Joshua/Judges Week 1
A Book About Land
Mark Twain once wrote, facetiously, that a “classic” could be defined as a book that people praise but don’t actually read. I’m afraid, then, the Bible has become a “classic”! No doubt the Bible can be intimidating — my study Bible is more than 2,000 pages of text with very tiny font.
I suspect the problem is more with the content, though, than with the length. Christians naturally cherish the great faith of the patriarchs in Genesis, the beauty of the Psalms, the wisdom of the Proverbs, the hopeful prophecies of Isaiah, the inspirational stories of Jesus in the Gospels, and the richly complex discourses by St. Paul.
Books like Joshua — well, they may be the reason why the Bible has become a “classic.” Joshua is not about “salvation” or “heaven” or “peace with God” in the ways we expect of a religious book. Joshua is about land. It is about land for Israel. Aren’t Christians supposed to be citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20)? No wonder Joshua seems antiquated and irrelevant. When viewed all by itself, as an isolated story, Israel’s taking of the land of Canaan might seem dull and irrelevant. However, the book of Joshua is not the beginning of a story, but the middle of a story that goes all the way back to Genesis. And everyone likes sequels, right?
Episode One: Paradise Lost
The Bible begins (“Genesis” literally means “beginning”) with humans in a garden, a paradise. God does not “plant” these creatures to relax and vacation in the garden, but to rule. Adam and Eve are vice regents, governors over the earth by the authority of God. They are commissioned to see the garden of Eden flourish. When we read about God walking around in Eden (can you imagine that!?) in Genesis 3:8, we get the sense that, while he owns the whole world, he has made Eden his special residence, the capital of the earth — his temple-garden [see Author’s Note 1].
When Adam and Eve sin and betray their God, they are expelled from Eden (Genesis 3:24). Not only is Eden shut down (with an armed cherubim guard at the east entrance), but Genesis 4–11 narrates the grim tale of the reverberations of this act of rebellion, traveling outward across the earth until God is forced to send the mighty, destructive waters to cover the whole land, as if to “undo” creation and start over.
Episode Two: The Hope of Promise
The first part of the story is sour indeed, but Genesis 12 offers a new beginning. The LORD calls out to a man from Ur and says, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing …. [I]n you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–2). Abram, who is later dubbed by God “Abraham” (“Father of many nations”), is given a promise of being blessed by God. This blessing is not just to inflate his self-esteem, but to bless all families — to begin the process of restoration, reconciliation, and healing for all — beginning with this one man.
A big part of that plan and promise is land. The “Promised Land.” While many of us are familiar with this terminology, it should probably be kept in mind that this is short for something like “The Promised-by-God-to-Abraham-for-the-Blessing-of-the-Whole-World Land.” (The two-word version is catchier and a bit easier to say, I admit.)
A few chapters later in Genesis, the LORD makes known, in more detail, which land He has promised: “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites” (Genesis 15:18b–21).
Another important description used of the land is its fertility, abundance, and luxury — a land “flowing with milk and honey” (see Leviticus 20:24; Joshua 5:6), another paradise. This would be the New Eden, that garden-like land where God will pitch his tabernacle (temple-tent) and “walk around” with his people, just as he used to do in Eden (Genesis 3:8).
However, like any good story, the protagonists (the people of Israel) face many obstacles and hardships in the pursuit of this divine promise of land, national strength, and blessing. The fulfillment lies dormant for many years as Israel lies trapped in Egypt under the thumb of Pharaoh. Through the destiny of a Jewish baby riding on the waves of the Nile (Moses), the LORD is setting the next phase of his redemptive and restorative plan in motion.
The story of Moses’ awakening comes to a climax in his encounter with the God of the burning bush: “I have observed the misery of my people … and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites ….” (Exodus 3:8).
The God of the fiery bush becomes the God of the fiery pillar who guided his people out of Egypt, to Mount Sinai to receive the covenantal law (Torah), and to the border of the Promised Land (Exodus 13–Deuteronomy 34:12).
Episode Three: Receiving the Land of Promise
The book of Joshua is that climactic journey in which Israel takes hold of God’s promise and gains control of the land of Canaan. I am reminded of the final book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy when Frodo and Sam are finally at the land of Mordor, where they were sent to destroy the evil “One Ring.” All of the journeys and battles of the previous stories led up to this one moment. While success in the prior trials and tribulations was necessary, this last test is most difficult of all.
So it is with Canaan. At the end of Deuteronomy, Israel stares at this land of inheritance from the LORD, a land they possess, and yet they must be single-minded in their claiming of this promise despite intimidating opposition and the seductive temptations of greed and idolatry. This “episode” divides into four parts.
- Entry Into the Land (1:1–5:12)
- Possession of the Land (5:13–12:24)
- Division of the Land (13:1–21:45)
- Worship of the LORD in the Land (22:1–24:33)
While the story of the claiming of Canaan has its high points and low points, as all good stories do, the end of the book of Joshua recounts the (short-lived) fulfillment of the renewed commitment of Israel to obey their one Lord:
So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances … Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel (24:28, 31).
Required Accessories: Shovel or Popcorn?
I have described the book of Joshua above as a drama, a narrative, a tale — as if it were a good novel or movie. That raises the question: what kind of book is the book of Joshua? This is an important question because the way we approach a book often determines what we want out of it and what kinds of things we seek to learn from it. My wife likes documentaries, but they are “entertaining” in an entirely different way from a good Martin Scorsese film. Should we approach Joshua as a history book, shovel in hand, hoping to learn about the ancient cities of Jericho or the Negev? Or do we just sit back (popcorn in hand) and learn from the themes of the story, without really taking any interest in whether any of this really “happened”?
Scholars have battled over this very question, arguing over whether books like Joshua are “myth” or “history.” This is an extremely complex discussion that goes far beyond what we can treat here, but I will argue briefly for a third option that avoids the either-or approach.
On the one hand, Israel undoubtedly believed that what they were recording in books like Joshua was the real deeds of their saving God. On the other hand, the Israelites were not setting out to write a neutral, “objective” report of “the facts” — their record was not part of their “annals of history” that was to be deposited in a library and consulted in history class and used for game show questions. The recording and retelling of these stories was supposed to be theologically instructive and inspirational.
To give a modern example, we have the movie genre of the “biopic” — an artistic movie that focuses on the life of a real, historical person. It is built into the DNA of the genre to present as much historically accurate information as possible, whether of President Kennedy (JFK), Nelson Mandela (Invictus), or Mark Zuckerberg (The Social Network).
These are not documentaries, though. They are plot-driven, inspiring stories where a writer and director collaborate to inform, move, and persuade an audience. Characters, events, and crises are highlighted towards these ends. Sometimes, artistic license is necessary to convey the central message. However, an abuse of this license would naturally detract from the importance of telling a story about a real person, their real experiences, and the real failures and victories that made that story famous.
Readers of Joshua, accepting this analogy, should be cautioned against treating it as a simplistic fable to warm the heart. The writer(s) take great care in giving details that set this story in real places at real times with real people.
At the same time, due attention should be given to the story and its plot, characterization, themes, and lessons. One scholar refers to this kind of genre as “leaning history” — the placing of an audience before a series of historical events on a theological trajectory. We set forth this theological direction of Joshua below as a mixture of “the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
The Good …
The book of Joshua is about land, but it is most importantly about the fulfillment of God’s promise to make things right through Israel. Set before the Israelites is the daunting task of successfully taking the land of the Canaanites. They must trust in their God — that he knows what he is doing, and that he will guide them and protect them in this impossible mission. Regularly throughout the text, they must lean on the divine promise: “I will be with you” (1:5; 3:7; 7:12).
… The Bad …
While Israel eventually enters the land and claims it as their inheritance, there are clearly points where they failed to fix their eyes on their God. Woven through the story are moments of greed, infidelity, and vacillation. One of the key themes expressed in many Old Testament books, including Joshua, is the idea that the Most High God graciously includes his human creatures as agents in his plan of redemption and restoration. Not everyone lives up to this great privilege.
… And the Ugly
For modern readers of Joshua, the way that Israel wages war and ostensibly annihilates whole groups of people is inexplicable at best. Why would God choose a land for Israel to possess that requires them to kill the inhabitants? If he is God, why wouldn’t he convince the Canaanites to leave? Or drive them out by famine or storm? Why not spare the women? I would not dare to offer a simple answer as a panacea for this problem, though we will address it in due course.
Remembering the God of Promise
It is helpful to take the perspective that, though the book is called “Joshua” and Joshua is the primary leader from beginning to end, the focus remains on the God of Joshua, the God of promise. When Israel obeys and succeeds, it underscores the LORD’s going ahead and providential care. When Israel sins and fails, the LORD disciplines according to his covenant, but he is always ready to forgive and restore. While the biblical book is named after a man, Joshua, his name means “Yahweh saves (or rescues).” The divine name Yahweh is explained in Exodus 3:14, where the LORD tells Moses his personal name, which means “I AM WHO I AM” — and who is he?
As “Joshua” attests, he is the God who saves.
Questions for Further Reflection
- By and large, Joshua is about “land.” There are many famous movies and novels about the taking or defending of land. Can you think of any? Why do you suppose this theme is so important to human experience?
- How is the language “Promised Land” used in modern parlance (in a nonreligious, metaphorical sense)?
- Some of you may have read Joshua before, others just a bit, and others none at all. Regardless of where you are on this continuum, what ideas and stories do you associate with this book? Is your gut reaction to this book primarily positive or negative? What do you hope to learn through engaging with the text in this series?
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.


