to patients and ultimately gives us info that would help us counter Quincy.
The beauty of this is that you've encountered this before the LSAT Now you know this is what they do at times (and this is intentional on their part without question), so next time you'll be more likely to read past that seemingly irrelevant info to see if there's something useful afterwards.
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This package has a home page at http://www.rsibreak.org/.
The package is located in the "time/rsibreak" directory. The current source version of the package is "rsibreak-0.11nb38". For a summary on how to use the package collection, go to the top of the packages tree.
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The following article is an excerpt from Today Parents.
"When you are a teacher, you feel like a part of these children’s lives," first-grade teacher Allison Malouf said. "Their daughter was like a child of my own. I didn’t want to see her without a dad... God gives you two kidneys, but you only need one."
"Their daughter was like a child of my own. I didn’t want to see her without a dad... God gives you two kidneys, but you only need one."
Neil Emmott, 56, a businessman in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had lived with a diagnosis of polycystic kidney disease since 2001. His kidney function dropped below 20 percent in April of 2016, and the search to find a donor began.
Until then, the Emmotts had kept Neil's health issues quiet. With his health declining, his wife Lisa, 44, began to confide in a few people at Ft. Lauderdale's Bethany Christian School, where she worked and their youngest daughter was in first grade.
Lisa first told their daughter Mackenzie's first grade teacher, Allison Malouf, about Neil's need for a new kidney because she knew that Malouf's husband Jason had donated a kidney eight years before.
"I also needed to share the mammoth weight that was bearing down on my shoulders," Lisa told TODAY Parents.
Malouf, herself the mother of three sons aged 15, 14, and 9, understood the donor process and the emotions involved. She immediately volunteered to donate her own kidney. "I had complete peace and a strong desire to donate," she told TODAY Parents. "Being their daughter’s teacher, I desperately wanted to help this wonderful family."
When both Lisa and her brother-in-law were rejected from donating kidneys as living donors for their own minor health reasons, the Emmotts began to feel desperate. Malouf began the evaluation process at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland, to qualify as a donor — a process that took five months and endless tests, meetings, and consultations with doctors and surgeons.
At the same time, Lisa told one of her best friends, nursery school teacher Britani Atkinson, about her family's desperate search for a kidney. Atkinson secretly began the evaluation process to become a donor too, keeping it secret from Lisa so that Lisa would not have to bear any more disappointment in case she was rejected.
"I knew how desperate I would be if I found myself in their situation, and the solution seemed so easy," said Atkinson. "I had two kidneys and I only needed one. If I could give one to Neil to keep their family whole, why would I not?"
Early on, Malouf, now 40, found out that her blood type is A+, while Neil's is O+. He needed a type-O donor, so Malouf's kidney would not work for him. Atkinson, 44, was approved to donate and her blood is the universal O type, but because of the size of her kidney compared to Neil's, she also could not donate directly to him. However, both were still determined to help.
At that time, Neil was one of the reported 95,000 people waiting for a deceased-donor kidney, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which tracks everyone waiting for an organ transplant in the U.S. The wait can be three to five years, and many have to rely on dialysis in the meantime.
The alternative is to find a living kidney donor, but in 2017, only 5,811 patients received kidneys from living donors.
"People don't realize that living kidney donation is an extremely safe procedure," said Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Centersurgeon Dr. Niraj Desai in an article about the Emmotts on the Johns Hopkins Medicine website. "There's a low risk to donors or we wouldn't do it." Desai added that a kidney transplant doubles the receiving patient's life expectancy.
Malouf and Atkinson registered with the National Kidney Registry on Neil's behalf in June of 2017. Incompatible donors and patients put their names on the registry's exchange list with other incompatible donor-patient pairs from all over the country. When the registry finds an even number of compatible pairs of donors and patients, they can set up a "chain" in which the donors and patients evenly exchange the kidneys.
Because Atkinson had a universal blood type, she was matched with a compatible patient first, and she and Neil underwent surgery at Johns Hopkins in September of 2017 — Atkinson gave one of her healthy kidneys to a patient in Boston, and Neil received a kidney from a compatible stranger in California. A total of four people received kidney transplants in the September chain begun by Atkinson's donation.
"I have to say the recovery was much better than I anticipated," Atkinson, the mother of two teenage sons and an 11-year-old daughter, told TODAY Parents. "The very first day was rough, but I was amazed to see just how quickly your body can heal. My surgeon had told me that after about three days I would feel remarkably better, and he was right."
Though Neil received the kidney he needed thanks to Atkinson's donation, Malouf was still inspired to donate her kidney. In November of 2017, Malouf's living kidney donation kicked off a chain that gave four more people, including a 14-year-old boy, new kidneys.
"In the end, I donated my right kidney on behalf of a child in need. I couldn’t stand to see a child living on dialysis," said Malouf, whose surgery took four hours to complete and required six weeks of recovery.
"To see Allison proceed with donating her kidney even after Neil had one made me feel very humbled and in awe of her selflessness," said Lisa. She has since tried to pay forward the teacher's generosity by raising awareness about living kidney donation.
The Emmotts are enjoying Neil's renewed health with their daughters, Cameron, now 13, and Mackenzie, now 9. Both Atkinson and Malouf say they benefited as well from donating their kidneys.
"It is a gift that gives as much to you as the person to whom you donate," said Atkinson. "There are very few opportunities in life to truly give something that is infinitely priceless to someone that costs you nothing."
"This has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done," said Malouf.
Malouf said she has "no doubt" her children will want to donate kidneys one day after seeing both their parents go through the experience and live normal, active, healthy lives.
Lisa Emmott said she is grateful to have two people in her life who would give her family this kind of immense gift.
"If life is a classroom, Britani and Allison wrote the lesson plans," she said. "Mankind should sharpen their pencils and take notes."
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Santos=Dumont had a well defined line of reasoning, attacked the lighter than air vehicles and evolved step by step up to the heavier than air, and finally began his studies with the individual flight and ornithopter, "the inventor, as in the nature of Linnaeus, achieve no leaps: he evolves in a slow, gradual process. I have started by improving my ballooning pilot skills attacking the problem of dirigibility. Than I became an aeronaut in the good management of my airships, for many years I have studied the background to the petrol engine, and only when I realized that their state of perfection was enough to make it fly, I attacked the problem of heavier than air". Find below the list of inventions of Santos-Dumont in chronological order.
"Dirigible, biplane and monoplane, - My family, Rio de Janeiro, January 8, 1929".
- Brazil – Smallest captive balloon ever created - with a wingspan of 6 feet in diameter, able to hold 113 m3 of hydrogen, weight 27.5 kg.
- --> Dirigible Number 1 – Santos=Dumont dispensed the web and held the cords directly to the involucre, suffered falls on 18 September and 20 September 1898.
- -->Dirigible Number 6 - First flight on 06 September 1901, S=D made changes at the helm, won the prize in Deutsch October 19, 1901, was destroyed in the accident in Monaco on 14 February 1902.
- 14 Bis airplane - Built in 1906, made a short flight at Bagatelle Field on 04 September 1906, flew 7-8 meters on September 13, 1906, won the Archdeacon Cup on October 23, 1906 with a flight of 60 meters to 3 meters high, 220m. Flew 6 meters high on November 12, 1906 and won the prize Aeroclub of France - IT WAS THE FIRST DOCUMENTED FLIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF AVIATION, Destroyed in SaintCyr on April 04 1907.
Click on the image above to see how the airplane 14 a blimp in conjunction with number 14 was unstable.
It was 9.6 meters long, 11.46 meters wingspan, 290 kg, and an Antoinette 50 hp engine used to activate a 2m propeller.
We could see in the photo a specially constructed contraption used to start the engin.
Airplane Number 15 - built in plywood, had tests on days 21, 24 2 March 27, 1907, was too unstable to fly.
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Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall, named after her mother, was born on 25 July 1829, at the family's home at 7 Charles Street, Hatton Garden. Her parents were Charles Crooke Siddall, and Elizabeth Eleanor Evans, from a family of English and Welsh descent. At the time of her birth, her father had a cutlery-making business, but around 1831, her family moved to the borough of Southwark, in south London, a less salubrious area than Hatton Garden. The rest of Siddall's siblings were born in Southwark; Lydia, to whom she was particularly close; Mary, Clara, James and Henry. Although there is no record of Elizabeth Siddall having attended school, she could read and write, presumably having been taught by her parents. She developed a love of poetry at a young age, after discovering a poem by Tennyson, which served as inspiration to start writing her own poems.
Siddall first met Walter Deverell in 1849, while she was working at a dressmaking and millinery in Cranbourne Alley, London. Whether Siddall had any artistic aspirations is unknown, though she loved poetry. She was employed as a model by Deverell and through him was introduced to the Pre-Raphaelites.
Though she was later touted for her beauty, Siddall was originally chosen as a model because of her plainness. At the time, Deverell was working on a large oil painting depicting a scene from Twelfth Night, showing Orsino, Feste, and Viola as Cesario. Like the rest of the Pre-Raphaelites, Deverell took his inspiration and forms from life rather than from an idealized or antique figure. He based his Orsino on himself, Feste on his friend Dante Rossetti. This was the first painting for which Siddall sat.
While posing for Millais's Ophelia in 1852, Siddall floated in a bathtub full of water to represent the drowning Ophelia. Millais painted daily into the winter putting lamps under the tub to warm the water. On one occasion the lamps went out and the water became icy cold. Millais, absorbed by his painting, did not notice and Siddall did not complain. After this she became very ill with a severe cold or pneumonia. Her father held Millais responsible and, under the threat of legal action, Millais paid her doctor's bills.
Elizabeth Siddall was the primary model and muse for Dante Gabriel Rossetti throughout most of his youth. Rossetti met her in 1849, when she was modelling for Deverell. By 1851, she was sitting for Rossetti and he began to paint her to the exclusion of almost all other models. Rossetti also stopped her from modelling for the other Pre-Raphaelites. The number of paintings and drawings he did of her are said to number in the thousands. Perhaps best known among Rossetti's works from Siddall is Beata Beatrix, which depicts a praying Beatrice (from Dante Alighieri) and was painted in 1863, a year after Siddall's death.
In 1852, Siddall began to study with Rossetti. She also painted a self-portrait, which differs from the idealised beauty portrayed by the Pre-Raphaelites. In 1855, art critic John Ruskin began to subsidise her career and paid £150 per year in exchange for all the drawings and paintings she produced. She produced many sketches, drawings, and watercolours as well as one oil painting. Her sketches are laid out in a fashion similar to Pre-Raphaelite compositions illustrating Arthurian legend and other idealized medieval themes, and she exhibited with the Pre-Raphaelites at the summer exhibition at Russell Place in 1857.
During this period Siddall also began to write poetry, often with dark themes about lost love or the impossibility of true love. "Her verses were as simple and moving as ancient ballads; her drawings were as genuine in their medieval spirit as much more highly finished and competent works of Pre-Raphaelite art," wrote critic William Gaunt. Both Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown supported and admired her work.
An exhibition, entitled "Beyond Ophelia," of 12 artworks created by Siddall and owned by the National Trust were on display at Wightwick Manor during 2018. Only the second solo exhibition of her work (the first was held at the Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield in 1991), the exhibition examines Siddall's career, artistic style, subject matter, and the prejudice she faced as a female artist, whilst also examining the Manders of Wightwick's collection habits: Rosalie and Geoffrey Mander bought her work in the 1960s and gave it to the National Trust.
Elizabeth Siddall, Lovers Listenting to Music, 1854. Pen and brown ink over pencil on paper, 23.9 x 29.8 cm. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Elizabeth Siddall, Lady Clare, 1857. Watercolour on paper, 33.8 x 25.4 cm. Private collection.
Siddall and Rossetti were married on Wednesday, 23 May 1860 at St. Clement's Church in the seaside town of Hastings. There were no family or friends present, just a couple of witnesses whom they had asked in Hastings.
Beginning in 1853 with a watercolour The First Anniversary of the Death of Beatrice, Siddall sat for many of Rossetti's works. After this work, Rossetti used Siddall in other Dante-related pieces, including Dante's Vision of Rachel and Leah (1855), Beatrice Meeting Dante at a Marriage Feast, Denies him her Salutation (1851), and Beata Beatrix (1864–70), which he painted as a memorial after her death. Perhaps Rossetti's most abundant and personal works were pencil sketches of Siddall at home, which he began in 1852 when she moved into Chatham Place with him.
When the two moved in together, they became increasingly anti-social and absorbed in each other's affections. The lovers coined affectionate nicknames for one another, which included "Guggums" or "Gug" and "Dove" – one of Rossetti's names for Siddall. He also changed the spelling of her name to Siddal, dropping the second 'l'. Siddall was repeatedly idealized in Rossetti's sketches, most of which he entitled simply "Elizabeth Siddal." In these sketches, Siddall was portrayed as a woman of leisure, class, and beauty, often situated in comfortable settings. Rossetti's poem A Last Confession exemplifies his love for Siddall, whom he personifies as the heroine with eyes "as of the sea and sky on a grey day."
Another famous portrait of Siddall produced by Rossetti towards the end of their marriage was Regina Cordium or The Queen of Hearts (1860). Painted as a marriage portrait, this painting shows a close-up, vibrantly coloured depiction of Siddall.
As Siddall came from a working-class family, Rossetti feared introducing her to his parents. Siddall was the victim of harsh criticism from his sisters. Knowledge that his family would not approve the marriage contributed to Rossetti putting it off. Siddall appears to have believed, with some justification, that Rossetti was always seeking to replace her with a younger muse, which contributed to her later depressive periods and illness.
Siddall travelled to Paris and Nice for several years for her health. At the time of her wedding, she was so frail and ill that she had to be carried to the church, despite it being a five-minute walk from where she was staying. It was thought that she suffered from tuberculosis, but some historians believe an intestinal disorder was more likely. Others have suggested she might have been anorexic while others attribute her poor health to an addiction to laudanum or a combination of ailments. She became severely depressed and her long illness gave her access to laudanum to which she became addicted. In 1861, Siddall became pregnant, which ended with the birth of a stillborn daughter. The death of her child left Siddall with a post-partum depression. She became pregnant for a second time in late 1861.
Siddall overdosed on laudanum in February of 1862. Rossetti discovered her unconscious and lying in bed after having had dinner with her and his friend Algernon Charles Swinburne. After having taken Siddall home, Rossetti attended his usual teaching job at the Working Men's College. Once Rossetti returned home from teaching, he found Siddall unconscious and was unable to revive her. The first doctor Rossetti called claimed to be unable to save her, upon which Rossetti sent for another three doctors. A stomach pump was used, but to no avail. She died at 7.20 a.m. on 11 February 1862 at their home at 14 Chatham Place, now demolished and covered by Blackfriars Station. Although her death was ruled accidental by the coroner, there are suggestions that Rossetti found a suicide note. Consumed with grief and guilt Rossetti went to see Ford Madox Brown who is supposed to have instructed him to burn the note, since suicide was illegal, immoral, would have brought scandal on the family and bar Siddall from a Christian burial.
Rossetti's relationship with Siddall has been the subject of television dramas, notably Dante's Inferno (1967), by Ken Russell, in which she was played by Judith Paris and Rossetti by Oliver Reed; The Love School (1975) in which she was played by Patricia Quinn; and Desperate Romantics (2009) in which she was played by Amy Manson.
Mollie Hardwick (author of Upstairs, Downstairs) wrote a mystery novel entitled The Dreaming Damozel in 1990. The plot follows antique dealer Doran Fairweather, who is elated to find a small oil painting she believes to be of Elizabeth Siddall but is shocked when she happens on the body of a girl, floating dead in a pond. The death scene mimics the Millais painting of Ophelia featuring Elizabeth Siddall. Doran' excited by the coincidence and mystery, ignores the advice of her husband who warns her the story of Rossetti and Siddall was plagued by unhappiness.
In Tim Powers' 2012 novel Hide Me Among the Graves, Siddall is a victim of the vampire John Polidori, her husband's uncle and author of what is likely the first vampire story. This becomes an explanation for her illness and death, as well as for her husband's exhumation of her grave, which is not to regain his poems but is part of a strategy to defeat the vampire.
Ghostland is a 2001 album by the Seattle neo-psychedelic band The Goblin Market named after a poem by Christina Rossetti, and the album is inspired by the exhumation of Elizabeth Siddall.
Elizabeth Siddall, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Algernon Charles Swinburne are the subjects of the short comics story How They Met Themselves, by Neil Gaiman, drawn by Michael Zulli, and published in Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3 (2000). The title makes reference to the Rossetti's 1864 painting. In it, a dying Elizabeth drugged with laudanum revives the last New Year's Day, in which the trio had a train trip to a magic forest owned by Desire, the androgynous sibling of Sandman.
Ophelia's Muse, a work of art historical fiction by Rita Cameron that was published in September 2015 by Kensington Press, tells the story of Siddall and the Pre-Raphelites.
Sleep, Pale Sister, a Gothic novel set in the Victorian art world by the author Joanne Harris, draws heavily on the character of Siddall and her relationship with Rossetti, and Fiona Mountain's 2002 mystery novel, Pale as the Dead centres a "genealogical mystery" around the fictional descendants of Elizabeth Siddall and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
^ Marsh, Jan (1985). The Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312637381.
^ Hawksley 2000, p. 96.
^ Marsh, Jan; Gerrish Nunn, Pamela (1997). Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 114.
^ Gaunt, William (1966). The Pre-Raphaelite Dream. New York: Schocken. p. 64. ISBN 080520119X. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ a b "Regina Cordium (The Queen of Hearts) By Dante Gabriel Rossetti". Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
^ Ash 1995, pp. 4, 7.
^ "Hardwick, M", British Crime Writers List, NL: XS4 all .
^ Roeberg, Shelly, ed. (2000), "Winter's Edge", Vertigo, 3, 1700 Broadway, New York, NY 10019: DC Comics, Barcode 76194121118300311 .
^ Lizzie Siddal, Arcola theatre .
Lewis, Roger C. & Lasner, Mark Samuels (Eds.) (1978). Poems and Drawings of Elizabeth Siddall, Wolfville, Nova Scotia: The Wombat Press. ISBN 0-9690828-0-0.
Marsh, Jan; Gerrish Nunn, Pamela (1997), Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists, London: Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0-500-28104-1.
Surtees, Virginia (1991). Rossetti's Portraits of Elizabeth Siddall, Aldershot: Scolar Press. ISBN 0-85967-885-7.
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Does resurrection happen immediately after death or at a later time?
Death may be the only path to this answer. While most believe that resurrection to eternal life follows immediately after death, much of biblical scripture teaches that the resurrection of the dead to judgment and some kind of eternal existence as a reward or punishment happens all at once at a later point in the future. Ecclesiastes 3:21-22 asks, "Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward? ...For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?" To the believing Christian, the resurrection of the dead is a highly anticipated promise. When it will happen, though, is not fairly certain.
2 Kings 2:1, 11-12, "When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal... As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, 'My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!' And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his clothes and tore them apart."
Ecclesiastes 12:7, "...and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it."
Matthew 16:27-28, "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
Luke 23:39-43, "One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: 'Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!' But the other criminal rebuked him. 'Dont't you fear God,' he said, 'since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.' Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' Jesus anmswered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.' "
John 6:47-51, "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
John 11:25-26, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.' "
Acts 7:59-60, "While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he fell on his knees and cried out, 'Lord, do not hold this against them.' When he had said this, he fell asleep."
Philippians 1:21-24, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in this body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body."
Job 14:10-17, "But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more. As water disappears from the sea or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, so man lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep. If only you would hide me in the grave (Sheol) and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin."
Job 19:25-27, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes -- I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"
Psalm 71:20, "Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth, you will again bring me up."
Isaiah 26:19-21, "But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer."
Daniel 12:1-3, 13, "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people -- everyone whose name is found written in the book -- will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who impart wisdom will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever... As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will arise to receive your allotted inheritance."
Matthew 13:40-43, "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."
Matthew 25:31-46, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world...' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels...' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
John 5:28-29, "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out -- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned."
John 6:39-40, 44, 54, "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day... No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day... Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Acts 24:14-15, "...I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked."
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death."
1 Corinthians 15:51-52, "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."
Colossians 3:1-4, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."
2 Timothy 2:18, "...They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some."
Hebrews 11:35, "Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection."
Revelation 2:11, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death."
Revelation 6:9-11, "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?' Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed."
Revelation 20:4-6, "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years."
Revelation 20:11-15, "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
What may possibly be surmised from the scripture verses listed above is that there are three primary stages of the resurrection. The first is for those who have been martyred for the sake of the gospel, who immediately go to heaven to await the overthrow of their enemies. The second is for all who will join with Christ in his thousand year reign on earth after his Second Coming. The final resurrection, the White Throne Judgment, is for everyone else. It would also seem reasonable to assume that God can take directly to heaven whom he wishes, such as Enoch and Elijah, or from the grave, such as Moses, however, John 3:13 says, "No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven -- the Son of Man." This must mean, then, that those who died prior to Christ's resurrection went to Sheol (Psalm 89:48), which was known to take people alive (Psalm 55:15). Regarding what happens to the spirit when the body dies, for the body returns to the dust of the ground from where it came (Genesis 3:19), it may be that the spirit of those whom God deems righteous will rest until resurrected in the same body on earth, then as a spiritual body in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:44, Philippians 3:21) while those whom God deems evil go to hell until the final judgment. When Christ comes asgain to judge the living and the dead, those who are in the grave will rise first to join him, then those who are alive at the time who believe will also join them in the air (known as the rapture).
Note: In regards to the "last day," "time of the end," or the "end of the ages," some attribute this to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, based on Daniel 12:7-12. This is considerd the end of the Mosaic Age. If this is the case, then those who die with faith in Christ are immediately resurrected, because "death has been swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54) and it is God who "gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57). Others point to Ecclesiastes 12:7, which says that "the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it," in order to prove that there is no hell or temporary resting place. However, this passage does not say at what point the spirit returns to God. Psalm 49:15, likewise, says, "But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself."
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0.999508 |
What is 2/7 + 3/12?
So we multiply 2 by 12, and get 24, then we multiply 7 by 12 and get 84.
Do the same for the second term. We multiply 3 by 7, and get 21, then multiply 7 by 12 and get 84.
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The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. The plastics industry contains some overlap, as most chemical companies produce plastic as well as other chemicals.
Various professionals are deeply involved in the chemical industry including chemical engineers, scientists, lab chemists, technicians, etc. As of 2018, the chemical industry comprises approximately 15% of the US manufacturing economic sector.
Although chemicals were made and used throughout history, the birth of the heavy chemical industry (production of chemicals in large quantities for a variety of uses) coincided with the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in general.
One of the first chemicals to be produced in large amounts through industrial processes was sulfuric acid. In 1736, the pharmacist Joshua Ward developed a process for its production that involved heating saltpeter, allowing the sulfur to oxidize and combine with water. It was the first practical production of sulphuric acid on a large scale. John Roebuck and Samuel Garbett were the first to establish a large-scale factory in Prestonpans, Scotland, in 1749, which used leaden condensing chambers for the manufacture of sulfuric acid.
Charles Tennant's St. Rollox Chemical Works in 1831, then the biggest chemical enterprise in the world.
In the early 18th century, cloth was bleached by treating it with stale urine or sour milk and exposing it to sunlight for long periods of time, which created a severe bottleneck in production. Sulfuric acid began to be used as a more efficient agent as well as lime by the middle of the century, but it was the discovery of bleaching powder by Charles Tennant that spurred the creation of the first great chemical industrial enterprise. His powder was made by reacting chlorine with dry slaked lime and proved to be a cheap and successful product. He opened a factory in St Rollox, north of Glasgow, and production went from just 52 tons in 1799 to almost 10,000 tons just five years later.
Soda ash was used since ancient times in the production of glass, textile, soap, and paper, and the source of the potash had traditionally been wood ashes in Western Europe. By the 18th century, this source was becoming uneconomical due to deforestation, and the French Academy of Sciences offered a prize of 2400 livres for a method to produce alkali from sea salt (sodium chloride). The Leblanc process was patented in 1791 by Nicolas Leblanc who then built a Leblanc plant at Saint-Denis. He was denied his prize money because of the French Revolution.
However, it was in Britain that the Leblanc process really took off. William Losh built the first soda works in Britain at the Losh, Wilson and Bell works on the River Tyne in 1816, but it remained on a small scale due to large tariffs on salt production until 1824. When these tariffs were repealed, the British soda industry was able to rapidly expand. James Muspratt's chemical works in Liverpool and Charles Tennant's complex near Glasgow became the largest chemical production centres anywhere. By the 1870s, the British soda output of 200,000 tons annually exceeded that of all other nations in the world combined.
Ernest Solvay, patented an improved industrial method for the manufacture of soda ash.
These huge factories began to produce a greater diversity of chemicals as the Industrial Revolution matured. Originally, large quantities of alkaline waste were vented into the environment from the production of soda, provoking one of the first pieces of environmental legislation to be passed in 1863. This provided for close inspection of the factories and imposed heavy fines on those exceeding the limits on pollution. Methods were soon devised to make useful byproducts from the alkali.
The Solvay process was developed by the Belgian industrial chemist Ernest Solvay in 1861. In 1864, Solvay and his brother Alfred constructed a plant in the Belgian town of Charleroi and in 1874, they expanded into a larger plant in Nancy, France. The new process proved more economical and less polluting than the Leblanc method, and its use spread. In the same year, Ludwig Mond visited Solvay to acquire the rights to use his process, and he and John Brunner formed the firm of Brunner, Mond & Co., and built a Solvay plant at Winnington, England. Mond was instrumental in making the Solvay process a commercial success; he made several refinements between 1873 and 1880 that removed byproducts that could slow or halt the mass production of sodium carbonate through use of the process.
The late 19th century saw an explosion in both the quantity of production and the variety of chemicals that were manufactured. Large chemical industries also took shape in Germany and later in the United States.
The factories of the German firm BASF, in 1866.
Production of artificial manufactured fertilizer for agriculture was pioneered by Sir John Lawes at his purpose-built Rothamsted Research facility. In the 1840s he established large works near London for the manufacture of superphosphate of lime. Processes for the vulcanization of rubber were patented by Charles Goodyear in the United States and Thomas Hancock in England in the 1840s. The first synthetic dye was discovered by William Henry Perkin in London. He partly transformed aniline into a crude mixture which, when extracted with alcohol, produced a substance with an intense purple colour. He also developed the first synthetic perfumes. However, it was German industry that quickly began to dominate the field of synthetic dyes. The three major firms BASF, Bayer and Hoechst produced several hundred different dyes, and by 1913, the German industry produced almost 90 percent of the world supply of dyestuffs and sold about 80 percent of their production abroad. In the United States, Herbert Henry Dow's use of electrochemistry to produce chemicals from brine was a commercial success that helped to promote the country's chemical industry.
The petrochemical industry can be traced back to the oil works of James Young in Scotland and Abraham Pineo Gesner in Canada. The first plastic was invented by Alexander Parkes, an English metallurgist. In 1856, he patented Parkesine, a celluloid based on nitrocellulose treated with a variety of solvents. This material, exhibited at the 1862 London International Exhibition, anticipated many of the modern aesthetic and utility uses of plastics. The industrial production of soap from vegetable oils was started by William Lever and his brother James in 1885 in Lancashire based on a modern chemical process invented by William Hough Watson that used glycerin and vegetable oils.
By the 1920s, chemical firms consolidated into large conglomerates; IG Farben in Germany, Rhône-Poulenc in France and Imperial Chemical Industries in Britain. Dupont became a major chemicals firm in the early 20th century in America.
Currently chemical production is a high-tech industry, where the competitiveness is more based on capacity in investment on research and development than the labour cost.
"Polymers and plastics, especially polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and polycarbonate comprise about 80% of the industry’s output worldwide". These materials are often converted to fluoropolymer tubing products and used by the industry to transport highly corrosive materials. Chemicals are used in a lot of different consumer goods, but they are also used in a lot of different other sectors; including agriculture manufacturing, construction, and service industries. Major industrial customers include rubber and plastic products, textiles, apparel, petroleum refining, pulp and paper, and primary metals. Chemicals are nearly a $3 trillion global enterprise, and the EU and U.S. chemical companies are the world's largest producers.
Sales of the chemical business can be divided into a few broad categories, including basic chemicals (about 35 to 37 percent of the dollar output), life sciences (30 percent), specialty chemicals (20 to 25 percent) and consumer products (about 10 percent).
Polymers, the largest revenue segment at about 33 percent of the basic chemicals dollar value, includes all categories of plastics and man-made fibers. The major markets for plastics are packaging, followed by home construction, containers, appliances, pipe, transportation, toys, and games.
The largest-volume polymer product, polyethylene (PE), is used mainly in packaging films and other markets such as milk bottles, containers, and pipe.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), another large-volume product, is principally used to make piping for construction markets as well as siding and, to a much smaller extent, transportation and packaging materials.
Polypropylene (PP), similar in volume to PVC, is used in markets ranging from packaging, appliances, and containers to clothing and carpeting.
Polystyrene (PS), another large-volume plastic, is used principally for appliances and packaging as well as toys and recreation.
The leading man-made fibers include polyester, nylon, polypropylene, and acrylics, with applications including apparel, home furnishings, and other industrial and consumer use.
The principal raw materials for polymers are bulk petrochemicals.
Chemicals in the bulk petrochemicals and intermediates are primarily made from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, and crude oil. Their sales volume is close to 30 percent of overall basic chemicals. Typical large-volume products include ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, methanol, vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), styrene, butadiene, and ethylene oxide. These basic or commodity chemicals are the starting materials used to manufacture many polymers and other more complex organic chemicals particularly those that are made for use in the specialty chemicals category (see below).
