14. History

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Source: Wikipedia:

The precise origins of cricket, and even of its name, remain unclear. Some manuscripts from the 12th and 13th centuries show diagrams of early forms of cricket. Written evidence exists for a sport known as creag being played by Prince Edward, the son of Edward I, in England in around 1300.

A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term cricket, which could refer to the bat or the wicket. In old French, the word criquet meant a kind of club which probably gave its name to croquet. Some believe that cricket and croquet have a common origin. In Flemish, krick(e) means a stick, and, in old English, cricc or cryce means a crutch or staff.

Alternatively, the French criquet apparently comes from the Flemish word krickstoel, which is a long low stool on which one kneels in church which may appear similar to the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket, or the early stool in stoolball. The word stool is old Sussex dialect for a tree stump, and stool ball is a sport similar to cricket played by the Dutch.

In certain periods, early forms of cricket were banned in England. For example, a statute of King Edward IV in 1477–8 (17 Edw. IV. c. 3) made the playing of Hands in and hands out illegal because it interfered with the compulsory practice of archery. Later, Oliver Cromwell banned cricket. Cricket was played illegally until 1748, when the Court of Kings Bench decided that cricket was a legal sport and not an illegal game under a 1710 statute of Queen Anne, 9 Anne, c. 19. Cricket similar to its modern organised form began soon thereafter.

Codification of rules

On September 23, 1741, Shock White of Ryegate used a bat fully as wide as a wicket against the Hambledon Club. This prompted the Hambledon Club to record a minute to the effect that the maximum width of a cricket bat be set at four and a quarter inches. Other clubs quickly adopted this standard, using metal gauges to check the size of bats before allowing their use.

The first recorded codification of the rules of cricket is the Code of 1744. This specified that:
the pitch be 22 yards long, the distance between the bowling crease and popping crease be 46 inches,the wicket be 22 inches tall and 6 inches wide,and the ball weigh between 5 and 6 ounces.

The first printed version of the rules printed by W Read in 1775. Then in 1788, the Marylebone Cricket Club published a set of Laws of Cricket, which contained the first complete codification of the rules of the game and the dimensions of the pitch and equipment. Other cricket clubs across England quickly adopted the MCC's Laws and cricket became standardised for the first time. The MCC remains the custodian of the Laws of Cricket to the present day. The laws were re-codified in 1947, 1980 and 2000.

Development of rules

In 1821, the distance between the bowling and popping creases was increased form 46 to 48 inches. On May 10, 1838, the size of a cricket ball was codified for the first time, being a circumference between 9 and 9.5 inches.

By 1853, the cricket bat had been developed into roughly its modern form, being carved from a single piece of willow and attached to a cane handle. In 1864, overam bowling was allowed for the first time. Prior to this, only underarm bowling had been legal. In 1865, creases were painted with whitewash for the first time. Prior to this, the creases were cut into the turf, forming small ditches an inch in width and depth. In 1889 a bowler may change ends as often as he likes in an innings (subject to not bowling two consecutive overs) (previously he could only change ends once or twice); a side could declare its innings closed for the first time.

Deliveries per over

The number of deliveries in each over has changed throughout crickets history. The earliest rules of cricket specified that four balls were bowled in each over.

In 1889 four-ball overs were replaced by five-ball overs, and then in 1900 this was changed to the current six balls an over in 1900. Since then, many countries have experimented with eight balls an over. In 1922 the number of balls per over was changed from six to eight in Australia only. In 1924 the eight ball over was extended to New Zealand and in 1937 to South Africa. The 1947 code allowed six or eight balls depending on the conditions of play.

Since the 1979/80 Australian and New Zealand seasons, the six ball over has been used worldwide and the most recent, 2000, code only permits six ball overs.

One-day cricket

In the 1960s, English county teams began playing a version of cricket with modified rules. Instead of allowing each team two innings and requiring the team to be dismissed in each one, they set up games of only one innings each, and decreed that the innings would be completed when a maximum number of overs had been bowled if they hadnt ended earlier.

This change to the rules allowed a game to be completed within one day. This did not supplant the traditional long format of the game, which continued to be played. Indeed, many cricket fans considered the shorter form of the game to be a corruption of the sport. One-day cricket did however have the advantage of delivering a result to spectators within a single day, thus improving cricket's appeal to younger or busier people.

International cricket

The first ever cricket game played between teams representing their nations was between the USA and Canada in 1844. The match was played at Elysian Field in Hoboken, New Jersey. Meanwhile, in England, county cricket was growing in popularity. In the 1870s, the MCC decided that the next step was to establish international relations with the British colonies, where cricket was becoming more popular as well.

In 1877 James Lillywhite put together a team and set off by ship for a tour of Australia. His team, representing England on foreign soil, played the first Test match against Australia on March 15, 1877, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australia won by 45 runs.On a tour of England in 1882, Australia narrowly beat England by 7 runs in a tense and exciting match, which prompted the Sporting Times to run an obituary lamenting "The Death of English Cricket", with the footnote "N.B. The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia". The following Australian summer, England played a series in Australia which the media played up as a quest to "regain the ashes". A small trophy was created, containing some ashes, and presented to the English captain. Except in times of war, regular series of Test matches between these two countries have continued until this day, playing for the right to hold the Ashes. On March 12, 1888, England played South Africa for the first time in a Test match. The match occurred at St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth, South Africa and established South Africa as the third Test nation.In the 1900 Olympics, cricket made its first and only appearance in it. Two teams competed, France and Britain. The French team consisted of mostly players from the British Embassy. The British team won. However, since the game was specified as being in the Olympics many years later, the players were not aware of the games Olympic status at the time.

On June 15th 1909 representatives from England, Australia and South Africa met at Lords cricket ground in London, England and founded the Imperial Cricket Conference. Membership was confined to teams within the British Commonwealth who played test cricket.In 1912, a "Triangular Tournament" was organised in England, involving South Africa, Australia, and the host nation. It was the first Test series in which more than two countries took part. Though not helped by the weather, the enterprise was an utter disaster and was not repeated.International cricket was suspended for the duration of World War I, although domestic first-class cricket seasons were still played.

Between the wars

One of the most controversial and antagonistic episodes in cricket history occurred during the 1932–33 tour of Australia by England. The so-called Bodyline tour saw England adopt the deliberate tactic of bowling fast, short-pitched balls at the bodies of the Australian batsmen, with the goal of intimidating them into losing their wickets. England won the test series, but at the expense of a lot of ill feeling between the two countries. After this tour, the Laws of Cricket were changed to prevent any recurrence of such tactics. With the outbreak of World War II, international cricket was again suspended until after the war.

Post-war era

After India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the new Pakistani cricket team played their first Test against their Indian counterparts at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, India, on October 16, 1952. This was the first inaugural Test in which England did not play. No new Test teams were to be seen until the 1980s. At that time Pakistan included current day Bangladesh, which did not become independent until 1971.

Suspension of South Africa (1970-1991)

In 1961 South Africa left the Commonwealth and so had to leave the ICC. Then throughout the 1960s the world was becoming increasingly concerned about the policy of racial segregation, or apartheid adopted by the South African government.

This started to come to a head in 1968 with the D'Oliveira affair. Basil D'Oliveira was a cape coloured cricketer. He had moved to England to further his career and taken British citizenship. He was widely tipped to be selected for the English team to tour South Africa in the winter of 1968/69, especially after scoring 158 in the final test against Australia. But he was first omitted from the team, apparently because his race would upset the South Africans. This caused an outcry in the English media, and when a selected player had to pull out through injury, D'Oliveira was selected to take his place. When John Vorster, the South African prime minister, refused DOliveira a visa to enter South Africa, England called off the tour.

Then in 1970, the member nations of the International Cricket Conference, as the ICC was then known, voted to suspend indefinitely South Africa from international cricket competition. South Africa had played its last Test against Australia on March 5 to March 10, 1970, at Port Elizabeth, and they were regarded by many as the strongest team in the world. Then South Africa were due to tour England over the English summer. So that the English did not miss out on international cricket, the ICC hastily arranged a five match England v Rest of World series. This series was later stripped of test match status as it was not between two separate countries.

South Africas suspension resulted in the Test careers of several fine players being cut short, most notably Barry Richards and Graham Pollock. South Africa continued playing domestic cricket within the country, and its players remained strong. In 1974, the South African Cricket Board of Control applied for re-admission to international cricket, and was refused by the ICC.

Starved of top-level competition for its best players, the board began funding so-called rebel tours, offering large sums of money for international players to form teams and tour South Africa. The ICC's response was to blacklist any rebel players who agreed to tour South Africa, banning them from officially sanctioned international cricket. As players were remunerated poorly during the 1970s, several accepted the offer to tour South Africa, particularly players towards the end of their careers, where a blacklisting would have little effect.

The rebel tours were widely condemned by the cricket establishment as offering support and succour to South Africa's apartheid regime, and some members of the press supported this view. Others claimed that the old maxim that "sport and politics do not mix" applied and saw no harm in having a sporting contest with citizens of an oppressive government. Rebel tours continued into the 1980s, including a high profile English teams led by Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting and West Indian and Australian sides.