Contaminants in imported spices
Updated: Aug 25
Results of heavy metals and pesticides in imported dried spices
(MPI testing New Zealand 2012)
New Zealand imports more than 2 million kilograms of spices each year. Only a very small amount of spices is produced domestically. Spices are subjected to a range of processing steps including cultivation and harvesting, drying, winnowing, transport, finish drying, grinding, packing, fumigation and storage. Most of these steps have the potential to introduce chemical contaminants into the spices. Environmental pollution is also a major cause of contamination in the food chain.
No. of samples collected for the test:
Curry powder 16
Garam Masala 17
The following table shows the test results for each spice - from the lowest to the highest numbers detected.
Especially concerning was the high amount of lead in the cinnamon samples - 10 of the 16 tested samples were very high.
An additional concern with imported spices is that they may be fumigated with Methyl Bromide when they enter New Zealand and pests are detected.
Methyl Bromide is a highly toxic gas that is used to prevent pests and diseases. It is toxic to our nervous system and is a developmental and reproductive toxin.
It may be used to fumigate commodities like grains, rice, spices, fruit and vegetables as well as containers arriving and departing NZ.
Nuts and spices have the following allowed Methyl Bromide residue levels:
Nuts 200 mg/kg
Spices 400 mg/kg
Since most of us only use very small amounts of spices, there is no need to panic.
With that said, spices are not the only contaminated food we eat. If you consider the amount of contaminants we consume every day - from conventional fruit and veggies, dairy products, grains, meats etc - there is little doubt that the wide range of toxins and pollutants can alter our epigenome, resulting in increased susceptibility to a host of different diseases.
Ministry for Primary Industries NZ: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/4049/send


- Government cannot invest, only spend money collected in taxes. Know that investment occurs when a person uses their own money for advantage. The government has no money other than what is collected in tax, which still belongs to taxpayers.
- The only source of tax revenue is the private, profit-making sector of the U.S. economy.
- No government employee pays taxes, only recycles taxes paid by the private sector.
- Only Congress, the House of Representatives specifically, can appropriate tax money (with Senate concurrence) for government spending.
There is a confluence of fiscal policy change that may occur at the end of 2012 that will create this Taxmageddon. A July report prepared by Ernst & Young on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of America, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, S Corporation Association and National Federation of Independent Business describes tax-law changes that can occur the first day of 2013.
The E&Y analysis describes impacts on “flow-through businesses,” S corporations, LLCs, sole proprietorships and partnerships. The predictions are not good. These are the companies, probably like yours, that cumulatively pay 44% of all business income taxes and employ 54% of private-sector workers. Four classes of provisions will increase the tax rates: 1.) two top income tax rates go from 33 to 36% and 35 to 39.6%; 2.) limitations on itemized deductions; 3.) taxation of dividends as ordinary income at 39.6% and 20% on capital gains; 4.) increase of Medicare tax from 2.9 to 3.8%.
These are the business taxes to which personal tax increases are added. The top tax rates on ordinary income will rise from 35 to 40.9%, on dividends from 15 to 44.7% and on capital gains from 15 to 24.7%. Therefore, these new and higher taxes that begin Jan. 1, 2013, increase the average marginal tax rate (AMTR) on business, wages and investment income for wages by 5%, flow through business income by 6.4%, interest by 16.5%, dividends by 157.1% and capital gains by 39.3%.
This is certain to result in a smaller American economy, fewer jobs, less investment and lower wages. The real, long-term economic consequences mean lower national output and living standards. It is forecast that output will fall by 1.3% (or $200 billion), employment will fall 0.5% (or about 710,000 fewer jobs), capital stock and investment will fall by 1.4% and 2.4% respectively, and after-tax wages will fall by 1.8% in 2013. These impacts are predicted to bleed into 2014 and beyond.
This report from E&Y is quite objective but primarily addresses economic effects on high-income taxpayers. Many other commentators, however, have equally dire predictions. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Senate on July 24 that if these tax hikes happen “recession would occur early next year and about one-and-a-quarter million fewer jobs would be created in 2013.”
Dr. Allen Sinai, economic forecaster and notable financial guru, thinks that these increases “would reduce growth to zero for years.” Former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin released a late July study opining that this tax-policy course would “cause a 6% drop in GDP, a 2% rise in unemployment, with 2.8 million more unemployed people.” According to the publication MarketWatch, 65% of global investors and 71% of U.S. survey respondents believe that “the fiscal cliff will cause significant uncertainty in markets for the rest of the year.”
With these tax increases are other expiring tax conditions that include: a payroll tax cut, the Child Tax Credit reduced from $1,000 to $500 per child, marriage penalty, alternative minimum tax, 100% business expensing and the American Opportunity Tax Credit. The new health-care-tax increases take effect in 2013 and continue growing each year. And all of this comes at a time when the business community is seeking some certainties in tax policies and honesty from legislators. Both political parties and most politicians “on the stump” want to see all this anxiety stifled until after the November elections.
As a directly affected American – personally and in whatever business role – a mandatory act for survival is that you clean the government houses, White House and both bodies of Congress. It’s time to push the reset button for America.IH


MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) are planning to establish “rice gardens” in selected elementary and high schools in Metro Manila.
DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro introduced the project, tentatively called “Palayan sa Paaralan,” at a rice harvesting ceremony at the Rizal Park last Nov. 26, during which 39 students from various schools took part in harvesting rice at the park’s 300-square-meter rice garden. The ceremony was held as part of Rice Awareness Month.
Luistro said the project will be initiated in 2013, which has been proclaimed by President Aquino as the National Year of Rice. Officials said 2013 has also been set as the target year for the country to attain self-sufficiency in this commodity which the Philippines has been perennially importing to meet the food needs of its burgeoning population.
Rizal Park’s rice garden was set up in 2001 and is tended year-round by PhilRice. Officials sad the garden was conceived in response to the observation that “many Filipinos, especially city dwellers, grew old not knowing how rice is grown or, worse, (what) it looks like.”


With few exceptions, most whites at the turn of the 20th century received a minimal education especially if they lived in outlying areas such as Draaifontein / De Stades area which both of my grandparents did. Most residents of Port Elizabeth assume that as both the Grey Institute and Collegiate Girls’ School had been operational for at least 25 years that most children would have attended them or alternatively that other schools of similar ability were readily available.
I would hate to disabuse you but taking the McCleland family as an exemplar, that idyll is far from reality. This is the story of one family, one school and one village.
Main picture: The Mount Pleasant Primary School in 1904
History of the township
The farm Buffelsfontein was granted to Theunis Botha, one of the insurgents involved in the Van Jaarsveld Rebellion, in 1776. In 1816, the property was inherited by his son, Jacobus Theodorus Botha who died in 1854. He was the husband of Hermina Botha who was the brother of Berry who at some stage owned Baakens River Farm, which today comprises the suburbs of Sunridge Park, Glen Hurd, Fern Glen, and Newton Park. If one takes into account that the original Buffelsfontein Farm stretched from Maitland Mines to Mount Pleasant, between the Bothas and Berrys they owned a substantial portion of the land to the west of Port Elizabeth.
By 1854, George Wood was the owner of Buffelsfontein. In 1858 he subdivided it and sold them. Amongst these subdivisions were Mount Pleasant and Emerald Hill. Charles Lovemore purchased two one of which became Heatherbank. Amongst the purchasers was John Glen who named this portion Mount Pleasant. As can be imagined, Mount Pleasant was in the centre of a farming community but this was to change. In 1904 the movie magnet, J.W. Schlesinger, bought the ground for £300 from one George Harrison with the intention of developing property on it. With swaths of undeveloped land such as Newton Park and Fairview closer to town, one wonders what Schlesinger’s rationale was.
History of the eponymous school
While the world was preparing for the First World War, a few parents had more immediate concerns on their minds. Foremost amongst them was the plan to establish a school in Mount Pleasant. Records indicate that the first batch of pupils comprised 13 children who enrolled with a teacher, Miss I Short. It must be remembered that when the school was established, Mount Pleasant was a small village with Walmer being the nearest “town”.
The school building was of the Wood & Iron type and consisted of one room situated on the corner of High and Gladys Streets. This method of construction was cheap, but it did represent one significant drawback due to its corrugated iron roof; in summer one sweltered and in winter one froze. My brother informs me that to cool the temperature, the low tech solution was to place mud on the corrugated one. This building was last used in 1956 when it was demolished and presumably replaced by a more appropriate building.
Link to the McCleland family
Uncertainties abounded in the McCleland household in the early 1900s. On two occasions my grandfather’s attempts at farming had been thwarted by disaster. First he had lost his crops in the 1905 flood in the Gamtoos valley and then it was the turn of the Rinderpest to destroy his dairy herd at De Stades in 1913/1914.
In all probability my grandparents had been humbled by the experience but fortunately Harry William McCleland had married a feisty woman. Elizabeth Daisy Beckley might have been short in stature but as they say, dynamite comes in small packages. What she did not know yet was that she had drawn the short straw in life and, as such, she would have to marshal all her energy and wit to survive. But that is another story for another day.
Normally the birth of children is regarded as a welcome addition to the family but by the time of the rinderpest, the latest “welcome” addition had arrived, my father, the fourth such welcome arrival.
Circa 1914 the family packed their scanty baggage and set off to seek fame & fortune in Mount Pleasant. With none to minimal education, my grandfather would have to pull the metaphorical cat out of the bag, to feed and clothe the family. In Mount Pleasant they found accommodation close to the Priory probably in a wood and iron house.
What I am definitely aware of is that of the children of school going, only Kathleen did attend Sub B at the Mount Pleasant Primary School. Thelma, her elder sister did do so but as there is no record to confirm confirm her attaenndance, one must assume that she did not. The only reason why I am certain of Kathleen’s attendance is that her attendance record has survived. Kathleen only received one years’ education at this school as the family subsequently relocated to Schoenmakerskop. At this time, Schoenmakerskop had not yet been declared a village. Consequential there were no substantial houses but what can be termed holiday shacks and shanties. Having resolved the accomodation problem, it was now that the issue of schooling was raise its ugly head. This aspect of life was even more problematical and due to lack of money, more intractible.. The solution was to ship Kathleen and my father off to school at Alexandra. But that solution posed its own problems; some life long.
Sylvia Rosemary MacGeoghegan (nee Wood) -daughter of Kathleen Wood and granddaughter of Elizabeth Daisy McCleland
Gazetteer of the Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage Divisions of the old Cape Colony compiled by Bartle Logie & Margaret Harradine [2014, Historical Society of Port Elizabeth]
The Algoa Gazetteer 1993 by CJ Skead [1993, Algoa Regional Services Council]


Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.
II. Unauthorized Migrants: The Numbers
How the estimates are formulated
Neither the Census Bureau nor any other U.S. government agency counts the unauthorized migrant population or defines its demographic characteristics based on specific enumeration. The “residual method” is, however, a widely-accepted methodology for estimating the size and certain characteristics, such as age and national origins, of the undocumented population based on official data. This methodology essentially subtracts the estimated legal-immigrant population from the total foreign-born population and treats the residual as a source of data on the unauthorized migrant population (Passel, Van Hook, and Bean 2004).
The estimates reported here are based on this methodology applied to data from the March 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS, a monthly survey of about 50,000 households conducted jointly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, is best known as the source for monthly unemployment statistics. Every March both the sample size and the questionnaire of the CPS are augmented to produce the Annual Social and Economic Supplement, which provides additional data on several additional subjects, including the foreign-born population. See “Note on Methods and Terminology” below for definitions, data sources, and methods. A report based on data from the March 2004 CPS was published by the Center on June 14, 2005 and can be accessed at the following link: Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics
This methodology uses the term “unauthorized migrant” to mean a person who resides in the United States, but who is not a U.S. citizen, has not been admitted for permanent residence, and is not in a set of specific authorized temporary statuses permitting longer-term residence and work. (See Passel, Van Hook, and Bean 2004 for further discussion.) Two groups account for the vast majority of this population: (a) those who entered the country without valid documents, including people crossing the Southwestern border clandestinely; and (b) those who entered with valid visas but overstayed their visas’ expiration or otherwise violated the terms of their admission. Some individuals in our estimated unauthorized migrant population initially belonged to one of these groups but have obtained a temporary legal authorization to live and work in the United States. These individuals, many of whom are likely to revert to an unauthorized status, include migrants with temporary protected status (TPS) and others with unresolved asylum claims. Together they may account for as much as 10% of the estimate. In assessing potential programs for dealing with the unauthorized population, it seems appropriate to treat the quasi-legal group as part of the unauthorized program since a significant share of this group would probably be eligible to participate in any program that might lead to regularization of their status, such as a temporary worker program or an earned legalization program. (For an opposite view, see Martin 2005.)
As of March 2005, there were an estimated 11.1 million unauthorized migrants living in the United States. A comparison to past estimates derived with the same methodology shows that the undocumented population has grown rapidly in recent years. There were 8.4 million unauthorized migrants living in the United States in April 2000 according to estimates derived from Census 2000 (Passel, Van Hook, and Bean 2004). Thus, average annual growth over the 5-year period since 2000 was more than 500,000 per year. This number reflects the number of new unauthorized migrants arriving minus those who either die, return to their country of origin, or gain legal status. Data from the monthly Current Population Surveys conducted since March 2005, as well as other evidence such as the number of apprehensions by the Border Patrol, indicate that the unauthorized flow is continuing. Assuming that the rate of growth evident between Census 2000 and the March 2005 CPS held steady, the best estimate for March 2006 is between 11.5 million and 12 million for the current number of unauthorized migrants.
Most unauthorized migrants arrived in the past decade
More than 40% of the unauthorized population in 2005 or 4.4 million persons had been in the country since 2000 (Figure 1). Another 26% or 2.9 million people in the 2005 estimate arrived in the 5 years before that. Thus, about two-thirds of unauthorized migrants have been in the country less than 10 years.
The March 2005 estimates are consistent with earlier findings which show that the pace of the unauthorized arrivals accelerated at the end of the 1990s and the early years of this decade (Passel and Suro 2005). Between 2000 and 2005 the number of new arrivals averaged 850,000 a year. Note that this number is higher than the annual net increase to the population because it only measures the number of unauthorized migrants being added to the population and does not subtract the number who either die, return home or gain legal status.
The unauthorized are 30% of the foreign born population
The foreign-born population totaled 37 million in the March 2005 estimates, including: 11.5 million naturalized citizens (31%), 10.5 million legal permanent resident (LPR) aliens (28%), 2.6 million refugees (7%) and 1.3 million temporary legal migrants such as students and temporary workers (3%). The rest of the foreign-born population 11.1 million or 30% are unauthorized migrants.[Note that some of the 2.6 million refugees have naturalized. If the refugees are grouped with LPRs and naturalized citizens, LPRs represent 11.8 million or 32% of all immigrants and naturalized citizens account for 12.8 million or 35%.]
National origins: Mexico dominates the flow
Most unauthorized migrants come from Mexico. There were 6.2 million unauthorized migrants from Mexico in 2005, or 56% of the total, according to the CPS-based estimates (Figure 4). The Mexican-born population in the United States, including both legal and unauthorized migrants, has grown by about 500,000 people a year for the past decade. Of the Mexican migrants in the U.S. less than 10 years, the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that approximately 80 to 85% are unauthorized.
About 2.5 million unauthorized migrants had come from the rest of Latin America in 2005, with most of those from Central America. Taken together, unauthorized migrants from Mexico and Latin America represented 78% of the unauthorized population in 2005. There were about 1.5 million unauthorized migrants from the Asian continent in 2005, representing about 13% of the total. Europe and Canada accounted for 600,000, or 6%, and Africa and other countries for about 400,000, or 3%.
While the shares from different regions have hardly changed in the last few years, between 2000 and 2005, the number of unauthorized Mexicans increased by 1.5 million, from 4.7 million to 6.2 million (Figure 5). During the same time period, the number of unauthorized migrants from Central America increased by 465,000, to 1.4 million; those from South and East Asia by 365,000, to 1.4 million; and those from South American by 160,000, to 705,000.


As labor unions began to form and employees began to organize and voice their complaints to the widespread injustice they faced, an interest in the value of the human worker was sparked and the law began to change. Both employers and employees saw the value in a system where the costs of litigation could be kept down and injuries could be quickly compensated, but there had to be a tradeoff in order for the system to work. Employers would have to agree to compensate injuries on a no-fault basis, and workers to give up their right to sue. In exchange, the idea of Workers’ Compensation was born.
Who Influenced the Development of the Workers’ Compensation System?
One influential character in what is known as the “Progressive Movement” towards a system of Workers’ Compensation in the U.S. was Crystal Eastman. A Massachusetts born lawyer, feminist and journalist, Eastman was offered her first job, investigating labor conditions, for The Pittsburg Survey in 1907. Her report, Work Accidents and the Law, published in 1910, had a big impact on the already hot topic of working conditions in America. Her work highlighted the inherent problems with the negligence based compensation system in place, which often favored employers and left workers without any redress. She also focused on the many benefits of making workers’ compensation a preventative program, which would ultimately favor large employers and provide workers with some protection in case of injury. Ultimately, her work was seen as changing the negative attitude businesses had towards workers’ compensation and paving the way for the system to develop.
How Did Workman’s Compensation Change?
Ultimately, both big businesses, labor unions, and workers agreed that a compromise in order to protect the rights of workers and lower costs was necessary. The Workers’ Compensation System offered both by utilizing a no-fault based insurance program where employees could collect a certain amount of money for specific injuries. In exchange, employees would not sue their employer in court for the injury. After 1910, the enactment of workers’ compensation systems quickly spread through the U.S., with all but six states adopting the regulations by 1920.
Contact an Experienced Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyer
If you or someone you know has been injured while at work, our firm works with experienced Workers’ Compensation Attorneys here in Massachusetts. You may be entitled to collect for workers’ compensation benefits for lost wages, medical bills and possibly a lump sum settlement, among other benefits. No fees are received unless you win your case. For a free (no obligation) case evaluation, call us toll free at 1-800-992-6878. You may also fill out our contact form online.


Who was David Sarnoff?
David Sarnoff (1891-1971) was not an inventor, an engineer, or a scientist. Instead, as a corporate manager and executive he championed the development of broadcast communications. He advocated, supported, financed, and oversaw the development of radio in the 1910s and 1920s, and then television from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Sarnoff first proposed the concept of broadcast radio in 1915. At that time, more than half of the American population lived in towns of less than 5,000 people; information arrived through newspapers, magazines, mail order catalogs, personal correspondence, and word of mouth. Today, there are nearly 13,000 AM and FM radio stations in the United States, and thousands more abroad, as well as nearly 20,000 internet radio stations.
Sarnoff formally introduced RCA’s electronic monochrome television system in 1939 and the world’s first electronic color television system in 1946. In 2000 there were over 1,600 television stations in the United States. Only since 1990 have more households acquired complete plumbing facilities than televisions. Some 900 million people watch color TV around the world, and the color picture tubes used for television and computer screens, as well as the first liquid crystal displays, were invented at RCA Laboratories.
Under Sarnoff’s leadership, RCA scientists and engineers also made important contributions to the electronic revolution of the 20th century. Along with Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the RCA Labs in Princeton were responsible for inventing or innovating nearly every device that enabled the birth of Silicon Valley, from video displays and CCD cameras to electron microscopy and the integrated circuit. David Sarnoff and RCA were key figures in the emergence of both the modern electronics industry and the information age.


