on 22 October 2016
Great as a hagiography, good as entertainment...but bad as an accurate biography.
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on 23 March 2017
It's kind of dull after the first few chapters.
on 17 August 2007
This is not just a history, it is re-invention of our world. No one has told Genghis Khan 's story as effectively. Texts by other
historians like Paul Ratchnevsky may consult more primary sources [JW bases his work on the Secret History of the Mongols, Juvayni, and Rashid-ad-Din, Ratchnevsky consults some additional Chinese sources like the Shenwu qinzheng lu]. Texts such as Saunders may be more scholarly and are more nuanced in their conclusions, but this footnote-free story (notes are indexed to sentences only at the end) is eminently readable, and like Timothy May has said in a review, it is the kind of writing that, unlike "dusty monographs", can fire one's "love for history".

Writing with rare lyrical sensitivity, Weatherford brings across a dramatic narrative of the military conquests. The first part deals with Genghis Khan consolidating the tribes of Mongolia (Chapters 2-3). Most of the book (Chapters 4-8), deals with world conquest. Genghis Khan launched his series of conquests when in his late 40s, and within fifteen years (1212 to his death in 1227), he had conquered four times the territory of the Roman or Macedonian empires at their peak; after his death, it would be grow half as much larger.

However, the most interesting aspect of the book is its discussion of the impact of this large trade-friendly empire, lasting over 200 years, may have had (Chapter 9). Printing, firearms, the use of the compass in navigation, bowed instruments such as the violin, all came to Europe through Mongol interactions. Furthermore, processes such as codification of laws, lightning mobility in war (the inspiration for Nazi "blitzkrieg"), religious freedom, and participative government, all taken for granted today, were practiced in the Mongol Empire and may have influenced European thinking during the Renaissance that immediately followed the breakup of the empire.

Maybe he over-dramatizes things when saying: "Under the widespread influences from the paper and printing, gunpowder and firearms, and the spread of the navigational compass and other maritime equipment, Europeans experienced a Renaissance, literally a rebirth, but it was not the ancient world of Greece or Rome being reborn. It was the Mongol Empire, picked up, transferred, and adapted by the Europeans to their own needs and culture." But on the whole he presents overwhelming evidence of our debt to the Mongols, an aspect that was covered up during the Age of Enlightenment (Chapter 10 deals with this historiographical process).

I found the book extremely thought-provoking; it led me to read Ratchnevsky and I am now looking through Saunders. I also went to several online sources simply to verify the claims he makes; I found most of them well-corroborated. Reading this book was absolutely eye-opening. It has completely changed my world view.
on 22 April 2005
This is one of those rare and irresistable books, which provide another side of the coin (history). A truly facinating book with detailed facts and descriptions making it both a very good read and thought-provoking one.
on 21 May 2008
This is a fantastic book, very well written, the more I read the more I couldn't put it down!!
Incredible how advanced Genghis Kahn ideas were, especially about religion.
Do yourself a favour and read this book!
on 11 August 2009
After reading the reviews of all the available books about Genghis Khan i decided this would be best. I was NOT dissapointed. A book extremely well constructed, explains much more than i expected and does its its best to dispell some modern myths. Some of the reviewers of other Genghis Khan books should read this before giving opinion based on legend and thier own bias. If you choose one book on this subject matter choose this one.
on 23 June 2015
It only took me three days to read this relatively thin paperback. Genghis Khan had a huge role in history and there is rather a dearth of information on him, considering the massive scale of the Mongol Empire he created. At its peak, it ran from the Pacific in the East to the Mediterranean in the West, bigger than the Roman Empire and that carved by Alexander the Great. The author based his account primarily on new revelations prompted by his research team re-examining the Secret History of The Mongols, an ancient document which was very difficult to translate and had laid hidden for many years due to the political upheavals in the region. Genghis has a mixed reputation throughout history, with the likes of Chaucer elevating him and Voltaire and Montesquieu later deriding him. The Mongols uniquely placed world culture in a position to develop into what we now know, with international trade, religious tolerance and mass migration of peoples. The Mongols are perhaps looked down upon for not bequeathing us anything unique from their own culture, but rather amalgamating and developing existing ideas from the races and civilisations of other people’s they conquered. They practised some novel ideas for the time such as diplomatic immunity, not torturing prisoners, allowing all religions to flourish under the empire with an emphasis on secular law. The book covers the rise of Temujin from his downtrodden youth, to the height of his power and then looks at the maintenance of his legacy after his death, with the separation of the great Khanate into four primary regions. It is a great look at medieval history from an Asian perspective and has enlightened me about various subjects from that time and added to knowledge I already had on the Crusades, Marco Polo, the Black Death and The European Renaissance. The decline of the Empire was sudden and could only arise through a natural disaster which engulfed the whole world, in the Great Plague. What would have occurred had this devastating illness never erupted? The book was brief and precise and covered a vast array of topics though in my opinion for such a good subject matter, it could have been more expansive in volume. It has given me a taste for Genghis Khan and I shall try to dig out some more similar biographies on the great Steppes people. https://wezgbooks.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/review-genghis-khan-and-the-making-of-the-modern-world/
on 23 October 2012
Although many object that this is a ''revisionist history... (and that) Weatherford is not a historian but an anthropologist'', for me this worked well as the essence of anthropology is cross-cultural comparison, and cultural relativism has become the canon of anthropological inquiry. I therefore enjoyed this perhaps Asiatic-ally favored introduction to a wider world view of hidden histories that have indeed shaped our modern world to this day.

Despite popular misconceptions and his unquestionably cruel methodologies in war, few scholars would today claim that Genghis Khan was a blood-thirsty barbarian.
Among his accomplishments once he had subdued his target tribes, cities, Empires and Nations, was The Pax Mongolica from Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe of which has been said "a maiden bearing a nugget of gold on her head could wander safely throughout the realm.". Rule of Law which included accountability for all people (Kings as well as peasants). Freedom of Religion, Free Trade, Diplomatic Immunity. Science prospered - unlike Europe where people were persecuted, tortured and murdered by Church and State for ideas outside their current orthodoxy (but ironically accepted by them today).

Whilst the author does state that ''The Mongols made no technological breakthroughs of their own, founded no new religions, wrote few books or dramas, and gave the world no new crops or methods of agriculture...Yet, as their army conquered culture after culture, they collected and passed on those skills from one civilization to the next.'' In this context they actually did create new applications for their assimilated technologies, for example the Chinese explosives that they employed in siege warfare, and by contrast their encouragement of new crops in diverse environments - to provide their workforce subjectry with further tools to create the material wealth that they coveted. In many other areas the ensuing Mongol Emperors are shown to have fostered creativity from religious debate between faiths, to better production and management of resources, even creating and trialling a paper money system.
That their system proved unsustainable however was perhaps due to the lack of a principled leader such as Genghis had proved to be, cruel indeed -but he also outlawed torture, ruthless - but if you accepted his rule then you would share in his new world order.

Nevertheless I share other readers reservations over the authors claims that ''this transfusion of culture and trade led to the European Renaissance'' - although the Mongol Empire certainly contributed by various means including creation of channels of communication and sharing of information along them. Yet, despite earlier adulation (as in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales) and perhaps because of a lack of understanding of the wider world that the Mongol Empire had encompassed, as the Empire was increasingly torn by conflict between inheritances of the title and power of the 'Great Khan' (and although despite all these pitfalls some descendants ruled on until the 19thC in various kingdoms) the overall conflict led to breakdown - the power diminished, the communication routes dwindled away. In an absence of ongoing relations with a Mongol Empire - our brief European visits by the Golden Hordes had shown them a Europe still relatively poor compared to the wealth of the East which they plundered. This loss (of an enduring Mongolian-European association) in my view denied the West an earlier introduction to many of the later Mongolian Empires constructive and tolerant social reforms, Europe chose in absence of any other impetus to explore and revive the ancient classical cultures of Rome and Greece instead, giving rise to the Renaissance period .

I would also mention perhaps against the favorable view that I have here held of the Mongolian Empire at its apogee, that the only culture which I know of that calls unlimited perpetual growth to be positive would be that of a cancerous culture (or perhaps some of the modern trans-global world's short sighted social, ecological and environmental businesses ethics). Once Genghis and other Khan's exhausted the possibility to furnish their nomadic lives with the opulent trappings of more sedentary cultures (stability is essential to cultivate, mine and refine resources into merchandise), their very success at taking over other cities and societies left them no alternative, other than to change their modus operandi and thus themselves, to extend ever further on new conquests in search of greater resources. This endless extension can be seen to have divided the center and left the Mongol Empire(s) open to internal faction and external forces.

Recommended as a lively and entertaining introduction to the Mongolian formation of the modern world.
on 17 February 2010
Fantastic book. Make no mistake this is an historical narrative but written in such a way as to keep the reader's attention. Informative and interesting.
on 12 February 2015
This book would serve as a half decent introduction to a very wide ranging subject. Rather unfortunately it felt at times like I was reading a National Geographic documentary on the subject. But in amongst the predictable, suposition and at times needlessly speculative there are some real gems. For example, there is a reference to the only known contemporary description of Temujin.
Overall I feel it could benefit from a different style of writing which at times feels shorn of an academic voice. It is a solid if unspectacular work that is rewarding if you persevere but would be nice if you didn't have to work at it.


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The Firehouse Church - Denver, CO logo

the siren!

[1st Corinthians 15:56-58]

I don't know about you, but I definitely go through times (sometimes moments, sometimes days or weeks or months) where I want to give-up, where everything seems to fall apart. When it seems like my tires spin in the mud, or I take three steps back for every two forward, or the mountain is just too high to climb, or I'm caught on a traffic circle with no exit, or... well, you can surely relate, just pick your metaphor for how you feel.

It's in these times that I find it most helpful to do a little reflection and self-evaluation. I ask questions of myself such as: what is my end goal for this effort? Am I over-valuing the output of my work and undervaluing the effort? Am I being lazy? Am I expecting too much of others and not enough of myself (or vice-versa)? However, the most important question of all is: for whom am I laboring?

The answer, of course, needs to unequivocally be "My Master, the Creator of universe, and His Son Jesus." When I can re-orient my intentions and efforts to be for Him, I find great solace in the passage from 1st Corinthians 15. What a promise: when my efforts are "in the Lord," when they are focused on Him and His kingdom and His glory, they will not be in vain! The Amplified Bible describes it as never "futile," "wasted" or "without purpose."

This week, as we feel stuck in discouragement or desperation, let's reorient our efforts towards the Lord.


Τρίτη, Μαρτίου 21, 2017

Μια μοναδική φιγούρα στην ιστορία της νεότερης ευρωπαϊκής τέχνης

Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis ΕΝΑΣ "ΑΝΑΓΕΝΝΗΣΙΑΚΟΣ" ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΗΣ

In addition, in following the German Symbolists in his paintings, exploring synaesthetic ideas, fashionable at the time, and exploring chromatic and harmonic possibilities of the tonal major-minor system in his music compositions, Čiurlionis stands as typical artist of the late Nineteenth-early Twentieth century Europe.
Finally, his latest mature paintings, based on intricate musical compositional techniques, and piano compositions in which tonal writing is blended with proto-serial techniques and constructive use of short rhythmic, melodic and harmonic complexes, stand as examples of totally unprecedented plastic-aural experiences unique in the history of European art.

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis - Wikipedia

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Visuals: The Catalyst in your Learning Process

2 May 2017

Visuals: The Catalyst in your Learning Process

Has it ever happened that you could see that someone was interested/uninterested in you without even him/her saying it? You just observed the facial expressions and postures like yawning and looking away from you or leaning towards you and maintaining eye contact. You made a conclusion because the non-verbal messages were quite clear. Welcome to the amazing world of visual learning!

“A for Apple

Remember how you learnt your 1st ever traditional lesson? Of course not! You were too young to remember that. But you definitely know how it would have been:

“A for Apple” pointing your teeny-weeny finger towards a red apple. That’s visual learning! You started learning visually even before this. That was when someone asked, ”Where is Mommy?” and you pointed towards her. It’s all about recognising and understanding things by seeing them.

Easy & Captivating

Do you know why babies are made to learn visually first? Simply because they need to see it to know it’s an apple and that’s my mom. Also, the colours, shapes, movements and expressions look fascinating to a baby. Give a newspaper or magazine to a toddler and see how he/she loves to look at the pictures and turn the pages. This is the thing about visual learning it is easy & captivating not just for a baby but for you too!

See it to Know it

 A four sided figure, whose four sides can be grouped into two pairs of equal-length sides that are  adjacent to each other.

 Now see this:

Try to read this:

Yuor brian procesess txet as visauls, so you can eaisly raed tihs!

You just witnessed that learning through visuals is so much better!

Your brain processes text as visuals, so you can easily read this!

Yes! Even the text are symbols and your brain processes the image of words just like visuals. That is why you can read the misspelt words. You can recognise a misspelt word if the first and last letters are the same. Because it “looks” the same.

The meaning of the words and sentences still needs to be comprehended. If you see a product or process in visual form the comprehension becomes faster and easier.

One more:

“Go left, then take a U-turn and go straight and then take third left and then second right….”

Would you prefer to read these directions or see it in the form of a map? Even if you hear someone giving you directions, you try to mentally “visualise” the route.

So, visuals not only make the learning process simpler & faster they also aid better recall. This is why visuals have been a medium for learning since time immemorial. So, next time you try to learn something new do not forget to take help of visuals.


Thursday, March 26, 2009

playlist : march 26 : two guns

**cut off your hands - happy as can be - you and i
**handsome furs - legal tender - face control
**broken spindles - introvert - kiss/kick
**hotels - flight of the navigator - where hearts go broke
autolux - persons and machinery (unkle remix) -
**black lips - short fuse - 200 million thousand
**m ward - never had nobody like you - hold time (by request!)
mothers sons - tall trees - live on the sound session '08
**the love language - lalita - the love language
the randies - kevin bacon - surround sound v.3 (the lab comp)
**the pains of being pure at heart - young adult friction - the pains of being pure at heart
**asobi seksu - familiar light - hush
pedro the lion - magazine - control (by request!)
brad mehldau - paranoid android (radiohead cover) - largo
broadcast - goodbye girls - tender buttons

two guns live set + interview!!!

**animal collective - my girls - merriweather post pavillion
robotanists - wait a minute here - close down the woods
peachcake - stop acting like you know more about the internet cafe than me - stop acting like you know more about the internet cafe than me [single]

Thursday, March 19, 2009

playlist : march 19

**youth group - one for another - the night is ours
**polka dot dot dot - cherry blossoms - love letter to new zealand
**mirah - generosity - (a)spera
**the love language - sparxxx - the love language
two guns - locomotives - two guns

liz's set:
metric - combat baby - old world underground, where are you now?
stars - your ex lover is dead - set yourself on fire
stars - this charming man (the smiths covers) - nightsongs ep
broken social scene - alive in 85 - feel good lost
the raveonettes - let's rave on - chain gang of love

thee oh sees (by request!)
**black lips - let it grow - 200 million thousand
**abe vigoda - wild heart - reviver

sounds of the week:
the parson red heads - something good (herman's hermits cover) -
limbeck - bird problems - limbeck
lemon sun - wanna have you -
the western states motel - bring me down tomorrow (live at kuci 5.22.08)
the growlers - what it is -
two guns - dollars - two guns

**surf city - mt kill - surf city ep
**asobi seksu - me and mary - hush
**the pains of being pure at heart - everything with you - the pains of being pure at heart
**hotels - the maudlin - where hearts go broke
**cut off your hands - still fond - you and i
**broken spindles - in the dark - kiss/kick
northern labour party - wonder
two guns - ponce de leon - two guns

congrats to the growlers ticket winners!!!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

playlist : march 12

**the love language - nocturne - the love language
**chairlift - garbage - does you inspire you
**deerhunter - dot gain - weird era continued
**bell orchestre - elephants - as seen through windows
**polka dot dot dot - ocean - love letter to new zealand
**m ward - one hundred million years - hold time
two guns - lowered expectations - two guns
**ac newman - the palace at 4am - get guilty
**black lips - starting over - 200 million thousand
**animal collective - my girls - merriweather post pavilion
**tussle - night of the hunter - cream cuts
**hot chip - transmission (joy division cover) - war child: heroes
**hotels - ports of saints - where hearts go broke
**handsome furs - officer of hearts - face control
thee oh sees
vivian girls - never see me again - vivian girls
the lines - ultramarine - flood bank
crystal stilts - verdant gaze - alight of night
**the pains of being pure at heart - come saturday - the pains of being pure at heart
love is all - talk talk talk talk - nine times that same song (by request!)
love is all - rumours - a hundred things keep me up at night (by request!)
x ray spex - the day the world turned day glo - genetic engineering
**say hi - one, two... one - oohs and aahs
**asobi sesku - gliss - hush
**broken spindles - i've never been this afraid - kiss/kick

congrats to the
primal scream / brian jonestown massacre
ticket winners!!!

Thursday, March 05, 2009

playlist : march 5

**vampire hands - no fun - me and you cherry red / cuz it's a beach funeral
**school of seven bells - face to face on high places - alpinisms
my bloody valentine - off your face - glider ep
crystal stilts - shattered shine - alight of night
**the pains of being pure at heart - stay alive - the pains of being pure at heart
**volcano suns - sea cruise - the bright orange years
mission of burma - that's when i reach for my revolver - mission of burma
buzzcocks - what do i get? - entertaining friends: live at the hammersmith odeon
wire - feeling called love - on returning '77-79
**cut off your hands - nostalgia - you and i
**handsome furs - all we want, baby, is everything - face control
**belle and sebastian - like dylan in the movies - the bbc sessions
trachtenburg family slideshow players - eggs - vintage slide collections from seattle v1
**hotels - near the desert, near the city - where hearts go broke
**surf city - free this city - surf city ep
**black lips - take my heart - 200 million thousand
**asobi sesku - i can't see - hush
**the appleseed cast - an army of fireflies - sagarmatha
the delta spirit - house built for two - ode to sunshine
**say hi - hallie and henry - oohs and aahs
fine china - don't frown - the jaws of life
flare - keep it to yourself - hung
**broken spindles - you're happy but not for long - kiss/kick
**tussle - titan - cream cuts
peachcake - stop acting like you know more about the internet cafe than me - stop acting like you know more... [single]
**hello seahorse! - ok...lobster - hoy a las ocho
two guns - one direction - two guns

thanks for listening!
congrats to our ticket winners!


  • Tremor (shaking) is an involuntary repetitive movement that usually affects the hands, but can also affect the feet, legs, head, face, and voice. Most people with tremor are healthy, but sometimes tremor can be a symptom of a neurological problem (e.g., Parkinson's disease, stroke) or a side effect of a medication.

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is one of the most common neuromuscular diseases. It is progressive and fatal: 80% of people who have it die within 5 years. Currently, there is no cure for ALS. There is no treatment that significantly prolongs life, and therefore, treatment of ALS is mainly supportive.

  • Dizziness is a term used to describe various sensations such as faintness, lightheadedness, weakness or unsteadiness. Vertigo refers to a feeling of movement or spinning.

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Foreign Film - Spain - I m So Excited - Almodovar

Spain - I m So Excited - Almodovar

I m So Excited
Directed by Pedro Aldomovar
Spanish with English subtitles
Sony Pictures Classics 2014
90 minutes

When you finish watching Pedro Almodovar's I m So Excited it is clear why Sony chose that title instead of a more literal translation of Los amantes pasajeros or passengers lovers. The scene where the cabin crew lipsynchs to the Pointer Sisters disco hit is the heart of the trailer and the only funny moment in the entire film. If you are a Pedro Almodovar fan, this is a rental at best. If not, pass.

Soon after take-off, a flight crew discovers there is an anomaly and the plane may not be able to land. I m So Excited is about the reactions of the first class all-male, all-gay cabin crew and the six or so first class passengers. It is most convenient that all of the economy passengers and crew have been given a sleeping compound so as to take 99% of the plane out of the picture.

A couple of scenes take place on the ground when one of the mistresses of one of the first class passengers jumps off a bridge and her phone lands in the bicycle basket of his former mistress. Other passengers include a mysterious mustachioed man, a man trying to escape the country after some financial malversations, a dominatrix, and a virgin psychic.

In the end, the plane does not crash but the movie has already done so.


Monday, 31 August 2015

a circular presentation

Although it is not the mathematical symbol for infinity, the circle is the best geometrical representation of this concept. For example, a circle can be visualized as a polygon with an infinite number of sides, and the ratio of its circumference to its diameter, which is represented by the Greek letter π, is a transcendental number. This means that even if its value is calculated to an infinite number of decimal places, there will be no repeating number sequences.

The circle, and its three-dimensional analogue the sphere, do not occur in nature. The orbits of planets around their parent stars, which Copernicus postulated were circular, are in fact elliptical. And although the growth rings of trees are roughly circular, there are always minute variations in the thickness of individual rings. Meanwhile, stars and their accompanying planets are only approximately spherical.

None of this is relevant to the purpose of this post, which is to present a series of abstract photographs that use the circle as a motif. Each picture is followed by a brief comment on the image.

a bigger splash

The title of this photo references the title of a painting by David Hockney, although it doesn’t resemble that painting. The image was created by tossing a small cobble into a nearby stream.

This image is of water dripping from trees into a puddle on the road. I’ve given it this title because the ripples do not appear to be interfering with each other.

Although this picture is self-evidently a cross-section through a tree, it immediately reminded me of an impact crater.

set the controls for the heart of the sun

Another cross-section through a tree, but this one looks like some kind of aiming device. The title comes from a song on Pink Floyd’s 1968 album Saucerful of Secrets.

straw man

The arms and legs of this stick figure radiate from the centre of a series of concentric circles (a tree cross-section again). In normal use, the phrase ‘straw man’ refers to a particular type of fallacious argument in which the person who is making the argument constructs a false image of an idea, which is obviously much easier to criticize than the real thing. Incidentally, a circular argument is another type of logical fallacy.

This is the most nearly circular of the oil stain photos I’ve taken this summer, although the jagged edges make it the least circular of the images here.

The first two photos were taken in Hong Kong last winter, while the rest were taken this summer in and around my home town of Penrith.

Thursday, 27 August 2015

spelling bee

Wednesday, 19 August 2015

boom! boom!

When I heard news, a few days ago, of the explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, I was immediately reminded of a similar incident that took place in West, Texas, a little more than two years ago, in April 2013. Both involved residential areas being located far too close to facilities where dangerous chemicals were being stored, and in both cases a disproportionate number of those killed were firefighters. In neither case did these men have any idea what they were up against.

In the US incident, more than 245,000 kilograms of ammonium nitrate exploded while the fire crews were responding to a small fire that had broken out at the storage facility, yet nobody had thought to warn them in advance that this highly explosive material was there. Nobody—other than the company that owned the facility—knew it was there.

The identity of the chemicals that exploded in Tianjin is much less certain, although it almost certainly included an accelerant (oxidizing agent) like ammonium nitrate. The purported presence of sodium cyanide may just have been the kind of scare story that inevitably spreads around whenever there is a shortage of hard information, although a British chemical expert who appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today program did suggest that sodium metal was present. I think we can discount this hypothesis, because sodium does not occur as a metal in nature, and as far as I can tell the only use for this element is to have tiny slivers dropped into large tanks of water by chemistry teachers to demonstrate to their pupils the violent reaction that occurs. This would not justify storing enough of the metal to cause the explosions.

Perhaps the most realistic assessment of the chemicals involved that I’ve seen is a combination of calcium carbide, potassium nitrate (saltpetre) and ammonium nitrate. Calcium carbide, when mixed with water, produces the highly flammable gas acetylene, while the other two are both powerful accelerants (saltpetre was used in the original Chinese recipe for gunpowder) as well as being used as fertilizers. A ready supply of oxygen to feed an incipient fire is obviously a recipe for disaster.

However, the most striking similarity between the two incidents is not the presence of accelerants but the secrecy involved. Nobody but the employees of the West Fertilizer Company knew that a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate was being stored on the firm’s premises, while nobody will admit to knowing precisely what was being stored in the warehouse in Tianjin. The juxtaposition is striking: defenders of the American company would probably cite commercial confidentiality, while the Chinese Communist Party will probably invoke state secrecy laws if anyone has the temerity to probe too deeply. In other words, despite the ideological competition between the ‘land of the free’ and the ‘middle kingdom’, politicians in both countries couldn’t care less about ordinary citizens.

Thursday, 13 August 2015

quiet riot


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  • The second method it works is by obstructing an enzyme called citrate lyase which is the one in charge of changing carbs into fats and sugars. This suggests that any kind of fat deposits that is taken in never truly reaches make it to the cells yet rather is secreted with the rest of the waste. It takes place to be an extremely efficient approach of dropping weight– you can shed several pounds in a month.

Garcinia Cambogia in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine

The prompt inquiry, naturally, is whether there is any type of scientific support to these claims. Without a doubt there is. Garcinia cambogia extract includes HCA which, in a laboratory environment, has actually proven to reduce appetite and stop the absorption of fatty tissue from food. If you are interested in checking out some medical details, click here.

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Garcinia cambogia extract side effects

There are 2 factors: one is given that it does have side effects and the second is given that the people in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine who talk about these side effects do not provide complete details. Here are some of the side effects that have been recognized to accompany this extract:.

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  3. Some folks in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine have actually mentioned fatty stools– nothing that calls for medical attention, merely the concept of it is uneasy for some.

All these side effects appear to be stemming from one point: the kind of Garcinia Cambogia that they took in. For it to be reliable and not have any sort of side effects, it has to have actually the ingredients integrated precisely right: 50 % HCA or hydroxycitric acid, no fillers, no binders, no fabricated ingredients, it needs to be taken at a dose of 100Mg as suggested and liquor needs to read Garcinia Cambogia HCA.

Some people in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine who state these side effects admit that they did not consider these specifics and it is easy to understand; when we buy supplements, we typically just take them without giving the ingredients a keen eye.

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Some folks in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine have whined that they are sleep deprived after they take it. There is a great reason for that and the treatment is really simple: physical exercise. When you take Garcinia cambogia, due to the fact that your physical body is not acquiring energy from the common channels, it begins to break down what is held within. It also assists in the manufacturing of serotonin, a hormone that will keep you really feeling sated and pleased.

Garcinia Cambogia in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine

When the body breaks down fatty tissue into power and you do not use it up, the result is that when it concerns time to sleep, your physical body is still as well charged to falling asleep normally. That and the small feeling of a delighted buzz is exactly what will keep you awake.

The remedy to this is to exercise so that you can consume the added power. So yes, like all weight loss supplements that work, you still have to do your daily workout if you intend to experience the complete benefits without any sort of side effects.

As a result of the quick weight loss that is launched, WebMd recommends that you take the supplement for no more than 12 weeks. If you do, you are at the risk of doing away with the fundamental fat that your physical body needs for all different kinds of features, and this could possibly lead to a host of other problems.

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Exists anyone who should not be taking Garcinia Cambogia?

Definitely. No testing has been done on expecting women, so no matter just how much weight you acquire in pregnancy, do not take the extract due to the fact that no person acknowledges exactly how your unborn child will react to it. It is also not recommended when you are bust feeding since similarly, its effect on babies has not been determined.

The various other team of folks in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine that ought to not take it is those with any sort of heart related issues. Because Garcinia cambogia improves metabolic rate, there is a rise in heart rate. A weak heart could not be able to resist this rise. Folks in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine that are using blood slimmers are likewise recommended not to use it.

As you can view, Garcinia cambogia extract is secure for the average individual which is aiming to slim down. If you have been having doubts, you now have the whole story– that as long as you buy the legit brand in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine and take the recommended dose, you should have not a problem in any way.

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Garcinia Cambogia in Zaporizhzhya Ukraine


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TatchaSilken Pore Perfecting Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 35 PA+++

SIZE 2 oz/ 59 mLITEM 1826569
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Which skin type is it good for?
✔ Normal
✔ Oily
✔ Combination
✔ Dry
✔ Sensitive

What it is:

Solutions for:
- Pores
- Uneven skin tone

If you want to know more…

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
- Parabens
- Sulfates
- Phthalates

What else you need to know:

Beauty that gives back: your purchase of a full-sized Tatcha skincare item will fund a day of school for incredible girls through Tatcha’s Beautiful Faces, Beautiful Futures partnership with Room to Read.

Research results:
In a consumer use survey after 4 weeks of use:
- 94% agree their fine lines appear smoother
- 91% agree that this SPF prevents mid-day shine
- 91% agree that their skin appears clearer
- 91% agree that the texture of their skin is improved
- 88% agree the size of their pores appear reduced
Suggested Usage:
-Use liberally after moisturizer to lock in hydration, at least 15 minutes before sun exposure.
-If wearing makeup, use before applying cosmetics.
-Works as a primer to refine and minimize the appearance of pores and to help makeup glide on effortlessly.
-Zinc Oxide 15% and Octisalate 5%: Provide broad-spectrum sun protection; octisalate is an emollient that keeps skin soft and prevents the formula from degrading in the sun. -Japanese Wild Rose: Brings the body back into balance, supports natural circulation, and calms with antioxidants; balances skin and diminishes the look of pores.
-Hadasei-3: Restores a healthy-looking, youthful radiance with green tea, rice, and algae.

Water, Isododecane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Propanediol, Hdi/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Behenyl Alcohol, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Rosa Multiflora Fruit Extract, Eriobotrya Japonica Leaf Extract, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Glycyrrhiza Inflata Root Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Pistacia Lentiscus (Mastic) Gum, Sericin, Algae Extract, Lecithin, Inositol, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Sorbitan Tristearate, Sodium Dilauramidoglutamide Lysine, Silica, Potassium Sorbate, Beheneth-20, Sodium Acrylate/Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Dimethylacrylamide Crosspolymer, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Methicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Dimethiconol, Disodium Edta, Fragrance, Ethylhexylglycerin, Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Iron Oxides (Ci77491), Tin Oxide (Ci 77861), Mica (Ci 77019), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).
For over 300 years, Japan’s geisha have been held in awe for their enduring wisdom and breathtakingly beautiful, porcelain skin. Perfected through centuries, it’s widely believed that their beauty secrets were passed down from one generation of geisha to the next by word of mouth alone. TATCHA rediscovered these coveted daily regimes in a 200-year-old manuscript. In homage to these icons of Eastern beauty, a proprietary process was developed with scientists, scholars, and geisha themselves, involving the very best green teas, Okinawa red algae, and rice bran. The secrets of the geisha live on in TATCHA.

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Full-time User Research Lead

at Babbel in New York

User Research Lead
at Babbel
New York City, USA

We are looking for an experienced User Research Lead (full-time) to start immediately in our awesome Lower East Side offices in New York City.

Who we are
Babbel is transforming language-learning for the digital age. With millions of regular users and more than 9,000 hours of premium content, Babbel’s products are available worldwide across multiple platforms. Now, we’re about to embark on an exciting new journey to change the way people learn languages globally. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Babbel is also present in the United States, with a growing presence in New York.

Who are we looking for
We are looking to hire an experienced User Research Lead to start and grow and User Research team from our New York City office. At the start, you will conduct original research, and grow to over time oversee multiple complex user research projects. Acting as a player-coach, you will build out and manage a small team in NY who will manage user research globally.

Responsibilities for the role:

Conduct usability research and other one-on-one in-person and remote interviews.
Hire and provide mentorship and guidance for a new team of User Researchers in our NYC office.
Engage freelancers and research firms as needed to collect data and augment our capabilities.
Lead user research projects through all phases, using a variety of a quantitative and qualitative research methods like user testing studies, interviews and surveys.
Collaborate closely with Product, Marketing and other key business stakeholders to define strategic (discovery, insights or validation) plans based on the needs of the teams.
Continuously improve user research processes, knowledge and tools to measurably enhance productivity and product quality.
Provide the insights we need to improve our products and marketing.

What do we expect from you:

Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer interaction, Human Factors, Cognitive Psychology or related field as a minimum, ideally also holding a Master's degree or PhD.
Excellent command of the English language, both written and verbal. A second language would be advantageous.
Great people skills, with the ability to mentor, coach, delegate and prioritize where required.
A minimum of 2 years' experience conducting user research in a product, marketing or design organisation.
Strong skills in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
Demonstrable knowledge in usability testing, customer interviews, ethnographic observation and other relevant methods of qualitative research; experience with cutting-edge research techniques.
Ability to synthesize and communicate results clearly.
Results orientation with a strong sense of ownership for the success of the team.
No-nonsense attitude; resourcefulness to get things done in a startup environment.
A clear passion for education, languages and technology.

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Published on 24-02-2017


Computational Transport Phenomena for Undergraduates

Charles A. Petty (presenter) and Karuna S. Koppula

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Computational

Transport Phenomena (CTP) technologies have advanced to the point where commercial software can readily be integrated into the engineering curriculum. These enabling technologies portend a paradigm shift in how next generation undergraduate students in science and engineering will learn about momentum, heat, and mass transfer in reacting and non-reacting fluids. CTP simulations provide a means for understanding physical phenomena and for discussing the consequences of design decisions in single phase and multiphase flows. This poster illustrates the practical utility of using CTP to explore the boundaries of traditional transport phenomena problems commonly employed in the undergraduate curriculum.

Faculty and graduate students in the College of Engineering at Michigan State University have used Flowlab ( as a teaching aid with freshman, sophomore, and junior level chemical engineering students. Prototypical examples have been used to complement specific lectures and/or analysis of experimental data in the laboratory related to unsteady state heat transfer, developing flow in a pipe at low Reynolds numbers, expanding flow in a pipe, radial flow between parallel disks, and batch sedimentation. These examples, and others, will be used to illustrate how CTP simulations can be used to support a classroom discussion about the physical nature of transport phenomena and the limitations of empirical correlations.


Dean Thomas: "Auror?"
Ron Weasley: "Dark wizard catcher."
— An explanation of what a British Auror is[src]

Auror is the occupational title of any witch or wizard serving as a member of an elite unit of highly-trained, specialist officers tasked with upholding the law and protecting the magical communities in their respective countries from large-scale threats, and is employed by the wizarding governing bodies of many European countries, as well as the United States. In Great Britain, Aurors work for the Ministry of Magic while in North America, they answer to the Magical Congress of the United States of America.

Auror training is extremely difficult and intensive, so there are few qualified applicants. As Aurors of different countries deals with different high-risk situations that are most prominent to them, their training and areas of responsibility might vary greatly depending on the type of threats for which they are prepared and the magical education they received beforehand. In Britain, for example, the Aurors are trained to investigate crimes related to the Dark Arts, and to apprehend or detain dark wizards and witches.

In the United States however, they seem to go up against any criminal posing a significant threat. When working for the Major Investigation Department, using a number of magical tools and devices such as the Real-Time Hex Indicator map and the USA Spell Contraventions map to track down illegal or especially flamboyant use of magic that may pose a threat to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Also, unlike their British counterpart, the American Aurors are divided into several divisions around North America to keep the peace, as opposed to all working within the same one.

Aurors are, essentially, the wizarding world equivalent of police officers and military (as they serve in both roles for muggles).

According to Minerva McGonagall, no Auror had been taken on by the Ministry of Magic for three years prior to 1995, though Nymphadora Tonks stated that she qualified the year before, meaning she was probably one of the last candidates taken on. The head of the British Auror Office, as of 2007, was Harry Potter, but he left to become Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement by 2019.[3]

British Aurors

Minister Eldritch Diggory first established an Auror recruitment programme for Great Britain in the 17th century.

Aurors working for the British Ministry of Magic were sent into war zones in order to provide aid, such was the case with the First World War. Theseus Scamander worked as an Auror and was described as a "powerful" wizard.[4][5] Scamander participated in the wizarding effort in the First World War, afterward he was considered a hero.[6] In 1926, Theseus corresponded with Percival Graves, the Director of Magical Security of MACUSA. He corresponded with Graves regarding the events in New York.[4][5]

First Wizarding War

—"Mad Eye" Moody's track record during the First Wizarding War[src]

Former Aurors Alice Longbottom, Frank Longbottom, and Alastor Moody; all original members of the Order of the Phoenix

Closed Ward

Alice and Frank Longbottom are permanent residents of the Janus Thickey Ward

Some Aurors were also members of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation created by Albus Dumbledore. This organisation was founded in order to fight Lord Voldemort and his supporters. Frank and Alice Longbottom were members of the Order who were tortured into insanity by four of Voldemort's most loyal followers: Bellatrix LestrangeRodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. The attack on them caused permanent damage and they were sent to the Janus Thickey Ward for incurable spell damage at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, where they still remain.

Between the wars

"In fact, I don't think anybody has been taken on in the last three years."
—McGonagall stating that no one had been taken on for three years prior to 1995[src]

It can be assumed that after the First Wizarding War the Auror office went back to usual procedures and practises, as the methods used in war time are most likely different then when in times of peace.

Nymphadora Tonks battling Dark forces as a Ministry Auror

Second Wizarding War

Harry Potter: "Is it just you who's stationed up here, or — ?"
Nymphadora Tonks: "No, Proudfoot, Savage, and Dawlish are here too."
— Discussion of the additional security stationed at Hogwarts[src]

Aurors GreatHall

Open warfare, Aurors guarding Hogwarts against Dark forces

However, the most famous Auror in recent times is Alastor Moody, who agreed to come out of his retirement to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts (although, as his identity was assumed by Bartemius Crouch Junior he never actually taught), and was a long time member of the Order of the Phoenix. He ultimately died in battle on 27 July 1997.[7]. Many of the other Aurors followed Voldemort's regime when he took over the Ministry, due to them being blindly loyal to the Ministry, and Voldemort acting discreetly to prevent potential mutiny. Other Aurors, such as Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks, continued to fight against the Death Eaters, which led to Tonks' death, but after the war ended, Shacklebolt became the new Minister of Magic.

After the Battle of Hogwarts

"Harry and Ron utterly revolutionised the Auror Department in — at the Ministry of Magic. So they — I mean, they are now the consummate — they are experts... 19 years later — I would imagine that Harry is heading up that department, which is not corrupt in any way."
J. K. Rowling regarding the Auror Office post the final batttle[src]

In 1998, after the destruction of Lord Voldemort and the end of the Second Wizarding War, Kingsley Shacklebolt became Minister for Magic and led a massive reform of the Ministry.[8] Harry Potter, at age 17, and Ron Weasley, at age 18, joined the Auror's Office and helped revolutionise the Auror department. The office was reshuffled and corruption was weeded out. Harry and Ron were considered to be the "experts".[8] In 2007, at the young age of 26 or 27, Harry became the Head of the Auror's Office.[9]

American Aurors

Twelve originals

The original twelve Aurors of MACUSA

The first President of MACUSA was Josiah Jackson, a warlike wizard who was voted into post by his fellow representatives because he was considered tough enough to deal with the difficulties of the post-Salem Witch Trials era.[10] President Jackson’s immediate priority was to recruit and train Aurors. The names of the first dozen volunteers to train as Aurors in the US have a special place in United States’ wizarding history.[11] There were so few of them, and the challenges they faced so great, that they knew they might be required to lay down their lives when they took the job. The descendants of these witches and wizards have been given particular respect in the US ever since.[12]

The original twelve were: Wilhelm Fischer, Theodard Fontaine, Gondulphus Graves, Robert Grimsditch, Mary Jauncey, Carlos Lopez, Mungo MacDuff, Cormac O’Brien, Abraham Potter, Berthilde Roche, Helmut Weiss, and Charity Wilkinson.

Of these twelve, only two survived into old age: Charity Wilkinson, who would become MACUSA’s third President, and Theodard Fontaine, whose direct descendant Agilbert is the present day Headmaster of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.[13] Also of note are Gondulphus Graves, whose family remains influential in American wizarding politics, and Abraham Potter, whose distant relationship to the famous Harry Potter would be uncovered by eager genealogists centuries later.[14]

Global Wizarding War

"Grindelwald attacks intensify risking war with No-Majs. "
—Issue of The New York Ghost[src]

Percival Graves was an Auror and in 1926 he was the Director of Magical Security and head of MACUSA's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. At some point prior to 6 December 1926, his identity was assumed by Gellert Grindelwald using Human Transfiguration. It is unknown if he allowed this, got captured, or was murdered during this time.

Fantastic-beasts-tina seraphina

Tina Goldstein hands Newt's case over to Seraphina

Porpentina Goldstein was originally an Auror[15], untill she stood up for Credence Barebone and used magic in front of his adoptive mother Mary Lou Barebone, the leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society, to assault her for what he had done to Credence. Due to No-Majs that needed to be Obliviated and the resulting scandal, Tina was demoted to the position of Federal Wand Permit Officer.[16] In 1926 she also meet Newt Scamander, who had in his possession a case full of illegal magical creatures and brought him before President Seraphina Picquery.

Also during the 1920s American Aurors also had to deal with the threat of Grindelwald and his almost successful attempt at exposing the wizarding community and inciting war with Muggle community. This incident was one of the biggest breaches in the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

European Aurors

During the 1920s and throughout the entirety of the Global wizarding war, as the revolutionary endeavours of Gellert Grindelwald and his supporters became increasingly aggressive and led to a number of much published attacks, European Aurors prepared to fight the threat and worked together with each other to track down Grindelwald. They also cooperated with the International Wizarding Police to accomplish this.

American Auror headquarters are located within the Magical Congress of the United States of America. MACUSA's location during the 1920s was in the Woolworth Building in New York City.

The German wizarding community also had a team of Aurors, possibly at the German Ministry of Magic.[17]

Becoming an Auror

It is very difficult to fulfil the requirements to get into Auror training. Applicants must first have excellent academic credentials before they are accepted into a rigorous training programme. It is also possible that the wizarding governing bodies also looks into the criminal records of the applicants, like the one in Great Britain does, and that those without a clean one will not make it through the cut.

In accordance with British standards, one has to have a minimum of five N.E.W.T.s in challenging subjects, highly recommended are; Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms with top grades of either 'Outstanding' or 'Exceeds Expectations' in the students chosen subjects.

"I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great... Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking."
Nymphadora Tonks regarding Auror training[src]

The job

Ron Weasley: "Well, it'd be cool to be an Auror,"
Harry Potter: "Yeah, it would,"
— Discussion of future careers[src]

Though Auror training is very taxing, and means an additional three years of studying even after graduation from school, they seem to be very well respected in the wizarding community, and the higher members are potential candidates for Minister for Magic. For example, Rufus Scrimgeour was a leader of the Auror Office, but replaced Fudge after the call of his resignation. Another example of a respected Auror (though not Head) that became Minister is Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Known Aurors

British Aurors

Heads of the Auror Office

Person Notes
Gawain Robards

Succeeded Scrimgeour in 1996.
Harry Potter Auror from 1998-2007, promoted to the Head of the Office in 2007, at the young age of 26 or 27.[9]

Person Notes
Venusia Crickerly Became Minister for Magic in 1902
Hesphaestus Gore Became Minister for Magic in 1752
Frank Longbottom
Ronald Weasley Retired, works at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
Neville Longbottom Resigned position to become professor of Herbology at Hogwarts.
Alastor Moody Retired, murdered by Lord Voldemort in the Battle of the Seven Potters on 27 July, 1997
Kingsley Shacklebolt Became Minister for Magic in 1998, following the Battle of Hogwarts.
Theseus Scamander[5] Brother of the famous magizoologist and author Newt Scamander.

American Aurors

Directors of Magical Security

Person Notes
Percival Graves The Director during the early 20th century. Status unknown due to his identity being stolen by Gellert Grindelwald, who impersonated him for some time.

Chief Auror

Person Notes
E. A. Limus Chief during the early 20th century.

Captain of Aurors

Person Notes
M. P. Carneirus Captain during the early 20th century.

Auror Commissioner

Person Notes
M. L. Minus The Commissioner during the early 20th century.

Person Notes
Theodard Fontaine One of the original twelve. He was one of only two who survived to see old age.
Wilhelm Fischer One of the original twelve
Gondulphus Graves
Robert Grimsditch
Mary Jauncey
Carlos Lopez
Mungo MacDuff
Cormac O’Brien
Abraham Potter
Berthilde Roche
Helmut Weiss
Charity Wilkinson One of the original twelve. She was one of only two who survived to see old age. She also became the 3rd President of MACUSA.
Percival Graves A powerful Auror until his promotion to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Director of Magical Security at the Magical Congress of the United States of America, rising to the office sometime prior to the early 20th century.
Porpentina Goldstein An Auror until her dismissal for magically assaulting a No-Maj, Mary Lou Barebone, in front of witnesses because she was beating her son. Reinstated in 1926, after helping to arrest Gellert Grindelwald.

Most likely, however, it is derived from the Latin word for ear, 'auris' and the related adjective, 'aural'. Since aurors are detectives (among other policing and justicial roles), they are those who listen for and receive information. Alternatively, if it is derived from "aurora" the name is possibly a metaphor based on the fact that Aurors are notorious Dark Wizard hunters. Indeed, after the night and the darkness it brings always come the aurora/dawn which always end it and restore light.

Behind the scenes

  • Aurors can easily be comparable to elite Muggle national law enforcement officials, intelligence operatives, or military units such as the MI5, MI6, SAS, SBS, RAF Regiment, etc. Some require excellent academic credentials (but not all), have an exhausting selection process to weed out the weak, undergo extensive advance training (sometimes up to a year or two to be operationally ready in the field), and are employed for the most dangerous missions/criminals. And like many units in real-life, the Auror office is very selective based on character traits. An example would be how the American agency known as the CIA has often taken into account a potential candidate's personal history and moral compass through a series of intense psychological screening processes. Given this, there is likely a Wizarding equivalent of such screening in the process of becoming an Auror.

See also

Notes and references

  2. 2.0 2.1 ARTICLE - Add to Template:PM at Pottermore
  3. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Act One, Scene Five
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Orphans, Aurors & War Vets: we meet the 'Fantastic Beasts' film cast on set (Part 2)" from
  7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 4 (The Seven Potters)
  8. 8.0 8.1 "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript" on The Leaky Cauldron
  9. 9.0 9.1 J.K.Rowling Official Site Wizard of the Month (Archived)
  10. Writing by J.K. Rowling: "The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA)" at Pottermore
  15. Entertainment Weekly - 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them': See 9 Magical Character Posters'
  16. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)

Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Level 2, Ministry of Magic
DMLE clear


Canaletto 12+8

0039 3921770888

Quality and origin glass seal on this item, if you don't like it, please return it.

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Canaletto 12+8 lights'') (64'')


Co-infections and the third trophic level

Correspondence author. E-mail:

The proverb ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ is axiomatic in community ecology and the study of tri-trophic interactions. This is particularly relevant for studies of plant–herbivore–parasitoid interactions. Parasitoid wasps eavesdrop on plant volatiles emitted after plants are attacked by herbivores (De Moraes et al. 1998). This facilitates host finding by parasitoids, attack by parasitoids reduces population size of herbivore hosts (Rosenheim 1998), and the plants and parasitoids each benefit by the interaction (van Loon et al. 2000). One takes for granted the observation that most plant secondary compounds likely evolved as plant defences against natural enemies, but this was formally proposed as a mechanism only 52 years ago (Frankel 1959). Similarly, plant–insect herbivore–parasitoid interactions are key to understanding plant population dynamics and community ecology, although the conceptual framework for this is also relatively new (Karban et al. 1999). A closer look at life in the tangled bank reveals highly complex ecological interactions and evolutionary outcomes among plants, insect herbivores and the third trophic level. Taking just the case of plant–insect–parasitoid interactions, one finds that most plants are attacked by many herbivore species (co-infections), which are in turn attacked by many parasitoid species, which are attacked by hyperparasitoids, and so on. When examined in detail, such interactions can be driven by complex, unimaginable mechanisms—for example, a phage virus toxin encoded in the genomes of bacterial symbionts of aphids renders hosts resistant to parasitoid wasps (Oliver et al. 2009).

Such a complex (and wonderful) ecological and evolutionary milieu might be viewed as an intellectually intractable morass. For example, two herbivorous insect species using a common host plant may compete with or facilitate one another, or may not affect the other’s fitness at all—and—the direction and strength of such interactions are likely to be highly context-dependent. Can we build a robust framework for predicting the direction and strength of plant–herbivore–parasitoid interactions in real ecological communities? Advances in network theory and competition theory are likely to be helpful in understanding how such systems work from an ecological perspective, and potentially how they evolve (Chesson & Kuang 2008; Guimarães et al. 2011). But are there more fundamental traits of plants that can be leveraged to gain insight into the direction and strength of ecological interactions within these complex communities? In this issue of Functional Ecology, Soler et al. (2012) provide fresh insight into how co-infections robustly modulate plant defence signalling, and then tests whether this influences tri-trophic interactions in a natural ecological community.

Widespread signalling cross talk, primarily via the three plant hormones jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA) and ethylene (ET), allows plants to coordinate and fine-tune their defences against the diversity of potential natural enemies. Plants deploy distinct, but often overlapping defence strategies against biotrophic microbes, phloem-feeding insects and leaf-chewing herbivores (Stout et al. 2006). Numerous studies have examined the physiological and molecular genetic basis of plant signalling and cross talk, mostly in model plant species (Arabidopsis thaliana, tomato and tobacco). Herbivores and many fungi typically induce the JA pathway and many bacterial and some fungal pathogens the SA pathway, and ET seems to be modulator of cross talk between the two pathways. While extremely insightful, these studies have led to some typological thinking—that herbivores induce the JA pathway and that bacteria induce the SA pathway. This hazard is apparent when one considers that the causative agent of bacteria speck disease (the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas syringae) in plant leaves will induce either the JA pathway or the SA depending on the presence or absence of single avirulence or virulence genes (Cui et al. 2005). This indicates that it may well be difficult to make predictions about how particular natural enemies induce plant defences, and whether this scales up the trophic cascade to predators. Nonetheless, there are widespread, repeatable and ecologically relevant cross-talk phenotypes present across host plant taxa. For example, the SA pathway and JA pathway are largely mutually antagonistic in plants. How such antagonism affects the their trophic level, as well as interactions among co-infecting natural enemies is relatively unknown, but clearly likely to be extremely important ecologically and evolutionarily (Thaler 1999).

Only a handful of elegant studies (e.g. (Rodriguez-Saona et al. 2005)) have examined how plant defence hormone signalling is affected by attack from multiple herbivore species, and how this translates into effects on the herbivores and their parasitoids in the third trophic level. Soler et al. (2012) provide an important step forward by studying co-infection of Brassica oleracea plants by a leaf-chewing herbivore and a phloem-feeding herbivore. The authors cast the effects of each herbivore in terms of how their influences on plant hormone defence signalling affect two specialized parasitoid species. The principle hypotheses tested are that previous or simultaneous infection of plants with one species, from one feeding guild, influences susceptibility (performance) towards species from other feeding guilds, and that this difference in performance translates up to predators in the next trophic level. The main ecological idea is that there is fine-tuning, trade-offs and constraints faced by plants when attacked by very different natural enemies. Clever experiments allowed ecological dissection of the strength and direction of ecological interactions between each player, across two feeding guilds and to the third trophic level, through the channel of plant defence signalling. Two ecologically distinct mustard-specialist herbivore species, the caterpillar Pieris brassicae and nymphs and adults of the aphid Brevicoryne brassicae were forced to either singly, doubly or sequentially attacked a single host individual. Plant defence signalling metabolic and gene expression readouts, as well as herbivore performance and parasitoids performance data, were collected and analysed in an integrative framework. Results showed, interestingly, a susceptibility phenotype in both directions during sequential and simultaneous co-infections—which the authors interpreted as ecological facilitation. Aphids were stronger inducers of susceptibility to caterpillars than caterpillars were to aphids. This was not likely to be mediated by SA–JA antagonism, because SA levels remained relatively constant throughout the experiment. An unknown mechanism is repressing JA-levels, which were significantly lower in aphid-infested plants, and likely to be causing the increase in P. brassicae performance. The nature of the elicitor or effector causing JA suppression is unknown. The performance of both parasitoids increased during co-infections, but perhaps the most intriguing finding was that although caterpillars only affected aphid development early in their life cycle, this subtle effect translated into a positive effect on aphid parasitoid performance, which was subtle at the herbivore level. This suggests that effects from herbivore co-infection on the third trophic level may be cryptic more generally.

As Soler et al. (2012) rightly point out, this is the first step in dissecting how co-infections influence ecological interactions in this model ecological system. Because the host plant is closely related to the plant genetic model A. thaliana, there is promise that functional genetic studies on plant defence mechanisms mediating the phenotypes can be identified. This manuscript also provides an excellent context for re-examining assumptions and typological paradigms in this field. For example, while competition is viewed as the most common type of ecological interaction between herbivores, this study shows that for interguild interactions, co-infections are likely to lead to facilitation. The authors also show that although co-infections may directly benefit individuals from each herbivore guild, they are a boon for parasitoids. Host plants are probably getting the last laugh after all, because bigger parasitoids likely translate into higher parasitoid fitness and with it, plant fitness. Perhaps the enemy of my enemy is a plant’s friend, but what about the enemy of its enemy’s enemy?


Histological evaluation of direct pulp capping with a self-etching adhesive and calcium hydroxide on human pulp tissue

Prof. Tianjia Liu, D.D.S Endodontic Department, West China College of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China (Tel.: +86 28 8550 2208; e-mail: anninannie@163.com).

Aim  To evaluate human pulp tissue response following direct pulp capping with a self-etching adhesive: Clearfil SE BOND (SB).

Methodology  Forty-five sound teeth from 20 subjects were used. Forty-one teeth had their pulp mechanically exposed at the base of a Class 1 cavity preparation and were divided into two groups: group 1, teeth were capped with SB (n = 21), and group 2, with calcium hydroxide cement (CH) (n = 20). Four teeth were maintained intact as an untreated control group. After 7, 30 and 90 days, respectively, 15 teeth were extracted and processed for light microscopic examination. Pulp healing and bacterial microleakage were assessed by haematoxylin and eosin, Masson trichrome and Brown and Brenn stain techniques. The data were analysed statistically by using the Mann–Whitney U test.

Results  After the 7-day observation period, the inflammatory reaction in the SB group was slight and significantly less severe than that of the CH group (< 0.05). After the 30- and 90-day observation periods, the inflammatory reaction was slight in both groups, but specimens with dentine bridge formation in the SB group were significantly less common than those in the CH group (< 0.05).

Conclusions  Clearfil SB had good biocompatibility with human pulp tissue, but its ability to induce reparative dentine was significantly lower than that of calcium hydroxide.


Published on January 26th, 2013 In category Education | Maths

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How to solve problems on ratio, proportion and variation

ratio proportions variationsRatio of the two terms is denoted by a:b and is measured by a/b. The a in the numerator is called as antecedent and the denominator b is called as consequent.

The ratio basically means how many multiples or parts is a of b.

Proportion:  The numbers are in proportion when two ratios of the two terms are equal to ratio of other two terms, if a:b=c:d then a,b,c and d are in proportions

Variations:  The 2 quantities are said to be in direct or inverse proportion (variation) when a change in one quantity directly effects the other one. There can be direct effect that is known as direct proportion ( Like increase in “a” causes increase in “b”) and Inverse proportion when ( increase in “a” causes decrease in b).