World Cup

The first one-day international match took place in Melbourne in 1971, as a time-filler after a Test match had been abandoned because of heavy rain on the opening days. It was tried simply as an experiment and to give the players some exercise, but turned out to be immensely popular. One-day internationals have since grown to become the most popular form of the game.

One-day internationals proved so popular so quickly that the International Cricket Council organised the first Cricket World Cup in 1975, pitting all the Test nations against one another in a series of one-day games, hosted in England. The West Indies beat Australia in a thrilling final that cemented the popularity of the short form of cricket and led to World Cups being held every four years.

The cricket world underwent a major upheaval in the years 1977–1979, precipitated by a single man, Kerry Packer. The conditions of poor player working conditions and remuneration were ripe for Packer to sign some of the best players in the world to a privately run cricket league, outside the structure of international cricket.

World Series Cricket hired some of the banned South African players and allowed them to show off their skills in an international forum, against other world-class players. Both rebel test matches (known as 'Super-tests) and one-day international matches were played. Barry Richards performed particularly impressively, and cricket fans began to realise just what they were missing out on with South Africa banned from officially sanctioned cricket.

By 1979, the schism in world cricket had been removed and the "rebel" players were allowed back into the establishment of international cricket, though the Super-tests and one-day matches have never been granted official status. The fallout of World Series Cricket included the introduction of significantly higher player salaries, as well as bringing the innovations of coloured uniforms and night games into the mainstream.

In the late 1970s and 1980s the West Indies were universally feared and respected thanks to a fine combination of terrifying fast bowlers (such as Michael Holding, Curtly Ambrose and Malcolm Marshall) and powerful batsmen (such as Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd and Gordon Greenidge). Although there was no official test championship at the time, they were widely regarded as being world champions and famously blackwashed England by beating them 5-0 in two five match series.

On February 17, 1982, Sri Lanka played England in its first Test at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, in Sri Lanka. On October 18, 1992, Zimbabwe played its first Test match against India at the Harare Sports Club, Harare, Zimbabwe. Bangladesh played India in its first Test on November 10, 2000.

Twenty-first century

In June 2001 the ICC introduced a test championship table, and in October 2002 a one-day international championship table. Australia has topped both these tables since they were published, apart from January to May 2003 when it was topped by South Africa, but this was only because South Africa had gained maximum points from playing the weakest two nations, whereas Australia had not played them.

Cricket remains a major world sport and is the most popular spectator sport in the Indian subcontinent, which gives the Asian cricketing nations a lot of political clout in the ICC. The ICC has expanded its Development Program with the goal of producing more national teams capable of competing at Test level. Development efforts are focused on African and Asian nations, and the United States. In 2004, the ICC Intercontinental Cup brought first class cricket to 12 teams, mostly for the first time. In 2004, the Twenty20 format was introduced that saw shortened matches of 20 overs and more excitement to try and garner more spectators.

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[This post was first published on 8 November 2013.]

The Lenormand deck combines traditional German cartomancy with pictorial symbolism. In Vier Farben and The Fox and the Snake I explored its cartomantic origins. In The Spaewife: I spy I explored its pictorial symbolism, the origins of which can be traced back to earlier coffee grounds symbolism and dream symbolism, and compared symbol meanings for one particular card. Here I flesh out the Lenormand family tree by comparing these symbol meanings for each card in the four main families: Grün (also known as Green or Spades), Roth (also known as Red or Hearts), Eichel (also known as Acorns or Clubs) and Schellen (also known as Bells or Diamonds).

A♣ (Ring):
1737 (dreams): Ring means marriage, or a child; ring with stones, promises profitable work: Iron ring, heavy and useful work; to break or lose a ring, means damage and loss of servants, or subordinates.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Ring. Signifies marriage; if a letter is near it, it denotes to the person that has his Fortune told, the initial of the name of the party to be married. If the ring is in the clear, it portends happy and lucrative friendship. Surrounded with clouds, designs that the party is to use precaution in the friendship he is about to contract, least he should be insidiously deceived, but it is most inauspicious, it the ring appears at the bottom of the cup, as it forebodes an entire separation from the beloved object.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): To give or receive a ring indicates loss.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Ring, to the right of the person announces a happy marriage with a brilliant dowry, but removed and to the left it announces a broken engagement or separation of two lovers.

K♣ (Clouds):
1737 (dreams): Yellow clouds, mean unhappy progress of undertakings: Black and hazy clouds mean anxiety and distress.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Clouds. If they be more light than dark, you may expect a good result from your hopes, but if they are black, you may give it up. Surrounded with dots they imply success in trade, and in all your undertakings, but the brighter they are, the greater will be your happiness.
1798 (coffee): Clouds, illness.
1805 (dreams): Clouds. If they are clear, good luck, if they are dark, the opposite.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Clouds, when their clear side is turned towards the person, is a happy sign, but if this is the obscure side, some trouble will not delay arising.

Q♣ (Snake):
1737 (dreams): To be challenged by snakes, means danger, hostility, imprisonment, illness or death.
1769 (coffee): Snakes mean unfavourable enemies.
1796 (coffee pack): The Serpent. Always the emblem of falsehood and enmity, is likewise here a general sign of an enemy. On the top or in the middle of the cup, it promises to the consulting party the triumph which he desires over his enemy. But he will not obtain it so easily, if the serpent be in the thick or cloudy part. By the letter which frequently appears near the emblem, the enemy may easily be guessed, it makes the initial of his name.
1798 (coffee): Snake, envy.
1805 (dreams): Snake that winds and turns, means imprisonment. Snakes, mean unfavourable enemies.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Snake, is a sign of misfortune, that is ruled by whether the card is close to or far from the person, but it always brings along hypocrisy, treason and loss.

J♣ (Whip):
1737 (dreams): Not listed.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Rod. Shows differences with relations about matters relating to legacies; in the thick, illness.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): Not listed.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Rod, means discord in the family, domestic sorrows, dissension between spouses, fever or extended illness.

10♣ (Bear):
1737 (dreams): Lions, mean mighty and powerful people; to see wild lions, means fear, sickness, disgrace, or fire hazard: To see tame Lions, means mercy from the authorities, or body strength.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Lion, or any Other Ferocious Beast. At the top in the clear, it signifies all kind of prosperity with people of quality. At the bottom it warns the consulter to shun all such intercourse, as he will at all events find persons who will envy him his fortune, and not see it with indifference.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): To strike a lion in a dream and defeat it, indicates that you will overcome a powerful enemy.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Bear, means happiness, but it also indicates it is necessary to avoid discussions with an envious person.

9♣ (Fox):
1737 (dreams): Fox, means a cunning and sneaky enemy.
1769 (coffee): Foxes mean deceitfulness of other people, who are false.
1796 (coffee pack): Not listed.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): Who sees a fox, or fights with it, has to deal with a crafty enemy. Foxes mean deceitfulness of people, who are false.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Fox, if this card is close, it is necessary to beware of those one is in contact with, because someone seeks to fool us, in the opposite case there is no danger.

8♣ (Mountain):
1737 (dreams): To climb up mountains means fear, danger and adversity.
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): Mountains. If it represent only one mountain, it indicates the favour of people of high rank, but several of them, especially in the thick, are signs of powerful enemies, in the clear, they signify the contrary, or friends in high life, who are endeavouring to promote the consulting party.
1798 (coffee): Mountain, obstacle.
1805 (dreams): Not listed.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Mountain, close to the person, warns about a powerful enemy, but when distant one can count on powerful friends.

7♣ (Mice):
1737 (dreams): Mice, means household (servants).
1769 (coffee): Not listed.
1796 (coffee pack): The Mouse. As this animal lives by stealth, it is also an emblem here of theft or robbery; if it be in the clear, it shows that you will get again what you lost in a wonderful manner, but if it appears in the thick you may renounce this hope.
1798 (coffee): Not listed.
1805 (dreams): A mouse indicates theft.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Mice, is a sign of theft, if it is near, one will recover what is taken, if it is far away, the loss is irreparable.

6♣ (Cross):
1737 (dreams): Not listed.
1769 (coffee): A cross means vexation, sickness, danger and sometimes death.
1796 (coffee pack): The Cross. Be it one or more, it generally predicts adversities. Its position varies, and so do the circumstances. If it be at the top, and in the clear, it shows that the misfortunes of the party will soon be at an end, or that he will easily get over them, but if it appears in the middle or at the bottom in the thick, the party must expect many severe trials; if it appear with dots, either in the clear or the thick, it promises a speedy change of one’s sorrow.
1798 (coffee): Cross, to receive a stranger.
1805 (dreams): To see a cross means vexation, sickness, danger and sometimes death.
1846 (Lenormand deck): Cross, is always a bad omen, nevertheless if it is very close to the person, it is likely that the misfortune will not be long-term.

All symbols:
1769 (coffee): The higher the signs are, the sooner the events will manifest; and where they are lower and closer to the bottom, one also encounters numbers, which mean days or months.