Are hydrogen powered trains the future of rail?
Could this silent, sustainably powered, low-emission train be the first of a new wave of environmentally-friendly rail transport solutions?
Alstom call their new Coradia iLint the ‘train of the future’. It certainly could be, given that it’s the world’s first passenger train powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, capable of almost noiseless traction with no emissions apart from water as steam.
The Coradia iLint was first presented to the world at the Innotrans rail industry trade fair in 2016. It is the world’s first, and as yet, only, hydrogen fuel cell passenger train and Alstom believes it could initiate a new movement in the industry towards hydrogen-powered trains.
The overall design is based on Alstom’s successful Coradia Lint diesel train, available in single car or articulated two or three car units. High-strength stainless steel is used in the car shells as it is corrosion resistant and longer lasting than other materials. High-strength steel enables the use of thinner gauges and thus helps to reduce weight. High strength steel’s ability to deliver the required toughness at a lower weight means lower carbon emissions and improved fuel efficiency.
The train’s fuel cell sits on top of the roof of the vehicle, utilising gaseous hydrogen supplied from a mobile hydrogen filling station. This is pumped into a pressure tank, also situated on the roof, which feeds the fuel cell. The hydrogen is currently sourced from industry as a by-product, but Alstom hopes to produce hydrogen, via electrolysis, from wind power in the near future.
The electricity generated by the fuel cell provides the power for traction with only water emitted as steam. Excess electricity is stored in lithium ion batteries located beneath the vehicle. Next to the battery set is an auxiliary converter that supplies electricity to various on-board systems.
The iLint’s fuel cell only works when the vehicle is accelerating, powering down when it brakes, thereby saving hydrogen, and managed by the train’s smart energy management system and its flexible energy storage capacity.
The electricity generated by the fuel cell provides the power for traction with only water emitted as steam.
The train has a low-floor so it’s easy to access, and it generates little sound, thereby reducing noise nuisance for local communities. Given that the iLint can travel for up to 1,000 miles on a single tank of hydrogen, travelling at speeds of up to 140kph, Alstom believes it is ideal for non-electrified routes.
The iLint was designed by Alstom at the company’s Salzgitter site in Lower Saxony, Germany, with the traction system and brakes designed separately at two sites in France, at Tarbes and Ornans. The vehicle’s first successful test took place in March 2017 at Salzgitter, followed by further tests at Velim in the Czech Republic. It is now fully commissioned, with electrical and pneumatic systems tested and the vehicles battery, pressure tank and fuel cell certified by TÜV Süd.
The aim is for Coradia iLint to replace existing diesel multiple units, such as those currently operating between Bremervörde, Bremerhaven and Cuxhaven where 14 units will take over from December 2021, operated by Elbe-Weser-Verkehrsbetriebe (evb). A trial run on the evb network is due to commence in the Spring.
Safe, silent, and sustainably powered; the future of rail travel has arrived.


Special Issue "Applications of InSAR for Monitoring Surface Deformation in the Energy Transition"
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2023) | Viewed by 2188
Interests: geological monitoring; remote sensing; energy
The increased worldwide energy demand and recent climate change challenges require the development of sustainable energy resources. New technologies, improved industrial processes, and currently unexplored systems will play a pivotal role in this energy transition. The study of their associated impacts by monitoring different parameters is fundamental to grant sustainability and social responsibility.
In this framework, measuring surface deformation, both natural and possibly induced by human activities, is key to ensuring such development and mitigating environmental and societal risks.
The extraction of subsurface resources, notably through mining, oil and gas, and geothermal processes, can result in surface deformation leading to subsidence, landslide, or other phenomena. Induced earthquakes also represent significant hazards for people, infrastructures, and the environment. The geological storage of greenhouse gas as a tool to limit global warming also requires persistent monitoring of the surface dynamics, both for a better understanding of the geomechanical behaviour of rocks and for public safety.
Synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) has evolved into a mature technology to quantify ground movement with millimetric accuracy and with no direct environmental footprint. The ability to process images both ex-post and ex-ante represents a significant asset for monitoring past, current, and future surface deformation. InSAR becomes even more indispensable when surface deformation measurements are sought at large scales, playing a key role in globally protecting and preserving our planet and its environment.
This Special Issue aims to collect original research and review papers focusing on the application of InSAR for monitoring surface deformation in the energy transition process. We invite contributions that leverage the advances in InSAR technology, processing, and analysis to foster new developments in this domain. We welcome submissions in the following categories or any topic using InSAR, including but not limited to: surface subsidence or uplift caused by underground extraction or storage; exploitation of new energies including hydrogen, solar and wind; and the development of new tools and deployment of advanced algorithms to large datasets for wide-area monitoring (e.g., country scale), operational safety, risk and hazard management in the energy sector.
Dr. Damien Dhont
Dr. Marine Larrey
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
- surface deformation


