Modern Day American Slave Master of Color Profiting From Dehumanizing Americans

Take Pride In Parenting; End Child Abuse & Neglect

red-dotvia Wild Hyena Hoodrat Set Up Robbery Victim Via Plenty Of Fish Dating Website – YouTube.

Phillip – A Common Sense Approach Social Commentator?

red-dotI’d like to know Phil The Common Sense presenter’s justification for characterizing Americans of African descent as INHUMAN animals?

Is this link on his website $Why$?

Buy the Hoodrat shirt: http://xxx.xx/R7ib1

I appreciate Philip being upset with the young girl we all witnessed sharing violence with an innocent teen and five-year-old child.

However, I believe characterizing this child as a “Hoodrat” or animal is a totally irresponsible reaction in that the violent child is apparently a victim of child abuse committed by the people or person legally and morally responsible for raising and nurturing this abused child into a peaceful person.

I too am angry when I witness acts of violence being committed by young children, though based on my life experiences witnessing this type of ugliness on a regular basis, I choose to seek and identify who is primarily responsible for this emotionally abused child acting out with violence.

In some circles, adults with a common sense approach who characterize a child as an animal, might be viewed as a bit damaged themselves.

In other circles many might believe common sense people using inflammatory titles and headlines to draw public attention to their ad-packed Youtube channels that are linked to their for-profit website, well, many might infer the common sense folks are willfully perpetuating grief and sadness experienced by thousands of victims of child abuse and neglect who matured into damaged teens and adults.

Sadly many of the people highlighted in the videos on these for-profit YouTube channels, with links to for-profit websites, are victims of all types of early childhood abuse, neglect and maltreatment that understandably causes them to develop into depressed, angry frustrated teens and adults.

Much like Baltimore grandmother Toya Graham’s son Michael Graham-Singleton who was observed acting with depraved indifference toward peaceful people attempting to protect his peaceful neighbors from the anger and depression many kids experience as they mature, realizing their mom and/or dad introduced them to a life that caused them pain, hardship and struggle…a life depriving them of experiencing some/much of the fun the media tells them many American kids were enjoying.

The root causes of crime and violence are in part related to a child’s early up-bringing and care.

After looking at the rap lyrics written by Kendrick, I recognize he and I have both tread in similar worlds or communities.

Quoting a January 2011 LAWeekly interview with Kendrick:

I’ve met and/or observed hundreds of children who much like Kendrick were victims of early childhood abuse/neglect. I understand how the abuse impacted him, depriving him and most all his schoolmates of a normal mainstream American life the media showed him most American kids were enjoying.

Perhaps this case of child maltreatment and emotional abuse/neglect, will in part, offer a reason for why some/many kids growing up in America experience depression, lack empathy for their neighbors, often resorting to committing violent and other crimes to vent their anger and frustrations.

I met this Brooklyn, NY mom while providing uniform police services to the City of New York some years ago.

One evening a call for police service brought me to a young mom’s second floor walk-up apartment in a private dwelling, she was reporting the theft of a Boom-Box radio taken from her kitchen window sill by someone trespassing on her building’s fire escape.

Entering this young mom’s apartment I observed several children, some in diapers, a few older, sitting on a living room couch, an aluminum fifty-five gallon, half-filled trash can was sitting right in the middle of her tiny living room, as if it was her coffee table. One of her living room walls was smeared with several dark stains of what I believed to be human waste.

I calmly recorded her theft complaint and left, immediately reporting my observations to my sergeant who instructed me to contact child welfare. Forty-five minutes later the children were removed from this mom’s care, temporarily placed in the custody and care of the people of New York City.

Sadly, this was not my only interaction with this mom.

Months later I arrested her younger brother for robbery. According to the victims and one witness to this act of violence who recognized her brother from the neighborhood, he placed what appeared to be a handgun in the face of two victims and threatened their lives while demanding and taking their property.

Until she arrived at the precinct to protest her brother’s arrest, I had no idea my young prisoner was related to the mom whose maltreated children I caused to be taken from her months earlier. At the top of her lungs, much like Michael Brown’s father when he was recorded reacting to the perceived injustice to his family member, she adamantly insisted her brother was not a robber.

I showed her the gun I recovered from her brother’s pocket, I told her one witness knows her brother from the neighborhood, still not convinced she came very close to being arrested for becoming disorderly and refusing to leave the precinct station house once her business was done. Later I learned that she appeared in court when her younger brother was arrested months earlier for an unrelated robbery.

What was the point of lying about her brother not being a street thug, when there are public records indicating she knew he was committing acts of violence toward people months before she looked me in the eye and vehemently denied her brother is a robber?

I believe I know the answer to my own question. Again, I have no formal training in understanding why people tend to act the way they do, however based on my life experiences I believe Boom-Box mom lied to me without a care or second thought because she was raised to believe lying and denial is how people cope with uncomfortable situations..or..she never acquired and developed the critical thinking skills required to look past living in the moment, or the “here and now’.

Time and time again I interviewed adults and teens who lied to me about easily verifiable facts, often placing themselves at risk for being arrested for obstructing or impeding criminal investigations. Is this something most people with average critical thinking skills would do?

After every day or night’s work I had a 30-40 minute commute home, which gave me time to reflect on the day’s events, how I responded to them, and what I learned from them. Many nights I would drive home with a smile on my face, thinking to myself, “Holy smokes, I can’t believe I get paid to have this much fun identifying and locking up dangerous people.”

During many of these winding-down, reflective moments I would actually experience a euphoric feeling of being “high on life.” For me, at that time in my career, chasing down seriously dangerous bad people who illegally armed themselves with firearms for the purpose of committing mayhem on a mostly peaceful population of working class and poor fellow Americans was the ultimate high, as well as a fringe benefit of police work.

In many cases after taking an alleged dangerous person into custody, I had the opportunity to speak with them and gain ‘some’ insight into what makes them tick. I have no formal training in psychology, however, after meeting and talking with many people who are alleged to have committed crimes in this community, I personally concluded many of the people I arrested were raised and nurtured in environments that lacked real love, understanding, caring and guidance.

Driving home after my first interaction with the aforementioned Boom-Box mom, I thought about her values, her understanding of what is expected of the people who nurture our children, her consideration for laws that society imposes on all people who assume the serious responsibility of rearing children.

I concluded Boom-Box mom was “clueless,” lacking good judgment and skills in all areas required for her to be a good nurturer.

I asked myself, “What is going on in the mind of a mother who invites a law enforcement official into her home, in which she has created a environment for her children that posed a serious risk to their physical well being and health, as well as their psychological development?”

“Does she not realize what she is doing to her children or how her clueless behavior can imprint and affect them for life?”

“Before calling the police did Boom-Box mom not realize society enacted laws protecting her children from the physically harmful and emotionally abusive home she created for them?”

I have to believe Boom-Box mom’s method for parenting is a learned behavior, instilled either during her own upbringing or gleaned from the people she is friends or associates with. Which leaves me wondering if Boom-Box mom ever invited friends or guests to her apartment, and if she did, why didn’t they report the apparent maltreatment and emotional abuse she was exposing her helpless children to?

I am not trying to be harsh by characterizing Boom-Box mom as totally “clueless.” I believe she is a victim of a society accepted cycle of dysfunctional family and community environments…from birth, it appears Boom-Box mom was not shown what a loving environment is made of, it’s difficult for me to be mad at people who are victimized by the recurring cycle, and it certainly makes me better understand why so much rage, anger and frustration exists in the hearts and minds of young “black people” who are raised in these environments.

If I was being raised in the cycle of poverty by a “clueless” parent, as I mature, learning more about the world and witnessing how others are having fun, prospering, loving their families and lives, more than likely over time I’d be real upset, simmering, maybe even rage as I aged and my home environment does not improve.

I think about Boom-Box mom’s children and what they have to look forward to, what skills does she offer her children…what goes through her baby’s minds as they gather around the trash can mom placed in the middle of their living room, day after day watching television depicting the good lives Americans of all backgrounds are enjoying?

What really saddens me……is knowing, based on my experiences, that Boom-Box mom’s “clueless” mindset is replicated by mom’s and parents throughout this community. It saddens and angers me that little kids are in many cases, doomed from the start, or before they are conceived.

When I look back at the environment my parents created for me and how I responded to that environment, I realize my goals were to please my parents by respecting and appreciating what they were doing for me. And most importantly doing my best not to disappoint them because they loved me and made sure I knew it by actively being involved in my life, and aiding me in shaping my life as I developed into a peaceful person who felt loved and cared for.

Two immutable rules in our household were impressed upon me at a young age, “Always be truthful” and “Before judging, wear the other person’s shoes.” Thinking back mom and dad never used the word “empathy” when admonishing me for not thinking before I shot my mouth off, they always said “wear the other person’s shoes.”

I am thinking if my mom and dad placed a trash can in our living room, ignored feces smeared on our walls, got sis and I removed from their custody because they were not providing basic care for me and sis…I am thinking I’d be a pretty messed up kid incapable of embracing the concept of empathy, or purposefully not showing empathy for others because my life sucks and I don’t care about others.

Or perhaps I’d use my intentional lack of empathy as a means to peeve or ‘get-back’ at my parents by engaging in anti-social behaviors that would eventually get me arrested, causing my parents to recognize that I exist, or depending on their views of the police, causing them to interact with authority people they may not necessarily like or trust, thus peeving them.

As I wrote, my experiences occurred years ago.

Recently I looked at current crime stats for this community and learned there has been a significant decrease in reported crimes, though there is still a good amount of violent crimes being committed.

If society continues failing to monitor caregivers who require public funds to raise, nurture and support their children, these kids will continue to be raised in environments like the one Boom-Box mom created for her kids.

I am hoping when camera technology proves its mettle in protecting police officers, as well as identifying officers who require further training or officers who have no business serving the public in a LE capacity, we will use that same technology to protect children by monitoring the common area of homes in which caregivers have established a track record for failing to properly raise, nurture and/or supervise their children. Especially in communities with higher crime rates where kids are more often exposed to some/many neighbors with a mindset for lawlessness.

My Logic:

If a person requires public funds to raise and nurture a child, society is essentially investing in America’s future by offering support to irresponsible women who in many cases give life to children they are not prepared to care for without, and in some/many instances, with our support.

By bearing a child/children without having the means to provide for her child, a mom has already demonstrated that she is not a mature, responsible person.

Society compassionately, and because we do not have any other choice, provides support and care for a child born to a immature, irresponsible mother, and due to financial constraints we do little to insure our investment in immature mother’s children is being used to raised and nurture her kids in a physically and emotionally healthy environment.

Cameras would allow society to closely monitor our investment without being overly intrusive or having to hire more child welfare investigators to protect children from immature, irresponsible caregivers, which we should be doing now.

Society created laws to protect peaceful people from anti-social people.

To protect society from children who develop anti-social attitudes, we arrest teens for committing crimes, yet we do not hold accountable the mothers and fathers legally responsible for nurturing and supervising these kids?

Why is that?

Does society’s current and long-standing policy for ignoring children born to immature females and anonymous or immature males need to be re-evaluated?

Seems reasonable society should have a right to closely monitor our investments and insure that kids are being raised and nurtured with love >>> and not indifference.

Milwaukee Sheriff Clarke offers sound advice to all Americans, “Fix the ghetto!”

If we do not take affirmative action to protect children, “the ghetto” will continue to thrive, fueled by poor parenting, resulting with depressed kids maturing into depressed, angry, frustrated, unpredictable teens and adults who often vent their pent up frustrations on their peaceful neighbors, instead of the person(s) responsible for introducing them to a life of hardship, pain and struggle.

Victims of Child Abuse:

“Yes I think I’m okay I walked into the door again
Well, if you ask that’s what I’ll say

And it’s not your business anyway”

#RestorePrideInParenting #EndChildAbuseNeglect


Dissertation/Thesis Abstract

Exiting anarchy: Militia politics after the post-Soviet wars
by Driscoll, Jesse Russell, Ph.D., Stanford University, 2009, 349; 3382960
Abstract (Summary)

How did political order emerge in Tajikistan and Georgia after the violent chaos of the Soviet collapse? Despite enormous structural weaknesses—the absence of a national army, impassable mountains, ethnic cleavages, poverty, and foreign-backed insurgencies—stable regimes consolidated quickly. This dissertation develops a theory of postwar state-building that suggests that order emerged after clan-based militias and criminal warlords installed a civilian regime in the capital city capable of appealing directly to international donors. The regime started as a cosmetic legitimizing device for violent militias: Armed groups fought amongst each other for the right to extort presidents for privatization rights and de-facto monopolies. Over time, post-Soviet leaders learned how to use their pivotal positions to divide their enemies against one another in the coalition formation process. The emergence of unaccountable patronage networks inside regime ministries brought informal wartime institutions into co-optive relationships with formal state structures. In this revisionist account order emerged through mechanisms that had little to do with the appealing script of democratization, legitimacy, and the rule of law.

Indexing (document details)
Advisor: Laitin, David
School: Stanford University
School Location: United States -- California
Source: DAI-A 70/10, Dissertation Abstracts International
Subjects: Political science, Russian history, Military studies
Keywords: Civil wars, Georgia (Republic), Militia, Post-Soviet, State-building, Tajikistan, Violence
Publication Number: 3382960
ISBN: 9781109447446


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How to Guard an Art Gallery and Other Discrete Mathematical Adventures

What is the maximum number of pizza slices one can get by making four straight cuts through a circular pizza? How does a computer determine the best set of pixels to represent a straight line on a computer screen? How many people at a minimum does it take to guard an art gallery?

Discrete mathematics has the answer to these—and many other—questions of picking, choosing, and shuffling. T. S. Michael's gem of a book brings this vital but tough-to-teach subject to life using examples from real life and popular culture. Each chapter uses one problem—such as slicing a pizza—to detail key concepts about counting numbers and arranging finite sets. Michael takes a different perspective in tackling each of eight problems and explains them in differing degrees of generality, showing in the process how the same mathematical concepts appear in varied guises and contexts. In doing so, he imparts a broader understanding of the ideas underlying discrete mathematics and helps readers appreciate and understand mathematical thinking and discovery.

This book explains the basic concepts of discrete mathematics and demonstrates how to apply them in largely nontechnical language. The explanations and formulas can be grasped with a basic understanding of linear equations.

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Motherhood and Postnatal Depression: Narratives of Women and Their Partners

Globally, postnatal depression (PND) is a growing public health problem. PND affects 10 to 15% of women in Western society. It caused by a combination of biological, psychological and social factors. Two models have attempted to define and explain PND; the biomedical and the sociological models. The traditional biomedical model views PND as a medical condition which implies there is individual pathology and abnormality. Whilst the biomedical model has been the dominant model in treating PND, it has been criticized by feminist sociologists and psychologists for its rigidity in defining and explaining PND. In contrast, the psychosocial model of health acknowledges the biological factors that impact on emotional well-being, but places more emphasis on the personal and social factors that impact on emotional well-being, but places more emphasis on the personal and social factors that contribute to depressive symptoms such as gender, poverty, social disadvantage and social class. The central argument throughout this book is the importance of support before and after the birth for women's emotional well-being. This book will also include women's journeys through pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood, postnatal depression, and resolution. To date, literature has focused on women's lived experiences of PND rather than their personal journeys through pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood. Additionally, the adjustment to fatherhood has received less attention. For example, little is known about the impact of postnatal depression on the partner, what support partners offer when women with the intention to fill the gap in knowledge of cultural and social issues relating to pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood for woman who were diagnosed with, and had resolved, PND.

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Will more funding generate better academic results in primary school - A quasi-experimental study of the centralization reform in Stockholm 2007

University essay from Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för nationalekonomi med statistik

Abstract: The fact that education plays a major part for wealth of nations has been known for quite sometime, but the debate over the true relationship between school funding and student performanceis ongoing in both academia and among policymakers. They all want to answer the same question- how can the returns of education be maximized?We use a centralization reform in Stockholm from 2007 to estimate the causal e_ect of increasedschool funding on student performance. We study three measurements: Grade point average, theamount of students that at least got a pass in every class and the amount of students that got thegrades required to graduate. The studied schools are public primary schools in Stockholm.The study was done by using a di_erence-in-di_erence approach with GPA, Pass and Grad asour outcome variables. Our _ndings show that the reform created clear winners and losers in termsof school funding and that the majority of school budgets were unchanged. Our results howevershow no statistically signi_cant short term e_ects on student performance whether a school was a winner or not


The relevant role of humidity in Secondary Electrospray Ionization (SESI)

Humidity in SESI

The relevant role of humidity in Secondary Electrospray Ionization (SESI)

Rising the humidity level of the gas introduced through the sample line accelerates the charge transfer reaction rate in Secondary Electrospray Ionization (SESI). It is hypothesized that larger clusters transfer their charge more efficiently than smaller clusters or even bare ions. A study introducing regular and deuterated ethanol and water in the sample gas, showed that the gas-phase proton-affinity of the molecules clustering around the charging ion, and the molecules of interest is a key parameter.

The humidity has to be carefully considered, particularly when developing a new application or experimental set-up because:

  • Exhaled air from the alveolar region of the lungs has a very steady humidity level, with a dew point regulated by the body temperature (36-37ºC). For breath research and analysis, the humidity is self-regulated.

  • In headspace analysis (or the analysis of other humid samples), controlling the temperature and the humidity of the sample is crucial to ensure a constant humidity level. Adding extra humidity helps to boost some signals and to eliminate possible variations.

Better understanding the SESI ionization mechanism in different conditions is key to improve linearity. Humidity plays a very important role in the ionization, but quantification is still. Our R&D team is working on numerical models to understand this role and better to ensure that no variations in the humidity level will affect the ionization efficiency and thus the measurements.

We have worked in SESI-MS for 10 years now, if you would like to know more about how our core solution SUPER SESI works, contact us to ask any questions or keep on reading here.


Meditation: ‘It doesn’t take time, it makes time.’

A teacher of mine, Joe Dispenza - once described meditation as the practice of ‘negating time’. In other words, when we sit in meditation, we deny the existence of ‘the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future’.

He went on to explain that when we meditate, we are deliberately choosing not to be influenced or affected in any way by the past or the future. We are placing our awareness in, and therefore consolidating our energy in the ‘eternal present moment’ as a way of overcoming the limitations of time as we know it.

In his work, Dispenza often explains how we get stuck in the past. He says that even when we are thinking about the future, we are typically looking through the lens of past experience. We refer to and draw on our past experiences to attempt at predicting future events. The following is a quote from Dispenza that explains this further:

“So if you wake up in the morning and start to think about your problems, the moment you think about the memory of that problem, you’re thinking in the past. Since each memory has an emotion associated with it, the moment you feel that emotion, the body is now in the past. Because thoughts are the language of the brain and feelings are the language of the body, now your brain and body are completely in the past. As a result, when you feel unhappy, frustrated, sad, or deflated from the memories of your problems, your body doesn’t know the difference between the real life event or the memory that is creating those emotions. Thus, if those negative emotions are driving your thoughts, and you can’t think greater than how you feel, you are thinking in the past. As your feelings become your means of thinking, you create more of your past.”

The tendency to filter every experience through the lens of past experience is so automatic, we don’t even notice we are doing it. In fact, so much of our thinking is characterized by this referencing of the past to interpret the now that we are not able to experience the now with ‘fresh eyes’ and we basically miss it altogether. In this sense, what really takes time from us, is the thinking that ties us to the past and thus eats up the present moment.

