Class B CDL Employment Opportunities

Because of these major differences, the training time involved to master the CDL-B vehicle skills is usually shorter than that for CDL-A. In other words, you can get on the road faster with a CDL-A, but you won't be able to drive such a wide range of vehicles as you would with a B.

Class-B CDL Vehicles

Class-B CDL Jobs

Here are just a few examples of jobs you can get with a Class-B CDL. As a member, you'll have insider information about all the benefits and challenges of each of these job types:

In addition to the CDL license, TruckingJobFinder explains the additional endorsements you will need to add on to your license in order to haul the materials - or people - you want!

Trucking Employment Categories =>


Republicans File Pro-Marriage Equality SCOTUS Brief

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Cue the angry, hashtag filled tweets and the circular firing squad. The GOP civil war continues unabated as dozens of prominent Republicans have signed on to a brief supporting marriage equality and urging SCOTUS to strike down Prop 8. From The New York Times: So, who are these prominent Republicans? …


Beethoven's 3rd Symphony

Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Op. 55), also known as the Eroica (Italian for "heroic"), is a musical work marking the full arrival of the composer's "middle-period," a series of unprecedented large scale works of emotional depth and structural rigor.

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Kim Stanley Robinson

Kim Stanley Robinson is a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards. He is the author of more than 20 books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy and the critically acclaimed FORTY SIGNS OF RAIN, THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT and 2312.

Kim Stanley Robinson

Books by Kim Stanley Robinson

by Kim Stanley Robinson - Fiction, Science Fiction

by Kim Stanley Robinson - Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Thorn, a shaman, lives to pass down his wisdom and his stories --- to teach those who would follow in his footsteps. Heather is the healer who, in many ways, holds the clan together. Elga is an outsider and the bringer of change. And Loon is the next shaman who is determined to find his own path. But in a world so treacherous, that journey is never simple --- and where it may lead is never certain.


On page C-15 in appendix "C" of the Plan of Arrangement in section 6.1 YMI Matters, you will find the following statement...

"The Shareholders meeting shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements under Sections 133(1) and 155(1) of the CBCA in connection with the holding of YMI's annual meeting of shareholders, and the placing of YMI's annual financial statements (which are available on SEDAR at, before its shareholders in respect of the financial year ended December 31, 2011."

It seems to me that based on this statement, legally, the AGM is deemed to have been held as long as the RECAP is finallized.  the question in my mind is, what if the RECAP falls apart in court?

Does this statement still hold, and does that mean the AGM is deemed to have been held.

My second question is, what about voting in the BOD?


Bootstrap Themes - Display page

Working on the sub page of the Bootstrap theme website. Just for fun really!

Note: The design on the Macbook screen isn't mine. It's just a placeholder example for themes sold through the site. Everything else is mine.


Common Toolbox Based On Necrotrophy In A Fungal Lineage

One of the most exciting aspects of the genomic revolution in biology is understanding the genetic mechanisms behind an organisms natural history.  Within the fungi it has been fascinating to begin to tease apart how seemingly similar life histories can be explained by disparate genomic landscapes, or opposingly, how completely different modes of survival can be explained by a common set of genes.  There has been a steady increase in research over the last few years documenting a large array of tools in the genomic toolbox.

A recently published paper in the journal PLOS One, authored by Andrew et al., entitled “Evidence for a Common Toolbox Based on Necrotrophy in a Fungal Lineage Spanning Necrotrophs, Biotrophs, Endophytes, Host Generalists and Specialists” comes from the Kohn Lab at the University of Toronto, which has long studied the fungal family Sclerotiniaceae.  The Sclerotiniaceae is a group of Ascomycetes known for being typically necrotic pathogens which are host generalists or specialists.

This is a great group of fungi to address questions like: why is one species necrotic while another is just biotrophic? …and why are some fungi specialists, while others generally infect plants without regard to taxonomy?  To address these questions the authors sampled across 52 strains of fungi in the Sclerotiniaceae representing 30 taxa covering the spectrum of host specificity/generality and trophic types.  They chose a suite of genes responsible for both general cell housekeeping (controls, etc.) and associated with pathogenicity and constructed phylogenies of these genes to observe relationships between these 52 strains.  Evidence of positive selection acting on these genes, as well as site-specific selection, was also assessed.  Lastly, the authors assessed the pathogenicity of these strains by initiating infection studies on Arabidopsis thaliana plants.

The authors found that there are at least two origins of biotrophy from a necrotrophic ancestor in the Sclerotiniaceae and that there is evidence of selection on all the genes associated with pathogenicity tested in this study.  The housekeeping genes in this study were used to control for the phylogenetic analysis and showed no evidence of positive selection as opposed to the pathogenicity genes.  Furthermore, likelihood analyses showed no statistical differences in the genes of strains from different trophic lifestyles, as well as host generalists and specialists.

Within this study on the Sclerotiniaceae, it appears that there is a common tool box of genes shared by the fungal strains studied here.  The level of expression of genes differed in this study, which could explain trophic and host specificity differences exhibited by these fungi.  It will be interesting when we have more genome sequences from this family to see how genome structure and rearrangements have contributed to the expression and diversity of genes associated with necrotrophy in this family of fungi.


Rongjia Tao

Smooth running. Could very strong magnetic fields, like the ones produced by this magnet in the current study, improve blood flow?

Magnets Keep Blood Flowing

Two physicists searching for a novel way to prevent heart attacks and strokes have discovered that strong magnetic fields can dramatically reduce the thickness, or viscosity, of blood flowing through a tube. The pair speculate that if this effect holds for blood in veins and arteries, scientists might someday develop a magnetic alternative to medicines designed to keep blood flowing in humans.

Strokes and heart attacks, the leading causes of death in the industrialized world, are often linked to high blood viscosity. Thicker blood damages blood vessels, and in repairing the damage, the vessels build up fatty deposits, which make strokes and heart attacks more likely. Currently, the only way to reduce blood viscosity is with drugs like aspirin, which inhibit the tendency of blood to clot. But aspirin has side effects: in high doses, it can lead to stomach bleeding, ulcers, and even tinnitus, or ringing of the ears.

Physicist Rongjia Tao of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and medical physicist Ke Huang of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, wondered whether magnetic fields offered a potentially safer solution. After all, high-strength magnets of 1 to 3 tesla are already used in hospitals during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and have been shown to have no harmful effects on the body. Tao and Huang let blood flow inside a tool for measuring blood viscosity, which itself was inside an electromagnet producing a field of about 1.3 tesla. They arranged the components so the blood flowed in the same direction as the magnetic field lines.

The researchers discovered that just 1 minute inside the field was enough to reduce the blood viscosity by 20% to 30%. After exposure, the viscosity went back up to its original value after about 2 hours, but they could repeat the process to take it down again. The results are described in a forthcoming paper in Physical Review E.

The magnetic effect, the researchers say, all comes down to hemoglobin, the iron-based protein inside red blood cells. In the same way that iron filings align themselves along the field lines around a bar magnet, so the red blood cells align themselves along the straight field lines of Tao and Huang’s electromagnet. This reduces viscosity in several ways. For one, the cells become streamlined with the direction of flow. The alignment also encourages the cells to stick together, forming clumps of various sizes. Although one might think clumps would increase viscosity, they actually have a lower total surface area compared with single cells, and this cuts down on friction. What's more, the mixture of clump sizes allows more cells to pack into the same volume, with small cells fitting around the big clumps and allowing more room for movement.

One catch with the technique is that the blood flow must be in the same direction as the magnetic field. The effect wouldn’t be the same when an entire body is in an MRI machine, for example, because blood vessels travel in all different directions. But Tao doesn’t think this would be a problem. “There’s no need to apply the magnetic field to the whole body,” he explains. “In fact, we just need to apply the magnetic field locally—for example, apply the magnetic field parallel to one artery." By putting one artery in the field for a few minutes, he says, blood circulation would transmit the effect to the whole body. Tao hopes that, with refinement, the technique will allow patients who are not hospital-bound to check into a clinic only twice a day for treatment, to keep their blood viscosity down permanently.