Bioluminescence is the visible creation of light by an organism through a biochemical reaction. It is produced by the sudden transformation of a high-energy molecule into a lower state of energy. The difference in these energy levels is emitted as one photon of light.
Many living things are actually able to generate light but only some of them are bright enough to be noticed. Even human bodies emit small portions of biophotons, 1000 times lower than the sensitivity of our naked eyes. Interestingly the body glow changes throughout the day, with its lowest point at 10am and its peak around 4pm in the afternoon and is completely independent of body surface temperature and heat emission .
Some of the oldest written records of bioluminescence observed in nature date back to 1500 – 1000 B.C. in China, however it was not until the rise of European Alchemy in the 16th and 17th centuries until the intellectual foundation allowed studies in order to understand such phenomena .
One of the earliest and most influential discoveries (of inorganic luminescence) was the “Bolognian Stone”, also referred to as “Litheophosphorus”, by Vincenzo Casciarolo in 1602, a mineral, today known as Barite (barium sulphate), which was magically able to accumulate light when exposed to the sun and to release it during darkness. The first modern study of bioluminescence was performed on a Pyrophorous click beetle by French pharmacologist Raphael Dubois in 1885. He was subsequently able to extract the two key elements of the bioluminescent reaction and when recombining them produce light . He concluded that the phenomenon was chemical in nature and coined the terms “luciferine” for the light-producing substance and “luciferase” for the enzyme that triggered the reaction.
A.) Schematic illustration of experimental setup. B.) Image of the subject under light illumination. C.) Image at 10:10am. D.) Image at 13:10pm. E.) Image at 16:10pm.
Spanish Barite, Cran Cowan 2012
Structure and Operation
Today we know that bioluminescence is generally the result of the oxidation of a light-emitting molecule (luciferin) together with a catalyzing enzyme, either a luciferase or a photoprotein, which is a luciferase variant that merges factors required for the light emission in a single unit. The reaction is highly efficient, turning 98% of its energy into light, and only loosing 2% as heat. Both luciferin and luciferase are generic terms rather than the names of certain chemicals, meaning that lots of different substances can lead to the reaction and it is estimated that bioluminescence has independently evolved at least 40 to 50 times among existing organisms . The most prominent terrestrial occurrences have been witnessed among insects, mushrooms and bacteria.
The best-known, earliest documented and widest spread luminescent organisms are luminous beetles, representing roughly 3000 species classified into three families: fireflies, click beetles and glow-worms. Fireflies and glow-worms are grouped into the luminescent beetle family Lampyridae. They usually light up after the sun has set and display a variety of emission ranging from strong flashes to a steady continuous glow. It is assumed that the light emission among adults forms the basis for sexual attraction and communication among the species. The light is produced in areas of the body referred to as lanterns, which vary in size and location but are usually on the underside of the last abdominal segments.
As in most luminescent organisms the chemical reaction is driven by the enzyme luciferase, which produces light in the combination with adenosine triphoshpate (ATP), oxygen (02) and Magnesium Ions (Mg2) in several steps. During the first step of the reaction firefly luciferin and ATP join with luciferase. In the next stage an acid anhydride is formed between the luciferin and adenosine monosphate (AMP), releasing pyrophosphate (PPi). This is then oxidized, generating dioxetanone, which during the final stage through decarboxylation leads to the formation of oxyluciferin in a singlet electronically excited state that quickly converts to its ground state releasing a photon of light with a peak around 530nm .
Foxfire is a gentle bioluminescent glow coming from the forest soil or dead wood that can be observed during nighttime. Its source is rapidly growing fungal cells consuming decaying wood. In total over 50 different species of luminescent fungi have been identified, mostly in tropical environments, with the majority belonging to the group of white-spored Basidiomycetes . The biochemical reaction is a two-step process during which chemical energy resulting from respiration or photosynthesis is loaded onto a fungal luciferin molecule and is then – in combination with oxygen and luciferase – transformed into water, low energy luciferase and a photon of light . Both the involved luciferans and luciferases remain largely unidentified.
The produced light is usually in the greenish spectrum and very dim with a maximum around 520-530nm. While the true purpose of fungal bioluminescence is unknown it is generally believed that the light attracts insects to spread its pores or acts as a deterrent towards nocturnal animals.
The Bioluminescent Tree of Life by Eleanor Lutz
Bacterial Bioluminescence is the widest distributed source of organic light emittance. Luminescent Bacteria are all Gram-negative, non-spore forming and motile . While most of them can live independently, the majority is found in symbiotic or parasitic relationships with host organisms. By now eleven species have been classified which can be divided into four genera: Photobacterium, Vibrio, Alteromonas and Photorhabdus . Species existing in marine environments are generally assigned to the first two categories; terrestrial ones belong to the latter. Bacteria belonging to the Photobacterium genus are in most cases light organ symbionts of marine animals while the Vibrio species exist both as free-living and symbiotic types. In bacterial bioluminescence the luciferase enzyme is composed of reduced flavin mononucleotide, molecular oxygen and long-chain fatty aldehyde.
The reaction leads to the oxidation of FMNH2 and aldehydes and results in the emission of blue/ green light with a maximum around 490nm .
Deep sea Bioluminescence
While bioluminescence can be observed among a large variety of organisms, most actually exist in the ocean and in particular the twilight or disphotic zone, which generally extends from about 200m – 1000m depth. While the divergence from marine to terrestrial bioluminescence is not fully understood and mostly assigned to the oceans’ comparatively stable environmental conditions that is favorable for a long uninterrupted evolutionary history, it is estimated that about 90% of animals living below 500m have luminescent capabilities . With the seawater not only absorbing red, orange and yellow sunlight but also significantly changing its intensity about tenfold every 75m , most of the visible light that reaches this area is in the blue/ green spectrum.
Firefly at night with its abdomen lit up.
Panellus Stipticus displaying bioluminescence.
Lobate ctenophores are translucent and give off a bioluminescent glow.
Subsequently the majority of marine organisms are only sensitive to blue light and hence luminescence in a spectrum of 440 – 479nm. Oceanic Bioluminescence is mainly created by four distinct luciferins, bacterial, dinoflagellate, ostracod and coelenterazine and can be observed among a variety of species with dinoflagellates representing the most commonly encountered organism next to fireflies. In large accumulations they can form spectacular natural phenomena but also potentially toxic red tides .
The reason for their bioluminescent behavior is still not entirely clear but might be used as a kind of burglar alarm, making the feeding fish visible and vulnerable to attack from larger predators. Other reasons for bioluminescence in marine environments include:
- Bright flashes might be used as defense by startling and intimidating approaching predators.
- Ventral photophores match the dim light coming from the surface. This counter illumination makes a dark body disappear from below.
- Glowing lights can work as a lure and attract potential prey.
- Bright colors and patterns might be used as apostematism and repel predators.
- Some fish are able to produce red light, which allows them to illuminate their prey without being visible.
- Signaling patterns are used as means of reproduction related interspecific communication.
- In some cases light emission might not have a specific function and simply constitute a metabolic byproduct.
In 1986 scientists at the University of California successfully transfered the gene from the firefly that produces its chemical glow into a tobacco plant.  In 2003, Professor H.J. Tsai at National Taiwan University developed a method to make otherwise colourless fish shine neon green using a protein extracted from jellyfish.  These advances gave rise to a more ambitious project, offering to spread the technology in the public domain – The glowing plant project.  In April 2013, a small group of California based “biohackers” started a Kickstarter campaign to crowdsource their plan to synthetically engineer a glowing plant, and exceeded their initial goal of $65000 by more than seven times. The first seeds are supposed to be sent out to over 8000 people early 2014. The plant which is ought to become a sustainable alternative to light bulbs and street lamps obviously started intense controversies concerning ethical, moral and environmental issues due to its unregulated nature and the unknown implications a genetically engineered plant could pose to nature.
Glowing Tobacco Plant
Bioluminescent Research targets many areas, including genetic engineering, biomedical applications or military uses. Inspired by the symbiotic relationships of luminous bacteria and their host organisms, studies in architecture and design consider the potential application of similar bacteria in a spatial or material context. Projects include bioluminescent trees that photosynthesize during the day and emit light at night , conceptual ideas for zero-electricity lighting  or internal ambient light effects .
 Masaki Kobayashi, Daisuke Kikuchi, Hitoshi Okamura (2009), “Imaging of Ultraweak Spontaneous Photon Emission from Human Body Displaying Diurnal Rhythm”. In: PLoS ONE, 4 (7).
 Aldo Roda, “The Discovery of Bioluminescence: The Bolognian Stone“. In: Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence: Perspectives for the 21st. Century, Eds. A. Roda, M. Pazzagli, L. J. Kricka, P. E. Stanley (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998).
 John Lee, „Bioluminescence: the First 3000 Years (Review)“. In: Journal of Siberian Federal University. Biology 3 (2008 1), p. 194-205.
 Steven H.D. Haddock, Mark A. Moline, James F. Case, “Bioluminescence in the sea”, In: Annual Review of Marine Science 2009, p. 447.
 Fireflies and Glowworms
 Bioluminescent Fungi
 Dr. Kim D. Coder, “Foxfire: Bioluminescence in the Forest“, 1999.
 Dunlap, P.V. 2009. Bioluminescence, microbial, pp. 45-61. In M. Schaechter (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Microbiology, 3rd edition. Elsevier, Oxford.
 Charrier, T., Durand, M., Affi, M., Jouanneau, S., Gezekel, H., and Thousand, G.(2010). Bacterial Bioluminescent Biosensor Characterisation for On-line Monitoring of Heavy Metals Pollutions in Waste Water Treatment Plant Effluents, Biosensors, Pier Andrea Serra (Ed.), 2010.
 Leo Yen-Cheng Lin, Edward A. Meighen, “Bacterial Bioluminescence”, Department of Biochemistry, McGill University.
 Tamara Frank, “Visual Ecology and Bioluminescence”, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.
 Edith Widder, “Deep Light”, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.
 Steven H.D. Haddock, Mark A. Moline, James F. Case, “Bioluminescence in the sea”, In: Annual Review of Marine Science 2009, p. 455.
 Ow, D.W., Wood, K.V., DeLuca, M., de Wet, J.R., Helinski, D.R., Howell, S.H. (1986). “Transient and stable expression of the firefly luciferase gene in plant cells and transgenic plants”. Science 234 (4778) (American Association for the Advancement of Science). pp. 856––856. ISSN 0036-8075.
 Glowing Fish
 Glowing Plant
 Bioluminescent Street Lamps
 Bioluminescent devices for zero-electricity lighting
 Philips Biolight


"Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians."
- The truth is that this sentence should be structured the other way around: “Gay and lesbian harm or undermine religious beliefs and treat those that hold them sacred and true as inferior, uninformed, uneducated, and irrational.” This makes a statement against those with religious. It radically discounts the successful, productive, community nourishing lives of religious people. In one sweeping statement, religious people have been denigrated; legally classified as rubes.
"Children do not need to be raised by a male parent and a female parent to be well-adjusted, and having both a male and a female parent does not increase the likelihood that a child will be well-adjusted."
- This statement does not examine the lives of “well-adjusted” children. It basically says that anyone can produce mal-adjusted children. It’s a legal decision based on uninformed opinion, not social science.
"The gender of a child's parent is not a factor in the child's adjustment. The sexual orientation of an individual does not determine whether that individual can be a good parent."
- In the context of current culture, there is truth in this statement. Modern child-rearing has been abdicated by parents and relegated to the public school system for education, discipline, and moral formation.
- If sexual orientation is vital to naturally becoming a parent, then it follows that natural parenting takes a male and a female nurturing and providing for children together. Again, Judge Walker didn’t examine good examples, but bad examples. Bad examples take no effort to produce.
"Same-sex couples are identical to opposite-sex couples in the characteristics relevant to the ability to form successful marital unions."
- This is simply a ludicrously constructed sentence. “Same” is not identical to “opposite”.
"Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage; marriage under law is a union of equals."
- This is not marriage legally interpreted. It is marriage legally re-defined.
- Marriage in every culture in human history has always been religious first. The legal aspects of marriage have flowed from religious tradition, not the other way around.


Most of the people think that a cat’s fur is the reason to cause cat allergies, but in fact, the saliva, urine, and hair are causing allergies. Fel D1 is the protein that is produced by these allergens, and it will be on the cat’s skin. When grooming, cats spread this protein through their fur, and this allergen will deposit into the environment. Purina Institute’s new development is assuring to offer some relief to the person with cat allergies. Researchers have developed a method to reduce the allergen levels in the cat’s saliva, Fel d1. It reduces the levels of the protein, which are released into the environment. These allergens create a big problem for the cat owners. Therefore, these owners will maintain some limits to interact with the cats. Their discovery has the possibility of managing with cat allergies.
Fel d1 is transferred to the skin or hair while grooming. Allergens release into the environment. No matter of cat’s breed, age, hair, length, sex, and weight, this protein is produced by all the cats. It can causes up to 95 percent of allergies to humans.
Purina Institute’s researchers are trying to neutralize the allergens that present on the cat’s skin and fur. It is by blending an egg product. It contains anti-Fel d1 into the diets of the cat. By building off these allergen antibodies, allergies can be reduced.
Symptoms Of Cat Allergies In People
Check out some of the signs in people with cat allergies that can range from mild to severe
- Sneezing often
- Running nose
- Itchy and red eyes
- Skin rashes
Tips To Help A Person
When someone has cat allergies, then he or she needs to take some precautions if they are staying with a cat lover and a cat. These cat allergies for some people can range up to severe chronic allergies. However, some people can remain with cats if they have allergies. Check out these tips to help a person having allergies.
- Brush the cat every day. Therefore, you can get rid of loose hair and dander. It helps in reducing the allergens and dander that fly around the home. If you groom every day, then the cat reduces to salivate his fur or skin.
- Never use soft fabrics in your home when you live with your cat. These fabrics can include carpets, furniture that covers with fabrics and curtains. Try to use some hard surfaces in your home to clean your house quickly.
- Cat allergies should change clothes and need to shower before going to bed when living with cats. It is an essential step to reduce some cat allergies symptoms.
- Offer a bed or blanket to your cat to trap your cat’s fur or dander.
- Keep some cat-free areas in your home to avoid danger. By keeping cat-free areas, cat allergic persons can be helpful.
- Always vacuum your home with the help of a vacuum cleaner. It can help in not spreading the dander over more places in your home.


