|Your Child and Gang Awareness|
Sheriff Fontoura Says Gang Awareness Can Save Your Child
Gangs bring fear and violence to our neighborhoods as they traffic in drugs, destroy property and recruit new members. Gangs can be organized around race or ethnic group, money-making activities or territory.
Youngsters join gangs to belong to a group, for protection, to earn money, for excitement, and to be with friends. Gangs signal their existence and solidarity through their clothing and head coverings, a special vocabulary, tattoos, hand signs and “tagging” their territory with graffiti.
Signs That Your Child Might Be in a Gang
These include changes in type of friends or dress habits, such as wearing the same color combination all the time, gang symbols on books or clothing, tattoos, secretiveness, extra cash from unknown sources, carrying a weapon, declining interest in school and family, and being detained by police.
Make Sure Your Child Doesn’t Need a Gang
Show your child love and reassurance. Talk with and listen to your child. Supervise your children’s activities. Help them become involved in wholesome activities that interest them. Know about your child’s friends and their families. Put a high value on education. Do everything possible to prevent your child from dropping out of school.
What Communities Can Do to Keep Gangs Out
Develop positive after-school, weekend and summer alternatives. Provide activities where youngsters can learn, expand their world and have fun. Encourage parents to talk to one another through school forums, social events, networks, parenting classes and support groups. Cooperate with police and other law enforcement agencies. Report suspicious activity, set up a neighborhood watch or citizen patrol, volunteer to clean up graffiti. Get organized and show gangs that your neighborhood has zero tolerance for their activities.


Let us now consider Olympics history in general.
There is a reason why in 394 AD the Roman emperor Theodosius I ordered the Olympic games to cease; they are a Pagan ritual to Greek gods. This is no conspiracy but merely history. The Olympic opening and closing ceremonies (rituals) are becoming more and more openly occultic and this is only to be expected as that is whence they came.
The Olympic games revived in the late 19th century AD by a French aristocrat named Baron Pierre de Coubertin:
“Though Coubertin was not the first to propose the revival of the Olympic Games, he was certainly the most well-connected and persistent of those to do so…Coubertin organized a meeting with 79 delegates who represented nine countries. He gathered these delegates in an auditorium that was decorated by neoclassical murals and similar additional points of ambiance.”
“Exactly when the Games were first held and what circumstances led to their creation is uncertain. We do know, however, that the Games were a direct outgrowth of the values and beliefs of Greek society. The Greeks idealized physical fitness and mental discipline, and they believed that excellence in those areas honored Zeus, the greatest of all their gods…the earliest recorded Olympic competition occurred in 776 B.C.”
Although, “It is almost certain that this was not the first time that the Games were held.”
The Olympiad is a “four-year period by which the Greeks recorded their history.”
See a series of images on the theme of the Olympics’ Pagan roots at this link and at the attached video
“According to legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles (the Roman Hercules), a son of Zeus.
“It was said Zeus once fought his father, Kronos, for control of the world. They battled atop a mountain…After Zeus defeated his father, a temple and immense statue were built in the valley below to honor him. This valley was called Olympia, and soon religious festivals developed there as people came to worship Zeus and to approach as nearly as possible his great strength. It is believed that these religious festivals eventually led to the famed Games of the Olympics.”
“The games were dedicated to the 12 Olympian Gods and were hosted on the ancient green plains of Olympia, the place was famous for its magnificent great temples of the two gods Zeus and his wife Hera. The games initially had a very religious character combined by a number of ancient sport events, which many of those were based on the ancient Greek mythology.”
“The Olympic Games were closely linked to the religious festivals of the cult of Zeus, but were not an integral part of a rite…the Olympic Games owed their purity and importance to religion…The official award ceremony would take place on the last day of the Games, at the elevated vestibule of the temple of Zeus.”
“The oldest myth which concerns the beginning of the Olympic Games is that of Idaios Daktylos Herakles…Hera was the sister and wife of Zeus…She was thus also called "Argeia"”
“the priestess of Demeter, goddess of fertility, was given a privileged position next to the Stadium altar.”
“cessation of hostilities…known as the Olympic peace or truce….is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were traveling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus.”
“The myth continues that after Heracles completed his twelve labors, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honor to Zeus.”
Read all about twelve labors of Heracles on this fascinating essay: The Location of the 12 Labors of Herakles on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.
“the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia in a ceremony that reflects ancient Greek rituals. A female performer, acting as a priestess, ignites a torch by placing it inside a parabolic mirror which focuses the sun's rays; she then lights the torch of the first relay bearer, thus initiating the Olympic torch relay that will carry the flame to the host city's Olympic stadium…the flame has been an Olympic symbol since 1928, the torch relay was introduced at the 1936 Summer Games, as part of the German government's attempt to promote its National Socialist ideology.”
“The Olympic symbol, better known as the Olympic rings, consists of five intertwined rings and represents the unity of the five inhabited continents (Africa, America, Asia, Oceania, Europe).”
In short, the Olympics can be viewed as an art of war aspect of establishing a new world order. The term art of war refers to waging a war, of whatever sort, on every conceivable level; economically, culturally, militarily, politically, spiritually, etc.
The Olympics are a Pagan ritual in honor of false gods and which seeks to bring humanity together in that common ritualistic worship.
Grolier Online’s New Book of Knowledge, “Origin and History of the Olympic Games”
Athens Guide, “History of the Olympic Games - A brief history of the Olympics”
Jennifer Rosenberg, “History of the Olympics - Creating the Modern Olympic Games”
Wikipedia, “Olympic Games”
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The devastating death figures for the American Civil War are well-known. On the two sides, at least 620,000 soldiers died from diseases and wounds; that is equivalent to 2 percent of the entire population. Two percent of Americans today equals 6 million people. Southerners perished disproportionately: In the Confederacy, at least 18 percent of white males of military age died between 1861 and 1865, three times the rate at which Northern white men died. "The young [white] men of South Carolina were annihilated," the state's governor told Northern minister Henry Ward Beecher in April 1865. In many places in the state, he said, there were no white men left between the ages of 20 and 50.
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, by Drew Gilpin Faust, the president of Harvard University since 2007 and for decades a leading historian of the American South, provides plenty of numbers that are less well-known. Thirty thousand Northerners and 26,000 Southerners died in prisoner-of-war camps—almost 10 percent of all Civil War fatalities. As many as 50,000 civilians perished from war-related causes. And the dead, civilian as well as military, were black as well as white. About 35,000 of the 180,000 black soldiers who served the Union lost their lives, for the most part to disease. "Contraband camps" set up by the Union Army for African-Americans fleeing slavery (especially for women, children, and the elderly) experienced mortality rates up to 25 percent.
Most stunning of all: About half of the soldiers who died during the war—over 40 percent of the Yankees and a majority of Confederates—died as "unknown soldiers." These were often "men thrown by the hundreds into burial trenches; soldiers stripped of every identifying object before being abandoned on the field; bloated corpses hurried into hastily dug graves; nameless victims of dysentery or typhoid interred beside military hospitals; men blown to pieces by artillery shells; bodies hidden by woods or ravines, left to the depredations of hogs or wolves or time." The two armies' record-keeping—and even their interest in identifying individuals no longer capable of fighting—lagged far behind their firepower. Americans reeled at the number of deaths, but also at the threat sudden wartime death posed to individual identity. They were sickened by the prospect that young men might "die like dogs," as one woman volunteer put it, without the communal recognition of a marked grave symbolizing their departure for an eternal life with God.
The assault on identity, and the quest to recover it, is the fascinating theme Faust tackles as she digs into the archives for evidence of Americans' experiences of death, including their own postwar efforts to unearth and rebury their soldiers. As a historian who came of age in the 1970s—the era of a "new social history" placing women, laborers, and minorities center stage—she naturally highlights differences of gender, class, and race, along with region, but she also sees more at work in the postwar memorializing that consumed so much American energy. Faust astutely argues that in spite of their many differences, Northerners and Southerners, male and female, black and white, experienced a deep cultural unity through their common rituals and beliefs concerning death. This common culture of death did not prevent regional animosities—in effect, dueling nationalisms—from persisting after Appomattox. And glaring inequalities persisted, even as Southern women found a new public role in the reburial endeavor. The memory of the 35,000 dead black Union soldiers faded all too quickly from Northern white consciousness. At the end of the century, it was Northern and Southern whites who had joined hands in hailing their fallen ancestors, thereby creating a new overarching American nationalism.
Nineteenth-century death practices could hardly have been more radically disrupted than they were in the 1860s. Americans expected dying family members to expire at home, not in hospitals, and certainly not in other states. Adapting as best they could to the general yearning for final sentiments, comrades and nurses on the battlefield and in camps and hospitals promised to relay last words to dying men's families. If a soldier died without a terminal act of reflection, friends might even try to infer his final state of mind from his facial expression, letting the body speak for the soul. Embalmers trooping through the battlefields with newly effective chemical solutions offered to preserve the "natural" facial expressions of the dead and to ship them back to families for ex-post-facto deathbed vigils. Slaves, too, played a role as preservers, risking their lives to minister to their masters' bodies, even when they were dead.
At Gettysburg, for example, where 7,000 men lay dead after three days of fighting, thousands of Northerners soon arrived to hunt for their missing men. As many as 1,500 Yankee dead were embalmed and sent home when lucky relatives with sufficient means managed first to find them, then to locate a metallic coffin required for shipment. The national cemetery dedicated by Lincoln four months later arranged the dead democratically, not by rank, but the bodies of many officers from well-to-do families had already been expressed home rather than left for burial with the mass of soldiers. As for the Confederate fallen, the luckier of them, too, were not left to molder. Faust notes that as Robert E. Lee's forces retreated in haste, some of the 6,000 African-Americans who had accompanied the troops to the Pennsylvania battlefield managed to retrieve their masters' bodies and shepherd them at least part of the way home.Even when they took social inequality for granted, Faust implies, Americans of all backgrounds still shared identical expectations about the proper deathbed experience, the decent burial, and the hoped-for heavenly destination.
Over the last generation, professional historians downplayed the Civil War as the key pivot point in 19th-century American development, stressing instead the growth of industrialism before the war and the rise of large-scale organizations and nationally based professional identities (like that of historians themselves) after the war. Political and military events took a back seat to social change. Having always kept the war in her own scholarly sights, Faust offers a compelling reassertion of its basic importance in society and politics alike. Civil War death so profoundly challenged conventional rituals and identities, she argues, that it helped spark political and cultural support for the larger organizations, public and private, of the late-19th century. In the process, the federal government "assumed the unprecedented role of the citizen's friend," as the nation built up a new sense of unity out of the memory of young men's sacrificial deaths. In the North, Clara Barton's "Friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army" was soon joined by a major government initiative to identify and rebury the dead in national cemeteries—perhaps, writes Faust, "the most elaborate federal program undertaken in nearly a century of American nationhood."
At the same time, as Faust subtly shows, Northerners and Southerners kept on building separate collective identities, after the fighting stopped, as they honored their fallen men. Each region kept revitalizing its own nationalism in counterpoise with the other. Lacking the material resources commanded by Northerners, Southern white women in cities and towns alike mobilized to rebury the Confederate dead. In Winchester, a town in northern Virginia that had seen numerous battles throughout the war, women took the lead in gathering 2,500 bodies that lay within a 15-mile radius of the town and placing them in Stonewall Cemetery, built adjacent to a national cemetery for Yankee dead. They succeeded in identifying almost 1,700 men; the remaining 800 were buried together in a central mound encircled by the marked graves. Through this symbolically powerful public work, Southern women helped create the mythic Confederate nation that grew out of the ashes of the actual Confederacy.
The Civil War ended slavery and formally reunited the country, but as This Republic of Suffering makes abundantly clear, a more or less unified white American identity could follow only a generation later. Northern and Southern whites had to embark first upon their separate quests to memorialize their dead—campaigns based upon the same cultural assumptions about death but vastly different organizational strategies and resources. And before Northern whites could reconcile themselves with a post-Reconstruction, segregated South, they needed to forget the tens of thousands of African-American soldiers who had died for liberty and union too. That process required time, since black veterans did all they could after the war to remind the nation of their service. The irony is that the fallen white soldiers whom both sides had labored so tirelessly to identify and rebury as individuals passed into 20th-century American memory as collectivities of white Southern and white Northern heroes, sacrificed for a politically rejoined yet still racially divided nation.