Mehmet Toner, a medical engineer at Harvard Medical School in Boston, calls the results “very intriguing,” and thinks they could be important if they are repeated inside the body. The researchers need to do “a lot more work to prove that the magnetic field can reduce blood viscosity under physiological conditions, and do so in a manner useful for clinical applications,” he says.

Tao and Huang are currently designing a magnet into which patients could insert an arm or a leg easily. They are also developing technology to measure blood viscosity at several locations inside an artery. “Afterwards, we will work with some doctors in our medical school to have clinical trials,” Tao says.

Posted in Physics, Health


Cuba Population 2015

The Republic of Cuba is located in the Caribbean Sea and it's made up of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud and many archipelagos. Cuba ranks 106th in the world in terms of area. With an estimated 2015 population of 11.2 million, Cuba is the 77th most populous country in the world.

Cuba's population has remained relatively flat at 11.2 million, nearly the same figure confirmed in the 2013 census. Cuba has a population density of 102 people per square kilometer (264/square mile), which ranks 106th in the world, perfectly in line with its size.

The largest city and capital, Havana, has a population of 2.1 million in the city proper, which makes it the third largest metro area in the Caribbean. Havana receives more than 1.2 million international tourists every year.

Cuba Population History

Cuba Demographics

Cuba's population is very multiethnic and intermarriage between many groups is widespread. Accurate figures on Cuba's demographics are hard to come by. The University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies found that 62% of the population is black while the official 2002 census found 65% were white. An autosomal study in 2014, however, found Cuba's genetic ancestry is 72% European, 20% African and 8% native American.

Immigration over centuries has played a large role in Cuba's population. From the 18th through 20th centuries, there were many waves of Canarian, Andalusian, Galician, Catalan, and other Spanish immigrants. Later, many immigrants from Italy, Great Britain, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, and France moved to the island.

Figures from 2002, which use a Cuban population of 11,177,743, give us a clearer picture of age splits and other key demographic factors. From those numbers, it was shown that 19.1% of the population were aged between 0 and 14. In addition, 70.3% of Cubans were between 15 and 64 while 10.6% of the Cuba population in 2002 were aged over 65.

Cuba's birth rate has fallen tremendously over the last few decades, and it's now one of the lowest in the Western Hemisphere at 9.88 births/1,000 population. This is mostly attributed to unrestricted access to abortion and the widespread use of contraceptives estimated at 79% among the female population.

Cuba Population Projections

There has been a clear slowing down of the population increases within Cuba and it's believed that Cuba will soon begin posting negative growth.

Cuba Population Clock
What is the population of Cuba (as of [[date]])? [[getCurrentPopulation()]]
Births Per Day 1,513
Deaths Per Day 1,277
Net Migrations Per Day -301
Net Change Per Day -65
Population Change Since January 1st [[getPopChangeThisYear()]]

  • Population estimated based on interpolation of World Population Prospects data.

Cuba Population Indicators
Indicator Value World Ranking
Median (Average) Age 41.22 years 26th
Crude Birth Rate 9.706 births/thousand 176th
Crude Death Rate 8.194 deaths/thousand 75th
Crude Net Migration Rate -1.934 people/thousand 156th
Life Expectancy (Both Sexes) 80.04 years 37th
Life Expectancy (Male) 78.11 years 32nd
Life Expectancy (Female) 82.01 years 38th
Total Fertility Rate 1.582 children/woman 163rd
Net Reproduction Rate 0.76 surviving daughters/woman 163rd
Sex Ratio At Birth 1.057 males per female 57th
Infant Mortality Rate 4.78 deaths/1,000 live births 151st
Under Five Mortality 6.008 deaths/thousand 152nd
Mean Age at Childbearing 26.647 years 182nd

Population Data via United Nations WPP (2015 Revision)

Cuba Population Growth

Data Sources


:: Article

Impossible Cities

By Darran Anderson.

Five hundred years after they were written, Marco Polo’s accounts of his time at the summer residence of Kublai Khan found their way indirectly to the attention of Samuel Taylor Coleridge through their inclusion in the book Purchas’s Pilgrimage. Having read a sequence and “in consequence of a slight indisposition”, the poet administered himself with enough laudanum (a potent cocktail of opium and alcohol) to fall into a sleep in which he dreamt of exploring Khan’s palace Xanadu. Coleridge awoke with an entire epic poem formed in his mind, a description of “a stately pleasure-dome” surrounded by gardens, fountains, walls and towers. He would title it Kubla Khan Or, a Vision in a Dream. Jotting down the lines whilst it was fresh in his memory, Coleridge received a visit from a unwelcome guest referred to only as “a person on business from Purlock” who kept him for over an hour. When he returned to the poem, it had left his mind and would never return. Even in it’s fleeting, incomplete state, Kubla Khan is viewed as one of the masterpieces of visionary poetry. The scenes it describes are otherworldly and barely possible in any material sense; the contrasting climates of fire and ice, the mix of the sacred and profane from different eras, the images of “caverns measureless to man” and “a lifeless ocean”. Again we are in the deceptive shifting hinterland not merely between fact and fiction but dream, reality, myth and memory.

This sense of not conforming to what is actually possible has it’s charms and has informed the ambitions of many would-be city-builders. The Russian Constructivist Vladimir Tatlin designed his Monument to the Third International for the new Soviet Republic, a bewildering and beautiful helix structure with chambers that would rotate at varying speeds, radio transmitters and projectors to beam messages onto passing clouds. There was a slight problem though that had been overlooked; Tatlin’s Tower was effectively unbuildable. It was thus casually dismissed by leading Bolsheviks, particularly Trotsky who wrote in Literature and Revolution, “the props and the piles which are to support the glass cylinder and the pyramid… are so cumbersome and heavy that they look like unremoved scaffolding. One cannot think what they are for. They say: they are there to support the rotating cylinder in which the meetings will take place. But one answers: Meetings are not necessarily held in a cylinder and the cylinder does not necessarily have to rotate.” The fact it was not, or could not be, built has not lessened the fascination Tatlin’s Tower scale models and blueprints still evoke. This remains a curious ghost of a building and a haunting glimpse of what might have been before Stalin and the monumental betrayal that was to follow.

At the apparent opposite end of the political spectrum, the remarkable Futurist architect and writer Antonio Sant’Elia drew blueprints for his Città Nuova (“New City”) and wrote a manifesto in which he announced, “We must invent and rebuild the Futurist city like an immense and tumultuous shipyard, agile, mobile and dynamic in every detail… like a gigantic machine… it must soar up on the brink of a tumultuous abyss: the street will no longer lie like a doormat at ground level, but will plunge many stories down into the earth.” Sadly, Sant’Elia was killed at the age of 28 on the Isonzo Front during the First World War, before any of his buildings could be built, if indeed they could.

The inventor of the safety razor, business magnate and socialist, King Camp Gillette had similarly ambitious plans, writing The Human Drift in which he urged a single vast city to be built on top of the Niagra Falls (powered naturally by hydro-electricity) to house the entire population of the United States of America. It would measure 135 miles by 45 and consist of cylindrical skyscrapers made from porcelain. Pre-empting Fritz Lang’s Expressionist dystopia by decades, it’s name would be Metropolis.