Wall Street Bridge
Cass County, ND and Clay County, MN
As the northern edge of the Fargo, ND, and Moorhead, MN, area evolved from farmland to urban areas, the link provided by the Wall Street Bridge grew increasingly critical—not only to the day-to-day movements of traffic but to the safety of the surrounding community.
Traffic counts had increased significantly and were predicted to continue to grow dramatically. The roadway width was substandard for vehicular traffic volumes nor did it accommodate bicyclists or pedestrians with appropriate crossings. Flood events frequently necessitated closure, cutting off housing areas from public safety services. Finally, movement of the bridge piers was advancing to such a state that the stability of the entire structure was becoming questionable. County and state officials determined the bridge was structurally, hydraulically, and geometrically deficient.
A combined effort between Minnesota’s Clay County and North Dakota’s Cass County, WSN’s engineers designed the new Wall Street Bridge to withstand record-setting floods like the one in 1997. Accommodating four lanes of vehicular traffic plus a bike path, the design incorporated a twelve-span composite steel beam bridge to allow for soil movement, an issue unique to the Red River Valley’s clay-rich soil. Aesthetically, the structure’s cut-stone appearance is reminiscent of early railroad bridges found throughout the region.


October 31, 2011 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
As each decade fades, names of various old landmarks are lost to time. The Bark Ranch in Pinal County is now known as the Quarter Circle U Ranch. The change occurred when William A. Barkley bought the ranch from James Bark in 1907. The old Barkley Camp of the 1930’s at the end of First Water Road is lost forever. For several decades, the camp was known as First Water Ranch. Today, the old Three R’s Ranch was part of the Apacheland property owned and operated by Ed and Sue Birmingham of Gold Canyon. Recently, the Birminghams sold the Apacheland property that included the old Three R’s Ranch. The ranch was obliterated to make way for a new housing development on the old Three R’s Ranch will survive for a few decades on old topographic maps and other old maps of the area.
Another interesting name change in the area was that of Silly Mountain. The mountain along Highway 60 (the Lost Dutchman Gold Route, The Old West Highway, and so forth) was originally called King’s Mountain. It wasn’t named after Julian King, but William N. King, the founder of the Superstition Mountain Ranch Club in Apache Junction in 1934. King owned a small ranch in the area during the late twenties and early thirties. I would imagine somewhere in the Southwest the old minutes of the Superstition Mountain Ranch Club still survive waiting to be discovered.
One of the oldest named landmarks in the Gold Canyon area is Barkley Hill, but people aren’t familiar with it today. The hill was located almost due south of the old Three R’s Ranch and stone corral. The old mine that belonged to Pearl Bates is probably covered up today. Bates sold the first 180 acres in the area to Julian King who slowly developed it after 1946 into the King’s Ranch Resort and then sub-divided. I believe
Black Hawk Road runs along the east boundary of the subdivision bordering State Trust Land.
One interesting landmark that remains to this day has only suffered a misspelling rather than total eradication. This misspelling confuses the meaning and the origin of the name. This landmark is Iron Mountain in the southeastern portion of the Superstition Wilderness Area. Iron Mountain was named after a pioneer cattleman Robert A. Irion.
Irion arrived in Arizona Territory in 1876 with a small herd of cattle from Montana. He brought his herd to the area to provide beef for the miners of the Silver King and the Globe mining area. The booming Silver King Mine provided cattle drovers of the period with sufficient opportunity to make a profit with their herds. Robert Irion pioneered the Pinal Ranch (Craig Ranch) halfway between Superior and Miami in the late 1870’s. When Irion passed away the mountain was named after him. The name Irion became distorted by cartographers (mapmakers) near the turn of the century and Iron Mountain began to appear on maps.
Recent arrivals to the region continue to refer to Irion Mountain as Iron Mountain. The advocates, who support the name Iron Mountain, claim there was a large iron deposit on the mountain that attracts lightning. The iron content of this mountain distorts the needle of a magnetic compass, hence, proof for the name, according to some sources. Today, the name Iron Mountain appears on all U. S. Department of Agriculture maps and U.S.G.S. 71/2” topographic maps of the region. The incorrect name may not mean a lot today, other than the fact it’s just a name.
Researching place names of old landmarks in and around the Superstition Wilderness Area can be confusing avocation. Names appear to change every generation of so. Another classic change is Flat Iron or Ship Rock on Superstition Mountain immediately east of Apache Junction. Over the years, many hikers have climbed to the Flat Iron or Ship Rock by way of Siphon Draw, immediately east of Mining Camp Restaurant.
The hike up Siphon Draw is a challenge even for the best conditioned hikers. The point on Superstition Mountain known today as Ship Rock was originally called the Flat Iron. Early newspaper accounts from the 1890’s make comments about “the Flat Iron.” When people began settling near the base of Superstition Mountain they thought the point looked more like the prow of a ship, therefore the name “Ship Rock.”
Also an east-west street in Apache Junction is named Ship Rock in direct reference to this noted landmark on Superstition Mountain.
Other interesting landmarks in the area include Bull Dog Peak and Goldfield Point. Bull Dog Peak was dynamited in the 1890’s around Christmas time, destroying a large rock that looked like a bulldog. The rock has been gone for over a hundred years, but the name remains with us.
Goldfield Point is the extreme rock edge on the northwestern end of Superstition Mountain. The residents of the gold camp known as Goldfield named the prominent point “Goldfield” in the early 1890’s.
Another interesting controversy around 1918 arose when Superstition Mountain’s name was temporary changed to Coronado Mountain. A group of early Phoenix entrepreneurs believed Coronado Mountain
sounded more southwestern than Superstition Mountain. Actually the mountain’s name was changed for a short time, until the ire of James H. McClintock was raised. He protested to the state government at the time and the name Coronado Mountain was soon dropped. McClintock was the Arizona State Historian at the time.
After this incident, a state historic landmark commission was formed. Even with a historic landmark commission, names still get changed from either lack of use or knowledge.
Another interesting name in our area is the Apache Trail. The sixty-two mile roadway from Mesa to Roosevelt Dam has had several names over the years. The first name was the Tonto Wagon Road, and this was followed by the Roosevelt Road, then the Mesa Roosevelt Haul Road, and, finally, the Apache Trail in 1915. Most historians agree that a ticket salesman name of E.E. Watson coined the term “the Apache Trail.” Watson worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad during the heyday of the “Sunset Limited” and the railroad’s many concessions along its route from Florida to California.


Parts of California’s Central Valley, the state’s most productive farm region, sunk as much as 28 feet during the first half of the 20th century, and if modeling is accurate, the ground will sink another 13 feet or more over the next 20 years.
Ryan Smith, an assistant professor of geological engineering at S&T, working with colleagues at Stanford University, developed the model. It could help water managers map precisely where groundwater recharge is most needed to replenish aquifers in the area.
The research, which was published in the journal Water Resources Research, suggests managed flooding of the ground above the aquifers.
Smith says the amount of water exiting the Central Valley’s aquifers far surpasses the amount of water trickling back in. That overdraft has caused land across much of the region to sink, permanently depleting groundwater storage capacity and damaging infrastructure.
Knowing where water will go underground depends on mapping the intricate channels of sand and gravel that interlace tightly packed clays and silts. In California, that information often comes from drilling contractors’ reports to state regulators, which are expensive to acquire and do not cover areas between or beneath the drilled wells. As a result, the most common approach to dealing with subsidence, the downward settling or sinking of the ground’s surface, is reactive, Smith says.
“If we are proactively managing, then we can prevent unrecoverable storage loss,” says Smith.


LHC Masterclass Library 2020
Submitted by kcecire
on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - 13:41
World Wide Data Day (W2D2) is a way for students to make reasonably simple, meaningful measurements from the ATLAS and CMS experiments of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.
What are the measurements?
Students select dimuon events from ATLAS or CMS data and focus on the direction angle Φ that each muon makes in the plane transverse to the beamline:
CERN on behalf of the ATLAS collaboration,
ATLAS collaboration via Research Gate,
Small URL for this page: http://cern.ch/go/Wqj7.
Break open in case of emergency!
Please only use this page if you have been directed to do so by your teacher. This page is your back-up in the case of a failure of CIMA. You will have three Google forms to go to again and again to add your results.
Working in iSpy, you will encounter several of each type of event:


The operations and functions that are performed in Microsoft Excel are very varied and the results they produce are typical of any calculation system. Being so precise, implies that in a cell we find numbers with large decimal extensions. This shouldn’t be a problem if we’re just looking for that number.
However, when making, for example, templates with budgets we do not need such exact data, this precision can be a problem. And is that cells show a number of bounded digits determined by their dimension.
To solve this difficulty is that rounding and other functions are used. If you want to learn more about it, continue with this post.
What should we keep in mind when rounding decimals in our spreadsheet?
The first thing you should know is that this tool is recommended only when rejecting decimal places does not imply a problem. That is, If you need results with maximum accuracy, we do not recommend this function.. You always can resize cells and in this way prevent the pads from appearing “######”.
The second thing is that the function ROUND OUT from Excel, abides by the standard rule. This means that if the last digit is greater than or equal to five, raises by 1 the value of the penultimate. And if it is less, the previous number is kept unchanged.
You must bear in mind that the following operations that are performed using the cells with rounded figures, will take as value the modified number and not the original. Although it seems a minor detail, it may imply a change in the result as you can see in the image.
Steps to add decimals to a group of data in an Excel spreadsheet
There are several methods to define the number of visible decimal places in a cell or group of cells in an Excel document. In Internet Step by Step We will show you how to do each of them. Take note.
This function, as we mentioned before, shorten the number of digits of a number after the comma (or period, depending on the region). And he does it by taking the last of them. Microsoft Excel offers two ways to do this. Both are very simple and applicable to any cell. The first one requires us to enter a formula in the corresponding bar.
To do this, do the following:
- Create a new spreadsheet document or open an existing one.
- Write the values of the numbers you want to round in separate cells. If you do it in the same column it will be simpler and more orderly.
- In the second column put the formula “= ROUND (A1; N)” Replace the letter N with the number of digits you want to display. In the example we use “= ROUND (A1; 1)”
- To do the same with the following figures, you don’t need to write everything again. Alone drag this last cell from its lower right corner to the bottom. You can also copy and paste it, as long as it is in the same column.
The second method for rounding is on the ribbon. It requires significantly fewer steps than the previous one, since it does not use formulas:
- In the same way as before, put the values you want to reduce in a column.
- Choose one or all they.
- Go to the tab “Start”. In the section “Alignment” you will find two buttons with opposite arrows followed by zeros (see image).
- Each one of these, reduce or increase by one digit the number of the selected cell.
Tip: No rounding
As you have noticed all the above methods are based on the general rule of approximation, which raises the figure or not depending on whether the next one is higher or lower than 5. However, there is a function that ignores this.
What it does is simply hide leftover digits without taking rounding into account symmetrical. Which means that does not eliminate what we consider remnants. That is why other operations can be performed that will take the entire figure, including the hidden digits.
To use this feature, just follow these steps:
- In an empty cell put the formula “= TRUNCATE (A1; N)” where A1 is the box where the number with decimals is found and the letter N is the number of digits that we want to display.
- Press “Enter” to end.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments, we will answer you as soon as possible, and it will surely be of great help to more members of the community. Thank you! 😉


Teaming up to Tame a Preschooler by Alice Shannon, MS, MFT
Editor's Note: This article is intended primarily for professionals interested in the use of temperament related concepts in the treatment of preschool children. However parents may also benefit from understanding some of the choices and interpretations that professionals have to make in providing help.
Alice Shannon is an experienced family therapist whose background in temperament prepared her to successfully evaluate and treat a needy youngster without jumping immediately to medication. An earlier version of this article was published in 2006 in the Psychotherapy Networker. This version is reprinted here with the permission of the author. Alice is listed on the B-DI Providers page.(Ed.)
Teaming up to Tame a Preschooler
According to a recent Yale University survey of nearly 4,000 preschool classrooms released in May 2005, more than 10 percent of teachers reported expelling a preschool-aged child during the previous year. This expulsion rate actually exceeded that of children in grades K-12 in all but three states. Grounds for expulsion were largely aggression toward other children-hitting, kicking, biting, hair-pulling, throwing things and verbal attacks.
Expulsion is generally viewed as a consequence that only affects troublesome teenagers, whose behavior problems are in a different league from those of young children. But parents and teachers who are exposed daily to actions of young children are often appalled by the raw aggression and wildness of some preschoolers, and may regard it as an ominous indication of what lies ahead.
However, the Yale study may say as much about the nature of schools today and the attitude of adults and the mental health community as it does about any trend towards increased aggressiveness among young children. Many parents and teachers have surprisingly unrealistic expectations about what is appropriate and attainable conduct in young children. When dealing with children who are aggressive and disruptive, they fail to understand that some emotionally overloaded children may simply not be able to control their behavior no matter how many times they've been told to 'be good' and how well they 'know' that biting or kicking or punching is against the rules. Children don't all learn to read, ride a bike or tie their shoes at the same speed, according to the same schedule, nor do they learn to contain their aggressive impulses and master self-control at the same rate.
Also, contrary to general view, not all children with behavioral problems suffer from buried 'anger issues' that need to be worked through in therapy. Most of the children I see have not experienced psychological trauma either. The difficulty is usually due to a poor fit between the child's temperament and the styles of parenting and teaching to which he or she is exposed. Many of the children with 'anger issues' are very intense, active children with a tendency to loud and dramatic expressiveness in general. True, they may look and sound scary when upset, but that same intensity can make them enthusiastic and delightful company when they're in a good mood.


What is sexuality?
Sexuality is a complex aspect of our personality and 'self'. Our sexuality is defined by sexual thoughts, desires and longings, erotic fantasies, turn-ons and experiences. In many ways sexuality is the force that empowers us to express and display strong, emotional feelings for another person and is a natural stimulus for the procreation of our species. The 'thing' that attracts one person to another may not always be sexual - it could be sense of humor, personality, 'likeability', compatibility, or intelligence. Sex or sexuality may only be a secondary consideration. Sometimes, part of our sexuality can be suppressed - some people have sexual desires about particular friends or associates, but don't act on or talk about those desires. Others have general sexual desires or fantasies about people of their own sex (that is, same sex), but don't explore or discuss those thoughts and feelings.
Sexuality and prejudice
Until recently, society's intolerance towards anyone who was not of the sexual 'norm', caused many people to repress their real sexuality. That is, many who knew and felt strongly they were gay remained 'in the closet' so as not to come up against prejudice, 'anti-gay' sentiments, discrimination and even violence.
Various prejudices - against race, colour, religion, sex and sexual orientation - have softened over the last 20 years.
However, some people (and governments) have remained hard-line and continue to discriminate against particular people for various reasons. No one has yet discovered positively the cause or causes of a person's sexuality - whether it be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.
Sexuality is complex
Not all aspects of sexual behavior conform to simple labels. You could consider sexuality like a fruit salad or smorgasbord - there are lots of flavors, different ingredients, a variety of tastes and appearances. One man might label himself straight, be turned on by women and not by men, but may enjoy wearing women's clothes and might also enjoy his female partner stimulating him anally with a dildo. Most of those men who consider themselves gay have no interest in wearing women's clothes. Some gay and straight men do enjoy wearing women's clothes. Some lesbian women appear 'masculine', many others appear 'feminine'. Some men who are considered 'effeminate' are straight, others are not. Some men who look tough and 'manly' are gay, others are not. Some women enjoy sleeping with men or women or both sexes, as do some men.
Sexuality: what am I?
Many people have occasional erotic feelings for or dreams about people of the same sex - but their general disposition may be heterosexual. These occasional homosexual feelings may not affect their relationship with a partner of the opposite sex.
Sometimes - because of pressure from our peers or society in general - sexual desires and feelings will be suppressed as we try to will ourselves to have other, 'normal' or more accepted sexual feelings. For many, these suppressed feelings can cause pressures that become problematic - forcing some to avoid any sexual encounters, or to lie to a partner (and themselves). Suppressed feelings can lead to anonymous sexual relations with a person of the same sex while maintaining a relationship with someone of the opposite sex.
Resolving your sexuality - deciding on who you are and what you want sexually - can be difficult for many people, particularly those who have been raised in a strict or religious family. Complex choices in life are made all the time. Choosing a partner with whom to share a long-term relationship will not always be made on the basis of sexuality, other factors can also come into play. With the best intentions of being true to oneself and our partner, there are occasions when pressure from relatives and friends, the need to conform and the fact that you may love someone might cause you to live life as a heterosexual even when you know, deep down, you are homosexual.
Often, non-judgmental counselling can be of benefit to help people discover the sexual and lifestyle choices that are best for them. Some people are good at maths, others can write, some can run fast. Others have red hair, some are straight, some are gay - the human race is full of subtle and profound differences. Understanding the differences and enjoying them, tolerating and acknowledging them in others and accepting them in ourselves, can be a major step in living a harmonious and fulfilling life.
Sexuality and variety
Sexual practices vary from person to person. Some straight men and women enjoy anal sex, some gay men do not. Some people are exclusively homosexual, others are exclusively heterosexual and many others fall in between - some, who are in the 'middle', are bi-sexual, desiring and enjoying sexual relations with both sexes.
Most homosexual people have experienced heterosexual sex (many have married).
A large percentage of heterosexual people have 'experimented' with same-sex partners, particularly during adolescence. Your guide to your own sexuality comes from the sexual desires and erotic fantasies that are the strongest to you - and these can grow or change through life as you meet new people.


