Category Archives: Modern relevance

Community and Identity

A ramble.

DigPed PEI participants contemplate identity collaborations

It is the question of the ages: Who am I?

O Me! O Life!

That you are here—that life exists and identity,

Processing DigPed PEI

Content is people. Context is people. Life is complicated and complex and messy.

Celebrate that.

My sweet greyhound, Dolce, went to the Rainbow Bridge while I was at Prince Edward Island. What does this have to do with #DigPed? Nothing and everything all at once.

I knew when I left Atlanta on Tuesday that my 12 year old brindle girl was not well, and I had a gut feeling that it would be a rough week for her. By Thursday, it was clear that she was done fighting and ready to be free from whatever it was that caused kidney and vascular failure. On Friday morning, my sweet husband, who had been traveling himself earlier in the week, held our girl as she breathed her last. Brian let me know that she was gone. And my heart tore into fragments.

My heart was in fragments, but I wasn’t alone. I was surrounded by a community of compassion and passion and empathy — none of whom I had met in the flesh until that week. I cried in their arms, we shared stories of beloved pets, and we connected. Life at its messiest, most vulnerable, and most authentic.

Authenticity should be at the heart of learning. As educators, we need to remember that our classes, whether face to face or in online spaces, are made up of people. Our content is not the curriculum; our content is the lives of the people who inhabit our classes, and it in is the contexts of their lives that we can make the connection of relationship building that undergirds the most memorable learning experiences.

Most of us who pursue education were inspired by one teacher who stands in our memories as the one who pushed us the hardest, believed in us the most fiercely, and motivated us to reach farther than we ever thought possible. In the exhausting midst of standards and curriculum and politics, teachers sometimes forget that the curriculum in a tool, not an end unto itself. DigPed expands the notion of tools and how they can benefit the entire education community, but the real lesson is found in building relationships. The warm compassion with which I was enveloped at the loss of my sweet greyhound is essential for all of us who call ourselves teachers to offer to the students in our classes. Learning is about developing people. Education is how we discover things together in the world. Curriculum is a tool. Life is messy and complicated. This is the stuff of education. Content is not subject matter.

Content is people.

*first published on Medium

Walk My World

It’s here! It’s time!

On Rhizomatic Learning, Virtual Connections, and Sherwood Anderson

(as cited in Meriwether, 2004, p. 8)

Labor Day, Teaching, and Vocational Education

Once upon a time, Labor Day meant the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. That, I believe, is what the Almighty intended. Of course, with schools today starting at the beginning of August and summer not really over until the end of September, Labor Day is fast becoming just another holiday without meaning or purpose.

Perhaps it would be wise for educators to spend a few hours sharing with students the plight of the American worker at the beginning of the Industrial Age. We are horrified at the “sweat shops” we read about, but this was the common practice in this country for many years. By the late 1880s, conditions were so poor that workers, backed by the then necessary Labor Unions, staged revolts and strikes, one of which led to a clash between federal troops and protesters. Attempting to reconcile with the workers, Congress made Labor Day a national observation of the contribution of America’s working class (

In the last several years I have had numerous conversations with colleagues regarding the current push to send every student to college. I suspect this may be partly in reaction to the continuing struggle between politicians, educators, and unions. The student voice seems to get lost in the debate.  There are students who are not college bound and who should not be pushed that direction. There are some for whom vocational education is more important and more practical than college-readiness. Reasons vary by circumstance, but may include career goals in areas that do not require a college degree, a family business, or a distaste for school in general and a willingness to work up from the lowest position.  Coming from a working class family myself, I see a need for a resurgence in vocational education.

Living in the suburbs, my position is not popular. The mindset of that particular demographic is that value only comes with a college education. This thinking is wrong, and must be addressed both in the classroom and in society. In an article published on Edutopia and reprinted in the Washington Post, Mark Phillips wrote,

“We live in a society that places a high value on the professions and white-collar jobs, and that still considers blue-collar work lower status. It’s no surprise that parents want their children to pursue careers that will maintain or increase their status. This is even more evident in high socio-economic communities. And for most teachers, if the student is academically successful, this will be seen as a ‘waste of talent’ ” (Phillips, 2012).

I could not agree more.

How may students feel stigmatized because they prefer working with their hands to sitting in classrooms? How many homeowners would be completely lost without well-trained electricians or plumbers? And why do we assume that mechanics are not well-read or welders cannot write? I know a certain truck driver who writes beautiful poetry without an advanced degree. Artistry is hard to teach, but the best nail technicians and hairdressers are skilled artisans. Why must our culture belittle these choices? I was horrified to hear of a former student who chose to pursue work as a dental hygienist and was told by a school administrator that she was aiming too low. What that administrator refused to see was the passion this young lady had for improving people’s smiles and how she planned to take her skills to under-developed countries where she could help people in a tangible way. If students have dreams of practical work, then we, as educators, must both prepare them for that work and encourage them to follow their hearts no matter what the culture around them says.

This is where vocational education comes in. If students are afforded a choice between practical academics and apprenticeships or college preparatory work, they can better prepare for the futures they choose. Just because we as educators believe that higher education must be accessible to all does not imply that we should mandate it for everyone. If education is truly about the students, then they must be given the tools and the choices to dictate their own futures. All students must become literate in language arts, practical mathematics, history, and science, there is no question of that. Those skill can readily be addressed by tenth grade. Advanced studies in vocation or academics can them specialize in the fields that profit the student most.

We as educators must lead the way to de-stigmatizing vocational education. College is not for everyone; nor is vocational education. Both ensure students have goals and the tools to achieve them according to their individual skills, talents, and desires. It is time to elevate vocational education as an equally viable option to college preparation. Then we can focus on teaching students to learn for the love of learning alone, rather than crushing them all under a load of school work some neither want nor need. In becoming adaptable to student needs, we become better teachers, focused on students and whom they will become in time.

References Staff (2010). Labor Day. A&E Entertainment. [Weblog] Retrieved from

Phillips, M. (2012, May 29). Why should we care about vocational education? Edutopia. [Weblog]. Retrieved from

Twitter: My Capstone PowerPoint

Hopefully all the links are intact!

Presentation-EDUC7797 Capstone-May1-2015.pptx

Twitter as a Tool: My Capstone Presentation

Twitter_logo_wordPart One

Part Two

#walkmyworld: Hero

Heroes among us

This week’s learning event caused me a little angst.  I understand the hero’s journey in a literary sense, but we live in an age where true heroes come in unique forms.

One of the distinctions between the heroes of myth and the heroes of the modern era is perception. Mythological heroes are revered, recognized, and celebrated by the people, and while they revel in the adoration, there is still a humility about them. Today, people recognized and revere celebrity, which is a false form of heroism. Celebrities generally do not serve the people, as a true hero does.  They may rise above difficult circumstances and accomplished great things, but for the most part, they keep the rewards of their ascent, which is antithetical to the true hero of old. True heroes may find wealth and prestige, but they are quick to share in order that the people benefit.
This fact requires a new view of the hero. Modern fictional heroes, like Batman and Superman, maintain a sense of anonymity when they do their good works, and there is a magnified dark side to each of them. On the other hand, the common man is able to become a hero without having great power over the masses, but rather be heroic on individual levels.
This is where teachers can be heroes. In this world, teachers do not have great wealth or power. Nor do they have widespread influence. They do not direct policy, curriculum, or even the standards by which they and their students are judged. Even still, teachers do take that hero’s journey from the call to adventure (and make no mistake, teaching is a calling), to the obstacles and abyss of preparation (grad school is often a desolate experience), to the gift to the people from that experience. Students in the classrooms of teachers who are called through difficulty to that role find they learn, not because there is a test at the end of the material, but because learning is a wonderful and exciting and even magical thing.
2015-03-22 20.41.31

#walkmyworld: Perspective

Learning Event #9 connects the previous events into a story and a reflection. From the opening of the first door through the connections of high five, the reflections of dreams and totems, and an exploration of heroics, #walkmyworld is a journey of identity, discovery, and connection. The Story of Us is that, underneath the trappings of culture and training, we are all the same, reaching for the bright lights of a future yet unseen, pressing on toward a world that is better and brighter than the one we leave behind.

The Journey

The Journey

“Our story is never written in isolation. We do not act in a one-man play. We can do nothing that does not affect other people, no matter how loudly we say, “It’s my own business.”


string(63) "Failed to connect to port 1158: No route to host" Polovne Kuhinje Na Prodaju? - Okela

polovne kuhinje na prodaju?

Best Answer

Sorry, we don't have an aswer for this question yet.

polovne kuhinje na prodaju? community answers


July 19, 1994

I'd like to thank the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and the Department of Energy for sponsoring this conference. It is an important opportunity -- in no small part because of the distinguished international audience gathered here this evening -- to address a topic whose importance has been widely noted, but which has yet to receive the urgent attention it demands.

I am here because ACDA has no higher priority than winning the indefinite and unconditional extension of the NPT next year.

The NPT's entry into force in 1970 transformed the acquisition of nuclear weapons from an act of national pride to a violation of international law. If it crumbles -- indeed, if cracks are detected -- a great deal of the nuclear security architecture painstakingly constructed by the international community may begin to collapse.

The NPT serves two mutually reinforcing aims: nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. The Treaty balances positive and negative rights and obligations. As you know, it is at once an agreement to forego nuclear weapons; an agreement to put peaceful nuclear facilities under international safeguards; an undertaking to end the arms race and pursue nuclear disarmament; and an agreement promoting access to technical cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Let me summarize at the outset why we hold the Treaty so dear. The NPT has successfully put in place a global norm against the further proliferation of nuclear weapons. During the 1960s, when it was negotiated, many predicted that there would be 20-30 avowed nuclear weapon states today But in fact, there are only five -- the same as when the NPT was brought into force -- and three other "threshold" states.

The NPT system has steadily expanded since 1970, and there has been considerable tangible progress in recent years -- with the accessions of China, France, South Africa, the Baltics and the majority of the newly independent states; the announced intentions of Argentina and algeria; and the non-nuclear decisions of Chile and Brazil. With 164 parties (and counting), the NPT enjoys the widest adherence of any arms control agreement in history.

As the only nuclear nonproliferation agreement of global reach, the Treaty has codified an international standard of behavior against which the actions of even states outside the regime are measured. Indeed, the NPT sets the fundamental legal standard and political framework for all the cases of greatest concern to the international community: for our ongoing denuclearization efforts with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine; for seeking to encourage constructive steps by India, Pakistan, and Israel; and for keeping a watchful eye and international pressure on countries, like North Korea and Iraq, that historically have not respected their agreements.

When the Argentines communicated to us their decision to join the NPT, the words they used revealed a powerful legal and even moral norm at work. They said that they had long kept open their nuclear option out of a desire to add to their security, but found that it had the opposite effect -- of excluding them from the political and economic circles where they realize their true security lies.

The NPT also provides essential support for peaceful uses of nuclear energy under effective international safeguards. NPT parties are required to conclude full-scope safeguards agreements with the IAEA whose duration is tied to the duration of the NPT.

By law, the U.S. may not engage in significant nuclear cooperation with any country that does not have such a safeguards agreement with the IAEA. And this policy has been adopted by nearly all major nuclear suppliers. So the end of the NPT would mean the destruction of the basis for peaceful nuclear cooperation between NPT parties.

The United States has long believed that adherence to the NPT should facilitate international nuclear cooperation. As a result, when choosing opportunities for peaceful nuclear cooperation, it is U.S. policy to accord preference to NPT and Treaty of Tlatelolco parties.

Let me address the principal arguments against indefinite and unconditional extension. Some complain that the NPT is "discriminatory," because it accepts five nuclear powers and freezes out all others. But remember that the Treaty did not create nuclear weapon "haves" and "have-nots." It only recognized that inherited reality -- and helped stop a deadly trend in its tracks -- while at the same time committing the nuclear weapon states to pursue nuclear disarmament.

Remember this: The measure of arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament agreements lies not in their egalitarianism, but in their contributions to international security.

The fact is, if the world were to insist today on a reflexive nuclear equality, the likely result would be a leveling up not a leveling down: not a world freed of nuclear weapons, but a world filled with nuclear weapons states.

Another argument one hears is that indefinite extension would legitimize nuclear weapons for all time. In fact, the opposite is true.

Taken together, these actions have resulted in nuclear disarmament on a massive scale. The NPT's call for an end to the arms race has been met. The race now is to bring down force levels as quickly, safely, and securely as possible. Thousands of nuclear weapons are being dismantled. The United States alone is dismantling around 2,000 nuclear weapons a year, the highest rate that technical limitations will permit.

And now, the ledger in fulfillment of NPT Article VI includes two additional multilateral efforts -- to negotiate a world-wide fissile material cutoff treaty and to conclude a comprehensive test ban treaty, or CTBT.

Achieving a CTBT is also an imperative for the United States -- a fact underscored earlier this year when I delivered a personal message from President Clinton to the Conference on Disarmament ("CD") in Geneva. The President's message said that of all the items on the Conference's agenda, "none is more important" than negotiating a CTBT "at the earliest possible time." We want to ensure that the first half-century of nuclear explosions is the last.

An important contribution to the test-ban negotiations has been the testing moratorium observed by all but one of the nuclear weapons powers. I urge all countries to join in calling on China to reconsider its position and refrain from further testing.

The NPT is an important stimulus to these disarmament steps. Pressure to disarm will be kept on the nuclear weapons states by reaffirming Article VI and keeping it in force indefinitely. The perverse result of easing this pressure would flow not from making the Treaty permanent, but from crippling it through lesser steps.

And as it creates political incentives to disarmament, the NPT also fosters the global conditions that permit deep reductions. It is a simple, practical reality that arms control will suffer if the barriers against nuclear proliferation are lowered. Indeed, it is clear that -- perhaps unlike the Cold War period -- further progress in arms control depends on the security of a permanent NPT. Well, it is then argued, why not hold up the NPT -- or just extend it for a short time -- as a way to force even greater progress on the nuclear weapon states? Some, for example, suggest that we should hold NPT extension hostage to conclusion of a CTBT, then make it permanent.

There are many flaws to such arguments, but two main ones. First, treating the NPT as a bargaining chip is dangerously self-defeating. And second, it jeopardizes what in practical terms is our one realistic opportunity to make the NPT last forever.

For reasons that include geography, the countries most immediately put at risk by nuclear proliferators are their immediate and regional neighbors -- not the United States. We support the NPT in our own interests, to be sure. But it is even more strongly in the interests of countries located in regions of tension.

We are also keenly aware of the importance attached by many parties to the issue of security assurances. The United States is committed not to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT or any comparable internationally binding commitment not to acquire nuclear explosive devices, such as the Tlatelolco Treaty, unless the U.S. is attacked by that non-nuclear weapon state in alliance with a nuclear weapon state. In addition, the positive security assurances given at the time of signature of the NPT could be updated. We are open to discussion on this issue.

So for all those whose votes will decide its fate, the NPT is a source not of leverage, but of security. The NPT's greatest value to the international community is not as a lever, for moving the nuclear states, but as a shield, to ward off regional arms races and nuclear dangers.

And the corollary of the bargaining chip argument -- the proposition that indefinite extension can be put off -- is particularly dangerous because it is so seductively plausible ... and so wrong.

Article X.2 of the Treaty explicitly spells out the three and only three extension options the parties have in 1995: indefinite extension, extension for a fixed period, or extension for fixed periods. What is not made explicit in the Treaty -- but is so important to its fate -- is that 1995 represents the only realistic opportunity the parties have to give the NPT an indefinite extension that is legally binding on every member without the need to go back to parliaments for ratification.

Extending the Treaty for a fixed term won't work. Because it presently contains no provision for a further extension decision after the first, it would have to be amended to provide for such a decision, or else expire. Treaty amendment, in turn, would require not only the votes of a specialized majority of parties -- including all members of the IAEA Board and all five nuclear weapon states -- but also ratification by 83 national legislatures (at present count).

It is not realistic to count on achieving amendment. Simply collecting the ratifications of most parties could take years -- after all, it took 19 years for the 98 original NPT signatories to ratify the Treaty. And even if the amendment were brought into force, it would only apply to those states that actually ratify it, giving many states an easy way to back out of the Treaty.

The Treaty also can be extended for fixed periods. The length of each period, number of periods, and the type of transition mechanism that would be needed to go from one period to the next would have to be resolved. By requiring (and deferring) such difficult decisions -- many of which have uncertain legality -- this option also clearly risks the possibility of eventual Treaty expiration. Again, indefinite extension is the only way to ensure that the NPT will endure.

Another frequent criticism of the NPT is that certain countries have not joined. Some states, for example, have said that support for indefinite extension would be difficult without Israel's adherence to the NPT.

The same principle holds in every region: it is the NPT that provides the essential worldwide framework for addressing diverse proliferation problems and promoting stability. Had there been no NPT, an agreement very much like it probably would have had to be invented to address the proliferation dangers inherent in the breakup of a nuclear superpower into a dozen newly independent states. The commitments of most of these states to the NPT as non-nuclear weapon state parties have done much to ease tensions and reduce risks during this challenging formative period.

In Africa, South Africa's adherence to the NPT helped to open a security dialogue with other African states and pave the way for negotiation of an African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty Here, as in Latin America with the Treaty of Tlatelolco, the NPT and regional nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties complement and reinforce one another.

In the Middle East, the NPT is the only norm in force against nuclear proliferation. If it should expire after some limited extension, there would be no formal constraints on Iraqi, Iranian and Libyan nuclear weapons programs, for example, and no basis for acting against these or any other states whose nonproliferation bona fides might be open to question. This would surely heighten proliferation pressures and set back the painstaking Mideast peace process.

Related to the universality argument is the argument that the NPT does not deserve indefinite extension because it has not solved every nuclear proliferation problem, such as North Korea and Iraq. But this betrays a misunderstanding of where arms control and nonproliferation regimes leave off, and where the need for political will in the international community begins.

The IAEA has risen to the challenge revealed by the case of Iraq by strengthening its system of safeguards -- reaffirming the right to special inspections at undeclared sites, and approving a voluntary program of reporting nuclear exports. And field trials are already underway to test other strengthening measures.

In North Korea, the IAEA's inspections have demonstrated its dogged vigilance in the pursuit of international safeguards agreements. In verifying North Korea's initial declaration, the Agency found discrepancies that led it to seek special inspections at undeclared sites.

While the case of North Korea is yet to be resolved, the fact that the NPT's enforcement requires political will in the international community is hardly an indictment of the Treaty. To the contrary, the engagement of the UN demonstrates that the NPT system works -- for it is only the UN Security Council that can act on behalf of the international community to enforce its norms.

But if the NPT reflects so much wisdom, why not follow its own initial pattern of a 25-year term? Because any doubts that led to that compromise have been resolved. The NPT was untested then; now we know the global nonproliferation regime works. Then the future was unclear; now we have experienced the Treaty's effective operation over time and through changing conditions. Countries' responses to it could not be predicted then; now we know it has the broadest adherence of any international arms control agreement. So our best guide now is not the uncertainty of 1968, but the informed confidence of 1995.

Arms control regimes typically are permanent including the ABM, START and INF treaties, the Chemical Weapons Convention, even the regional nuclear-zones. Surely the most successful, broadest and now increasingly vital global arms control regime deserves equal status.

I believe it is established that anything less than an indefinite extension will jeopardize the NPT's future. So the question becomes, why would that be a bad outcome?

No one can predict definitively the nature of a world without the NPT But each of us must think concretely about the massive proliferation pressures that could be tragically unloosed if the Treaty ever expires.

Among the nuclear weapon states, the obligation for good faith negotiations toward disarmament would be gone -- and pressures to maintain and build large arsenals and develop new weapons would reappear.

In the former Soviet Union, the basis for averting several newly independent nuclear weapon states would be undermined.

As to the threshold states, any political leverage for universal adherence to nonproliferation norms would be gravely weakened, not strengthened.

In Northeast Asia, would the spotlight of world attention be shining as white-hot as it is on North Korea without the NPT? Consider what the other nations in that region might feel compelled to do without the bulwark -- the constant gravitational pull and pressure -- exerted by the NPT And then consider the cascading effect their actions would be likely to have on still other countries.

Consider also the group of countries that is almost entirely ignored in NPT discussions: all the others -- all the countries for whom nuclear arms are not an issue, because they have made and kept nuclear nonproliferation commitments. The NPT's greatest achievements are invisible -- consisting of bad things not happening, nuclear material not diverted, weapons not made. We cannot know which additional countries might have decided, but for the NPT, that they needed nuclear arms. We do know that more than 40 countries may well have the required technical and economic resources.

Without the NPT, we have to assume that over time many of those bad things would begin to happen. We would be very hard pressed to keep states from hedging their nuclear bets against an uncertain future.

Think about your own nation's specific security concerns. None would be helped by the NPT's weakening. All would be worsened.

And we could not count on continuation of the important cooperation on peaceful nuclear commerce that so many states enjoy as NPT parties. Since the duration of NPT parties' IAEA safeguards agreements are tied to the Treaty's duration, the Treaty's infirmity could cast doubt on the status of these safeguards agreements. Without realistic backups in most cases, domestic laws and political pressures might well force suppliers to curtail or completely cut off nuclear cooperation out of concern that it could contribute to proliferation in a world without a nuclear safety net.

Nor should one believe that the nuclear-weapon-free zones in various states of completion around the world are a panacea. They cannot accomplish what Article VI can (and already has). And they do nothing to resist proliferation pressures outside of their own regions. So while they may supplement the NPT, no one should be under the illusion they will ever be a substitute for it.

The Japanese have a saying: "The nail that stands out will be hammered down. " Today proliferant countries know how that feels" because they are exposed to the global hammer against nuclear weapons -- the NPT. But in a world without the Treaty, the nails sticking out -- especially in regions of tension -- could become those states not pursuing or possessing nuclear arms. Countries might avoid standing out in such a world not by resisting pressures to have nuclear weapons, but by succumbing to them.

All this explains why the United States is sparing no effort to ensure the Treaty's indefinite extension. I am especially pleased that the Senate last week confirmed one of our country's finest public servants, Tom Graham, to lead our effort, with Ambassadorial rank. He has been working tirelessly with many of you and your colleagues, listening to your concems about the NPT, and sharing our thinking about it as well.

You may have heard the apocryphal story of the young man who climbs the distant mountaintop to seek advice from the revered old wise man who renounced vast riches and celebrity. When he asks the wise man what he should do he is told only, "My son, avoid hedonism, do not seek fame -- such things are but a snare and a delusion."

The young man looks at the wise man and says: "Thank you, sage one. Could I just try them for a month first?"

One of the problems with nuclear weapons, of course, is that you can't just try them for a month. Let me try to talk to you candidly about the Soviet-American nuclear standoff as I see it.

The Cold War was a terrible necessity. We and the Soviets scaled the nuclear heights -- in the process expending staggering resources and talent, and making the perils of nuclear catastrophe a daily companion.

Now, at last, we are climbing down from the precipice. And we implore you -- with urgency, with sincerity, from our own experience: do not start up that mountain. Its crevasses are treacherous; avalanches are a constant risk; the trip will sap your time and treasure. The two countries that have spent the most time at the highest altitudes are returning to earth with alacrity and relief.

Amassing a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons did not preserve the Soviet Union -- but it helped bankrupt it. And is it mere coincidence that the rise of Germany and Japan as great industrial powers was not burdened by nuclear weapons?

With the end of the Cold War, nuclear proliferation pressures may be more substantial than ever. So this is at once the best time to buttress international security -- and the most essential.

The Clinton Administration is genuinely committed to arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament. We will achieve a CTBT -- the only question is when -- and sooner is much better than later. 1995 is our only realistic chance to make the NPT permanent. And unless we succeed in those matters -- as well as our efforts to bring the START Treaties into force and effectively clarify the ABM Treaty -- I fear it may be a long time before further strategic reductions can even be on the table.

Now especially, with superpower nuclear arsenals falling and CTBT prospects rising -- with the largest nuclear weapons powers finally able to deemphasize nuclear weapons in their defense planning -- this is no time to abandon the covenant that has enabled us to turn the arms race around.

Our challenge is to recognize the singular nature of this decision and seize this moment. We need to elevate NPT extension to a higher plane -- above the din of politics as usual at the UN, above the ordinary international jockeying and horse-trading. History will not treat us kindly if we act irresponsibly. But far harder to bear would be our own realization that we miscalculated with our children's security.

We must realize instead that in April 1995 we will be taking, together, the most fateful single vote for world peace of the remainder of this century and years to come.

If our seriousness of purpose reflects the true stakes, I know we will do the right thing -- and enshrine this indispensable agreement for all nations, for all people, for all time.


Find the word definition

Could not find any definition of word "varr"

Usage examples of "varr".

And when I am returned from Caza Varra, I will have it known to all the conselhos, all the Courtfolkeven to Serranos!

Cappen Varra surveyed Lalo's smock-stained now with paint and perspiration, but good linen, and new.

Drunk or sober, Cappen Varra retained his good manners, but the last of the beer fumes seemed to have worn off.

He had to do something to distract them-he remembered what Cappen Varra had said about the power of people's minds.


WEATHER, LIGHT and PHOTOGRAPHY Series: Photographing Fog

Intro:  Outdoor photographers all know that weather determines the quality, quantity, color, feel and mood of light, and light is the language of our art and craft.  Former weather forecaster Michael DeYoung shares his knowledge on weather, atmospheric phenomena and their effects on light and photography.

Dissipating fog over Alaganik Slough on the Copper River Delta near Cordova, Alaska. Fair weather altocumulus clouds above the Chugach Mountains.

Photographing Fog.  Don’t get bummed out if you wake up to dense fog with cold flat light.  If no precipitation is falling chances are that magic light and golden photo ops are close by.  The keywords with fog are:  live on the edge and get high.  (Hopefully, this last phrase will make sense after reading this blog.)  There are two parts to this blog.  The first is the long-winded Geek Speak on fog.  The second part is tips and advice for photographing fog.

Swans in fog, Anchorage, Alaska

Trumpeter swans on Six-Mile Lake with morning radiation fog, Anchorage, Alaska

Meteorological Geek Speak on Fog.   Fog is a ground based cloud and along with its sister cloud, stratus, which is off the ground but very low, is ALWAYS trapped below a temperature inversion.   Fog can and does form during and after widespread precipitation events with precipitation falling from thicker clouds above such as nimbostratus.  But many times fog forms as a very shallow layer under clear skies.  It is under these conditions that fog can create great light and photo ops.  Fog and stratus not associated with precipitation are stable atmosphere clouds that form under high pressure.  Pacific high pressure during winter is the main culprit for fog in western North America.  Sometimes fog can be really thick vertically especially when there is an “upslope” wind flow into a mountain range.  In fact when fog/stratus reaches about 2000 feet in depth it produces drizzle, freezing drizzle or snow grains.

stratus clouds and clearing storm, Trail Lakes, Alaska

Stratus clouds cling to the shores of Upper Trail Lakes on the Kenai Peninsula. These clouds were the result of widespread and prolonged rain. Image made in a clearing storm scenario.

There are 3 types of fog: radiation, advection and ice fog.  Radiation fog is the most common type and occurs everywhere even in deserts.   Radiation fog forms when the sky is mostly clear but a shallow layer of air at the surface is very moist.  Cooling at night brings the air to close to saturation (close to the dewpoint temperature) and traps the shallow moisture under a temperature inversion.  A very light wind  (2-5mph) at or just above the surface mixes it up and presto, fog forms.  Let’s say it rained all day, the ground is soaked, and skies clear toward sunset with very light winds.  This is a good prescription for morning radiation fog.  In winter, radiation fog gets trapped in many western valleys for weeks.

View of Salmon River and Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho. Stratus clouds frame sunlit peaks

Our coastal friends often get advection fog.  This is when fog over the water is drawn inland.  When you breathe on a cold window and it “fogs” up you are essentially creating advection fog.  This same mechanism happens on a large scale, when moist, relatively warm ocean air moves over a colder landmass. In the Cook Inlet region of Alaska, low tides exposes massive amounts of super cooled moisture in mudflats which is the principle cause of winter fog in Anchorage.  On the North Slope, open leads of ocean water called polynyas are the source of dense fog and even precipitation.

During summer air simply flowing from warmer water to colder waters can cause advection fog and this is a common occurrence off the west and northern coasts.   Mountainous coastal areas are subject to a double whammy of advection and radiation fogs that are often enhanced by orographic lift, where low level winds flow into higher terrain where air is forced to rise and condense.

When fog forms in winter at well below freezing temperatures it is referred to as freezing fog.  This is a natural phenomenon and is often mistaken for ice fog.  Water droplets can be “super-cooled” meaning they are liquid but below 32 degrees.  When moisture in the fog/stratus contacts very cold surfaces (roads, trees, anything) it will cause icing.  This causes the beautiful white cloaked forests after a fog event.

Frozen birch trees at sunset

Birch trees cloaked in rime ice and snow glow light pink near sunset, Anchorage, Alaska

True ice fog is a purely man made phenomena.  It forms in arctic air at -22F or colder.  Air at those temperatures can hold almost no moisture, so very little can saturate an airmass.  In winter in interior valleys of mainland Alaska and northern Canada, under extreme inversions, ice fog forms in villages and settlements.  The minute amount of moisture that comes from exhaust from internal combustion engines and building furnaces is enough to create fog at extreme temperatures, say like -40 and colder.  Ice fog is often less than 100 vertically where you can see stars above but can restrict horizontal visibility to almost zero!

Tips and Advice for Photographing Fog.   No need to get bummed out if you wake up to a thick fog and cold flat light.  You now know that chances are you can get high or to the edge where the light can be magical.  Or it can change right were you are.  Fog usually dissipates from the edges inward so start your photos near the edge if possible.  Fog often lifts into stratus and the tops can become a ragged edge.   The edges of the sun or moon are sharp and clearly discernible when seen through fog/stratus.   If the sun/moon edges are diffused or hidden, then that indicates there are higher clouds above the fog/stratus layer.  Any yes, there are times when none of this works and the whole day is shroud in thick cold fog.  Being on the edge or top of fog with the sun above means the brightest fog possible and this is where the light is absolutely lovely.  Like snow, fog is bright, relative to terrestrial subjects even if it looks grey to the eye.  This means it can fool meters into rendering underexposure.  I mainly meter manually but if you prefer aperture priority go with about +2/3 exposure comp.  Fog both diffuses and scatters light making a beautiful wrapping soft light on close-up subjects.  I rarely use a filter or strobe in the fog.  The exception would be if I’m above it and shooting backlit, I might use a grad ND (neutral density).

Portrait of skiers on Taos Ski Valley chairlift. Image made near the top of a fog bank.

Michael DeYoung photographing skiers on Chair 4 at Taos Ski Valley. As we ascended above the fog into the sun, lighting became much harsher and unflattering than the shot in the fog below.

Here’s what I like to go after in fog.

Forest:  No better time for inside the forest photography than during a fog.  It helps exaggerate distances between near and far with close up subjects sharp and distant subjects fading into the mist.  The best scenario is when the sun shines through trees with lingering fog creating magical shafts of light in an alluvial fan pattern-pure magic.  Anyone who has been to the coastal redwood forests, or seen images from there, can attest to this.

Sun rays and fog, Kodiak Island

The last of marine fog scatters the morning sun through a Sitka spruce tree on Kodiak Island, Alaska

Moose in foggy forest, Alaska

Young moose in birch forest on a foggy autumn morning, Anchorage, Alaska

Anything macro:  great saturated colors and even tones and contrast.

Portraits:  No better natural beauty light than a bright fog and it can produce a better bokeh effect than any lens.

Teen skiers portrait, Taos

Teen girls portrait in the fog at Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico

Landscapes with fog in the foreground:  This is when you are in the clear with a fog bank or stratus clouds all around you in the distance:  I love fog banks where mountain tops or tree tops rise above.  I think this effect makes mountains look taller.  Better yet if you can shoot it in backlight.  There have been several times when a fog bank has hidden buildings and power lines creating unique opportunities.   Fog also can create a horizonless landscape which is pretty ethereal.

Fog bank, Portage Valley, Alaska

Turnagain Arm near Portage Valley in spring with fog bank, Alaska

Radiational fog obscures the Salmon River and the town of Stanley below sunlit peaks of the Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho

Being above it all:  My very favorite place to be is at the edge of the fog assuming it is sunny above.  Obviously you have to live in an area that has some vertical relief if you want to get above it. One of my favorite images took place while hiking above the fog.  Near the end of an 8-day Kongakut River trip in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Lauri and I hiked above fog advancing south off the Arctic Coastal Plain.  We spent midnight at the edge of the foothills of the North Slope of the Brooks Range watching fog dance in and out of ridges and valleys as the warm midnight sun never set.

Hiker standing above Arctic Ocean fog above Kongakut River near Caribou Pass, Arctic National Wildlife Reguge, Alaska. Image about 1am showing the midnight sun

Most often for efficiency, I drive above it. On occasion, a ski resort chair lift has carried me above the fog.  I really love low angle sun skimming across tops of fog.  Shooting mountains with fog in valleys below can hide otherwise distracting elements and creates a heightened sense of well, height.  Being at or above the fog’s edge at sunrise or sunset – well it doesn’t get much better.

Radiational fog and stratus in early morning in the Upper Salmon River valley near Stanley, Idaho.


Public Works

Can be either brought to the Recycling Center or placed in the OTTO container and will be picked up on your scheduled OTTO container recycling day.  Commingled consists of aluminum, tin, and metal cans, glass bottle and jars, plastic beverage containers, soda, laundry detergent and bleach bottles.  All of these items must be emptied and washed to remove beverage and food waste.


What is the Opposite of Pain?

Recently, over breakfast, I asked my partner, “Hey, what is the opposite of pain?”. After he shook off the tired morning stare across his face, he sighed and said Love. I nodded and continued eating my cereal while looking out the window.

There was a short pause before he interjected and said “So, what do you think is the opposite of pain?” Apparently, I wasn’t getting off that easily.

I’m never one without a quick reply, but as I started to open my mouth, I stopped.

Did I, the girl with a decade of experience living with pain, have any idea what I considered to be the opposite of pain?

I quickly realized that I didn’t know. Was I too close to the pain to see that there was anything beyond? To be fair, I had just undergone a surgery, but still, why did I draw a blank?

That got me thinking. Do any of us know what really is the opposite of pain? Is it different for everyone? So, I did what any person living in this information-hungry age would do: I took to social media.

I asked my social network one question: Can you tell me what the very first thing that comes to your mind is when I ask: What is the opposite of pain?

{I adjusted my question to include “the very first thing that comes to your mind”, in an effort to inspire a more authentic response from my network.}

The response was immediate and honest. I heard from people I barely know and people I’ve known for decades. Work colleagues responded. Neighbors responded. Family and old college roommates. People who I would never think of replied with such candor and open-heartedness.

I realized that pain-- in my previous experiences--was what I considered to be, a barrier to connection. But instead in this case, pain became the catalyst to connect.

I understand that chronic pain may not be universal, but the ability to feel and remember pain is, although we don’t often want to discuss pain or painful experiences. It can cause us to disconnect and disassociate.

So, how do we feel about the opposite of pain?  The opposite of pain is accepted with wide, open arms. We know. Exactly. How. It. Feels.

We humans want to relish that. We crave it. We know it, intimately, no matter how we choose to define it.

My most heartfelt response came from a childhood friend:

To me the opposite of pain is being normal. Being able to plan my day without taking into consideration where my body is at or where it will soon be at. The opposite of pain is being able to do the things you love without discomfort, without fear of discomfort. The absolutely opposite of pain is going about a normal day and getting home and realizing pain actually did not creep into your head even once.

It struck me that this is what we are made of. This is what we are all capable of. It’s what wakes us up in the morning and gets us out of bed, despite the agony and enrage of the pain body. This is what makes us able to live, despite the painiac alongside you. This is what can help us thrive and not just survive.

The reason why I like this exercise is that, if only for a few moments, it shifts our attention to the other side of pain. It gave pain a companion instead of an adversary. It allows us to identify the reality of the opposite of pain, and invites us to find it within ourselves.

What if we spent more time in the tiny moments in life? It’s in those tiny moments where I believe the opposite of pain resides. What will happen if we listen to the opposite of pain? Can you imagine how that would make us feel if we spent more time leaning into the parts of us that are thriving? What would that look like?

So, dear reader, now it’s your turn.

What do think is the opposite of pain and where does it live within you?

Let me know in the comment section below. I encourage you to ask your friend, or other loved ones. Their answers may surprise you as much as your own will.


Statistical Designs and Methods for Double-Sampling for HIV/AIDS

Associate Name: Constantine Frangakis

Funding Source/Period of the Grant: NIAID R01 01/15/13-12/31/17

Accurate evaluation of programs that treat and monitor HIV/AIDS patients around the world is central for fighting the epidemic. A major obstacle for program evaluation is patient dropout. An important such program is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The US has been sponsoring PEPFAR ($63 billion for 2004-2013), and methods to accurately estimate patient survival are central to guide US management of the program. However, PEPFAR experiences high dropout rates (e.g., 39% in two years). Standard survival methods use only the observed non-dropout data, with no objective information for the dropouts. Such methods can be severely biased when dropout patients differ from nondropouts after accounting for observed information. To provide valid evaluation, in earlier work we have used a richer design known as "double-sampling". This design re-allocates increased resources to target, intensively pursue and find a subset of the dropouts. These double-sampled dropouts are intended to represent the non-double-sampled dropouts, and to provide objective information for the entire cohort. Although standard methods have been known for double-sampling in surveys, we have shown earlier that standard survival methods fail when double-sampling is used in continuous enrollment programs such as PEPFAR. Also, we have shown earlier that standard evaluation without double-sampling can dramatically underestimate mortality in PEPFAR by a factor of 5. The proposed methods will build on our earlier work with the framework of "principal stratification". The success of that framework increases the potential impact of this proposal. The proposed new methods are developed for three specific aims, motivated by PEPFAR in East Africa. (Aim 1). Develop methods to estimate the performance of follow-up programs by using data from a given double- sampling design. In this aim we will develop methods to estimate survival from double-sampling designs that select patients based on their history characteristics before dropout. This is also important for the next two aims. (Aim 2). Develop methods to create double-sampling designs that produce most accurate estimation of a pro- gram's performance given fixed resources. Evidence shows that information specific to a patient is important for what double-sampling designs provide best information about a program. Here, we will create patient-dependent double-sampling designs that maximize the accuracy given resources to estimate survival in such programs. (Aim 3). Develop double-sampling designs to best target clinical goals. Aim 1 can use the dropout patients' clinical history to predict those with highest mortality risk. These predictions can constrain the design to ensure to double-sample all such patients to better serve them medically. In Aim 3, we will create designs that maximize the accuracy of estimation and best benefit patients (From NIH Report).


Though the personal injury timeline follows a basic sequence, it’s not linear and it’s not speedy. All legal proceedings are time consuming, but personal injury cases are particularly so. It’s an arduous process gathering all the facts. Researching, compiling medical evidence, and speaking with physicians and other experts, and keeping it all organized requires close attention to detail.

And then there are the insurance companies. There is hardly a personal injury case that can avoid dealing with them at some point along the way. Cutting through their red tape involves several cycles of ask, wait, and review before you have everything you need. Finally, once the lawsuit is filed, there is a lot of back-and-forth between attorneys, clerks, and experts and that means lots of waiting.

But you shouldn’t rush the process. When you are the victim of an accident, sometimes the only way to find closure and receive justice is for the legal system to compel appropriate action. The good news is, an experienced personal injury attorney knows how to navigate this system and can patiently guide you through the lengthy and complex process. Our personal injury lawyers have handled over 2700 cases, so we like to think we are very well equipped to successfully handle 99% of all personal injury cases.

So here are the main stages of a typical personal injury timeline.

The most important thing to do after your accident is to see a physician. The best idea is to see your doctor on the same day as your accident, even if you don’t think you were hurt. In car accidents, some of the most severe injuries are internal and go unnoticed. A doctor will know what to look for, what injuries are typical in various types of accidents, and what you should do to take care of yourself. Be sure your treatment is documented carefully. This will be the beginning of a long paper trail leading from your accident to a settlement or judgment in your favor.

Consult with an attorney right after you seek medical treatment. Every day that passes between you and your accident is another chance to forget important details. In your initial consultation, you’ll tell your attorney what happened and they’ll ask you questions to get as much information as possible. It is a good idea to bring relevant documents that can confirm any information you provide. This is how he or she will assess the strength of your case and decide how best to proceed. Personal injury firms handle consultations in various ways. Some charge a nominal fee, but most will meet with you for free and operate on a contingency basis. That means they don’t get paid until you receive compensation.

After the initial consultation, the attorney will either take your case, ask to consider it for a short time, refer you to another attorney, or refuse to take it altogether. Once an attorney takes your case and an agreement is reached about legal fees, a letter of representation is served to the insurance company and the defendants. The lawyer will then start investigating your claim.

Before a lawsuit is filed, your attorney will do as much investigating as possible to prepare your claim. It’s important to do this now while you still have control of the timeline. Once a lawsuit is filed, outside parties (insurance companies and opposing counsel) can create more work and run up more legal fees for you. Tapping the brakes at this stage allows your lawyer to research every detail of your case at a pace that will prevent him or her from missing anything important. Included in this phase is a letter of representation that your lawyer will send to the defendant’s attorney, the insurance companies involved, or any other parties from whom your side needs information.

After your lawyer has a pretty clear picture of your claim, he or she will draft a letter to be sent to the party responsible for your accident. This will be a lengthy and specific letter outlining the facts of your case, liability as determined by your attorney, any medical treatment you required, and any additional damages sustained in the accident.

Also in this letter is an itemization of demands enumerating your expectations for compensation, exhibits of any documents (like medical bills), and a deadline for responding to the demands. This is the jumping off point for negotiating a possible settlement and the final step before filing a lawsuit. If you can reach a settlement at this time, consider yourself lucky. Your personal injury timeline will have been shorter than most.

If no settlement can be negotiated, the next step is to file a lawsuit. Your lawyer will prepare a legal complaint which outlines the parties involved, what transpired from your point-of-view, the legal basis for your grievance, and what you are seeking in the way of compensation.

Some time later, the defendant is served a summons, a notification from the court that they are being sued. It will include your petition and a deadline for responding. Answering your claim is done by admitting, denying, or claiming insufficient information to do either. They may also answer with a counterclaim (an explanation for why you are at fault), an affirmative defense (a legal reason why they aren’t liable), or a motion to dismiss based on any of the above. Then you have a designated amount of time to answer the defendant.

This series of exchanges can require several months, mountains of paperwork, and plenty of waiting.

Now both sides will be gathering facts about the case. The first step in this fact-finding mission is interrogatories. These are questions that each party poses in writing to the opposing side. Knowing the right questions to ask is critical. Your personal injury attorney will prepare this document and will help you answer (or not answer, if appropriate) the interrogatories posed by the defense.

Next, both sides will be asked to produce all documents related to the lawsuit such as accident reports, medical records (which you may be asked to authorize), electronic communications, or anything else that will be used in preparing their cases.

Oral depositions follow. These are sworn statements in an informal setting, probably an attorney’s office, used to build both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s cases before trial. Your attorney will ask specific questions of the defendant and will advise you of how and when to answer questions when you are deposed by the defense.

At some point during the discovery process, the defendant’s attorney will likely ask you to be examined by a physician of their choosing. Legally, all findings, experts, and the subjects about which they will testify must be disclosed to the opposition.

Even at this stage, there are still a few ways to avoid the inside of a courtroom. First, many states require parties to go through mediation before a case goes to trial. This is a conference conducted by a judge or other neutral party in which both sides attempt to settle the case a trial. If mediation is successful, the mediator writes up the terms of the settlement and everyone signs.

Sometimes, a judge will dismiss a case. Reasons for dismissal include failure by either party to adhere to the process or timeline, lack of jurisdiction by the court, or failure by the plaintiff to prove that there is a claim.

If mediation fails and the case isn’t dismissed, the matter proceeds to trial. All of the facts and testimony compiled up to that point are presented in court before a judge and/or jury. Personal injury trials can take anywhere from four days to three weeks including a jury deliberation. The judgement will be delivered at the end of the trial.

The better your attorney’s reputation, the more likely you are to reach a settlement before your case goes to trial. However, rushing to settle before you have had an opportunity to realize the full impact the accident, both physical and financial, is a mistake. In most cases, and definitely at RDPA, your lawyer isn’t being paid by the hour so they aren’t lining their pocket by stretching your case out longer than necessary. Their primary goal is to help you navigate the personal injury timeline efficiently but thoroughly and secure the best compensation and medical care for you in the aftermath of your accident.

Call (413) 746-4400


Predicting the Outcome of the Presidential Election

(WHNT) - WHNT NEWS 19's Carson Clark looks at different sporting events, and how their outcomes tend to be predictors for the Presidential Election.


FREE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY - Dissertations, online materials

«A Monograph Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the ...»

-- [ Page 3 ] --

He arrived in Cumaná, Venezuela, on July 16, 1799. His first days in this new land were sensory shocks for Humboldt as he experienced new smells, saw half-Indians, and exotic animals such as electric eels, blue crabs, and armadillos. He was also amazed by the plants and their rate of growth sizes, “trees with enormous leaves and sweet smelling flowers as big as your hand, all utterly new to us.”2 The people of Cumaná were as fascinated with his instruments as he was 2 Douglas Botting, Humboldt and the Cosmos (New York: Harper & Row, 1873), 77.

–  –  –

telescope to see the moon spots and letting the ladies use his microscope to inspect lice. In turn, almost every night Humboldt was invited to dances and he learned the local musical rhythms like the samba, the animalito, and the Congo minuet, which was of African influence. Moreover, in Cumaná, Humboldt became fascinated with the night sky and the prevalence of Venus on the night’s brilliance. Humboldt wrote that one could read at night by the light of Venus and that Venus played the role of the moon.3 He was also awestruck by the haloes of rainbow color that Venus showed at night. In contrast to Venus’ beauty, the slavery of Cumaná revolted Humboldt and he was forced to watch as black young men were sold on the town square. He noted that these Spanish slaves were better treated that slaves elsewhere, but he stilled disliked the practice.

–  –  –

3 Douglas Botting, Humboldt and the Cosmos (New York: Harper & Row, 1873), 78.

4 Wikipedia, Alexander von Humboldt, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_von_Humboldt

–  –  –

he met the Spanish missionaries who lived with the Chayma Indians; although these missionaries knew that Humboldt came from a protestant region of Germany, to Humboldt’s surprise, they made no remarks to him about it. Before returning to Cumaná, Humboldt explored the legendary cave locally known as “The mine of fat” or “Cueva del Guácharo.” The locals mentioned that a mysterious oilbird resided in this cave and Humboldt set out with Indian guides and most of the monastery’s population to explore the cave. They shot one of the Guácharo birds for closer examination and Humboldt remarked that it was an entirely new species. Humboldt named it Steatornis caripensis. This bird was the size of a crow, had long wings (3.5 feet) and strong beaks, and the younger birds had a thick cushion of edible fat in their legs, which the Indians used for cooking. Humboldt also witnessed strange plants, the seeds of which the birds brought inside; these plants were pale and deformed from the lack of photosynthesis.

After returning to Cumaná in November, he witnessed a solar eclipse, an earthquake, and a meteor shower, all of which he documented extensively. The morning of the solar eclipse, Humboldt spent much time watching the event through an incredible heat. He refused to stop looking even though his metallic instruments reached a temperature of 124º and his face was badly burned. He was forced inside and it took him two days to recover before he went outside again.

The earthquake was an unforgettable experience for Humboldt, not from a fear of death, but from its novelty as he had never experienced one. During the event, Humboldt was coolheaded enough to look at his magnetic needle, which reduced by more than 1º. He wrote that it wasn’t an undulation but an upwards/downwards movement.

–  –  –

quarter of an hour after sunrise. Humboldt arose to “enjoy the freshness of the air,”5 when he was astonished to notice that fireballs were raining from the sky. Thousands of meteorites, with brilliant-white nuclei and long luminous traces, rocketed through the sky. Humboldt discovered much later that the event was witnessed over one million square miles. Missionaries in Brazil, a count in Cayenne, astronomers in Florida, a vicar in Weimar, and Eskimos in Labrador and Greenland observed the event. Now known and celebrated in the history of astronomy as the “Leonids,” Humboldt’s precise documentation was used as a starting point for research into the nature and periodicity of asteroids.6 On November 16th, Humboldt left by sea for Venezuela’s capital Caracas. Although he had spent but four months in Cumaná, he felt as if it had been his home for years and later in life he recalled, “This was the first spot we set foot on in a land I had been dreaming about since I was a boy… In my mind’s eye it is not to all the wonders of the Cordilleras that I return most often, but to Cumaná and its dusty soil.”7 Humboldt’s two and a half months’ stay in Caracas was spent in a large and comfortable house situated in the most fashionable part of town and overlooking the Plaza de la Trinidad.

Much of Caracas’ population of 40,000 people was well educated and cultured, and especially appreciated music. Humboldt heard the latest trends from Europe including Mozart, Haydn, Pleyel, and others played in the gardens of Chacao, an open air theater. Caracans warmly welcomed Humboldt, however he was careful not to involve himself too much in politics. He was aware of the underground need for change and, even though he agreed with the revolutionary cause for freedom, he enjoyed both Criollos (those born in Venezuela) and 5 Botting, Humboldt and the Cosmos, 90.

6 Ibid, 91.

7 Ibid, 90.

–  –  –

opinions. His only commitment to Spanish America was to its geophysical phenomena.

The rest of Humboldt’s passing through Venezuela was spent travelling through the coastline and then farther inland towards the river Orinoco. While on the coast he passed through the coastal town of Puerto Cabello and visited Lake Valencia further inland. The coastal towns at the time enjoyed most of the advantages of 18th century civilization. Farther inland in the plains, Los Llanos, people lived a more ancient and pastoral life. And further south in the forests, savage Indians still lived under the tentative rule of Franciscan missionaries, and had lived in an unchanged state since the time of Columbus. Humboldt desired to dispel the existence of rumor that was not actually documented or believed by geographers of the time: a connection between the Orinoco and the Amazon rivers.

Humboldt traversed the Llanos – a vast plain, “bigger than France and almost as big as Texas”8 – before reaching the jungle. Nothing but land stretched as far as the eye could see.

Done on a very hot season with a scarcity of trees big enough to provide shade, this trek through the plains meant that Humboldt suffered severe burns; they often travelled through the night to make the trip more bearable. The water supply was especially a problem and the travelers drank stinking-yellow-puddle water that they filtered through a linen cloth. When they reached the dusty cattle-trading station of Calabozo, they studied electric eels. Humboldt captured five and dissected them and proposed questions such as why did the animal not electrocute itself. He also revealed that the electric discharge was not visible on a dark room, it did not register on his

–  –  –

In March of 1800, Humboldt completed the crossing of the Llanos and arrived at the San Fernando village, the capital of the Capuchin Missions located in the province of Varinas. This small village, founded in 1790, was strategically located on the Apure River, an important tributary of the Orinoco River. San Fernando was notable for the heat throughout the year. They obtained large canoes that the Spanish called “Lanchas,” and required four Indians to paddle;

these canoes were considered luxurious when compared to later means of transportation. Almost all of the available space in the canoe was taken up with Humboldt’s scientific instruments, a little scientific library, firearms that were almost useless in the damp climate, and provisions for a month. They were aware that their expedition through the jungle would take longer than a month, but they were mistakenly confident that a place as fertile as the Amazon would be rich with game; their trek through the Amazon took three months and their supplies were destroyed by insects and rain shortly after departing.

The first part of their journey eastward down the Apure, then southward along the Orinoco, took them to the natural barrier of the Atures and Maipures rapids, known as the Great Cataracts. Beyond the Cataracts lay terra incognita, a land only seen by a handful of soldiers and conquering priests, and inhabited, then as it is now, by no more than a few scattered tribes of wild Indians and a few isolated missionaries. From there on, Humboldt and his crew spent most of the time in their canoe.

–  –  –

observed as a sort of huge riverine zoo. He was constantly treated to wonderful close views of birds, animals, and insects of every conceivable variety. Flocks of birds were so numerous that looked like clouds in the sky. He saw bands of fifty to sixty capybaras, the largest rodent in the world, paddling like dogs along the river, and fresh water dolphins swam alongside their canoe.

9 Rainforest Foundation, South American rivers map: http://www.rainforestfoundation.org/

–  –  –

see five or more alligators lying motionless on the coast with their jaws wide open. At night, parrots and howling monkeys awakened them. They made a brief stop at an island where they encountered about 300 Indians of different tribes who were there to harvest turtle eggs used to make oil.

Shortly after leaving the island and the captain’s almost sinking the canoe, they found another encampment of egg-harvesters. There they met Father Bernardo Zea, a missionary who agreed to guide them through the Rio Negro. They had to abandon the big lancha for a smaller canoe to navigate the rapids. This new canoe, their home for the next two months, was made out of a single hollowed out tree trunk; it was forty feet long and less than three feet wide, and it capsized if they stood without warning. This structure was stiflingly hot during the day and filled with mosquitoes at night. All instruments were stored in trunks and they had to paddle ashore every time they wanted to retrieve one. This proved uncomfortable for the Europeans, but they endured the conditions with a good sense of humor and tenacity.

They departed in their new canoe on the 10th of April, 1800. The Indians had to paddle against rising water levels and stronger currents that the rainy season had brought. Humboldt was amazed by the endurance of the Indians, who paddled one day for twelve and a half hours straight. When they reached the Great Cataracts on the 15th of April, they traveled forty miles by land to avoid the violent rapids that stemmed from the Cataracts. This trek proved challenging, not because of snakes, jaguars, and crocodiles, but because of insects that bit their bodies and got inside their mouths and nostrils. They were amazed by the Cataracts, however, and never tired of gazing down on them from the top of a nearby hill; and the deafening sound of the rushing water was especially loud at night. This land beyond the Cataracts was a source of mystery and in the

–  –  –

ventured along its lower reaches in search of El Dorado, only stories from the Indians were known. Tales of men with dog heads and mouths below their navels and eyes in their forehead were propagated in the civilized world.

Back on the boats on the 21st of April, Humboldt busied himself measuring ground, air, and river temperatures, as well as barometric pressure, magnetic dip, and longitude/latitude.

On the night of April 24, they reached the bifurcation of the Orinoco and Atabapo rivers. They veered right to the Atabapo River, a so-called black river, in search of the connection with the Orinoco/Amazon Rivers. In a letter to King Carlos IV in Madrid, Humboldt wrote that this coveted connection would make the communications much easier between the Portuguese possessions on the Amazon and the Spanish ones on the Orinoco.

When they awoke the next morning, it was as though they were in a different country.

The mosquitoes disappeared overnight; the color of the Orinoco water had been muddy and musky and Humboldt used his linen to filter the water, while the water of the Atabapo was pure, cool, odorless, and delicious to drink. They spotted small fish at a depth of twenty feet and sometimes could see the bottom of the river. “Nothing,” Humboldt wrote, “can be compared to the beauty of the Atrapo.10” They spent six days traversing the Atrapo and on occasion, anacondas fourteen-foot-long swam alongside the canoe. They also witnessed a spectacle in which they were surrounded by fresh-water dolphins that blew spouts of compressed air and water. The Atrapo River did not connect with the Pimichin River, which connected to the Rio Negro, so they traversed the land on foot. Again, the Indians carried the canoe for four days and 10 Botting, Humboldt and the Cosmos, 22.

–  –  –

to Humboldt, has the most twists and turns of any river in America with a total of eighty-five bends. Although they went with the current, this stretch took four and a half hours of paddling to reach the Rio Negro, the most beautiful of all the Amazon rivers. This great, successful moment of their thirty-six day expedition in a narrow canoe, bitten by insects, soaked by storms, endangered by rapids and falls, took them closer to their goal. Nevertheless, hundreds of miles of dangerous waters lay in front of them before reaching their journey’s end.

Similar works:

«EC-LEDS ENHANCING CAPACITY FOR LOW EMISSION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY RENEWABLE ENERGY OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT FOR USAID MEXICO November 2015 Andrea Watson, Ricardo Bracho, Rachel Romero, Megan Mercer EC-LEDS is managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Department of State with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Forest Service. Printed with a...»

«“Creating future innovators and impact for education, industry, the professions and society” Nottingham Trent University Doctoral School School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences PhD Projects 2016 Welcome to the Nottingham Trent University Doctoral School The Doctoral School provides a supportive environment and a thriving research culture that encourages you to reach your full potential as a research degree student. Valuing ideas, enriching society We encourage new ideas and new...»

<<  HOME   |    CONTACTS
2016 www.dissertation.xlibx.info - Dissertations, online materials


6 Ways To Bring Your A-Game To Marriage Counseling (And Save Your Relationship)

Photo: WeHeartIt
Make marriage counseling work
Love, Sex

Help make this experience a success.

What can you do to improve the chances of couples therapy being worth the time and money you put into it? In other words, what makes marriage counseling work?

Of course, you need the help of a skilled marriage therapist but aside from that, there are several things you can do to help make your marriage counseling a success.

1. Have more goals for yourself than for your partner.

Yes, you want your partner to change or you wouldn't need therapy, but working on yourself while your partner is present is probably the most effective way to have a positive impact on your marriage. Focusing exclusively on what your partner needs to change simply doesn't work. Ultimately, you don't get what you want.

And what is it that you want? Recalling your early expectations from the beginning of your relationship will help you visualize what it is you want — your ideal picture of the relationship.

What hinders you from being that better person? Where are your weak points? When you're stressed, do you try to control, nag, or whine? Do you avoid and withdraw? The answers to these questions will make up your goals in therapy.

Don’t worry, a good marriage counselor will make sure that each of you is doing work — not just you!

2. Put yourself out there.

This tip actually might save you months and months of therapy time: try to get to the feelings behind the feelings. Often what we feel on an obvious level in a marriage is anger, annoyance, resentment, and judgment.

Any resistance you feel toward cooperating could be an indication that you've been avoiding certain thoughts and feelings. Maybe there is some grudge or resentment you've never been able to admit to yourself, let alone openly express.

Once you get the courage to let yourself feel more vulnerable showing what's beneath, in front of your partner, it will likely create empathy and compassion in them. Your therapist will help make sure that the session is a safe space to do this.

3. Put in the time.

However, what happens in between the sessions is just as (if not more) important. You both have to make some time to spend with each other, without distraction, and create a reliable space in your life for each other that you or your partner don't have to beg for. But it's quality, not quantity that counts.

4. Give your partner the benefit of the doubt.

We tend to jump to conclusions, especially with people we know well. However, there's a good chance that you've made some assumptions about your partner's motives that aren't true, and vice versa.

5. Find your independence.

Marriage was never meant to fulfill all of our needs. Even in the best of relationships, there will be times when you're bored, lonely, have the blues, worry, or feel ashamed.

Maybe you'll catch your partner at a good moment and they will be able to assure you, but maybe you won't. Rather than being a half person who is only complete by your partner, strive to find yourself and be your own full person. That might mean learning some things you can do for yourself, outside of your relationship.

6. Take divorce off the table — at least for now.

Don't worry, that's very common. But, consider this: It is very difficult to instill hope for the relationship when the death of the relationship is constantly looming above it.

The question isn't whether you're committed for life, but whether you both can commit right now to working hard on your relationship by taking permanent separation off the table for the time being.

This article was originally published at Good Therapy. Reprinted with permission from the author.


Can chronic insomnia lead to Alzheimer's?

Can chronic insomnia lead to Alzheimer’s?

Sleep is one of the most important safety mechanisms the body has in protecting itself from a vast array of both physical and mental disorder. Yet it has been stated that as many as 58% of American adults currently suffer from mild to chronic insomnia and/or sleep related disorders.

While many people experience periodic bouts of insomnia, which generally range from a few weeks to a month, caused by such things as jet lag, forced overtime at work or work-related stress, money problems and other life problems, including hormonal changes in women brought on by pregnancy, PMS and menopause, chronic insomnia lasts longer and is often connected to health problems.

Health conditions such as heart, liver and pancreatic diseases, as well as chronic pain, diabetes, restless leg syndrome, breathing problems and sleep apnea can cause both men and women to wake up repeatedly during the night. In addition, over-the-counter drugs and prescription meds (such as those used to control blood pressure, as well as heart drugs, and thyroid hormones) can also result in disruptive sleep patterns.

Yet, while mental illness such as depression and anxiety, as well as PTDS, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, etc. have all been deemed to contribute to sleeplessness, researcher Jeffrey Iliff and his colleagues at Oregon Health and Science University have actually found evidence that poor sleep can actually lead to Alzheimer’s disease, rather than the other way around as previously thought.

If proven correct, their studies may eventually help determine who is most vulnerable to the disease down the road using Magnetic Resonance Imaging to detect when the brain’s glymphatic system is activated to remove waste and toxins from the brain by re-circulating cerebrospinal fluid during deep sleep cycles. These include amyloid (which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease).

Alzheimer’s is marked by the build-up of plaque and tangles in the brain, eventually resulting in neurological damage. Early symptoms include short-term memory loss, followed by disorientation, motivational loss, moodiness, impaired language, cognitive loss and behavioral problems.

In the meantime, researchers at the American Academy of Neurology led by Dr. Rebecca Gelber, from the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute in Honolulu found that men with decreased levels of oxygen in their blood while sleeping, were “4-times as likely to develop areas off cell loss and dead tissue in the brain caused by microscopic strokes (mini-infarcts), as opposed to those who experienced more time in restorative slow wave sleep cycles.” Micro-infarct lesions and brain atrophy are considered the hallmark of Alzheimer‘s disease, and ultimately dementia.

About Diana Duel

Check Also

babies for barista

Babies for baristas

Starbucks has announced a new type of perk for its employees. While the Starbucks’ corporate …

error: Content is protected !!


companion diagnostics

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia.

companion diagnostics

Laboratory tests and test kits used to determine the suitability of patients for tailored or targeted forms of therapy, e.g., therapies that act on unique biochemical pathways or that require specific genotypes or mutations.
See also: diagnostics

Genetic Testing

Synonym/acronym: Related terms: personalized medicine, companion diagnostics, molecular diagnostics.

Common use

To assist in the identification of genetic mutations with implications regarding health and treatment decisions.

The facility or testing laboratory should be contacted regarding specimen collection requirements. Possible specimen types include whole blood, buccal samples, and tissue samples.

Normal findings

Method: Methods are specific to the study of interest and preferred specimen type. Methods include polymerase chain reaction (PCR), immunohistochemical assay, DNA probe using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), gene amplification using chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH), cell culture with karyotyping. Absence of findings consistent with genetic abnormalities related to disease or the ability to metabolize medications normally.

Genetic testing has become an important piece of the continuously evolving health-care model. It is now possible to identify diseases before symptoms appear, predict the likelihood of disease development, and implement lifestyle or therapeutic interventions that will reduce or eliminate the effects of disease. Closer investigation into the nature of disease has sometimes revealed a more complex set of interactions than what was previously understood. While human DNA has similarities, there are also many individual differences. Additionally, there are numerous factors such as diet, activity, environment, and stress levels that contribute to variations between one individual and another. These factors in combination with our genetic makeup impact our tendency toward the development of illnesses. Technologies made possible through the accomplishments of the Human Genome Project and a multitude of findings from other collaborative research efforts have resulted in an explosion of diagnostic and prognostic information. The subspecialty of microbiology has been revolutionized by molecular diagnostics. Molecular diagnostics involves the identification of specific sequences of DNA. Molecular methods are used to help identify pathogens that were previously undetectable or inconsistently identified by the culture and biochemical methods available at the time. Molecular methods are also used to examine human samples for genetic disorders that are the result of both simple and complex mutations. Areas of great interest and active development related to genetic testing are in microbiology, virology, oncology, and the development of pharmaceuticals. Diagnostic and biotechnology companies are developing assays to identify gene sequences that code for proteins associated with a specific disease. Notable examples include the following:

  • Mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene: The gene encodes a protein (EGFR) associated with many types of cancer including lung, breast, and colorectal cancer.
  • Mutations in the KRAS gene: If mutations are present, specific medications used to treat lung, breast, and colorectal cancers will be rendered ineffective; therefore, other options can more immediately be considered.
  • Mutations in HER-2–NEU gene associated with breast cancer: If mutations are present, the cancer risk can be stratified, survival can be predicted, and selection of treatment options can be made.
  • Mutations in the BRAF gene: If present, the mutations are used to identify patients, with cancers such as melanoma, who might benefit from treatment with specific drugs that are known to be effective.
  • Mutations in the P450 cytochrome series: If present, the mutations are used to predict response to specific drugs—some people will be poor metabolizers (requiring adjustments to higher doses) and some people will be ultrasensitive metabolizers (requiring adjustments to smaller doses).
  • Factor V Leiden mutation: If present, this mutation indicates the person has a higher than normal risk for thromboembolism.
  • Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes: If present, this mutation indicates the person has a high risk for development of hereditary breast or ovarian cancer. This knowledge provides the opportunity to make informed decisions regarding prophylactic mastectomy or oophrectomy.
New assays are either being developed after an effective therapy for the disease has also been developed or at the same time the treatment is being developed, as companion diagnostics. The cost-benefit analysis for the development of companion diagnostics makes a clear case for the simultaneous development of tests and targeted therapies rather than application by trial and error. The companion diagnostics model is based on the development tests that identify diseases or their related pathways, from genetic expression to production and interaction of proteins, and then to development of specific related therapies that are predicted with confidence to be effective.