We can identify the surreal and the imaginative in such characters but also varying degrees of megalomania. In the most extreme such case, there’s Adolf Hitler, failed painter and draftsman, in the depths of his bunker fantasising over scale models of New Linz, even as the Red Army was at the gates of an obliterated Berlin. Considerably down the scale from the Nazi leader but nevertheless notable for their egomania, both simmering and rampant, writers have a rich history in inventing cities and playing God over them. “To add provinces to Being, to envision cities and spaces of hallucinatory reality, is a heroic adventure,” claimed Jorge Luis Borges and proved so by creating many throughout his writing career. In one of his famous fragments ‘The Immortal,’ we encounter a city that symbolises the nightmare that is the idea of infinity, “rich in bastions and amphitheatres and temples… a chaos of sordid galleries,” a labyrinth of “dead-end corridors, high unattainable windows, portentous doors which led to a cell or pit, incredible inverted stairways whose steps and balustrades hung downwards.” The narrator seems to reel nauseous with vertigo at the sight of this maddening, endless conurbation like a fever dream of M.C. Escher “so horrible that its mere existence and perdurance, though in the midst of a secret desert, contaminates the past and the future and in some way jeopardizes the stars.” In Borges, there is a profound sense of wonder at contemplating the absolutes and paradoxes of the universe but also the terrible flip side. A note of caution to be careful of what we wish for.

Other writers have approached impossible or improbable cities from different angles. Sometimes it hinges on one particular philosophical proposition. In J.G. Ballard’s Chronopolis, we have a city with no clocks. In AristophanesThe Birds, an apparently perfect idealised city in the sky called Cloud Cuckoo-town (which is where the related saying comes from). In Gabriel García Márquez’ magic realist classic One Hundred Years of Solitude, we witness what might happen if a city was largely isolated from the world with ‘the city of mirrors’ Macondo.

There are writers who have the rare patience, talent and scope to incorporate the infinitesimal details and levels of a working city in their books: China Miéville’s New Crobuzon or Terry Pratchett’s Ankh-Morpork for example. Equally, sometimes it’s one physical characteristic we latch onto as readers that’s enough to identify the setting, as with Gotham City, an atmospheric noir pastiche of New York or more precisely “Manhattan below 14th Street at 11 minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November.” Sometimes the strength of the proposition is such that it dominates the story and becomes more interesting than any of the human characters; Isaac Asimov’s planetwide kilometre-deep city Trantor or Jules Verne’s underground city of New Aberfoyle beneath the Trossachs, lit by electric suns and stars. No matter how memorable Titus Groan, Steerpike, Mr Flay or Swelter are amongst others, the central character in Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast is the castle-complex itself (Peake seems to have thought so in naming the series). Crumbling but teeming with life in it’s reeking kitchens, darkened attics, grand halls, turrets and rooftops, it is one of the most ambitious creations in 20th century literature.

In a few notable cases, writers have created cities that not only could not be built but could not even be plotted or envisaged in the traditional sense. The central setting of Palimpest by Catherynne M. Valente is (in her own words) “a sexually-transmitted city,” a place that can only be visited in dreams after having had sex with someone who has been there previously. Upon returning the visitor is marked with a partial map of the city and can pass on the experience to their next sexual partner. If the gateway to Palimpest is through coupling, the path to James Thomson’s The City of Dreadful Night is manifestly through solitude. Thomson envisaged a necropolis built from solidified abject misery, on which the sun has never shone and where streetlamps continuously burn, illuminating “the soundless solitudes immense / Of ranged mansions dark and still as tombs.” It’s an intriguing though spirit-sapping epic that takes the Cult of Melancholia, fashionable in the 17th century, to it’s furthest extreme. This is a city of despair with a godless cathedral and a river of suicides (recalling that other city of sorts, with it’s concentric circle layout, Dante’s Inferno). You have to wonder about the mind that conjured up such a creation; a psychiatric disorder mapped and constructed in stone.

Perhaps the most abiding imaginary cities are those built for the purpose of satirising the actual civilisation of the time, whether in an attempt to improve it or to herald its deterioration or demise. As with so many literary inventions, the arch-satirist Jonathan Swift was a pioneer of the form. In the third book of Gulliver’s Travels (often excised from the work due to it’s radical sentiments), the eponymous hero discovers the city of Laputa which, using magnetic forces, levitates in the sky. Ruled by a dictatorial monarch, the city (representing the London government) can be transported over rebellious regions (in particular Lindalino representing Dublin) to prevent the sun or rain reaching their crops. If disobedience or simple independence continues, projectiles can be dropped down on top of the unruly insubordinates. It was a singularly inventive way of describing and protesting against what Swift saw as the English subjugation of Ireland.

Reflecting the cynicism of our age (healthy or otherwise), the dystopia is the most prevalent form of imaginary city where utopias once were. The writer as prophet traditionally warns us about how regimented our lives are becoming and how pervasive the forces of oppression are through surveillance technology, mass communication, manipulation of psychology, social conditioning and so forth. In Yevgeny Zamyatin’s ground-breaking We, the vast conurbation One-State is built entirely of glass, a city where the police can see everything and privacy has been abolished. In George Orwell’s 1984, the residents of Airstrip One have telescreens which can potentially see everything they do, even (or especially) in the illusory seclusion of their own homes. Both ideas sprang from the utopian reformist plans of Jeremy Bentham and his Pantopticon, a prison in which every cell can be viewed through a circular design and the manipulation of angles and optics. One of Orwell’s great advances in dystopian thinking was to demonstrate how grubby and inefficient even how old the future city would be in everything but control and repression. This can be seen in other cities created with the same explosive or degenerative combination of technological advance and human avarice: William Gibson’s The Sprawl and Chiba City or the Mega Cities of Judge Dredd in the 2000AD comics for example. Or we may see it all around us. Dystopias, sadly, are not just restricted to the future or fiction.

Another way of creating an imaginary city is to destroy an existing one; to warn us that if we continue on the path we are heading, humanity is doomed. We could describe this as ‘the city as wasteland’. Legends and historical accounts of lost cities have appeared in every major civilisation: Iram of the Pillars submerged by the desert, Atlantis (and its real-life counterparts Helike and later the pirate capital Port Royal) swallowed by the sea, Sodom and Gomorrah consumed by fire and brimstone, Herculaneum and Pompeii likewise by pyroclastic flow and volcanic ash. We can view the “dead city” of Opar in Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ Tarzan series as one such reminder that the most powerful civilisations collapse, this “mighty city, its great walls, its lofty spires, its turrets, minarets, and domes showing red and yellow in the sunlight. Tarzan was yet too far away to note the marks of ruin,” that it was decaying and overgrown or that there were sinister eyes watching. This is akin to post-apocalyptic literature, where a straggle of humanity cling to existence following catastrophe. We have the compelling image of the empty city (in Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend) or cities fearfully avoided altogether (Neil Shute’s On the Beach, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road). In some intriguing cases, urban centres have not been entirely destroyed but survived as shells of their former selves (an echo of the Post-war German genre Trümmerliteratur – “rubble literature”), mirroring the bastardised wreckage of language and culture we experience in Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker and Denis Jonson’s Fiskadoro. Sometimes catastrophe is not even required. With enough misanthropy, we can see the post-apocalyptic city as having arrived here already as Eliot did in his “Unreal City” passage (channelled from Baudelaire) in The Wasteland. One day it will happen to all civilisations, existence is finite after all, no matter how majestic or entrenched, as Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ prophetically warned.

A lasting consequence of these imagined cities is their effect on the way we view real-life cities. We have had left-wing utopias that could never exist dreamt up alongside conservative evocations of lost cities that have never really existed (Yeats’ version of Byzantium for one), two aspects Calvino identified as cities of “desire and memory”. Today, we largely deal with the cities we actually possess (or possess us) but the great fictional cities have not disappeared. Rather they are no longer restricted to books or film but seep out into reality. We have modernist and post-modern architecture (and especially sub-genres such as blobism and retrofuturism, which seem to have their precedents more in science fiction than classical design. The more adventurous speculative planners envisage walking cities, underwater settlements and space colonies that seem outlandish but may one day be achievable. In the present, we can experience ever-expanding virtual worlds in which we can build and interact with entire cities and populations from a God’s-eye view, with even the metaverse of the internet as arguably a new form of urban sprawl.