Other derivatives and basic industrials include synthetic rubber, surfactants, dyes and pigments, turpentine, resins, carbon black, explosives, and rubber products and contribute about 20 percent of the basic chemicals' external sales.
Inorganic chemicals (about 12 percent of the revenue output) make up the oldest of the chemical categories. Products include salt, chlorine, caustic soda, soda ash, acids (such as nitric acid, phosphoric acid, and sulfuric acid), titanium dioxide, and hydrogen peroxide.
Fertilizers are the smallest category (about 6 percent) and include phosphates, ammonia, and potash chemicals.
Life sciences (about 30 percent of the dollar output of the chemistry business) include differentiated chemical and biological substances, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, animal health products, vitamins, and pesticides. While much smaller in volume than other chemical sectors, their products tend to have very high prices—over ten dollars per pound—growth rates of 1.5 to 6 times GDP, and research and development spending at 15 to 25 percent of sales. Life science products are usually produced with very high specifications and are closely scrutinized by government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration. Pesticides, also called "crop protection chemicals", are about 10 percent of this category and include herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides.
Specialty chemicals are a category of relatively high valued, rapidly growing chemicals with diverse end product markets. Typical growth rates are one to three times GDP with prices over a dollar per pound. They are generally characterized by their innovative aspects. Products are sold for what they can do rather than for what chemicals they contain. Products include electronic chemicals, industrial gases, adhesives and sealants as well as coatings, industrial and institutional cleaning chemicals, and catalysts. In 2012, excluding fine chemicals, the $546 billion global speciality chemical market was 33% Paints, Coating and Surface Treatments, 27% Advanced Polymer, 14% Adhesives and Sealants, 13% additives and 13% pigments and inks.
Speciality chemicals are sold as effect or performance chemicals. Sometimes they are mixtures of formulations, unlike "fine chemicals," which are almost always single-molecule products.
Consumer products include direct product sale of chemicals such as soaps, detergents, and cosmetics. Typical growth rates are 0.8 to 1.0 times GDP.
Consumers rarely if ever come into contact with basic chemicals but polymers and speciality chemicals are the materials that they will encounter everywhere in their everyday lives, such as in plastics, cleaning materials, cosmetics, paints & coatings, electronic gadgets, automobiles and the materials used to construct their homes. These speciality products are marketed by chemical companies to the downstream manufacturing industries as pesticides, speciality polymers, electronic chemicals, surfactants, construction chemicals, Industrial Cleaners, flavours and fragrances, speciality coatings, printing inks, water-soluble polymers, food additives, paper chemicals, oil field chemicals, plastic adhesives, adhesives and sealants, cosmetic chemicals, water management chemicals, catalysts, textile chemicals. Chemical companies rarely supply these products directly to the consumer.
Every year, the American Chemistry Council tabulates the U.S. production volume of the top 100 chemicals. In 2000, the aggregate production volume of the top 100 chemicals totalled 502 million tons, up from 397 million tons in 1990. Inorganic chemicals tend to be the largest volume, though much smaller in dollar revenue terms due to their low prices. The top 11 of the 100 chemicals in 2000 were sulfuric acid (44 million tons), nitrogen (34), ethylene (28), oxygen (27), lime (22), ammonia (17), propylene (16), polyethylene (15), chlorine (13), phosphoric acid (13) and diammonium phosphates (12).
Top chemical companies by chemical sales in 2015.
This is a process diagram of a turbine generator. Engineers working to produce a sustainable process for use in the chemical industry need to know how to design a sustainable process in which the system can withstand or manipulate process-halting conditions such as heat, friction, pressure, emissions, and contaminants.
From the perspective of chemical engineers, the chemical industry involves the use of chemical processes such as chemical reactions and refining methods to produce a wide variety of solid, liquid, and gaseous materials. Most of these products serve to manufacture other items, although a smaller number go directly to consumers. Solvents, pesticides, lye, washing soda, and portland cement provide a few examples of product used by consumers.
The industry includes manufacturers of inorganic- and organic-industrial chemicals, ceramic products, petrochemicals, agrochemicals, polymers and rubber (elastomers), oleochemicals (oils, fats, and waxes), explosives, fragrances and flavors. Examples of these products are shown in the Table below.
Although the pharmaceutical industry is often considered[who?] a chemical industry , it has many different characteristics that puts it in a separate category. Other closely related industries include petroleum, glass, paint, ink, sealant, adhesive, and food processing manufacturers.
Chemical processes such as chemical reactions operate in chemical plants to form new substances in various types of reaction vessels. In many cases the reactions take place in special corrosion-resistant equipment at elevated temperatures and pressures with the use of catalysts. The products of these reactions are separated using a variety of techniques including distillation especially fractional distillation, precipitation, crystallization, adsorption, filtration, sublimation, and drying.
The processes and product or products are usually tested during and after manufacture by dedicated instruments and on-site quality control laboratories to ensure safe operation and to assure that the product will meet required specifications. More organizations within the industry are implementing chemical compliance software to maintain quality products and manufacturing standards. The products are packaged and delivered by many methods, including pipelines, tank-cars, and tank-trucks (for both solids and liquids), cylinders, drums, bottles, and boxes. Chemical companies often have a research-and-development laboratory for developing and testing products and processes. These facilities may include pilot plants, and such research facilities may be located at a site separate from the production plant(s).
The scale of chemical manufacturing tends to be organized from largest in volume (petrochemicals and commodity chemicals), to specialty chemicals, and the smallest, fine chemicals.
The petrochemical and commodity chemical manufacturing units are on the whole single product continuous processing plants. Not all petrochemical or commodity chemical materials are made in one single location, but groups of related materials often are to induce industrial symbiosis as well as material, energy and utility efficiency and other economies of scale.
Those chemicals made on the largest of scales are made in a few manufacturing locations around the world, for example in Texas and Louisiana along the Gulf Coast of the United States, on Teesside in the Northeast of England in the United Kingdom, and in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The large scale manufacturing locations often have clusters of manufacturing units that share utilities and large scale infrastructure such as power stations, port facilities, road and rail terminals. To demonstrate the clustering and integration mentioned above, some 50% of the United Kingdom's petrochemical and commodity chemicals are produced by the Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster on Teesside.
Specialty chemical and fine chemical manufacturing are mostly made in discrete batch processes. These manufacturers are often found in similar locations but in many cases they are to be found in multi sector business parks.
In the U.S. there are 170 major chemical companies. They operate internationally with more than 2,800 facilities outside the U.S. and 1,700 foreign subsidiaries or affiliates operating. The U.S. chemical output is $750 billion a year. The U.S. industry records large trade surpluses and employs more than a million people in the United States alone. The chemical industry is also the second largest consumer of energy in manufacturing and spends over $5 billion annually on pollution abatement.
In Europe the chemical, plastics and rubber sectors are among the largest industrial sectors. Together they generate about 3.2 million jobs in more than 60,000 companies. Since 2000 the chemical sector alone has represented 2/3 of the entire manufacturing trade surplus of the EU.
in 2012 The chemical sector accounted for 12% of the EU manufacturing industry's added value. Europe remains world's biggest chemical trading region with 43% of the world's exports and 37%of the world's imports, although the latest data shows that Asia is catching up with 34% of the exports and 37% of imports. Even so, Europe still has a trading surplus with all regions of the world except Japan and China where in 2011 there was a chemical trade balance. Europe's trade surplus with the rest of the world today amounts to 41.7 billion Euros.
Over the 20 years between 1991 and 2011 the European Chemical industry saw its sales increase 295 billion Euros to 539 billion Euros a picture of constant growth. Despite this the European industry's share of the world chemical market has fallen from 36% to 20%. This has resulted from the huge increase production and sales in the emerging markets like India and China. The data suggest that 95% of this impact is from China alone. In 2012 the data from the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)shows that 5 European countries account for 71% of the EU's chemicals sales. These are Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands.
The chemical industry has shown rapid growth for more than fifty years. The fastest-growing areas have involved the manufacture of synthetic organic polymers used as plastics, fibres and elastomers. Historically and presently the chemical industry has been concentrated in three areas of the world, Western Europe, North America and Japan (the Triad). The European Community remains the largest producer area followed by the US and Japan.
The traditional dominance of chemical production by the Triad countries is being challenged by changes in feedstock availability and price, labour cost, energy cost, differential rates of economic growth and environmental pressures. Instrumental in the changing structure of the global chemical industry has been the growth in China, India, Korea, the Middle East, South East Asia, Nigeria, and Brazil.
Just as companies emerge as the main producers of the chemical industry, we can also look on a more global scale to how industrialized countries rank, with regards to the billions of dollars worth of production a country or region could export. Though the business of chemistry is worldwide in scope, the bulk of the world's $3.7 trillion chemical output is accounted for by only a handful of industrialized nations. The United States alone produced $689 billion, 18.6 percent of the total world chemical output in 2008.
^ Derry, Thomas Kingston; Williams, Trevor I. (1993). A Short History of Technology: From the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900. New York: Dover.
^ Kiefer, David M. (2001). "Sulfuric Acid: Pumping Up the Volume". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
^ "The Chemical Industries In The UK". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
^ Aftalion, Fred (1991). A History of the International Chemical Industry. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 11–13. ISBN 978-0-8122-1297-6.
^ a b Aftalion, Fred (1991). A History of the International Chemical Industry. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-8122-1297-6.
^ "Electrolytic Production of Bromine - National Historic Chemical Landmark - American Chemical Society". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
^ UK Patent office (1857). Patents for inventions. UK Patent office. p. 255.
^ Centi, Gabriele (January 2012). "Resources and energy efficiency :the winning strategy for chemical industry" (PDF). La Chimica l'Industria (1): 64–67.
^ a b Singh, Kirpal (July 2012). "17.2". Chemistry in Daily Life. PHI Learning Private Limited. p. 132. ISBN 978-81-203-4617-8.
^ "PTFE Properties". Fluorotherm Polymers, Inc. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
^ "Sectors of Chemical Industry". Technofunc. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
^ Global Specialty Chemicals (PDF) (Report). =Marketline. May 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^ Global Speciality Chemicals (PDF) (Report). MarketLine. May 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2012-09-16.
^ Tullo, Alexander H. "C&EN's Global Top 50 | July 25, 2016 Issue - Vol. 94 Issue 30 | Chemical & Engineering News". cen.acs.org. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
^ "Chemical and Agrochemical Enterprise Quality Management Software". Sparta Systems, Inc. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
^ SINGH, KIRPAL (2012-07-07). CHEMISTRY IN DAILY LIFE. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 9788120346178.
^ "Facts and Figures 2012:The European chemicals industry in a worldwide perspective" (PDF). CEFIC. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
^ Higgins, Stan (April 2013). "European Chemicals Industry:A review" (PDF). Chemical News. pp. 18–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-23. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
^ "Facts and Figures 2012:The European chemicals industry in a worldwide perspective" (PDF). CEFIC: 6. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
^ "Facts and Figures 2012:The European chemicals industry in a worldwide perspective" (PDF). CEFIC: 7. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
^ a b "Global Business of Chemistry". Archived from the original on 2010-10-19. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
‘World Of Chemicals’ is a chemical portal - a networking community for the chemical fraternity.
Alfred D. Chandler. Shaping the Industrial Century: The Remarkable Story of the Evolution of the Modern Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries. Harvard University Press, 2005. 366 pp. ISBN 0-674-01720-X. chapters 3-6 deal with DuPont, Dow Chemicals, Monsanto, American Cyanamid, Union Carbide, and Allied in US; and European chemical producers, Bayer, Farben, and ICI.
Micheal McCoy, et al., "Facts & Figures of the Chemical Industry", Chemical & Engineering News, 84(28), July 10, 2006, pp. 35–72.
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THE Royal Family are often travelling abroad for royal engagements, but what do they demand on their visits?
The royal family, including The Queen, husband Prince Philip, as well as Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry, are often jetting across the globe, or venturing around the UK.
To ensure the monarch and her relatives feel at home during their travels, their staff take on extra measures to make sure the royals feel at home wherever they are in the world.
In a new documentary, titled Queen of the World, viewers got an insight into the painstakingly long preparations the royal household carry out for their employees.
While Prince Charles and his wife Duchess Camilla were on a royal visit to the Canadian royal resident of Rideau Hall, the master of the royal household, Christine MacIntyre, spent one hour ironing a single bed sheet for the couple.
The royal staff revealed "special sheets" are used when they stay away from their royal residences in the UK, although they are only used for special occasions.
Christine divulged: "There are special sheets that are used for members of the royal family and they're kept aside and brought out on only those special occasions when they're here.
"It takes over an hour to iron one sheet."
The purpose of the task is to ensure the royal family feel at home and in their own bedroom.
Christine added: "After a long day of travelling there's nothing better than getting into a bed that doesn't feel like a hotel bed.
"And that's what you're trying to do, is to make it feel like they're in their own bedroom and they are."
While Charles and Camilla have special sheets ironed and fitted neatly to their bed, the Queen has her own requirements when travelling.
The 92-year-old monarch simply will not travel without her own personalised kettle when she leaves Buckingham Palace.
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Since I live on the East Coast, I have few opportunities to visit West Coast lighthouses. However, I have made a few trips to the San Francisco area. There are several lights within easy driving distance of the Bay area, and some of the most breathtaking lighthouse locales. Visitors to San Francisco usually visit Fisherman's Wharf, with it's view of the infamous Alcatraz Island. Few realize, however, that Alcatraz Light was the first built on the West Coast.
Just across the Golden Gate Bridge, The astoundingly beautiful Point Bonita Lighthouse commands a breathtaking view of the bridge, the bay, and the sea. Just to the north, the reclusive Pt. Reyes Lighthouse seems a thousand miles from San Francisco, and further up the coast are the lights at Pt. Arena and Pt. Cabrillo . Up near the Oregon border, at Crescent City, is Battery Point Light.
Not too far south of San Francisco are two lighthouses which serve as youth hostels: Point Montara in Pacifica, and Pigeon Point Lighthouse, which has the same design as many lighthouses built during the 1870's.
Further down the coast, near Monterey, Point Pinos Lighthouse anchors one of the most beautiful sections of the Pacific coast, stretching about 20 miles south to Point Sur Lighthouse. Just southwest of Los Angeles are two exceptional lights: Pt. Vicente and Pt. Fermin.
Finally, down near the Mexican border at San Diego, Old Point Loma Lighthouse is one of the origianal west coast lighthouses.
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The phase of the moon is how much of the moon appears to us on Earth to be lit up by the sun. Half of the moon is always lit up by the sun, except during an eclipse, but we only see a portion that's lit up. This is the phase of the moon.
What are the different phases of the moon?
As the moon orbits or circles the Earth, the phase changes. We'll start with what is called the New Moon phase. This is where we can't see any of the lit up side of the moon. The moon is between us and the sun (see the picture). As the moon orbits the Earth we can see more and more of the lit up side until finally the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun and we get a full moon. As the moon continues to orbit the Earth we now see less and less of the lit up side.
The New Moon and Dark Moon are pretty much the same phase happening at almost the same time.
As the New moon begins its orbit and we see more and more of the moon, this is called Waxing. After the moon gets to its Full phase, we start to see less and less of the moon. This is called Waning.
A lunar calendar is one based on the orbit of the moon. A lunar month (29.53 days) is slightly shorter than an average standard month (30.44 days). If you only had 12 lunar months then you would end up around 12 days short of a year. As a result very few modern societies use a lunar calendar or month. However, many ancient societies measure their time in lunar months or "moons".
A lunar eclipse is when the Earth is exactly between the Moon and the Sun so none of the Sun's rays can hit the moon. A solar eclipse is when the moon exactly blocks the Sun's rays from hitting the Earth. A lunar eclipse can be seen from anywhere on the dark side of the Earth. A solar eclipse can only be seen from certain places on Earth as the moon only blocks the sun for a small area. Solar Eclipses always happen during the new moon phase.
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Taking a step back to reflect on the problems Excel intends to solve.
If you've been reading along, over the last several posts you've learned the two major skills that any self-respecting Excel jockey counts as their go-tos: the ability to lookup (remember, I'm partial to index-match, but if you learned VH lookup, ride that until you crash your system) and the ability to pivot.
Now here's something really interesting: until we pierce the veil on doing some VB macros, by truly mastering just those two skills, you can handle basically any job that Excel can actually handle, anything more advanced is just a matter of doing it faster (and faster, and faster). However, I've neglected to discuss what types of things you'll actually encounter out in the wild that requires some fancy Excel footwork. Well, that's what this post is all about.
The first question: what is Excel actually for. Truth be told, if you separate the VB elements and the pivot tables from Excel, it was really just a way for accountants to make small changes to tax forms and have them reflected later in the form (something that had to be done by hand prior to the invention of Excel's progenitor...which had to have been horrible). With that in mind, one needs to understand that everything else that Excel can do is built on top of this relatively rudimentary foundation, and interestingly enough, the vast majority of software functions in the same way: for example, the reason why the last dozen or so Bethesda games all have similar glitches and gameplay is because they're all built on a nearly decade old engine, and anyone who works at a company that managed a database for a lengthy period of time knows that it's much easier to build on top of the garbage than to clean anything up (that's also why there's all that cut content that still exists in games when you used a game genie as a kid...it's too difficult to take that stuff out without harming the juicy center!).
The pros of this model is that because Excel was made to handle accounting work, it handles relatively small datasets (and "small" here is under a million rows...I've managed to push excel to about 250k rows without it exploding...but not much more than that) very quickly, and in a very user friendly and visual format. In other words, Your boss uses Excel because it's pretty easy to understand what's going on (and you can see the data). As such, you can think of Excel as the "Lingua Franca" (the language that two dignitaries of separate nations speak to conduct diplomacy...or perhaps, the Basic to your Star Wars Universe) of the data world. To put this as simply as possible, unless you're working for a company where EVERYONE has a background in computer/data science, you're going to need to figure out a way to get your data into an Excel friendly format somehow. The reason for this may have to do with self selection, people who like getting into code go into heavy data, people like me who like to fix problems tend to be intermediaries, and the people who actually make money for our companies (or at least are able to convince others that money is made)...are business people.
Now brace yourself, because this sounds completely insane: the daily workflow of a Business Analyst (or a BA) at many companies is taking data that already exists in one form on one platform (generally either tableau, a business intelligence program, or some sort of database), exporting it to an Excel friendly format, manipulating the data so it makes sense, drawing some sort of salient conclusion from it (usually using a lookup, a pivot, or both), presenting it to management, and then putting it back into a format that the heavy data people can use to start this engine all over again.
The funny part is, the actual mechanics of doing this work isn't hard, if everyone is on the same page, you could probably take care of this whole workflow in maybe half a day. Alas, blogs like this wouldn't need to be written if mechanics always worked the way they should, and another golden rule is that multiple departments are never on the same page. In other words, the data you get is going to be "dirty" and next time, I'm going to show you some common dirty data dilemmas, and how to polish it up with nothing but a few = signs, a couple of commands, a pivot table or two, and a shitload of ingenuity.
That troubleshooting this step is what ultimately earns you your paycheck.
Finally, a quick aside to placate my fellow authors and friends on this fine blog, your data being dirty on my end doesn't mean you did anything wrong, it's that bouncing from one platform to another and back was never meant to be easy.
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I am confused about the number of stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Some sources say that the Milky Way consists of 100 billion stars. Other say that the MASS of our galaxy is roughly 100 billion times the mass of the Sun. So because most of the galaxy mass is in the interstellar gaseous and dust nebulae there must be less than a 100 billion stars in it or the total mass must be greater. Which of these is correct? And did someone estimate the number of ACTUAL stars in our Galaxy?
Most of the mass in the galaxy is NOT in interstellar gaseous and dust nebulae. Most of the luminous matter is in stars and not nebulae. Now, the mass of the galaxy is mostly dominated by dark matter, which is something that is not detected by any telescope, or anything except through its gravity. But as far as the luminous matter goes, most of it is stars.
About the number of stars: People have studied the mass distribution of stars in the galaxy. Further, one also knows the amount of light put out by each type of star. So, by measuring the total amount of light in the galaxy (called luminosity), and knowing the mass, one can estimate the number of stars that are there in the galaxy. So, even though we cannot actually count the number of stars in the galaxy, we can estimate the number of stars in the galaxy as roughly 100 billion (100,000,000,000). It turns out that there are many more stars with mass less than the mass of the Sun than with mass more than the mass of the Sun. So, it all works out right.
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The medical school also had major problems of its own. According to internal documents, the school suffered from bloated staffing, a faulty billing system and prices that sometimes ran much higher than at other South Florida hospitals. Internal controls apparently were weak at best: A whopping $14 million in expensive cancer drugs disappeared from a UM pharmacy over three years before an employee was charged with theft in June 2011.
The medical school's difficulties even began to impede its relationship with the ailing, taxpayer-financed Jackson Health System, endangering a decades-long partnership with the public hospital system.
By the time the layoffs were announced May 8, rumors had been swirling for weeks. UM President Donna Shalala insisted the medical school problems were caused by factors beyond her control.
“We live in a world in healthcare in which our flows of funds are unpredictable,” Shalala told the Herald in May, adding that she had responded as quickly as possible to the problems once they became apparent.
In the past five years, Shalala has presided over major initiatives designed to reshape UM's medical school and propel it to the top tier. Hiring more than 100 high-profile researchers and creating a biotech research park boosted the school's national profile. Purchasing a hospital — the old Cedars Medical Center, now University of Miami Hospital — cemented the school's status as a leading healthcare provider.
Reinventing the relationship between UM and Jackson allowed the medical school to launch new — potentially competing — roles.
Together, the ambitious moves vaulted UM's medical school to the national stage — but they may also have seriously damaged it.
Layoffs weren't part of the plan, leaving critics and community leaders to wonder whether Shalala, who earns $1 million a year at UM and was for eight years the nation's No. 1 health official as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration, simply failed to heed the warning signs in her quest to make UM a national powerhouse.
In a statement to the Herald on Thursday, the medical school's dean, Pascal Goldschmidt, said, “Throughout my tenure at the Miller School we have focused on strategic initiatives to deliver the best possible care to our community, open new frontiers for research, and provide state-of-the-art training for our students and residents.
Signs of problems with UM's finances go back to at least June 2011. That's when the Chronicle for Higher Education ran an article: Fast-Growing Strategy Has Its Costs at U. of Miami.
Twice in the few months after Braman's letter, two former deans of the medical school met with Stuart Miller, the UM board member whose family donated $100 million to the medical school, to raise the alarm about the negative financial picture, according to UM insiders. Former deans Bernie Fogel and John Clarkson outlined a long list of major problems that needed to be addressed quickly, including the deteriorating relationship with Jackson.
Many were skeptical. Myra Hurt, a dean of Florida State University's medical school, said many universities found owning hospitals to be “financially tricky.” Others criticized the purchase price: $275 million.
Joshua Nemzoff, a specialist in buying and selling hospitals, was stunned by the amount. “They paid three times what I thought that hospital was worth,” he said. UM used bonds to pay for the hospital plus $50 million in improvements.
Meanwhile, UM had been in expansion mode, attracting more than 100 high-priced star scientists from the nation's top schools, including 30 researchers who arrived with Marc Lippman, a University of Michigan breast cancer researcher. He and the team received a combined $52 million compensation package, according to Braman.
The biggest catches were more than 50 scientists from Duke's Center for Human Genetics, who became the bulwark of UM's Institute for Human Genomics. They were given housing assistance and other perks. UM subsidized the institute with $10 million.
Two Florida legislators, Marco Rubio and David Rivera, shepherded a bill through the Legislature in 2007 to give the new UM Genomics Institute $80 million in state funding on the premise it would create 296 high-paying jobs within five years.
A new Life Science Park was built by an independent developer, without any cost to the university, according to Shalala, but the medical school was pouring money into construction: a $100 million clinical research lab and another $80 million biomedical building, to be paid for by new revenue.
Medical school executives told trustees that they expected the new UM Hospital (formerly Cedars) would increase net income by $88.9 million during its first six years, including $44 million in the fiscal year that ended May 31, according to an attachment that Braman sent board members. But in the first 10 months of that fiscal year, the hospital's income was just $4.8 million.
Joe Natoli, UM's chief financial officer, explained in May that UM needed surpluses from the medical school because “we have made significant and important investments in the medical school over the last decade and in particular over the last several years,” with the expectation that the investments would yield cash to help the university's balance sheet, improve medical facilities and build up the underfunded pension plan.
One major problem for UM was revealed in a February report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, which said its survey showed patients think highly of the quality of care in academic medical centers, but they don't want to pay more for it — a huge challenge since academic centers are perceived, often correctly, as costing more.
When Shalala explained the medical school's problems in May, she listed factors that had either reduced revenue or driven up costs, some related to the national recession. Other reasons for UM’s troubles may be its own inefficiencies, according to internal documents.
Insurers are reducing payments to hospitals as the national push to reduce medical costs continues.
State funding for UM was cut by $8 million in the most recent legislative session.
Research money, mostly from the National Institutes of Health, has remained flat while the number of scientists competing for research dollars has gone up.
The Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, which has received state and philanthropic funding for research, has remained among the school's biggest financial drains. In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, it lost $9.8 million. UM leaders have supported the institute on the theory that genetic research offers the biggest chance for medical breakthroughs. “They're doing great,” Shalala said of the institute in May, adding that some researchers had “moved on” because they didn't get NIH grants.
Jackson's reduced payments to UM have hurt the medical school.
For years, UM has relied on a lump sum payment of about $130 million from taxpayer-supported Jackson to pay for UM doctors to treat Jackson patients and for other services. Last year, the struggling Jackson insisted on a $16 million cut.
As UM’s financial picture grew dimmer, medical school leaders — while pledging support for Jackson — emphasized that if a patient came to a UM doctor, the doctor could decide where to put the patient, and that was increasingly likely to be the UM Hospital.
Natoli, UM’s CFO, said he has been working to strengthen internal controls. He said he’s convinced the problems have been fixed.
Upper level shakeups at the medical school began in March, after the Braman letter and the former deans’ meetings with Miller. Lord, a former Humana executive, was brought in as chief operating officer to replace Donelan, a longtime colleague of Goldschmidt's from their Duke days. Since then, a half-dozen high-level Goldschmidt appointees have been fired or otherwise departed. The layoffs that followed were based on judgments made by PricewaterhouseCoopers, with input from school executives. Managers, administrators and researchers who were not getting grants were targeted. Shalala told The Herald that the cuts removed administrative duplication, taking out “a whole layer” of management.
In early July, Goldschmidt and Lord, responding to faculty questions about the potential for more layoffs, said there would be a consolidation of services in several departments "in the next few months, " presumably leading to a reduction in workers.
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How do you treat blight on tomato vines?
There are several different ways to treat and prevent blight. Click on this article which is full of information that could help you. Wishing you the best.
Carefully cut the bottom branches with a scissors . Try to cut the branches right at the plant stem, and not into the stem, before applying apply fungicide. You can use copper spray - you should be able to get it at the hardware store or home improvement center. Destroy the blight leaves and wash your hands. Check the leaves regularly, especially bottom ones, for signs of blight, if you catch it early enough you can stop it.
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That was my shameless self-promotion!!
Loove this poem, mostly because it starts with doubts and sadness but has a happy ending (sort of).
I'm really glad you all like it as much as I do.
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The World Wide Web is designed with a client server model; a client-server model splits the workload between a server (provides the data) and the client (who requests the data). While the server will share its resources with the client, the client usually accesses the resource, and does not share any of it's resources. Therefore, the World Wide Web is a system that consists of web servers (computers that host files) and web browsers (client programs that retrieve the files). The World Wide Web is named a 'Web' because hypertext documents (webpages) are connected together - in a system likened to a 'Web' - through the use of hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are text/images that are embedded into hypertext documents (webpages), and include a URL. Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are a type of Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and are used by the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to locate the computer a webpage is stored upon.
The World Wide Web is not the only online document retrieval system: Gopher is an example of another system. The World Wide Web is commonly confused with being the Internet: the World Wide Web is a service accessed on the Internet, the Internet existed before the World Wide Web and could continue to exist without it; that said, the World Wide Web is the most popular service used on the Internet, and is essential to many 'real world' civil and business services.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the World Wide Web: from 1989-1991, he proposed and developed the software systems of the Web while he was employed at CERN. Berners-Lee had attempted to build a document system for CERN in the early 1980s: the system was named ENQUIRE, and it's purpose was to help CERN scientists share information, and to avoid losing information. Tim Berners-Lee was in the 'right place at the right time' to invent the World Wide Web: from 1983, the CERN Networking Group - which included members: Brian Carpenter, Giorgio Heiman, François Flückiger, Jean-Michel Jouanigot - had begun to build an internal and external networking infrastructure. The CERN Networking Group decided to implement TCP/IP instead of the ISO networking standard, and by 1991, the CERN external network was a hub for international Internet traffic. By 1991, the CERN network was responsible for handling up to 80% of Europe's international Internet traffic. Therefore, CERN was the ideal location to launch a new Internet service.
After the failure of ENQUIRE, Berners-Lee proposed a new hypertext project - taking advantage of CERN's IP network - that would be available to 'everyone'. When Berners-Lee proposed this new project to his boss Mike Sendall, he referred to the system as a "Mesh" - he later decided upon "World Wide Web" when writing the code for the system in 1990. Berners-Lee's proposal was submitted in March 1989, and was titled "Information Management: A Proposal"; Mike Sendall wrote on this paper 'Vague, but exciting'. In May 1989, Berners-Lee appears to have published the same proposal but titled it as "a large hypertext database with typed links". This proposal was not successful, but it led Berners-Lee to ask for assistance from Robert Cailliau to develop a more 'concrete' proposal: the proposal they developed was published on the 12th of November 1990 and was titled: "WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project". This proposal was 'green lit' and Cailliau and Berners-Lee began the process of building a development team to launch their new hypertext project. The project was originally referred to as the CERN WWW Project, and the members of the WWW Project included: Alain Favre, Arthur Secret, Bebo White, Bernd Pollermann, Carl Barker, Dan Connolly, David Foster, Eelco van Asperen, James Whitescarver, Jean-Francois Groff, Jonthan Streets, Nicola Pellow, Peter Dobberstein, Paul Kunz, Pei Wei, Robert Cailliau, Tim Berners-Lee, Tony Johnson, and Willem van Leeuwen.
Berners-Lee decided that the hypertext documents of the World Wide Web would be read-only, and accessed by a client server architecture (browsers). The first World Wide Web server (used by Berners-Lee) was a NeXT computer, and the first web server software was named CERN httpd; which was designed by Ari Luotonen, Henrik Frystyk Nielsen, and Tim Berners-Lee. Since then, there has been a plethora of HTTP server software, such as Apache, that have simplified the process of hosting web servers, and have helped to popularise the World Wide Web. Berners-Lee was responsible for designing the first web browser, unsurprisingly named: WorldWideWeb. The second browser created - a version of the WorldWideWeb browser that was ported to several operating systems - was the Line Mode Browser, and it was designed by: Tim Berners-Lee, Henrik Frystyk Nielsen and Nicola Pellow. In 1992, Robert Cailliau and Nicola Pellow developed the first browser for the Macintosh platform: named MacWWW. Pei Wei, another member of the WWW project, developed the ViolaWWW hypertext browser.
The World Wide Web was first available as an Internet service on the 6th of August 1991: when Berners-Lee released information about his "Hypertext project" on the newsgroup: alt.hypertext. However, Berners-Lee had launched the first web server on the 25th of December 1990; some simple webpages were available for download, but only a select number of people knew the project existed. On the 30th of April 1993, CERN made the World Wide Web's software - such as a library of code - publicly available; with the aim of increasing its popularity. CERN also announced that the World Wide Web would be free to use, and no licence fee would be charged to developers (unlike with Gopher who charged a licence fee to host a server). Alongside CERN decision to disclaim ownership of the Web, another key factor in making the Web the Internet's most popular information system was the Mosaic web browser: this browser was easy to use, stable, and was capable of displaying graphics/text on the same page. Most early web browsers were used by thousands of user, the Mosaic web browser was the first browser to be used by millions of users.
The World Wide Web was fortunate to be launched at the same time that the Internet was transitioning from a U.S. government funded network to a commercial network. By 1995, the World Wide Web was the Internet's most popular service, and was responsible for the creation of large tech companies like Amazon, Yahoo!, Paypal, and eBay. The early growth of Internet and the World Wide Web led to the dot com bubble: where the shares of Internet companies soared in value (1997-2000) and then crashed in value. In 1994, Berners-Lee left CERN and founded the World Wide Web Consortium (October 1994); the purpose of the World Wide Web Consortium is to create new web standards and to educate web developers (Jean-Francois Abramatic was one of the first chairs of the W2C).
The World Wide Web is a service/application found on the Internet: the Internet is a system of interconnected computer networks that uses TCP/IP (Internet protocol suite). HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the protocol that the Web uses, and it is located in the application layer of Internet protocol suite. The World Wide Web could not function without HTTP: HTTP is a 'request-response' protocol, which means that one computer sends a request for data and another computer responds to the request.
As with most application layer protocols, the World Wide Web is based upon a client-server computing model: a client application program (browser), residing on a user's computer, will use HTTP to send a request to retrieve data from a web server connected to the Internet. Computer files are retrieved by a client program (browsers) using a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI); the World Wide Web uses a URI that is named: Uniform Resource Locator (URL). URL's are embedded within hyperlinks: hyperlinks, usually referred to as 'links', are embedded within webpages (hypertext documents), and a user simple has to click on a hyperlink and the browser will use HTTP to locate the resource.
When a client program (browser) requests HTTP to locate and retrieve a computer file more than one Internet protocol will be used in the process of retrieving data from a server. HTTP, through a process of encapsulation, typically uses the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) of the transport layer of the Internet protocol suite: TCP ensures that application layer data is reliable sent and received. The TCP data segments will then be encapsulated (enveloped) into an Internet Protocol (IP) packet, which will then be encapsulated in a link layer frame as it 'hops' across the Internet from host to host. The process is likened to a letter being placed inside an envelope that is placed inside another envelope that is placed within a final envelope.
If a user wants to upload content to the World Wide Web, then they need to upload it to a web server: a web server is a computer system that will process requests via HTTP. The most common files uploaded to a web server are images files (gif, jpeg) and HTML documents. The next issue is how do users access the files / content located at a web server: one option is via the web servers IP address, but the most common way is through the Domain Name System (DNS). A domain name is registered, such as example.com, then DNS records are created that tie the domain name to the web server: all users need to do is enter the domain name address, such as example.com/file.html, to locate files / content uploaded to a web server.
A collection of webpages (typically html documents including a index.html file) are uploaded to a web server -- tied to a domain name -- the overall resource of content is termed a website. If a user wishes to create their own website: all they need to do setup/rent a web server, register a domain name, and upload web content to the web server. Users can then access the web content by entering its URL (includes a domain name) into a browser and HTTP will retrieve the content. The web server will have a bandwidth limit per month, if this bandwidth (download limit) is exceeded, then the content will be unreachable and requests for the content will be served with an error message.
Web content 'falls' into two broad categories: commercial and non-commercial. The World Wide Web has spawned many successful online commercial businesses; which are referred to as e-tailers (e-tailing) and e-commerce businesses. Some notable e-commerce businesses are Amazon, eBay, and Paypal - most of these businesses are located in California, the state in which ARPANET was launched (the network that evolved into the Internet). Some commercial websites have even launched their own virtual currency, such as Bitcoin. While the world's largest technology corporations are typically located in a tech centre named Silicon Valley (California), UK technology companies can be found in Silicon Glen (Scotland) and Silicon Roundabout (East London Tech City).
When the World Wide Web was launched in the early 1990s, the general public required three things to access the web: 1) computer with an operating system and hardware that supported TCP/IP network access; 2) a web browser (client) that could retrieve content from web servers; 3) an access account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Due to the relative high cost of purchasing the aforementioned requirements, cybercafes became a new business venture that provided access for those curious about the newfangled 'information superhighway'. The difficulty of accessing the Internet (TCP/IP) is highlighted by the fact that Windows 95 did not originally ship with a default TCP/IP network installation or a browser. Therefore, in 1995, the first edition of the world's most popular operating system did not come Internet ready; later editions did rectify this issue and packaged the Internet Explorer browser with the operating system.
Due to the painfully slow download/upload speed of dialup - the leading access technology before the year 2000 - the content available to web users was fairly basic and mostly consisted of text and images. From 1992-1994, the web was extremely small in comparison to the present day, and content was found either through word of mouth, or from lists of links (directories) provided on newly founded websites like Yahoo! As the web expanded in the mid 1990s, it became clear that maintaining lists of links was not feasible and an automated alternative was required: thus the search engine was born. Alta Vista was launched in 1995, and was the most popular search engine before the creation of Google in 1998.
By the late 1990s, it had become easier to access the web: computer and modem costs had lowered, Windows editions were now Internet ready, and new UK ISP's, like Freeserve, were offering 'pay as you use' access accounts with no expensive startup costs. When broadband (DSL technology) was launched in the UK (year 2000), the Internet and the World Wide Web started to be viewed as more than just a novelty, or the preserve of boffins or nerds. The potential inherent (over 10 times faster than dialup) in broadband gave content creators the ability to rival established media technologies: television and radio (youtube, podcasts etc). From 2000-2005, the World Wide Web was establishing itself as a place to do business and access media: content was increasing, search engine algorithms were becoming more sophisticated, computer technology was expanding to offer voice and video capabilities, and broadband was enabling this evolution.
The biggest difference between web access in the year 2005 and 2017, is the access device being used: in 2005 it was a desktop computer, in 2017 it is now split evenly between computers, tablets and smartphones. The software used is still the same: a browser, mobile browsers have had to be developed, and websites designed to be mobile friendly. Early websites were often designed with frames, and tend to be unsuited for rendering on a smartphone screen. Search engines are still the most popular way in which to find web content, Google has indexed billions of webpages into its search results, and the problem search engines now have is dealing with the amount of new content that is created. Social media sites are beginning to rival Google for providing a 'hub' from where to access and locate content: with most individuals and businesses having created a Twitter and Facebook page. Video content (primarily Youtube) is competing with text pages as the dominant form of content on the web; prior to the launch of broadband, video content was not feasible. Access accounts have largely remained the same in terms of cost, but the download speed and usage limit has improved considerable with the launch of superfast broadband (fiber optic technology). Wireless access is now the norm: through wifi in the home / business and mobile network access 'on the move'.
Efforts have been made to improve access for people with disabilities: the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)'s launched the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) in 1997, whose goal it was to improve Web accessibility for people suffering from: auditory disabilities, cognitive / intellectual disabilities, visual disabilities, motor / mobility disabilities, and seizures disabilities. Persuading webmasters not to use flashing or strobing effects on their websites - that effect people suffering from photo epileptic seizures - is one example where initiatives, like the WAI, can help ensure that web content is correctly designed for the disabled.
While there is no requirement to record the browsing history of the World Wide Web, the majority of browsing is recorded to some degree. The World Wide Web is based upon a client-server model: a client program (browser) requests and retrieves files (webpages, pictures) from a web server (computer connected to the Internet). Therefore, whenever a file is requested and retrieved upon the World Wide Web: the client and the server usually records the session. Web server are installed with software that usually logs the IP address of all incoming requests for data. Likewise, the browser (client) of the user will usually record the data transmission by keeping a copy of the retrieved files in its cache (directory) and keeping a record in the history feature of the browser. Internet Service Providers - the network a user accesses the Internet with - will also keep a record of each user's usage. The internal policies of ISP's differ: it is difficult to know precisely what an ISP will record and store, and for how long. ISPs will only share their user logs when it is demanded by a legal entity.
Alongside server logs, websites can also record the browsing habits of its user's by using HTTP cookies (invented by Louis Montulli). Cookies are small files, stored on the user's computer, that store information, such as: username authentication, password authentication, past browsing history. Therefore, if a user returns to a commercial website - for example eBay - the user will not be required to enter their username and password again, and the website can serve content to the user that is related to the content they viewed the last time they visited the website. Users can delete cookies whenever they wish, and the typical (first party) cookie does not pose a serious privacy risk; especially if the user has not provided personal identifiable information to the website. However, tracking cookies, referred to as third party cookies, can compile a long term record of a users browsing history - as they record browsing habits at multiple websites - and are sometimes viewed as malware.
1. WWW Error Messages: understand the error messages for unavailable Web pages.
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You are a police officer assigned to a county-wide task force that is investigating major drug trafficking operations in your county. As part of the investigative process, a judge has issued a wiretap order for a suspect’s phone. You are assigned the responsibility of monitoring phone conversations, and you overhear the suspect as well as other individuals who may or may not be involved in the drug ring. Before obtaining enough evidence to arrest and prosecute the suspect, you hear evidence related to other types of criminal activity.
– What constitutional issues are involved in the scenario that dictates what you can and cannot do related to the evidence of other criminal activity outside the scope of the original wiretap order? Explain.
– If you arrest the other individuals for the crimes not associated with the reasons for the wiretap, what happens to any future evidence that might be obtained from the wiretap? Why?
– If you fail to arrest the other individuals, are there any potential risks involved? Explain you answer.
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You are a world-renowned philanthropist, human rights activist, speaker & author. Describe, which role you think defines your personality the best?
Activist. I am independent, determined, and I always stay true to myself. I never follow the crowd, or change so people can like me. I’d rather be the outsider than change what I believe in. I give without expecting anything in return, this is the case in my professional and personal life.
You are the star of Netflix’s “MADE IN MEXICO,” the hit new series which showcases nine of Mexico City’s wealthy socialites, revealing their opulent lifestyles throughout the culturally vibrant city. What made you take this one up?
I have lived in the USA and Europe, and long periods of time in the Middle East. In the past, when I’ve said I’m Mexican, I have found myself having to prove why Mexico is great. Many times I have found myself having to justify and defend Mexico. When I was approached for an opportunity like this, which was to show a different side of Mexico, I decided to be a part of it. I wanted to change the stereotype many people have of Mexicans.
Being a media personality involves attending innumerable social events, how do you fit in to eat healthy? What do you like for dinner? Do you have cheat days too?
I don’t exercise like I would like to, unless its fencing. I usually eat healthy – I try to eat fish everyday such as salmon and I include asparagus on the side. I’m a slow walker, but I try to walk everywhere I can or go. I eat a lot of beetroot for snacks, and watermelon and fruit for breakfast. I do have cheat days once in a while, usually on Sundays.
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In an era of rapid technological advancement, how can the European Union harness the enormous potential of Artificial Intelligence from within and set a world-leading example?
Last month, the European Union (EU) released a series of announcements outlining its plans to invigorate the technology sector in Europe, with a special focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Among the announcements was a commitment to increase spending on AI by 70% by 2020. For many in the private sector, this was a welcome announcement - a public vow of support that will bolster their efforts and help shift resources to a promising sector in need of them.
That said, one can’t help but notice the lack of adoption of this technology by the public sector itself in the EU. Although some Member States such as Estonia and the UK are making individual progress, an organized and concerted effort by the EU to implement AI in the public sector is lacking. In this article, we explore the potential benefits of bringing more AI into the public sector, and how the EU can set an example by doing so.
The ability of AI to unlock trapped value is unrivaled when it comes to increasing efficiency and reducing costs in organizations. But we are only now beginning to understand the magnitude of its potential, especially for the public sector.
Higher productivity among public sector employees will not only lead to long-term cost savings but as menial tasks gradually disappear, it could also lead to higher employee satisfaction. AI can also help overburdened public services overcome resource constraints, freeing up more time for the services that matter. This will trickle down to citizens, leading to greater satisfaction with governments and the services they provide.
Simply said, AI will help facilitate a shift toward a citizen-centric government.
Tracking criminal activity: Countries like China and the UK have adopted predictive analytics to help track criminal activity and assess the likelihood of criminals to reoffend. Because AI can process much more data, and faster, than humans, it can analyze more evidence more efficiently leading to the faster apprehension of criminals at large.
Judicial efficiency: For those already in court, AI can help to assess flight risk and set fairer bails, reducing human bias in the process. By removing these more menial tasks, the judicial system could become more efficient, leading to speedier and more impartial trials.
Cyber-policing: In the virtual world, AI can be used as a powerful tool for cybercrime detection. With increased rumors of election hacking and criminal targeting of government activities, AI deployment can automate the processes needed to detect attacks and manage breaches. This can expedite the time it takes to neutralize attacks, leading to greater protection of government information.
Legislation: Chatbots can engage citizens with their environment, ensuring that policymakers focus on the right issues. For example, a chatbot could follow-up with citizens after they have contacted a public service about a certain issue. In this way, citizens are sure their voices are being heard and they will be more likely to get involved in the future.
Everyday services: Imagine automating some of the most frustrating interactions that people have with governments, such as requesting vital records, paying taxes or renewing a driver’s license. No queues, no waiting, no fuss – easy, centralized, streamlined access to every service one may need.
Interaction amongst citizens: AI can also encourage greater heterogeneity of voices among citizens. It can make sure that quieter voices are listened to on important issues and all citizens are advocated for equally.
Fake news: In April, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would begin using AI to scan and remove fake news from the social media site. Some of the ways AI does this include the scoring of web pages to punish repeat offenders, or flagging sensational words in articles. This will promote decision-making made off of verified facts rather than sensationalism.
Voting: AI can bring voting into the 21st century by making it possible to vote online. Many countries around the world are now experimenting with this. There is no doubt that the convenience it provides will encourage greater voter participation and higher electoral turnouts.
Corruption and fraud: India is a leader in using AI to fight corruption and fraud. Since 2017, the country has employed AI to catch tax evaders using data analytics. AI can also inform border control immigration decisions and help to identify fraud in welfare programs, leading to greater impartiality and expedited decision-making.
It goes without saying that as AI grows, so must the responsible management of it. We need to ensure that the enormous potential of this technology is not used for harm. Unfortunately, this presents a big challenge for overburdened governments that struggle to keep apace with legislation on emerging technologies. However, without stopping and taking the time to tackle the questions that need addressing, we risk leaving ourselves vulnerable to malicious internal and external influencers.
The EU must join governments around the world to promote a comprehensive and innovation-friendly approach to addressing the unintended consequences of AI. This should comprise a regulatory framework on Common Codes of Ethics and Standards as well as “explainable AI” – clean and transparent coding that ensures data represent an unbiased and comprehensive view of the human information it handles.
With China and the US currently leading the way in AI investment, the EU must not fall behind. Europe is particularly well-positioned to become a leader in AI due to its diverse population and leading science and technology research. But without a comprehensive strategy to promote AI, and the requisite funding needed to put it into action, AI could quickly become a missed opportunity. The latest announcements by the EU show that it is heading in the right direction. But these efforts should be just the beginning.
In a recent survey among 6000 people conducted by Arm Ltd , 61% of respondents said they believed AI will make the world a better place. We cannot say this for certain, but without the cooperation of governments and the public sector, it will be impossible to know.
Want to know more about Artificial Intelligence in the public sector? Feel free to contact us!
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FAQ Rehab Helping a loved one Will there be any family participation?
The support of a loving family can be invaluable to an addict in recovery, and families can benefit enormously by participating in the recovery process, and by learning how best to support a recovering loved one once out of rehab and back in the community. Families are encouraged to participate in the therapeutic healing sessions, and will be invited to join in educational seminars, learning about the nature of addiction, and how best to offer constructive recovery support; and they will join in private whole family therapy sessions, where the family begins to heal some of the shared pain of substance abuse, and communally develops a whole family relapse prevention plan.
Although the ultimate task of sobriety falls to the recovering addict alone, the loving support of a caring and educated family strengthens the recovering addict against relapse, and empowers the family to act proactively in assistance. Family participation in residential rehab is very beneficial to all involved.
Note that policies for outside visitors as well as email and phone communication can vary for each facility. Please, consult an admissions counselor for details.
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Prompt: Compare the greatest challenges that American democracy faced in 1805, 1905, and 2005. Which challenges are essentially the same, and which are radically new?
American democracy has faced numerous challenges from the 1700s to modern day. However, the American dream has never faltered for a moment; even in the face of sure failure, and sure destruction, the United States has triumphed. The years 1805, 1905, and 2005 were no exception to this tradition; though at times in history Americans may have had doubts about the future of American democracy, unwavering patriotism has helped the country to succeed in the face of global adversity.
The main challenge that faced the United States in 1805 seemed insurmountable at first. The conflict between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans was threatening to tear the country apart. The country was split between two very different approaches to government: federal power versus state power. The Federal government argued that they needed authority over the states in order to ensure harmony within the country and avoid dangerous sectional conflicts. However, states’ rights activists argued that a tyrannical British Parliament should not be replaced with a tyrannical Congress. Ultimately, both sides had good points, but the conflict caused by the differences in opinion nearly tore the country apart. The first few Presidents set an important example for future generations. When the Second Continental Congress was being held, it was clear that George Washington would become the first president. The trust and faith in General Washington led the Congress to draft a Constitution with strong Federal power and strong executive powers. While in office, Washington worked to increase Federal power in an attempt to end divisions in the nation. However, when Democratic-Republican Jefferson was elected, American democracy would be put to the test. Jefferson entered office as a states’ right supporter or a believer in “strict construction”; he believed that the federal government should be given as little power as possible; in his opinion the federal government was very prone to becoming tyrannical. When he first entered office Jefferson believed that the federal government was granted “certain definite powers” and that the states were reserved “the residuary mass of right to their own self-government.” However, Jefferson was forced to alter his philosophies later in his presidency. One such occasion was when Jefferson authorized the Louisiana Purchase. In this situation, Jefferson clearly demonstrated a disregard for the limit of his powers. Jefferson knew that he did not have the authority to engage in such a deal with France, because it was not a power specifically granted to him in the Constitution. However, he completed the Louisiana Purchase anyway because he “thought it his duty” to risk himself for the good of the United States. In other words, he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he felt justified in knowing that it was for the good of the country. There are advantages to each of the policies: strict and loose construction. The challenge faced in 1805 showed Americans that both philosophies, when used together, would create a powerful nation.
In 1905, there was another threat to American democracy, however it was radically new—and never seen before. A new class of multi-millionaire “captains of industry” or “robber barons” was threatening to remove the democracy from the American way of life. These industry leaders pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps and after working hard, and sweating to achieve the American dream, they were reaping the reward: a luxurious lifestyle, millions and millions of dollars, and most importantly political control. The famous robber barons Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan consistently fought against worker’s rights, putting down strikes, dissolving worker’s Unions, and destroying all means of worker protection. Without unions, laborers were unable to stop these industrial giants from paying them unfair wages. Not only did the robber barons create unfair job conditions, but they used their large sums of money to bribe government officials to turn a blind eye to corruption. On numerous occasions, scandals such as the Credit Mobilier Scandal robbed the government of millions of dollars. Powerful political machines rigged elections by bribing incoming immigrants with job offers in exchange for votes. These multi-million dollar corporations were threatening a free American way of life, even though that had risen up to the top of the American system. Most Americans felt that the government should step in and stop the robber barons to defend the greater good, even at the expense of economy-stimulating corporations. The government responded to this crisis slowly, but eventually passed anti-trust legislation like the Sherman Act to “trust bust” big corporations. The crisis faced in 1905 demonstrated that the government must look to the greater good of society when protecting capitalistic enterprise.
The last and most recent challenge facing American democracy in 2005 is the Patriot Act. After the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Congress passed the Patriot Act with the noble intention of finding and prosecuting international terrorists operating on American soil; however, the unfortunate consequences of the Act have been drastic. Many of the Patriot Act’s provisions are in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution. The Patriot Act encroaches on sacred First Amendment rights, which protect free speech and expression, and Fourth Amendment rights, which protect citizens against “unwarranted search and seizure.” The Patriot Act even authorizes unethical and unconstitutional surveillance of American citizens with a negligible improvement in national security. Free speech, free thinking, and a free American lifestyle face a difficult challenge in the climate of distrust and constant fear created by the Patriot Act. However, like the challenges the United States has faced in the past, this one will be solved through diligence and unwavering patriotism.
You just finished Challenges to American Democracy: Trends and Similarities. Nice work!
Aboukhadijeh, Feross. "Challenges to American Democracy: Trends and Similarities" StudyNotes.org. Study Notes, LLC., 05 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2019. <https://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/sample-essays/challenges-to-american-democracy-trends/>.
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What is share market stock market etc , I tried to explain in Assamese language .
The video offers and insight into the history of BSE and Evolution of Mumbai as Finance Capital of India from the early 1800s. The Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest exchange in Asia. It traces its history to 1855, when four Gujarati and one Parsi stockbroker would gather under banyan trees in front of Mumbai's Town Hall. The location of these meetings changed many times as the number of brokers constantly increased. The group eventually moved to Dalal Street in 1874 and in 1875 became an official organization known as "The Native Share & Stock Brokers Association". On 31 August 1957, the BSE became the first stock exchange to be recognized by the Indian Government under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act. In 1980, the exchange moved to the Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers at Dalal Street, Fort area. Historically an open outcry floor trading exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange switched to an electronic trading system in 1995. It took the exchange only fifty days to make this transition. This automated, screen-based trading platform is called BSE On-line trading (BOLT).
Dalal Street in downtown Mumbai, India is the address of the Bombay Stock Exchange (in the Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers) and several related financial firms and institutions. When Bombay Stock Exchange was moved to this new location at the intersection of Bombay Samāchār Marg and Hammam Street, the street next to the building was renamed as Dalal Street. Dalāl means a broker, or dealer. Similar to Wall Street in New York City, it is often used as a metonym for the entire Indian financial establishment.
from Bombaym the seventh part of the documentary series Phantom India (L'inde Fantôme) by Louis Malle.
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List of unnamed Federation starships of the Excelsior-class.
Haftel's ship was a reuse of the ship depicting the USS Repulse in the similarly-named TNG episode entitled "The Child". From a scene omitted from the script, it was implied that the ship was under Haftel's command, as he was in the captain's chair. The filmed version of this scene simply showed the two vessels (as pictured), as to indicate the admiral's arrival.
On stardate 43997.6, in late-2366, this unnamed Excelsior-class starship transported Admiral J.P. Hanson and Lieutenant Commander Shelby to rendezvous with the USS Enterprise-D at Jouret IV to review the disappearance of the New Providence colony.
This ship was described in the script as a "transport class," indicating that no specific vessel was intended to be used for this appearance.
The footage of this ship was also a reuse of the USS Hood from "Encounter at Farpoint". The ship itself was not described in the script, nor has it been acknowledged in any other legitimate Trek publications.
This ship was identified as the USS Cairo in the Star Trek Encyclopedia (3rd ed., p. 471). This identification was not carried into the fourth edition. In the script, this ship was described as Admiral Nechayev's ship.
The closer of the two Excelsiors appears to have an indistinguishable registry number.
In late 2373, several unnamed Excelsior-class starships belonged to the Second Fleet.
This Excelsior class vessel may be the USS Hood.
In mid-2378, an unnamed Excelsior-class starship stationed near the Sol system was dispatched by Admiral Owen Paris to a defensive point near an opening Borg transwarp aperture near Earth.
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What is the recommended workflow when using the Nik Collection?
If desired, apply Raw Presharpener using Sharpener Pro 3.
Apply noise reduction using Dfine 2.
Control color and light using Viveza 2.
Apply filter enhancements using Color Efex Pro 4.
Convert to black and white using Silver Efex Pro 2.
Apply output sharpening using Sharpener Pro 3.
Note: Analog Efex Pro 2 can be utilized at any point after Dfine 2. HDR Efex Pro 2 is best used immediately after Dfine 2.
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Create a signature new outfit with versatile military jackets from this impressive collection at Banana Republic.
Great fashion comes from experimenting with different looks, and experimentation requires an assortment of options that will inspire you. With a military jacket from this line by Banana Republic, you'll have an amazing casual outer layer for everything from a cool summer night to a brisk fall afternoon and a windy spring morning. Timelessly chic and always on-trend, these brilliantly designed coats are expertly tailored to move with your body and will sit well over a host of tops from oversized sweaters to airy tanks.
Upgrade your wardrobe with these fine garments and give yourself more clothing from which to choose when you sit down to plan the day's look.
Military-style jackets from Banana Republic are extremely easy to work with. They are a natural fit with skinny blue jeans, army boots, and a tight-fitting retro graphic tee. Wear them with a floral printed sundress or a black cocktail dress for an interesting look that's feminine, playful, yet also has an air of toughness and downtown attitude. Close to being a completely neutral color, a military coat from this collection will pair seamlessly with tops of a variety of hues from lush solid black to vivid pastels and everything in between.
Jackets from this exceptional collection are made to meet the same high standards that have made Banana Republic world-famous. Manufactured from choice fabrics, they offer a soft and lightweight feel, yet are durable and made to last. From a campfire with friends on a late summer night, to an afternoon window-shopping on that strip of trendy boutiques, or a date at the movies with that special someone, you can trust in this dependable clothing.
With proper care, these coats will retain their vivid hues and comfortable fit for many seasons to come. Shop today and find the right army jacket for you.
Browse military coats and jackets from Banana Republic and discover a new style for the upcoming season.
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(NewsTarget) A 2008 American study, which appeared in the September issue of The International Journal of Radiation Oncology, examined the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating women coping with the side effects of conventional breast cancer medicine. Eleanor Walker, M.D., a radiation oncologist at the Henry Ford Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology in Detroit, led a team of researchers to compare acupuncture treatment with the common anti-estrogen treatment used to control breast cancer therapy side effects. The side effects, such as hot flashes and depression, affect about 80% of women treated for breast cancer and are usually treated by the pharmaceutical anti-depressant venlafaxine (Effexor). Many breast cancer patients refuse venlafaxine because of its own set of negative side effects.
The clinical trial, titled "Acupuncture for the Treatment of Vasomotor Symptoms in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Hormone Suppression Treatment," compared acupuncture treatment to venlafixine therapy for 12 weeks. The trial was randomized, which means that the patients were randomly placed into either treatment group. This ensured that both known and unknown confounding factors were evenly distributed between groups. Randomization is a common scientific technique for increasing the reliability of experimental results.
Dr. Walker's study involved 47 patients who received the common breast cancer treatment of Tamoxifen or Arimidex and as a result had at least 14 hot flashes per week as well as excessive sweating, night sweats and depression. The 47 women were randomly divided into an acupuncture group (24 patients) and a venlafaxine group (23 patients). The patients were carefully monitored before, during and after the 12 week period.
Both of the groups showed significant improvement in the adverse effects of breast cancer treatment. The study reported "that acupuncture is at least as effective as venlafaxine in reducing vasomotor and other symptoms associated with anti-estrogen hormonal treatment of breast cancer."
Although the main symptoms were decreased relatively equally among the two groups, the venlafaxine group reported a host of negative side effects such as nausea, dry mouth, headache, insomnia, dizziness, double vision, increased blood pressure, constipation, fatigue, anxiety, feeling ''spaced out,'' and body spasms at night.
Patients from the acupuncture group experienced side effects as well, however they were positive in nature. The acupuncture-treated group experienced increased energy, clarity of thought, sexual desire, and an increased sense of well-being compared to before the treatment. After the 12 week trial was complete, the reduction in hot flashes lasted longer for the acupuncture patients than for the venlafaxine group.
In other words, although both conventional and acupuncture treatments decreased the negative effects of breast cancer medicine significantly, conventional treatment produced negative sides effects while acupuncture treatment provided additional benefits.
"Our study shows that physicians and patients have an additional therapy for something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors and actually has benefits, as opposed to more side effects," commented Eleanor Walker, M.D. "The effect is more durable than a drug commonly used to treat these vasomotor symptoms and, ultimately, is more cost-effective for insurance companies."
"The results of this study suggest that adding acupuncture to breast cancer treatment regimens may establish an integrative approach that is more effective in managing symptoms due to treatment with fewer side effects than conventional pharmacotherapy treatment," concluded the study.
This study was funded by the Susan G. Komen Foundation, one of the world's largest not-for-profit organizations for the advancement of breast cancer activism. In 2008, the Dallas-based organization celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Komen Race for the Cure, the largest series of 5K runs/fitness walks in the world, with well over 1 million participants since 2005. The Komen Race for the Cure Series raises significant funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer, celebrates breast cancer survivorship, and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease.
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Recent brain machine interface (BMI) applications in humans have shown the particular benefits of decoding of neural signals and of their use in motion control of artificial arms and hands for paralyzed people. Despite of the spectacular advances in the last decade on the kinematic control of reach and grasp movements, the dynamic control of these movements together with the choice of powerful decoding algorithms continues to be a major problem to be resolved. This work reports the results on asynchronous decoding, obtained with the application of artificial neural networks (ANN) , to both thumb and index finger kinematics and to their EMG. Neural data (spike trains and EMG) were recorded in the monkey. This work aims at providing a complete BMI framework to reproduce precision grip like hand movements with our 2 finger artificial hand (see Figure.1.A and B).
The database was composed of up to six simultaneously recorded CM cell activity, of up to nine EMGs from different forearm muscles, and of the two fingertip position recorded in two monkeys while they performed a precision grip task (see Figure.1.A for robot reproduction). The CM cell activities were used as inputs and thus to train the time-delayed multi-layer perceptron (TDMLP) associated to each recording session in order to estimate both EMG and fingertip position signals. Each training epoch was performed with five different sliding window lengths that also determine the length of the input vector (i.e. the number of spikes considered at each instant) belonging to the time interval [25 ms,..,400 ms]. We trained the networks following three different paradigms: 1) Training the ANNs with only one spike train (from one CM cell). 2) Training the networks with all simultaneously recorded spike trains. 3) Only for the EMG estimation: training the networks with identified and non-identified CM cell spike trains. The identity of a cell as a CM cell was defined by the presence of a post spike facilitation (PSF) obtained by spike triggered averaging of the EMG. We then analyzed statistically the effects of each parameter on the estimating performance of the ANNs.
Finally, we used the fingertip position signals estimated by the corresponding trained ANN to drive the index (4 DoF) and thumb finger (5 DoF) of our artificial hand (Shadow Robot Company ©). We then compared the reproduction performance of the hand to the recorded and estimated position signals (Figure 1B).
A. Artificial forearm with a 2-finger hand of the precision grip setup actuated by pneumatic muscles, B. Reproduction of thumb and index finger position.
The current results confirmed that the effects of the sliding window length, as well as that of the parameters of each of the three learning paradigms, reported for the index finger only , are also valid for the thumb data. This suggests that the developed BMI system using the same TDMLP structures can be used to control the concerted action of the two fingers to reproduce precision grip or precision grip-like hand movements.
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The use of neural networks to build AIs that express creativity is a fascinating area of research. There is something incredibly amazing about the thought of creating something that itself is capable of creating new things of its own.
This project involved creating a deep learning model in PyTorch that generates text on its own, one character at a time.
The model made use of an neural network component known as an LSTM. For each timestep, the model takes a vector representing the character at the previous position, and outputs a vector assigning a score to each possible character. This output is processed to form the probability distribution of a character being chosen as the output for that timestep.
Unlike N-Gram language models which make completely local assessments regarding what the next item should be based on only the previous N items, an LSTM contains a type of memory about previous context and learns to focus on what portion of the context is important.
Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
These were accompanied by several randomly selected books to try cover a good variety of writing styles and vocabulary.
The raw text files contained legal disclaimers either before or after the main text of the actual books. These legal disclaimers were removed so as not to contaminate the model with legaleze.
After just training on 10 batches, each consisting of 128 samples of 300 characters of text, it would start to figure out to put letters into chunks separated by spaces.
After an aditional 100 training steps, The model was forming word-like sequences of letters, (which are actually pronounceable, and could conceivably be real words).
After several hours of training, the model not only generated sequences of mostly real words (and conceivably real words), but sequences that resemble sentences with some flow of meaning behind them. They might read like the ramblings of a crazy person, but the words are not entirely random, there is some semantic flow to the sequence of words. Notice that it also has learnt that at the start of a new sentence, it must start with a capital letter.
Compare the above outputs, with the text below which is the output of a script that actually chooses words completely at random from the training data.
Given more time and computational resources, the model could potentially be improved further by experimenting with the following things.
Training on longer sequences of text at a time.
Trying different initializations for the parameters, eg, He et al 2015.
Making use of batch normalization.
The project was inspired by the char-rnn model outlined in the now famous blog post by Andrej Karpathy titled "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Recurrent Neural Networks". The code used is closely based on this great tutorial by Sean Robertson, which is a pyTorch reimplementation of Andrej Karpathy's char-rnn.
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0.993827 |
As you consider the Christmas story, seek to complete the joy of your pastors by being humbly unified as one body.
1. I must consider the benefits of a relationship with Christ.
2. I must strive to have unity of mind with the church.
3. I must strive to be selflessly humble in my evaluations of others.
4. I must seek to naturally consider other’s interests first.
5. I must use the mind of Christ that has been given to me.
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If Buddhism teaches that all things are impermanent, then how can it make absolute assertions such as there are 5 aggregates or there are 4 noble truths?
Since I am very new to all of this I had to honestly answer, "I don't know". I would appreciate any insights on this question.
You friend has indulged into what is called the logical fallacy of false equivalence.
Buddhism teaches that all things are impermanent which means that there is no static nature to the things or static nature of the basic elements that everything is made up of.
So it means that the 5 aggregates are in a state of constant flux it's changing every moment, and not that it is ceasing to exist.
Buddhism can make an assertion that there are 5 aggregates because the assertion is 'about' the 5 aggregates. Furthermore, it can tell that there are four noble truths because 'four noble truths is the nature of the process, not the process itself'.
It's something like saying, 'if uncertainity principle is right we should be uncretain about the uncertainty principle'. It is a logically fallacious statement.
If the second law of thermodynamics is true, how would you like your Beer?
From there comes KungFu Panda he says, "most probably, it's your mouth that is moving."
Also, a story for any such further conversation you might have, from a discourse on Dhammapada the way of the Buddha.
There were two temples in Japan, both enemies to each other, as temples have always been down the ages. The priests were so antagonistic that they had stopped even looking at each other. If they came across each other on the road, they would not look at each other. If they came across each other on the road they stopped talking; for centuries those two temples and their priests had not talked.
But both the priests had two small boys - to serve them, just for running errands. Both the priests were afraid that boys, after all, will be boys, and they might start becoming friends to each other.
The one priest said to his boy, "Remember, the other temple is our enemy. Never talk to the boy of the other temple! They are dangerous people - avoid them as one avoids a disease, as one avoids the plague. Avoid them!" The boy was always interested, because he used to get tired of listening to great sermons - he could not understand them.
Strange scriptures were read, he could not understand the language. Great, ultimate problems were discussed. There was nobody to play with, nobody even to talk with.
And when he was told, "Don't talk to the boy of the other temple," great temptation arose in him. That's how temptation arises.
That day he could not avoid talking to the other boy. When he saw him on the road he asked him, "Where are you going?"
The other boy was a little philosophical; listening to great philosophy he had become philosophical. He said, "Going? There is nobody who comes and goes! It is happening - wherever the wind takes me...." He had heard the master say many times that that's how a buddha lives, like a dead leaf: wherever the wind takes it, it goes. So the boy said, "I am not! There is no doer. So how can I go? What nonsense are you talking? I am a dead leaf. Wherever the wind takes me...."
The other boy was struck dumb. He could not even answer. He could not find anything to say. He was really embarrassed, ashamed, and felt also, "My master was right not to talk with these people - these are dangerous people! What kind of talk is this? I had asked a simple question: 'Where are you going?' In fact I already knew where he was going, because we were both going to purchase vegetables in the market. A simple answer would have done."
He went back, told his master, "I am sorry, excuse me. You HAD prohibited me, I didn't listen to you. In fact, because of your prohibition I was tempted. This is the first time I have talked to those dangerous people. I just asked a simple question. 'Where are you going?' and he started saying strange things: 'There is no going, no coming. Who comes? Who goes? I am utter emptiness,' he was saying, 'just a dead leaf in the wind.
And wherever the wind takes me....'" The master said, "I told you before! Now, tomorrow stand in the same place and when he comes ask him again, 'Where are you going?' And when he says these things, you simply say, 'That's true. Yes, you are a dead leaf, so am I. But when the wind is not blowing, where are you going? Then where can you go?' Just say that, and that will embarrass him - and he has to be embarrassed, he has to be defeated. We have been constantly quarreling, and those people have not been able to defeat us in any debate.
So tomorrow it has to be done!"
Early the boy got up, prepared his answer, repeated it many times before he went. Then he stood in the place where the boy used to cross the road, repeated again and again, prepared himself, and then he saw the boy coming. He said, "Okay, now!"
But the boy said, "Wherever the legs will take me...." No mention of wind! No talk of nothingness! No question of the nondoer! Now what to do? His whole ready-made answer looked absurd. Now to talk about the wind would be irrelevant.
Again crestfallen, now REALLY ashamed that he was simply stupid: "And this boy certainly knows some strange things - now he says, 'Wherever the legs take me....'" He went back to the master. The master said, "I have told you NOT to talk with those people - they are dangerous! This is our centuries-long experience. But now something has to be done. So tomorrow you ask again, 'Where are you going?' and when he says, 'Wherever my legs take me,' tell him, 'If you had no legs, then...?' He has to be silenced one way or other!"
So the next day he asked again, "Where are you going?" and waited.
And the boy said, "I am going to the market to fetch vegetables."
It's not exactly that "all things are impermanent", it's that "all compound things are impermanent" -- "compound" meaning "put together". Another way of saying it is that "every thing that's caused or created will cease, everything that's compounded will come apart or unbind".
Whereas I think that the assertions which you mentioned are not called "compound things" -- instead they're called dhamma (meaning something like "law", "natural law", and/or "doctrine").
It's not true to say that all dhammas are impermanent -- only all sankharas (compound things).
Also I suspect that "there are 5 aggregates" or "there are 4 noble truths" are a doctrine of the Buddha, who formulated them as a skilful (e.g. understandable, memorable) way of teaching the Buddhist Dhamma.
Another doctrine is that "there are 12 nidanas" -- but in some suttas there are fewer than 12.
It's a bit like saying, "How many parts are there to an elephant?" You might say e.g., "There are four parts, i.e. body, head, legs, and tail" but that division (or "analysis") is a bit artificial -- and maybe (unlike the Buddha's Dhamma) not a useful description or analysis.
Is there a teaching or a quote that you can think of that specifically differentiates between "things" and "compound things"?
sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā — "all saṅkhāras (conditioned things) are impermanent"
sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā — "all saṅkhāras are unsatisfactory"
sabbe dhammā anattā — "all dharmas (conditioned or unconditioned things) are not self"
Bizarrely, see also here -- is there a misprint in the Pali? But the English translation there still distinguishes between "conditioned phenomena" versus phenomena in general.
"Conditioned things" are held to be anatta too -- I think it says (more generally) that all dhamma are anatta, rather than only all sankharas, in order to include nibbana in the statement -- nibanna is a dhamma (it's not a compound thing), and is not impermanent nor dukkha, but it is anatta.
Those are not absolute assertions. They are made conditionally on the existence of Mind and mental phenomenon (Mental phenomenon like memory). If you don't have memory then will you be able to make any assertions ? No. Memories are lost. Memories are anatta. Therefore all the assertions made by mind are anatta i.e lack any absolute existence.
Buddhism can’t make absolute assertions that are inherently true, because nothing exists inherently. The 4NT are conventional truths that are merely labeled. They do not exist inherently because nothing exists inherently. Inherent existence is an impossible mode of existence.
Now, when I say the above inevitably someone will interpret it to mean that the 4NT don’t exist or that they have no meaning. But this is not true. The problem with sentient beings is we always jump from two extremes: eternalism or annihilationism. However, neither of these is how things actually exist. This is our ignorance and it is extremely hard and subtle to realize how things actually exist.
BTW, not all things are impermanent and Buddhism does not teach otherwise. Uncompounded space is an example of a permanent thing. Still, uncompounded space does not exist inherently. Nothing exists inherently. Permanence is not the definition of inherent existence.
Simply reply to that friend of yours with a similar question: if all things are impermanent, then how can you know for sure if s/he has 5 physical sense organs and 4 limbs?
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged philosophy impermanence or ask your own question.
What are false unchanging entities?
How to accept things as-is and live according to as-is?
Is there a Buddhist 'noninterference' concept?
What if a course lacks a proper introduction to Buddhist philosophy?
Does false self = no self?
Why is real magic not a good illustration to realize Truth?
Critique on Kalama Sutta: Is Buddhism bad for Buddhism?
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The fight-or-flight response includes an increase in heart rate and blood flow to our large muscles, better enabling us to react to the emergency.
Blood, injury, and injection BII phobia: Fear of injuries involving blood Escalaphobia: Fear of escalators Tunnel phobia: Fear of tunnels These are far from the only specific phobias. People can develop a phobia of almost anything.
Also, as society changes, the list of potential phobias changes. For instance, nomophobia is the fear of being without a cell phone or computer. As described in one paperit is "the pathologic fear of remaining out of touch with technology.
They can be caused by a stressful experience, a frightening event, or a parent or household member with a phobia that a child can 'learn. In some cases, it may be the result of a traumatic early experience. One example would be claustrophobia developing over time after a younger child has an unpleasant experience in a confined space.
Phobias that start during childhood can also be caused by witnessing the phobia of a family member. A child whose mother has arachnophobia, for example, is much more likely to develop the same phobia. Complex phobias More research is needed to confirm exactly why a person develops agoraphobia or social anxiety. Researchers currently believe complex phobias are caused by a combination of life experiences, brain chemistry, and genetics. They may also be an echo of the habits of early humans, leftover from a time in which open spaces and unknown people generally posed a far greater threat to personal safety than in today's world.
How the brain works during a phobia Some areas of the brain store and recall dangerous or potentially deadly events.
The amygdala in the brain is thought to be linked to the development of phobias. If a person faces a similar event later on in life, those areas of the brain retrieve the stressful memory, sometimes more than once.
This causes the body to experience the same reaction. In a phobia, the areas of the brain that deal with fear and stress keep retrieving the frightening event inappropriately. Researchers have found that phobias are often linked to the amygdalawhich lies behind the pituitary gland in the brain.
The amygdala can trigger the release of "fight-or-flight" hormones. These put the body and mind in a highly alert and stressed state. Treatment Phobias are highly treatable, and people who have them are nearly always aware of their disorder. This helps diagnosis a great deal. Speaking to a psychologist or psychiatrist is a useful first step in treating a phobia that has already been identified.
Blood-injection-injury phobia involves fear of blood, fear or injury, or a fear of shots or another medical procedure; and 5 Other phobias.
If the phobia does not cause severe problems, most people find that simply avoiding the source of their fear helps them stay in control. Many people with specific phobias will not seek treatment as these fears are often manageable. It is not possible to avoid the triggers of some phobias, as is often the case with complex phobias. In these cases, speaking to a mental health professional can be the first step to recovery.
Also, as society changes, the list of potential phobias changes. Most importantly, CBT can teach a person experiencing phobia to control their own feelings and thoughts.
The therapist will have them look at pictures of planes.
People with a history of alcohol dependence should not be given sedatives. The physical and mental tension of anxiety is very similar to fear but with one important difference.
Most phobias can a psychological explanation of fear or phobia cured with appropriate treatment. There is no single treatment that works for every person with a phobia.
Treatment needs to be tailored to the individual for it to work. The doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist may recommend behavioral therapy, medications, or a combination of both. Therapy is aimed at reducing fear and anxiety symptoms and helping people manage their reactions to the object of their phobia.
Medications The following medications are effective for the treatment of phobias. These can help reduce the physical signs of anxiety that can accompany a phobia. Side effects may include an upset stomachfatigueinsomniaand cold fingers. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs are commonly prescribed for people with phobias. They affect serotonin levels in the brain, and this can result in better moods. SSRIs may initially cause nausea, sleeping problems, and headaches.
Individuals on an MAOI may have to avoid certain types of food. Side effects may initially include dizziness, an upset stomach, restlessness, headaches, and insomnia. Taking a tricyclic antidepressant TCAsuch as clomipramine, or Anafranil, has also been found to help phobia symptoms.
Initial side effects can include sleepiness, blurred vision, constipationurination difficulties, irregular heartbeat, dry mouth, and tremors. Benzodiazepines are an example of a tranquilizer that might be prescribed for a phobia.
These may help reduce anxiety symptoms. People with a history of alcohol dependence should not be given sedatives. Behavioral therapy There are a number of therapeutic options for treating a phobia. Desensitization, or exposure therapy: This can help people with a phobia alter their response to the source of fear.
They are gradually exposed to the cause of their phobia over a series of escalating steps. For example, a person with aerophobia, or a fear of flying on a plane, may take the following steps under guidance: Treatment includes different types of psychotherapy. They will first think about flying. The therapist will have them look at pictures of planes. The person will go to an airport.
They will escalate further by sitting in a practice simulated airplane cabin. Finally, they will board a plane. Cognitive behavioral therapy CBT: The doctor, therapist, or counselor helps the person with a phobia learn different ways of understanding and reacting to the source of their phobia. This can make coping easier.
Most importantly, CBT can teach a person experiencing phobia to control their own feelings and thoughts. Takeaway Phobias can be a source of genuine and ongoing distress for an individual. However, they are treatable in most cases, and very often the source of fear is avoidable.
If you have a phobia, the one thing you should never be afraid of is seeking help. They also offer a range of talks on how to overcome specific phobias.
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Climate and ecological conditions, for example, determine what food crops and livestock are practical to grow locally. Dietary patterns are also influenced by cultural and religious norms, and by a region's history of contact with foreign foodstuffs and cultures through trade, migration, and colonization. In the second half of the 20th century, Ghanaian food systems have been particularly transformed by urbanization and related changes in women's work and by foreign donations of food aid.
Now more than ever, diets vary across class, with the wealthy typically eating not only a greater quantity and variety of foods than the poor but also different foods. This essay discusses some of these variations in Ghanaian food systems, as well as broad patterns and historical trends.
In Ghana, as in most of the world, most people structure their diets around a relatively small number of starchy or carbohydrate-rich foods. Grains such as millet, sorghum, rice, and maize (corn) and tubers such as yams and cassava (manioc), for example, form the central ingredient of the most common meals in Africa and provide the bulk of the daily caloric intake. These staple starches are traditionally accompanied by protein-rich legumes, such as peas, beans, or peanuts, and by smaller quantities of foods that add both flavor and nutrition, such as vegetables, oils, spices, and meat or fish. These latter foods are often referred to as relishes, condiments, or sauces. Anthropologist and food historian Sidney Mintz calls them "fringe" foods, to emphasize the centrality of the "core" starches. This "core-fringe-legume" pattern of food consumption predominates in Ghana, except in the grassland north, where milk and meat play more central roles.
Ghana's oldest staple starch crops vary across ecological zones. The major cereal grains—millet, sorghum, and maize—are all common in semi-arid regions. Millet and sorghum, both indigenous to Africa, predominate in the drier regions of northern Ghana. Millet can grow in areas where rainfall averages 275 to 400 mm (11 to 20 in) annually, while sorghum requires between 800 and 1000 mm (30 to 40 in) of rain annually. Maize, a New World crop first introduced by the Portuguese beginning in the late 15th century, is now one of the most widely cultivated food crops in Ghana. It can grow in a variety of conditions and be used in many ways, but it is less drought-resistant than either sorghum or millet.
Tubers such as cassava, yams, and sweet potatoes, and tree crops such as bananas and plantains (some tree crops are indigenous to Africa and some arrived centuries ago from Asia or the New World) are typically grown in the humid forest eco-zones of south and central Ghana. Cassava production in particular has increased in the 20th century, because while in the field it requires little tending, and it can keep for months underground before harvest. But cassava is low in protein, and in raw form some varieties are toxic.
Most rice in Ghana is grown under either lowland (also known as paddy) or upland conditions. Upland rice depends on rainfall, not irrigation, and thus grows only in wetter regions. In the rain forest zone of Western Region (in the Wassa and Aowin areas), upland rice is grown. Many rural development projects (e.g., the Dahwenya Project) in Ghana since the 1960s have centered on rice production, in part because in comparison to other crops, demand for rice has increased enormously in Ghanaian cities.
Compared to the highly varied and often quite elaborate preparations typical of fringe foods, the preparations of core starches are fairly simple. One very common dish made of millet, maize, or sorghum is a stiff porridge known by various names in different regions of Ghana. Once the grains have been ground into flour—a task women once did by hand but increasingly do in mills—they are mixed with cold water until a thin paste forms. Next the cook mixes in boiling water and stirs continuously until it thickens, then adds more flour until the consistency is so thick that the spoon stands straight up in the pot.
Tubers and starchy tree crops are most commonly boiled, roasted, or fried. Cassava and yams, like boiled plantains, are frequently pounded into a thick, heavy paste called fufu (or futu), a popular albeit labor-intensive Ghanaian dish. Like porridge dishes, fufu is often eaten communally and by hand and is always accompanied by a soup or stew. Dried, grated cassava, known as gari, is a popular convenience food in Ghana, because it keeps well and can be easily reconstituted with boiling water.
Although fringe foods typically account for a smaller proportion of caloric intake than the core starches, they are by no means a peripheral part of the diet. Whether served as sauces, soups, spreads, or fillings, dishes made of vegetables, spices, and sometimes animal protein and fat add color, nutrition, and variety to the daily bowls of porridge or rice. These dishes vary both seasonally and regionally, depending in part on the ingredients available locally. For example, in Ghana, palm oil stew is a more common complement.
Many ingredients found in traditional Ghanaian fringe dishes reflect foreign influences. The tomato, for example, was brought from the New World by the Portuguese in the 16th century and is now cultivated and consumed throughout much of Ghana. In coastal Ghana, tomato-based fante fante sauce is served on rice and fish.
European influence on Ghanaian food habits prior to colonialism was generally limited to the introduction of new crops, such as maize and tomatoes. Colonization led to significant changes both in what foods Ghanaians produced and what foods they had available to purchase. It is important to note that dietary patterns were transformed not only by the introduction of new crops and imported goods, but also by changes in households' use of land, labor, and income. For example, the introduction of cocoa has transformed the dietary patterns of the rain forest zones of coastal Ghana.
Colonial era taxes, for example, often forced peasant households to shift at least some of their land away from food crops over to export crops, such as cotton, coffee, and cocoa, which were typically overseen by male household heads. Taxation and compulsory labor service also forced rural men and sometimes women to leave their farms for work on plantations, in mines, and on road and railway projects. In many areas women had to assume greater responsibility for food production, and often on more limited land. In one common adaptation to these constraints, women switched from labor-intensive crops such as yams to ones requiring less weeding and other upkeep, such as cassava. In general, as rural households devoted more of their resources to income-earning endeavors, they also began to purchase a larger proportion of their food supplies.
Compared to the efforts the colonial administration made to develop export crop production in Ghana, most of the time the colonial administration paid relatively little attention to staple-food crop production. During the First and Second World Wars, however, some colonies made cultivation of certain crops compulsory in order to assure food supplies for the military bases. In Ghana at Komenda during the Second World War, for example, peasants were forced to grow maize, sweet potatoes and peanuts to supply to the air force station that was established there. This former air force station now houses the Komenda Teacher Training College.
Imported foods intended for European settlers also made their way into the Ghanaian diet, as did "European" foods manufactured in Africa. Initially only a small minority of Ghanaians, mostly the educated urban elite, partook of foreign and costly foods such as bread, pasta, margarine, and soft drinks. In some circles the ability to buy and serve European cuisine became a marker of status, like Western-style clothing. Certain foods, however, eventually became a part of the working-class diet. Bread from wheat has not only become a working-class diet, the name for it, paano in Ghana is derived from Portuguese. Men who migrated to urban areas in search of wage labor were among the earliest regular consumers of goods like bread and tea, partly because they were convenient. Wheat bread served with margarine or butter and tea (coffee and hot chocolate are also referred to as "tea") or served with fried egg is popular in the streets in the evenings in urban centres. Migrant labourers also helped introduce these foods to rural regions by bringing them back to their families.
Today, regional variations in some popular European foodstuffs reflect the influence of the colonial powers' own cuisines. Demand for Western-style processed foods is now partially met by domestic production. Bread from wheat in Ghana is typically made in small or medium-size urban bakeries, while commodities such as instant coffee and margarine are produced in factories owned by multinational corporations such as Nestles and Unilever. Although these foods are no longer consumed only by an elite few, during times of economic hardship they are too expensive for the vast majority of the population, urban or rural.
Since independence, food donated or sold on concessionary terms by foreign countries—also known as food aid—has transformed both dietary and agricultural production patterns in Ghana. Various regimes of government in post-independence Ghana have willingly accepted food aid because it compensated for their own production shortfalls and ensured that cheap food supplies were available for politically important urban populations. It is estimated that 40 percent of Ghana's food import is in the form of food aid.
Food aid to Ghana has had four economic impacts: 1) it has served a leverage for donor countries to shape Ghana government's economic policies; 2) it provided the economy with additional imported resources; 3) it provided additional budgetary resources for development; and 4) conversely, it has created various disincentives as (a) it tends to drive down domestic prices of locally produced food, (b) it replaces food that would have been produced by Ghanaian farmers, (c) it creates import dependency as consumers develop a taste preference for imported commodities and switch away from locally produced food as is happening with poultry imports, and (d) it encourages the neglect of the development of domestic agriculture.
Donated and imported rice, for example, has been shown to have some effect on domestic production. It has been found that a 10 percent increase in donated/imported rice supply reduced domestic production by 7.5 percent (USAID report). Despite food aid, Ghana suffers from food insecurity.
For donor countries such as the United States and those of the European Union, food aid has become a means for disposing of their own agricultural surpluses as well as for establishing African markets for their exports. The United States' Food for Peace Program, for example, has been used to grant African and other Third World countries low interest loans for the purchase of major U.S. agricultural commodities, such as wheat and soybean oil. The U.S. Congress approved the program in 1954 with the explicit aim of building new overseas markets. It succeeded: countries like Nigeria continued to purchase U.S. wheat even when the aid program was reduced, partly out of the concern to maintain political stability in the cities, where most wheat and other aid foods are consumed. Food aid from the European Union has also helped establish African markets for European goods, such as dried milk products.
Although food aid programs were once justified on humanitarian grounds, they have been widely criticized for undermining markets for Africa's domestically produced foodstuffs and for fostering an over-dependence on imported foods. The dangers of such dependency became apparent in many African countries in the 1980s, when austerity measures imposed under World Bank structural adjustment programs drove up prices for import-based foods such as wheat, bread, and milk. The announcement of price rises set off "bread riots" in many African cities. Interestingly, during this period in Ghana, particularly between 1982 and 1984, attempts were made to use local substitutes. This effort, however, was not sustained.
Finally, Ghanaian food habits have changed along with the patterns and pressures of daily life, especially in the cities. As more and more people—especially women—commute across large cities to work and attend school, midday meals at home have become less practical. Instead, students, marketplace traders, and industrial and office workers rely on so-called street foods for one or more meals daily. Sold from “chop bars,†kiosks, head trays, and carts in cities throughout Ghana, street-food fare is eclectic: offerings range from the traditional rice-and-sauce dishes popular among the cities' various Ghanaian ethnic communities to Ghanaian "fast foods" like fried or roasted plantains to Middle Eastern-style kebabs and European-style sandwiches and pastries. For many, street foods are not only more convenient but also more economical than home-prepared meals. Some traditional Ghanaian dishes require extensive preparation, so when the price of the ingredients and the cooking fuel is factored into the time spent shopping and cooking, it is often cheaper to buy these dishes from street vendors, who prepare them in large quantities.
The variety of snacks and meals sold on the streets of Ghanaian cities reflects an enduring theme in Ghanaian cuisines: despite the many changes prompted by colonialism, urbanization, aid, and trade, traditional dishes based on locally produced ingredients are still valued. Indeed, because such dishes are now sold in multiethnic cities and eaten by migrants and travelers, they have become familiar far beyond the regions where they were originally developed. Waakye and koose from the north can be found throughout Ghana, for example. Restaurants founded by Ghanaian immigrants in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas have also popularized these cuisines abroad.
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