Scientist says human penises are shrinking due to pollution
London — Environmental scientist Dr. Shanna Swan has warned in her new book titled Count Down that human penises are shrinking as well as becoming malformed because of pollution.
The cause of the shrinkage, which Swan believes is an existential crisis humanity is facing as a result of declining fertility rates, is due to the presence of phthalates commonly found in manufactured plastics.
Phthalate esters impact human genitals by altering the hormone-producing endocrine system, and as a consequence, has led to more baby boys being born with small penises.
In humans, Swan found that male babies exposed to the chemical in the womb were more likely to have a shorter anogenital distance, which is correlated with expected penile volume.
In a previous academic study published by Swan in 2017, it was found that sperm levels have dropped by more than half in the last 40 years, based on an examination of 185 studies.
Swan believes that most men will be unable to produce viable sperm by 2045.


In chapter 7 of Understanding Comics Scott McCloud explains how comics are considered art, especially whith such broad deffinition. He also explains how everyday things we do can be considered art as long as they do not relate to the humans two basic instincs, survival and reproduction. McCloud analyses how a group of bored cavemen are actually making art. One man is beating a simple rhythm, another one is kicking dirt and a little girl sings. these are considered art since art is any way of self expression so we can say the first man is making music, the guy kicking dirt is dancing away frustration and the girl is singing. In this chapter McCloud states that any form of art has six steps it must follow. the six steps consists of 1.) idea/purpose 2.) form 3.) idiom 4.) stucture 5.) craft and 6.) surface. He also explains how artists can eather say something through their art or say something about art itself. If the artists concentrates on form then he sets himself to be an explorer, he is focused on discovering what art is capable of. If the artist's main goal is the idea or purpose then he uses his art as a tool, and becomes a storyteller.
Chapter 7 was interesting because i would of never thought that bored cavemen can be considered art. I agree with McCloud because art can be any way of self expression meaning that pretty much everything we do is a form of art. This chapter was interesting since i never knew art had steps one must follow.