[Image: Modern Minimalist Lenormand by Melissa Haney licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License]

1737 (dreams): Der wohlerfahrne Wein-Gärtner und sorgfältige Wein-Schenck, ostensibly a book about wine farming published in Esslingen in 1756, contains a Traum-Büchlein ("Dream book") listing 222 dream symbol meanings on pages 516–536. I also found an earlier source dated 1737 containing the same symbol meanings, see pages 414–432 of Anleitung zu denen curiösen Wissenschaften.

1796 (coffee pack): Les Amusemens des Allemands; or, The Diversions of the Court of Vienna, British Museum number 1982,U.4637.1–32 (see More views for card images and booklet)

1846 (Lenormand deck): Helen Riding (June 2012), "Book communicates a secret"


Reviewed by Grace Soledad

Ari has always been different. With her silvery hair and startling teal eyes, she is considered an anomaly. Every year, she keeps it together by believing that her estranged mother holds the answers to who she really is.

Once Ari finds the mental institution that her mother had been in, she also has to face a horrifying truth. How could her mother commit suicide? How is it possible that the one beacon of hope she’s had all these years could be gone? Who should she turn to now?

Eventually, Ari decides to go to New 2, the dystopian city that used to be called New Orleans, a treasure trove of information, history, and paranormal activity. She needs to know who she is and why she is the way she is, and she wants more than anything to find the answers soon. In New 2, Ari meets a cast of characters, and realizes that the truth may be closer than she thinks.

What intrigued me the most about Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton was the interesting premise. A ruined city of New Orleans, a girl with silver hair, a mother who commits suicide, and a search for answers? It sounded like the perfect winding adventure.

I did love the diverse cast of characters in New 2. They each had very flavorful personalities and distinct dialogue that allowed you to identify them easily. Their backgrounds were created so seemingly effortlessly that this was one of the few elements of the book that I enjoyed.

The problem for me was that I simply couldn’t connect to Ari. Her personality wasn’t the most unique and her line of thought seemed like it didn’t translate to narration very well. This is one of those books that is either hit-or-miss. I know some who simply adored it but I was one of those people classified in the “miss” category, unfortunately.

The writing was not good enough to justify for its slow-moving plot and an irritating protagonist. The idea behind the plot became apparent as the story developed, but I felt as if the element came in too late for it to make a difference to the pacing. I wished that Keaton would have introduced it earlier, because for the majority of the book, I was waiting for everything to happen.

The ending felt rushed while the beginning and middle felt lazy, and dragged on for me. I wanted Darkness Becomes Her to be dark and intense, or simply be a satisfying story. Unfortunately, it wasn’t either.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Grace Soledad is a teenage bibliophile who runs the blog Words Like Silver. She is described as “antisocial” because she constantly has her nose buried in a book or a notebook. When not reading, she can be found dancing, writing, or at the beach.


tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37293067652315707792014-10-02T21:16:44.418-07:00The Big Questionstefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729306765231570779.post-30061293878257695132011-03-27T19:50:00.001-07:002011-03-27T22:01:49.071-07:00Slaughterhouse Five And the Big QuestionThis book is a hard one to analyze in relation to my big question. It has so many facets and interpretations. The point of the book is that no one really wins in a massacre. Its more of how not to be rather than what to do, which is very different from my first book, where the Greek hero was the ideal. The aliens only looked at the nice parts of life, skipping over the sad. Vonnegut does not want anyone to overlook the gruesome part of life, the massacre that was the "Children's Crusade" I suppose that Vonnegut would say that the way to overcome adversity is to face it. He did this in his life, writing numerous books on the bombing of Dresden, learning to face and explore what he had witnessed, then spreading it to the world. In "Slaughterhouse Five", Billy Pilgram escapes from the horror of what he witnessed by thoroughly believing in an imaginary planet, were he was mated with a beautiful women and only viewing the pretty side of life. Billy Pilgram did not overcome adversity. He ran from it, hid from it, and then it consumed his life and drove him crazy. Physically, yes he did overcome the massacre. Time dragged him through it, he was not a participant, only an unwilling and passive witness. His inability to face the tragedy led to his downward spiral. This is a book of what not to do. In order to overcome adversity, you must first face it.stefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729306765231570779.post-76492050050973445372011-03-27T19:20:00.000-07:002011-03-27T19:49:01.603-07:00Beloved and the Big QuestionI've analyzed many books, vastly different from each other, each with widely different reasons for why the protaganist overcomes adversity. "Beloved" by Toni Morrison is a book that deserves to be in a catagory all its own. This has been my favorite book to read and analyze. There is one line from this book that sums up Toni Morrison's belief as to why some people overcome adversity. Paul D says to Sethe, "You are your own best thing." When a person internalizes this fact, like Denver and like Sethe, they will be able to overcome any adversity. As Denver is slowly forced out of the toxic relationship between Beloved and Sethe, she realizes that she has no one to protect or depend on except for herself. She goes out into the world and seeks help. She gets a job and becomes part of the community, overcoming the damage caused by her mother and by Beloved. She seeks the value in herself and that is what gives her freedom. Baby Suggs gives a powerful speech relating to self-love that directly relates. She tells her community, love your hands, your life-giving parts, your lungs, love your heart, because no one else is gonna love it for you. Once you love yourself, no one can overcome you. Sethe struggled to overcome the chains of the past, keeping herself in slavery of the mind. She did not consider herself her best thing. Her children alone had that honor and she would rather kill them than have them tanished by slavery. This horrible truth is what allows her to be open to the dreadfulness of Beloved, who feeds on Sethe's life. With no self -love, Sethe was trapped. This answer to my big question is the one that I believe in the most. I am in love with the idea of self -love and its power. Most human beings do not love their hands, lungs, heart. But I believe that this is something everyone must learn how to do.stefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729306765231570779.post-46154194345512783022011-01-20T19:10:00.000-08:002011-01-20T19:44:39.648-08:00The Stranger by Albert CamusThis book is unique unto itself, I have never read another like it. And I intensely love it. Applying my question to this book is very difficult because it is hard to idenitify the adveristy and whether or not Mersault overcame it. On the surface, it would appear that Mersault was unable to overcome any adversity because the story ends with him awaiting his execution. However, it is my belief that he overcame adversity and the quality that allowed him to do so was his self-assuredness and his faith in life. Perhaps I am a little biased because I really do love this character. In the last few chapters of the book, Mersault is assaulted with fear and desperation to escape. He cannot accept his impending death. I am defining this as the adversity he needs to overcome. Mersault lived his life day by day, never looking backwards, complacently accepting each event as it came his way. Now his freedom to live his life his way has been snatched away from him and his easy acceptance is gone. This fear and loss of freedom is personified in the form of a chaplain and this interaction triggers an emotional explosion of understanding from Mersault. As his private thoughts, agonies, and desires are shouted out loud, he overcomes his fear and is able to accept his impending death. "As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with the signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother really- I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate." (122-123) I love this book so much, it's hard not to get distracted from my original intent. this quote is after his angry flood of understanding, he is cleansed from that adversity and is able to face the world with indifference. Instead of wishing for an escape to ease his lonliness, he has accepted his death and is instead able to wish for a crowd of spectators to bear witness to his death. Morbid yes, but adversity takes on many faces and it can take hundreds of qualities or events that allow some to overcome it and others to failstefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729306765231570779.post-49144025134716128212011-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:002011-01-05T19:44:30.984-08:00Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment, as fascinating as the book was, is difficult to apply to my question. On the surface it looks like no one overcame adversity. Svidrigailov commits suicide, Raskolinkov is sent to jail in Siberia, Sonia became a prostitute to save her family. Svidrigailov was unable to overcome adversity because of his wealth. His riches had turned him cold and greedy. He was a lecherous man, who thought that money and manipulation would allow him any pleasure that he wanted. But when he came up against Dounia who was a truly good character, she would not give in to him. Faced with this unbearable reality, he was not able to live on and he failed. Wealth does not always guarantee a person success and in the end it was his riches and his greed that kept him from overcoming adversity. In all literature, characters that manipulate, have greed, are selfish, basically poor characteristics are always unable to overcome adversity.stefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729306765231570779.post-22039852298570851672011-01-05T18:55:00.000-08:002011-01-05T19:08:28.999-08:00Henry IV; Part 1I love reading Shakespeare. I have to read at a much slower pace but I still love his writing because there is so much packed into every paragraph. Applying my question "Why do others overcome adversity while others fail" to this play brings forth a completely different answer than my previous entries. Why does Hal succeed and Hotspur falls? In the beginning of the play, it would seem the story would have an entirely different ending. Hotspur is the valiant, young soldier, while Hal is a pub crawler, playing tricks and thieving. Considering English tradition in Elizabethan times and Hal's rise from a pub crawler to a prince, I believe that according to Shakespeare, Hal succeeded because he was the heir to the throne and he possessed "kingly qualities" Hal transformed from a pub crawler into a leader, with grace and good speaking skills and he was driven to prove his worth to his father and it was all of these combined that allowed him to defeat Hotspur. Although at first Hotspur seemed kingly, it was later revealed how coarse he truly was. In order to be a champion, you must have the qualities of a champion.stefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729306765231570779.post-64948900504093220362010-09-14T19:22:00.000-07:002010-09-14T19:51:50.510-07:00Oedipus RexOedipus Rex is the father of all tragedies and rightly so. This poem is depressing! The "Big Question" deals with what allows some people to overcome obstacles and others to fail. In this case, the obstacle was fate and Oedipus Rex was not able to overcome his sick fate. This story adds an interesting twist to my question. According to the Greek culture, humans are victims of fate. Fate cannot be overcome, it is a force that deals out complete control over a human life. So are there some things that cannot be overcome, no matter the character of the person? In the Greek mind, that is a definite yes. A common part of all tragedies is the tragic flaw of the hero and this leads to the eventual downfall of the hero. Fate may be unconquerable, but Oedipus was flawed, therefore keeping him from rising to Fate's challenge. Oedipus was metaphorically blind to the truth and this led to his terrible ending. So if Sophocles were to answer my question, I imagine he would say that the refusal to see the truth keeps people from even rising to meet the challenge.stefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729306765231570779.post-51743921975794445502010-08-30T14:15:00.000-07:002010-08-30T14:44:58.326-07:00Atonement and the QuestionAtonement is an interesting book to apply to this question. adversity is thrown at every single main character in the book and none of them escape it unscathed. Briony falsely accuses Robbie of raping her cousin Lola and this act send him to jail. But he keeps in contact with his love Cecilia and this is what helps him survive through jail and then the war. What helps Robbie overcome his adversity is the love between him and Cecilia. It's an interesting concept that is very different from the Odyssey. It's the idea that an outside force, love, can assist in overcoming adversity. Something outside of your own being can give you the strength to over come obstacles. The people without this force backing them, fail. Like Lola. She was raped but she allowed her cousin to take control and in the end she did not overcome her adversity, but rather she ended up marrying her rapist. So in this book, the idea is that you cannot overcome adversity alone and that love will always pull you through. Love is a powerful emotion and literature has often portrayed it as a savior.stefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729306765231570779.post-44393858735518881222010-08-25T09:26:00.000-07:002010-08-25T18:14:14.874-07:00The question and the OdysseyMy question is this:
In the face of adversity, what causes some people to fail and others to prevail?

This is a universal question that can never be fully answered. What are those personal characteristics that cause some people to survive adversity with grace and for others to fail? Is it luck of the draw? Do some people have greater strength and ability than others? Or is it all fate that allows one person to become the hero in adversity and the other to become the villain? This question may be unanswerable, but it is worth pursuing to better understand the human condition.

In the Odyssey, the main character Odysseus faces much adversity on his long journey home and prevails over all. Why he is the one to survive is obvious through an understanding of the text and the Greek culture. Odysseus is blessed with incredible brawn and wit, all of which he relies on heavily to help him escape from one disaster to the next. He is a step above his men because of his superiority and hero-status. His shipmates fail in the face of adversity. On the island of Kirke, they are easily swayed into her power and she turns them into pigs. Why are these men different than Odysseus? The Greeks elevated him to a higher level than common people so in the eyes of their culture would they say that you must be a hero to prevail over adversity? That would leave the rest of us to be on the level of his shipmates whom allow adversity to take their lives. It's not a very comforting thought. Just like in the Odyssey, it is a common theme throughout literature that hero's are the ones who prevail over adversity. Look at Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and Wonderwoman. All of these characters are similar to Odysseus in the sense that they are greater than the common man and this allows them to succeed. I'm not sure I buy into this theory. Every day people prevail over adversity every day by simply surviving.stefohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10724416080837216954noreply@blogger.com0


Ren Suzugamori is a character in Cardfight Vanguard. He first appears as the main antagonist in the first season of the anime, as well as in the recurring character in Season 2, and one of the main characters of the Season 3. In Season 4, he is one of the few people who remembers Aichi Sendou on their own and also knows where Aichi's location is. In G Season 2, he is the Shadow Paladin Clan Leader and the successor to Kanzaki as the Branch Chief of United Sanctuary. His vanguard circle is violet.

According to the anime, Ren is greedy, cruel, manipulative and ambitious man who wanted to win through evil ways. However, he depicts himself as relaxed and controlling, acting as almost exclusively his Foo Fighter teams. He was once friends with Kai. But when Kai sees what Ren is doing, he left the friendship with him and wanted to find someone who would challenge him.

Ren uses his dark and shadowy deck, the Shadow Paladin Deck, composed from cards in BT04 and BT05. Ren shows pride as he gets the upper hand over the other players as well as rivals. His signature card is Blaster Dark, a dark counterpart to Aichi's Blaster Blade.


Introduction: Patio Lighting With Planters

In the summer, it's all about spending time outside, whether joined by friends and family or simply relaxing away from the artificial surroundings that seem to permeate our days.

Our house has a very nice setup with a small deck, a stone patio and enough surrounding woods and flowers to make things feel at home. The only drawback has been the lighting: two lamps were installed by the builder, one over each gathering area. While this technically meets minimum requirements, it's far from ideal.

After working through several iterations of lighting schemes for the area, I settled on mounting some posts in half-barrel planters and stringing some lights between them. The height, as well as their dispersed placement of the lights, provides a very soft, even light across the entire landscape.

If you're looking for a way to keep the party going all night long, read on! There aren't many tools required for the build but you'll need:

-miter saw

-table saw for lap joints

-router (optional)

-paint or stain

As for supplies, I got away with 5x 4x4x12' treated posts, 3x 24" half-barrel planters, 75 feet of braided steel cord, 8 eye bolts, 8 sets of cord anchors, and a 100' strand of lights.

Step 1: Modifying the Posts

You'll start with a set of 12' 4x4 treated posts. This will get the lights fairly high, which will evenly spread the light, but will also make the posts a little top-heavy... don't worry, we'll weight them down later.

Begin by trimming all the posts back to about 11' 6" so that you have flat top and bottom and they're all the same length. Remaining at the miter saw, cut a 45-degree chamfer at the top to add some interest to the piece. Additionally, to improve aesthetics, you can use a router to cut a similar chamfer up each side of each post. This will also remove the sharp edges and reduce the overall weight. If it's still too heavy, you can follow up by cutting flutes in the middle. I stopped each chamfer about 6" above the top of the planter and 4" below the top of the post so that an onlooker will notice that they were hand-cut and not simply rounded at the factory.

Once the posts are cut, break out some outdoor stain and cover up that lovely green tint... unless you're into that sort of thing.

Next, measure the bottoms of the planters and cut a pair of supports from the same 4x4" stock; mine came out to be a hair under 20" across. To get these to sit nicely on top of each other, we'll carve the middle out with a lap joint. Move to the table saw and mark the top and bottom of each pair with a centered notch that extends halfway through each piece. There's no wrong way to remove the waste. I normally cut slices with a regular table saw blade and chisel the remainder by hand but a dado blade or router would likely work as good or better.

Once the cross supports are complete, check that they fit into the planters, then measure a 45-degree angle from the bottom corner of the planter to the middle of the post, making sure you don't extend above the top of the barrel. Use some 1x6" deck boards to cut 4 supports for each post.

Step 2: Add the Barrels and Assemble

Once the cutting is complete, you can begin assembly. Pre-drill the bottoms of the crosses and drive some lag/wood screws through the joint. Let them barely protrude on the far side, since we'll finish these off by putting them into the posts themselves.

Next, place a post on some saw horses and mount the cross to the end, driving in the screws you started before. Check the cross for square, then add each angled support in turn, using 4-5 wood screws on each side of the mount. Flip the post by 90 degrees and continue until all four supports are in place.

With the posts complete, stick on a barrel and screw it in place with ~8 screws through the bottom. If you're planning to add flowers, make sure all 4 quadrants have exposed drain holes.

Moving to the top, you'll need a method to attach the lights in place. To remove stress on the power cords, I drove an eye bolt into each corner, then strung up a thin line of braided steel cord. This will be strong enough to support the cords and also remove the risk of a planter tipping and ripping away the lights. Pre-drill the holes, then twist the bolts in place, using a screwdriver if needed for extra leverage.

Step 3: Stringing Up the Lights

We now have 3 planters and a tree to set up around the patio. Set each planter in place and add a bag of gravel to the base; this adds about 60 lbs of weight to keep them from moving. If you want more weight, you can add some busted-up cinder blocks (see my previous 'ible).

With the aid of a ladder, mount each span of the wire so that each section is tight, but not enough to tip the planters in on each other. In my case, we have a tree firmly set on the far side so this was used as our last anchor point; don't worry, the bolts weren't long enough to go all the way through. Continue slowly and carefully around your location until all of the cable is in place.

Afterwards, begin stringing up the lights. Mine had clips built into each setting so I attached them to the cable as I went along, going carefully around each corner until I ended up back at the start. Once there, I realized I had a few extra feet of lights to spare. In order to make the result look even, I ran a final span diagonally across the middle and zip-tying it to the line beside the tree.

For power, attach an outdoor extension cord (not shown) to the post, zip tie it in place to reduce stress on the cable/connection, and route it to a convenient power outlet.

Step 4: Flowers and Enjoy!

Unless you want to keep the planters empty or fill them on occasion with ice and cold drinks (a recommended solution at this point), take a trip to your local home center and find some greenery to finish this project off in style!

With that, you're all set to host the summer bash of the year or maybe just relax while you wait for the a/c to get repaired. Enjoy and try not to think about the impending winter!

jeanniel1 (author)2017-08-06

Perfect timing - I was JUST about to figure out what to do with my lights I bought ages ago and am dying to hang up! Thanks for the great 'ible!

srfulghum (author)2017-08-03

Looks like you can add light weight covering for really sunny and/or rainy days if there were 4 "planter posts"....

srfulghum (author)2017-08-03

I'm definitely gonna this on the deck I built this year. Great job!

deluges (author)2017-08-03

Your patio looks lovely

wordswork (author)2017-08-03

Nice job! Thanks for the inspiration!

vintage56 (author)2017-08-03

Very good instructable and great results on a delightful patio!

My only comment is a bit of buzz-kill. According to NEC, as it pertains to festoon lighting:
"Don't use trees or other vegetation for conductor support [225.26]"
Our local code official's mother lives in our neighborhood so we get "patrolled" daily. I work in construction and recognize and appreciate building codes for their purpose and intent - that said, have I attached (temporary) festoon Lighting to a tree on my personal property?
I plead the fifth.

3366carlos (author)2017-08-02

About This Instructable

More by MissionSRX:Patio Lighting With PlantersMasonry Chisels From Scrap IronMass Effect Scrollsawn Light Box
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Navlai Paryatak Nivas - Hedvi Hotels in Hedvi - Resorts in Hedvi - Hotels near Velneshwar

Navlai Paryatak Nivas - Hedvi is a hotel located beween Hedvi and Velneshwar. This hotel in Hedvi is ideal place to stay if you want to explore Hedvi, Velneshwar, Ganpatipule and Guhagar.

Hedvi Shiva temple and the pristine Hedvi beach are the primary attractions in Hedvi, Hedvi 5kms from Hedvi with the ganpati temple and the Brahman ghal is anther tourist attraction near Hedvi. Guhagar Dapoli and Ganpatipule flanks Hedvi on either sides a


World's Largest Sheet Music Selection

Embrace God's Tomorrow

By Lloyd Larson

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Choral (SATB)
Composed by Lloyd Larson. Brookfield Choral Series. Sacred. 12 pages. Published by Brookfield Press (HL.8748966).

Item Number: HL.8748966

6.75x10.5 inches.

Lloyd Larson appropriately sets McCutcheon's inspirational text “God's promises are true” with musically flowing lines and sonorous harmonies, thus making this a wonderful marriage of word and song.

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adjust your altitude

on saturday we decided it was too nice to spend the day at home so we packed up the kids and the dogs and headed out for a hike.

the shake up and change of scenery was much needed and a great start to our spring break. I was a bit nervous to go on a hike with the kids and both dogs but it actually went pretty well.

I was sure to be prepared with a hiking scavenger hunt for the kids. they looked for easy items like rocks and leaves and some more challenging things like mushrooms and insects. it turned out to be a hit and they found almost everything!

at the top of our hike was a waterfall where we stopped to rest awhile - my legs were on fire. the last bit was much steeper than I had anticipated - but we all made it!

hiking isn't something we do on a weekly or super consistent basis but during the warmer weather we try to go at least once a month since it's something we all enjoy and being away from all the screens & bombardment of the internet is obviously a huge plus!

do you take hikes with your family? what are some activities you do during the drive to get there or during? I'm thinking next time we'll do some leaf rubbings or collect flowers to dry!

lavender + peppermint + lemon | essential oils

lemon + lavender + peppermint

it took me a long time to commit to oils - I know you've heard/read that a million times - but it's true. I was skeptical. I figured it was a scam or at the very least there was no way little bottles of oils could truly be 'life changing'.

now they have become part of our everyday and I'm still learning more and more uses every time I turn around. we use young living because after my research I felt that YL was the best option for our family. As long as you are buying quality oils that's what really matters!

one of the first things I learned was lavender, peppermint and lemon are the holy grail when it comes to helping to relieve seasonal issues. starting around this time of the year these oils are on repeat in all of our diffusers.

I just wanted to say.. if you're skeptical but want to try oils I totally get it - but three oils that I will always have on hand will be lemon, lavender and peppermint for multiple reasons but all three will always be used for relief of seasonal yuck in our home.

21 years...

this picture in this frame has been through life with me.

I miss you.


Women’s Equality Day Date in the current year: August 26, 2017

On August 26, 1920 the 19th Amendment was proclaimed incorporated into the United States Constitution. This amendment prohibited any U.S. citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of their sex basically granting the right to vote to women throughout the United States. The 19th Amendment is considered to have been the culmination of women’s suffrage in the U.S.

In 1971, August 26 was designed as Women’s Equality Day. Since then, it was proclaimed annually by every President. This observance focuses on celebrating women’s fight for equal rights and honoring brave and determined women who are not afraid to assert their rights.

Despite the ratification of the 19th Amendment, gender equality still remains an important issue in the modern society. The right to vote is not the only measure of gender equality. Political participation, economic empowerment, access to education, equal rights in marriage and divorce as well as many other factors are also essential for gender equality.

Remind me with Google Calendar

Anniversaries and Memorial Days

Women’s Equality Day, right to vote, 19th Amendment, annual observance


Understanding the Nutrition Transition (and what we can do about it)

The modern food system has been in place for barely a half-century and the agricultural practices behind it have already assumed the term “conventional”, despite being a synthetic departure from what had been the norm for thousands of years. Caesar: Von Cassius has a lean and hungry look, would he were fatter. Brutus: Feed him on Libby, McNeill & Libby's Cooked Corned Beef. Caesar: Ay, do so, good Brutus, let us have only men about us that are fat. [front]This monumental shift has had benefits as well as consequences. On the one hand, the average person in a developed country today spends less of their income on food than at any point in human history, less than 10% of their income in the United States.1 And while the severity of hunger continues to be a serious concern in many developing countries, the threat has been reduced by nearly a third since 2000.On the other hand, calories from conventional agriculture have led to the problem of rampant obesity, creating an unsustainable burden on our health and our economy. The aim of this post is to review the “nutrition transition”, a global trend in recent history that informs our study of food and its effects on modern society. – Importantly, all three transitions discussed in this post apply to averages, and since population statistics apply to rates of incidence, not individual outcomes, there will always be outlying exceptions.

The “nutrition transition” is a theory developed in 1993 by Barry Popkin to describe the global dietary shift from whole foods to processed foods that began during the mid-late 20th century. Popkin was supplementing two older theories that also describe changes in the human population over time: the “demographic transition” and the “epidemiological transition”. Each of these offer valuable explanations for how society has changed, but the biggest contribution of Popkin’s theory was that it diagnosed a problem exposed by the previous two: the combination of longer lives and chronic illnesses has become unsustainably expensive, and the explanation has a whole lot to do with what we eat. I’ll come back to the nutrition transition after a brief look at the other two.

The term “demographic transition” dates to 1929, when Warren Thompson used it to describe the declining rates of both death and birth in nations where the industrial revolution had taken hold, a characteristic still true for developed and developing nations today. The death rate falls first, thanks to advancements in health care, living conditions, wages, etc. The birth rate then drops gradually as families adjust their reproductive priorities to compensate, a decision facilitated by education, gender equality, and the growing use of contraceptives. The rather simplified explanation [fuller versions here and here] is that the ideal number of grown children per family has always been about two, and until fairly recently several pregnancies were required to ensure two grown children. The precipitous decline of the death rate after 1800 outpaced the adjustment to have fewer pregnancies, leading to large population increases that peaked in the 1960s-70s. Current estimates by the United Nations predict the birth rate will even out with the death rate again sometime around 2300, when the number of people living on this planet would level off at around 9 billion. (There are about 7.35 billion now.)

The “epidemiological transition” dates to 1971, when Abdel Omran described the shift in prevalent diseases from the infectious types (measles, tuberculosis, etc) to the chronic types (cancer, diabetes, etc) that tipped in favor of the latter only recently. Thanks largely to vaccinations and improved hygiene, the modern world has made great progress toward the eradication of many infectious diseases (like smallpox or measles) that used to be extremely lethal. While infectious diseases are often short-term killers, patients with chronic diseases may live for years or decades, affording the afflicted much longer lifespans. (Again, this is the average outcome. Some chronic diseases can be imminently fatal, just as some infectious diseases can develop slowly.) The flip-side to this Faustian bargain is that long-term diseases are much more expensive both for individuals and society. The treatment necessary to survive and thrive with these illnesses doesn’t come cheap, and the longer it takes to get a diagnosis and start treatment the more expensive the treatment becomes. But since we know that human activity causes or exacerbates many of these diseases, modifying our behavior can alleviate both the suffering and the cost.

This brings us to Popkin’s theory of the “nutrition transition”, which the IFPRI describes as the “global trend – whereby consumption of coarse grains, staple cereals, and pulses is replaced by increased consumption of animal-source foods, sugar, fats and oils, refined grains, and processed foods” (p.13 of the full 2017 report). Conventional agriculture (i.e. capitalism) has done a tremendous job of addressing food security worldwide, but the narrow-minded focus on increasing the availability of calories, as opposed to nutrition, has left many communities priced out of a well-balanced diet necessary for good health – at the point of sale, unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food. To complicate the issue, availability has taken the spotlight away from price, and food deserts have received much of the blame for poor eating habits. But a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing food deserts in the United States (abstract; summary) suggests that factors of demand, such as price and taste, are much more important than proximity when it comes to buying food. We need to find a way to make healthy food cheaper than unhealthy food.

There are many factors contributing to the decline in the price of food in general, and of unhealthy food in particular. Huge international companies are enjoying greater savings due to mass production and price negotiation. Faster and more reliable transportation can now deliver food around the world in order to exploit the cheapest production schemes. Improved technologies from farms to refrigerators have increased yields and decreased spoilage. But one of the most important contributors to cheap and unhealthy food is taxpayer dollars. Government farm subsidies are concentrated on commodity crops like corn and soybean, the same crops that support the meat industry as animal feed, or that get manufactured into countless products found on those lengthy ingredient lists for high-calorie processed foods. Just as we confront a population beset by growing rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, we are focusing our subsidies on the very foods that contribute to these illnesses.

The general consensus now is that the nutrition transition has placed an incredible burden on society, complicating the justification that it has helped to alleviate the problem of food scarcity. Altering our current economic and regulatory approach to the food system can save us trillions of dollars and make us generally more healthy, adding years to our life expectancy. The question, then, is how to effect change. It isn’t enough to rely on individuals to modify their own behavior; a very many people are lured into an unhealthy diet by budget and convenience. Market pressure will improve the situation over time, but the quicker way to address our faltering food system is to incorporate real costs into the marketplace through legislation. We should address the artificially low prices of unhealthy foods by shifting subsidies away from conventional, commodity-oriented agriculture and toward holistic farming methods, such as those that optimize natural inputs and diversified outputs through careful field rotations. We should also levy taxes on certain foods like sugar-sweetened beverages that are known to contribute to obesity, taxes that will help cover the rising costs of health care while steering consumers toward healthier, and more accurately priced, alternatives. Most importantly, we should implement a coherent national food policy that minimizes cost across the economy and maximizes the health of our nation and our world. We can do better. We should demand better.

1 The percentage of income spent on food decreases as income increases. The average expenditure on food in the United States has now leveled off (at just under 10%) because median incomes haven’t gone up in nearly two decades, according to the Economic Research Service of the USDA.

2 The severity of world hunger in the developing world has been reduced by nearly a third since 2000, according to the Global Hunger Index of the IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute).

Obesity – a review

Line-graph showing the average calories consumed per day by Americans from 1970 to 2010

From Sturm, R. and An, R. (2014), Obesity and economic environments. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 64: 337–350. doi:10.3322/caac.21237

One of the main contributors to the rising costs of health care is obesity. In 2014, CA published a report called “Obesity and economic environments” that addresses what factors lead to obesity. The authors focus largely on what they call “economic and policy environments”, which is basically any government intervention that shows up when a consumer purchases a product, such as a tax or a subsidy, a limit on serving size, a nutrition label, etc. (These are distinguished from “social environments” -factors influencing a consumer’s choice in food purchases- and “physical environments” -opportunities for consumers to expend energy.) Here is a review of the report’s highlights and conclusions. Recognizing that this information is now 3 years old, I’ll follow up on some of the main points and update as needed.

First, the report makes a few fundamental observations worth noting:

  • Obesity increases the risk of at least 9 different types of cancer, in addition to coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and other chronic illnesses.
  • In developed countries, obesity is by far a greater problem than food scarcity.
  • “Americans now have the cheapest food in history when measured as a fraction of disposable income.” Less than a century ago, Americans spent 25% of their income on food. Now it’s less than 10% (even while the bottom fifth of American incomes still spend a third).
  • Americans have increased their number of calories consumed per day by more than 20% in less than 50 years, going from about 2100 calories per day in 1970 to more than 2600 in the mid-2000s, and dropping only slightly since then.
  • The greatest single source of the increased calories since 1980 has been carbohydrates. Only recently have carbs shown a decline, being replaced by fats.
  • SSB (sugar-sweetened beverage) consumption continues to go up, both in the number of people drinking them and the amount each person drinks.
  • Policies of the USDA have created “a vicious cycle” of encouraging “a massive overproduction of corn and soybeans”, slashing the prices (and thus increasing consumption) of derivative products, many of which show up on those lengthy ingredient lists for processed, prepackaged foods.

Second, the report confronts some common assumptions related to the obesity epidemic that are either too simplistic or flat out wrong.

  • A sedentary lifestyle is not on the rise: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) “has demonstrated a consistent decline in sedentary behavior.”
  • Leisure-time physical activity has risen, not fallen.
  • Fruits and vegetables have actually increased in the American diet since 1970, even though they still remain below the recommended levels.
  • Locating “food deserts” is not a very accurate way of determining consumption habits of the people in those communities. “Across numerous studies, distance to various types of food stores demonstrated no relationship to dietary outcomes.” This study argues that the real issue is poverty, not access (the study is reviewed here and here). Furthermore, the idea that supermarkets create healthy environments “is a unique United States concept. Elsewhere, the growth of supermarkets has been deplored as reducing access to fruits and vegetables and even increasing prices for fresh produce” because they often take the place of stores dedicated to fruits or vegetables rather than processed, prepackaged foods. Individual cases of obesity can be attributed to one’s access to healthy foods, but the overall rate of incidence for obesity has no such correlation.

Finally, the conclusions. Many of the ideas floating around in the gastrosphere on how to combat the obesity epidemic are either wrong or insufficiently supported by evidence; in the case of the latter, further studies might show support, or might not. What we do know (or did know in 2014), is this…

“Based on empirical evidence and expert opinion, 3 recommendations have been supported by a broad group of health economists in the obesity area:

  1. incorporate health impact assessments to review agricultural policies so that they do not have a deleterious impact on population rates of obesity;
  2. implement a tax on SSB;
  3. examine how to implement fruit and vegetable subsidies targeted at children and low-income households.”

So while it may not be “politically feasible” to institute a national food policy that covers farm to cash register, or to levy taxes on sodas, or to create higher nutritional standards for school lunches, these are the types of things that show promise in addressing the obesity epidemic. What seems clear from the available evidence is that there are too many variables in the national diet for personal choice to make the shift without a policy nudge. Better nutrition saves lives and money. Contact your elected officials and support evidence-based improvements to our food system.


cultural imperialism/(neo)colonialism

Flashback Friday.

Originally posted in 2010; crossposted at BlogHer.

Originally posted at Racism Review.

The photos capture a woman lying serenely on a pebble beach. She is unaware of the four men as they approach. They wear guns and bulletproof vests, and demand the woman remove her shirt. They watch as she complies. This scene was reported in recent weeks by news outlets across the globe. More than twenty coastal towns and cities in France imposed bans on the burkini, the full body swimsuit favored by religious Muslim women.

Flickr photo by Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño
Flickr photo by Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño

French politicians have falsely linked the burkini with religious fundamentalism. They have employed both blatant and subtly racist language to express indignation at the sight of a non-white, non-Western female body in a public space designated as “white.” Like many, I have been transfixed by the images of brazen discrimination and shaming. Although the woman in the photographs, identified only as Siam, was not wearing a burkini, her body was targeted by a racist institution, the State.

Olivier Majewicz, the Socialist mayor of Oye-Plage, a town on the northern coast of France, described a Muslim woman on the beach as appearing “a bit wild, close to nature.” Her attire, he said, was not “what one normally expects from a beachgoer… we are in a small town and the beach is a small, family friendly place.” France’s Socialist Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, utilized more direct language, stating that the burkini enslaved women and that the “nation must defend itself.” Similarly blunt, Thierry Migoule, an official with the municipal services in Cannes, said the burkini “conveys an allegiance to the terrorist movements that are waging war against us.”

These quotes reflect the pernicious limitations of the white gaze. When I look at the photos of Siam, I see a woman, a mother, being forced to undress before a crowd of strangers. I can hear her children, terrified, crying nearby. Siam’s encounter was a scene of trauma, and as Henri Rossi, the vice president of the League of Human Rights in Cannes, said “this trauma has not been cured; the convalescence has not yet begun.”

Some sixty years ago, Frantz Fanon in Black Skin, White Masks, explored the relationships between the white gaze and the black body, specifically in France and its colonies. In the age of the burkini ban, Fanon’s observations ring poignant and true. He writes: “…we were given the occasion to confront the white gaze. An unusual weight descended on us. The real world robbed us of our share. In the white world, the man of color encounters difficulties in elaborating his body schema. The image of one’s body is solely negating. It’s an image in the third person. All around the body reigns an atmosphere of certain uncertainty.” Fanon’s words could serve as the soundtrack to Siam’s encounter with the police. She was robbed of her share, her body negated and deemed a public threat by the white gaze.

In the wake of recent terrorist attacks in France, politicians have capitalized on the politics of fear in order to renegotiate the boundaries of institutional racism as expressed in the public sphere. In Living with Racism, Joe Feagin and Melvin Sikes quote Arthur Brittan and Mary Maynard (Sexism, Racism and Oppression) about the ever-changing “terms of oppression.” Brittan and Maynard write:

the terms of oppression are not only dictated by history, culture, and the sexual and social division of labor. They are also profoundly shaped at the site of the oppression, and by the way in which oppressors and oppressed continuously have to renegotiate, reconstruct, and re-establish their relative positions in respect to benefits and power.

As the burkini affords Muslim women the benefit to participate in different arenas of public space, the state recalibrates its boundaries to create new or revive previous sites of oppression. In the case of the burkini, the sites of oppression are both public beaches and women’s bodies – common sites of attempted domination, not only in France, but also the US.

Fanon, Feagin and Sikes all point to institutional racism as an engine that fuels white supremacy and its policies of discrimination. As Feagin and Sikes observe, these:

recurring encounters with white racism can be viewed as a series of “life crises,” often similar to other serious life crises, such as the death of a loved one, that disturb an individual’s life trajectory.

The photos of Siam capture the unfolding of life crisis and illustrate the power of institutional racism to inflict both individual and collective traumas.

Julia Lipkins is an archivist and MA candidate in American Studies at The Graduate Center, CUNY.

Flashback Friday.

Originally posted in 2010.

First Nations Erasure

First Nations Exploitation

Keene asks, “Who does this serve?”

2 (1)In 1994, a US immigration judge lifted an order to deport a woman named Lydia Oluloro. Deportation would have forced her to either leave her five- and six-year-old children in America with an abusive father or take them with her to Nigeria. There, they would have been at risk of a genital cutting practice called infibulation, in which the labia majora and minora are trimmed and fused, leaving a small opening for urination and menstruation.

Many Americans will agree that the judge made a good decision, as children shouldn’t be separated from their mothers, left with dangerous family members, or subjected to an unnecessary and irreversible operation that they do not understand. I am among these Americans. However, I am also of the view that Americans who oppose unfamiliar genital cutting practices should think long and hard about how they articulate their opposition.

The judge in the Oluloro case, Kendall Warren, articulated his opposition like this:

This court attempts to respect traditional cultures … but [infibulation] is cruel and serves no known medical purpose. It’s obviously a deeply ingrained cultural tradition going back 1,000 years at least.

Let’s consider the judge’s logic carefully. First, by contrasting the “court” (by which he means America)with “traditional cultures”, the judge is contrasting us (America) with a them (Nigeria). He’s implying that only places like Nigeria are “traditional” — a euphemism for states seen as backward, regressive, and uncivilised — while the US is “modern,” a state conflated with progressiveness and enlightenment.

When he says that the court “attempts to respect traditional cultures,” but cannot in this case, the judge is suggesting that the reason for the disrespect is the fault of the culture itself. In other words, he’s saying “we do our best to respect traditional cultures, but you have pushed us too far.” The reason for this, the judge implies, is that the practices in question have no redeeming value. It “serves no known medical purpose,” and societies which practice it are thus “up to no good” or are not engaging in “rational” action.

The only remaining explanation for the continuation of the practice, the judge concludes, is cruelty. If the practice is cruel the people who practice it must necessarily also be cruel; capriciously, pointlessly, even frivolously cruel.

To make matters worse, in the eyes of the judge, such cruelty can’t be helped because its perpetrators don’t have free will. The practice, he says, is “deeply ingrained” and has been so for at least 1,000 years. Such cultures cannot be expected to see reason. This is the reason why the court — or America — can and should be compelled to intervene.

In sum, the judge might well have said: “we are a modern, rational, free, good society, and you who practice female genital cutting—you are the opposite of this.”

I’ve published extensively on the ways in which Americans talk about the female genital cutting practices (FGCs) that are common in parts of Africa and elsewhere, focusing on the different ways opposition can be articulated and the consequence of those choices. There are many grounds upon which to oppose FGCs: the oppression of women, the repression of sexuality, human rights abuse, child abuse, a violation of bodily integrity, harm to health, and psychological harm, to name just a few. Nevertheless, Judge Warren, chose to use one of the most common and counterproductive frames available: cultural depravity.

The main source of this frame has been the mass media, which began covering FGCs in the early 1990s. At the time anti-FGC activists were largely using the child abuse frame in their campaigns, yet journalists decided to frame the issue in terms of cultural depravity. This narrative mixed with American ethnocentrism, an obsession with fragile female sexualities, a fear of black men, and a longstanding portrayal of Africa as dark, irrational, and barbaric to make a virulent cocktail of the “African Other.”

The more common word used to describe FGCs — mutilation — is a symbol of this discourse. It perfectly captures Judge Warren’s comment. Mutilation is, perhaps by definition, the opposite of healing and of what physicians are called to do. Defining FGCs this way allows, and even demands, that we wholly condemn the practices, take a zero tolerance stance, and refuse to entertain any other point of view.

Paradoxically, this has been devastating for efforts to reduce genital cutting. People who support genital cutting typically believe that a cut body is more aesthetically pleasing. They largely find the term “mutilation” confusing or offensive. They, like anyone, generally do not appreciate being told that they are barbaric, ignorant of their own bodies, or cruel to their children.

The zero tolerance demand to end the practices has also failed. Neither foreigners intervening in long-practicing communities, nor top-down laws instituted by local politicians under pressure from Western governments, nor even laws against FGCs in Western countries have successfully stopped genital cutting. They have, however, alienated the very women that activists have tried to help, made women dislike or fear the authorities who may help them, and even increased the rate of FGCs by inspiring backlashes.

In contrast, the provision of resources to communities to achieve whatever goals they desire, and then getting out of the way, has been proven to reduce the frequency of FGCs. The most effective interventions have been village development projects that have no agenda regarding cutting, yet empower women to make choices. When women in a community have the power to do so, they often autonomously decide to abandon FGCs. Who could know better, after all, the real costs of continuing the practice?

Likewise, abandonment of the practice may be typical among immigrants to non-practicing societies. This may be related to fear of prosecution under the law. However, it is more likely the result of a real desire among migrants to fit into their new societies, a lessening of the pressures and incentives to go through with cutting, and mothers’ deep and personal familiarity with the short- and long-term pain that accompanies the practices.

The American conversation about FGCs has been warped by our own biases. As a Hastings Center Report summarizes, those who adopt the cultural depravity frame misrepresent the practices, overstate the negative health consequences, misconstrue the reasons for the practice, silence the first-person accounts of women who have undergone cutting, and ignore indigenous anti-FCG organizing. And, while it has fed into American biases about “dark” Africa and its disempowered women, the discourse of cultural depravity has actually impaired efforts to reduce rates of FGCs and the harm that they can cause.

Originally posted at Open Democracy and Pacific Standard.

Lisa Wade is a professor at Occidental College and the co-author of Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions. You can follow up on her research about female genital cutting here.

14By Tom Gauld.


Crusader release WWII rules

By tgn_admin
Jan 22nd, 2010

img669.jpgCrusader Miniatures have released their WWII skirmish rules, Rate of Fire.

From their website:

The rules deal primarily with infantry actions, as well as everything you would expect from an infantry skirmish game there are rules for smoke, artillery, direct and indirect HE fire, leader abilities and re-rolls, mines, obstacles, specialised weapons and more.

Rate of Fire suitable for setting up historical scenarios or as a points based game where both sides bring along a balanced force and fight it out for victory objectives. The rule book includes 3 introductory scenarios and a comprehensive points system so that you can calculate the value of any force without having to rely on ‘official’ supplements.

All of the charts, tables and counters are provided in the rule book and are also available to download from the Crusader Publishing web site. The rules cater for head to head games as well as large multi player affairs so no matter what period or theatre of WWII you are interested in Rate of Fire has it covered.


i couldn't find a version but i just wanted this on my blog

anonymous asked:

I didn't realize you're blog got deleted until I tried to find the prequel story you wrote for the coat thief and couldn't find it? I was wondering if you could post it again?? thank you!

(a reupload of a prequel to the coat thief)

BB-8 is the prototype of a new version of astromech, and Designation: Engineer/Creator is still debating the advantages of a completely circular design in comparison to a more traditional wheeled model, when it’s passed off to a pilot for a test run.

Designation: Master-Poe Dameron is a stocky humanoid with a T-70 X-Wing starfighter painted in a signature black chrome, which hums pleasantly around BB-8 the first time it’s lifted into the droid socket. When they’re introduced, Master-Poe kneels down, perhaps to inspect it more closely because of its unorthodox appearance, or to judge its suitability for flight.

“Hey there, little guy.”

[Greetings, Master-Poe,] says BB-8 formally. Master-Poe pulls a face, which means that BB-8 is even less impressive than expected. It tries not to be disappointed, because after all it appears that its new master can speak binary, which is a pleasant surprise.

“I… do you have to call me that?” Master-Poe asks.

[Protocol dictates terminology for a droid’s owner,] says BB-8, because this should be obvious. Master-Poe just scratches his chin thoughtfully, and then presses a gentle hand to its round head.

“Yeah, alright,” Master-Poe says, “I’ll figure out something to fix that. But for the moment, let’s see how you fly.”

Keep reading

bradicai  asked:

Hey, I just found your blog and it made me remember and rediscover my love for Fury Road, so thanks for that! I was wondering what your opinion was on the old Mad Max trilogy? I never saw them until after seeing FR, and I really disliked them unfortunately. I couldn't care about the characters, or the plot, or be impressed by the effects(not that that last one's the film's fault, it's just aged). Any reviews that I see view it as an epic, and I just can't see it so was wondering what you thought

Hey! Glad you like the blog. :-)

Regarding the first three Mad Max movies…honestly, I love them. But I love them more as film artifacts than as something I’d sit down and watch a hundred times over like Fury Road. They’re just so delightfully weird and absurd and different from so many other action movies. They definitely show their age at times, but I think there are really interesting things about all three of them.

(This got long so I’m putting the rest under the cut.)

Keep reading

lazylittlenomad  asked:

carol's birthday

On Madison Avenue (Early April)

On Madison Avenue, the telephone rang. The floor of the living room was strewn with bits of cardboard, bits of paper, photographs, drawings, and the beginnings of a new model for a new set. In the middle of it, Therese, home alone, lay sprawled on the floor, fingers fiddling, feet jiggling to the magnificent music. When the record stopped spinning, she got up and played it again. It was Billie Holiday’s latest record: Billie Holiday Favorites. Therese had found it on the kitchen counter that morning. The note had said, demurely: You’re my favorite. It was from Carol, of course. Of course.

Billie Holiday had been singing for Therese all day. The music surrounded her. It wound its way through the apartment, soared out through the open windows, out onto the balcony. It hovered over Madison Avenue. A keen pedestrian may have heard the last of its melodies. It spun Therese a vast, glistening web. From its strings, she drew her walls, her rooms, her palaces. She saw them suspended above her, around her. She was beginning to make the apartment her own.

Keep reading

five reasons why you should watch tnt's the librarians immediately

Okay, so everyone is aware that I’m an SPN blog, but recently I’ve been posting more of this show called The Librarians. Basically the easiest way I can explain it’s plot is that the show is an American version of Doctor Who combined with Merlin and Supernatural aspects, such as magic and ‘monster of the week’ cases. It has easily become one of my favorite shows in the few weeks it has been on, and now I’m going to try to convince you to watch it in five reasons.

1. Eve Baird, the leading lady and mother hen to the LITs, is a badass who will not be tamed.

She’s a soldier who gets called to protect the infamous “Librarian” Flynn Carsen, and ends up becoming the protector of his “trainees” called the LITs. She’s snarky, amazing, and is always looking out for her trainees. Which leads us to reason two…

2. The LITs, or Librarians in Training.

These three are Ezekiel Jones, Cassandra Cillian, and Jake Stone. If you’ve never experienced the joy that is having an OT3, then you will with these lovely characters. They are all unique and are extremely entertaining, and bring the comedy to this drama. When these three are on screen together there is bound to be laughter and mayhem, along with lots of feels. They are the core of the show, but they would not be here without reason number three.

3. Flynn Carsen, the Librarian.

 If you ever wanted a Tenth Doctor/Gabriel from SPN/Flynn Ryder combo, you will find it in Flynn Carsen. Even though he is the Librarian, he is not a main cast member. The Librarians is more about the LITs and the future generation of the Library than Flynn, but he will pop up on occasion and bring lots of one liners and fun. Also, his relationship with Eve is adorable and you will probably be shipping them in the first episode. Even though he is not part of the main cast he is probably my favorite character on the show, and I adore everything about him.

4. If you’re looking for a show with mythology and magic, the Librarians is the show for you.

This show is like Doctor Who in the fact that the Librarians are a lot like Timelords in a way, jumping between dimensions and the like, but it is also very rooted in old mythology and magic. This past episode featured Greek mythology, and the one before that talked about King Arthur and Excalibur. It is a great combination between magic and the supernatural.

5. This show is a great way to just have a lot of fun! This is only a few reasons behind why this show is awesome. There is Jenkins, the researcher who lives in the Library who is always getting the LITs out of tough situations, the villains who grace our screens every week, the monsters, the plot, and the overall sense of going to a different world.

Basically, if you aren’t watching this show then you really need to! It is on TNT on Sundays at 8/7c. You can also watch episodes on TNTs website.

Well then, what are you waiting for? Go watch it and tell me what you think! I’d love to listen to your thoughts about this amazing program. :)


Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
Title: Nucleosome positioning on chromatin using bioinformatics techniques = Posicionament de nucleosomes en cromatina emprant tècniques bioinformàtiques
Author: Flores Guri, Oscar
Director: Orozco López, Modesto
Keywords: Epigenètica
Ciències de la salut
Medical sciences
Issue Date: 10-Jun-2014
Publisher: Universitat de Barcelona
Abstract: [eng] This thesis presents a broad study of the chromatin structure and function with special focus in the nucleosome organization. More specifically, it includes three different but complementary perspectives: i) Analysis of the DNA from a physical point of view, correlating chromatin structure with DNA function and its intrinsic properties, ii) Development of tools to extract information on nucleosome position and dynamics from experimental data —mostly Next Generation Sequencing experiments— and iii) In depth analysis of chromatin structure and dynamics in model systems (such as S.Cerevisae, C.Elegans or, in a smaller extent, Human). In the first work, “Physical properties of naked DNA influence nucleosome positioning and correlate
with transcription start and termination sites in yeast”, we show how a simple energetic predictor accounting for primary sequence and a mesoscopic model of DNA mechanics can describe the nucleosome positioning in key regulatory areas. Furthermore, we describe how these principles also affect the endo/exo nuclease activity of Microccocal Nuclease and their sequence affinity without substantially biasing the nucleosome maps. In the second work, “Impact of Methylation on the Physical Properties of DNA”, we show how DNA methylation can alter the mechanistic properties and therefore change the affinity of different sequences for nucleosomes, providing in vitro evidences of this relationship. The same descriptors were used before to predict promoters in human with a good sensitivity but minor sensibility. In the third work, “Unraveling the hidden DNA structural/physical code provides novel insights on promoter location“, we present how the false positives obtained in the previous work are indeed transcriptionally active regions of the genome without any annotated gene previously. In the second block we studied the nucleosome organization in vivo in different conditions. In the work “Nucleosome architecture and plasticity along cell cycle”, we provide new insights about the nucleosome dynamics during the process of DNA replication and chromosome segregation. In general, our results show an increased disorganization of chromatin during the replication stage and a gene-specific interplay of nucleosomes and gene expression levels. In the work “Fuzziness and noise in nucleosomal architecture” we use different nucleosomes maps obtained during the cell cycle to evaluate the general reproducibility and quantification of nucleosome phasing. Results show how synchronized populations of cells are less noisy, pointing also to technical factors, which can increase the fuzziness of nucleosomes maps. Furthermore, we provide a new insight on how physical properties of DNA affect different nucleosomes architectures and this interplays with in vivo factors to determine the nucleosome positioning. Additionally, two collaborations with external groups are presented, “Hog1 bypasses stress-mediated down-regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II redistribution and chromatin remodeling” and “Modeling genome-wide kinetics of endo/exonuclease digestion”. In the methodological part, we present four new R/Bioconductor packages for the study of chromatin and integrative analysis. The first, “nucleR: a package for non-parametric nucleosome positioning” is a fast and efficient nucleosome caller for tiling arrays and next generation sequencing experiments. “htSeqTools: high-throughput sequencing quality control, processing and
visualization in R” is a library for the quality control and common tasks related with next generation sequencing experiments. “DASiR: Programmatic data retrieval from DAS servers in R” is a R convenient interface for servers implementing the Distrubuted Annotation System. Finally, “Dynamic analysis of nucleosome positioning at read level”, presents a new tool for the read-level analysis of nucleosome positions allowing the inference and annotation of the dynamics between two reference maps.
Appears in Collections:Tesis Doctorals - Facultat - Biologia

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Sandia Neuroscience

Neuroscience Research

Neural-inspired Computing - Designing new computing architectures and device materials to accelerate the deployment of neural-inspried algorithms into real-world applications

Human Imaging - Applying numerous capabilities in human cognitive measurement, such as EEG, tDCS, and eye tracking, to characterize human performance in real world scenarios.