Have understood what is meant by Ratio, Proportion and Variations: we will consider some important points and rules related to these subjects

Ratios:  Some important points are as follows:

  • Both the antecedent and consequent should be in the same unit of measure
    • If the units are given in different measures then we need to combine units by compounding. e.g. ( m:n) and (a:b) then compounded ratio is (mxa)/(nxb)
  • Ratio would remain unchanged when a constant number is multiplied or divided by antecedent or consequent

Some imp. Rules for Ratios

Rules for Ratio

Rules of Invertendo, Atlterendo, Componendo, Dividendo and Compendo and Dividendo in Ratios

Invertendo, Compnendo, Dividendo, Alternendo Ratios

Important Rules for Proportions:

1. If a:b=c:d then ad = bc

2. If in case we have a:b=b:c then this is a case of continued proportions and we can have b2 = ac, thus we can say b is mean of “a” and “c” and can be called as mean proportional

The concept of mean proportional and continued proportions can be useful finding one of the missing ratios in a set of 4 ratios for e.g.

Continued Proportions

Important rules on Variations are as follows:

 Rules for variations and proportions

  If you liked my contribution, please donate, a little that will be generated will all be donated for noble cause. [paypal-donation]


Recursive Competitive Equilibrium - RCE

DEFINITION of 'Recursive Competitive Equilibrium - RCE'

An equilibrium concept associated with dynamic programs. Recursive competitive equilibrium (RCE) is characterized by time-invariant equilibrium decision rules that specify actions as a function of a limited number of state variables, which summarize the effects of past decisions and current information. Economic agents with knowledge of these state variables assess the current state of the economy. As their actions determine in part the values of the state variables in the next sequential time period, this structure is termed 'recursive'.

BREAKING DOWN 'Recursive Competitive Equilibrium - RCE'

The RCE concept is used in exploring various economic issues, including monetary and fiscal policy and business-cycle fluctuations. RCE decision rules include a number of functions, such as pricing and value.


Explore the Influencing Factors of Socialized Media Characteristics on the Willingness to Pay

China Business and Market - - CHINA BUSINESS MARKET - LI Meng-yin1 and WANG Cheng-hui2

（1.Renmin University of China，Beijing100872，China；2.Beijing International Studies University，Beijing100024，China）

Abstract：Socialized media is increasingly replacing the traditional media，and attracting more recognition and favor from advertising enterprises and customers. However，different choices of advertising enterprises in terms of socialized media marketing channels demonstrate the differences in terms of different socialized media characteristics and marketing effects. The different socialized media characteristics will have different impacts on the usefulness and usability of users’perception，which will in turn have impact on users’willingness to pay. Such factors as information acquisition，user truthfulness and compatibility will have positive effects on perception usability；and communication and interaction，involvement and participation，and privacy and confidentiality will have no significant impact on this. To better promote the practice of socialized media marketing，the advertising enterprises should choose socialized media that can gather more people with same interest and requirement，and provide users with enough，accurate and effective shopping information，and have more functions to improve users’willingness to pay；and the socialized media should recognize the role of activity and the length of online time of period，try to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of information，improve the convenience of information acquisition，and add the function of shopping page and transforming to the shopping page to improve the effect of marketing.

Key words：socialized media；channel characteristic；willingness to pay；perception usefulness；perception usability

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War n. globalisation by other means

First the US military bombed Iraq's hospitals, bridges and waterworks. Now US corporations are harvesting profits from "reconstructing" those installations. Blood was not just shed for oil, but also for control over all Iraq's vital services.

July 1, 2003
8 min read

The most vital of these is water. The company at the forefront of this lucrative reconstruction is the politically well-connected Bechtel Group. Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state George Schultz is the corporation’s previous president and a current board member and senior counsellor of Bechtel.

In the Herald Tribune in April, US commentator Bob Herbert wrote the following: “Last week Bechtel was able to demonstrate exactly what wars are good for. The Bush administration gave it the first big Iraqi reconstruction contract – a prized $680m deal over 18 months that puts Bechtel in the driver’s seat for the long-term reconstruction of the country, which could cost $100 billion or more. Bechtel essentially was given a licence to make money. And that licence was granted in a closed-door process that was restricted to a handful of politically connected US corporations.”

War has extended corporate rule in a way that the WTO could never do. It is this promotion of corporate interests that seems to be the main goal of Washington’s neo-conservatives.

Bechtel’s history of profiteering

Bechtel became the world’s largest construction company thanks to its role in the US’s construction boom following WWII. Today the corporation is responsible for over 19,000 projects in 140 countries, and has operations on all continents save Antarctica. Bechtel is involved in over 200 water and waste-water treatment plants around the world, in large part through its subsidiaries and joint ventures such as International Water (IW). The latter is a partnership between Bechtel, the Italian firm Edison and United Utilities in the UK.

The corporation’s executives have thirsted for control over the ancient land of Iraq for over 20 years. It was in 1983 that Reagan’s “special Middle East envoy” Donald Rumsfeld met with Saddam Hussein to discuss a Bechtel proposal for a massive pipeline project. Saddam, who had a habit of preferring French, German, and Russian firms, eventually rejected the US plans. Two decades later Rumsfeld has finally ‘taken care of business” for Bechtel.

Bechtel’s good fortune in securing the largest contract for Iraq’s reconstruction highlights the lack of transparency in the US and exemplifies how corporate rule is established. When Washington handed out the contracts for rebuilding Iraq, US laws governing agency procurement were suspended. The standard competitive bidding process was ignored, and the US Agency for International Development (USaid) hand-picked a few companies for the bidding shortlist. Of these, only two actually did bid – with Bechtel emerging victorious.

Cradle of civilisation and conflict

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers provide a water lifeline in the arid Middle East. Encompassing between them the alluvial plain that was the cradle of the ancient Assyrian, Babylonian and Sumerian civilisations, these rivers are also a source of regional conflict. Turkey’s massive dam-building projects have upset the riparian states of Syria and Iraq. With over half the water of both rivers generated inside its borders, the dams put Turkey in a position to regulate river flow. Syria and Iraq worry that Turkish needs for irrigation and electricity generation will determine how much water flows to them, and they are sceptical about Turkey’s commitment to maintaining an acceptable minimum flow. (Unesco recently announced that a body of scientific mediators would be formed to handle such international water disputes.)

The introduction into the situation of Bechtel, a company with a history of aggravating water conflict, is a recipe for disaster. Its contract for rebuilding Iraq covers, but is not limited to, municipal water and sewage systems, major irrigation structures and the dredging, repair and upgrading of the Umm Qasr seaport. In the parched Middle East, with an international water dispute already seething, an attempt by a multinational water giant to grab precious water resources could spark serious wars.

People are already questioning the process that USaid and the US Department of Defense used in awarding these contracts. The US General Accounting Office has launched an investigation, and a group of senators has introduced a bill requiring the agencies involved to disclose more details. As examples from around the world show, such secretive collusion between huge corporations and government bureaucrats is not an isolated phenomenon.

Corporate rule is not an alternative to Saddam-style dictatorship; it is just a different type of dictatorship – the dictatorship of corporations, which have hijacked state power and used military might to grab markets. The new tyranny has been imposed in the name of “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. There seems, here, to be some fundamental confusion about the meaning of “freedom”.

When much of Iraq’s 7,000-year-old Mesopotamian heritage was destroyed in the presence of the US military, Rumsfeld’s naive and irresponsible observation was: “Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.” On this logic, the terrorists who crashed planes into the World Trade Centre were exercising a legitimate freedom to “commit crimes and do bad things”. Did the US forces stand by as mute spectators then?

There is similar confusion about the meaning of “(re)construction”. What happened in Iraq was “de-struction”; it is being referred to as “reconstruction”. Innocent people were killed. Thousands of years of a civilisation’s history were erased. Yet Jay Garner – the retired US general who was initially chosen to oversee reconstruction and humanitarian assistance in the country – talked about “giving birth to a new system in Iraq”. Bombs do not “give birth” to society. They annihilate life. New societies are not “born” by destroying the historical and cultural legacy of ancient civilisations.

Maybe Washington does not perceive these acts as violations. US society was, after all, built on the genocide of native Americans. Annihilation of ‘the other’ seems to be taken as “natural” by those controlling power in the world’s lone superpower. Maybe the perception of the deliberate destruction of a civilisation and thousands of innocent lives as a “birthing” process is an expression of the Western patriarchy’s “illusion of creation”. This illusion identifies capital and machines – including war machines – as sources of “creation”, and nature and human societies – especially non-Western ones – as either dead, inert and passive, or dangerous and cannibalistic. This worldview creates the “white man’s burden” of a “duty” to “liberate” nature and non-Western societies (even with violence) – thus ensuring the “birth” of freedom.

Whatever the deeper roots of using the concept of “reconstruction” to justify the establishment of an economy of looting and violence in Iraq, the profiteering from war by corporations like Bechtel confirms that war is globalisation by other means.

For people worldwide the challenge is to converge the energies of the anti-globalisation movement, the peace movement and movements for real democracy. Our task is to reclaim the real meaning of “freedom”, rescuing the concept from the degradations it has been subjected to by the doublespeak of “free trade” and “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. The “freedom” being sought through ‘free’-trade treaties and the WTO and the “freedom” resulting from the Iraq war is the freedom of corporations to profit. This freedom is a licence to loot. And corporate looting and corporate freedom are destroying democracy and freedom for people and societies.

The new freedom to be sought by people worldwide is freedom from corporate dictatorship facilitated and enabled by militarism and war. This is as important for the citizens of Iraq and other countries invaded by global corporations under the protection of military or “free”-trade treaties as it is for the citizens of the US.

There is nothing new about using war for corporate profiteering. Bechtel’s behaviour in WWII helped inspire Ralph Casey of the US General Accounting Office to state: “At no time in the history of US business, whether in wartime or in peacetime, have so many men made so much money with so little risk; and all at the expense of the taxpayers of this generation [and] of generations to come.”

The Bechtel contract and the Iraq war that facilitated it have highlighted the lack of democracy, transparency and accountability in the way economic and political decisions are made by a US administration that has become indistinguishable from US corporations. When government has become the instrument of corporate interest democracy has ceased to exist. Instead of governance being “of the people, by the people, for the people”, it is “of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations”.

For democracy to thrive “regime change” is urgently needed – in the US, in Iraq and in every country where corporate dictatorship is becoming entrenched.Vandana Shiva is head of New Delhi’s Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology

Working class theatre: Save Our Steel takes the stage

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A very social economist

Art the Arms Fair: making art not war

Beware the automated landlord

Black Journalism Fund – Open Editorial Meeting
3-5pm Saturday 23rd September at The World Transformed in Brighton

Immigration detention: How the government is breaking its own rules

A better way to regenerate a community

Two years of broken promises: how the UK has failed refugees

West Papua’s silent genocide

Peer-to-peer production and the partner state

Imagining a future free of oppression

Put public purpose at the heart of government

Don’t let the world’s biggest arms fair turn 20

The new municipalism is part of a proud radical history

Fearless Cities: the new urban movements

A musical fightback against school arts cuts

Neoliberalism: the break-up tour

Tory Glastonbury? Money can’t buy you cultural relevance
Adam Peggs on why the left has more fun

Essay: After neoliberalism, what next?

Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India

A Death Retold in Truth and Rumour


FAQ Page

FAQ Page 2017-02-01T20:49:26+00:00
What type of staffing do you have? 2017-01-04T13:48:41+00:00

The staff of The Sparrow’s Nest endeavors to create a loving home environment for all our young families. Members of our household staff are present 24/7.  A case manager and family counselor manage the practical side of life. We have a Board of Directors and a small office staff. In addition, The Sparrow’s Nest is heavily supported by volunteers. Volunteers run everything from mailings, fundraisers, writing policies and procedures, contributing to the newsletter and blog, running social media etc. Volunteers also work directly with our residents as mentors, tutors, bible study leaders, labor coaches, and play group friends. TLC Volunteers (Teaching and Learning Coaches) are required to log 36 hours or 6 months of regular volunteer hours which also includes 8-10 hours of training.

Why does The Sparrow’s Nest have to be a faith-based organization? 2017-06-23T21:06:50+00:00

Is The Sparrow’s Nest a pro-life ministry? 2017-06-23T21:04:49+00:00

What do the mothers do while staying at The Sparrow’s Nest? 2017-06-23T20:52:29+00:00

How long can a teen parent stay at The Sparrow’s Nest? What happens to them after they leave? 2017-06-23T21:14:02+00:00

How many young woman and babies are you be able to house at The Sparrow’s Nest? 2017-06-23T20:51:13+00:00

Is The Sparrow’s Nest a 501(c)3 charity? 2017-01-04T13:48:31+00:00

How are you funded? 2017-01-04T12:41:05+00:00

We are primarily funded through individuals. We are also supported at various levels by our partner churches. In addition we have been gifted many service group and private foundation grant monies. We host 3 main fundraisers a year including The Princess Dance, Gala and The Sparrow Scramble golf tournament. Many local groups also host third party fundraisers on our behalf.

Your address is listed as 6209 Mid Rivers Mall Drive, but when I drive by that address I see a shopping center, not a home. What’s going on? 2017-01-04T13:06:49+00:00

When I searched online for The Sparrow’s Nest Maternity Home another address appeared on Standing Rock Court. Again, what’s going on? 2017-01-04T13:06:55+00:00

Why aren’t there many pictures of The Sparrow’s Nest Maternity Home on your website? 2017-06-23T21:12:22+00:00

We have some room in our home and have thought about sharing that space with a young woman and her baby. Does this fit with the mission of The Sparrow’s Nest? 2017-01-04T13:07:09+00:00


With 13 million views last viral video with the hashtag #proudPolynesian is the one with the Haka during the wedding reception of young Aaliyah and Benjamin Armstrong shared by the facebook page “I’m Proud to Be Tongan”.

Many know or associate the Haka to the All Blacks rugby union team but these athletes have only made famous a tradition.

According to Maori mythology Haka comes from the son of the god Ra. Ra had two wives, Hine Raumati-that is the essence of summer and Hine-Takurua that embodies the winter. Love of Ra and Hine Raumati-born son called Taneore. On sunny days, the high summer, you can see on the horizon the light shake, dance. The legend has it that the flicker called in the Maori language “wiriwiri” is just Taneore dancing for her mother-Hine Raumati. That glint of light is now represented by the vibration of the hands of the dancers.

The first use of the haka is female. Legend has it that it was danced for the first time by the women of the tribal chief Tinirau. Tinirau was seeking revenge for the killing of her whale and sent a group of women to find the manager, an old priest “tohunga” called Kae. Although no one had ever met, it was known to possess a set of teeth with prominent teeth Straddle. You arrive at the village of Kae, women improvised a dance (just a haka) to bring a smile to the people and discover the identity of the religious that was found, imprisoned and killed once reported the presence of Tinirau.

Originally from the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand the Haka is superficially associated with war but it actually is a dance used not only to intimidate but also to welcome important guests, celebrate achievements, expressing joy and pain in total freedom of movement . Involving almost all parts of the body the Haka dance becomes a symphony in which the hands, feet and voice act as instruments.

As described by Alan Armstrong in his book Maori Games and Haka

“ The haka is a composition played by many instruments. Hands, feet, legs, body, voice, tongue, and eyes all play their part in blending together to convey in their fullness the challenge, welcome, exaltation, defiance or contempt of the words. It is disciplined, yet emotional. More than any other aspect of Maori culture, this complex dance is an expression of passion, vigor and identity of the breed. It is, at its best, a message of the soul expressed through the words and attitudes.”

Mainly performed by men with women, if present, only as an aid in the background, the Haka is called by different names depending on the styles.

Peruperu usually it performed before a battle to invoke the god of war and Involves the use of weapons

Ngeri usually it used to motivated the warriors and it was performed without weapons

Manawa Wera were associated with funerals anche without weapons

Ka Mate is the most famous one and it is a ceremonial haka, the celebration of the life over the death

As for the most popular video of the moment it seems it is popular Haka in central Hawkes Bay and it was written in early 1900 by the chief Waimarama Puhara for his son. This Haka called Tika Tonu is taught to young people as encouragement during the difficult transition from boy to man.

Ki aro

Kia whakaronga, kia mau!

Hi !

Ringaringa e torōna

kei waho hoki mai!

Kss Kss

Tika tonu!

U – e!

Tika tonu!

U… e!

Tika tonu atu ki a koe, e tama

Hiki nei koe aku whakaaro, pakia!

He hiki aha to hiki?

He hiki roa to hiki?

I a ha hā!

Pay attention

Listen up, take (your) stance!

Arms outstretched,

out and back!

Kss Kss

What is right is always right!

In – deed!

What is right is always right!

Ah… yes!

Be true to yourself, (my) son!

What is this problem you are carrying?

How long have you been carrying it for?

(Have you got that? Right, let’s go on.)

E tama, te uaua ana

E tama, te mārō

Roa ina hoki ra

Te tohe o te uaua na

E tāu nei.

Āna! Āna! Āna! Aue… Hī!

(So) son, (although it may be) difficult (for you )

(and) son, (although it seems to be) unyielding

(no matter how) long (you) reflect on it

the answer to the problem

is here inside you.

Indeed! Indeed! Indeed! Yes, indeed!

Knowing all this it shouldn’t be surprising that the bride was moved to tears and the groom couldn’t help but join the dance, it must have been such an intense moment and such a great gift coming from their friends and relatives. Probably for many of you it will still be a string of shouts and jumps, but our hopes is to helped you understand it a little bit more.

Personally I was moved to see the video the first time and now I find it even more intense (if possible).

(I apology with all our Maori descendent reader for every possible mistake but we would appreciate every correction! We’re here to learn and to inform!)


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Joshua Griffit view artist profile

Graduate of the Fine Arts Academy, Florence, Italy. Has exhibited at museums and galleries around the world including Art Basel, the International Biennial of Graphic Art in Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, Austria and Norway and has participated in several group and one man shows in museums and galleries around the world including the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem and the Open Teffen museum.

Mr. Griffit paints with acrylics on canvas and plywood and his style is an eclectic collection, moving between different degrees of Realism and Abstract.

I'm a collector of images from any source possible: history of art, advertisements, movies, childhood memories, self-conscious nostalgia, second hand longing etc.

The painting is created as a collage: expropriating natural environment and connecting the image to something more, ranging from images and associations, and a calligraphic stream of consciousness. The painting looks like a stage: some lit, some focused, some in darkness and partly implicit.
Painting at its best is similar to poetry: sometimes lean and precise, sometimes hearty and vague. I have no preferences.  I want to be surprised with myself every time and curiosity drives me.