Probably one of the most frequently asked questions about dog’s vision is whether dogs can see in colors.
It is a common myth that dogs can only see in black and white but they can actually see colors – just not as vividly as humans.
The eyes of both people and dogs contain special light catching cells called cones that respond to color.
Dogs have three eyelids, an upper cap, a lower cap, and a third called Nictitating membrane which helps to protect the eye and keep it moist.
Dogs are able to see in the dark,that’s because the eyes contain a special membrane called the “tapetum lucidum” which allows them to see in the dark
They only have two cones in their eyes to detect colors, whereas humans have three. That means dogs see colors on a blue and yellow scale but cannot distinguish between red and green. On the other hand, they have better night vision than humans.


by Frank Wilczek
We usually think of the human brain as a single organ, but it is a complex assembly of modules that process different kinds of information in quite different ways. Somehow, we construct a rich world of objects out of the two-dimensional images projected onto our retinas through two tiny irises effortlessly, and in real time. Human abilities here still far outstrip even the most powerful computers. Analytical processing of more abstract symbolic information, such as mathematical formulas or logical schemas (like family relationships, recipes or computer programs), occurs elsewhere. Visualization is the art of getting those two systems to speak a common language, so they can pool their strengths. Family trees are a humble but eloquent example.
Historically, innovations in visualization have powered scientific advances. Take the memorable story of August Kekulé, the 19th-century German scientist and creative dreamer who was one of the great visionaries of theoretical chemistry.
In the 1850s, Kekulé developed the familiar chain-like representation of molecules using letters—indicating the constituent atoms—joined by lines representing “chemical bonds.” In 1865, he proposed the ring structure of benzene. That involved taking his abstract representation of molecules seriously, as a model of their geometry—a crucial step toward modern organic chemistry. By suggesting the possibility of new compounds and reactions, Kekulé’s visionary molecular hoops led almost immediately to important practical applications.
At a meeting of the German Chemical Society to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that discovery, Kekulé reminisced about the two crucial breakthroughs in his career. He associated both with unusual states of consciousness. The chaining of atoms, he said, occurred to him as he fell into a daydream while riding a horse-drawn London omnibus: “Lo, the atoms were gamboling before my eyes! I saw how, frequently, two smaller atoms united to form a pair…I saw how the larger combinations formed a chain, dragging the smaller ones after them but only at the ends of the chain.’’
As for the benzene ring, Kekulé recalled nodding off by a fire to find atoms again “gamboling before my eyes. This time, the smaller groups kept modestly in the background. My mental eye, rendered more acute by the repeated visions of the kind, could now distinguish larger structures of manifold confirmation: long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together, all twining and twisting in snake like motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes.”
Kekulé’s snake-dream has become an iconic story of science, psychology and the sources of creativity. Carl Jung connected its power to the archetype of Ouroboros, the self-eating snake, which figures in metaphorical representations of rebirth and eternal return across several cultures.
Several other huge scientific breakthroughs were also breakthroughs in visualization. Descartes’s invention of analytic geometry, which translates between equations and geometric shapes, is a brilliant example. Through it, algebra bends, loops and generally comes to life while, conversely, shapes get boiled down to symbols that our minds can easily juggle.
Einstein’s 1905 special theory of relativity became more popular and far easier to use after Hermann Minkowski’s 1908 address “Space and Time,” in which Minkowski showed that the theory is best pictured by regarding time as a new, fourth dimension. In modern physics, Richard Feynman’s versatile visualizations of elementary processes—Feynman diagrams—are an essential mind-tool. They map the mathematics of space-time processes in quantum theory to simple, flexible wiring patterns. (They’ve changed my life more than once.) None of these breakthrough visualizations, unfortunately for Jung, involves snakes.
Today, at the frontiers of quantum theory, we routinely work in spaces and space-times of high dimension. Modern “big data” collections, depending on many variables, also define structure in high-dimensional spaces. They aren’t what our brain’s visual processors evolved to cope with. Yet in coping with vast and unfamiliar complexity, more than ever, we need to tap vision’s power—and to expand the intersection of art and science.
Dr. Wilczek, winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, is a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His most recent book is “A Beautiful Question: Finding Nature’s Deep Design.”
This article appeared in The Wall Street Journal


What is a Motherboard:- A Motherboard is an electronic PCB (Printed Circuit Board) also called system board, is a main-board in a computer system.It is made by Epoxy glass material. As,it is the origin of each and every board, so that it is called motherboard. Some Motherboard Manufacturers are:- 1. Asus 2. ASRock 3. Biostar … Continue reading What is Motherboard?


June 18, 2020
Thriving under Harsh Conditions Pumping Asphalt, Part 1
Three screw pumps and non-timed twin-screw pumps have replaced traditional centrifugal and timed twin-screw pumps in refinery asphalt services.
Pumping asphalt from its origin at the refinery to a terminal has been attempted by several different technologies over the years. Throughout its transition from refinery to terminal, asphalt experiences several temperature changes that present an insurmountable challenge for most pumping technologies.
Beginning at the refinery, asphalt is typically hot (above 350° F) and pumped with centrifugal pumps or timed twin-screw pumps. The asphalt is then stored in heated tanks until it is loaded into railcars, barges or trucks.
Once the asphalt is allowed to cool slightly, centrifugal pumps become very inefficient and unreliable due to the increased viscosity. Many of the timed twin-screw pumps utilized were first installed 35+ years ago. They have product-lubricated timing gears and bearings and up to four mechanical seals. Since the gears and bearings are lubricated by asphalt, these components tend to wear relatively quickly and lead to other more expensive repairs, such as new mechanical seals and rotor sets.
The evolution of three screw pumps over the years has enabled them to replace traditional centrifugal and timed twin-screw pumps in refinery asphalt services.
Three screw pumps have one power rotor and two driven rotors. The rotors are gas nitrided (hardened to approximately 62-Rc) and torque is transmitted from the power rotor to the driven rotors via a rolling contact. The pumped product creates a liquid film that prevents metal-to-metal contact of the rotors.
The rotors run in a liner that acts as a journal bearing that provides support for the rotors throughout the entire length of the pumping chamber. During operation, a liquid film supports the rotors and prevents contact between the rotors and the liner.
Three screw pumps do not require product-lubricated timing gears, as torque transmission is achieved through rolling contact of the rotors. This simplified torque transmission system eliminates a significant maintenance item on timed twin-screw pumps with product lubricated timing gears.
Hydraulically balanced three screw pumps do not require thrust bearings or thrust plates, meaning only one bearing is required for positioning of the rotor set. Bearings are typically re-greaseable and should never rely on the pumped product for lubrication.
Since three screw pumps have only one shaft penetration, they require only one mechanical seal. The mechanical seal is normally a bellows type with a steam quench to prevent the faces from cementing together during down periods.
By design, three screw pumps are relatively simple machines with only a few rotating elements: rotor set, bearing and mechanical seal. This proven technology – when compared to a timed twin-screw pump (product lubricated) that has a rotor set, multiple bearings and seals and timing gears– offers a significantly lower installed cost, as well as a lower overall cost of ownership.
Three screw pumps are positive displacement machines (conforming to API 676) that are not affected by viscosity swings. These same viscosity swings normally force centrifugal pumps to operate at some point on the curve other than their best efficiency point, thus lowering the overall reliability of centrifugal pumps in asphalt service.
Since all of the rotating elements of a three-screw pump are normally contained in a cartridge, the casings are normally fabricated of welded steel, which can accommodate a built-in heating jacket. The flexibility of fabricating the casings allows operators to replace misapplied asphalt pumps with a drop-in replacement that does not require any pipe or baseplate modifications.