After non-melanoma skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed male cancer in developed countries . Radiation therapy is a front-line treatment for over 50% of people diagnosed with cancer. It involves high-energy x-ray beams being sent from multiple directions to deliver radiation (dose) to a tumour to destroy cancer cells. A radiation treatment plan consists of mapping patient’s tumour (cure-related) while limiting the amount of radiation given to nearby healthy tissues (toxicity-related). This treatment plan is delivered in daily ‘fractions’, typically over a period of six weeks. During prostate cancer radiotherapy treatment there is a need to minimize the dosage applied to the bladder and rectum (to reduce post-treatment complications).
MRI-alone external beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer
Prostate radiation therapy dose planning is currently performed using computed tomography (CT) scan images which contain electron density information needed for patient dose calculations. MRI scans have vastly superior soft-tissue contrast than CT scans and offer the potential to better visualise and more accurately delineate the prostate border (Fig. 1). Prostate borders delineated on MRI scans have been shown to be more consistent between radiation oncologists,  and are smaller than on CT. The use of MRI in treatment planning should result in a reduction in margins added to account for delineation uncertainties and less normal tissues irradiated, reducing treatment toxicity.
Our collaboration with the Calvary Mater Newcastle hospital has resulted in a new proposed workflow for prostate radiation therapy planning using MRI scans .
Fig. 2: Atlas of the pelvis (prostate, bladder, rectum and bone) built from MRI scans from 39 patients.
In the proposed workflow the prostate and organs are automatically defined on the high contrast MRI scan using computer segmentation (organ delineation) algorithms. These algorithms use an ‘average’ MRI scan that has been created from a set of patient MRI scans and is commonly known as an atlas (Fig. 2). This atlas is deformably “warped” (registered) to the patient’s MRI scan until all the tissues line up with the patient’s MRI scan tissues. As the organ boundaries are known in the MRI atlas, these boundaries are also warped onto the patient’s MRI scan and hence the patient’s organ boundaries are determined. The automatically defined prostate would then be inspected and adjusted if necessary by the radiation oncologist (an example automatic outline of the prostate is shown in Fig. 5).
A benefit of the automatic organ delineation is to minimise inter-observer variation and uncertainty. In order to calculate dose, a pseudo-CT scan would be automatically created from the MRI scan with electron densities mapped to the tissues. This is performed by having a CT electron density atlas that corresponds exactly to the MRI atlas (Fig. 3 and 4). As the deformation for the MRI atlas to the patient’s MRI scan is known, the same deformation will work for the CT density atlas. The result is a pseudo-CT scan with electron densities mapped to the patient’s MRI scan. Using this pseudo-CT atlas, it is also possible to generate digitally reconstructed radiographs from MRI scans . Work to validate these pseudo-CTs for treatment planning is ongoing [6-9].Collaboration Partners
This project is a collaboration between the Australian e-Health Research Centre, the Department of Radiation Oncology, Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, and the University of Newcastle, and is partially funded by the Cancer Council NSW through Project Grants RG 07-06 and RG 11-05.
1. GLOBOCAN. “Prostate Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide in 2008.”[Online]. Available: http://globocan.iarc.fr/factsheets/cancers/prostate.asp. [Accessed: 14-Mar-2011].
2. M. Debois et al. “The contribution of magnetic resonance imaging to the three-dimensional treatment planning of localized prostate cancer,” International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 857-865, Nov. 1999.
3. M. Roach, P. Faillace-Akazawa, C. Malfatti, J. Holland, and H. Hricak. “Prostate volumes defined by magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomographic scans for three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy,” International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 1011-1018, Jul. 1996.
4. C. Rasch, I. Barillot, P. Remeijer, A. Touw, M. van Herk, and J. V. Lebesque. “Definition of the prostate in CT and MRI: a multi-observer study.,” International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, vol. 43, no. 1, p. 57â€“66, 1999.
5. P. B. Greer et al. “A magnetic resonance imaging-based workflow for planning radiation therapy for prostate cancer,” The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 194, no. 4, p. S24-S27, 2011.
6. J. Lambert et al. “MRI-guided prostate radiation therapy planning: Investigation of dosimetric accuracy of MRI-based dose planning,” Radiotherapy and Oncology, vol. 98, no. 3, pp. 330-334, 2011.
7. J. Dowling, J. G. Fripp, J. Patterson, S. Ourselin, and O. Salvado. “Automatic atlas-based segmentation of the prostate: A MICCAI 2009 Prostate Segmentation Challenge entry,” in Proceedings of 2009 MICCAI Prostate Segmentation Challenge (London, September 2009), 2009.
8. J. Dowling et al. “Automatic MRI atlas-based external beam radiation therapy treatment planning for prostate cancer,” in MICCAI 2010 Workshop on Prostate Cancer Imaging: Computer-Aided Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Intervention, 2010, vol. 6367, pp. 25-33.
9. J. Dowling, M. Malaterre, P. B. Greer, and O. Salvado. “Importing Contours from DICOM-RT structure sets,” Insight Journal, vol. July-December, 2009.


Amazons in the Drawing Room, on view in Galleries 2 and 3, presents thirty portraits by the expatriate American artist Romaine Brooks (1874-1970). In many ways the exhibition functions as an album of Brooks's friends and contemporaries-the "international lesbian community" of the early 1900s, which counted among its ranks such luminaries as American author Natalie Barney, dancer Ida Rubenstein, and Duchess Elisabeth de Gramont. Brooks's bold assertion of the lesbian identity of many of her subjects was largely unprecedented. At a time not three decades after the scandalous trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, Brooks's unabashed depictions of women in men's clothing challenged prevailing and restrictive Victorian ideals of femininity and sexuality that, in the early twentieth century, were only just beginning to unravel. Most notable are Brooks's daring portraits Peter, a Young English Girl (1923-24) and Una, Lady Troubridge (1924), both of which depict women who have clearly transgressed the bounds of feminine appearance. As the century progressed there would emerge new possibilities for representations of masculinized femininity that were perhaps more readily acceptable to a rapidly maturing society. In the midst of World War II the bulging forearms and tough slouch of Norman Rockwell's iconic Rosie the Riveter renounced feminine mores for patriotic cause, while Marlene Dietrich's trousers and sultry, ambiguous sexuality suggested a new aggressive femininity. In recent decades these explorations of gender, costume, and sexuality have taken a place securely within the mainstream, a recent example being Madonna's flirtatious exploration of sexual excess (including a lesbian tryst with beautiful female models wearing leather and mustaches) in the video for her hit "Justify My Love" (1990). At a time when such transgressions have been reduced to mere titillation, it is interesting to return to Brooks's portraits and consider the individuals they depict, and the brazen abandonment of both social and aesthetic convention they represent. Peter, A Young English Girl depicts Hannah Gluckstein (1895-1978), an English artist who cut her hair short, dressed in men's clothes, and renounced her family name, insisting instead that she be called simply "Gluck." Gluck met Romaine Brooks around 1923, at which time they painted each other's portrait. Like Brooks, Gluck came from a wealthy background and was quick to establish herself as a successful artist; financial security and her circulation within permissive, "bohemian" circles permitted her an independence that would not have been readily available to women at that time. Gluck's work was exhibited several times by London's Fine Arts Society, and her home was featured in a 1935 edition of Homes and Gardens. Although she had several lovers-many of whom she painted-for forty years Gluck's partner was Edith Shackleton Heald, the first female reporter in England's House of Lords. Una Troubridge (1887-1963) was born Una Elena Taylor and grew up in London in upper-middle-class surrounds. Having graduated from the Royal College of Art, she embarked on a career as a sculptor before the death of her father forced her to marry in order to gain financial security. Her husband, naval captain Ernest Troubridge, was twenty-five years her senior; the marriage was not a success, and they were divorced in 1917. In 1915 Una had met "John" Radclyffe Hall and after Una's divorce they began a relationship that would continue until Hall's death in 1943. Together, Troubridge and Hall gained a certain notoriety as an openly gay couple within London and Paris society. In the early stages of their relationship both wore masculine attire in a deliberate flaunting of both femininity and their own sexuality. Brooks's portrait of Una, dressed in pin-striped frock coat with monocle, makeup, and severely styled hair, has been interpreted as a cruel send-up of Una's masculinity. At the time of its painting, Brooks commented in a letter, "Una is funny to paint, her getup is remarkable"; reportedly, after the work was completed Una refused to pay. Mocking or not, the portrait boldly states the possibilities of a female identity other than the "soft" femininity prescribed by mainstream society. Una, Lady Troubridge, which was exhibited in London, New York, Chicago, and Paris, represents as bold a statement of gay identity as could possibly be imagined in the early years of the twentieth century. While many of the women in Brooks's portraits appear as society wished them to be seen-in dresses, with coiffed hair and made-up faces-Una Troubridge and Gluck dictated the terms of their appearance. In doing so, they let it be known exactly who was wearing the trousers.


Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | November 06, 2016, p. 12
According to a hadith, which deals with parenting of children, the Prophet said: “There is no better and superior present that a father can give to his children than cultivation of good morals.” (Sunan at-Tirmidhi)
In this hadith, by good morals is meant the best way of leading life. It is about how one’s son or daughter should live in this world so that when they have grown up they can be truly successful and do not become a liability to their family and society, but, rather, an asset.
If parents pamper their children, they give them the worst possible gift. But if they teach them the way to lead a successful life and prepare them for that, they give them the best possible gift. For instance, they should raise them to not complain about others and to always look for where they may have made a mistake or gone wrong and rectify it, and in this way make themselves better people.
They should nurture them in such a way that they develop modesty, not pride or a superiority complex. They should help their children to be always being responsible for their mistakes, rather than holding others as responsible.
They should teach them to spend their energy and time in useful activities.
Parents must help their children learn that if they do something wrong, they themselves must pay for it and that no one else can do that.
Children must learn that they must not complain about others and that doing so is simply a waste of one’s time. They must learn to think positively and save themselves completely from negative thinking. They must abstain from bad habits. Moreover, parents should make their children duty-conscious, not rights-conscious.


This video lesson is an example of ''teaching for understanding'' in lieu of providing students with formulas for determining the height of a dropped (or projected) object at any time during its fall. The concept presented here of creating a chart to organize and analyze data collected in a simple experiment is broadly useful. During the classroom breaks in this video, students will enjoy timing objects in free fall and balls rolling down ramps as a way of learning how to carefully conduct experiments and analyze the results. The beauty of this lesson is the simplicity of using only the time it takes for an object dropped from a measured height to strike the ground. There are no math prerequisites for this lesson and no needed supplies, other than a blackboard and chalk. It can be completed in one 50-60-minute classroom period.
This Protein Purification video lesson is intended to give students some insight into the process and tools that scientists and engineers use to explore proteins. It is designed to extend the knowledge of students who are already somewhat sophisticated and who have a good understanding of basic biology. The question that motivates this lesson is, ''what makes two cell types different?'' and this question is posed in several ways. Such scientific reasoning raises the experimental question: how could you study just a subset of specialized proteins that distinguish one cell type from another? Two techniques useful in this regard are considered in the lesson.
In this interactive activity adapted from NOVA, expand your understanding of the scientific process. Watch two videos featuring animations and interviews with scientists, and notice how the processes unfold and vary from one investigation to the other.
- Life Science
- Material Type:
- PBS LearningMedia
- Provider Set:
- PBS Learning Media Common Core Collection
- Teachers' Domain
- The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Date Added: