Freedom Trumps View at 30,000 Feet

02/12/2016 03:18pm ET | Updated February 11, 2017

I love the view at 30,000 feet. It's one of the greatest things about flying. But unless the flight is under two hours, there's absolutely no way I'm putting two strangers between the lavatory and me. I'm what you call your classic aisle-seat person.

Flying for as many years as I have, and as often as I do, I've come to recognize certain characteristics that seem to define the aisle, middle, and window passenger archetypes.

Do I know for certain my analysis is accurate? Yes I do. And no, I don't care if you don't agree with me, because I am not a middle-seat person.

Aisle Person Archetype:
- You have to pee a lot.
- You have to pee even more often (or feel like you do) when your access to a bathroom is in any way restricted.
- You don't like having to ask permission to do things, especially when said things aren't things grown-ups should have to ask permission to do, because they are, in fact, grown up.
- The second you are done "eating" your "meal" you would prefer its remains no longer sit there being gross in front of you, and are therefore more than happy to bus your own tray table if the flight crew is taking too long. (I sound like a much worse person than I am. I swear. The food is just so smelly.)
- It's not that you aren't friendly -- you are! Or that you don't like meeting new people. You do!! Or that you don't like talking to folks on planes. You do, for like five, maybe 10 minutes! But Plane Time equals Quiet Me Time. That's one of flying's perks: Quiet Me Time.
- You are a kind and patient person who will always nicely reply, "No problem!" as you move out of the way so your seatmate(s) can exit the row.
- Similarly, you gravely dislike bothering other people, especially with your dumb personal stuff.
- You have ZERO patience for people who don't immediately jump to their feet and pull their luggage down from the overhead compartment ready to deplane the SECOND the captain gives the all clear. And no, I don't care, nor does it matter, if it's going to take 10 minutes for everyone in front of me to deplane anyways, so what's my rush (mean word)?

Middle Person Archetype:
- You remain unconvinced that it's okay not to sit next to the people you are traveling with, even if it means you have to suffer sitting in the middle seat. Please believe me when I tell you it will totally be okay. A parent obviously must stay with babies or young children, but everyone else can aisle- and window-it-up. For my entire life when my family travels together, we all sit in aisle seats. We yell at each other across the aisles. True story.
- You are under the age of -- I'm guessing -- five?
- You are calm, patient, and not easily aggravated.
- You don't find the humor (irony) in middle seats offering zero freedom of movement and yet still requiring occupants to get up and move whenever the window person needs out. It's literally the worst of both seat worlds, on top of just being a crappy seat.
- You may not have a very good sense of humor?
- You may not know the definition of irony?
- You are crazy. (Can you imagine you're interviewing a potential job candidate, and you're being clever by asking whether they consider themselves to be a "window" or "aisle" person, and instead they reply, "I'm a middle!" Interview, over.)
- You are not actually a middle person, but instead an aisle or window person stuck there for whatever reason. Perhaps the airline screwed you by switching your seat, or you forgot to book it. In either case, you wouldn't be there if you could help it.
- You are Bernie Sanders #SandersOnAPlane.

Window Person Archetype:
- You can hold it in for a very long time.
- You sleep A LOT.
- You need to lean against something that isn't just a neck pillow to sleep.
- You don't chill easily. Do you know how cold it is against the outside wall of the plane? It is very, very, very cold.
- You probably won't eat anything put in front of you.
- When awake, you will talk to anyone for any reason.
- You are very patient.
- You are very trusting.
- You are not shy about asking for what you want.
- But, you are okay with someone else being in charge.

Am I right? Where do you think Hillary, Katich, Rubio, Jeb, Cruz, and The Donald sit? Find me on Facebook comment below to let me know.

To find out more about my work and latest news please visit and while you're there, sign up for my newsletter so you won't miss a thing.


Rice Pudding Recipes

Rice puddings are favorites all over the world, and the recipes reflect that delightful diversity. Take a culinary trip with variations that reflect the flavors of Latin America, North America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Easy Rice Pineapple Pudding

Rice Pudding Adventures

Please describe your issue:


Explaining Effective College Help Secrets

Choosing to go to college can be easy. But, trying to get in to positive schools can make you work hard. You have to impress and additionally move through your college composition and application. This can be the one shot that you will have with every college that you cover. So, make sure that you do it in the right way.

Additionally you can talk about a person whom everyone look up to, consider for the reason that special, or who has suffering you greatly. Aside from simply describing who the person is normally and what his or her capabilities are, you also have to describe the simplest way that person influenced you. The reason why that person so special that you decided to make an dissertation about him or her?

Apart from giving them a qualifications about your topic, make certain you add your personal touch for it. As said, you can mention how you can relate to the topic, so why it is so special back, and why you thought we would talk about such topic.

Aside from a total person, some would want to decide on a fictional character containing made an impact in their existence. One example can be a character which you can identify yourself with. You can compare and list this similarities. For greater detail, you can enumerate your differences. Just make sure that you are able to current your positive characteristic.

Choosing which working experience or experiences to sport fishing tackle in your essay can sometimes be challenging. The one that has changed that you a lot will be a good foreclosures have. Start by illustrating precisely what the issue or situation is about. Bit by bit, describe how you noticed during the situation. Show what the happenings were in that time, as applicable. A detailed situation can be more effective.

One tip that you might be looking for is on how to get started your application essay. Think about a achievements, the things that have specified you the most difficulty, that risks that you have faced, and also other eventualities in your life. These are typically supposed to be the things that you believe has impacted your life and the process you live your life in a vital level.

Another option you’ve got is to talk about issues that usually are of interest to you and then to a significant percentage of the populace. Think about an issue that you truly feel is important to you. There are native to international topics which you can choose from. For easier formula, choose subjects that you can effortlessly relate to. Having firsthand knowledge or experiences can give great depth to what you have to share.

Following, describe how your purchase depakote, purchase clomid. life was affected by the said position. You would want to show in this case what your positive elements are that allowed you to get over a negative situation. Your trouble solving skills are being assessed here. So, make sure that you demonstrate to how capable you are around this endeavor. To be successful, you need to be self-aware and be able to accept who anyone are.

See These Helpful Hints: http://aprtec.com/painless-products-of-custom-essay-an-intro/


Galaxy Advanced Engineering

GAE Graphics Software Products and Plot-10 Compatibility

Galaxy Advanced Engineering, Inc. presents a migration bridge for callable PLOT-10 routines within your existing FORTRAN program via its high level FORTRAN graphics library Language which is called UGL. UGL is a Scientific Graphics Subroutine Library for any computing system such as Main, Micro and Mini - Computers with its given Operating System. UGL presently supports hardware such as HP/UNIX, SUN/SOLARIS, Alpha/OpenVMS, VAX/VMS and Windows 95/NT or DOS.

What is PLOT-10?

Plot 10 is a collection of subroutines developed by Tektronix Inc. for use with Tektronix graphics terminals. The routines can be called by a user's FORTRAN program to enable the user to obtain high quality graphic images on Tektronix and Tektronix-compatible terminals (including a properly configured X-windows xterm).

Currently, many graphics terminals are raster scan devices and are similar to a television's CRT. The screen is scanned continuously from top to bottom, and individual picture elements ("pixels") of phosphor may be chosen for illumination by firing an electron beam at the pixel location. An image is built from suitable patterns of illuminated pixels so that points, lines, and surfaces can be recognized. The graphics terminal memory keeps track of which pixels should be activated with each pass of the electron beam. In the case of a computer terminal with a raster scan device, the advantages include speed enough to enable animation of images, and the possibility of different levels of gray or color at each pixel. The disadvantage is that picture resolution is not very high. Since lines are formed by activation of adjacent elements (or cells), most lines other than horizontal or vertical show evidence of "aliasing," a jagged or stair-case appearance.

Plot 10 was developed in the 70's, before electronic memory was so inexpensive.Instead of using raster scan screens, the graphics terminals produced by Tektronix were "storage tube" devices. The back of the screen was coated with a phosphor, and instead of a beam that continuously scanned the screen, the storage tube has an image drawn by an electron beam only once, and then electronic means are used to insure that the brightened phosphor persists. An advantage is very high resolution of the resultant images that are "flicker-free", but images can not be animated because the screen can not be selectively erased. Color is also a difficulty. However, since extensive electronic memory was not necessary, this type of device became a standard for graphics. Plot 10 has since been enhanced to operate with other more sophisticated display devices, but it was designed for this type of simple storage tube device. It is now sort of a "lowest common denominator" graphics standard.

The Tektronix terminals were designed so that the basic controllable operations were to move the aim of the electron beam, to turn the beam on and off,and to erase the entire screen. Part of Plot 10 is concerned with sending special characters (called an escape sequence) from the host computer to control these basic terminal functions. In addition, Plot 10 provides higher level functions such as the means to scale, rotate, clip and label graphic images.

For purposes of controlling the location of the beam's aim, the rectangular screen has 1024 addressable locations (0-1023) in the horizontal x direction,and 780 addressable locations (0-779) in the vertical y direction. (The origin is in the lower left hand corner of the screen.)

The Tektronix terminals can be used by users to generate graphics with their FORTRAN programs by calling Plot 10 subroutines to perform specific functions. When the user's program is executed, the Plot 10 library of routines is linked to the user's compiled FORTRAN code. The Plot 10 User's Manual describes all of the functions.

home | back | order | comment | sales

CustomSolutionsPageDate: 19 February 2018
Copyright © 1997 - 2017 Custom Solutions


The microlibrary at Taman Bima, Bandung, is the first pilot in a scheme to improve literacy in Indonesia and create a focal point for the local community.

The architectural concept, say Dutch architects SHAU, is to free the ground for multiple functions, while the library is elevated at the second floor. Continuous stairs allow additional seating area.

The facade material is made by recycling used plastic ice cream buckets. The pattern on the facade is a binary coding of a message by Mayor Ridwan Kamil, which translated means 'Books are the windows to the world'.

The buckets are placed between vertical steel ribs and slightly tilted towards the outside to repel rainwater. The 2,000 buckets provide a cost efficient solution which lets daylight reach the interior and facilitates natural ventilation by alternating open and closed buckets.

Image gallery via the links opposite...


The challenge of change…

“So, now that you are aware of it, you can change it”. These words were said to me recently about my posture, which in recent times has left me with persistent neck and shoulder pain. Constructive advice, for sure, but I’ve known it for a very long time. I have the awareness; I just don’t know how to change the habit of a lifetime.

It made me think about a question that comes up a lot in therapy sessions “Why do I always…” In these instances, a person has often identified a persistent behaviour or a recurrent relationship pattern which is not serving them well. There can be an awareness that change is required, and a desire to change, but also a sense of helplessness in putting that change into practise.

Why is change so hard, and why do we often continue to repeat our past? For most people, what is familiar is comfortable. The unknown can be anxiety provoking and difficult to endure. We seek solace in the things we know, in what we can predict and anticipate. Even, paradoxically, if those things are not serving us well.

Psychodynamic theory suggests that people are affected by childhood relationships and events. Even if past feelings are not remembered, they can remain active and continue to impact on our daily lives. And at times, unknown to ourselves, we can attempt to recreate past circumstances in an effort to resolve unconscious conflict.

In psychotherapy, we can examine how something is unconsciously creating a disturbance for a person and continuing to exert an influence over their life. And, in time, facilitate change as appropriate.

The “perfect” stick to beat ourselves with…

I often work with women who feel under enormous pressure – there is a sense that we must be attentive mothers, devoted wives, dedicated employees, supportive friends, accomplished chefs and regular gym goers. Ideally, we should be creative and entrepreneurial too. We should be taut, tanned, lengthened, extended, plucked, tweezed and groomed to within an inch of our lives. If we choose to be pale, then we, at least, should be interesting. We should care, deeply, about our neighbours, our environment, our country, world politics, what we look like and what others think about us.

We are stretched. The more we feel we need to do, the more we try to expand to meet those demands, but at what cost? We strive for perfection and then berate ourselves when we fall short. “I should have… I could have… I would have…”

There is a belief that if we could just get these things “right”, then the niggling feelings of inadequacy might abate, but perhaps it is the futile seeking of perfection itself which is perpetuating the feelings of not being good enough.

The concept of the “good enough mother” was developed by the British paediatrician and psychoanalyst D. W. Winnicott in his book Playing and Reality. He proposed the idea that when a baby is very young, the good enough mother is entirely devoted to their needs, often at her own expense in terms of rest etc. However, as the child develops, the mother, whilst remaining empathetic and caring, allows the child to experience some frustration, rather than rushing immediately to solve their distress. This allows the baby to develop a healthy understanding of reality and their external world.

Children need to experience a mother that is not “perfect” but “good enough” so they can learn to live in our perfectly imperfect world. It is through the good enough mother that they learn to cope with boredom, disappointment, injustice and a whole plethora of other challenges that life will send their way.

Being “good enough” is not the same as being “not enough”. Perhaps it is about finding a way to say, mainly to ourselves “I’m doing the best I can, and it’s going to have to do”. Anything else is setting ourselves, and those coming after us, on a perpetual quest for something that doesn’t exist in the first place.

Nevermind, forget about it, I’m grand, it’s fine…

We have a wide repertoire of phrases and sayings which we use on a daily basis to stifle our true responses to others. At times we employ these same words to deny how we are feeling even to ourselves.

We do it for lots of reasons. Perhaps we feel some things are “better left unsaid”. We want to “keep the peace” and avoid “rocking the boat”. Perhaps we do it because on some level we don’t believe we have a right to protest. Perhaps our experience has shown us that it’s not a good idea to speak up. Perhaps we are simply uncomfortable with making other people uncomfortable.

Denial is a very strong cultural phenomenon in Ireland – we are encouraged to have a cup of tea rather than explore a problem. The idea of the “silent treatment” is very common in our relationships. The silence notes that a hurt has taken place, but the idea of exploring the hurt is avoided, or defended against. It is too painful to be explored, so it becomes denied.

In psychological thinking, denial is understood as a defence mechanism. Contrary to popular belief, defences are not necessarily negative, but rather are an integral part of a person’s psyche and emotional well-being. Our defences typically protect us from emotional pain, but when used inappropriately they can break down, resulting in conflict and anxiety.

Psychotherapy offers people an opportunity to explore such defence mechanisms, in a respectful and supportive environment. It offers a space for people to examine what it might be like to listen to their internal self; to pay attention to their responses, their feelings, their beliefs. To Evermind…


Posted On

drip email campaigns

Drip email campaigns and lead nurturing are both marketing strategies that are considered to be extremely useful and are incorporated into many successful campaigns. While they both have many advantages, it’s important to be able to differentiate between the two. Do they share similarities? Certainly – but there are important differences and which if they are not taken into consideration, can limit their effectiveness or result in them working against you. Here is a brief explanation of the two techniques and advice on when to deploy each strategy.

An email drip campaign is a far more straightforward technique. Emails are automatically sent out to sales leads, most often at a pre-decided rate or ‘cadence.’ The content at each stage of the campaign is exactly the same regardless of the lead and are delivered in the same order, with the time between emails decided on by estimating the likely movement of the lead through the sales cycle. It is important that the content of each email is carefully thought out. While they should make sense and be effective on their own, an effective email drip campaign builds on itself in order to win over a lead. Also, remember that the time between emails does not have to be a static number. Often, a drip campaign will send out emails more regularly in the beginning then, having built a strong foundation, become less frequent but offer content designed to close the sale. Since this style of campaign does not take into account the behavior of the lead, it is best used when that information is not available. Email drip campaigns can be considered a subset of lead nurturing, which is a far more involved and multi-faceted technique.

Lead nurturing is a marketing technique that utilizes the lead’s behavior to provide information on how to proceed. To do so, it is necessary to gather accurate information on your lead’s behavior. Lead nurturing is far more personalized. To succeed it must be highly adaptive to suit different behaviors. While it is certainly more challenging to build and execute, the rewards are potentially greater as well. With detailed information on a lead’s behavior, you can deliver precisely the content desired at the time. In addition, this sort of personalized attention builds powerful brand loyalty and often results in recipients sharing your content. This should be used when reliable information is available on leads’ behavior or when actions (e.g. downloading an e-book or repeatedly visiting one of your product’s pages) clearly show their level of interest.

Without a doubt, the best overall strategy is using a combination of both! Very few techniques provide personalized engagement and build brand loyalty like effective lead nurturing.  A well-planned drip campaign will ensure you remain on the top of their list and will often result in them taking those actions which allow you to engage them in lead nurturing. A full-service marketing firm has the expertise and the experience to create a lead nurturing and drip campaign strategy that balances the two perfectly, resulting in more qualified leads for your sales funnel.

Blogger Profile

A marketing leader with over 17 years of B2B demand generation and marketing experience, she understands the importance of a fully developed marketing strategy. Shannon’s background includes demand generation, marketing automation, social media and marketing operations. You can follow her on Twitter via: @LeaditMarketing


All 3 forms of photosynthesis are based on two pathways

Respiration and photosynthesis are catalytically possible only because of the coordinated activity of hundreds of proteins that belong to deferent sets of pathways in different compartments of cells and/or organisms. Understanding the structural and functional complexity that provides reductive synthesis of glucose as well as oxidative degradation is the same as understanding the mechanism of cellular metabolism.

Photosynthesis is two interdependent pathways ..

Photosynthesis Flashcards | Quizlet

Photoaututrophs utilize sunlight for energy and CO2 for theircarbon source by this process of PHOTOSYNTHESIS whereby sunlightis absorbed by a complex compound known as chlorophyll andconverted to energy which drives a series of chemical reactionsthat ultimately removes hydrogen from water or other compoundsand then combines the hydrogen with carbon dioxide in a way thatproduces sugars.

Two major biochemical pathways.

In a broad chemical sense, the opposite of photosynthesis isrespiration. Most of life on this planet (all except in the deepsea vents) depends on the reciprocal photosynthesis-drivenproduction of carbon containing compounds by a series of reducing(adding electrons) chemical reactions carried out by plants andthen the opposite process of oxidative (removing electrons)chemical reactions by animals (and plants, which are capable ofboth photosynthesis and respiration) in which these carboncompounds are broken down to carbon dioxide and water.

The chemical equation for photosynthesis is ..
Both photosynthesis and cellular respiration are the main pathways of energy ..

Photosynthesis | Wolverton at OWU

Photosynthesis converts these energy- depleted compounds (ADPand NADP+) back to the high energy forms (ATP and NADPH) and theenergy thus produced in this chemical form is utilized to drivethe chemical reactions necessary for synthesis of sugars andother carbon containing compounds (e.g., proteins, fats). Theproduction of high energy ATP and NADPH in plants occurs in whatis known as Light Phase Reactions (Z Scheme) (requiressunlight). The energy releasing reactions which converts themback to energy-depleted ADP and NADP is known as Dark PhaseReactions (Calvin Cycle) (does not require light) in whichthe synthesis of glucose and other carbohydrates occurs.

Photosynthesis & cellular respiration are the major pathways of ..

BIO 110 Photosynthesis Learn with flashcards, ..

Charge separation is an essential step in the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy in photosynthesis. To investigate this process, we performed transient absorption experiments at 77 K with various excitation conditions on the isolated Photosystem II reaction center preparations from spinach. The results have been analyzed by global and target analysis and demonstrate that at least two different excited states, (ChlD1PheD1)* and (PD1PD2ChlD1)*, give rise to two different pathways for ultrafast charge separation. We propose that the disorder produced by slow protein motions causes energetic differentiation among reaction center complexes, leading to different charge separation pathways. Because of the low temperature, two excitation energy trap states are also present, generating charge-separated states on long time scales. We conclude that these slow trap states are the same as the excited states that lead to ultrafast charge separation, indicating that at 77 K charge separation can be either activation-less and fast or activated and slow.

The Pathways of Photosynthesis

Describe 3 different chemical pathways plants have …


The Future of Make Textbooks while in the Online digital Years of age

It is an unquestionable idea that personalised ebooks have gamed an incredibly crucial position in knowledge formulation, distribution and preservation because introduction of contemporary academia. The reason being, as time passes, training books have demonstrated to be classroom stable due to their mobility and straightforward-enjoyable interface. Even so, within the provide electronic time, printed literature possess a stiff competitiveness coming from the digitized edition of eBooks which can easily be navigated to, crawled, mined, great correlated and explored because of the search on the internet engines, with Search engines staying the most popular of those, by a number of automated texts in a variety of internet pages.payforessay review Despite this, community libraries, which houses most create publications, have their own unique location sooner or later belonging to the virtual years.

The way forward for Literature in the Virtual Get older

While analyzing the future of the print book inside virtual years of age, it is actually worthwhile noting how the make arrange might be considered into two different ways; either paper reserve and eBook as just two distinctive no-contesting entities, all with their personal spot or print training books and electronic books as the very same and rival versus one another for superiority in the a digital age. Within tactics, the print guidebook is still discovered to have its spot down the road for the computerized grow older as stated in this article. In support of the initial solution, it is preferable to analyze Sven Birkerts’ The Antioch Examine, precisely where he argues that “We build a blunder after we point of view guides and computer screen systems as rival for attraction or acknowledged efficiency. However these are not two methods to exactly the same thing, but two various things. Textbooks could not-and really should not have to-contend with chip-operated implements” as set in front by Dixon-Fyle. Using this mild, you can easily look at ebooks and digital books as totally different to each other. They had been made at distinctive periods for distinctly totally different explanations that will be parallel to one another. In case the reasons behind their development are parallel, this in essence means their objectives could not get together. If their reasons are unable to get together in job application it means they could not be competitive. In cases like this of no-competiveness, its learned that both the e books and make guides are in existence individually of each and every; not compromising any. Within this situation then, paper manual provides a upcoming in that computerized era.

While in the minute methodology, from where the design publication and guide are viewed as two ways of the exact concern, it is preferable to examine their advantages and drawbacks up against each other well as a way to arrive at a rationalized summary that is a lot more much better within this electronic digital period. E books have the adhering to strengths: books can be done by everybody and also be sent out instantly through the internet on a more quickly speed and reach most people when compared to the printing ebooks which is required to be released and dispersed by publishers, distribution and dispersal overhead costs of eBooks is significantly decreased compared to design training books, it can be broadened, updated, individualized and researched with a lot of painless instead of the traditional make textbooks. Electronic books also have some disadvantages, one of them to be; higher and overstated guide and e-reader rates as an alternative to printing novels, reduce longevity level of digital ebook reader components rather than make ebooks, lessen physical aspect superior as compared to design literature, minus the requested software and hardware, it is actually nearly impossible to learn them and electronic books have a uncertain eco have an effect on. However, you can find a normal deal that no“eBooks will be replacing as well as harmonizing the popularity of produced training books whenever soon” whatever their many benefits. This can be mostly because of the one-of-a-kind elements and also societal condition they place these residential areas with their thing. This together with the disadvantages the e-books maintain in comparison to create guides, as talked over previously mentioned, regions print out training books on a more effective ground inspite of the many fashionable interest in the eBooks.

In whatever way we might observe the printing books on your soft of e-books, in both competitors for brilliance or not, paper guides get a potential in this virtual era.


Pediatric Dentistry

Children’s teeth (milk) teeth are important because, apart from being needed for chewing and speaking , they help to maintain space for the permanent teeth, developing underneath them in the jaws.

When should I start caring for my child’s teeth?

Can babies get cavities?

Yes. Even though they will eventually fall out , milk teeth can get cavities. One serious form of decay among young children is Baby Bottle Tooth Decay. Babies shoudnt fall asleep with bottles in their mouths- the sugar in juices or milk formulas can cause tooth decay.

We can prevent cavities from forming with the help of sealants and fluoride treatment . sealants are a safe, painless and low cost way to help protect your child’s teeth from decay.


The Limits of Science

Lambert Dolphin

"Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue."---Winston Churchill

Scientific inquiry into the universe is mostly gained by observations made by man's five senses. The range of these senses is today greatly extended by cameras and sensors which permit measurements of sounds and vibrations beyond the range of hearing, light waves above and below the range of the eye (by many orders of magnitude), and a host of other detectors too numerous to mention.

What is measured very much has to do with the physical world. Science does poorly with one-of-a-kind events such as a resurrection from the dead, or a few UFO sightings, or an annually-weeping statue. Science does well when many measurements of phenomena can be made and independently confirmed by other (hopefully objective) observers. And, science does poorly when attempting to deal with the spiritual world.

In situations where a large amount of data can be acquired, it is often possible to process this information statistically in search of orderly patterns and "laws." When patterns or trends are found, extrapolations beyond the data at hand can frequently be made and useful predictions follow. If trends are observed very often a mathematical model can be written and a "law" formulated.

Frequently science is faced with describing extremely complex events---such as weather patterns, for instance---where the number of variables is very great and the system changes rapidly in time. Fortunately modern high speed computers have helped immensely with "number crunching" in fields such as aerodynamics, or plasma physics, or weather analysis, and so on.

Modern scientific thought in the West springs from Greek Philosophy and came to us by way of Roman civilization. Science in the West owes a debt to ancient Egypt, to Arabic and to Hebrew culture as well. These days there are some scientists who would draw on Hinduism or other Eastern schools of religious and philosophical thought to better help us understand modern physics and the nature of the cosmos.

Today's scientific discoveries rest on the foundations of previous generations, and many pioneers of science in western science were either Jewish or dedicated followers of Jesus Christ and students of the Bible. Science as we know it in the West is a product of Western Civilization and the roots of this heritage are unmistakably Biblical in origin. A number of philosophers have noted that scientific thought such as we take for granted is a product of Western Civilization with its Roman, Greek and Biblical roots. Our ability to do science then depends on a set of presuppositions and assumptions and on an underlying philosophy. There are rules to be follow and a protocol to be observed, even though the average science does not need to remind himself of these ground rules at every step of his work.

Sifting Data to Find Order and Meaning

Our English word "science" is derived from the Latin scire which means "to know" or sciens, "having knowledge." Scientific endeavors in all disciplines are attempts to classify evidence so as to be able to make meaningful predictions.

On many subjects science must remain silent, or carefully qualify those tentative theories that are put forth perhaps with little qualifying evidence to support them. There is no harm in putting forth hypotheses to be tested; indeed, many new useful theories come about this way. But most hypotheses are found---upon a little further investigation to not fit the evidence and can be discarded in favor of those that do. It should be obvious, but to many it is not, that all science rests upon religious or philosophical presuppositions of one kind or other. Scientists who are secular humanists, atheists, eastern mystics, or Biblical creationists each bring their religious and philosophical presuppositions with them when they work in the lab. It simply is not possible to have science in a vacuum. One always begins with one set of assumptions (or another) about the nature of reality.

Every scientific model starts with a set of "initial conditions" and behind those, a whole set of notions about underlying or previous states of reality. As long as a scientist conducts his work by the rules of science, he or she should never be shut out of the lab, or the classroom, because of a belief system that differs from that of the majority, or one that is at the moment not the most popular point of view. One prominent professor of physics and astronomy has rightly said, "Science is in the business of discovering what the laws of physics are, not why those laws were passed. The latter is the realm of theology."

The Rule of Simplicity in Science

Scientists assume the universe is orderly, as opposed to nonsensical, and wherever possible the simplest hypothesis is chosen because it is more "elegant" and saves extra work. This important principle is known as "Occam's Razor." Thus "grand unified theories" are much to be preferred to complex theories because of this built-in assumption scientists make about the nature of things. Lecturers in science sometimes defend Occam's Razor by remarking that scientists would like to avoid working harder than necessary to understand the universe. The notion that we may be able to describe the nature of things in simple ("elegant") terms has a certain aesthetic appeal which most scientists find attractive---as well as involving less work. Scientific endeavor is based on a meaningful universe where the laws of physics change slowly, or not at all, and where data can be systematized so as to make useful predictions and where cause and effect relationships underlie everything that happens. If the laws of physics were not rational the universe would not be amenable to scientific study. We can do science because the laws of nature are consistent everywhere in space as well as from day to day.

Science Must be Meaningful to be True

The whole notion that the universe is orderly, that physical laws do not change, and that the explanations of things ought to be simple rather than convoluted (complicated), complements our inborn aesthetic senses, such as love of beauty and our personal hopes that a purpose for our own existence might be found. No one really wants to learn conclusively that life makes no sense at all for any reason. Such a conclusion leads to existential despair, a sense of futility, fatalism, and a feeling that human endeavors of all kinds are worthless and of no value. Among scientists there is always some hope that it all makes sense---and often a sense of great excitement and personal reward when meaningful patterns are found and previously uncorrelated information is found to "fit the curve."

Furthermore, if the universe behaves rationally and predictably, then the laws of physics should the same everywhere. In our daily experience (over decades or a few lifetimes) we do not normally observe the laws of nature to be erratic or changing. This leads to the important assumption of "uniformitarianism." If uniformitarianism is true, we can extrapolate curves derived from recent observations into the past-even all the way back to the beginning, to t = 0. But we were not present at the creation as observers, nor during the early history of the earth, and little data has been passed down to us from ancient times. Taking scientific data for 50 or 100 years and extrapolating our findings hundreds, thousands, millions or billions of years into the past is speculation. This does not mean that all such speculation is meaningless, but it does mean that we must be careful not to call scientific models and theories "established fact."

The Role of Intuition and Initial Assumptions

Intuition as well as observation is valued in science. Great discoveries in science have come from following hunches or making a "bold leap of faith," as Einstein did at the beginning of our century when he reached beyond the built-up body of evidence then at hand by means of intuition. Flashes of insight, dreams, or hunches are usually allowed in science because they can be tested. Most scientists are pragmatic at times and will on occasion seize upon a formula or a new discovery and begin to apply it according to the unwritten law "If it works use it. Never mind why. We'll figure that out later."

No tenured professor drawing a comfortable salary and enjoying a maturing successful career is likely to be objective---or even very rational---if a newcomer to his field questions the evidence and finds the professor's whole theory must be thrown out the window in the light of new evidence. Yet this process happens all the time, silently, as one generation fades away, new "authorities" come to power, and better theories take the place of the "primitive" notions that were held as absolutes in the previous generation. One has only to compare college science text books of today with those published a decade or two ago to see how quickly science changes its models, buries its mistakes, and quickly popularizes new theories as if they were well-established immutable facts.

Theoretical and Experimental Branches in Science

The Reliability of the Sciences

One of the most interesting things about science in the western world today can be discovered with the help of a little diagram. If one makes a list of several scientific disciplines-grouped by category somewhat as shown in the following table, Figure 1, it will be immediately obvious that science knows most about the physical, inanimate world, and least about the world of spirit:

Physical World
Emotional World
Inner Man
External to Man Life Processes Mind. Emotions, Will (the Soul) Realm of the heart (the Spirit)
Physics Biology Psychology Extra Sensory Perception (ESP)
Astronomy Botany Sociology Parapsychology
Geology Medicine Criminology Metaphysics
Geography Organic Chemistry Social Sciences Occult Sciences
Meteorology Anthropology Behavorial Sciences Astrology
Chemistry Genetics

It is easy for us to put our faith in what can be seen and touched, measured and felt-and not so easy to look into the invisible, to trust a God we can't see, or even to think about who we are as living beings having emotions and spirits as well as bodies. It is of course easier to love another human being we can see and touch-than to love God Who is invisible.

Psychology lies in between the outer world of matter and the innermost world of spirit, but since it is difficult to systematize dreams and build up theories of neuroses and psychoses in the rational language scientists accept, the psychologist is as much an artisan as a scientist. If a psychologist is "good," it is because he succeeds in healing someone whether or not anyone knows how he does it.

In spite of his atheistic beliefs, Sigmund Freud and others who followed after his example have at least tried to systematize their findings into a collective body of knowledge so as to build up a body of empirical, and therefore useful, knowledge. Much of modern psychology is, therefore, a legitimate science. A good many contemporary psychologists have, unfortunately, discarded revelation. For example they deny the existence of a soul and believe that man and his behavior can be completely explained in terms of physics and chemistry. In doing so they are attempting to reduce man to a merely physical entity.

Science is Limited---Mostly---to Physical Realms

In recent years science has been granted more authority than should be properly assigned to what is a limited inquiry into a limited range of human experience. The Bible claims that the physical world is a world of shadows and the real and permanent world is invisible. This is stated in several ways, especially in the New Testament. For example, Paul writes, "We look not to the things that are seen, for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal," (1 Corinthians 4:17) and, "...the form (schema) of this world (kosmos) is passing away." (1 Corinthians 7:31)

Most of us grow up with the notion that the physical world around us is solid, substantial, and enduring, whereas the spiritual world is the world of ghosts and shadows. In fact, the Bible declares that the opposite is true. Life as we know it on earth pales into insignificance compared to what heaven will be like.

It is the excessive preoccupation of science in the West with tangible reality, as opposed to the spiritual source, that I believe has helped dry up the soul of modern man. We have also led ourselves into unmanageable contemporary moral issues whose resolution can be found only in the spiritual. While none of us wants history rolled back to an anti-scientific era, nor are we willing to relinquish the many conveniences modern science has brought us to improve both human effectiveness and enjoyment of life. In fact, the Bible says that God "has given us all things freely to enjoy." (1 Timothy 6:17) It is unbiblical asceticism to deny the physical and strive only for the spiritual.

Science cannot do everything, and it should really not surprise us if the old order falls and a new age enters. It has happened before in history. A "merely physical" model of the universe has always proven inadequate. Sooner or later what was once thought "solid science" is seen to be fallacious and incomplete if God is left out of the equations. Fortunately He has found ways of breaking into our simplistic fantasies about ourselves just when we need Him most.

The following chart is a model of how the scientific method works.

1. The Biblical Basis of Modern Science, by Henry M. Morris (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1984) is a valuable reference in my library. Every serious follower of Jesus Christ will find that his or her "world-view" will gradually change, not only in regard to morals, conduct and ethics but also in regard to learning to sort out truth from error and gaining an understanding of the universe which differs greatly from the prevailing secular view and the current zeitgeist ("spirit of the age").

2. The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy,by Nancy R. Pearcey and Charles B. Thaxton, (Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, 1994), is an outstanding recent book showing the interrelationship between philosophy and science. The authors also show from history how Christianity has provided the foundations for modern science.

Related Articles

Myths of Origin and the Theory of Evolution, by Paul Gosselin

Theodore Schick, Jr., The end of Science?, Skeptical Inquirer, March 13, 1997, Vol. 21; P. 36

Of Facts and Faith, by Rick Lanser

Scripture and General Revelation, by Andrew S. Kulikovsky

Lambert Dolphin
1987 revised April 21, 1995. October 30, 1995. December 9, 2006.


Mamata pays homage to R.D. Burman

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid homage to legendary composer Rahul Dev Burman, fondly called Pancham Da, on the occasion of his 75th birth anniversary Friday.

"For over three decades, Pancham da created music across innumerable genres that still fill our hearts with melody, tranquility and joy.

"Several phases have since traversed the musical world but his immortal creations still hum in our minds and will continue to do so as one of our sweetest companions in life`s myriad journeys," Banerjee posted in her Facebook page.

The man behind evergreen songs like `Yaadon Ki Baraat`, `Beeti Na Bitayi Ratiyan` and `Tum Bin Jaaun Kahan` died in 1994 at the age of 54.


Senior Engagement Manager II - Media

Professional Services
012406 Requisition #
Thanks for your interest in the Senior Engagement Manager II - Media position. Unfortunately this position has been closed but you can search our 116 open jobs by clicking here.

Required Education and Experience

Applicants must meet one of the following education and experience requirements:

* 12 years of relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Management Information Systems, another related filed or its equivalent or

* 8 years of relevant experience and a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Management Information Systems.

Required Skills

* Minimum 8 years of experience delivering consulting services, including involvement in selling services

* Minimum 8 years of experience with enterprise level project management experience (SOWs, contract management, risk management, staffing)

* Minimum 8 years of experience in one or more web development languages, methodologies, and / or architectures

Desired Skills

* Proven ability in effective written and verbal communication and technical project management.

* Demonstrated experience in technical pre-sales/sales engineering, consulting, and/or other customer facing role consulting on, delivering technical products or services.

* Demonstrated detailed knowledge of Internet technologies, such as HTTP/HTTPS and DNS.

* Proven ability with any one or an equivalent programming languages and with architecture, design, development (Python, J2EE, .NET, C#, JSP, ASP etc.  HTTP, DNS, Tomcat, Apache etc), and troubleshooting

* Proven ability to work independently and to apply strategic thinking with technical depth.

* Experience in a customer facing role requiring a high level of individual responsibility, experience overseeing the design, build, and deployment of various intranet applications, skills in large account management, where an aptitude for improving customer satisfaction was successfully demonstrated.

* Detailed knowledge of Internet technologies and considered a subject matter expert in any relevant web technologies and online analytics

* Managed teams in dotted line reporting metrics structures

* Implementation experience with web delivery technologies and delivering internet technologies within B2B or B2C - shopping cart, user personalization, and dynamic database architectures or equivalent.

About Akamai Technologies

My Profile

Create and manage profiles for future opportunities.

Go to Profile

My Submissions

Track your opportunities.

My Submissions


World Economy

ASEAN Leaders Seek Coop. Compatible With Industry 4.0

Southeast Asian countries are looking for stronger regional economic alliances to counter Trump’s protectionist measures
ASEAN Leaders Seek Coop.  Compatible With Industry 4.0 ASEAN Leaders Seek Coop.  Compatible With Industry 4.0

Despite the theme of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, messages of deeper integration and strengthened cooperation made their way into ASEAN leaders’ keynote speeches as they gathered in Ha Noi, Vietnam, for the plenary session of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN.

Realizing the immense opportunities that the new era of digitalization and automation might bring, but still anxious over the daunting challenges, leaders from the regional bloc that represents the world’s fifth largest economy emphasized the need to join hands and work together, VNA reported.

Southeast Asian countries are also looking for stronger regional economic alliances to counter US President Donald Trump’s protectionist measures.

Prime Minister of host country Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc suggested several intraregional cooperation mechanisms in several fields pertinent to Industry 4.0.

Phuc called for a regional data sharing mechanism and a cross-ASEAN mobile network, saying that “data is the cornerstone of Industry 4.0.”

He also regarded the small- and medium-sized enterprise community as “the backbone of the ASEAN economy,” and recommended establishing a talent incubator, saying that a start-up atmosphere is “truly permeating the region” as “ASEAN is known as the cradle of many new and innovative ideas around the world.”

Vietnam also wants to push forward with its agenda of creating an ASEAN education network and system for life-long learning to help people adapt to rapid changes in the job market.

Staying Connected

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong affirmed ASEAN’s commitment to staying connected and pushing towards resilience and innovation.

“We need to strengthen the rules-based multilateral trading system–it has underpinned our growth and stability but is under pressure and under threat,” he said.

Lee said he was not sure if there would be an agreement this year on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade pact, which includes the 10 ASEAN countries plus China, Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Sharing the same sentiment, Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua conveyed the country’s message for upholding an open global economy against the threats of rising protectionism.

Without specifically naming the US and President Donald Trump, with whom China is embroiled in an escalating trade war, Hu Chunhua criticized “some countries’ protectionist and unilateral measures that gravely undermine the rule-based trading regime and cause hazard to the world’s economy,” while at the same time, affirming China’s commitments towards an open, connective and inclusive global economy.

“China’s resolve to open its doors even wider will not change, we will pursue opening up at its own pace. This will offer opportunities for ASEAN countries and beyond,” he said.

The Chinese vice premier also took the platform to court ASEAN countries to join its flagship ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, with promises of win-win cooperation, through mutual vision in innovation-driven growth.

Business and trade require a degree of certainty, said Indonesia’s finance minister, Mulyani Indrawati.

Countries in Asia used to rely on the US to lead, she said, but they have no choice but to work together now that the US is no longer taking the same role. “The world is just too big and too important to depend on only one country.”

San Suu Kyi, state counselor of Myanmar, meanwhile, expressed her conviction that Industry 4.0 will be led by the younger generation, who will use their strength, creativity, and mastery of technology to facilitate the country’s entry into a new era.

“Myanmar is one of those countries that have practically bypassed the industrial revolution and we were forced to run straight into the fourth one,” she said, subtly referring to the “lost decades” of isolationism when Myanmar was under a military junta regime that gave way to a civilian government less than ten years ago.

San Suu Kyi believed that the most crucial aspect of the fourth industrial revolution remains the human factor, with Myanmar’s approach being based on the “creativity, empathy and stewardship of our people, especially of the young.”

In the context of an economic forum, it’s unavoidable that there’s a need for the creativity and talents of the young people to be made ‘marketable’, not just for making money but for helping the whole region close the development gap, she said.

ASEAN trade grew by a value of nearly $1 trillion between 2007 and 2014, according to the World Economic Forum, as the 10-nation bloc has enthusiastically embraced trade liberalization—in contrast to Trump’s policies.

Add new comment

Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints


Symantec, a cybersecurity solutions provider, today introduced Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive to protect against zero-day attacks and other issues facing modern connected vehicles.

Leveraging Symantec’s security and analytics expertise across complex networks to the vehicle, Anomaly Detection for Automotive provides the crucial ability to identify issues for early remediation, according to Symantec.

Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive uses machine learning to provide passive in-vehicle security analytics that monitor all Controller Area Network (CAN) bus traffic without disrupting vehicle operations, learn what normal behavior is and flag anomalous activity that may indicate an attack. The solution works with virtually any automotive make and model, the company said.

Key Features Include:

  • Automatically prioritizing incidents based on perceived criticality and risk.

Connected cars offer drivers conveniences such as navigation, remote roadside assistance and mobile internet hot spots. There will be 220 million connected cars on the road in 2020, according to Gartner. While new technologies promise to enhance the driving experience, these advancements also create avenues of attack for hackers that can endanger drivers and passengers.


Can Cuban Medicine Help Solve American Inequality?
Sam Loewenberg

Sound and sensible education. I and a lot of my friends (we are all around 70) feel our doctors aren’t serving us well here in Canada. I have to look out for the errors in prescriptions etc. that my doctor does. Should never happen!

Yah for Cuba.


What is Soil Pollution, its effects, causes, types & control methods

What on earth is not polluted? How far this is going to bother us and our coming generations? We need to be prepared when the coming generations point their fingers to us for contaminating the earth so badly. Even the soil, the richest form of earth is polluted, how? Let us look in to what is soil pollution, its causes, types, prevention and effects.

What is soil pollution?

Soil pollution is the addition of chemicals to the soil in quantities that are toxic to the environment and its residents. This addition is mostly by human activities such as mining, modern practices in agriculture, deforestation, indiscriminate dumping of human generated trash and unregulated disposal of untreated wastes of various industries

soil pollution - causes effecst types and solution methods

Soil pollution does not stand alone. It mostly is accompanied by the water pollution and air pollution.

Causes of Soil Pollution

These are mostly nitrogen and phosphorus based chemicals like ammonia and nitrates that are most often than not, used in larger than required quantities and tend to accumulate in the soil.

Controlling pests are a farmer’s need if a good crop is to be reaped.  Pesticides and insecticides like organochlorines, organophosphates and carbonates are used regularly.  These also contaminate the ground not only in the fields, but also in the places of manufacture, storage and disposal. They also tend to bio accumulate i.e. they collect in the body of the insects and then enter the food chain and lead to chronic poisoning of the higher level animals. Some pesticides also are absorbed naturally by the plants themselves and stored their different parts.

Loss of soil material due to poor management causes soil to become infertile. Soil erosion is followed by deforestation, storm water runoff, overgrazing and excess of agriculture practices, constructions, mining. The soil sediments settling elsewhere on land or in water cause differences to occur in the environments there. In water it causes murkiness reducing visibility for fish and other animals sourcing their food. It leads to reduced penetration of sunlight and affects the process of photosynthesis causing reduction in oxygen levels of the water. Heavy pollutants and nutrients are bound to the sediment particles and carried into the water contaminating it. Faster rate of soil erosion changes the topography of a place.

The disposal of manure and other associated waste material from animal farms are also a reason for soil pollution. They cause pollution of the air as well as the water. 18 per cent of Greenhouse gases are said to be generated by farm animals. The large amounts of manure created, carry pathogens that are harmful for humans too.

Human generated sewage is a major cause for soil pollution. At the same time waste products such as plastics, glass, metals, Batteries, paper, fibres and rubber etc. add to the contamination as most of these are non-biodegradable. Much of the trash can be recycled such as paper, metal and glass, etc. Leaching of toxic materials occur at landfills. The more dangerous substances found in landfills are oils, battery metals, heavy metals from smelting industries and organic solvents.

Air pollutants, sulphur dioxides, nitrous oxide and others combine with rain water, form acids and reach the soil. This is called acid rain. It reduces the pH of the soil ie it makes it acidic. It changes the nutrient content of the soil. These changes have adverse effects on the plants growing here, the insects and the other animal’s dependant on the land.

Mechanisms (Types of Soil pollution)

Leaching and Ground Water Poisoning

Water runoff

Barrenness of the ground

Many times the ground becomes barren and cannot support any flora or fauna on it. Use of excessive fertilizer progressively reduces the nutrient content of the foods such as proteins and vitamins in grains and vegetables.

Prevention of soil pollution

Effects of soil pollution

Human health

Since we are dependent on the land for our food, pollution from the soil is transferred to us in this manner. Bio accumulation of toxins occurs in our bodies, causing chronic poisoning, and leading to various diseases. Reproductive health, birth and developmental defects, neurologic effects, malnutrition, and mutations in the cells of the body leading to cancers; all these are on the increase today.

Growth of plants

Plants will not be able to adapt to sudden changes occurring in the soil. Fungi and bacteria found in the soils cannot bind the soil due to chemical changes and this causes soil erosion. Large tracts of land become barren; unable to support any life on it. Even the plants that do grow on these lands will absorb the toxins and transfer to the food chain.

Air pollution

Toxic dust rises from landfills along with foul odour, pollutes the air and causes adverse effects to the people who live near them.

Since every living being is dependent on the land for their nourishment, everyone is affected. As soil pollution continues unabated, malnourishment is a very real occurrence. The irony of high yield of crops versus decreased nutritional content in them is lost on many, who are in a position to bring about changes. Soil pollution also causes heavy economic losses. Medical expenses, rising costs of dwindling stocks of food, famines are all realities that have to be faced.

Much research and technological advances are helping to control soil pollution. Farmers are opting for more traditional organic methods of farming to reverse the damage caused to the lands. Hardier indigenous plants are now being grown again in the place of the hybrid ones. As awareness of one’s environment grows everyone must pitch in by following the motto of recycle, reduce and reuse. The consumerist in us must reduce and the conservationist must increase.


What Bachmann’s latest gaffe tells us

WHAT BACHMANN’S LATEST GAFFE TELLS US…. There are different kinds of political gaffes, and most of them aren’t especially important. If someone says “South Korea” when he/she meant “North Korea,” it’s just an example of a verbal miscue, not necessarily evidence of ignorance.

But Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann’s latest error wasn’t just a slip-up; it’s a reminder that the bizarre lawmaker thinks she knows what she’s talking about, but doesn’t.

Bachmann didn’t just misspeak, saying one thing when she meant to say something else. On Friday night, she said Lexington and Concord are in New Hampshire, and on Saturday morning, she repeated the claim twice.

In other words, Bachmann was delivering speeches about the nation’s founding, repeatedly connecting her vision to that of the framers, and she actually believed her claim about Lexington and Concord. She knew she’d be talking to voters in New Hampshire, and included this talking point on purpose, assuming it was accurate.

I mention this, not to point and laugh, but to reinforce a point we talked about the other day: Bachmann is less a liar and more a politician who isn’t quite smart enough to realize how ridiculous she is.

These kinds of examples come up all the time. Putting aside her wild-eyed conspiracy theories — remember the time she suggested the Census might lead to internment camps? — Bachmann has a habit of making claims about history that she insists are true, but aren’t. She recently argued the Founding Fathers, for example, were committed to racial equality and the abolishment of slavery. Bachmann also thinks Jimmy Carter was president in 1976 (he took office in 1977).

And yet, as she toys with the idea of an absurd national campaign, Bachmann has been described as “very presidential” by GOP activists.

Update: It looks like smintheus at unbossed was the first one on this story, which was eventually picked up everywhere else.


Therapeutic Benefits of Animals for Patients with Chronic Disease

The connection between animals and humans is a powerful one. The relationship has long been studied and research shows that animals can have a big impact on a person’s health and wellbeing with some research linking pet ownership to living longer and happier. Although dogs and cats are most commonly integrated into various therapies, horses, chinchillas, fish and other animals can contribute as well.

Even workplaces seem to be adopting pet-friendly policies with the growing consensus being that work environments with fuzzy counterparts are happier places to be. The Huffington Post reports that “65 percent of HR decision makers reported that potential candidates often inquire about the workplace pet policy during the interview process.” Not surprisingly, we at Welkin Health also enjoy a pet-friendly office, where several members of our team are canines.

Aside from being comforting companions and co-workers, it’s been known that dogs are able to detect changes in human physiology, it is believed through their powerful sense of smell, drawing attention to the presence of certain diseases and even abnormal drops in blood sugar, such as with people who have type 1 diabetes.

The evidence connecting animals to better human health are intriguing, particularly when looking at chronic disease—a challenge that about 133 million Americans face with that number expected to grow.

Good for the Heart

The American Heart Association issued a statement that “owning a pet, particularly a dog, could reduce your risk of heart disease.” Good news for dog lovers considering heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans and an estimated 83.6 million adults have one or more types of cardiovascular disease.

A growing body of research points to the possibility that having a pet can benefit heart health including, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, lowering heart rate, even improving survival rates after a heart attack. One study found that among participants who had a heart attack, “those who owned dogs had a significantly increased survival rate at 1-year follow-up, with mortality being 4.05 times greater for those who did not own a dog.”

Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) can also be a powerful intervention for chronic heart failure. A study looking at hospitalized patients with heart failure who received canine-assisted ambulation walked sooner and further than those did not and were also more motivated to do so. These findings indicate that canine-assisted ambulation “may shorten hospital stays, thereby decreasing the costs of heart failure care.” Patients also “unanimously agreed” that they enjoyed the canine-assisted ambulation therapy and would participate in the process again.

Mental and Cognitive Health Benefits

Animals have become an increasingly powerful tool to help individuals suffering from a variety of mental, behavioral, and emotional health issues such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and dementia.

Shown to improve social and communication skills, relieve anxiety, elevate an individual’s mood, help foster independent living and increase empathy, AAT can help promote “positive emotions, which can boost confidence and reduce feelings of loneliness, sadness, anger, and insecurity” in these groups of patients. Even the simple act of petting an animal is thought to release endorphins which can have a significant benefits for patients living with depressive disorders. Another study found stroking a dog or even talking to one can lower blood pressure.

Programs that bring dogs and cats into nursing homes and assisted living centers have proven a great benefit to elderly patients who can often experience isolation, loneliness and depression as well as lack social support. Furthermore, research has shown that AAT can ease agitation, depression and aggression—“behavioral and psychological symptoms” of dementia—in nursing home residents.

Leveraging a Natural Bond for Better Health

Interventions that integrate animals into the process are not for everyone. Not every person responds to animals in the same way—some people have health concerns or other restrictions that would make AAT or even owning a pet not possible. It’s also worth noting that much of the research to date is observational. Some may argue that individuals with dogs are more likely to exercise and therefore logically will have better cardiac health than someone who doesn’t. True, perhaps.

However for many, research seems to indicate that animals can have an extraordinary effect on the emotional and physical health of individuals living with serious diseases and challenges. That alone warrants further exploration.

For some, an increase in physical activity fueled by a love of horses and riding works to support weight loss efforts—others may benefit from the skills of a highly trained dog taught to detect low blood sugar levels or a pet fish who provides relief from anxiety. Either way, we expect to see the integration of animals into disease management and therapy continue to gain traction as the impact of this bond on human health becomes more evident.


30 Days to Family® is an intense, short-term intervention designed to increase the number of children placed with family and friends at the time they enter the foster care system so that more siblings can stay together, in their school of origin, surrounded by their important relationships with friends and supportive adults.

Research shows that children placed with kinship caregivers experience more stability, fewer behavioral problems, and are less likely to reenter foster care. First developed by Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition in St. Louis, MO, 30 Days to Family® initially searches for parents, grandparents, and siblings with the goal to identify 80 additional relatives. Because placements can be fragile, a secondary goal is to identify one primary placement provider and one to two other relatives or kin as potential back-up placement providers. Maternal and paternal relatives are explored with equal interest.

Armed with the philosophy that all families include members who are willing and able to care for children, 30 Days to Family® specialists are relentless in their search for relatives of children in care. Studies show youth living with relatives while in foster care can lead to less disruptions in school, improved behaviors, and increased connections with primary care givers.

The 30 Days to Family® program enables states to comply with requirements of federal law to immediately notify and engage families when children are placed in foster care. This results in a cost savings to the state of over $10,000 per child served through the program.

60% reported greater involvement in extracurricular activities versus 45% in non-relative homes.*

Independence, MO

Ashley Vance

30 Days to Family® Specialist

816-350-0215 ext. 333

Springfield, MO

Alissa Dennis

30 Days to Family® Specialist


Precalculus (6th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 013421742X
ISBN 13: 978-0-13421-742-0

Chapter 2 - Graphs and Functions - 2.4 Linear Functions - 2.4 Exercises - Page 229: 52

(a) slope $=2$ (b) Refer to the graph below.

Work Step by Step

RECALL: In the linear equation $y=mx + b$, $m$=slope and $(0, b)$ is the y-intercept. (a) The line $y=2x-4$ has a slope of $2$ and a y-intercept of $(0, -4)$. (b) To graph the line, perform the following steps: (1) Plot the y-intercept $(0, -4)$. (2) Use the slope to plot another point. The slope is $2$ so there is a 2-unit increase in the value of $y$ for every unit increase in $x$. From $(0, -4)$, move 2 units up (the rise) and one unit to the right (the run) to reach $(1, -2)$. Plot $(1, -2)$. (3) Complete the graph by connecting the two points using a line. (Refer to the graph in the answer part above.)
Update this answer!

Update this answer


In his recently published book Against the Grain, Jim Scott ’54 shared compelling ideas about why many “schoolbook lessons” about the first states in the world and early civilizations are wrong. Although the subject matter is a bit outside his area of expertise, as Jim specializes in studying peasants and agriculture life of Southeast Asia, the book aggregates the current state of knowledge of early Mesopotamian domestication in order to diagnose why the modern world is facing extinction of species and climate change. Jim is the Sterling Professor of Political Science, Professor of Anthropology, and Director of the Agrarian Studies Program at Yale University.

“We are in a jam ecologically and environmentally, but why is that?,” said Jim. “How did we come to this point of [the epoch of] anthropocene, where geologists believe that mankind and our activities are maybe the greatest danger to the planet? The first thing to do is, if you’re in a mess, to try to figure out how you got there, so my job is not a medication or a cure. My job is diagnosis of how this illness developed, which is the reason why I wanted to go back to the first states when large numbers of people formed agrarian societies to understand why we’re here now.”

What most surprised Jim during his research for Against the Grain was that all human infectious diseases did not exist before humans began to live as domesticated human beings with domesticated animals and plants.

“Measles, mumps, the flu… they did not exist,” said Jim. “These are diseases of civilization and the reason they are is because early civilizations were the first time that huge numbers of people and animals were crammed together in a small space. Our evidence is in the skeletons from early agrarian societies as those bones show those people were smaller than those who lived outside the grain area. The skeletons of those who lived in early states showed signs of nutritional deficiencies and disease. They were less healthy than people who had a more varied diet and were not subject to those diseases, indicating civilization is bad for your health.”

Jim has dedicated his career in academia to studying agricultural life since the Vietnam War, when he became interested in peasant uprisings and rebellions. Since peasants have been the largest social class in world history, he thought it a worthy and honorable subject to devote his life to studying. Originally he studied political uprisings among peasants but, as Jim is a farmer who raises sheep, Scottish cows, chickens, and bees, he has expanded to rural peasant life.

Against the Grain can be ordered online through the Yale University Press by searching the title at yalebooks.yale.edu or at bookstores.


The Agenda

Republicans Must Embrace Efficiency

In a recent column (“Republicans Must Embrace Education, Not Tax Cuts”), Edward Glaeser argues that Republicans should emphasize education over tax cuts. This seems reasonable enough. But what troubles me is that many will and have interpreted Glaeser’s column to mean that more spending is the way to improve educational outcomes.

Glaeser does make a number of points that we can all embrace:

Years of research have taught us that teacher quality is paramount; this, too, can be a Republican issue. Candidates should fight to ensure enough school competition so that excellent teachers get top salaries and mediocre teachers get fired.

Republicans should also embrace the promise of new teaching technologies, such as New York’s School of One, which uses computers to personalize lessons. Republican candidates should offer an optimistic vision of a stronger and fairer country built on skills and entrepreneurship.

Yet some of these politicians seem to think that everything will be fine as long as Washington abandons its push to improve education. This is a path to mediocrity.

As Margaret Spellings, who served as secretary of education under President George W. Bush and is my colleague on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation United States Program Advisory Panel, told the New York Times, “We tried that for 40 years,” and “the results were far from stellar.”

Washington needs to be involved to ensure localities don’t put unions ahead of children. Massachusetts lifted its unfortunate cap on charter schools partially because of the pressure created by the Race to the Top program. A Republican policy could be even more effective.

Moreover, he is careful not to explicitly call for increased education spending:

I agree with Republican leaders who want to make the government more efficient and reduce our tax burden, but lower taxes mean less spending, and this is far from a silver bullet for the economy.

This is absolutely right. Less spending is far from a silver bullet. Spending that is deployed more effectively is closer to the mark. (As always, the marked difference in educational outcomes between Massachusetts and New Jersey is instructive.) The question, however, is how we can encourage more effective spending. Cutting taxes in itself won’t do the trick, as starving public services of revenues without empowering public sector managers to deploy resources more effectively will just lead to things like LIFO layoffs, i.e., the firing of young (and in some cases talented) teachers to retain old (and in some cases not-so-talented) teachers.

What we really need is collective bargaining reform. Unfortunately, collective bargaining reform has just been dealt a severe blow in Ohio, with the repeal of SB 5, and in New Jersey, where conservatives failed to make significant gains in legislative elections. Recognizing the importance of these battles, organized labor outspent and outorganized groups representing the interests of taxpayers.

Walter Russell Mead recommends a shift in strategy for advocates of public sector reform:

Strong arguments can be made for cutting spending and changing work rules for public workers. Public sector unions remain the main obstacle to these changes, and they continue to have a largely negative influence on state politics and budgets. Yet voters, especially in many Midwestern battleground states, are small-c conservative and likely to remain so — while they support lower taxes and balanced budgets, they also oppose radical change. Reform-minded state governors should balance budgets and take tough stands in negotiations, but they should move at a speed public opinion can bear. Voters are unhappy with the status quo, but they are equally wary of overreach. This is a sentiment that conservatives ought to respect.

It is worth noting that both Democratic governors like Andrew Cuomo and Republicans like Chris Christie have found ways to push hard at the bargaining table and make real cuts without forfeiting wider support in their states. Festina lente, as they used to tell me in Pundit High: make haste slowly. The facts will ultimately do the talking even in labor negotiations. Voters may not want to eliminate public sector bargaining rights in many states, but neither do they want large tax hikes so that the unions can have everything they want.

I’m not as sanguine as Mead about this incremental strategy, but it might be the only option for reformers. One thing I’ll add is that reformers should at least fight to make it easier for union members to opt-out of funding political activity with their dues.

Glaeser might have framed his column somewhat differently: instead of focusing on tax cuts, conservatives need to focus on collective bargaining reform to improve the effectiveness, cost, and quality of public services.

Most Popular

Politics & Policy

Kat Timpf Chased Out of Brooklyn Bar

Film & TV

The Dan Crenshaw Moment

The Present American Revolution

Florida’s Shame, and Ours

Fire Brenda Snipes


Job Description

Trinseo Netherlands BV has an opening within the organization for a
Project Controls Engineer
This position is expected to work with the Project Management Leader to set-up and implement a cost and schedule control system for Trinseo projects, providing Project Managers with the tools and processes, and train them so that projects are managed on a consistent basis. The cost and schedule control system should meet the requirements for the specific Project including forecasting and cash flow, change management, accruals, cost management of various contracts, risk management, and financial project close-out. This position is also responsible to monitor the cost and schedule performance of the project and the project team through key performance indicators and provide feedback to the project team and GMEO leadership.
Prime responsibilities
* Work directly with Project Managers and Program Managers to support in the execution of all project controls processes and systems on large capital projects.
* Work with the Project Manager to create Project Management Plans for project team application.
* Develop best practices for estimation of capital projects at various stages of projects
* Assist in the creation of estimates, schedules, and other project documents.
* Provide tools to project teams to monitor the cost performance of projects through key performance indicators.
* Develop best practices, procedures, and templates to track cost performance relative to authorized amount.
* Provide support for intermediate planning and scheduling for baseline, resources, and progress tracking needs.
* Implement and execute proper controls to proactively support, monitor, and communicate budget, actual status, and forecast costs, labor hours, and quantities for projects.
* Develop reporting protocols and templates to be used by project managers.
* Act as a primary interface to EPC firms utilized globally to provide detail engineering, project procurement, and construction management to projects implemented by Trinseo. In this role, the incumbent will measure and validate Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), and provide oversight and validation on invoices for services provided.
Critical Success Factors
* Ensuring that systems are in place to manage capital projects cost and schedule. This includes developing appropriate tools and procedures for estimation, scheduling, and forecasting costs.
* Ensure that project managers are properly trained on project controls and the tools that enable it.
* Providing support and review of project controls (estimates, scheduling, resource loading) for projects executed from within the GMEO.
Qualifications, Knowledge and Skills
* Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Engineering.
* Five years of experience on capital projects as a Project Engineer
* Strong experience with the application of estimating, planning, scheduling, and all aspects of project cost and schedule control.
* Proficiency using risk analysis tools
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills, presentation skills, negotiation skills, and analytical thinking
* Experience using MS Project, Excel, Zyqad and/or Primavera
* Experience with Enterprise Software such as SAP for cost tracking is expected
Trinseo Offers
* Competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits.
* An annual variable pay program that rewards team and individual performance and shares company, business or functional success.
* On-going learning opportunities in a rewarding work environment.
* The chance to work on global teams with colleagues around the world and in different locations.
*Location:* EMEA-Netherlands, Hoek
Vacature opslaan

Gerelateerde vacatures


Automate backup for Ruckus Wireless devices without scripts

Ruckus Wireless® configuration backup is the process of making a copy of the complete configuration and settings for Ruckus Wireless devices. Configuration backups allow network administrators to recover quickly from a device failure, roll back from misconfiguration or simply revert a device to a previous state.

Because configurations change in time, configuration backups for Ruckus Wireless should be created regularly and stored in a secure location.

Restorepoint includes support for the following device types:
  • ZoneDirector