Emirgan Hamid-i Evvel Camiisi (Mosque Emirgan Hamid-i Evvel)
The Emirgan Hamid-i Evvel Mosque – commonly known today as the Emirgan Mosque – was commissioned by Adülhamid I in 1781 in memory of his son Mehmed, who died at a young age, and his wife Hümâşah. The mosque was constructed on the site of an impressive armory, which had been built by Emirgüneoğlu Yusuf Paşa. The structure we encounter today was actually rebuilt during the reign of Mahmud II. Of the original structure commissioned by Abdülhamid I, only the inscription survives.
The mosque, located in a wide courtyard, was built of cut stone. Built on a square plan, the mosque’s two rows of large windows provide interior lighting. Its one-tiered minaret is decorated with acanthus motifs and other decorative features.
Next to the mosque is the Hünkar Kasrı, or Ruler’s Summer House, which was built for the Sultan.
Mosque is a place of worship for Muslims. It comes from the Arabic word 'masjid' which literally means "a place for prostration". Mosques are also places where Muslims come together for different purposes such as education, social gatherings, public meetings, exhibitions, lectures etc. Although there is no specific requirement for mosques in terms of their architecture, one can see some common features inside and outside of many mosques such as minarets, domes, ablution areas, prayer niche (mihrab), pulpit (minbar) and so on.
Muslims are obliged to perform the ritual worship 5 times a day. They are not required to attend a mosque for each of these prayers however in order to interact with the community they are encouraged to pray in congregation. Friday noon is the only time in a week when Muslims must definitely join the congregational prayer in a mosque after which they can continue their work, education or other commitments.
Azan or the call for prayer is a vocal announcement that one can hear from minarets 5 times a day. The call to prayer is made live -even early in the morning- by a person called 'muazzin'. The muazzins are usually chosen from people with loud and beautiful voices and trained over years to make this announcement beautifully and invite people to worship.


Everett, Wash. April 29, 2010--Getting people outside to experience nature up-close requires a bit of ingenuity, determination, and a dose of estuary soup. And although the day started in typical Seattle fashion, rainy and overcast, more than a 100 people visited the first Migratory Bird Festival at Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve last Saturday.
Several natural resource agencies sponsored the outing for elders and youth from the International District in downtown Seattle and youth with the Kulshan Creek Neighborhood Kids program, which exposes Hispanic kids to the outdoors and careers in natural sciences. “The appreciation of nature is the connection I want them to go home with,” said Jim Chu, international programs specialist with the Forest Service and one of the sponsors.
To help make those connections, festival workers set up three stations for visitors to learn about the estuary and wildlife, showing different aspects of a healthy ecosystem. Festival goers viewed shorebirds at the dike trail and learned about the importance of a healthy forest for migrating birds at the forest trail. The migration station was a hit, with water, salt, detritus, eel grass, and the remaining ingredients crowded onto a chefs cart to create “Estuary Soup.”
But the recipe is only as good as the ingredients, according to the head chef, Glen Alexander, education director of the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center. “Every estuary needs three things: salt water, fresh water, and land partially surrounding it. The water has to be healthy. Forests act as a natural filter for water entering. But you need to be careful about what goes down the drain. We all want healthy shrimp, clams and salmon to eat,” he said.
Alexander described how the bottom of Padilla Bay is very shallow, flat and muddy from sediments deposited by the Skagit River, making for the perfect growing environment for eelgrass. Nearly 8,000 acres of it grows in the bay, providing a home and nursery for many forms of wildlife such as salmon, crabs, perch and herring. Millions of worms, shrimp, clams and other invertebrates fill the bay and become food for a variety of predators like blue herons, eagles, otters, humans and more.
The forest trail gave families a small glimpse of the forest ecosystem providing food and habitat for animals. “Birds play a key role in keeping our forests free from insect infestations,” said Libby Mills, festival instructor. “If trees leaf out before birds arrive, insects can damage the leaves, harming and killing the trees,” she said.
Walking along the trail kids spotted coyote scat, a banana slug and signs of bird habitat. One young man shouted, “It smells so outside,” producing a laugh from the group. One youth commented that he learned more about estuaries in 10 minutes then sitting through an entire classroom lecture.
“It is very nice in the forest,” said Irene Situ, a student from the International District. “I enjoyed the stories and won’t forget how to spot western hemlocks or the fire-resistant qualities of the Douglas fir,” she said.
Jeff Giesen, education director with North Cascades Institute, said that is the awareness he wants the festival to build. “We want them to transfer what they see up here to their homes and communities. By exposing families to the benefits of nature, connections and understanding develop,” he said.
Multiple agencies developed and conducted the festival: North Cascades Institute, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, National Parks Service, Washington State Department of Ecology, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the City of Mt. Vernon, International District Housing Alliance, and Seattle Parks and Recreation.
For more information about outreach and partnerships on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/


In this post, I plan to give a brief historical sketch of the movement from nineteenth century absolute idealism to twentieth century analytic philosophy. In a follow-up post, I will survey the response Cornelius Van Til gave to absolute idealism, and then examine the analytic tradition in light of Van Til’s Reformed insights.
Absolute idealism held a tempestuous sway over philosophy in Britain, America, and the European continent during the nineteenth century. This philosophical system was initiated by the prominent German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel (1770–1831), and then further developed by philosophers like F. H. Bradley (1846–1881), J. M. E. McTaggart (1866–1925), and Josiah Royce (1855–1916). Absolute idealism’s central tenet was that all of reality is a single mental subject. The absolute idealists’ metaphysic—their theory about the nature of ultimate reality—was tied to a distinctive epistemology or theory of knowledge. They believed that reason was the proper source of knowledge, not empirical observation. Whenever we sensibly experience an object as having spatiotemporal location or some other physical property “we are perceiving it more or less as it really is not.” Rationally consider any particular thing, the absolute idealists taught, and you will rather find that that thing is necessarily involved in a higher, all-inclusive, organic thought-complex.
Just as soon as absolute idealism reached its highest point of influence, two of its most promising young practitioners, G. E. Moore (1873–1958) and Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), proposed a decisive revolt. This revolt at the start of the twentieth century constituted the beginnings of what is known today as the analytic school of philosophy.
Analytic philosophy’s defining characteristic was its rigorous commonsense philosophical method. Analytic philosophers usually dealt with individual problems, and attempted to solve those problems by appealing to logic, intuition, and experience. For example, G. E. Moore in his essay, “Proof of an External World,” famously argued that he had two hands by gesturing with them while saying, “Here is one hand and here is another.”
Analytic philosophers also put a premium on linguistic clarity, primarily because of the ambiguity that they thought riddled the writings of absolute idealists. Analytic philosopher John Searle points out that as a result “for most of the twentieth century the philosophy of language was ‘first philosophy.’ Other branches of philosophy were seen as derived from the philosophy of language and dependent on the results in the philosophy of language for their solutions.”
Near the end of the twentieth century, another philosophical shift occurred, this time from within analytic philosophy itself. The philosophical method of analytic philosophy remained, but, to use once more the words of John Searle, “the center of attention has now moved from language to mind.” One of the many reasons Searle gives for this recent development is that numerous philosophers “working in the philosophy of language see many of the questions of language as special cases of questions about the mind.” Searle also mentions another likely culprit for the recent reorientation of the philosophical disciplines:
For many of us, myself included, the central question in philosophy at the beginning of the twenty-first century is how to give an account of ourselves as apparently conscious, mindful, free, rational, speaking, social, and political agents in a world that science tells us consists entirely of mindless, meaningless, physical particles. (p. 7)
Although it should be debated whether empirical science truly supports the weighty doctrine of materialism, many analytic philosophers follow Searle in thinking that it does. So, in Searle’s circles, he has sufficient justification for writing his book, Mind, wherein he attempts to give a materialistic explanation of the mental. Searle’s whole project is to account for how we can have meaningful mental capabilities as purely material agents, and this requires for Searle to account for human freedom. But Searle cannot account for human freedom, he says so himself: “We really do not know how free will exists in the brain, if it exists at all. We do not know why or how evolution has given us the unshakable conviction of free will. We do not, in short, know how it could possibly work. But we also know that the conviction of our own freedom is inescapable. We cannot act except under the presupposition of freedom” (p. 164).
As has been the case throughout the history of philosophy, we have come full-circle. At the beginning of the twentieth century, analytic philosophers revolted against absolute idealism, along with its insistence upon the mental nature of ultimate reality, in order to follow the dictates of commonsense and to account for material reality. At the end of the twentieth century, analytic philosophers like Searle have followed their intuitions and gained their material world at the seeming expense of meaningful human mental activity.
Sources — The quote in the first paragraph is from J. M. E. McTaggart, “Time,” in Metaphysics: The Big Questions (eds. Peter van Inwagen and Dean W. Zimmerman; 2nd ed.; Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008), 123. McTaggart used this phrase in reference to our experience of things as in time, but the phrase also captures the way many absolute idealists addressed our experience of things as having any distinctively physical property. All quotes from Searle appear in his Mind: A Brief Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). Other sources I consulted were E. D. Klemke, ed., Contemporary Analytic and Linguistic Philosophies (2nd ed.; Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2000) and Frederick Copleston, Modern Philosophy: Empiricism, Idealism, and Pragmatism in Britain and America (vol. 8 of A History of Philosophy; New York: Image Books, 1994),


Contents body Singing
Is it that bad?
You’ve probably yawned a couple of times when singing and found it pretty embarrassing. You’ve probably wanted to vanish right then and there, thinking Why do I yawn when I sing?
But come to think of it, is yawning really that bad?
In this article, you’ll learn something really surprising about yawning and singing. But first, lets discuss the basic.
Why Do You Yawn When You Sing? breath
Scientists have yet to come to a conclusion.
One of the earliest theories can be attributed to Hippocrates who is known as the father of medicine.
He hypothesized that yawning is the body’s way of getting rid of bad air, particularly before a fever.
By the 17th and 18th century, yawning was linked to alertness and motor function.
People thought that it can increase heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygenation.
This explains why a lot of athletes tried to yawn before their games at that period.
And then theres the theory of contagious yawning.
You’ve probably wondered about it, too.
According to research and studies, like this one, 42 to 55% of people yawn while or after seeing another person repeatedly yawning.
It activates the part of the brain related to motor imitation and social behavior.
Now, a more recent theory is this:
Yawning cools the brain body
When you yawn, it stretches the jaws, boosting the flow of blood to the neck, face, and head.
It also forces down spinal fluid and blood from the brain.
The air you breathe in cools those fluids.
By now, you’re probably wondering: Why do I yawn when I sing?
There are a lot of theories about that one, too.
One of them involves the amount of air that goes in, particularly when you’re practicing your breathing.
It confuses the brain so you are forced to yawn.
Singing can take up a lot of lung power and breath, too.
When theres not enough oxygen, you’ll obviously yawn.
A more logical link, however, is the way your mouth, soft palate, and the muscles of your pharynx and larynx work when you’re singing.
As you sing, the back of the throat expands a bit. Your soft palate raises, contracting the muscles of your pharynx and pushing your larynx down.
If you’ll notice, that’s exactly what happens when you start yawning. And while you’re not really intending to yawn, the brain perceives it that way and you end up yawning.
How to Stop Yawning When Singing
Now, although theres nothing wrong with yawning while singing, it can still be uncomfortable and embarrassing at times.
So, instead of compromising your performance, its best if you can learn the best techniques on how to control yawning.
The first thing you need to do is to breathe deeply before you sing. Try to do this for 5 to 10 minutes.
First, breathe in 6 seconds, hold it for a second and then release for 4 seconds.
This breathing pattern can help oxygenate your lungs so you are less likely to yawn while singing.
You should also try to breathe in as much as you can while singing.
This isn’t the easiest thing do, particularly when you’re trying to do long notes or you are doing a really fast song.
One trick you can use is to work in more breaths each time the song pauses.
Make sure to exhale quickly first before breathing in to get rid of as much old air as possible.
And don’t think about yawning. Since its contagious, you wouldn’t want to be near someone who is yawning.
What Makes Yawning Good For Singing?
Believe it or not, yawning isn’t entirely bad for singing.
In fact, its the other way around.
Yawning helps you relax your mouth and jaw, allowing you to sing better.
There are two phases of yawning in terms of breathing.
1)The first phase is the part where you breathe in. As you breathe in, your belly goes outwards and your rib cage widens.This is a good start for singing.
2)The second phase, on the other hand, is where you breathe out. In this part, your belly will start to move inwards.
These movements of the abdominal muscles are great for singing.
Take note, however, that when you sing, the abdominal muscles and your belly shouldn’t push outwards.
Even if you feel the tension, the movement has to be inwards.
In addition to training your abdominal muscles, the act of yawning can also help you relax your throat.
This is critical when you are trying to reach a high note.
Just be careful when you use yawning for that. Its easy to have your tongue move backward and that wont help you sing properly.
How to Yawn While Singing?
Now that you know how yawning can help with your singing, can you do it voluntarily?
The answer is yes.
There are a few things you can do to initiate a yawn and use it to exercise your throat and singing muscles.
Since yawning is contagious, just watching other people yawn can make you do the same thing.
You can observe other people or watch videos online.
Another trick is to imagine you are yawning. This tricks the mind to do a complete yawn.
Try opening the back of your throat. Once you have opened your mouth that wide, you’ll be able to make yourself yawn.
You can also try stretching, tiring your eyes out or opening your mouth wide to let a big gulp of air in.
Doing yawning exercises will eventually make you learn how to relax your voice muscles.
Yawning while singing might make you feel uncomfortable. It can make you look like you have really poor breathing skills.
In reality, however, yawning will improve your singing.
Once you’ve mastered it and you practice it regularly, you’ll be able to train your voice muscles to relax so you can reach your high notes better and easier. For more info click here.


The beginning of November means there is still time to add winter color for you and berries for the birds to your landscape. You can add or transplant trees, shrubs and hardy vines in the landscape as long as the ground is not frozen.
Last week’s column was controversial as it suggested we stop putting out bird seed but instead provide plants to feed the birds. Bird seed encourages rats, squirrels, weeds and nuisance birds, such as starlings and pigeons, and bird feeders can spread disease. The Audubon Society does not ban feeding birds, but does have this information about keeping wild birds healthy on their website:
“Bringing birds together like we do at feeders and bird baths is unnatural, and increases the chances for them to spread disease or for waste to accumulate and breed diseases.”
The Audubon Society also suggests spreading feeders and baths out so that there are several sources of food and water in different parts of the yard to reduce competition and the concentration of birds. It is also important to keep feeders clean should you offer seed or suet. Remove old seed and bird waste and disinfect bird baths and feeders with a weak bleach solution.
Never miss a local story.
Here are some of the trees and shrubs that will provide a natural food source for the birds this winter.
Maple trees (Acer Family): used by finches, nuthatches, warblers, wood peckers.
Not only do maples add fall and summer color, but they also attract insects that will feed the birds all year-round. In our climate, both the smaller leaf maples such as the Japanese maples and the larger leaf maples such as the spectacular Sunset maple will thrive despite hosting a population of aphid, borers or beetles that are natural protein sources for birds. Maple trees also offer seeds, nesting sites and nest building material.
Oregon grape (Mahonia): used by cedar waxwing, robins, towhees.
This native plant is now easy to find at local nurseries and there are several new varieties with larger blooms and more robust growth. Oregon grape is an excellent evergreen for dry shade and the holly-like leaves offer a safe winter haven for birds while the berries provide nourishment.
Snowberry (Symphoricarpos): used by cedar waxwings, grosbeaks, robins, thrushes, towhees.
Showy white berries stand out on the bare branches all winter long and this native plant thrives on rainfall alone, making it a great choice for a landscape without a sprinkler system. The fruit is not as tasty as other options, so the birds will save this meal until the dead of winter when not much else is hanging around. Snowberry has small spring blossoms that provide nectar for hummingbirds.
Honeysuckle (Lonicera): used by chickadees, finches, robins, cat birds and thrushes.
Evergreen and deciduous versions of the honeysuckle vine are of great value to the birds that use their flowers, fruit and insects. Honeysuckle also provides winter shelter amidst the tangle of the vining limbs. The fragrant summer flowers will attract hummingbirds while the winter and fall berries feed small birds all winter.
Viburnums: used by cardinals, grosbeaks, robins, sparrows, thrushes and towhees.
Viburnums are a wide-ranging family of shrubs that come in evergreen and deciduous forms, and they love to grow in the naturally acidic soil and wet winter weather of Western Washington. All but the snowball type of viburnum will provide winter berries and the evergreen viburnums offer dense foliage for winter shelter. Viburnums also host insects in the spring and summer to provide more bird food – plus they are attractive shrubs that come in many different forms and varieties.


It was the first major war in which the newly established countries fought, and it was one of the first times that Australian troops fought as Australians, not just subjects of the British Crown. In March 1917, demonstrations in Petrograd culminated in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the appointment of a weak Provisional Government, which shared power with the Petrograd Soviet socialists. The shooting was reported to the media by American citizens who were on board the Nicosia, a British freighter loaded with war supplies, which was stopped by U-27 just minutes before the incident. In 1918 the Germans smashed through the defence lines in three great attacks: Michael, on the Lys, and on the Aisne, which displayed the power of their new tactics. Though many participants did not share in the experiences of combat or spend any significant time at the front, or had positive memories of their service, the images of suffering and trauma became the widely shared perception. Events of 1917 proved decisive in ending the war, although their effects were not fully felt until 1918. Italy opposed the proposals. On 24 September an assault by both the British and French came within 3 kilometres (2 mi) of St. Quentin. Yet Wilhelm insisted that the German army should not march into Luxembourg until he received a telegram sent by his cousin George V, who made it clear that there had been a misunderstanding. Mark, Joshua J. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomats, however, scored a coup by persuading Bulgaria to join the attack on Serbia. World War I, also called First World War or Great War, an international conflict that in 1914–18 embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the United States, the Middle East, and other regions. The war also gave rise to epic refugee flows in much of Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, a process aggravated even further by the outbreak of revolution there in 1917. Serbia accepted all the terms of the ultimatum except for article six, which demanded that Austrian delegates be allowed in Serbia for the purpose of participation in the investigation into the assassination. The legend of the "stab in the back" and the wish to revise the "Versailles diktat", and the belief in an international threat aimed at the elimination of the German nation persisted at the heart of German politics. During the six hours between the signing of the armistice and its taking effect, opposing armies on the Western Front began to withdraw from their positions, but fighting continued along many areas of the front, as commanders wanted to capture territory before the war ended. As many as 8.5 million soldiers and 13 million civilians died as a result of the war. Germany was far ahead of the Allies in using heavy indirect fire.  Artillery was responsible for the largest number of casualties and consumed vast quantities of explosives. The German advance into France was halted at the Battle of the Marne and by the end of 1914, the Western Front settled into a war of attrition, marked by a long series of trench lines that changed little until 1917 (the Eastern Front, by contrast, was marked by much greater exchanges of territory). Believing that the Serbs’ cause would be served by the death of the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph, and learning that the Archduke was about to visit Bosnia on a tour of military inspection, Apis plotted his assassination. The Balkan Wars virtually eradicated the Ottoman presence in Europe, but led to violent strife among the victors. As for the Nazis, they waved the banners of domestic treason and international conspiracy in an attempt to galvanise the German nation into a spirit of revenge. "War in Ancient Times." The details were contained in the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the Treaty of Trianon. And even if there was no front in the Americas, there was fighting almost everywhere else. Although they were reportedly not personally close, the Emperor Franz Joseph was profoundly shocked and upset. This offensive opened with great promise for the Allies, before bogging down in the October mud. When the delivery was announced, on July 24, Russia declared that Austria-Hungary must not be allowed to crush Serbia. But this is to ignore the First World War at sea, which saw engagements off the Coronel and Falkland Islands, as well as the war's disruption of American shipping across the Atlantic. Thus, both sides urgently sought a decisive victory.  The friction between the King of Greece and the Allies continued to accumulate with the National Schism, which effectively divided Greece between regions still loyal to the king and the new provisional government of Venizelos in Salonica. , After the Battle of Vimy Ridge, where the Canadian divisions fought together for the first time as a single corps, Canadians began to refer to their country as a nation "forged from fire".  On 2 August, Germany occupied Luxembourg, and on 3 August declared war on France; on the same day, they sent the Belgian government an ultimatum demanding unimpeded right of way through any part of Belgium, which was refused. It has been acknowledged that British generals were often capable men facing difficult challenges, and that it was under their command that the British army played a major part in the defeat of the Germans in 1918: a great forgotten victory. But the war was clearly global in reach, whether it was the first to be so or not. In exchange, the Central Powers recognised the sovereignty of Romania over Bessarabia. However, throughout this period, British, French, and German tactics constantly evolved to meet new battlefield challenges. Weekly quiz: Who wore a balaclava at MTV's Europe awards? Along with the war chariot, bronze weapons, and new tactics, the Hyksos brought the advance of the composite bow. VideoIs American democracy in crisis? Publications at all critical of the government were removed from circulation by postal censors, and many served long prison sentences for statements of fact deemed unpatriotic.  The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. However, the pro-German King Constantine I dismissed the pro-Allied government of Eleftherios Venizelos before the Allied expeditionary force arrived. In 1917, Russian Grand Duke Nicholas assumed command of the Caucasus front. Because Russia's European ports were not safe, the corps was evacuated by a long detour via the port of Vladivostok. In return, the Germans would finance Mexico's war and help it recover the territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Communist and fascist movements around Europe drew strength from this theory and enjoyed a new level of popularity. For the first ten months of 1915, Austria-Hungary used most of its military reserves to fight Italy. The last of the German reserves were exhausted as 10,000 fresh American troops arrived every day. The Balkans came to be known as the "powder keg of Europe".  In Germany, food was scarce, but only 5% died.. On 1 August, after the Russian response, Germany mobilised and declared war on Russia. The German offensive in the West was officially titled Aufmarsch II West, but is better known as the Schlieffen Plan, after its original creator. , Italian nationalism was stirred by the outbreak of the war and was initially strongly supported by a variety of political factions. In all nations, the government's share of GDP increased, surpassing 50% in both Germany and France and nearly reaching that level in Britain. Gross domestic product (GDP) increased for three Allies (Britain, Italy, and the United States), but decreased in France and Russia, in neutral Netherlands, and in the three main Central Powers. World War I began after the assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand by South Slav nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Meanwhile, the French introduced the first tanks with a rotating turret, the Renault FT, which became a decisive tool of the victory.
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By J. Sharon Batteate
Camouflage, or protective coloration, in horses and other animals has taken many forms. Before proceeding into the types of striping seen in domestic horses today, some background information on camouflage may be of interest. In general, animals from forest or woodland environments tend to be darker, often with sections of the coat forming into spotted or striped patterns which mimic the effect of light filtering through trees. Animals from desert environments tend toward the yellowish, tan, or red hues, often with an agouti pattern in which each individual hair is striped or banded (rather than entire sections of the coat being striped), so that the animal now appears a non-striped, single color (monochrome), which blends better with sandy soils. Generally, there seems to be a tendency toward the non-striped agouti/monochrome coloration. Animals also migrate into different environments from which the root stock originally evolved. In these cases, the adults may eventually evolve and develop protective coloration to match their surroundings, but the young are often still born with the original primitive patterns from which they evolved. An example of this is the tapir, a living relative of the horse. Adult tapirs appear non-striped, but the young are born with light stripes on the body. Young lions are born with spotted and striped patterns, but become single/monochrome colored when they mature. Similarly, sometimes horse foals are born with primitive patterns and striping, which they loose as they mature.
Striping is believed to be the most ancient form of camouflage, and is believed to precede both spotted and monochrome type pattens. A striped appearance can be caused in several ways. One is by the clumping of darker pigmented areas into streaks, as seen in the stripes of tabby cats and tigers, and also in the dorsal stripes and barring on the legs of donkeys and dun factor horses. A striped appearance can also be achieved by the introduction of lighter or white bands of hair, as seen in zebras, as seen in nyala, okapi, and other types of antelopes, and in some roan horses.
Spotting patterns are produced from the disintegration or breaking up of stripes. Often spots are clearly arranged in rows, so you can still see the pattern of the original stripe. Civet cats are good examples of this, and often have stripes on the head, but spots on the body (see previous photo). In some leopard appaloosa horses, the spots also seem to form broken up stripes. The Quagga, an extinct form of zebra, was characterized by having stripes primarily only on the head and neck. On the body, the stripes were broken down into a wavy or mottled pattern, and then finally became a reddish brown monochrome pattern.
Monochrome and agouti like patterns result from the further breakdown of spots and stripes, so the body of the animal now appears to be mostly a single uniform color, although the face and back may still show some evidence of mottling or striping. Abyssinian cats are good examples of this process, as well as the above mentioned Quagga. Most of our horses today also exhibit monochrome type patterns, although on dun factor horses, some of the primitive striping still remains on the legs and down the back. The rest of the body, however, has gone the way of the Quagga, with any primitive striping having disintegrated into a monochrome pattern.
Another ancient camouflage technique is countershading. The animal is colored darker along the topline, and paler below, in order to counteract shadows caused by natural overhead light (which lights the top but causes shadows on the underside making the animal look three dimensional). Even on Zebras, the stripes are widest on the back, and smaller as they move toward the underside, so they exhibit countershading as well as disruptive striping for camouflage. In horses, the darker topline seen on mahogany bays and in the "seal brown" patten, and the colored back and sides, but almost white belly of the "blond sorrel" pattern, are examples of countershading. There have been no studies that I know of, to determine if one or several different genes may be involved in producing these different countershading patterns. "Mealy" (also called Pangare') may produce the blond sorrel, mealy muzzled bay and seal brown countershading patterns. "Sooty" (also called Smutty) may produce the sooty chestnut and palomino, smutty buckskin and dun, and mahogany bay and brown, countershading patterns.
There is not much genetic information available on striping for horses, but in mice, there are at least 6 different locus which produce striping patterns (usually called mottling in mice). At the "A" (Agouti) locus, striping has appeared in viable yellow, mottled agouti, and agouti suppressor mice. At the "C" locus, striping has appeared in chinchilla mottled mice. At the "P" locus, striping has appeared in pink eyed mottled and p unstable mice. Striping has also appeared in mice at the "Silver" locus, and "Pearl" locus. Striping also appears at the "Mo" locus (responsible for Mottled, Blotchy, Dappled, Brindle, and Tortoiseshell patterns), and the nearby "Ta"(Tabby) locus. Whether any of these genes may be similar and account for striping patterns in horses remains to be determined.
In 1988 Mary Jagow of Silver Cliff, Colorado, began organizing the International Striped Horse Association in order to collect information and register horses with striped patterns, and to study the various striping patterns in horses. The registry plans to catalog the unique striping patterns found among strains of domestic horses, with each breed having a separate code.
Mary Jagow, (719) 783-2683, can be reached at PO Box 209, Silver Cliff, CO 81249. They are currently working with four different types of striping ---- The registry was closed in 1999.
This is the type of primitive striping down the top of the back (also called dorsal stripe, spinal stripe, list, eel stripe, line back), accompanied by barring on the legs (also called leg bars, tiger, or zebra stripes), that is often associated with "dun" horses. The stripe down the back may be the remnant of a dorsal "mane", which the nyala antelope has to this day. This type of striping is often referred to as "dun factor markings" or "zebra markings." Most feel both the striping and dilution are a result of the same gene. However, there have been reported cases of "dun factor markings" without dilution. Most of these cases are probably mistaken examples of seal brown (darker) duns, or of countershading striping, which is not commonly recognized, and is often confused with dun factor markings. However, if some cases of dun factor markings without dilution are confirmed thru a study, it would mean the striping is probably actually inherited separately from the "D" dilution gene, but is somehow closely linked, for they are usually inherited together. The Dun factor gene changes black and dark brown into one of the many grulla shades (gray or brownish gray in which each hair is gray, not a mixture of white and dark hair which also looks gray). Various shades of bay become various shades of dun (if its a yellow body with black points, some people think of the color as buckskin). Sorrels and Chestnuts become apricot or red duns (some people call these colors claybank duns). Click here to see dun factor foal coat colors. Use Back Button (top of browser window) to return to this article from the link location.
A number of horses with the sooty/ smutty type of countershading pattern will also exhibit a form of striping. Some countershaded horses are so dark along the topline, that any sign of striping would be difficult to see. However, in some lighter seal browns, mahogany bays, smutty buckskins, etc. a form of striping along the topline can be seen that is different from Dun Factor striping. Sometimes the stripe is almost as distinct as a dun factor type stripe, but usually the stripe is more of a shaded stripe, sometimes only a partial stripe, and is usually not associated with leg barring. I have seen some cases of countershading striping that also have a faint leg shadowing that is best seen if shaded from direct sunlight, and is thus usually missed, and is very difficult to photograph. It is not the same as the barring seen on the legs of dun factor horses. Countershading striping does not have to be accompanied by a dilution as the dun factor type usually is. Sometimes the flank areas and neck areas show faint striping that can be seasonal. The dapple pattern may also break the countershaded areas up into streaked as well as splotched patterns. If foals are born red bay with this type of striping down their back, they usually mature mahogany bay or dark bay. Some retain the countershading stripe, but most seem to loose it as they mature, in contrast to the dun factor type of striping discussed above, which is permanent. Foals born a smokey pale gray color with countershading striping, will usually mature brown or black. They are often mistakenly registered as grulla. Foals born sorrel with countershading striping down their back, will usually mature a darker shade of chestnut. Click here to see countershading foal coat colors. Use Back Button (top of browser window) to return to this article from the link location.
Not all roans exhibit striping. Roan (varying amounts of white hair mixed into haircoat, except on the face, lower legs, mane, and tail) and Roaning (a ticking of white hairs in the coat, often originating in the flanks or top of the tail) seem to be genetically distinct. Roan has been assigned to the "Rn" locus as a dominant gene. Roaning (white ticking, rabicano) has had no studies done that I know of. Some have said it may be a variation of the "sabino" spotting pattern, or it may turn out to have its own locus.
In one type of Roan Striping, there appears to be faint thin vertical stripes on the sides of the ribs in which the white hairs do not appear. It is usually accompanied by a coon/squaw/skunk tail showing horizontal bands of striping at the top of the tail. This type usually seems to be associated with roaning/rabicano types of roans. Sometimes the pattern is very minimal, with only a sprinkling of hairs in the flank and at the top of the tail.
We also see another type of striping in not only roan, but also in appaloosa, and sometimes gray horses. They don't have bands of striping in the tail, and the stripes over the ribs seem to be broader, similar to stripes seen over the ribs of some dun factor horses. Thus, this type of roan striping may eventually prove to be the interaction of roan with other types of primitive striping that have partially disintegrated.
Brindle seems be the rarest stripe variation in horses. Brindle also appears in dogs and cattle, although apparently due to different causes. Some dogs only exhibit slight brindling, others are profusely marked. The origin in horses is unknown, although examples have reportedly been found in Arabians, Thoroughbreds, Mustangs, Quarter Horses, Bavarian Warmbloods, Spanish horses, horses in the Netherlands, and one specimen in Russia was considered so unique that when he died he was preserved and put in a museum. For more information on the brindle pattern, click highlighted type to visit the site for Brindle Horses at http://members.aol.com/brindlehos/index.htm
This article was originally published in 4-BEAT MAGAZINE (SPRING 1993) vol.3-no.1,pg 30. 4-BEAT MAGAZINE, PO Box 1079, Three Forks, MT 59752.
This article was revised for this web site © Feb 1997, J. Sharon Batteate, (209) 477-1536, PO Box 8535, Stockton, CA 95208 USA. e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org
The pictures and information on this site are for informational purposes, in order to educate people on various forms of striping and primitive patterns. The pictures and information on this site are copyrighted. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holders.


Vitamins And Minerals And Their Roles
Vitamins are somewhat controversial as there are two sides to an argument as as to whether our diets in North America have enough vitamins or not. It turned out that the volunteers with the bottom B12 and C Levels scored worst on the reminiscence take a look at. Vitamin A deficiency will lead to the drying, scaling, and follicular thickening of the pores and skin. Vitamin D Vitamin D can be one kind of vitamin that’s present in animal meals, reminiscent of fish, eggs, milk, and different dairy products, like cheese.
If you take the suitable vitamins along with your eating regimen – you’ll find that your well being and energy will all the time will remain at their high levels of performance. If you happen to choose your vitamins and supplements wisely – you may discover them to be the right addition to a healthy diet. This manner, you possibly can select your vitamin supplements accordingly – and know surely that there will probably be no long run unwanted effects or problems. Many of these vitamins are supplied by taking a very good every day multi-vitamin and from eating a nutritious diet.
Vitamin D might help calcium metabolism and mineralization skin will soon produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight (ultraviolet rays). Together with preventing cholesterol from damaging the body, vitamin C additionally helps vitamin E with it’s capabilities – equivalent to protecting your arteries and your heart.
Vitamin B2, also called riboflavin, deficiencies are related to an elevated production of sebum (oil produced by the hair follicles). Subsequent time you walk down the skincare aisle on the retailer, take a look to see if these four helpful vitamins are components of your favorite merchandise.
The very first thing most health professionals will let you know to do in an effort to preserve your skin healthy is to limit your exposure to the sun’s dangerous ultraviolet (UV) rays and wear protecting sunscreen when you’re exposed to daylight.


The rhino population of South Africa has been in danger for years because of poachers killing for horns. Criminal groups are hunting down these endangered animals because an average rhino horn can fetch upwards of $150,000, or six times the price of a bar of gold.
Is Dehorning the Answer?
The horns are mainly being purchased by Asian countries like Vietnam, who falsely sell the ground up horns as a cure for cancer, enhanced virility, or even as a hangover remedy. While the rhino population keeps decreasing in numbers, conservationists have decided to take a drastic step forward — by cutting off horns before poachers can get to them. Rhino horns are made up of keratin (same protein that makes up human hair and fingernails) and will eventually grow back over time, so this practice will not hurt the rhinos. Park rangers are tranquilizing the rhinos, blindfolding them, and then sawing of their horns in hopes that it will deter poachers from killing them.
Banning Sales Would Be Better
There is also another major issue affecting the fate of the rhinos right now. Recently, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal overturned a moratorium on the sale of rhino horns domestically. Reversing a seven-year ban on domestic rhino horn sales, the court ruled in favor of rhino ranchers who wish to sell their stockpiles within the country. While an international ban is still in place on the sale of horns, the ruling still has many activists concerned that this decision will only open the door further to poachers looking to cash in on the precious horns.
To hold up the ruling of the Supreme Court, Minister of the Department of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa appealed the Supreme Court’s decision on June 8, 2016, which has temporarily put a stop to the court’s decision to lift the moratorium.
Another concern is the border between Mozambique and South Africa at Kruger National Park. Mozambique is where the majority poachers are coming from. The fence at the boundary separating the two countries has been trampled by elephants and rhinos, which rangers are saying is making Kruger into a “poacher’s paradise.”
While it seems like there is nothing but bad news, there are also positive things happening. A group of 26 women called the Black Mambas are helping armed guards patrol the Balue reserve to stop poachers. Since 2013, the Black Mambas have had an important role in the 76% reduction of the poaching inside the reserve.
There is also a man with a big vision to help save the rhinos in an unconventional way. Ray Dearlove, a former South African retiree who emigrated to Australia 30 years ago, is in the process of airlifting 80 rhinos to Australia. He is hoping that an ocean between poachers and rhinos will help save the population, and also allow for the population to grow bigger numbers without poachers.
The latest news from South Africa’s rhino population may seem depressing, but activists, rangers, and organizations alike are stepping up efforts to stop poaching. From dehorning rhinos before the poachers can get to them, to the Black Mambas patrolling the Balue, I hope that over the next few years I will be able to write positive news about our beloved rhinos.
Click here to read my previous article on the issue of rhino poaching in South Africa.