Meditation is a process of disrupting this automatic stream of consciousness that runs off data gathered from the past. Joe would argue that the entire goal of meditation is to ‘become conscious of our unconscious thoughts and behaviours’ so that we can extricate ourselves from the limitations of perceptions built up through past experience and create the futures of our dreams. He asserts that we must then become experts at arriving in the now, this place where we cease referencing the known altogether. In Quantum Physics this place is referred to as the quantum field, a place outside of space and time as we know it, the place where all potentials exist in their pre-manifest state, as energy. This process of bringing the mind to neutral, or as Joe would put it, ‘taking our attention off of the knowns and making contact with the generous present moment’, is a way of making time as it gives us back all of the energy that would otherwise be tied up in the past (internally interpreting, explaining, predicting). I wont go any further here but the just of it is that our meditation practice is the crucial step in being able to bring our desires to manifest form. More on this next week.

The reason time can feel like a constraint is because we have become so accustomed to racing against it. When we meditate, we step out of the race, we silently signal the nervous system that no matter what happened in the past, nothing can touch us now. The ego hates when we do this, it screams and fights and pulls out all the stops to convince us we better hurry up, we better try harder, always telling us we are running out of time.

And so we answer sweetly and silently with stillness. We make time.


The finest meal in Lyon

The center of French gastronomy lies not in Paris, but deeper south

When we think about French food, often the first thing that comes to mind is what exists abundantly in the country's capital: crêpes complètes, palmiers, coq au vin, canard à l'orange. But beyond the Parisian staples that we all expect, the heart of French gastronomy is a little further south, in the city of Lyon.

The founding of Lyon dates back to Roman times, and it was the second French city established in the Rhone-Alpes region. Not only is it a major hub for transport from Paris to the rest of the South of France, but it has sites that rival those of Paris in beauty and grandeur. The 19th century Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Places des Terreaux, and Musée des Beaux-Arts are just some of the notable stops on your Lyon adventure. And while you might not think to come to this southern city over the City of Lights, if you're a serious foodie, you'll think again. From plentiful bistrots, to charcuteries, to Michelin-star restaurants, any food you try in Lyon will be nothing short of inspiring. To those who know the names Bocuse and Boulud, you'll definitely want to read on.

Lyon's history of gastronomy dates back to the time of Catherine de Medici. Born in 1519, the Florentine noblewoman married Henry II and became the Queen of France from 1547 until 1559. One of her most important duties as queen was to arrange for her skilled chefs to prepare unctuous meals inspired by the region's lush agriculture. Lyonnaise cuisine developed into a culture inspired by the spoils of game hunting, seasonal vegetables, and of course, abundant local wines from the famous Beaujolais and Rhone Valley.

Oliver Strewe

One of the most recognizable name to any Lyonnais is Bocuse. Paul Bocuse is considered to some, the man who started it all. His famous soupe aux truffes was good enough to serve former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing at the Elysée Palace in 1975, and eventually became a staple at his restaurant called Soupe V.G.E.

The now 90-year-old chef was taught under the watchful eye (and sensitive tastebuds) of Eugénie Brazier, known as La Mère Brazier. She was, quite seriously, the mother of all food, and the first chef to hold 6 Michelin stars at once! Paul Bocuse became her most successful ingénu a generation later, and the father of nouvelle cuisine. He was even the namesake of one of France's highest culinary distinctions, the Bocuse d'Or. And perhaps one of the most famous chefs of our time, the Lyon-born Daniel Boulud, is in line to become Bocuse's culinary successor.

At the banks of the Saône river, slightly north of Lyon, you'll find a building that looks like it jumped out of your favorite fairytale. It's called L'Auberge du Pont de Collognes. But this "inn" is anything but representative of its humble title. It's more like Le Château du Pont de Collognes.

Oliver Strewe

This is a restaurant that has not just one menu, but three: "Classique," "Bourgeois," or "Grande Tradition." One of the most impressive and prized French recipes is the Bresse chicken cooked ả la Mère Fillioux. A truffled chicken is delicately placed inside a bladder, which is expertly inflated and boiled in flavorful broth. The divine presentation can serve 2 or 4.

Another stunning serving, and favorite of Anthony Bourdain, is the sea bass stuffed in puff pastry with Choron sauce. Think Beef Wellington, but better. This fresh fish is cooked inside a pastry that is carved with fish scales and decorations to look like a piece of art. This 3-Michelin star restaurant has classic formal French service in a gorgeous dining room fit for Catherine de Medici herself.

If you're looking for an unforgettable dining experience, book your table at Bocuse's today!

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The Richness of Infinity: On Integrating Worldbuilding Across Time and Space

For those of you who loved my podcast Epiphany, guess what? I’m working on a podcast called Ossia right now, and I passed the 32,000-word mark on it this week. It will operate in 5 chunks (seasons?) of 12 episodes each. Optimistically, I will start recording and posting it later in 2018.

But enough of that. I have some brief comments on worldbuilding.

One of my techniques in worldbuilding is to connect everything, at least at an implicit level, because I love solving puzzles. I commented on Twitter that this helps me create enough complexity to occupy my mind. That is true to some extent.

The major reason is more complex. I grew up reading Classical mythology, ghost stories, Star Wars extended universe novels, vampire fiction from the 19th century onward, and occasionally fantasy or science fiction. The way I approach interconnected worldbuilding is most like Classical mythology and historical narrative. It’s less like Star Wars, for which knowing Star Wars is key to understanding or even wanting to read the extended universe (for most people).

Classical myth is deep and wide, and the worldbuilding I do attempts at approximation. In sacred stories, we have the traditional epic cycle of the Trojan War and its aftermath. This exists alongside corpora of other stories. Hermes of the Iliad sits alongside the Homeric Hymn, in which baby Hermes steals cows, invents the lyre, and claims his place on Olympos. You don’t need to read one to understand the other. They all take place in the same divine world — larger than a single story or telos. A key idea in multiplicity is understanding that there is not a 1:1 correspondence between story and setting, that the stories of others exist in tandem to the anger of Akhilleos. The Nile still overflowed its banks each of the ten war-torn years, and people had their own things to do.

I worldbuilt 35,000 years (to varying levels of detail) of the history of Ameisa, which covers the entirety of its habitation, along with the six worlds that became inhabited during the cycles of Ameisi civilization. (On a vague level, I have everything in the 17,000 years before on the planet Jiha.) My worldbuilding includes the idea of civilizational cycles, with mythological histories layered on mythological histories. Traveling among the stars is always in the past because the stars have been reached in the real past, at least for everyone on these worlds. It’s similar to writing in a Classical myth setting because each provides an impressive breadth of stories to create.

The epic I’m writing’s world is Ameisa during a specific historical period that extends from 29964 to the 35500s Objective Count. (Objective Count just means that I have a civilization-neutral calendar dated to the first day humans landed on Ameisa. I convert to specific cultural calendars.) The other six planets only come in tangentially, and even so, their roles in the epic are specifically defined against what is happening on Ameisa during the Blackout Period and its aftermath.

This means that the intricacies of stories on the other six planets don’t often have opportunities to be told. The Blackout is a universal in many of the stories, but most people on Maðz, Atara, Mntaka, Baruwh, Qamaq, and even Ameisa’s sister planet Laseå will live and die during that 5500-year period with no awareness of any events in the epic, having lived out their own lives and stories. (Even the handful of people who interact with the epic know this, and they often resent Ameisa for taking center stage.)

Some of the projects I’ve been working on in addition to the world of 29965-35500 Ameisa include stories on the other planets. It’s refreshing because there’s almost no contact among the planets during the Blackout period, and I get to focus on cultures and languages that I wouldn’t otherwise.

However, I’ve often called stories set in the same universe as The Seven Papers “stories that are set in the same worldbuilding as The Seven Papers,” but I have spent several days reflecting on what that means and have determined that the terminology makes no sense. The Seven Papers is the Ameisi Epic Cycle, and the other stories that have space on the 35,000-year timeline are — what, exactly? They’re not derivative, but they do share a world. I don’t have a word to describe them.

A secondary analogy to make here is to imagine someone writing a historical fantasy novel series set across the vast span of Ancient to Modern Egyptian history who then decides to write a novel about 19th century Tokyo. Tokyo is impacted by Alexandria, but not in a way that most people living out their daily lives would understand consciously. They’re both in the same worldbuilding — Earth history. What happened during the Christianization of Alexandria has a direct impact on the missionary tension in Japan and Japan’s hard line against the cultural violence and destruction that has accompanied Christianity since its cultural revolution ended with the indigenous Mediterranean, Near Eastern, and European religions all but wiped out, libraries destroyed, statues mutilated, and competing polytheistic philosophical schools destroyed. When Christian missionaries converted powerful people in the common era, they often told them that their next job was to destroy the demonic shrines and religious traditions of the places they lived in — and when locals retaliated, the missionaries traditionally played the victim. This has played out everywhere from China (see the Boxer Rebellion) to Japan (see Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was concerned about shrine destruction and European imperialism) to India (just read the news). You cannot write 19th century Tokyo without the geopolitics intersecting with European imperialism, which came out of the Christianized Roman Empire. Someone writing a historical series like that would see the connections, but not necessarily the readers who follow lim.

Writing same-worldbuilding work set in different places and time periods works in a very similar way. One of the novellas is about mountain and death goddesses, family reconciliation, and ghosts. The other is about magic, libraries, and oracles. The protagonists are literally centuries, worlds, and cultures apart (and I finished the first draft of the oracular one at the beginning of April, so go me! 37,000 words!). They will never meet or learn the language of the other. The only place they connect is in their lack of connection, the Blackout silence in the sky.

The principles I used to create the Mamltab and Classical Atarahi conlangs also go by my general principles for the creation of Ameisa-origin languages, which is more subtle. I’ve oversampled for object-verb-subject (OVS) and the types of evidentiality markers that date back to the first language spoken on the planet. The inner unity after millennia is solely based on having the same initial condition, Aòḥám.

And it’s also unbelievably fun to write things that are new and disconnected, to know that the worldbuilding I made has such incredible range that I can use it for extremely different applications. I’m still looking for an elegant term to use in describing these works, but for now, I think I’ll call them co-worldbuilt mythopoetic stories.

The Final Paragraph of Epiphany

So, after 54 chapters and one cultural primer on the systems of gender in the country Tveshė, Epiphany: The Story of a Heartbeat is done.

And Epiphany ended with a paragraph written in Narahji. Let’s talk about it.

Axopatomsa Eråsis glabdesu. Dof tëæmlaek mamgukofa mosjefenga. T’eikniphaomæ klesælịru kul makra dåmịmla av sanmoksuösaịru omnibh. Glabdeml mök lịbånibhæ̈ paänxa, dokusa kubhu tazai radåmfæva länglabdeml? Hjenähjas oxikanælaeroneu ịkur besu. Murhjas rịbhælaịrruịr. Ku fædeis murhjas oxikanælaịrru. Axopatomsa Eråsis glabdesu. Kækyåv moru glabdesu.

This paragraph begins with the use of two names, Axopatomsa and Eråsiswhich are the informal and formal names respectively of Salus’ younger daughter. In addition, Salus addresses lim as Toma in the entry itself, a common nickname for someone named Axopatomsa. Any verb with glabde in it is a form of the verb eklab, an irregular infinitive.

You will also see a lot of words with the root of nibh, which translates to well-oiled. The word is also used to mean good and is extremely versatile. Oils are very prized in Narahja, where they are used to condition hair, skin, and wooden objects, in addition to their use in temples for icon anointing, scented oil offering lamps, and purificatory baths.

The entire passage translates to:

I am Axopatomsa Eråsis. This is where my mother’s journal ends. The print pages have been placed online, and I have read it faithfully. Isn’t it strangely impressive what, in the end, le decided needed to be said? People before lim wouldn’t have done it. Le dedicated this to me and gave me this choice. I am Axopatomsa Eråsis. I am ler daughter.

That, of course, is an idiomatic translation.

Eiknipha is the word for datastream or the Internet, which is meant in a loose sense because the way online infrastructure works there is very different. I translated dåmịmla loosely, as the more literal translation would be handed, in the sense of something produced via hand. The particle æ̈ (a rough-breathed æ) is a suffix attached to the word in a simple yes/no question that is under scrutiny, in this case the impressiveness of Salus’ entries.

Speaking in Narahji is very hard because the stress system is so different from English, my native language. It has more vowels and a few consonant clusters that are not very intuitive. I don’t want to say how many takes of that paragraph I needed, but my actual podcast notes looked like this:ˈsa E.råsˈis ˈ Dof të.ˈæ.ml.a.ekˈfa mo.sje.fen.ˈga.
T’ˈæ ˈkles.æl.ịru kul mak.ˈra dåm.ịm.ˈla avˈö.sa.ịru om.ˈnibh.
ˈ mök lị.bå.ˈnibh.æ̈ pa.än.ˈxa,
do.ku.ˈsa ku.ˈbhu ta.ˈzai ra.dåm.fæ.ˈva län.ˈ
Hje.ˈnä.hjas o.xi.ˈkan.æ ị.ˈkur be.ˈsu.
ˈMur.hjas ˈrịbh.æ.la.ịrr.u.ịr.
Ku fæ.ˈdeis ˈmur.hjas o.xi.ˈkan.æl.a.ịrr.u.ˈsa E.råsˈis ˈ
Kæ.ˈkyåv mo.ˈru ˈ

I did takes until I was confident that how I said it was the best I could do. Please keep in mind if you listen to that entry that my American English accent is vey present. I didn’t invent Narahji to be easy.

There was also a sentence that didn’t make it in, which I feel sad about — I was copying and pasting a lot of things into my audio notes.

The missing sentence: Tsemanok! I nexus lịrnibh kul tsünas åtsu bivosafbelo. Tsemanok! Through this good path by means of your dice I hope that I walk. Or, simply, I hope that Tsemanok has taken me down the correct path.

Tsemanok is a god much like Hermes, Eshu, or Ganesh, and Toma’s sentiment is something I share.

How I Use Pronoun Systems to Reflect Conlangs and Concultures

So, I started doing something very different during the first decad of February — writing a story in the universe of Seven Papers that makes use of the pronouns he and sheLe is also there, but is not used for every character.

Epiphany and stories like it use GNP for everyone, and I’ve gone into some reasons why in the additional documentation for Epiphany — there are many genders, and I want to emphasize both the conlang context and the cultural experience of gender. My short stories in Seven Papers also use gender-neutral pronouns. Here’s how I determine what kind of system I’m using:

  • First person: Is the character speaking a language without gender-inflected pronouns? And does the setting have more than two culturally contextual genders? Use GNP for everyone.
  • Third person (which is usually actually first person in a roundabout way): In the setting, would this story be written in a privilege language that uses gender-neutral pronouns? And does the setting have more than two culturally contextual genders? If so, use GNP for everyone.

The story I’m writing now is the first third-person story I’ve written where the privilege language is Classical Atarahi. Classical Atarahi is a Sāqab language that dates to a few thousand years after the human colonization of the planet Atara. It’s the international standard language on that planet, coexisting alongside many languages that evolved from creoles or the passage of time. Speakers learn it alongside their native languages. Upper classes typically take names in Classical Atarahi; middle and lower classes typically have names in their native languages.

To take a bird’s eye view, Sāqab cultures have restricted gender-inflected pronouns that correspond to he and she. They’re restricted because they cannot be used for anyone who has not completed a gender initiation ritual, and they’re bestowed on men and women. Gender initiation practices mean that Sāqab rarely ever use gender-inflected pronouns for cultural outsiders, barring diplomats.

This leads to a host of misunderstandings, such as the idea that he and she are desirable status markers. The Sāqab peoples ran the last interplanetary empire before its collapse, so Sāqab cultures exist on four planets: Ameisa, Atara, Mntaka, and Qamaq. (Although, to be honest, Mntaka has significant Leissi and Hǫ́ Tiá influence, too, and there are a few diaspora communities on other worlds.) On Ameisa, the Great Peninsular Sāqab countries confer higher status on women due to some significant cultural shifts, so many Tveshi, Iturji, and Narahji speakers mistakenly identify she as a formal pronoun. Karatau Meiyenesi, a character who appears in many of my stories, asks to be referred to using the Malzmā language’s she in formal settings and le in less formal settings to emphasize that jomela in Tveshi culture do receive initiation into their gender and are not sselē. Le knows Malzmā well and is completely aware that le’s queering usage.

In Sāqab cultures, those without initiation, including children, use a pronoun set I am translating as le. Men and women learn distinct writing systems; sselē (the culture’s other gender) can learn all systems, and they can move between men and women’s segregated spaces in households and society freely. Gender initiates lose the ability to move freely. In some Sāqab countries like Midway Island, only sselē are eligible for Chancellor, the chief of the executive branch of government. In other countries like Demza, Chancellorship is open to anyone, but sselē typically occupy the office.

So what happens when you’re talking about someone who grows up in a story? In most cases, adults will use le when describing someone’s childhood, with a marker in the introductory sentence that means le who eventually took she. It doesn’t translate easily into English. The words girl and boy are typically not used until a child’s mid-teens, and they indicate someone who is a candidate for womanhood or manhood — le’s going to preparatory classes for gender initiation and can’t use a gender-inflected pronoun yet.

Here’s an example: Īðī māqomu us mīki hēramōkotgēzi gotomis. Tisoðwō ramōkotgēzi. At five, le herself loved rain. Le danced in it. The -gēzi on the verb indicates gender-neutral third person singular. Gotomis is the standalone pronoun for a woman, which translates to both she and herself. Subsequent sentences use -gēzi without the additional pronoun. There’s also a special standalone pronoun for children, tīta.

One of my favorite things to do while writing a story is to figure out how to best convey culture/language through my own language choices. When I need a gender-neutral pronoun (GNP), I almost always use le — at least in fiction writing. Singular inflection is important to me, but the initial consonant is also very clear even for speakers coming from non-l/r distinction languages. None of the characters in stories set in the Seven Papers speaks English, so I can focus on what I want out of GNP — a pronoun that reflects the social mores of the work’s reference language.

Outside of the Seven Papers setting, I use whichever GNP makes the most sense, and that really relies on knowing the story and its character(s). I have one that uses some singular they because it takes place in 2013 during the Anthesteria, it is written in close third person, and it makes sense given its common usage. Another story uses ze; this is set in the close future (several centuries ahead). In both, GNP coexists with the gender-inflected pronouns he and she. I’ve got an idea percolating for a story set a few more hundred years from now where they is singular and th’all is plural.

I hope that y’all have found this interesting as a linguistics groupie and conlanger’s perspective on making active choices about choosing pronouns to use in stories. Otherwise, I’m happily chugging away at this outline about an Atarahi librarian apprentice.

Reflections on Writing in 2017

Writing-wise, 2017 was an interesting year. This is the part where I talk about a variety of projects related to writing and constructed languages and what happened over last calendar year (and into January 2018).

In 2017 (and January 2018 — I didn’t finish editing a novella until midway through the month), here’s what I did in long-form writing, for a total of ~334,000 words:

  • A novella about sisters, ghosts, and a mountain goddess: 37,715 words (done)
  • Plowing through writing The Seven Papers: 282,509 words (in progress)
  • Ossia (a serial intended for podcasting): 4,530 words (in progress)
  • An epistolary novel set during Ameisa’s Blackout period: 9,320 (in progress)

This doesn’t include all of the hours I’ve spent working on Epiphany, as that was edited back in 2016. There had been an earlier version of Epiphany online before I worked through a lot of the problems I had — primarily with how to explain Tveshi and Narahji culture — and I wrote the original text of Epiphany in my early 20s. I didn’t switch to using GNP in most of my stories about the Seven Gardens until I was 27 or 28, after I had an epiphany (lol) at Smith College ConBust and realized that I could fix translating gender in my stories about those worlds if I just didn’t do it at all.

It’s not going to make it any harder to get published given that my stories are generally about people we would consider queer doing things other than coming out or falling in love. There isn’t a place in the industry for that. What makes the stories better is, ironically, what makes them even less publishable and destroys their market viability — I care more about producing good work, and I have the freedom to do that because I have a full-time career outside of writing. Since I only have 10-15 hours each week that I can commit to writing, I don’t want to waste my time with things I don’t love.

In short form, I wrote 5-6 poems that I would consider publishable — this doesn’t count devotional religious poetry I write because I don’t consider it ethical (for me) if I’ve already given a poem to a deity. The only appropriate venue for devotional poetry would be a self-published collection, and I’d give the proceeds from that to Hellenic polytheism-related orgs.

Technically, I wrote and submitted 5 short stories, but I stopped submitting the 10K one and turned it into a novella. 3 of the other short stories (4,100 words; 6,200 words; and 1,900 words) are set in the universe I typically write in. The final one is … okay, also set in that universe, but is near-to-us future (7,500 words). I’ve also got a gorgon story that I’m editing right now that was technically written in December/January (3,900 words). So that’s ~23,600 words of short story writing. Based on what I’ve submitted places, I’ve tweaked Duotrope to block listings. It’s a weird block list because it consists of everything Orson Scott Card (who is homophobic) is involved in plus markets I have failed in enough that I know they’re a waste of my time.

In summer 2017, I took vacation time and spent about a week conlanging my heart out to produce better versions of Mamltab, Narahji, and Khessi. And then, of course, there was #lexember, when I worked on my Tveshi dictionary and made significant progress in the revisions.

I started submitting to short fiction and poetry publications in March 2017 for the first time since my early twenties. 26 of the 29 submissions I made in 2017 were rejected, 1 submission was published, and 2 are still pending. I find it hard to tell the difference between personal emails and form letters, so I think I checked form rejection in Duotrope for all but 2 pieces. An essay among those rejected actually never received a response, but it was a bit rant-y, and I don’t think many in science fiction or fantasy beyond me care about how poorly worldbuilt or researched most depictions of polytheism are (by admittedly white Western writers).

The published submission was a poem, “What Remains in the Ruins,” which I wrote after reading The Final Pagan Generation and its section on the priests who followed Christian officials around to vandalize and destroy non-Christian religious sites. It focuses on women’s religious experience in Classical polytheism and is a very angry poem.

Poetry is the one type of writing outside of academic articles and essays where I feel an internal locus of control — although the jury’s out on novellas. (I felt really good and in control while writing the one I just finished. I wrote a bunch of novella-length work in my teens and realized midway through the one I just wrote that I have a better handle on novellas than I realized going in.) I won local poetry competitions in my hometown (in my age category) and have written poetry since fifth grade. I went to a several-day writing camp at Southern Illinois State University during summers as a teen, and I surprised the adults with how good the poetry I chose to read actually was. I have always made a clear distinction between the poetry I jot down and the poetry that is appropriate to share with others. My self-esteem folder of nice things people have said about my work is generally about poetry I published in my early to mid-20s under my given name.

The poem I shared at that writing camp, incidentally, is set in the same universe as Epiphany and The Seven Papers. It was written long before I realized that gender-neutral pronouns were the solution to the gender things I was struggling with in the work. It also uses pre-reform spellings of Narahji terms:

Song of Menarka

My heart sings of Menarka as she rises out of time;
The mist, her hair, flows over her face in a rainbow spray of color.
My heart sings of Menarka; her rocks are overgrown
With the sweet perfume of a thousand flowers.
My heart sings of Menarka, whose walls hold the music
And lifeblood of my world, my Ameisa.
Shall I withhold the sweet ecstasy of her name?
Dare I not cry “Menarka!” at every golden moment?
Menarka is an emerald jewel cascading over the rocks
Of the sharply dropping cliffs—indeed, she is the cliffs themselves!
She is the epitome of all desire, standing before the mountains,
Her white dome glistening in the sunlight and moonlight.
The people cry her name with rapture as they experience her,
Running through her cavernous depth of rock.
Menarka, we have made our homes in your very bedrock!
We have fashioned ourselves from your beauty! We honor you!
See her reflect in the river far below us; see her smile upon us!
Her walls are the most beautiful in the world;
Her greens are the most luscious; they smell of euphoria!
She is my Menarka, rising out of the mists,
Lifting sweet perfume to the air, dancing in the revelry of music!
My heart sings of her unspeakable beauty.

That’s it for Jan/Feb 2018 updates! I’m moving into a new apartment on Thursday, but will probably be on Twitter with banter about conlangs and writing.

A screenshot of my Tveshi dictionary.

But anyway. On to lexember!

December 22

Verb asikait /ʌ.ˈsi.kʼait̪/, to essentialize.

December 23

December 24

Vou /vou̯/ n. Box.

December 25

Khiaporå /ʀiʌ̯.ˈpoʊ̯.rɔ/ n. Sunlight.

December 26

Lejė va khono layi.
That’s a substantive fishlike animal.

Olayi /oʊ.ˈlɑ.ji/ means massive.

Lejė va khono olayi.
That’s a massive fishlike animal.

December 27

December 28

December 29

December 30

December 31

First off, Happy Winter Solstice to everyone! ☀🌃

Day 17

Day 18

ahakhit modayuić jeihi
ʌ.ˈhɑ.ʀit̪ moʊ̯.ˈdɑ.yui̯tʃ ˈʒeɪ̯.çi
to twist through collected words

Mė khanem akouanait åssekać jinnahio.
I forced people to burn books.

Mė khanem peimu innodåkouri.
I forced the librarian away.

Mė khanem fem peimu innodåkouri.
I forced the librarian away from ler place.

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Lexember Days #8-16: Teachers and Ancestors

Mesh fayiem gefai mėi.
/Mɛʃ ˈfɑ.jiɛ̯m ˈgɛ.faɪ̯ ˈmɛ.ʔi./
We performed last rites for my grandmother.

This directly glosses to:

Mesh fay-iem gefai mei.

There is no article present in the actual Tveshi accompanying grandmother.

Mė ćalimem em fågoim lịfa nossu vėi gopesem.
I comforted a teacher.HON when ler.FORM student died.
(Em is the object form of emị.)

Mė ćalimem fågoim mėi lịfa nossu gopesem mėshepui.
I comforted my teacher when a student among us died.

Mė ćalimem fan fågoim lịfa nossu gopesem mėshepui.
I comforted a teacher.HON when a student among us died.
(Fan is the object form of feim.)

Ufågoim is often used for university-level faculty.

#Lexember on Twitter

åsseka, book
geha, peak
modakoura, committee
hahi, broken
feaså, scroll
hjo, bed

Day 8

Noña /ˈnoʊ̯.ɲʌ/ n. Quietude, stillness, restfulness.

Day 9

Day 10

Colloquially, di is used to refer to reliable people.

Day 11

Daiahi /ˈdaɪ͡a.çi/, clean, well-ordered.

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Fakha emị meshem mė vo nịnni mohuyem moda nusi.
ˈfɑ.ʀʌ ˈɛ.mɪ ˈmɛʃ.əm mɛ voʊ̯ ˈnɪ̃.ði moʊ̯.ˈxu.jəm ˈmoʊ̯.dʌ nusi.
The ghost forgot me and never wrote a comforting word.

There are also positive and negative words for but:

petai /ˈpɛ.t̪aɪ̯/
pehia /ˈpɛ.çiʌ̯/

Vė vas fayem petai ćå deihat uhio. (positive connotation)
Vė vas fayem pehia ćå deihat uhio. (negative connotation)
Le died, but you achieved a success.

Day 15

Shåsso sėis khairaou ånnon.
ˈʃɔ.ʂoʊ̯ ˈsɛʔ.is ˈʀaɪ̯.ɾʌo͡ʊː ˈɔ̃ð.oʊ̯n.

The storm likely hit the coast.

Day 16

Gianịhau /giʌ̯.ˈnɪ.haʊ̯/ is the term used for xylophone.

‘Tis the Season

Kuaćitait ćà likha ìfà lis ćà haoà sejàtho afàgoinit?
Më ni fàgoinaut goiñë ìfeti sher ni haoa nijal ahàgoilit.

“Mė ni ćualera takhị å sher haoiera nijalė.”

Embers from My #Lexember Twitter Posts

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Notes on Epiphany: Oratory in Ịgzarhjenya Languages (and Iturji)

My words bring horror. People call me Desertion.
The Great Canyon dark devours my soul.
Such is my fate to serve for all time:

I mukro bezurælotek kul magdu mosmur xai Tehjenan manlịdgu.
I neä ruaịgzærmobæ glabdeml i blesgị mosmur xai lagịgzæla.
Ku klazæxub mosmur gleglælaben ku Narahjịgz lịbịmị̈nobæ.
Kusanglabdemlben omdag ku glịklazæ mosmur; radag kusanglabdemlben ku kovta.
ku koværna belæla kul ösyosnosyosjab xai kul bizar ragazị glabdæl bakus
I dom mosmur glabdeml lexai fubä, gåmịtit kolborị:
Ku tsærgbị mosbyur, Katatyan, Kerosyan, ñæ Deimolan natzssaịtrun!
Tselvit bladeissaịtrun, xai ku narlị glabdeml kolborị! Boglabdesunuakba.

Ī mūkrṓ bezū́rælōtek kūl magdū́ mosmū́r xai Tehjénān manlịdgū́.
Ī nehā́ rūaịgzærmobæ glābdéml i blesgị́ mosmū́r xai lāgị́gzæla.
Kū klāzæxū́b mosmū́r gléglælāben kū Nārāhjị́gz lịbịmhịnōbæ.
Kūsānglābdémlben ōmdāg kū glịklāzǽ mōsmū́r; rādā́g kūsānglābdémlben kū kōvtā́.
kū kōværnā́ bélæla kūl hōsyōsnōsyṓsjāb xai kūl bīzā́r rāgāzị́ glā́bdæl bākū́s
Ī dōm mōsmū́r glābdéml lexai fūbhā́, gåmịtī́t kōlbōrị:
Kū tsærgbị́ mōsbyū́r, Kātātyā́n, Kerōsyā́n, ñæ Deimṓlān nā́tzssāịtrūn!
Tselvī́t blādéissāịtrūn, xai kū nārlị́ glābdéml kōlbōrị! Bōglābdésūnūakbā.

Lexember Day #3


10 Strange And Unusual Musical Instruments

10 Strange And Unusual Musical Instruments

Music is a universal leveler. It can bring nations together and can unite people unlike any other medium. The mass appeal of the genre makes it quite unique in the artistic world. This is why the landscape of music manages to change constantly from time to time. Every era is famous for its own musical styling. From the disco in the 80’s to grunge in the 90’s, music continues to evolve, as do the artists and even their instruments. There are several musical instruments out there that are completely unheard of as well. Here is a list of 10 strange and unusual musical instruments.

Stalacpipe Organ

The Stalacpipe Organ was created in 1956 and is the largest musical instrument in the world. It was invented by Pentagon scientist Leland Sprinkle. This massive instrument occupies three acres of the Luray caverns in Virginia and the music is created by striking the stalactites in the cave with rubber mallets using a keyboard console.

Pikasso Guitar

The Pikasso guitar was originally designed by Linda Manzer. It draws its name from the cubist works of Picasso and is actually a modified harp guitar with a wedge-shaped body. It is used predominantly in Jazz, but works well with other genres as well.


It seems that that which makes beauty is harmony; beauty in itself has no meaning. A certain object which is called beautiful at a certain place and time is not beautiful at another place or at another time. And so it is with thought, speech and action. That which is called beautiful is only so at a certain time and condition, which makes it beautiful. Therefore if one could give a true definition of beauty it is harmony. Harmony is the combination of colours; harmony is the drawing of a design or line, that is called beauty. At the same time a word, a thought, a feeling, an  action that creates harmony, is productive of beauty.

          Now the question is from where comes the tendency to harmony and from where comes the tendency to disharmony? The natural tendency of every soul is towards harmony and the tendency towards disharmony is an unnatural state of mind or affair. And the very fact that it is not natural makes it void of beauty. The psychology of man is such than man responds both to harmony and disharmony. He cannot help it, because naturally he is made so, mentally and physically he responds to all that comes to him, be it harmonious or inharmonious.

          And the teaching of Christ, "resist not evil," is a hint not to respond to disharmony. For instance a word of kindness, of sympathy, an action of love and affection finds response, but at the same time a word of insult, an action of revolt or hatred, that creates response too, and that response creates more disharmony in the world. By giving way to disharmony one allows disharmony to multiply.  At this time when one sees in the world the greatest unrest and discomfort pervading all over, where does it come from? It seems that it is from the ignorance of this fact that disharmony creates disharmony, and will multiply disharmony.

          A person has a natural tendency that if he sees he is insulted, he thinks the proper way of answering is to insult the other person still more. By this he gets a momentary satisfaction, to have given a good answer, but he does not know what he has done by his good answer. He has given response to that power which came from the other and these two powers, being negative and positive, create more disharmony.

          "Resist not evil," does not mean receive evil onto yourself.  "Resist not evil," only means this: do not send back the disharmony that comes to you, just as the person playing tennis would send back the ball with his racket. But at the same time, it does not suggest that you should receive the ball with open hands. The tendency towards harmony may be likened to a rock in the sea and each wave comes with all force and yet the rock is still, stands, bears it all, letting the waves beat against it.

          By fighting with disharmony one increases it, by not fighting it one does not give fuel to the fire which would rise for destruction and cause destruction. But no doubt, the wiser you become, the more difficulties you have to face in life, because every kind of disharmony will be directed toward you for the very reason that you will not fight it. But at the same time one must know with all that difficulty you have helped that disharmony which would have otherwise multiplied, to be destroyed. It is not without advantage, for every time you stand against disharmony, you increase your strength, although outwardly it may see a defeat. But one conscious of the increase of his power will never admit that it is a defeat. And as soon as the time is passed the person against whom one has stood firm will realize that it was his defeat.

          Life in the world has a constantly jarring effect and the finer you become the more trying it becomes to you. And the time comes that when a person is sincere and good-willing, kind and sympathetic, the worse life becomes for him. But if he is discouraged in it he goes under. If he kept his courage then you find it was not disadvantageous in the end. Because his power will some day increase to that stage, to that degree that his presence, his word, his action will control the thoughts and feelings and actions of all.

          For he will get that heavy rhythm, the rhythm that will make the rhythm of everybody else follow it.  This is the attribute which is called in the east the quality of the mastermind. But in order to stand firm against the disharmony that comes from without, one must first practise to stand firm against all that comes from within, from one's own self. For our soul itself is more difficult to control than the others. And when one is not able and one fails to control oneself, it is most difficult to stand against the disharmony without.

         Now the question is what is it that causes disharmony within oneself? It is weakness. Physical weakness or mental weakness, but it is weakness. Very often therefore one finds that it is bodily illness that causes disharmony and disharmonious tendencies.  Besides there are many diseases of the mind which the scientist has not yet found. Today in the world there are two things. One thing is that a person who is too ill perhaps, is considered as an insane person, and then there are all other illnesses which are not counted at all. These people are counted among the sane people and as notice is not taken of the defects which are of the diseases of the mind, man never has a chance to notice them within himself. He is constantly finding fault with others. If he is in an office, if he is in a good position, if he is at home, everywhere he causes disharmony. Nobody knows, for to be treated as insane he must first be called insane.

          The health of the mind is a question so little talked about in these days. In fact as there come more solicitors, more lawyers, more barristers, more courts and more judges, so there come more cases. Consequently prisons increase, and what is the outcome? After a person has gone to prison and comes back, he has forgotten where he was. He goes again in the same path. For the disease is not found out. In court a person is judged, but it is not found out psychologically, what causes him to do this.  One can find in these prisons thousands of people with whose minds there is something the matter. And if for a thousand years they were kept in prison, they would not improve. Nothing but injustice is awarded to them by putting them in prison. It is just like putting a person in prison because his body is ill.

          The cause of every discomfort and of every failure is disharmony. And what would be the most useful thing at the present moment in education is to give the sense of harmony, to develop it in children. It will not be so difficult as it appears to bring harmony to their notice. What is necessary is to point out to the youths the different aspects of harmony, in different aspects of life's affairs.

          The work of the Sufi Message, a message which is of love, harmony and beauty, is to waken the consciousness of humanity to the true nature of love, harmony, and beauty. And the training which is given to those who become initiated in the inner cult is to cultivate these three things which are principle factors in human life.


Casa di Carla

La Casa di Carla

Via Nazionale, 21
07015 Padria (SS)
Tel. +39.079/807115 Fax: +39.079/807377

di Carla Deriu

Opening period: from 10/04 to 10/01
Payment: cash
Telephone, fax bookings welcome
N° rooms: 3 N° beds: 6 N° double rooms without bath: 3
Price: min € 25 max € 30

Services: (heating, smoking, furniture for babies, free newspaper, hairdryer, fax, wheelchair access, n° 1 parking, small animals shelter, garden, terrace)

Casa di Carla is an old country house from the late 1800s early 1900s, with large rooms furnished to recreate the family-type atmosphere of days gone by. The large bedrooms, with wardrobe, chest of drawers, nightstands, and writing table, have carefully restored antique light fixtures. Located in the centre of the village Padria, the B&B is just a few kilometres from the beaches of Bosa, and offers all the different attractions of the area, from archaeological sites to monuments, nature, and the simple hospitality of the citizens of Padria.


Business and capitalisation of the two companies
Course:- Case Study
Reference No.:- EM131111523

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Over the past two decades, the People's Republic of China has invested billions of RMB in domestic and international air travel capability. Today, almost every major city in China has a new airport. The average aircraft age in the (largely state-owned) air carrier fleets is one of the lowest in the world. Currently, there are an estimated 1,400 commercial planes in China, of them approximately 800 Boeing, 470 Airbus, and 130 other (Embraer, Bombardier, CRJ, etc.). At China's current economic growth rate, land area and population size, most experts agree that China will spend another £200 billion to buy an additional 3,700 commercial aircraft in the next two decades.
Although China's COMAC currently builds a small commercial plane, the CRJ-21, it is not certified outside of China and has limited market. China is also developing a large aircraft, the COMAC 919, with an eye towards certification for international sales, competing with Boeing and Airbus. The competition for China's aircraft needs is fierce.
Boeing and Airbus not only lead the field in numbers, but they are also the key inventers and developers of business strategy and trade models for aircraft in China. Most of the others follow the leaders with a ‘me too' strategy. In their home markets, Boeing and Airbus already have divergent product and capitalization strategies. It would be difficult to imagine two more different competitors.
For this project, you are going to analyze the international trade strategies of these two companies as they compete for new aircraft business in China. You will have to pay some attention to the two different product and capitalization strategies, but they are incidental. The international trading strategies are the focus for your project.
This week, you will begin by developing a brief synopsis outlining the business and capitalization strategies of Boeing and Airbus. In addition, you will compare and contrast the product strategies of these companies and appraise how well their strategies might fit the Chinese socio-economic system.
In Week 6, you will compare and contrast the specific components of the strategies that Boeing and Airbus have employed as they compete for new aircraft business in China.
In Week 8, you will submit your Final Project paper. In addition to honing and revising the previously submitted portions of the project, you will synthesise how the strategies used by Boeing and Airbus appear to be changing over time, and you will predict how these organisations might approach trade with China in 2 years. In addition, you will evaluate the effectiveness of the trading strategies employed and suggest plausible cause and effect assumptions about how these strategies might have evolved. You will conclude your project by recommending possible ways that either or both companies could have improved the competitive capability of their international Chinese trading plans.
For this week, you are responsible for developing and submitting the following:
A brief synopsis describing the business and capitalisation of the two companies, Boeing and Airbus.
A brief analysis contrasting the two different product strategies of the two companies and an appraisal of how well each might fit the Chinese socio-economic system.