Perhaps the only way of really seeing a city is to consider the multitude of perspectives it’s population brings to it as well as movement, character and life. The modern metropolis, neatly planned though it may well be, is as chaotic as William S. Burroughs’ Interzone (itself deriving from Apollinaire’s multi-faceted depiction of Paris, ‘Zone’). Can we every really know a city then given that our viewpoint is so personal and a city so vast, fragmentary and protean? Add to this the constantly evolving nature of where we live, as Calvino pointed out, “sometimes different cities follow one another on the same site and under the same name, born and dying without knowing one another, without communication among themselves.” Psychogeography from Walter Benjamin to Iain Sinclair demonstrates the many layers that constitute a place beyond geography or mere stone and glass. In recording and editing our own view of a city, however real it is, are we producing a fictionalised version, warped by our preferences and prejudices, what we choose to include and leave out? Are Joyce’s Dublin, Dickens’ London or Döblin’s Berlin not just fiction too alongside the more obvious and fantastical examples of Bulgakov’s Moscow, Kafka’s Prague and Schulz’ Drohobych? Do we not, by the way we perceive and the influence we have on them, create the cities we live in? Imaginary cities need not necessarily be invented then. We already inhabit them.

Darran Anderson is an Irish writer currently living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His critical study of the works of Jack Kerouac will be published by Reaktion Books in 2013. Photo courtesy of Nic McGuffog.

First published in 3:AM Magazine: Monday, July 9th, 2012.


Surf. Balance.Wellness.

Bec Woods has spent half of her years on this planet dedicated to the art of mastering surfboard riding. As a professional athlete, now studying Osteopathy, she knows some things about surfing, health, fitness, injury and balance.

The Perfect Wave were fortunate to have Bec Woods, ASP World Tour pro surfer, on our recent trip to Solomon Islands. Bec talks about visiting the islands, exploring remote location and how her overall travel experience was with The Perfect Wave.

Latest from @BECWOODS


Member Charities

We work with 13 UK's leading aid charities to provide and deliver aid to ensure successful appeals. Click on their logos to find out more.
Together we're stronger

How we work with member charities

How much members receive

Member agencies can use up to 7% of funds they receive from us in the UK to support their response to the disaster. All of the remaining funds must be spent on the emergency response itself and helping survivors rebuild their lives.

How do we ensure quality

They are committed to delivering humanitarian aid in accordance with international standards. We recognise however that improvement is always possible and we challange ourselves to continually develop our ways of working using the DEC Accountability Framework (DECAF).

How do we chose our new members

Our members are experts in humanitarian aid who can deliver the effective disaster responses which donors expect and those affected by disasters need. DEC will have a maximum membership of 15 so that it remains manageable and cost effective. Learn more about DEC's membership criteria.


Public Release:  Complete 'family tree' of all British birds gives clues about which species might be endangered next

Imperial College London

A new complete evolutionary 'family tree' showing how all British bird species are related to each other may provide clues about which ones are at risk of population decline, according to new research published today (11 June) in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Comparing the new family tree with existing lists of endangered bird species, author Dr Gavin Thomas from the NERC Centre for Population Biology at Imperial College London found that British birds currently suffering population decline were clustered close together on the same branches of the family tree.

Because of this the family tree, or 'phylogeny', could be used to predict which species are at risk of decline in the future. Bird species which are not experiencing decline at the moment, but which sit close to species that are declining on the family tree, may be at risk next. This is because closely related species on the family tree share physical traits. Some of these traits such as low reproductive rates or specific habitat requirements may render them less able to cope with climate change or depletion of their habitat and make them exceptionally vulnerable to decline.

Declining population numbers is one of the main criteria used by scientists to assess which species are of high conservation concern. Another important way of measuring conservation concerns is assessing whether the geographical area inhabited by a species is decreasing - a condition known as 'range contraction'. This study showed no link between closeness on the family tree and incidence of range contraction, so scientists will need to use additional information to create a full picture of which birds have conservation needs in the UK.

Dr Thomas explains, however, that the family tree could be used to provide vital clues to which species need to be protected from population decline: "This study threw up some interesting results," he said. "Numbers of the common blackbird are currently not perceived as threatened at all, however it has several close relatives, including the song thrush, that are experiencing severe levels of population decline. This could mean that populations of blackbirds in the UK are at risk of declining in the future."

Dr Thomas suggests that the family tree can be an early warning for conservationists, because if species close to those on the phylogeny that are already endangered share traits with the endangered species, they too may be at risk of decline in the future.

Dr Thomas concludes: "Pulling together the family tree was an important task as we now have a clearer insight than ever before into the evolutionary relationships of birds in Britain. The data clearly shows a link between closely related birds and chances of population decline which could be useful for conservationists, although they will always need to take other factors, such as range contraction, into account."

The family tree, or 'phylogeny', covers over 93% of British birds. Examples of birds which may be at risk of population decline in the future, based on their close relationship to other endangered birds include:

  • The greenfinch - not currently endangered but closely related to the linnet and bullfinch which are currently experiencing severe levels of decline

  • The ptarmigan - not currently endangered but closely related to the black grouse and grey partridge which are currently experiencing severe levels of decline

The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.


7th Arrondissement

7th Arrondissement Travel Guide

Ever since 1887, when then-unknown Cézanne offered founder Gustave Sennelier tips on his “Couleurs du Quai Voltaire” formulations, this house has been known for creating colors and products to artists’ specifications.

The legendary gallery has been selling affordably priced art for more than half a century, and its walls are lined with some of the most famous examples. For under $50, you can buy a Miró reproduction; lithographs by Braque and others cost $155.

Located on a street that’s considered prime territory for hunting down kitten heels, stilettos, and wedges, Louboutin offers leopard-print pumps that are prey truly worth stalking.

What was once a vast, vaulted boat hangar underneath the Right Bank pillars of the city’s most ornate bridge, the Pont Alexandre III is now a popular nightclub that hosts album launches, fashion week after-parties, and other glittery happenings during the week. Starting at 10 p.m.


Two in Two Days

Denver SQL

Managing Data in a FileTable with T-SQL

From the last post, I had my author drafts Filetable. I can see this in the Object Explorer.

I can use the same “select data” feature from Object Explorer on a Filetable, just like any other table.

I get the results, and as you see, I have a few rows in the table.

These are actually the files I see in the share.

Inserting Data

One of the advantages of Filetable is that you can use Explorer (and any tools that use the same Explorer APIs) to move data in and out of a table. However that doesn’t preclude you from using T-SQL.

I can use a script to insert data into the table, just as I might with Filestream.

INSERT INTO AuthorDrafts(name, file_stream) Values ( 'circle.jpg' , 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go

As you can see, this command works fine:

If I then look at the share, I see my file:

Retrieving Data

As shown above, I can use SELECT queries to return data from a Filetable in T-SQL. However, I have a share as well, and I can cut, copy, paste, and open files from the share just as I would any other file in the file system.

If I open the file in Paint, I see my image:

Working with files in a file table is easy, and while many people will use Explorer functions, you can use T-SQL as well to insert, or retrieve the data as you choose.

Adding Data to Filestream with T-SQL

I’ve written on how to enable Filestream and how to add a filegroup, but I haven’t touched the Filestream impact on your tables. This post will look at the table side of Filestream and how you get your binary data into the database.

Let’s assume you have a filestream enabled database. If you look at my File and Filegroups post, you’ll see how to do this. Given that, we now need to create a table and add data to it.

Creating a Table with Filestream

Filestream doesn’t have a separate entity like Filetables. Instead, the Filestream attribute is added to a column in a table, much like the identity property.

I’ll create a simple table that holds Filestream data.

  , name VARCHAR(20)
  , jpg varbinary(MAX) FILESTREAM

Here we are creating a basic table that has an ID and name, which are essentially meta data for our filestream data. You could have any amount of information in this table, but the Filestream data is stored in the jpg field, where we have a varbinary(max) datatype, and the FILESTREAM attribute on the table.

I could have a more complex schema, such as the Production.Document table in Adventureworks2008 (shown below)

CREATE TABLE [Production].[Document](
    [DocumentNode] [hierarchyid] NOT NULL,
    [DocumentLevel]  AS ([DocumentNode].[GetLevel]()),
    [Title] [nvarchar](50) NOT NULL,
    [Owner] [int] NOT NULL,
    [FolderFlag] [bit] NOT NULL,
    [FileName] [nvarchar](400) NOT NULL,
    [FileExtension] [nvarchar](8) NOT NULL,
    [Revision] [nchar](5) NOT NULL,
    [ChangeNumber] [int] NOT NULL,
    [Status] [tinyint] NOT NULL,
    [DocumentSummary] [nvarchar](max) NULL,
    [Document] [varbinary](max) FILESTREAM  NULL,
    [rowguid] [uniqueidentifier] ROWGUIDCOL  NOT NULL,
    [ModifiedDate] [datetime] NOT NULL

Adding Data

To add data to this table, we have a variety of choices using T-SQL. It’s possible to use an application, and pass in parameters that are streamed to the table, but for the simplicity of this example, let’s show two ways in T-SQL.

First, let’s look at a direct insert. I can CAST my data to varbinary, and then insert it into the table. I have a small image that looks like this:

It’s a simple circle, very small. The actual data in this image is this:

0xFFD8FFE000104A46494600010101006000600000FFE100684578696600004D4 D002A000000080004011A0005000000010000003E011B00050000000100000046 01280003000000010002000001310002000000120000004E00000000000000600 000000100000060000000015061696E742E4E45542076332E352E313000FFDB00 43000201010201010202020202020202030503030303030604040305070607070 706070708090B0908080A0807070A0D0A0A0B0C0C0C0C07090E0F0D0C0E0B0C0C 0CFFDB004301020202030303060303060C0807080C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0 C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0C 0C0C0C0C0CFFC0001108000A000D03012200021101031101FFC4001F000001050 1010101010100000000000000000102030405060708090A0BFFC400B510000201 0303020403050504040000017D010203000411051221314106135161072271143 28191A1082342B1C11552D1F02433627282090A161718191A25262728292A3435 363738393A434445464748494A535455565758595A636465666768696A7374757 67778797A838485868788898A92939495969798999AA2A3A4A5A6A7A8A9AAB2B3 B4B5B6B7B8B9BAC2C3C4C5C6C7C8C9CAD2D3D4D5D6D7D8D9DAE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E 8E9EAF1F2F3F4F5F6F7F8F9FAFFC4001F01000301010101010101010100000000 00000102030405060708090A0BFFC400B51100020102040403040705040400010 277000102031104052131061241510761711322328108144291A1B1C109233352 F0156272D10A162434E125F11718191A262728292A35363738393A43444546474 8494A535455565758595A636465666768696A737475767778797A828384858687 88898A92939495969798999AA2A3A4A5A6A7A8A9AAB2B3B4B5B6B7B8B9BAC2C3C 4C5C6C7C8C9CAD2D3D4D5D6D7D8D9DAE2E3E4E5E6E7E8E9EAF2F3F4F5F6F7F8F9 FAFFDA000C03010002110311003F00E97FE0E87FF82CA7ED35FB04FED85E09F03 FC2BD6A5F87BE1097408B5C4D523D2ADAF1BC41746795248CBDC4722F970848C1 8940399373E43478FD75FF00827CFC68F177ED17FB0FFC2AF1D78F3461A078C7C 59E19B2D4F57B110B42B14F244199846DF346AFC384392A1C024E335E95E2EF87 BE1FF880968BAF687A3EB6B612F9F6C2FECA3B916F27F7D3783B5BDC60D6C5007 FFFD9

I can insert this data directly into my table:

INSERT INTO FSDemo(ID, name, jpg)
Values (NEWID()
      , 'circle.jpg'
      , 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

The other method I can show is a direct insert, streaming from the OPENROWSET command. Here I’ll pic an image on my system and insert it.

INSERT INTO FSDemo(ID, name, jpg)
Values (NEWID()
      , 'uma.jpg'
      , (SELECT * FROM OPENROWSET(BULK N'C:\Users\Steve\Documents\SampleData\Uma.jpg', SINGLE_BLOB) AS CategoryImage)

Now if I query the table

  id, name, jpg
 from FSDemo;

I see my data.

When I look at this in Management Studio, I see the actual hex data, which isn’t easy to understand. I need another way to extract this data and render it. However I can show one more quick demo here. Let me take an XML document and insert it:

declare @list XML
select @list = '
  <Groceries Store=''Safeway''>
  <Drinks Store=''Tipsys''>
    <Drink>Fat Tire</Drink>
    <Drink>Klinker Brick Cabernet</Drink>
    <Item>electric fence ribbon</Item>
INSERT INTO FSDemo(ID, name, jpg)
Values (NEWID()
      , 'sample.xml'
      , CAST( @list AS VARBINARY(MAX))

Once this is done, the data is in binary, as I see from the selection from the table.

However if I cast this result back, I get the data as expected.

Hopefully this helps you to understand how to insert data into a Filestream table. In another post, I’ll look at how you can extract this data for rendering.

Filestream and Filetable in SQL Server

This talk is an update of my Unstructured Data in SQL Server talk that looks at the Filestream and Filetable features of SQL Server.

This session begins by presenting a case why we will manage more binary (unstructured data) in the future. The growth of this data is amazing. From there we delve into the basics of the three main types of data:

  • structured
  • semi-structured
  • unstructured

The session examines the basics of Filestream and how you get enable this feature, administer it from a DBA perspective, and move data in and out of Filestream columns.

Filetable is introduced along with demos on how to enable this data, as well as a brief search demo to extract information from documents.

Level: 200

Length: 60-75 minutes

Demo Code:

Related Blogs:

Presentation Schedule

This session has been given at these places.

Apr 9, 2013 – SQL Intersection Spring 2013

T-SQL Tuesday #40– File and Filegroups

tsqltuesdayIt’s the second Tuesday of the month and time for T-SQL Tuesday again. This is a monthly blog party, where the participants write on a particular theme. This month Jen McCown, of Midnight DBA fame, invites us to talk about files and filegroups in SQL Server.

If you’re like to participate, write a post and drop a comment (or pingback) on Jen’s blog. Watch the #tsql2sday hashtag on twitter for next month’s invitation.

Filestream and Filegroups

I have a couple talks that deal with Filestream related topics, so I decided on a quick introductory lesson on how this works.

Filestream was built into the AdventureWorks 2008 sample database. Requiring administrators to turn on Filestream caused some confusion and complaints, despite the fact that it’s easy to do.

What does Filestream have to do with filegroups? In a database that is enabled for Filestream data, you need to add a filegroup specifically for the Filestream data. This is actually a folder on your file system, which you can access through T-SQL, or through the Win32 API. If you are using SQL Server 2012 or later, you can also access this data with a Filetable, which is built on Filestream.

Let’s create a database, and add a filegroup for Filestream. We start with the “New Database” dialog in SSMS.

With the normal defaults, we see a data file (FS_Test) and a log file (FS_test_log). For Filestream data, we need a new place to store it. Let’s add a file:

Once I add the file, I mark it as storing Filestream data. The other options are rows (data files) or log files. However this presents a problem. When I scroll right, I see that there is no filegroup for Filestream data. I can’t put this in an existing filegroup.

Let’s add one of those. Here’s the default filegroup dialog.

I can click add, and put in a filestream filegroup. The name doesn’t matter, it’s just for administrative purposes. Once I do that, I can go back to the files dialog, and if I select the dropdown, my new filegroup appears.

Now I need a location. Outside of SQL Server, I created a folder in my data directory. This can be anywhere, but I did it in the default location. It’s called FilestreamDataTest.

I then select this in the files dialog, using the ellipsis to the right of the Path column.

I see my folder in the file picker and choose it.

Once I’ve selected it, I don’t click OK. I click “Script” and get the script below:

( NAME = N'FS_test', FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\FS_test.mdf' , SIZE = 4096KB , MAXSIZE = UNLIMITED, FILEGROWTH = 1024KB ),
( NAME = N'fs_test_fsdata', FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\FilestreamDataTest\fs_test_fsdata' , MAXSIZE = UNLIMITED)
( NAME = N'FS_test_log', FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\FS_test_log.ldf' , SIZE = 1024KB , MAXSIZE = 2048GB , FILEGROWTH = 10%)

I can run this, and once I do, if I go into the folder that contains my Filestream file, I see this:

As I create tables that hold Filestream data, including FileTable data, I’ll see entries in here for each column (or Filetable) that holds this data. There is a folder that holds logging information for this data, which I do not manage.

Hopefully this is a quick, short piece that helps you understand Filegroups and Filestream.

Create a Filestream Filegroup for Filetables – SQL Server 2012

Once you’ve enabled filestream, the next step is to add a filegroup to your database to hold the filestream data. This is pretty easy to do, and I’ll show you the SSMS and code versions.

If you want to know more about these Filestream containers, you can read BOL. Let’s create a simple database:

-- create a new database
create database UnstructuredData

This is a simple database with my instance defaults in place. It has a single mdf, a single ldf, and the default Primary filegroup. Let’s not add a new filegroup:

-- add a filestream FG
ALTER DATABASE [UnstructuredData]

Here I am adding the filegroup (empty) and specifying this as a filestream container. You cannot mix Filestream data and non-Filestream data in the same filegroup in SQL Server 2012.

To add a file, we can use the ALTER DATABASE command:

-- Add a file to the Filestream FG
ALTER DATABASE [UnstructuredData]
  ADD FILE ( NAME = N'UnstructuredFS',
             FILENAME = N'c:\fs\UnstructuredFS' )

Here I am adding a file, which is actually a folder in this case. According to the documentation, the path up to the last folder (c:\fs in this case) must exist, but the last folder (UnstructuredFS) must not.

You could do all of this in one statement, as shown here:

CREATE DATABASE [UnstructuredData]
( NAME = N'UnstructuredData', FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\UnstructuredData.mdf' , SIZE = 3136KB , MAXSIZE = UNLIMITED, FILEGROWTH = 1024KB ),
( NAME = N'UnstructuredFS', FILENAME = N'c:\fs\UnstructuredFS' , MAXSIZE = UNLIMITED)
( NAME = N'UnstructuredData_log', FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\UnstructuredData_log.ldf' , SIZE = 784KB , MAXSIZE = 2048GB , FILEGROWTH = 10%)

This gets you a space for holding your Filestream data. In 2012, you can now have more than one file for Filestream data, so you can separate out your filegroup across different physical locations if you have a need to do so for performance or scalability.

In the next post, I’ll build a FileTable and store some documents in it.

Unstructured Data in SQL Server

This covers SQL Server 2008, R2, and 2012. The basic Agenda:

  • What is unstructured data
  • Filestream
  • FileTable

There are demos that look at how Filestream works and how FileTable can be used in SQL Server 2012.

Level: 200

Length: 60 Minutes

Demo code:

Slides: UnstructuredData.ppt

Related Posts:

You can view my speaking schedule here:

Enabling Filestream in SQL Server 2012

Filestream is a cool feature, albeit one that’s cumbersome to use in SQL Server 2008 and R2. However the FileTable feature in SQL Server 2012 builds on Filestream and you must enable this feature for FileTable to work.

There is a good document in BOL about this. It basically has you doing a few different things. The first step is to enable the filestream access from outside SQL Server using the SQL Server Configuration Manager. When you start the manager, right click the database service and select properties.

The database engine has to allow for the access to the file system, so this allows that integration. Typically a Windows administrator is required to dot his.

Once that is complete, you will see the account properties for the service. What we want to do is change to the FILESTREAM tab, shown on the bottom row to the right.

On this tab, we can enable Filestream only for SQL Server, for I/O access as well, and specify a share. For Filetable we need to enable both levels of access and create a share name. I chose “SQLFS” for my share name.

Once this is done, you need to switch to Management Studio and then right clicking the instance and selecting properties.

This will bring up a series of selections. If you choose the “Advanced” item on the left, you will get a list of properties for the instance. Near the top, there is the FILESTREAM section. Below I have dropped down the choices. By default, this is disabled, and for FILESTREAM you can select either of the other options, but FileTable needs the full access.

Once this is done, you need to restart the instance to enable the Filestream for the SQL Server. This doesn’t set up FILESTREAM in any of your databases; this merely enables it for the instance. You need to still create the FILESTREAM filegroups in any database that will use FILESTREAM data.


Kurukh language, a member of the North Dravidian subfamily of Dravidian languages. In the early 21st century, Kurukh was spoken by some 1.8 75 million people of , predominantly in the Oraon tribes of the Chota Nāgpur Nagpur plateau of east-central India. It Kurukh is also spoken in parts of Bangladesh. Lacking a written tradition, Kurukh is documented only since the European colonization of India, and in many areas it is being displaced by the Hindi language.


Healing Without Medicine: From Pioneers to Modern Practice

Healing Without Medicine: From Pioneers to Modern Practice

5.0 3
by Albert Amao PhD

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As a man thinketh, so is he--thus is the biblical King Solomon often quoted by proponents of New Thought, one of the most influential native religious movements in America. Albert Amao provides an engaging and serious history of this and related movements from the eighteenth century to the present. His discussion ranges from Phineas P. Quimby, the father of New…  See more details below

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"All healing is self-induced. The potential is built into all living things by our Creator. The key is to learn about the process and achieve our potential. Albert Amao's book will help explain this process to the world, helping everyone to read, understand and achieve. As Ernest Holmes wrote, 'What if Jesus was the only normal person who ever lived?'"

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Read an Excerpt

Healing Without Medicine

From Pioneers to Modern Practice How Millions have Been Healed by the Power of the Mind Alone

By Albert Amao

Theosophical Publishing House

Copyright © 2014 Albert Amao
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8356-0921-0

Franz Anton Mesmer

The Father of Mesmerism

The German philosopher and physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) is an important forerunner of the mental healing movement, and his ideas about healing without conventional medicine strongly influenced practitioners on the American continent. Mesmer was a well-educated man who held doctoral degrees in divinity, philosophy, and medicine. He was graduated from the University of Vienna, one of the leading universities in the world at that time. In addition, he showed interest in other areas of science, such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry. He also displayed musical talent, playing glass harmonica, violoncello, and piano. It is even said that Mesmer was a benefactor of the then thirteen-year-old composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He reportedly helped Mozart when he was having problems raising enough money for the performance of his first one-act opera. Mesmer provided Mozart with the necessary funds, and Mozart's first concert was performed at Mesmer's house.

The modern concept of mental healing in the occidental world started with Mesmer. He was the one who coined the term animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism. Mesmer's pivotal idea was the existence of a magnetic fluid or ethereal medium in the universe that can be used for therapeutic purposes. The word animal in the phrase "animal magnetism" does not have anything to do with the animal kingdom; Mesmer chose the word for its Latin root anima, meaning "breath" or "life force." Mesmer wanted to identify a force that emanates from the bodies of living beings, such as humans and animals. In inventing this term, he wanted to distinguish it from magnetism as displayed in the mineral and other inanimate realms.

According to his biographer Stefan Zweig, Mesmer became interested in healing with steel magnets in 1774, when a wealthy foreigner and his wife visited Vienna. The lady was very sick, and her husband asked a Jesuit priest named Maximilian Hell (1720–1792) to treat her with magnets. Hell, who was also a court astrologer, was convinced that there was a magnetic force in the universe connecting all human beings; he also believed that magnetized steel possessed special curative powers. (Today in America there are people who still use magnets as healing tools.) Hell, who was a close friend of Mesmer, informed him about the foreigners' request. Mesmer asked his friend to keep him informed about the results.

Hell later communicated to Mesmer that the sick lady was completely healed with the magnets, and he encouraged Mesmer to use magnetized steel in his medical practice. Mesmer, always eager to try new experiments, asked Hell to give him similar magnets. Subsequently, Mesmer applied the magnets to his patients and, surprisingly, started curing ailments such as sore throat, headaches, and stomach pains. He was astonished at his own success.

Mesmer started developing different techniques of treatment with magnetized steel. He asked his patients to drink magnetized water, and he attached magnets to various parts of their bodies. In addition, Mesmer invented the baquet to use in his treatment sessions. The baquet was a huge oak tub filled with magnetized water; iron filings protruded from the wooden top. The patients gathered around the baquet, forming a circle while holding their hands. Mesmer, elaborately dressed, used a wand to point at patients or touch them or stroke them. As a result, people reported experiencing streams of a mysterious fluid running through their bodies, and they were often relieved of their maladies.

Mesmer posited the existence of what he called magnetic energy or magnetism, a universal invisible energy coming from the stars that permeates living beings. Illness resulted from a disruption of the flow of this universal energy through the body. In this sense, Mesmer was very close to the metaphysical principle of a life force that infuses and animates the whole universe. This concept can be traced back to the Renaissance occultist, mystic, and physician Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, who is best known as Paracelsus (1493–1541). He disseminated the theory that astrological influences play an important role on human health through a subtle, invisible fluid.

Mesmer was also acquainted with the work of a Catholic priest named Johann Gassner, who performed what he considered to be exorcisms; Mesmer reportedly attended several of these. But Mesmer did not believe Gassner's hypothesis that patients were possessed by demons. Instead, he was convinced that they had emotional disturbances and that the metal crucifix, made of steel and held in Gassner's hand during treatment, magnetized the patients and consequently cured them.

Using these basic ideas, Mesmer experimented with different techniques to generate his cures, such as doing passes and laying his hands on the ailing parts of the patients' bodies. His extraordinary success with this kind of treatment led him to believe he had discovered the long-sought panacea or universal remedy. In any event, his unconventional procedures would heal many conditions where conventional medicine of the time had failed.

Mesmer's fame as a healer grew both in his country and abroad; many people came from distant parts of Europe to be treated by him. Soon many physicians started imitating Mesmer's treatments with magnets and hand passes, also achieving great success in restoring many patients' health. It could be argued that he succeeded at least in part because of collective suggestion, which created a kind of placebo effect. This effect was reinforced by the fact that Mesmer was a physician with professional academic credentials, which was a powerful reason for people to believe in his healing abilities. It was also reinforced by the fact that many people had already been healed by his methods, which inspired trust.

Mesmer's professional life as a healer is well-known, but his association with esoteric schools is unknown to the general public. In 1766, Mesmer received his medical degree with a thesis entitled The Influence of the Planets on the Human Body. A decade later, in 1776, he had an encounter with the Count of Saint Germain, who is regarded as the patron of modern esoteric and ceremonial magic. The Count of Saint Germain, also known as Master Rakoczy (or Master R, for short) in occult circles, may have initiated Mesmer in the occult sciences. In any event, Mesmer is said to have had several occult connections:

Dr. Mesmer was not only a Mason, but was also an initiated member of two powerful occult Fraternities, the Fratres Lucis and the Brotherhood of Luxor. The latter was the Egyptian branch of the Brotherhood of Lookshoor in Beluchistan, one of the oldest and most powerful of the Eastern Fraternities. Under the order of the "Great Brotherhood" ... the Council of Luxor selected Dr. Mesmer to act as their eighteenth century pioneer, later appointing Cagliostro as a helper, with the Count de St. Germain to supervise the development of events.

It is interesting to note that 1776, the year in which Mesmer met Saint Germain, was also the year when he changed his healing paradigm: he abandoned the use of steel magnets and started to work using the idea that the human organism is analogous to a magnet and that the universal energy that flows through this organism can be accumulated according to the laws of magnetic attraction. Furthermore, Mesmer claimed that this energy was the healing force. At this point, he came to the conclusion that his cures were the result of his own magnetic personality. That is, it was not the magnets that were restoring the health of his patients; rather, it was the magnetic energy, accumulated in his own body and passed on to the patient, that was the agent of healing. Here we find the origin of the concept of animal magnetism, which can be understood as "personal magnetism" or "personal influence." This shift in Mesmer's healing paradigm marks a major leap in the evolution of his healing practices and provides a key to understanding the future of mind healing.

In the following year, 1777, Mesmer's career confronted difficulties in Vienna when a blind eighteen-year-old female pianist and composer, Maria Theresia von Paradies, was brought to him to have her eyesight restored. The young lady had been blind since birth, but no physician had been able to find anything wrong with her eyes. She had been under the care of Europe's leading eye specialists for ten years without any improvement. Under Mesmer's care, she gradually recovered her sight, although she lost her ability to play the piano. During the time of treatment she was residing at Mesmer's home. Her mother, influenced by jealous medical doctors, wanted to take her away from Mesmer's care before he completed the treatment. When the young girl refused to leave Mesmer's clinic, the mother struck her across her face, and her blindness returned. Mesmer was accused by the child's father of practicing magic. In this case, it appears that Mesmer succeeded, at least initially, in the treatment because she had an emotional or psychological problem rather than an organic disease. At the time, conditions of this kind were known as hysterical disorders.

This incident put Mesmer under both the scrutiny and the harassment of the scientific circles of Austria, which prompted him to leave Vienna and move to Paris, where he established a medical practice. In Paris, Mesmer also accomplished extraordinary healings and gained some disciples; among them was Dr. Charles d'Eslon. Nevertheless, Parisian opinion was divided between those who thought he was a great physician and those who considered him a charlatan. Although Mesmer failed to get official approval for his healing practices from either the Royal Academy of Sciences or the Royal Society of Medicine, he gained the admiration of important professionals in the French capital.

Mesmer's method of treatment in individual sessions was as follows: He would sit in front of the patient, place his hands on the patient's knees or press the patient's thumbs with his hands while looking fixedly into the patient's eyes. Then, Mesmer would make "passes," moving his hands over the patient's head, forehead, eyes, shoulders, arms, legs, and farther down. He placed his index finger over the forehead, which is considered to be the place of the "third eye." As a result, many patients had peculiar sensations, twitches, or convulsions that were regarded as curative crises. This process is similar to what psychology calls catharsis—the release of repressed emotional conflict, generating a curative effect. Mesmer would often conclude his treatments by playing music on a glass harmonica. As a whole, this procedure has many similarities to modern therapies such as Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, energy healing, and music therapy, although their theoretical foundations are different.

The above description suggests that Mesmer's treatment in curing maladies was largely due to his personal influence and suggestion. This is substantiated by the fact that his clinic was carefully furnished in a fashion designed to impress the patients and to put their minds into a state of relaxation—a perfect setting to induce suggestion. Under these circumstances people went into a trance or semihypnotic state that was conducive to healing. Mesmer was indeed a persuasive physician who had the ability to create confidence, which enhances suggestibility. Furthermore, through his mere presence, he was able to create a favorable impression on sick people. His patients saw in him a powerful and accomplished physician with a considerable reputation. This in itself is an indirect form of suggestion.

Mesmer's popularity as a healer continued to grow in France, and he gained an increasing number of followers. This alarmed not only the traditional doctors but also the government. In 1784, King Louis XVI appointed a royal commission to determine the existence of Mesmer's magnetic fluid scientifically. Among the members of this commission were the eminent chemist Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier and the American ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin. The commission conducted a series of experiments aimed at determining whether Mesmer had discovered a new physical fluid. The commission concluded that there was no sufficient evidence for the existence of this fluid. They could not verify that the phenomena called "magnetic" were caused by the action of any fluid. The commission also warned physicians who were using Mesmer's method that they could lose their credentials if they continued practicing this therapy.

Nevertheless, as the commission could not ignore Mesmer's healings, it concluded that such healings were the product of the power of the individual's imagination and fantasy. Thus it indicated the power of the imagination and fantasy in restoring health, arriving at a perceptive conclusion regarding the psychological mechanism of healing. Indeed, the commission's conclusion has been validated by modern scientific researches such as the one performed by Dr. Jeanne Achterberg, who has demonstrated the power of imagery in healing. I shall elaborate on this fascinating subject in the chapter entitled "The Role of Imagery in Healing."

Mesmerism and hypnosis are not identical, although currently these words are used more or less interchangeably. The common purpose of these techniques is to induce the patient into a receptive state, which is currently known as an alpha brain state, with the purpose of instilling a suggestion. Hypnosis is a process of persuading the patient into a deep relaxation, so he or she becomes amenable to the suggestion given. The operator is thus able to reach the subconscious mind of the patient to remove or eradicate deep-rooted negative habits and to instill a curative idea. Mesmerism, as we have seen, is a technique based on the belief that there is a physical emanation or vital fluid that is transmitted from the operator to the subject. During this treatment, the therapist makes passes and touches affected parts of the body to transmit a fluidic energy. In hypnotism, on the other hand, there is generally no physical manipulation.

Nonetheless, mesmerism is the predecessor of modern hypnosis; the pioneers of hypnosis saw in mesmeric sessions a method of inducing patients into a receptive state of mind. In addition, Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism laid the foundations for modern hypnosis and suggestive therapies. For instance, the Abbé José Custódio de Faria (1746–1819), one of the pioneers of the scientific study of hypnosis, based his views on Mesmer's work; unlike Mesmer, however, Faria posited that hypnosis is the result of the power of suggestion.

Subsequently, Mesmer's pupil the Marquis Chastenet de Puységur (1751–1825) posited the theory that people, knowingly or unknowingly, exercise personal influence on their neighbors and associates through subtle suggestions. In fact, individuals grow up in a social environment where they are constantly receiving positive or negative suggestions, directly or indirectly, from parents, teachers, mentors, mass media, and so on. These subtle influences are unstated suggestions that engender a kind of waking hypnosis and shape the individual's destiny. One purpose of this book is to emphasize that all human beings are subject to constant influence from their social environment; this can be positive or detrimental to their well-being. By the same token, everyone is also, wittingly or unwittingly, exerting positive or negative influence on family, friends, relatives, and associates.

Excerpted from Healing Without Medicine by Albert Amao. Copyright © 2014 Albert Amao. Excerpted by permission of Theosophical Publishing House.

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Healing Without Medicine: From Pioneers to Modern Practice 5 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. 2 reviews.
Anonymous More than 1 year ago
Members and guests of the Minneapolis Theosophical Society was impressed with the depth of Dr. Amao's study  and clarity of writing in this encyclopedic book about healing without medicine. Many of our group have read his book, as we held a month-long series of study group sessions with the book as focus in advance of his public lecture at our lodge. One of the aspects of his book that personally impressed me was his thorough discussion of egregores, as a living manifestation of the personal or group thought form that creates a psychic entity. Dr. Amao shows how the egregore is neither good nor bad energy, but represents the mental and emotional energetic thought forms of those persons who have created it. He provides many examples of the egregore, which leads one to suspect that psychic energy forms that we create in this fashion can explain many mysteries in our world today. I can personally attest to the presence of egregores in haunted homes, after my mentor for my book Confessions of a Reluctant Ghost Hunter alerted me to search for egregores who sometimes lurk in the shadows in places where people sense some sort of ghostly presence. I highly  recommend Healing without Medicine as a book that can change your life and personally empower you to be responsible for your own health and well-being -- Von Braschler.
Anonymous More than 1 year ago
This is a book that provides a rational explanation of the power of thought to heal the mind and body. The author main hypothesis is that all methods of mind/spiritual healing are self-healing, he says; the body is an extraordinary machine that can recover is balance and well being if we allow it.   The author examines cases of contemporary New Thought leaders who self-healed  from “incurable” diseases free of medicine, and he describes the mechanism that triggered their healing. Mr Amao states that the contribution of New Thought empowers us to become conscious co-creators of our well-being and achieve success in other areas of life beyond recovering our health. A must read book to understand all the methods of healing without medicine, such as mind /mental healing, miracles healing, faith healing, ect.  It is highly recommended.


Improving the Infrastructure for Therapeutic Transfer of T Cells

I suspect that we'll see spreading use of immune cell transfer therapies in the years ahead. The time is right for it: stem cell researchers are continually improving their ability to generate cells to order, knowledge of how the immune system works in detail is growing, and so is the understanding of just how important immune system decline is in aging. Somewhere between today and a future in which an age-damaged immune system can be completely restored to youthful function lies a span of decades in which regular infusions of tailored immune cells are a routine part of older life, a treatment that temporarily enhances immune system function across the board, or which can be used to attack specific targets such as an infection or a cancer.

For this to come to pass the infrastructure for such therapies must improve, becoming more efficient, more reliable, and much less costly than is presently the case. This is happening now, step by step, such the progress cited in this article. It is aimed at use for transplant patients, but should be relevant to a range of similar future applications:

Therapeutic transfer of virus-specific T cells to immunocompromised patients can help battle life-threatening infections, but the process for generating such cells is lengthy and laborious. A [recently published] paper suggests a speedy alternative. Ten days in culture was all it took for researchers to generate multivirus-specific T cells that, when transferred into transplant patients, could wipe out multiple infections at once. "The original manufacturing processes were really convoluted and complicated." They involved using live viruses to infect donor B cells, and then using those cells to stimulate T cells. "With all that, we are talking 10 to 12 weeks of manufacturing." Furthermore, the live viruses in question are considered biohazards. When a procedure is that difficult and hazardous, "it's never going to go beyond specialized academic centers."

[The researchers] streamlined the process, bypassing the live virus and B cell steps, and instead stimulating the T cells directly with peptides. A similar technique has been used previously to generate T cells specific for fighting cytomegalovirus. But the new method extends the concept, using a mix of peptides that together cover the antigenic proteins of five of the most common viruses to infect transplant patients.

When active T cell preparations were transferred into bone marrow transplant patients suffering viral infections the cells led, in almost all cases, to resolution of the infections. In eight patients treated, 15 of 18 total infections among the individuals were resolved, while one was reduced. Three additional patients were given the T cells prophylactically and remained infection-free for more than three months. The varying ability of the T cell preparations to tackle multiple viruses is thought to be due to the donor's prior exposure to the viruses in question. That is, if the donor has not tackled the virus before then, their blood would lack the necessary memory T cells. A future goal would be "generating such antigen-specific T cells from naive cells as opposed to people who have already got a T cell memory to the antigens."

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