Personalized medicine is the combination of identifying specific knowledge about an individual’s genetic makeup with customized therapeutics or adjustments in lifestyle, for example, genotyping for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A SNP, or variation of a single nucleic acid in a DNA sequence, has been identified that causes malfunction of an enzyme needed for the metabolism of warfarin. Identification of this genotype has led to the development of algorithms for safe, tailored dosing and administration based on a patient’s genotype, age, weight or body mass index (BMI), and gender. Personalization can also be achieved in the customized production or compounding of pharmaceuticals with respect to the strength or formulation of the medication. Customized pharmaceuticals are being used to address dosing issues revealed by the presence of mutations in the CYP 450 series; adverse drug reactions either by undermedication or overmedication are sometimes the result of genetic programming rather than a medication error.

The System Tables at the back of the book designate the individual monographs that contain information regarding specific genetic testing.

This procedure is contraindicated for

  • high alert Patients who are not capable of comprehending information presented in the pre- and post-testing genetic counseling sessions. The test should not be performed if the parents of an affected born or unborn child, or if the patient himself or herself, is not emotionally capable of understanding the test results and managing the ramifications of the test results. Written and informed consent, in combination with additional education and a support system, are crucial in order to prepare the patient to make life-altering decisions.

  • Assist in confirming the diagnosis of conditions associated with genetic disorders before or after associated symptoms are manifested.
  • Assist in determining drug selection and appropriate dosing on an individual basis.
  • Assist in forensic identifications or paternity determinations.
  • Assist in monitoring the efficacy of therapeutic interventions.
  • Determine the probability of passing a heritable disease to unborn children; discuss prenatal planning.
  • Establish a predisposition for the development of certain diseases.
  • Identify matches for organ donation.
  • Identify agents of infectious disease.
  • Provide an explanation of death (e.g., miscarriage, stillbirth).
  • Screen for a genetic disease or condition that may affect an embryo, fetus, or neonate.

Potential diagnosis

Identification of a condition or disease based on the results of specific genetic testing. Identification or disqualification of therapies related to a condition or disease based on the results of specific genetic testing.

Critical findings

  • N/A

Interfering factors

  • Proper specimen handling and transport are crucial in order to provide accurate results. The laboratory should be consulted regarding specific instructions prior to specimen collection, especially since tissue specimens are considered irretrievable.

Nursing Implications and Procedure

Potential nursing problems

  • Patient Teaching: Inform the patient this test can assist in assessing for infection or disease using genetic testing.
  • Obtain a history of the patient’s immune and related systems, symptoms, and results of previously performed laboratory tests and diagnostic and surgical procedures.
  • Review the procedure with the patient. Inform the patient that several tests may be necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Inform the patient that specimen collection depends on the type of specimen required for testing. Address concerns about pain and explain that there may be some discomfort during specimen collection. (See related monographs for specific information.)
  • See the related monographs regarding special instructions for patient preparation.
  • Make sure a written and informed consent, if required, has been signed prior to specimen collection.

  • Potential complications: N/A
  • Contact the testing laboratory prior to specimen collection in order to obtain accurate information regarding specimen collection containers, sample volumes, and specific transport instructions.
  • Observe standard precautions, and follow the general guidelines in Patient Preparation and Specimen Collection. Positively identify the patient, and label the appropriate specimen container with the corresponding patient demographics, initials of the person collecting the specimen, date, and time of collection. Collect the appropriate specimen as described in the related body fluid analysis or culture monograph. The facility or testing laboratory should be contacted for guidelines regarding specimen collection requirements, and specimen packaging and shipping instructions.
  • Perform a venipuncture if blood is the specimen required for testing. Remove the needle and apply direct pressure with dry gauze to stop bleeding. Observe/assess venipuncture site for bleeding or hematoma formation, and secure gauze with adhesive bandage.

  • Recognize anxiety related to test results, and provide emotional support if results are positive. Discuss the implications of abnormal test results on the patient’s lifestyle. Provide teaching and information regarding the clinical implications of the test results, as appropriate. Educate the patient regarding access to counseling services.
  • Note that depending on the results of this procedure, additional testing may be performed to evaluate or monitor progression of the disease process and determine the need for a change in therapy. Evaluate test results in relation to the patient’s symptoms and other tests performed. Emphasize the need to return to have additional samples taken, if ordered. Answer any questions or address any concerns voiced by the patient or family.
  • Patient Education

  • Expected Patient Outcomes

Related Monographs

  • Related tests include α1-antitrypsin, Alzheimer’s disease markers, amino acid screen blood & urine, amniotic fluid analysis, antibodies gliadin, anticonvulsant drugs, antidepressant drugs, antipsychotic drugs, biopsy breast, biopsy chorionic villus, biopsy skin, biopsy thyroid, bladder cancer markers, cancer antigens, CD4/CD8 enumeration, chlamydia group antibody, chloride sweat, chromosome analysis, coagulation factors, CBC platelet count, culture and smear mycobacteria, culture bacterial (anal/genital, ear, eye, skin, and wound), cytomegalovirus, fecal analysis, glucose, group A strep screen, hexosaminidase A & B, human leukocyte antigen B27, immunosuppressant drugs, leukocyte alkaline phosphatase enzyme, newborn screening, parvovirus B19, prothrombin time and INR, red blood cell cholinesterase, and varicella antibodies.
  • Refer to the Gastrointestinal, Genitouri-nary, Hematopoietic, Hepatobiliary, Immune, Musculoskeletal, and Respiratory System tables at the end of the book for related tests by body system.
Mentioned in ?
References in periodicals archive ?
QIAGEN also is a global leader in developing companion diagnostics for next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms.
MolecularMD was recently informed by the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health that its BCR-ABL T315I Mutation Test is no longer considered to be a companion diagnostic test for ponatinib.
Globally, QIAGEN is at the forefront in developing companion diagnostics to guide the selection of medicines for cancer and other diseases.
Learn how competitor companies approach and manage companion diagnostics development.
Based on different test technologies including immunohistochemistry (IHC) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Apogenix and R-Biopharm will develop patient-stratifying companion diagnostic tests to identify glioblastoma patients who are most likely to benefit from treatment with APG101.
But drug manufacturers develop companion diagnostics to identify patients who best fit their products, which helps increase market uptake and shortens the timeline to peak annual sales.
This report describes the current technologies that are propelling the personalized medicine and companion diagnostic market.
The healthcare sector is witnessing a revolution and companion diagnostics or personalized medicine is taking the center stage.
This TriMark Publications report examines the use of companion diagnostics in personalized medicine and cancer therapy.
We are pleased to expand our relationship with Astellas with this master companion diagnostic agreement, which allows our collaborative projects to quickly move from early stage biomarker hypothesis testing to late stage companion diagnostic development with Astellas' targeted therapies in oncology," said Doug Ward, Vice President, Ventana Companion Diagnostics.
Today's announcement underscores Dako and Agilent's continued commitment to advancing companion diagnostics through strong partnerships with key players in the pharmaceutical industry.
The Clinical Laboratory Division has a growing test portfolio providing companion diagnostics and high technology molecular assays.

Full browser ?


For a better experience on MUBI, update your browser.
3,527 Ratings

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Angst essen Seele auf

West Germany, 1974

An almost accidental romance is kindled between a German woman in her mid-sixties and a Moroccan migrant worker around twenty-five years younger. These two people separated by age and race abruptly decide to marry, appalling everyone around them.

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Awards & Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

1974 | 2 wins including: FIPRESCI Prize

Chicago International Film Festival

1974 | Winner: Best Feature (Silver Hugo)

German Film Awards

1974 | Winner: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Gold)

What are people saying?


Drawing vegetation: Hand-drawn outline trees in plan

Drawing the outline of trees is aimed at a more symbolic representation than a realistic.

An outline tree has a solid, opaque appearance. Plant materials and other design elements are usually not shown underneath this kind of symbol.

Check all drawing templates and get a quick start by tracing them.


"Ah, yes, your car. They put it through an MOT when you bought it, did they?”

These are not the words you want to hear from a trusted mechanic when you arrive to collect your car from the service he has just performed on it.

Especially when it’s combined with that pitying, incredulous expression. You know the one. There are holed ships that sink more slowly and less deeply than your heart when it’s pulled.

I shan’t dwell on the specifics. What I want to talk about is familiarity. “Did you notice the ride from the back end was crashy?” I was also asked, while preparing for a larger-than-anticipated bill. Well, yes, of course I did, but this is a 100,524-mile Land Rover Defender, so I didn’t expect anything else. Apparently, I should have.

Elevating the car on a ramp showed the rear damper bushes were shot through. New ones have transformed the ride to the state where it is now merely mildly uncomfortable.

More experience of leggy Defenders would have told me it wasn’t quite right. And now that I know, I am a step closer to understanding the whole, and I feel rather better about things. It is progress.

Knowing the signs, knowing the pitfalls, knowing the cures and slowly, gradually, becoming more of an expert. I feel more attached to my car.

It doesn’t just apply to cars. When my family first kept chickens, we didn’t understand why one would eat and drink but still be giddy and clearly unwell. It’s a nasty feeling, being out of your depth.Having sour crop is worse still for a chicken, I suppose, but once you’ve held a bird upside down and massaged its gullet until it vomits on your shoes, and then it recovers, you both feel rather better about things.

And now I know better, I know how to prevent its onset in the first place. I am undaunted.