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Panama is a country located in the southern part of Central America. Panama is bordered by Colombia, Costa Rica, Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Panama City is the capital of the country. The earlier inhabitants of the country were Cocle and Cuevas tribes but were wiped out of the country disease and fighting with Spaniards. For about 300 years, Panama was part of Spain. Panama got independence from Spain in 1821 and joined the union of Ecuador, Venezuela and Nueva Granada known as the Republic of Gran Colombia. In 1903, Panama separated from Great Colombia and became an independent country.

Panama is a democratic republic in which the President is head of the state as well as the head of the government. The government has the executive power and the legislative power is exercised by both National Assembly and government. Judiciary is independent from legislative and executive powers. Panama has a population of more than 3 million and among them, 50.1% are Mestizo. Large minority consists of Mulattos and Africans which accounts about 22% of the population. Remaining are 6.7% of Amerindians, 8.6% of European, 5.5% of Asian and others consists of 7.1%.

The official and dominant language of the country is Spanish. About 93% of people speak Spanish and other languages spoken are Spanish, native languages like Ngabere, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Arabic.  Majority of the population are following Christianity and about 75-85% are Roman Catholic and 15-25% are evangelical Christian. Other religions are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Episcopalians, Seventh-day Adventists, Jewish, Muslim, Hindus, Buddhists and indigenous religions include Ibeorgun and Mamatata. In Latin America, the economy of Panama is the best managed and fastest growing. The economy of Panama mainly depends on commerce, tourism and banking. For the past 5 years, tourism is growing because the government is offering discounts on tax and price to foreigners and retired people.

The Panama City has to offer many tourist destinations such as historic sites, museums whereas the internal regions, Pacific and Atlantic coast can offer numerous destinations for adventures and activities. The most sought after destination of Panama is the Amador Causeway which was the US Army base. The Causeway is connecting mainland with smaller three islands, viz. Perico Island, Flamenco Island and Naos Island. Ancon Hill offers surrounding views such as Panama Bay, Panama City, Casco Viejo, Panama Canal, Albrook Airport and Administration Building.

Bocas del Toro is an island with several numbers of destinations. You can enjoy several activities such as hiking, snorkeling, scuba diving, sun bathing and bird watching. Bridge of Americas is another attraction that connects two masses of land that were divided during the construction of Panama Canal. Casco Viejo offers picturesque buildings, churches, streets consists of red bricks, ruins, museum and Panamanian architectural history.  El Valle de Anton is a place situated in extinct volcano with golden frogs, hiking trails, square trees and waterfalls. Escudo de Veraguas is a beautiful island that consists of blue turquoise waters and white sand beaches. Other attractions of Panama are Isla Contadora, Isla Grande, Metropolitan Natural Park, Statue of Balboa and Taboga Island.


For as long as I can remember, I’ve been picking up on people’s vibes! I actually used to think their emotions were mine. Luckily now, I know how to make sure I don’t take them on as my own. In the past, it didn’t matter if someone was speaking or not, I felt their EVERYTHING: depression, anger, sadness, anxiety. I was confused because I had no reason to be feeling those emotions and I didn’t understand why my mood was shifting. I later found out that I was an empath. An empath is a fancy word for someone that picks up on the emotions that are attached to a person, place, or thing.

Here are 7 questions to ask yourself, to see if you were graced with this fancy title of being an Empath.

1. Have you been told you’re overly sensitive or anxious?

2. Does your mood fluctuate easily, when you’re around certain people?

3. Do you find yourself solving everyone’s problems?

4. Do you feel tired after giving your listening ear to a friend?

5. Are you known for your compassionate heart?

6. Do people tell you how great they feel after talking with you and you all of a sudden feel drained?

7. Do you feel like you are looking for that escape route when you’re in a public place or party?

If you’ve answered YES to the majority of these questions, you are most likely an empath.

Being an Empath has its benefits, but if you don’t know how to manage all of the energy coming into your field, it can be overwhelming.

Here are just 3 of the many tips you can use, to live an enriched life, while still being an empath

1. Know your boundaries: This means limiting your time with people that may drain your energy.

2. Hydrate your body: Drink plenty of water because you will need even more as an empath.

3. Take a breather: Step outside to get fresh air, ground & release the energy.

 If you feel as though you may be an empath, share your experience in the comments below.


Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last week spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. His presence at this year was highly strategic following the country’s recent general election, which saw his party, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) secure its mandate extended for another five years.

This is the first time Hun Sen has appeared at the General Assembly in more than a decade. The last time he spoke was in 2005. So why now, after all these years, does the Cambodian prime minister appear at the UN?

The UN General Assembly provided the prime minister with the perfect opportunity to set the record straight, as he saw it.

As the only credible challenger to the CPP prior to the election, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved by the Supreme Court, and its leader Kem Sokha imprisoned on charges of treason. Viewed as politically motivated by Western governments, including the United States, Canada, and the European Union, the election was considered to be flawed and unfair.

With the CNRP absent from the ballot, the CPP secured an easy victory, winning all 125 parliamentary seats in the National Assembly, against the other 19 political parties that contested the election. When leaders of the former CNRP urged Cambodians to boycott the election, the official turnout of eligible voters was 83%. To the former opposition party, the turnout result seemed too good to be true.

Since the election, former CNRP opposition leader Sam Rainsy has sought to sound the alarms internationally, saying the government inflated the voter turnout and intimidated voters. There were rumours circulating that Cambodia could lose its seat at the UN. Moreover, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet noted the decline in civil and political rights in Cambodia posed an economic and social threat to the country’s development.

With only one-party governing the country, the government’s legitimacy came under question. Thus, the opening session of the General Assembly provided the prime minister with the perfect opportunity to set the record straight, as he saw it.

Emphasising Cambodia’s success in transitioning from a war-torn country to one that is enjoying peace, stability, and economic growth, Hun Sen sought to present an image that he was not the authoritarian leader as described by his adversaries, rather one that was democratically elected by the Cambodian people. His presence was intended to not only enhance his government’s legitimacy among domestic audiences, dispelling any notion that Cambodia would lose its seat at the UN, but was also meant to illustrate his willingness to confront critics including supporters of the CNRP, the Cambodian diaspora communities, and the international community.

Discussing the election, Hun Sen argued Cambodia is a stable liberal democracy – one that upholds and respects the rule of law and holds free, fair, and competitive elections. With nearly seven million Cambodians voting in the election, he emphasised they were able to vote “freely and without any coercion, threat, or violence”.

Although Cambodians didn’t have the choice of voting for the CNRP, more than half-a-million Cambodians spoiled their ballots, representing 8.4%. In comparison to 2013, only 1.6% spoiled their ballot.

Contentious as the election was, election observers from Malaysia, Russia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam declared the election to be free, fair and transparent, noting everything was stable and well organised.

Without referencing Sam Rainsy or the CNRP directly, he alluded that “some external circles” have encouraged foreign governments to interfere in Cambodia’s domestic affairs through issuing statements undermining the election process and result. According to Hun Sen, “such actions are a serious assault on the will of the Cambodian people”.

In a subtle tone, Hun Sen also took the opportunity to rebuke the West under the guise of needing to uphold the UN Charter and a rules-based international order.

With sanctions threatened by the US and the EU following the election, Hun Sen noted that “the imposition of unilateral sanction has become a popular weapon of powerful nations in managing their international politics”. Referencing the historical legacies of imperialism and colonialism, he further emphasised that there was a need for both big and small countries to respect one another without “a mission to impose [one’s] civilisation”.

Without naming US President Donald Trump, Hun Sen expressed concern over the actions of the US: “We are deeply concerned by the tensions made by a first world-class superpower.” Highlighting the need to strengthen and maintain multilateralism, he further stressed that:

if we begin to adhere to the protectionist policy, unilateralism, and trade war, we are closing the door by not welcoming any trade and investment opportunities which have provided prosperity to our countries, both small land big ones, for many decades.

Hun Sen’s rebuke of the US, and possibly the EU, was presented ambiguously; however, his remarks come during a time of growing tensions between the US and China, one of Cambodia’s closest allies. This may be viewed as an attempt by the Prime Minister to not only criticise Western governments for their attempt to infringe on Cambodia’s sovereignty and domestic affairs, but also illustrate to China’s President Xi Jinping Cambodia’s support.

It is unlikely Hun Sen’s remarks made any difference on the world leaders at the General Assembly; however, it was highly significant for Cambodians to see the prime minister challenge his former political opponent, but also openly criticise the West. His participation was intended to dismiss doubts surrounding the legitimacy of his government at home. The fact is, Hun Sen will continue to lead Cambodia for the next five years, and there’s nothing and no one that will stop him.


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This article is about the physical process of particle–antiparticle annihilation. For other uses, see Annihilation (disambiguation).

Annihilation is defined as "total destruction" or "complete obliteration" of an object; having its root in the Latin nihil (nothing). A literal translation is "to make into nothing".

In physics, the word is used to denote the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle, such as an electron colliding with a positron. Since energy and momentum must be conserved, the particles are simply transformed into new particles. They do not disappear from existence. Antiparticles have exactly opposite additive quantum numbers from particles, so the sums of all quantum numbers of the original pair are zero. Hence, any set of particles may be produced whose total quantum numbers are also zero as long as conservation of energy and conservation of momentum are obeyed. When a particle and its antiparticle collide, their energy is converted into a force carrier particle, such as a gluon, W/Z force carrier particle, or a photon. These particles are afterwards transformed into other particles.

This is an example of renormalization in quantum field theory— the field theory being necessary because the number of particles changes from one to two and back again.

In the image below, you can see a graph with the evolution of the times that people look for Annihilation. And below it, you can see how many pieces of news have been created about Annihilation in the last years.
Thanks to this graph, we can see the interest Annihilation has and the evolution of its popularity.

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First published on on Nov. 18, 2013
In response to the question: If you could change one aspect of the Affordable Care Act, what would it be?

Similar to the old comedy straight-line, “When did you stop beating your wife?” this question has a built-in assumption.  From their first day on the wards, medical students are taught never to ask such questions, because they bias a patient’s response.

Instead, phrasing the question as “What would you do to improve healthcare or its delivery in the United States?” would elicit equivalent answers, without bias.

I’m not saying the ACA is the pinnacle of mankind’s legislative accomplishments.  But it’s clearly not the monstrous cancer that loud voices proclaim it to be.  Let us take the energy directed against the ACA and try turning it positive.  Let’s try to make the Act work, and bring healthcare insurance to the tens of millions of Americans who don’t now have it.

Biotechnology and the Lifetime of Technical Civilizations

Popeye Arm

Published on January 29, 2018


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1.4: Lifestyles and Nutrition

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    In addition to nutrition, health is affected by genetics, the environment, life cycle, and lifestyle. One facet of lifestyle is your dietary habits. Recall that we discussed briefly how nutrition affects health. A greater discussion of this will follow in subsequent chapters in this book, as there is an enormous amount of information regarding this aspect of lifestyle. Dietary habits include what a person eats, how much a person eats during a meal, how frequently meals are consumed, and how often a person eats out. Other aspects of lifestyle include physical activity level, recreational drug use, and sleeping patterns, all of which play a role in health and impact nutrition. Following a healthy lifestyle improves your overall health.

    Physical Activity

    In 2008, the Health and Human Services (HHS) released the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans[1]. The HHS states that “Being physically active is one of the most important steps that Americans of all ages can take to improve their health. The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans provides science-based guidance to help Americans aged six and older improve their health through appropriate physical activity.” The guidelines recommend exercise programs for people in many different stages of their lifecycle. The HHS reports that there is strong evidence that increased physical activity decreases the risk of early death, heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and certain cancers; prevents weight gain and falls; and improves cognitive function in the elderly. These guidelines are scheduled for an update in 2018. Also unveiled recently are the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines, which are available at the website of The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology[2].

    Recreational Drug Use

    Recreational drug use, which includes tobacco-smoking, electronic smoking device use, and alcohol consumption along with narcotic and other illegal drug use, has a large impact on health. Smoking cigarettes can cause lung cancer, eleven other types of cancer, heart disease, and several other disorders or diseases that markedly decrease quality of life and increase mortality. In the United States, smoking causes more than four hundred thousand deaths every single year, which is far more than deaths associated with any other lifestyle component[3].

    Also, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), excessive alcohol intake causes an estimated seventy-five thousand deaths per year[4]. Staying away from excessive alcohol intake lowers blood pressure, the risk from injury, heart disease, stroke, liver problems, and some types of cancer. While excessive alcohol consumption can be linked to poor health, consuming alcohol in moderation has been found to promote health such as reducing the risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes in some people. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines drinking in moderation as no more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men[5].

    Illicit and prescription drug abuse are associated with decreased health and is a prominent problem in the United States. The health effects of drug abuse can be far-reaching, including the increased risk of stroke, heart disease, cancer, lung disease, and liver disease[6].

    Sleeping Patterns

    Inadequate amounts of sleep, or not sleeping well, can also have remarkable effects on a person’s health. In fact, sleeping can affect your health just as much as your diet. Scientific studies have shown that insufficient sleep increases the risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and depression. Abnormal breathing during sleep, a condition called sleep apnea, is also linked to an increased risk for chronic disease[7].

    Personal Choice: The Challenge of Choosing Foods

    There are other factors besides environment and lifestyle that influence the foods you choose to eat. Different foods affect energy level, mood, how much is eaten, how long before you eat again, and if cravings are satisfied. We have talked about some of the physical effects of food on your body, but there are other effects too.

    Food regulates your appetite and how you feel. Multiple studies have demonstrated that some high fiber foods and high-protein foods decrease appetite by slowing the digestive process and prolonging the feeling of being full or satiety. The effects of individual foods and nutrients on mood are not backed by consistent scientific evidence, but in general, most studies support that healthier diets are associated with a decrease in depression and improved well-being. To date, science has not been able to track the exact path in the brain that occurs in response to eating a particular food, but it is quite clear that foods, in general, stimulate emotional responses in people. Food also has psychological, cultural, and religious significance, so your personal choices of food affect your mind, as well as your body. The social implications of food have a great deal to do with what people eat, as well as how and when. Special events in individual lives—from birthdays to funerals—are commemorated with equally special foods. Being aware of these forces can help people make healthier food choices—and still honor the traditions and ties they hold dear.

    Typically, eating kosher food means a person is Jewish; eating fish on Fridays during Lent means a person is Catholic; fasting during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar means a person is Muslim. On New Year’s Day, Japanese take part in an annual tradition of Mochitsuki also known as Mochi pounding in hopes of gaining good fortune over the coming year. Several hundred miles away in Hawai‘i, people eat poi made from pounded taro root with great significance in the Hawaiian culture, as it represents Hāloa, the ancestor of chiefs and kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiians). National food traditions are carried to other countries when people immigrate. The local cuisine in Hawai‘i would not be what it is today without the contributions of Japanese, Chinese, European, and other immigrant communities.

    Factors that Drive Food Choices

    Along with these influences, a number of other factors affect the dietary choices individuals make, including:

    • Taste, texture, and appearance. Individuals have a wide range of tastes which influence their food choices, leading some to dislike milk and others to hate raw vegetables. Some foods that are very healthy, such as tofu, may be unappealing at first to many people. However, creative cooks can adapt healthy foods to meet most people’s taste.
    • Economics. Access to fresh fruits and vegetables may be scant, particularly for those who live in economically disadvantaged or remote areas, where cheaper food options are limited to convenience stores and fast food.
    • Early food experiences. People who were not exposed to different foods as children, or who were forced to swallow every last bite of overcooked vegetables, may make limited food choices as adults.
    • Habits. It’s common to establish eating routines, which can work both for and against optimal health. Habitually grabbing a fast food sandwich for breakfast can seem convenient, but might not offer substantial nutrition. Yet getting in the habit of drinking an ample amount of water each day can yield multiple benefits.
    • Culture. The culture in which one grows up affects how one sees food in daily life and on special occasions.
    • Geography. Where a person lives influences food choices. For instance, people who live in Midwestern US states have less access to seafood than those living along the coasts.
    • Advertising. The media greatly influences food choice by persuading consumers to eat certain foods.
    • Social factors. Any school lunchroom observer can testify to the impact of peer pressure on eating habits, and this influence lasts through adulthood. People make food choices based on how they see others and want others to see them. For example, individuals who are surrounded by others who consume fast food are more likely to do the same.
    • Health concerns. Some people have significant food allergies, to peanuts for example, and need to avoid those foods. Others may have developed health issues which require them to follow a low salt diet. In addition, people who have never worried about their weight have a very different approach to eating than those who have long struggled with excess weight.
    • Emotions. There is a wide range in how emotional issues affect eating habits. When faced with a great deal of stress, some people tend to overeat, while others find it hard to eat at all.
    • Green food/Sustainability choices. Based on a growing understanding of diet as a public and personal issue, more and more people are starting to make food choices based on their environmental impact. Realizing that their food choices help shape the world, many individuals are opting for a vegetarian diet, or, if they do eat animal products, striving to find the most “cruelty-free” options possible. Purchasing local and organic food products and items grown through sustainable products also helps shrink the size of one’s dietary footprint.

    People choose a vegetarian diet for various reasons, including religious doctrines, health concerns, ecological and animal welfare concerns, or simply because they dislike the taste of meat. There are different types of vegetarians, but a common theme is that vegetarians do not eat meat. Four common forms of vegetarianism are:

    1. Lacto-ovo vegetarian. This is the most common form. This type of vegetarian diet includes the animal foods eggs and dairy products.
    2. Lacto-vegetarian. This type of vegetarian diet includes dairy products but not eggs.
    3. Ovo-vegetarian. This type of vegetarian diet includes eggs but not dairy products.
    4. Vegan. This type of vegetarian diet does not include dairy, eggs, or any type of animal product or animal by-product.

    3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Smoking and Tobacco Use.” Updated December 1, 2016. Accessed September 20, 2017.
    4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Alcohol and Drug Use.”  Updated June 7, 2012. Accessed September 20, 2017.
    6. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Health Consequences of Drug Misuse. Updated March, 2017. Accessed September 20, 2017.
    7. National Sleep Foundation. Sleep Disorders. Updated 2017. Accessed September 2017.